Monday, February 1, 2010

Weeks 3 & 4 Update

Hi everyone and happy February! Hope you are all doing well and for those in the midwest I hope you are staying warm!

The past few weeks here have been really good. In between classes, we've had more opportunities to get off the boats to explore the surroundings and interact with the people here. Last week we made a 21 mile sail (took about 6.5 hours!) to one of the other Bay Islands called Guanja. We spent one afternoon in town and as soon as we got off our dingy we were immediately welcomed. People here are so friendly and hospitible. One guy named Wilson who is a ferry driver on the island took us on a little tour. We took a hike up into the mountains and saw some beautiful views, and then he took us around the town where we got to chat with some of the locals, play with some of the kids, and really just soak up their culture and watch them going about their day. Here on Roatan, we've been able to venture out a bit during the weekends. This weekend we went to the Western End of the Island, called West Bay. It's a really nice area, mostly targeted to tourists. I've been able to get out and do some running which has been awesome. It's amazing how much "cabin fever" really rings true when living on a boat 24/7.

Classes are going really well. Last week we dove into learning about about some of the world's major religions-Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. I am so fascinated by this stuff; learning about other's belief systems and worldviews. For my next book report, I am reading a book called Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias. It's a pretty high-level book about the absolute truths/claims of Christianity and compares/contrasts Christianity with other world religions. Really great stuff if you've ever wondered WHY you believe what you believe. Two weeks ago our first book report was due. I read a book called Jesus of Suburbia by Mike Erre. I would HIGHLY recommend this book if you are looking for something new to read!

Next week we are going to be doing a "mini-outreach" and doing some work here in Roatan which should be awesome.

And now, here's a few tidbits about Honduras for you:

The main local food here is called Bailladas. Bailladas are delicious homemade tortillas with beans, cheese, eggs, and ham. Here on Roatan we have found a place that we go to a lot because the bailladas there are so amazing. Not to mention cheap. It's about $1 for one baillada and it's enough food to feed 2 or 3!

Honduras is the third poorest country in the western hemisphere after Haiti and Nicaragua. Here's something really really sweet though. The other day when I was at the market, I saw this poster hanging outside that read "Help Haiti" and listed some things like carwashes and other various fundraisers and stuff. How cool is it that these people, people living in the third poorest country in the western hemistphere, are willing to give what little they have away to Haiti? Amazing.

Ninety percent of the population is Mestizo, which is a mixture of Amerindian and European ancestry. About 7% belong to various indeginious groups, and about 2% are African American. The official language is spanish, although most people speak some, if not fluent English. White people like me are called Gringos :)

The main religion is Roman Catholic.

Roatan, the island where I'm at, is located along the second largest barrier reef in the world (after the Great Barrier Reef). This makes for some sweet snorkeling and scuba diving!

If you have any questions or would like to know more about what I'm doing, what I'm seeing, what I'm learning, Honduras, Roatan, or whatever please drop me an email! I love hearing from you and also want to keep up to date on what's happening back at home!!!

Please also let me know how I can pray for you. We've been doing a lot of intercessory prayer, which is praying on behalf of other people. I'd be honored to spend some time praying for you.

And since some of you have asked, a big prayer request for me this week is having PATIENCE and humbling myself before my team members. Living in such close quarters and spending every waking moment with the same 8 people can really start to take it's toll, so patience is definitely needed! :)

Thank you all for following up on me and for your love and encouragement. Miss you!

Blessings and love,
Brittany

1 comment:

  1. Hi Brit! How are you? I hope everything is going great. You are a great writer so it's really easy to read your blog and get lost in what you're doing. Miss you bunches!!!!

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