Settling In

I am glad it is the weekend! We pretty much got thrown right into the ring when we set foot into Comayagua. We had to report to school on Thursday to meet with administration and the other teachers, to prepare our classrooms, write lesson plans, and practice our schedule. Once again, we were given our limited school supplies - one pencil, one notebook, one red pen, one black pen, white out, tape, a stapler, a ruler, scissors, and an eraser - however, instead of the typical one dry erase marker, we were given two (one red, one black) this year! I guess they had to replace so many so often last year that they went ahead and handed out two. The way it goes for replacing broken, empty, or disfuncional supplies is that you take the old one to our librarian, Michi, she inspects it, then exchanges the faulty product for another one. This can be a bit tricky at times because it is habit just to through a pen with no ink in the trash as soon as it stops working. In that case, you just have to do your best to sweet talk Michi, in hopes for a replacement. (This has happened to both Greg and I in the past!)

We had a half day of school yesterday (although it doesn't officially start until September 1). Yeah, we don't really understand that either....only about half of the kids showed up so the school day (only from 7:10am - 11:00am) was relatively calm. Teachers were free to leave around 12:30pm, however, there was a surprise party for our principal planned to begin at 1:30pm. A few of us walked down to Wendy's then promptly returned to catch the beginning of the fiesta. Well, once again we were fooled by 'Honduran time' and showed up a whole hour before the thing kicked off! The principal was pleasantly surprised and all the teachers serenaded him with Honduran classics (accompanied by our new music teacher's keyboarding skills). They passed around cake, ice cream, of course soda for all to partake in the celebration. We finally headed home exhausted around 3:30pm. We hung out around the apartment for a while (unsuccessfully attempted a nap) then headed over to our friends' house for dinner. Earlier in the day we were able to get our hands on the remote control for the A/C unit in our bedroom! (We live in a two story town home now....there are two bedrooms upstairs and each one has an air conditioner.) It feels awesome, and I am actually wearing long pants and a hoody right now because I am so chilled!

We have many things to do this weekend, and hopefully we will get them all done (or at least most of them!) We´ll give you an update next week....

Greg´s New/Old Hairdo!

Okay so I realized that I uploaded all these photos last spring when we were here, but never actually posted this entry. Although it is from May, I found it too entertaining to just delete. I hope you do too! Let me walk you through the pictures....the first three are a group of teenage girls from the orphanage having the time of their life putting braids (trenzas) in Greg's locks. They cracked up when they put in the 80's 'side pony' to separate his hair! Next, Greg poses with his stylist then wants a close up to show the detail! And finally, my personal favorites, what Greg's hair looked like - closely resembling the finished product of a krimper- after we took the braids out (He had them for about a week and a half and even wore them to school!)

We're Back!

HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY MAMA FARST!!!

We arrived safely last night in San Pedro Sula at about midnight. Once we got in, things went surprisingly smooth! All of luggage was there (and in one piece), we made it through customs in a snap, and the men driving the shuttle from the Hilton were waiting just outside of the baggage claim area, sign in hand! We got into the hotel just fine and were in bed probably by about 1:30am. We had a great night's sleep, a nice hot shower, and tasty breakfast all at the hotel. After we ate, we walked down to the mall to pick up a couple pair of black pants for me. Last year, the school gave us material (probably the heaviest, most uncomfortable they could find) and we had to hire someone to make us homemade slacks. Needless to say, they were less than flattering, so when I got the word that this year we were on our own to get our uniform bottoms, I ran straight to the mall in San Pedro in hopes for a semi decent selection. (I can't ever seem to find clothes to fit me here since I am tall, and just plain bigger than most of the people here.) I lucked out and found 2 pair at Carrion, and plan to have a couple skirts made for me somewhere in Comayagua. We headed out bound for Comayagua around 2:30pm. One of the school's administrators, Loyda, picked us up in her truck. We loaded it down good with all our baggage, and while she was in the big city, Loyda picked up some necessities for the school as well (filing cabinets, bulk paper products, etc.) that we had to squeeze in. Somehow, we managed to fit it all in the bed and on top of the truck cab. We secured a tarp over it all too, in case of rain. Good thing we did too, because we passed through a couple of showers while we were en route. (It is the rainy season!) We reached our apartment at about 6:00pm and were greeted by our good friends Kyle and Crystal Little. Thankfully they brought us an air mattress, sheets, and pillows, as right now our place is pretty bare! (We need to get so much stuff - shower curtains, a fridge, kitchen table, trash cans, food, a broom, etc.) We went to dinner with the Little's at La Casita (they picked up us in their new ride, they bought a SUV this summer while we were gone) and now we are back at the apartment, getting ready to crash. Somehow we have wireless internet, so that is how we writing this blog! Sweet! Although it is only 9:00pm we are feeling sleepy, since Honduras is two hours behind the east coast. I think we are going to turn in now since we have to be at school at 7:45am. (As you can see, Greg is already in bed!) Have a great night - God Bless You!

On note of sadness....we just plugged in Coby (our trusty little 13 inch TV that gave us hours of Spanish TV last year) and he has officially bitten the dust. His picture and clarity were definitely declining toward the end of the year, but I think we have finally lost him for good now. Bummer!

Goodbye USA, Hello Honduras!

Greg cheesing in the airport!

We are writing this blog from high above the earth! We boarded our plane in Boston and now are bound for Honduras (by way of Florida). We arrive in San Pedro Sula, Honduras tonight, just before midnight. We will stay at a hotel there this evening, then someone from the school will pick us up tomorrow to head to Comayagua (about a 3 hour trip one way).

Things didn't quite turn out as we had hoped in the Major League Lacrosse finals in Boston (Los Angeles lost to Denver in the semi finals on Saturday) but we still had a great time! We got to visit some historic sites, eat some delicious food, and spend time with friends and family (my parents and brother came along, as well as Greg's dad). Since we went to Boston last Thursday, we had to get everything all packed and ready for Honduras about a week ago. That actually made things nice because with all of that taken care of in advance, we were really able to relax during our last few days in the USA. In fact, we even treated ourselves to some spa services! I got a manicure and pedicure and Greg got a full body massage. It was fun to get pamped one last time before heading back. We have been running around a little trying to pick up loose odds and ends (sinus medicine, vitamins, deoderant, stamps) things that are easier and cheaper to buy here. We spent a couple hours at Panera Bread last night using their free WiFi to download Skype (an internet phone service). We plan to get the internet at our apartment this year, so Skype will allow us to make calls and stay in touch better! (We hope!) We tested it last night - headset and all - and it seems to work. Now in Honduras it could be a completely different story, but we are keeping our fingers crossed!

We are looking forward to reuniting with our friends, students, and everyone at the orphanage. Apparently we will see our students sooner than we thought! We were told that school starts on Monday, September 1. However, we just got word that we will actually have a half day on Friday, August 29! Let the fun begin already! I almost forgot how they just switch thing up on us at the last minute - and you just gotta hope you find out one way or another! (Our friend, Jenny, gave us the heads up this time!)

So here we go! Round 2 in Honduras! Thanks for your continued prayers, support, and encouragement! Give us a shout in our guest book (right side of the screen) if you want, we love hearing from you! Next time we write, we will be in Honduras! Adios a los Estados Unidos!

Houston, We have a BABY!

Alyson Joy Hamilton made her debut on Saturday morning 8/9/08 at 9:50am. Fortunately, I stayed overnight with my sister and brother-and-law on Friday night so I was there on Saturday morning for all the action! It was a wonderful blessing to be in with my sister as she delivered the little miracle. She barely made it to the hospital in time and in less than 45 minutes of our arrival, little Aly came into the world. Today they got to go home and now we are all just hanging out enjoying the new addition to our family.

Oh, and her big brother, Drew, is pretty excited too!

Summertime Fun!

So, I just noticed that it has been two months since our last post - not to mention, we have only written once since arriving back in the United States! The blog was such a big part of our lives while in Honduras, such a great way to keep everyone updated on our lives, but now that we are back, I guess it has fallen by the wayside a little. Well today, I can finally mark "write a new blog" off of my ever growing to do list!

This summer has been so amazing! From cross country traveling and new hair cuts to visiting loved ones and delicious American cuisine, we have nothing to complain about! Life is good! We have done our best to make the most of our time here and our days have been filled with shopping, cooking (with an oven!), lacrosse, sleeping in, boating, grilling out, playing Wii, napping, spending time outdoors, hanging out with our nephew and Godson, and much more! We also have been working (by we, I mostly mean Greg) and traveling a ton! We spent some time in Texas visiting the Bice clan, and while we were there took a road trip 6 hours northwest to visit Greg's twin brothers at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. I have been fortunate to watch Greg play lacrosse for the Los Angeles Riptide 3 times this year (twice in Chicago and once in LA). I am going to get one more opportunity to see him live at during the Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend in Boston at the end of the month. You can too - the games will be broadcast live on ESPN 2. The top 4 teams in the league get invited, and LA is one of them! (Make sure you vote in our new poll - upper right hand corner of the page.) Looks like we will be heading back to Honduras directly following that weekend. School starts on September 1, so we will be back just in time to start round 2 in Comayagua! We miss our friends there - especially the kids - and look forward to getting back and seeing everyone! I am sure Greg looks forward to actually settling down and staying in one place for more than just a few days! He travels twice, sometimes three times each week to play lacrosse games or work at camps. I know he really enjoys what he is doing, but the travel really wears on him after a while! He officially finishes on August 15 then will return to Ohio for one week before heading to Boston for the finals. We plan to leave straight from there to go back to Honduras.

We have already begun gathering essentials and have started to pack, but we have something even more exciting on the horizon. My sister, Stephanie, is due with baby #2 anytime! Her official due date in August 13, but last week after seeing her doctor, she assured us that it could happen any day now! We are anxiously awaiting the new baby's arrival!

One thing I can definitely say of our trip back to the USA, is that we have really learned to take pleasure in the simple things. I know that sounds so cliche and cheesy, but it is so true! It is funny because all of these sayings, prayers, and quotes that I have heard for years are finally started to make sense! I never realized how fitting the "Serenity Prayer" is and why it is so important to stop and smell the roses! I have determined that true happiness is really a state of mind and positive attitude really makes life so much more enjoyable. Greg and I also have realized how blessed we are to have such a wonderful family and amazing friends! So many that it is impossible to visit them all in our short time home. We have found ourselves getting frustrated because we just can't get out to see everyone, but have to realize what a blessing it is to have so many great people in our lives! That being said, we love you all, thank you for your continued encouragement and support, and apologize that we haven't had the chance to visit with you all personally! Remember, you can always come down and visit us in Honduras - we will even have a spare bedroom in our new apartment! Anyways, thanks to all of you that you have contributed to a wonderful summer and fabulous year! May God continue to bless you richly - just as He does with us!