The Brightest Baños in all of Comayagua!

Thursday was quite a treat! Mommy Carmen (the founder of the Hogar de Ninos orphanage) asked Greg and I to select the tile for the bathrooms and kitchens in their ‘under construction’ transitional housing building. They are in the process of building 6 apartments at a new site in Comayagua to serve as home for the grown kids of the orphanage. Somewhat like a halfway house to help them get started in the ‘real world’ outside the walls of the orphanage. Needless to say, Greg and I were very honored to fulfill Mommy Carmen’s request. So after school on Thursday a van with 2 of the ninas and 2 of the workers picked us up to head to the Famaco store to make the selections. We stopped by the construction site first and were very pleased to see the progress that has been made on the 2 story building since we were last there about 5 weeks ago. Next, we headed strait to the hardware store, into the ‘tile’ room. Literally, the room had all different floor tiles and wall tiles in place on the floor and walls so we could see exactly how it would look. It always had a line of toilets and sinks ranging from maroon to green and all the colors in between. Greg was bored after about 15 minutes, so I was basically in control of the making the decisions….that is why it ended up taking about and hour and a half! All of the floor tiles had some sort of colors and patterns, all of the wall tiles had different ones and since they were fixed to the floor and walls already, it was impossible to tell if at colors matched (or at least blended!) So after careful consideration and much deliberation with my fellow girls, we made the final decision. It felt good! Soon after, an employee told us they no longer carried the flooring that we selected. We went with our second favorite and called it a day. Or at least I thought we were going to call it a day, then I learned that each bathroom would different, so we actually had 5 more to go. We started out quite conservative, with calm colors that seemed to match relatively well. By the end, we were selecting blue and pink toilets to match the brightly colored tiles. I tried to get light pastel colors that blended, but the other ladies advised me that bright colors were more important that matching patterns. Plus, our options were limited. It was a really fun experience! I can’t wait to see the tiles in place in the finished bathrooms and kitchens…what an honor!

That same day, the group also invited us to go with them to Puerto Cortes on Saturday. Mommy Carmen was sending a the workers of the Hogar to the beach for the day in honor of El Dia de Maestros (The Day of Teachers). We enthusiastically accepted the invitation. It was a 4 hour drive and we were just going for the day, so the group planned to leave Comayagua at 5am. The staff told us they would pick Greg and I up at our house around 4 or 4:30am and we would return around 7. Saturday morning came quickly and I hopped up 4 to the sound of our alarm. Greg got dressed, threw his stuff in a bag, then returned to bed. I took my time as I packed and got ready (we couldn’t shower though because we had no running water). Once I finished, I figured I would watch a little TV while I waited. Little did I know that I would watch an entire Hallmark channel movie before the van arrived at 6:15am! Greg was smart for staying in bed! I was quite impressed that they were an entire 2 hours late! I mean, at least 30 minutes was to be expected, but over 2 hours---unprecedented! I must admit though, it was well worth the wait (plus I got a watch a whole movie in English). We had an excelled day! The six women that live at the group home (another site operated by the Hogar for women with special needs) accompanied us on the trip. It was so good to get to spend time with them as we don’t often have the opportunity. One of the older girls from the Hogar (that was came along) even got to visit her family while in Puerto Cortes. I am not sure what her story is, or how she ended up in the Hogar, but it was very emotional to see their reunion after quite some time! I don’t know how often she gets to see them, but I thought it was so amazing that the Mommy Carmen helped arrange the visit. I know she was very grateful!

When we arrived at the beach, Greg and I were amazed at how dirty it was. It truly was unbelievable. The coast line was so beautiful, but all the bottles, plastic ware, bags, wrappers, and junk really tainted the view. The group said that it normally wasn’t as bad, it was only this dirty because the rain washed all the junk ashore. Nonetheless it was really cool to see Central America’s largest shipping port. We had heard about it before as it often makes the news due to major drug trafficking problems. Greg and I opted not to get in the water, but relaxed on the beach under the palm trees. I wanted to just put my feet in, but Greg said if I did, there would be a good chance I would come out with a spork stuck in my leg. I took his advice and just felt the water with my hand! Before we left, I gathered some pumice rock that had washed up on the beach. The women told me there were great to use for pedicures and also for cleaning. We had a wonderful day, and after 8 hours round trip in the van, we arrived back home in Comayagua around 7:30pm.…I was in bed soon after!