Mission: Possible

Our last full day in Laepera

It’s our last full day in Lepaera because tomorrow we wake up and head to Copan Ruinas for our one designated “fun day.” On this morning’s schedule is a 9 a.m. start time at the elementary school for a program that the students prepared for us. After our coffee injection, we all trekked down to the elementary school’s auditorium (the site of last year’s project) and were met with the loudest rock star applause imaginable. There is just something about walking into an auditorium that instantaneously erupts into a roaring applause.  It brought tears to many a MPer’s eyes.

The elementary school put on a 30-minute program for us to demonstrate their gratitude for everything we’ve done for the school and Lepaera as a whole. Several students performed modern dances for us, sang traditional songs, and even reenacted the “la sucia” skit that we loved so much from last year. At the end of the program, the principal of the school called one of our members up to the stage to accept a certificate of appreciation. It definitely meant the world to our group.

After the program, the teachers gave us fruit cups for a snack, a pin with the flag of Honduras onit, and either a mirror for the girls or a keychain for the boys. We all immediately donned our Honduran pins as we headed to the top of the large hill for a scheduled date with the kindergarten school.

Terminal cuteness

At the kindergarten school, they prepared another program for us where the kids took turns dancing to various pop music tunes. One group of girls danced to the Black Eyed Peas’ hit “Gotta Feeling” and a little boy named Jason did an awesome Michael Jackson impersonation to “Billy Jean.” He actually knew the words to the song and sang along! It made us all break out into laughter at the cuteness of it all.

At the close of the program, the teachers set up a piñata for us to break. At first, we struggled to make a dent in the giant bear piñata, but eventually one gash lead to another. When it seemed that we were about to bust it open, we turned over the stick to the eager kindergarteners and let them have a shot at it. As soon as the candy scattered over the ground, the kids went berserk trying to snag a piece.

The children loved their backpacks and the gifts inside.

When the children settled down from the mad candy rush, they lined up outside and we handed them a backpack stocked full of supplies one at a time.  They absolutely loved their gifts! Almost none of the children currently had a backpack of their own, so this was especially heartwarming. Soon after the backpack distribution, the gang sat down to lunch provided to us by the school – pizza! It was our first encounter with pizza in Lepaera, but it was certainly a delicious one.

Tonight, we planned our tradition of cooking the last meal for the family. The two culinary experts in our group – Andy Smith and Samantha Hankins – headed off to various markets to procure the needed supplies to make a delicious meal. The rest of us were taken on a scenic ride in the back of Carias’ truck to his favorite “buena vista” – a spot at the top of the mountain that allows you to see the entire Lepaera community. It truly is a breathtaking spot. Also, during our tour, Carias drove us to the water treatment plant sitting atop the mountains. It was truly remarkable – the view, the engineering, and the water. It was all any of us could do to combat the urge to take a running dive into the pristine pools of water making their way through the sand filters. None of us did, however, but it was astonishing to see how far Lepaera had come in one year’s time. The progress is truly a testament to the people.

Andy and Sam do the cooking

We returned home from our jaunt to the top of the mountains and smelled the delicious smells of dinner cooking. Andy and Sam really outdid themselves by preparing chorizo and peppers, homemade tortillas, and pico de gallo. They cut all the ingredients for pico de gallo by hand; it was spectacular. Sam even learned how Profe made our favorite tortillas and used her knowledge to make tonight’s homemade tortillas all by herself.

When dinner was ready, it’s tradition to let the family eat first because they always eat after us during our stay in their home. They loved the food so much that they all had seconds and kept saying how wonderful everything tasted. Well, they were right. It was heavenly.

Shortly after we finished eating, Carias took us to the mayor’s house to buy some coffee packages that they had set aside for our group. We all got to meet the Mayor and he welcomed us with a tiny speech thanking us for all that our group has done for Lepaera over the past couple of years. He extended an invitation for us to keep coming back year after year. Everyone purchased one or more packages of coffee. They even gave us a discounted price. It was the perfect souvenir.

After we returned home from getting coffee, we all exchanged hugs, kisses, and tears as we all realized that this week had gone by entirely too fast. Carias started to tear up as he told us that they have to wait another year for our arrival and they’re all very excited to have us back, but the few days we are there go by in the blink of an eye.

We gave the family a card and a framed picture of all us and the waterworks started flowing again. When we all composed ourselves again, the group played another game of Celebrity and called it an early night.