I am finally here

August 21

So the adventure has begun. I have now been here for more than twenty-four hours. The trip here was quite exciting. I was at the airport in Grand Rapids at 4:00 AM. I was worried about my luggage weighing too much, but I was okay by half a pound. There was one girl with our group who showed up at the airport and was not able to go because of problems with her passport. There is a rule that the expiration date of your passport must be more than six months away from the time of leaving, even though we are planning on being here for only four months. She was sent to Chicago to get an emergency passport, and was able to fly into Honduras today. The flight from Chicago to Houston was fine. We got on our second flight, which was to take us to Honduras, and there were numerous problems. First there was bad weather, which delayed us for about 2 hours on the plane. During the entire 2 hours the girl in front of me, who was with our group, was throwing up. The flight crew said she could not fly with being so sick, and we had to go back to the terminal. An ambulance came and took her away. Everyone was really concerned because she was now being left in Houston alone and sick. Once she was taken off the plane, the captain came on the speaker and said that the good news was that the plane had been refueled and was ready to go, but the bad news was that the flight crew had passes their allowed time of flying, and could not fly us to Honduras. Because the airport in Tegucigalpa is so difficult to land at, there are only certain pilots that were able to go. We had to get off the plane, which we had already been sitting on for 3 hours. They gave us food coupons to get food at the airport. One hour later we were able to finally leave. The flight was non eventful. Customs was not a problem for any of us. Once in Honduras, we were taken to a bus and went to the university. We were supposed to have orientation, but because we were 5 hours late, they just fed us and then gave us to our families. Mi papa y mi mama were there to meet me. We came back to the house. The house is nice. It’s hard to say how it ranks on the Honduras scale, because I do not know what other houses look like in the inside. I have my own room. There is a bed, a make-shift closet, TV., radio, and a table for a desk. There is a bathroom right next to my room. Once we were to the house they gave me time to unpack my luggage and put all my things away as I like. Afterwards I showed my family pictures of my family. They have a very hard time saying American names. Catie seemed to be difficult to say, but not as hard as my name. They have given me a nickname, and I am not sure where it came from. It sounds like Juney. I think they might be trying to say Julie, but add an “N” for whatever reason. Later in the evening I watched a soccer game with my two sisters. It was between Honduras and Mexico, which I guess is a big deal. My oldest sister has been very helpful, because she knows English. When I did not understand something she would speak English. I was told I was able to call my parents at 9:00, so I struggled to stay awake until then. Afterwards I went to bed. I slept pretty well just because I was so tired. There was continuous noise all night, between my family and people on the streets.

Today I woke up at 7:00 to take a quick shower. Breakfast was ready for me at 7:30. There was so much food. I was given a large bowl of cereal, and huge bowl of water melon, and a banana. I am just used to a small bowl of cereal in the morning. At 8:00 I met another girl who lives in the same subdivision and walked with her and her mama to the university. It takes about 25 or 30 minutes to get there. In the morning we had orientation. I learned that all my flip flops I brought are not considered appropriate foot wear for some of my classes. Luckily, there is a mall across the street from the university with a Payless. For lunch we went to the mall. We were able to walk around and go to a store where you can call the United States for cheap. I was able to call home. For lunch I had a sub, soda, and chip from Sub Way for less than five dollars. After lunch we walked 45 minutes to spend only 10 minutes looking at the hospital where we would go if we had any problems. We then walked 45 minutes back to the university. When we got back to the university we were given our allowance money from Calvin for lunch and internet. We then walked back to our houses. I spent a good hour talking with my family about rules. They used numerous examples to help me understand. They seem very reasonable. I was so tired that I needed to take a nap before dinner. The way dinner works here is I just tell my mama when I am hungry and she serves me my food. I eat alone. I watched tv with my sister for a while and then went to bed.