Getting orientated

First and foremost, Theo and I made it to Esquipulas! A lot has happened in the first three days and hopefully I can remember at least a bit of everything.

Our trip to Esquipulas was more or less uneventful. The trip was about 4.5 hours or a little more although it was only 220km. We immediately understood why it takes to long to get anywhere. There are mountains everywhere. The country is absolutely beautiful but it takes a long time to get anywhere. The mountains are covered in dark green vegetation and often topped off by clouds. Our arrival into Esquipulas was a bit shocking. Not the city, but actually getting off the bus. See, we arrived in Esquipulas not knowing if there would be anyone from the Monastery there to meet us at the bus station because we came a day earlier than planned. We emailed them to let them know but as it turns out they didnt check the email until that day. So here we are standing outside the bus with all our luggage, being hounded by 8-10taxi drivers all hassling us and asking where we want them to take us. We had no idea where the monastery was, or where a phone was to call. We didnt know if we should just start walking or ask to find a phone or what. Finally, after telling several drivers we were looking for the Abbey, one gentleman told us he would take us there. He took my bag and was our guide. The Abbey was only a few blocks away and it all worked out.

The monastery is connected to the huge basilica in Esquipulas. The basilica and monastery, both, are gorgeous. The living area in the monastery is set up in a two story diamond surrounding a courtyard filled with plants, flowers, and palm trees. Our rooms are on the ground level. The rooms are small but nice, each has a desk, bathroom, shower, bed, and plenty of storage space. The beds are quite hard though. The mattress is a soft foam pad about 2.5 inches thick on top of a wooden frame. At least we know we wont have bad backs due to a squishy mattress. I immediately put my camping sleeping pad under the mattress to get an additional inch of padding. It helped a lot, and the bed is quite comforable now.

The first couple days we have had no responsibilities other than just to get adjusted and get to know the area a little bit. We took one day to explore the monastic gardens and citrus orchard. The plants and trees are amazing. There are so many different plants here. Several plants found only as house plants in the US grow freely as well as many gorgeous flowers. I will be sure to take pictures and attempt to post some soon. We also toured the city a bit this morning. We found an ATM that accepts my card so I actually have money now!!! We also bought notebooks and tape to decorate our rooms with pictures as well as shampoo and a cheap cheap backgammon board. All in all, it was a very successful morning to get supplies but moreso to get to know the city a little bit.

Lastly, a big step was taken today to get us integrated into a mission. Three coordinators of two different medical mission projects from the US arrived today. We med with them and spent the afternoon getting to know them and learning about their missions. One mission is in the second week of November and the other is in April. The missions bring about 24 medical volunteers (some of which are doctors) who visit rural mountain villages to give care, distribute meds, and teach basic health. Theo and I are going to be an active part in these missions. We will be going along with the groups each day to the various villages as well as being an integral part in the communication line between the US and the various organizations in Esquipulas. We just got out of a meeting about the upcoming missions. It is very exciting!

Well, I think thats about it for now. We are still actively working on our Spanish. Our comprehension is increasing much faster than our speech. I think the biggest part is getting our ears accustomed to the speed at which they speak.

Peace