It crept up on me like I never thought it would, but here I am in the beautiful Honduras. Flying in and seeing the colorful houses of Tegucigalpa took my breath away. I smiled upon the sight throughout the entire descent. From the place we're staying at up in the mountains, we have a stunning view of the city lights below us at night. It's rainy season, but the temperature is perfect. Our tents and hammocks are holding up this far, as well as our stomachs.

This week we were blessed with a period of rest. We are here at La Puerta de Sion (Zion's Gate in English), playing with the children and learning more of the Honduran culture. While Tony, the owner, was out of town for family matters, we were given a few days to kick back and spend time together as teams and as a squad, time to explore the property and neighboring restaurants, time to take naps and listen to music on our dying phones, and be laughed at by the kids for our broken Spanish. Tomorrow we will begin ministry, with half of us staying here and the other half going to another ministry two and a half hours away to serve. We'll switch ministries after 4 weeks. I'm staying here for the next month, glad I don't have to pack up my messy tent just yet. We will be pouring into the people of the streets of La Kennedy, feeding people at the dump yard, reaching out to the people addicted to thinner, and leading Bible studies for the boys staying here at Zion's Gate. Tony asked us to come up with ideas to help out around the property. One of my ideas is making cushions for the concrete benches in the main house. Only problem; I don't really know how to sew. I'd love to learn, but we'll see if it even comes through.

I've been learning so many things since arriving here. I've been practicing a little Spanish; embarrassingly noting how much I've forgotten even from this last semester in high school. Don't tell Sr. Vargas! On Wednesday, I practiced a little yoga and Zumba with part of the squad, and one guy taught me to swing dance in exchange for my teaching him to waltz. On Thursday, some of the guys began to teach me how to play guitar, and ever since I've been building up calluses on my fingertips and annoying the rest of the squad by practicing. On Friday I discovered the best french fries on earth, getting them twice that day. Yeah…. And if I'm honest I'd tell you I went back again the next day. Yesterday, I learned how to make soup for 85 people. And somehow all 85 people loved it! This morning we had church, and now we're crashing all the servers in every place that has wifi. For the first time, we're getting to visit the city. Oh sweet civilization!

This week was filled with re-wearing the same outfit. My team just threw together a load of laundry, and it was glorious! Clean clothes were a treat. I am wearing my Nebraska shirt for every game day, sporting my Husker pride with one other fellow Nebraskan. Today I am rocking a long lacy Sunday dress with sporty black Adidas sliders. This is as put together as it gets here. But I finally feel like a girl, I even shaved my legs. 

I've been craving any kind of fiber lately, something I never thought I'd miss. I'm getting tired of oatmeal. Give me a few days, I'll be tired of rice and beans too. But I love helping in the kitchen and really haven't minded doing everyone's dishes. The contacts here have been so generous, it's really clean and no one's gone hungry. 

If you love Nalgene water bottles, trying to figure out how to open the popsicles here, hammocks, clotheslines, roosters crowing in the early morning, and sharing testimonies over the best fries in the world, this is a place for you. Welcome to Honduras :)