MyShadowProductions #75 - Honduras/Loma de Luz Days 34 - 37

 Hola amigos!

It rained all day Saturday except for just a few breaks for a couple of very short walks. Good day to do laundry, watch it dry on the hangers and clean my room.

Sunday was a different story weather wise so I decided to hike to Balfate again. This time I hiked along the beach on the way there and along the road on the way back

The beach didn’t disappoint with different views and a little “wilder” feel. In the movie/video below you will see some locals in the water. They seemed to be stirring up the sand and then swirling the water in the large flat bowls. I am thinking panning for gold of some sort ?? The rivers/streams that empty into the water there come from the mountain I wrote about in Post #67.

The stone wall and steps in the movie/video stretched a good distance and it would be interesting to know the history of the property there.

One section of the beach was cleaned by someone with a rake, the rake marks were still visible.

This week so far has been busy with miscellaneous tasks like replacing screens on heavy wooden storm doors, cover plates on electrical boxes in the new electrical/generator building, fixing an air conditioner drain line in a surgery room and other top secret jobs :)

The surgery room was recently expanded and has 8 large windows with an amazing view of the Caribbean in the far background. Here is a photo and you will have to take my word for it that the ocean is in view:

One of the secret tasks was replacing a board on the suspension walk bridge, not like a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame but kind of, right ??

It got pretty windy late in the afternoon so I headed to the beach after work in the hopes of seeing some bigger waves. The waves were bigger and white caps far out from shore. I couldn’t resist and went for a swim and playing in the waves. Ended up with two pockets full of sand from being pushed around by the waves. It turned out to be another lucky day, rain was moving in and I saw another rainbow:

Almost forgot, but up the road from my room there is a point that has an alternate view of the sunset. Here is a photo the night I climbed the trail there (the beach sunset is still number 1 with me):

One last note, I am making a change to my itinerary and will be leaving Loma de Luz this Saturday, December 11. I am going to the La Ceiba Airport early Saturday morning and taking a short flight to the island of Roatan. I will stay and explore there until December 15 when I will fly to San Pedro Sula, get my COVID test and fly to Houston and then Denver.

The island will undoubtedly be very bland and boring but I am hopeful that I will have a few good photos and things to share :)

Adios for now!

MyShadowProductions #74 - Honduras/Loma de Luz Days 29 - 33

Buenos dias!

Loma de Luz has several acres of African Palm trees that they grow for harvesting the fruit and selling to producers of palm oil. The African Palm fincas (farms), much larger in other areas of Honduras, are/can be somewhat of a contentious issue based on the view and situation of the individuals involved. I have no business having an opinion on that :)

I find the Fincas/Palmeras very interesting and beautiful though. It is really cool to see the ferns growing where the lower dead palm branches have been removed. 

MyShadow in the movie/video below is looking at the very bright orange/yellow color on a dead palm branch, a really cool and unexpected color to see.

Also in the movie/video you can see the harvested palm fruits stacked on a platform waiting to be loaded on a truck.

Here is a movie/video created from my photos in the Fincas:

Each morning before work starts, the workers gather on benches and read from a daily devotions book and a few guys share a “commentario” if they feel the urge.

It is usually a group of 10 to 25 guys, ranging in age from 15 to 60+.

During Friday’s devotion there was an Arcoiris (rainbow) to the west, I couldn’t resist taking a photo:

The 2 boys in the red and blue shirts are 15 year old twins and I think that is their father in the yellow jacket. I have seen guys wearing t-shirts that say things like: Stanford Lacrosse, Denver Broncos logo, Michigan State, Breckenridge, Puma, Adidas, Nike, Black garbage bag raincoats, etc.

Mario and I finished the 2 work tables and I made 4 stools for the niños at the El Camino Bilingual School:

Most likely, I will get to paint the stools on Monday :)

It is a rainy day here, I used some of that time to sand a bunch of small pieces of cut wood that I salvaged at the shop while making the tables and stools. I hope to give them to the school and hopefully the niños can have fun painting and learning with the blocks:

I continue to enjoy the ever changing view at the beach. The mountain to the West at the beach seems to attract clouds :)

And the Caribbean has its own relationship with the clouds and the hunting pelicans, amazing:

Feliz Deciembre (Happy December) !

MyShadowProductions #73 - Honduras/Loma de Luz Days 26 - 28

Hola amigos! 

The weather was great Saturday and I hiked to Balfate and walked the beach there and hiked back, total around 8 - 10 miles? Not sure why I “hiked” part of it and “walked” the other??

Along the way, I saw a few opportunities for a “joke”:

3 HP (horse power) grass mowing at the Campo de Futbol (soccer field) above.

I don’t know if it crossed the road, so I didn’t ask it Why? (above)

And a photo not a joke:

This is the kind of tree they use to make the hand hewn boats. It was around 3 ft diameter and over 60 ft tall. 

Here are a few movie/videos created from my photos:

Shelf-making with Mario continues, we finished our third set today and have a couple of work tables to start on tomorrow.

I was looking back at my photos (before shelf-making started) and realized that Mario is not shy of a camera:

And, why not? A quick movie/video of the shelves including a piece for the Christmas Nativity Scene :)

As far as I know the election and post-election have been peaceful. I think Honduras is getting their first female President. When I was in Balfate on Saturday there were military/national guard personnel in town near the election headquarters.

Try wouldn’t let me take photos. Also, when I was in Roby’s Cafe Express, an international election observer (my term) came in with a Honduran escort and bought a Coke. She said she was from Switzerland, thought Coke would be safe, didn’t want to try local coffee, her loss :)

I liked the view when I stopped on the Balfate beach to take this photo but I like it even more seeing it in a photo, I should have cropped the small piece of debris at the bottom :)

Have a great day!

MyShadowProductions #72 - Honduras/Loma de Luz Days 19 - 25

 Hola amigos!

Struggling with putting thoughts on “paper” at the moment so I just wanted to share some photos over the past week in a movie/video.

Yes, that is a “Poinsettia Tree” in the movie/video and in the photo below:

Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Honduras as a whole but at Loma de Luz it is considered a “holiday”. A potluck Thanksgiving dinner (turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, etc. with desserts) was held at the Guest House’s large common area and was attended by over 60 people. Gringos and Hondurans alike.

The Honduran Presidential Election is Sunday November 28 and word is it can get a little “exciting” with demonstrations and gatherings following the results. We will see!

Hoping to take a hike west to Balfate today and see it in the daylight. I went there on Tuesday night with some other visiting volunteers and long-term volunteers to eat at Arena’s Restaurant (the fish in the movie/video) and get a snack at a new little coffee shop.

Hope you are having a nice weekend!

MyShadowProductions #71 - Honduras/Loma de Luz Day 18

 Hola!

Saturday was my 18th day here and I decided to walk through the Canadian Development nearby, Villas Paraiso Escondido (roughly Secret Paradise Villas) and access the beach from there and walk West a little and then to the East.

Here is a map with my route and a closer view of the Villas development:

It turned out to be a great day with many, many photo opportunities so you may have movie/videos overload if you are brave enough to finish this post.

By the way, my photos include some locals and I asked each of them before I took the photos :) (except guys in the boats) :)

The security guard at the Villas gate was very nice. I knocked and asked him if I could walk to the beach. Puedo caminar a la playa? He said Si 

Here are three movie/videos:

I have been told that someone donated their Villa to Loma de Luz and it is available  for Loma de Luz long term missionaries to use for a “beach getaway”.

The water was so clear and inviting I stopped for a swim about midway heading East.

The sailboat looked like such a peaceful ride, I was hoping to catch them at the shore and ask if I could pay for a short ride but they didn’t come to shore while I was there.

Here are a few short videos using the iPhotos memory movie tool:

I definitely plan on making this trip a few more times. Hopefully see a sunset there too.

Here is a photo of my collection of rocks and shells so far. Nothing amazing about any of them, usually just sitting by themselves on the beach calling my name.

                                     Feliz Lunes !

MyShadowProductions #70 - Honduras/Loma de Luz Days 15, 16 & 17

Hola everyone.

It rained very hard just before sunset on Wednesday. This is a photo off of the balcony of my room showing the water shooting off the roof. Wondering how they knew how far from the roof the water would shoot? The photo doesn’t show how heavy the rain was. Since that downpour which lasted a couple of hours the rains have been very sparse.

I thought I would share some photos around the Hospital itself. In the last couple of days while working near the shop, I have heard a few newborn babies crying (they were born in the Hospital, not the shop) :)

Coming uphill from the gate this grey wall will be painted white and will have signage. The main entrance to the Hospital is to the right and Emergency is to the left. 

8 Casitas where people who live far from the hospital can stay if they need continuing outpatient follow-up.

The infamous storage container with shelves by Mario and Kim. It will be painted and the doors replaced with a roll up door.

They hand mix the concrete and pour the pavers on site in a form that makes 6 separate pavers.

                         Now, some food photos:

Jugo de Piña (pineapple juice) and chunks of watermelon, cantaloupe and pineapple.

Menu for La Parilla the restaurant by the gate: I added the currency conversion note. They don’t have all the items every day, it varies. Same owner as the Cafeteria at the Hospital (where I get most of my food).

Someone brought a huge bag of naranjas (oranges) in the morning for everyone to grab a few.

I like this, Aloe Vera water with grape pulps, very tasty and not a tremendous amount of sugar.

Hamburquesa with papas fritas. Yes, that is an egg and the meat is thin and well done/charred. Pistachio ice cream with almond bits.

One of the naranjas sliced, fresh and tasty but not overly special.

Strawberry ice cream.

Corn tortillas, rice, chicken and vegetables.

Corn tortillas, rice, pork chop and vegetables.

The drink is mixed juice of carrots and oranges.

We finished the shelves in the container (I haven’t taken a finished photo yet) and have started on some new shelves in the shop. The old arrangement has been demoed (including the green workbench) and we have made some of the shelf “ladders” but we are waiting on plywood to cover the wall before we can finish the shelves:

Today I got to work on a 1” water line re-route which was fun!

On Thursday I had lunch at Dave and Teresa’s house, this is the view from their back porch:

Have a great weekend! 

MyShadowProductions #69 - Honduras/Loma de Luz Days 13 & 14

Hola!!

Sunday started off with some rain but it soon became partly sunny around 2 pm..

I decided to take a walk to the East towards the little town of Lucinda. On the way there I passed the El Camino Bilingual School (will visit there someday when kids are in school) and the Palmera Este (East African Palm farm) which is also a part of Loma de Luz.

Also, saw these guys along the road:

MyShadow liked the view of the clouds hugging the mountain in the distance and a painted concrete wall which may be a school?

Life looks pretty challenging in Lucinda BUT there were kids playing and laughing, men and women waving Hola and roosters crowing. 

On the way back, guess where I stopped?

Earlier in the morning I took a quick visit to the Hospital’s nice little courtyard and took photos of art that they have on the walls there.

Here are a couple of movie/videos of art around the Loma de Luz campus:

This artwork caught my eye out of the group:

This artwork has a lot going on and has its own appeal:

Love the frames too, maybe Mario and I can make some of those when we finish the shelves? Worked on them again today and should finish in the morning unless someone decides to add something :)

The repaired jeans were hanging on my door in a bolsa (bag) when I got back to my room around 4 pm. They look good, we’ll see how it works.

                             Have a great day!