Mission: Possible

Hot coffee on tap

It’s the second full day of work in Honduras and none of the MPers need any persuasion to get up and at ‘em. Also, it’s a school day for the whole Carias household so it makes for a lot of hustle and bustle early in the morning.

Profe teaches the 4th grade at the elementary school down the road from the house and Marlen is one of her students, so they were up very early as well. Profe always makes sure to have piping hot coffee ready for the group as we one by one struggle to get our bearings for the early morning rises. The coffee in Lepaera is impeccable because it’s primarily a coffee-growing community and this particular crop is a major economic resource for the entire town. Several group members make repeated trips back to the coffee pot and Profe never frowns about replenishing the pot.

Item number one on the agenda for today is to finish painting the school both inside and outside. We made huge progress on the project yesterday, but there is still a lot of touching up to do. This morning, we also found out what our project will be for the rest of the week.

The elementary school, where Marlen attends and Profe teaches, needs razor wire installed to keep out burglars and trespassers. There had been rampant break-ins at the school despite the school’s best efforts to keep the school’s grounds enclosed and classrooms locked in the off hours. Because razor wire installation is tedious, and quite potentially pain inducing, the boys were put in charge of engineering and constructing the razor wire fence. The girls’ assignment entails designing and painting a sign for the front of the school. But more on this later.

It’s that bridge again

This bridge tests one's constitution.

Three of the boys, accompanied by Carias, head for a town a few miles away to buy the needed razor wire supplies. The rest of us head up the windy, steep hills of Lepaera on foot to the kindergarten school to complete the painting project. And, oh yes, we must cross the bridge – the bridge that truly tests one’s constitution.

Once at the school, we get to see the schoolchildren for the first time. They are all sitting outside in chairs while their teachers attempt with great effort to keep them engaged while we get to work.

The students take their places outside, so we can get to work inside.

Of course, 12 Americans painting and singing aloud could provide a substantial distraction to 5-year-olds. When the MP boys who went on errands with Carias return, we treat ourselves to lunch at the group’s favorite local restaurant.While I’m quire sure this establishment has a proper name, none of us remember it; we just call it “the fried chicken” place because it is pretty much the only thing on the menu. We head over to the restaurant and indulge ourselves in some fried chicken, tortillas, refried beans, and a small side salad.

Not to mention, this place has some of the best sodas ever. The best soda pop in Lepaera comes in glass bottles; however, every shopkeeper is hesitant to allow us to leave the premises with the glass bottle. They recycle them immediately. By recycle, I mean clean and reuse. So if an MP member wants a soda and doesn’t want to return the glass bottle to the store when they’re finished, the shopkeeper will pour the soda into a plastic baggie.  This technique took us by surprise at first, but then we (some more than others) realized “soda in a bag” is quite sublime.

After lunch, when most of us are feeling quite lethargic because of the good ole cookin’, we head back to the kindergarten to put the final touches on the classrooms and to fill the cracks on the outside of the building. Around 5 p.m. or so, the school is complete! We start to clean up ourselves and any children who were also sporting lingering paint marks.

Another way to help

As we are cleaning, one of the kindergarten teachers tells us that her husband is a painter by trade. We have lots of leftover paint and turpentine, so we gifted it to him. We also donated our used brushes and rollers, which he was going to clean with the turpentine.  They were both very happy to receive the supplies, which are uncharacteristically expensive in Honduras, and we were beyond happy to give them,

We start the descent back to home and are very much looking forward to dinner. Tonight is a special night because Profe is making us carne asada. They cook it campfire style over a makeshift grill in the backyard. Because cooking the carne asada takes awhile, Carias started cutting fresh coconuts that he and the boys purchased on the roadside in between towns. I don’t know if many people have had fresh coconuts, but they are absolutely delicious and taste nothing like the packaged coconut sold in the States. Carias bought 15 coconuts and sliced each one open with a machete – it was such a treat! After dark, the carne asada was ready and it was served with our favorite mainstays – tortillas, beans, and different types of cheeses. After dinner, the group played another game of Celebrity and then we all hit the hay with another day of labor under our belts.