Day 1 ... Team Orientation

Day 2: Sunday jan 6

Orientation and Culture Day (Muy Excelente!) by Erin Smith

We woke up bright and early for our first round of culture and safety orientation meetings. The coffee was hot and the group was cheerful. It was helpful to learn about the local economy and housing crisis. HFH Honduras has built thousands of houses already but there is still so much to be done! Luis, our local coordinator, informed us that on a team of 12 people, we can expect about 3 to get diarrhea...that's 1 out of 4 - yikes! (We call that "diarrhea math"...)

After our orientation, we drive for 1 hour to Gracias, Lempira (a cute little town a bit farther up in the mountains). Our visit to Gracias includes touring the Fuerte San Cristobal, a few old colonial churches, a bustling street market, the town plaza (park), and the local shop of popsicles and pickles! I especially loved the Bromeliad and orchids growing out of the tree branches in the town plaza.

Our last stop was at the local swimming hole for a late lunch and a dip. Lunch was delicious barbecued chicken with the usual trimmings of rice, retried beans, queso, fresh salsa, and tortillas. It was fun to swim at the Balneario Aquas Terminales with all the local families. We practiced our cannonballs and had fun talking with the local children. They are keen to practice their English and at the same time have a great deal of patience for our novice Espanol!


It was a wonderful first day and Max, our bus driver, did a great job acting as our local historian for the day. We were feeling pretty acclimatized and very much enjoyed the scenery on our drive home. The weather here is sunny and cool. The air smells of wood smoke and local spices. Horses graze in the ditch along the roadside. Gauzy clouds hug the forested mountaintops. We are all madly in love with the country and the people and I can see that everyone is quite impatient to get to the job site tomorrow and get dirty!