Kitten Ambushes and Dutch Blitz

Well, look at me! Posting less than a week after my last one! So on top of things. Today is Sunday and it's 11:30 my time. Now you're thinking "Christine, shouldn't you be in church?"  Every single church I have ever attended  held it's services in the morning. This church, "Celebracion", holds it's services in the evening - usually starting at least an hour after the posted start time. For my first few days here, I operated under the assumption that posted times meant something. I was fooled, things don't start on time here in Honduras. That is not a sweeping generalization that unfairly accuses an entire culture of lateness. It's pure truth. The reason is that Hondurenos, and Latin Americans in general, view time differently than North Americans do. They put everything they have into what they are doing at the moment, even if that means they will be late to their next commitment. They also value relationships and family above most everything else. So hanging around and chatting for an hour before church starts is extremely important. About an hour late is a typical time for things to start. As someone who remembers 100 things I need to do as I'm trying to walk out the door, that kind of flexibility is GREAT for me, but it frustrates people who try to keep to strict schedules. ANYWAY! It has taken some adjusting, but I enjoy having services in the afternoon/evening and when it comes down to it, la gente y la comunidad de la iglesia are more important that the start time!

In other news, I started teaching Spanish this week for real. At the end of every school day I have a decision to make: Torture the children with more learning or give up and let them play for the rest of the day. Most days I think to my self  "Just let them play...we can do that another day." Four out of 5 days I recognize this as laziness on my part and I give it my best with mixed results. Everything I do is serious trial and error. I fail pretty often. It's easy to tell if I'm failing because there is much complaining and misbehaving among the students.

We obtained a basketball and a kickball this week too. This has seriously increased our quality of play. Now our game options are nearly unlimited. Basketball, dodge ball, kickball, 4 square and "futbol" are just a few of the games now in our daily routine. Last night most of the family played HORSE and this morning, all 7 of us were outside riding the scooters and Rip-sticks. Good fun! We also got a card game called Pictureka! that involves lots of pictures and random words on cards. We tried one of the ways to play it last night and it was fun. Most exciting news on the game front is that I taught the children how to play Dutch Blitz. They.love.it.a.lot.

As I type, our unbelievably adorable kitty has sneaked into my room and it currently stalking my hands as I type. He just jumped on my keyboard. Bad kitty. When he appeared in the doorway I looked at him and he froze, then laid down and started licking his fur, like he wasn't planning an ambush :D. One of his favorite things to do is lick and bite your face while you are holding him. That's right - I said "lick and BITE your face". He acts just like a dog. He can actually sit up and beg at the table.

I didn't actually take any new photos this week, so I won't be posting any this time around - sorry!

Now about about sign class. I know I talk a lot about this, but I am enjoying it so much. I got to go to the longer sign class on Saturday morning again. I learned so much! The best part about what I'm learning is that I get to practice all the time with Jenni. My goal before I leave Honduras is to be as close to fluent as possible in Honduran Sign Language.

I've been reading in Luke recently (I actually just finished the book today) and these verses struck me:
"But they [the women] found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them. 'Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!..." Luke 24: 2-6
The most striking thing about it was how often I "look among the dead for the living". Christ is risen! Rejoice! He is powerful. He is not a dead god that doesn't care or hear me. He is alive, He loves me and cares for me, He can do things in my life and in the lives of those around me, if only I will call on Him for strength and guidance. Let is be so in my life and yours!