My Life: Tegucigalpa

I was exhausted after traveling all night on the red-eye and our early morning flight into Tegucigalpa. I couldn't sleep on the plane. I was looking forward to getting to our rooms and just crashing but I knew it wouldn't be that easy. We would be staying with my friends grandma and relatives and we would have to make the rounds and meet everyone. Once we had settled in a little bit I think it was obvious I was going to crash so we headed to our sleeping quarters and I was out for several hours. After I was able to catch up on some sleep I was able to focus more on taking everything in.

I think that I should point out how much security there really is when your staying in the city. Our neighborhood was gated and had armed guards at the main gate, then each home is individually gated up and at the top of the walls there are often broken glass or barbed wire sticking out of the concrete to prevent climbers. We were staying next door so you had to have a key or have the maids let you in as you went.

This is the gate to the home that we were sleeping in.

And this is the grandmas house next door all gated up as well.

One thing that I have noticed form this trip is that everyone is amazing hostesses. Almost too good if you ask me. We started the night out with attending a birthday party of a cousin. There was tons and tons of food and candy all around and the women would walk around offering food to you. You don't want to offend anyone so you feel obligated to at least try each of everything. It got to a point were I was stuffed. I had been warned that we were going to attend a bridal shower of a cousin's future wife that night as well but I knew we were going to head home first and change and I figured I better fill up now since my plan was to get out of the bridal shower and rest up. We had run out of time though and headed straight to the bridal shower from the birthday party. Not only was I not dressed appropriately for this occasion (luckily none of us were) but I didn't know a single person, the language, and I was stuffed to the max, or so I thought. We got there and it was a 4 course meal and oh it looked amazing. How could I resist not trying everything, just a bite (or the whole thing). I didn't want to regret not being adventurous but now I know why Lourdes said she gains like 10 lbs on these trips. Doesn't this bridal party meal look amazing?

Lourdes mother reminds me so much of my husband Todd. She is an animal lover and honestly goes above and beyond to save animals. She was telling me the story about how she came to be the mother of this gorgeous owl. She had come across a homeless man and gave him some money. In exchange he offered her this baby owl that was sick and dying. She explained to me how she had to sleep out on the couch sitting upright all night and had to have the owl tucked inside her chest area to this owl warm and alive. She continued to tell me that the owl had actually died several times that night and she rubbed her hands together and brought him back but one time it wasn't working so she called her daughters who were back in the states and asked for help. She then attempted CPR on the little owl and it came back to her. They have this amazing bond and when he hears her voice he starts looking around and hoping around his cage. They were telling me that he often gets out of the cage when he is outside but doesn't fly far and always comes back. It was so amazing to experience touching a wild owl that feeding it. Most people can't say that they have done that.

While in Tegucigalpa we visited the LDS temple that had been built recently. I knew this would mean a lot to my brother since he wasn't serving in the country at the time of a temple being present. It was interesting to hear the battle that the church went through to get a temple here and what a big deal it was on the location of the temple. They were telling me that when the temple was getting dedicated everyone knew about it in Tegucigalpa and that even the president came. It was gorgeous and had an amazing view of the city. It was interesting to see where the original plan was to be built but this location seemed so much better. You could see it as soon as you landing in your plane and the view was amazing. Interesting how that stuff seems to work itself out.

The following day we knew we needed some relaxation time so luckily their aunt invited us over to visit her house and swim in her pool. It had an amazing view of the city as well and luckily today was a gorgeous day. It had rained every other day since we arrived and I didn't really care to get stuck in the pool on a cold rainy day. It did end up raining today after all it just happened after we got some sun.