Stay Tuned! More Photos & Stories Coming!

Most of us have made it back home safely. We arrived in Minneapolis last night around 10:30 pm. Phil is still in Honduras but will be returning tonight.

Due to technical difficulties we were unable to post photos on the last few days, plus we had non-stop activities from Tuesday through Saturday. We will continue to post photos and stories this week now that we are home.

It was a great trip, we had some marvelous experiences and met a lot of people. The hospitality of the Friars, the Velasquez Family and our friends at NPH was second to none.

Incidentally, four Friars from Honduras will be visiting Most Holy Trinity / Our Lady of Grace around September 24th. Our beloved Friar Isidoro, Friar Eric, Friar Edgar and Friar Arturo. We look forward to their visit and you will have the opportunity to meet them.

Jane

Campamente, Festival of St Ann's,

Bueno Noches!
I probably said that incorrectly, as I say most things incorrectly all day long! We went to Campamente, a smallish town about 2 hours from Tegucigalpa this morning. They were having a special feast day for St Ann, so it was a big festival in the town. We travelled in style in our new van, courtesy of Luis, our driver. Mucho mas comfortable! Jane and Phil knew Luis from past trips, and he was kind enough to drive us around again on this trip. We were a bit late for mass, which was interesting because Friar Isodoro and Deacon Jim were both participating in mass. We knew several of the Friars, Juan, Fabio and Arturo - they all were involved with the mass, and the church was absolutely gorgeous. Many of us stood outside, because of the large crowds, but it was still a neat experience. We are realizing that most days don't go as planned, and we rarely stay on our "schedule". That is harder for some of us than others to adjust to, but it the end, it all works out!

After Mass, there was a procession through town, carrying the statue of Mary and Ann through the town. The first procession for many of us. Very cool.

We headed out to lunch at a restaurant called Guayapito - fish for everyone, where they had their own tilapia pond. Super peaceful and relaxing.

By the time we made it back to San Max, it was almost 7:00pm. We still had a date with the Friars for dinner, so off we all went to La Gorda, for dinner with Friars Isodorao, Ramiro, and George and Mario (our drivers). Good food - quite a spectacle trying to get food ordered for all of us gringos! But we all laugh, and are usually surprised by what shows up on our plates.

Shopping, El Piccacho and a night of theater!

Wow, it was a busy day today. We started the day with morning prayer at 7am, with Friar Isodora and Friar Fabio. Fabio has the most beautiful singing voice, and also played the guitar. If he was singing to me every morning, it would be much easier to wake up! After breakfast we headed off to Piccacho, a mountain of sorts, outside of Tegucigalpa. It is a large park, with a huge statue of Christ stretching His hands out over the city. It has amazing gardens, trails, rock formations, and of course a beautiful view of the city. We all piled back in the landcruiser, and headed off for Valle de Angelos, for some shopping. We have gotten extremely close with one another, in a very short time. Literally. 9 of us in the back, and 3 up front. Thank goodness it really hasn't been too hot, so with the windows down it's bearable. But still extremely cozy!

Valle de Angelos is about 45 minutes out in the countryside; a beautiful drive through the mountains. Our amigo, Mario, has been gracious enough to drive us all over this region. Valle is a small town, quite charming, and a little more touristy. We all did our best to support the local economy with some shopping and lunch.

This evening, a theater group from San Max treated us to a play. A reenactment of the Story of San Max Kolby - our church's patron saint. It was beautiful - the people were very talented, and took it very seriously. They really put their hearts into it, and as always, were so gracious and happy to have us there. We spent some time afterwards playing a theater game with them. We may put a video up of that event - very silly!

Our group of 10 is such a wonderful, diverse group, and we are all loving being here with the community. The "young'ins" infuse lots of energy and laughter into our days, and have saved our butts many times with their translating skills, and ability to just let loose, in what could feel like an awkward situation.

Off to bed, for an even EARLIER morning tomorrow! LuAnn and I were just wishing for one "late start" day....I think we will have to keep wishing.

Michelle

More pictures!

Hola to everyone back in los Estados Unidos.  Well today has been quite an eventful one where Kyle and I held the fate of our parish's relationship with San Max Kolbe in our hands due to the fact that we had to translate everything that was said in our pastoral meeting.  Speaking spanish is definitely the easy part because listening to the language with the speed that these people talk is very very difficult.  However, we did manage to pull it off and now we have a very  healthy relationship with the parish despite the fact that Deacon Jim fell asleep during this important meeting.  I am also proud to say that I have never gone to mass so many times in one weekend.  Having to hear the same sermon four times in 24 hours in a different language is quite the experience.  We are learning so many different things about the culture and language.  We are also beginning to understand the struggles that these people deal with every single day and it is obvious why so many people want to come to America for a better opportunity.  Well we miss all of you and we hope that you learn a little something from our blog because we are definitely learning a whole lot down here.

-So I guess I'll just put my name down or something......Peace Out, Tucker

Saturday in Comayagüela

After morning prayer with the Friars, we had breakfast. Eggs, cheese, tortillas, fruit were good but the highlight was pancakes with mantiquia and honey. The mantiquia is made from cream but it's more like a light cheese flavor that blends really well with honey. The coffee is great.

We helped distribute "pounds of love" (donated food) to needy families. We received lots of hugs and well wishes. Afterward we toured three nearby churches and met some of the parishioners. After lunch, everybody took a siesta. We attended mass at the Church of Monseigneur Oscar Romaro. Our own Deacon Jim DeShane presided along side Friar Isidoro. He was a slight bit nervous but did a great job.

A Happy Landing

Friday was a long day of airports and airplanes that began at about 3:30 am. The corkscrew landing into Tegucigalpa took place around 2:00 pm. We all arrived safely and so did the luggage. We had a little extra time between Miami and Teguc because of lightening and engine failure. While they brought in a new plane, Tucker enjoyed his last hamburger before leaving the country and a little snooze.