The Macdonald files » Uncategorized

Last post for awhile (I think)

admin — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 18:37:43 +0000

Hi we have had a good week, full of the knowledge our trip is coming to an end, which is always bitter sweet. The kids are excited to come home, and so are we but also so sad to leave such special friends and not know when we might see them again. Hamish and I were talking about how we feel like we have two different lives, and when we are either in England or Honduras it feels like home, and its always hard to leave but equally great to be there, its very weird, and a bit unsettling but looking forward to seeing friends and family, though we wish we could bring the gorgeous sunshine and mountains with us! It has been Semana Santa this week(HOLY WEEK),which is the biggest holiday in the central American calendar, there is a party feel in the air, lots of catholic processions with statues and coffins, and music so loud ,my head is full of the rhythms even when its turned off. There are tourists everywhere and the valley has been crowded, yet we went to Teguc the other day and it was like a ghost town, so strange…there was no traffic.
We are going to a sunrise service at the church in the city!that will be a first but should be lovely.Afterwards we are all going to a posh hotel for a buffet breakfast,so we are looking forward to that tomorrow.Happy Easter to all at home,hope you have great celebration services.
Hamish saw a dead horse being driven past our house the other day, you see some bizarre things here. Talking of bizarre things. We went for a meal without the kids and whilst walking back got a bit of hassle from a man who really was way too drunk to harm us.A few minutes later we saw a man on a motor bike all over the road(pitch black) we were laughing saying he looked drunk ,then the iron maiden t shirt gave it away, it was the same guy. We fully expected a heap at the bottom of the hill, but as he approached the final steep hill up to our house he fell to the floor. The road is awful at the moment its just thick dust and nothing can grip. We spent the next few minutes getting him and the bike upright and out of traffics way then he fell in the hedge, it was so funny I couldn’t contain myself.He gave me his helmet and apologised profusely and said he’d been on the local moonshine, whilst Hamish got on his bike trying to start it again.They eventually got it up the hill, and he was very grateful for the help! talk about drunk driving. It was so comical ,he was like Manuel off fawlty towers and a scene as ridiculous but it was true. We see some sights.
Well we set off on Tuesday on a bus to San Pedro Sula for our flights home.Its a long journey back and we have a busy time when we return as we are only home one night then head to Devon for Paul’s wedding.Please pray for a good and safe journey back,don’t like the flying part even though getting through Honduras on a bus is by far the most dangerous bit.We tried to change our tickets to fly out from Teguc but they couldn’t which is a shame,the only disadvantage of cheap tickets.So we will see you soon,take care all our love Rachel and Hamish Seth Darcy and Flora.x

Seth’s birthday

admin — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:18:07 +0000

Well we apologise for the lack of photos we have had no success in sending them but will keep trying and will try and send extras soon. Seth had his 13th birthday on Tuesday, we went to a water park near Teguc and had a great time going down water slides some were pretty scary! I think me and Hamish enjoyed them more than the kids. Seth took three of his friends from the finca and they enjoyed it we are now the proud parents of a teenager…..one week in we are surviving! I spent a couple of nights staying in hospital with one of the girls who had an operation, which thankfully went well and she is recovering nicely. We have had loads of forest fires here but the bomberos seem to have diverted most of the danger though some have been pretty fierce, apparently we had an earthquake in the north, we read about it in the paper after the event I am pleased to say we weren’t aware of it. We have had a very busy week and feel rather tired tonight (am writing this whilst a party is going on in our house full of young people celebrating Danilos birthday, we picked up Chinese and there is a huge cake in the fridge!).
We visited Cesar who is director of a school in Guanacaste a rural community which is very poor and cut off from things. Cesar has been working there for three years and has done an amazing job with the school and community there. He has the support from Jenny Cox and team who are the charity CH Trust. They have sent out school supplies including desks and chairs, and a whole host of other things. The community had no electricity but the trust sent out a generator and now college classes can take place after the school day has finished and classes in the evening are teaching parents to read. Cesar has managed skilfully to get parents in the community involved. Parents come in every day to cook food for breaktime,which ensures the children are getting some good nutrition, the whole community seems proud of the benefits of improved education and environment, and it is clear they are working together well to better the whole community. It really was an encouraging thing to witness, and shows how a little aid put into capable hands and people taking responsibility and ownership of it can really make a huge difference. It was refreshing to see a state school doing so well, most of them have absolutely nothing and 1 or 2 teachers teaching every age group in one class with absolutely no resources. I was encouraged that Cesar was doing further study so he could climb the ladder to a position of authority in education in this country and his hearts is to get the school functioning well then go onto a help another one which is great. Both Cesar and the CH trust are doing a great job and may even need your help. Please check out their website if you have anything to donate.
We had a nice afternoon taking some of the older girls swimming at the park. They really appreciated it, we all had fun.
Our two girls were both sick the other day..Perhaps gulping to much water in the pool. They had fevers but got better really quick which was a relief. Our health has been great this trip none of the usual stuff, I think our stomachs are rock solid now.
We haven’t had water in our house this week which has been a challenge its been very hot and dusty our feet look disgusting. We fill up the pilla and throw brown looking water on us the first thing I am gonna do when on English soil is have a hot soak!! We all had a shower this morning it came on!!I was so happy!!it went off again mid morning!!!oh well it means no washing up tonight, we count our blessings.
Sang in church last week, went well, and it’s so refreshing to do something creative. It was Palm Sunday and we all got palms to wave and me and our midwife Northern girl friend from Hull got me giggling till I was crying. There was bits of corn stuff all over the floor from all the kids, and she said” I hope someone’s got a decent hoover,….A Dyson it just made us laugh, it was such a northern thing to say, in the middle of the worship time we were shaking with laughter ,like a couple of naughty kids! We are catching up with more people this week and we are very aware we are soon going home and it’s sad. We are ready to go home in some ways but we will be out again soon we hope. We would love to bring family and friends out here. Well I will get back to the party Danillo has just had his head pushed into the cake(a custom here) now my children are covered in egg icing and we have no water to clean them..Lovely! But they are smiling and making happy memories. Love to all will see you soon. Rachel Hamish and children.

The North Coast

admin — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:46:17 +0000

Well since we last wrote we travelled down to Trujillo, a place we visited when Seth was a baby. Seth was very travel sick on the way down, and sadly didn’t aim it out the window, and had to sit next to regurgitated melon for a couple of hours. We stayed in the same hotel which had a nice pool but looked very run down and spooky we were the only ones there! The kids were delighted to find a tarantula and rescued it from the pool. It took a few strikes at Seth but missed thankfully! The owner of the hotel had a stroke a while back and is desperate to sell it as all his family are in the states, felt really sorry for him, trapped by the recession. He kept asking us to buy it. They think every white man has money, and dropped the price to about half a million dollars. Seth asked us to buy it for him….the entrepreneur wanna be!!Not quite like buying him a bike. I don’t think the guy realised we really didn’t have the money.Hey but if any one reading this wants it, go for it, great potential and loads of land. I did tell him I would tell my rich friends!!
There were lots of Iguanas there and Seth in chasing one fell off a wall, or rather a rotten wooden post collapsed and he fell barefooted in a load of jungly brambles. I heard the scream then he appeared with blood dripping down his arm and leg which he had scraped quite badly. He was smiling even though he looked like someone had beaten him up! He thought all the blood was cool…It’s a boy thing!
We met a lovely lady in Trujillo who introduced us to her family I ended up with a gorgeous 3 month baby boy sleeping in my arms he was gorgeous.Didnt want to give him back. We visited a museum which was run down and closed. We also visited some hot springs which were great. It was touted as a resort with a spa. Again we were the only ones there, and they didn’t even have a drink for visitors in the fridge. Again the guy said no one is travelling and business is very bad. Though we had boiling hot springs all to ourselves it was lovely. All in all Trujillo felt more run down and neglected since we last there which is sad, as it’s a very beautiful place. The kids and Hamish walked up the mountain behind the hotel. Very tropical and dense, they enjoyed exploring. On our last night we had a terrific storm wind and rain so bad I thought we were in for another hurricane we got soaked .We then had to catch a 4am bus in this storm in pitch black, but it wasn’t too far. The bus crawled along unpaved dirt roads in driving rain for the first 7 hours. We averaged a speed of 20 miles an hour. To make matters even worse a guy brought his three huge sacks of fish freshly caught and was going to Tegucigalpa with us. The smell was awful and everyone who got on the bus said,pescado(fish)!It was like cod liver oil. The bus was so crowded there were 5 on a seat made for two and the whole centre isle was people crushed together standing. And still the bus would stop for more. It just makes me laugh. Our bottoms were numb. The next 6 hours were on faster roads which made us feel as though we were going to arrive after all.
There was a bit of excitement later on. One of the bus helpers lost his wallet which had about 35 pounds in. which is a good couple of week’s wages. He looked everywhere to find it. Then there was a rumpus as he marched a man off the bus and started searching him, I thought we were all going to get the same treatment, but no, he obviously suspected this man of robbing it. It all got a bit heated and the guy said he couldn’t check down his trousers and pulled out a police badge (or a fake one not sure).Another guy piped up that he had a machete on the bus. He told the guy he wasn’t going any further on this bus so he tried to get a taxi, with the victim in hot pursuit. No taxi would take him and he wandered off down the road. Everyone on the bus was now gawping to one side of the bus like a soap opera in slow motion seeing how it would all pan out. The guy who had lost is wallet then grabbed a passing pickup truck and rallied some help together and went after him. A couple of minutes later they drove back triumphantly with wallet in hand. He got back on the bus and told us all that one of the men had a gun and they had threatened to shoot him if he didn’t return it. He had hidden it in his pants! Everyone was pleased that justice had been done it was like a feel good movies happy ending!!He was beaming!!This whole incident lasted just over 30 mins and the bus driver helped him, it just wouldn’t happen in England but glad they all stuck together and got the thief (not that I’m condoning gun crime..As far as we know no one was hurt.)Our kids were very impressed and it led o a very interesting discussion of our justice system.
We got to Teguc. It always amazes me how the houses and shanty towns seem to cling to every hill, it’s a busy, filthy, terribly poor and filthy rich kind of place. You never feel completely safe but I love it, and hate it all at the same time. I never get used to seeing little children with hardly any clothes in the streets begging for money with a pimp watching nearby. There was a boy no older than 14, with eyes rolled into the back of his head, firebreathing by pouring petrol down his throat and setting fire as he blew out. This apparently is entertainment; he then holds his hands out to all the passing cars for money. He has no shoes and obviously lives on the streets. It’s a massive problem here, and very difficult to help them. There are lots of people trying thankfully. We spent the last night in a lovely hotel and travelled up to valle de Angeles again. Its great to be back. Hamish informed me we only had a couple of weeks left. I was so shocked thinking we had more time, it has gone so quickly. Next week we are going to help in a school and community high in the mountains. Tell you about it soon. All our love The Macdonalds.

travels

admin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:42:24 +0000

We have taken a week or so off to holiday away from activity for a while.It involved a 9 hour bus ride down to Sambo creek..a sleepy little place near the sea.It is hot down here and even Hamish has succumbed to sun burn.We then took a boat to the Cayos cochinos(hog islands) and stayed for a couple of nights on an island so small you could walk around in 5 mins.It was beautiful and uncommercialized.We sayed in a garifuna community of 17 families and stayed in a hut with 3 single beds no water or electricity.We were given one bucket of fresh water a day to shower in.It had bugs and mosquitos we were glad we had brought a couple of nets,Flora got hysterical the first night as she was bitten by the ants on our sand floor and just got panicky about sleeping in the pitch black..you couldnt see your hand in front of you!The second night was better and cooler and we installed our own ensuite toilet for those night time needs..a tupperware container.The island shared three tilets which you had to flush with a bucket of sea water.It was very basic and very hot but there were only another couple of tourists there.Our kids played with the locals at cards and played tig around all the huts.They had a great time.I ended up having a conversation about the wonders of breastfeeding with a women of 11 children ,had a lovely chat,and we both shared such similar views.We ate rice beans and fish,the kids werent impressed but survived.We watched the men bringing in the fish and gutting them and throwing them to the pelicans.The local people were fantastic.Would love to spend mord time there though I have utmost respect for the simple life I think I would struggle with it long term.Back to sambo creek for a shower(first in 3 days..boy did we need it).Had a good meal and a sleep with air con..luxury.We are heading off somewhere else soon we will catch up soon and hope to put some pics that will make you all want to come to Honduras on soon.Our love to all always great to hear your messages..keep them coming.Rachel and Hamish and Kids.

Slides, Santa Lucia and Birthday!!

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:43:02 +0000

Latest Pictures

My birthday blog
Since I last updated we went with a load of friends to some concrete slides which the kids love. The photos are a bit blurred but it’ll give you an idea of Honduran recreation. Life continues with schoolwork in the mornings when Hamish is doing construction, and then we join him later to spend time walking and spending time with the kids. Lovely to spend time with friends and seeing a wider view of some of the work going on here to improve the prospects of vulnerable kids, and bring lasting and sustainable change. The youth group in the village is great and growing and the feeding programme at the school is fun ,our kids enjoy mixing and playing football with them. We try and take the kids swimming once a week I kid myself its for reasons of PE ,not enjoying topping up the tan or cooling off in the midday heat! We all enjoy it.Well it was my birthday yesterday, cant believe I am now 40! Sounds monumental. Darcy kept interviewing me saying “how does it feel never to be in your thirties again!”(don’t you love kids)The fact is I feel blessed to still be alive ,well ,healthy ,happy and looking forward to the next forty God willing.
I had a very special birthday. I could tell something was afoot as there was lots of group giggling between the kids….but I didn’t know Hamish had planned a night away in Santa Lucia(a most gorgeous sleepy colonial village between our village and Teguc).It was a small hotel with only three rooms(one for me, one for him, one for the dog!!)Only kidding!!It had the most amazing view of the old church in the centre of the village and we had our own balcony .We arrived in the dark and the view of the lights of Tegucigalpa was spectacular. The photos don’t do it justice we were very high up..but hopefully you can see what a beautiful place it was.We ate in a little place and she was trying to be romantic and dim the lights we couldnt see the menu we had to use Hamishs torch,made us giggle. I think the best part was hot water in the shower I had three!!just because I could!!It was very low key and local, after breakfast the hotel owner got me a little picture off the wall to give me as a birthday present, how lovely. Just love the people here. You might wonder what Hamish arranged to do with our three!!they were in on the plot and had tea at our friend Diana’s then another friend Eva took them to her house for the night. Its up in the mountains and has its fair share of animal intruders so the kids LOVE going there(I would be terrified).Eva had killed two scorpions that day and left them for Seth, they are now in our fridge and we will be bringing them through customs…or trying! My son! They then met us in Santa Lucia we had left money for the 30 min bus ride..but they were delighted to tell us they had hitched two rides here in pick up trucks! Responsible babysitters!I was glad to see them and they were excited to give me some lovely Honduran gifts.The peace and tranquillity was somewhat lost but they enjoyed twisting round in the hammock and knocking a plant off the balcony! Our lovely friend from Hull ,Leonie came over and we had food ,drinks and a chat in the park there whilst the kids played .We had a lovely relaxing day. When we got home I soon discovered a bit of a party had been arranged .The whole night people popped in.Munda made the cake and people brought various things.Munda sang me a song as her present saying she didn’t have anything because she has no money but she has love in her heart for me, and we had a bit of a dance around and lots of fun playing card games. I was so touched some of the kids in the orphanage brought clothes and jewellery of their own for me, love their hearts. We had a great evening, and I felt so blessed and loved I couldn’t have asked for a nicer day.Today we went to Teguc for church with another couple and thier kids who are working out here.We had a lovely time and stopped for pizza on the way back which was really tasty.We also had liquados which are pure squeezed fruit drinks we had carrot and orange and maraca(Passionfruit) they were sooo delicious!!We have just got the kids in bed and I am obviously doing this and Hamish is reading.I have sunburnt my legs terribly today..only sat out reading for half an hour without cream..thought I would be ok…wow the pain!!be wearing very long trousers tomorrow I think.Well best go.Oh been asked to write a song about the plight of orphans in Honduras which I am really keen to do.Need some help putting some photos to the music and making it into a powerful little video which can be used to hopefully bring change here.Maybe Richard or Lexie could help me put it together..its a great project and wont be hard to do..just need to write the music..got the words.Then record it somehow.All very exciting.I do miss my piano .Well time for bed .God bless you all Rachel Hamish and clan.x

Dg Blog

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:47:51 +0000

Pictures of our second week

Well since we last wrote we have enjoyed goi ng to a new youth group started in the village which is doing a great job teaching the youth about the power of God. We prayed for Doreen Batho and there was such a sense of Gods presence and power and we are continuing to pray for that situation. We also went with Leonie to a feeding programme. The children enjoyed serving rice to the school and community there.We took some friends swimming in the park which ended with everyone pushing each other in we had fun.Since we last wrote Flora has lost her front tooth and discovered the tooth fairy travels and deals in local currency.Seth is speaking really good Spanish as are the others really proud of them trying so hard.They even speak in Spanish to each other which is really cute.
I took Darcy and Flora for a drink in a cafe which looked new and had loads of tables it was delicious but so typical of village life here, I will recount the story. We ordered hot chocolate, camomile tea and fresh pineapple juice. Well she sent her little kids shopping..they came back with a pineapple and chocolate powder. Five minutes later they went out with half the pinapple because it was bad and went out for another!!about 20 mins later we got our drinks in various sittings…and well worth the wait but when we came to pay I only had a 100 lempira note(3 pound fifty!!) and guess what..No cambio!!(Change) so her child went on another errand!!Just made me laugh!!!Love the people here no one in a rush and everything is hand to mouth because they cant afford it any other way, but so lovely and hospitable. She showed me the garden which she wants to put tables in and showed me the 2nd floor with the most amazing view of the whole valley.
I love the way horses are still ridden in the streets and random donkeys and horses roam the village. There are chickens everywhere and stray pitiful looking dogs begging on every corner. We fed a few today because were soft and got followed round the village by the mangy entourage. The children named them skinny Billy, big mama (with child….puppies) and old Greg.We finally got shut of them and ended up on a walk which resulted in us being given a puppy!The kids have had a great day..best yet they said.
Our walk was with a group of boys who are always up for some adventure..we walked up to the old silver mines where there is a river and several little swimming holes. On the way the kids climbed a ladder to look into a great big water tank. Then they were fascinated at a very visual sex education lesson involving two frisky horses..Interesting conversation followed! And lots of giggling. Then as soon as the kids saw the water it was off with their shirts and in!! They had a great time was lovely to cool off it was a hot day. Then we played on a rope bridge bouncing me up and down till my feet left the floor which was funny.We continued walking past some pretty desperate looking housing with rubbish everywhere, and I stopped to admire a 4 week old baby boy who was so adorable cant resist a baby. We stopped behind a bit, and when we caught up the kids were playing with a gorgeous little puppy outside someone’s house. We got chatting and they were very insistent that we take the dog as a present!!the kids couldn’t believe that someone would give a puppy away but they looked very poor and certainly didn’t need to find food for more dogs so we agreed to take it to Don Pablo, the guy who looks after the finca ( farm).We carried the lovely little dog on a big detour to hopefully find Don Pablo and hope he wasn’t angry(Hamish was worried we would end up with it!)On the way there we named it Pinky,as it is the colour of a gringo and we thought it looked pale gangly and cute like the Pinky we know and love at home(a la Adam!!!)When we got to the farm Pablo wasn’t there we kept trying to leave it there but it kept following and then he appeared. We presented him with his new dog and he seemed genuinely pleased which was a relief!!What a weird old day. Though the kids loved it, we will go and see the pup lots and adopt it whilst here. The kids are made up. Seth has removed many of its fleas but it still has lots. Well we have a visitor here chatting. The house is never quiet ,always people popping in, a bit like home really. I finally finished a book I had been reading since India, called..the God of small things…a most brilliantly written book, very sad and left me in awe of such great writing…its by a lady called Arundhati Roy and what amazes me it was her first ever book and she won the booker prize!! Love great talent, takes you somewhere else for a little while. Need to get my hands on another book. I love to read but it only really happens when I am away from home. Hamish is still enjoying doing construction work in the mornings and its a good time to chat to the lads. I miss the morning stuff as we try to get schoolwork done then but its still nice to be flexible. Seth is finishing off a story now and its nearing bed time(nearly nine…what is happening to us!)Cant believe we are nearly half way through our stay its going too quickly. We plan to travel later next week and have a little holiday showing the kids some other parts of the country. Not yet decided where to go though it will probably involve some arduous bus trips. Always great to hear from you at home .Love and God bless Rachel Hamish and kids.xx

Sleeping with the Enemy

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:57:43 +0000

Last night we had an intruder. He was a dark red brown, had a coat of armour on and had some deadly weapons in his hands. He could scale walls like spider man; in fact he was first sighted climbing our wall. Hamish sprung into action (though not quite quick enough) to get a cup to catch him in. He had disappeared! Maybe he’s invisible too. Our intruder was a scorpion, and despite taking curtains down and shaking everything in the room out he seemed to have eluded us, which was most frustrating as we were about to go to bed…..and there are gaps under every door including the front one! Every little noise itch or tickle awoke me from sleep imagining the little scorpion had found me. Not! Impressed I am like a woman possessed looking for it! strange little creatures interesting to look at but very painful to have a close encounter with, even though they are not deadly over here which is a huge consolation. The kids were told this morning and seem to be very amenable with the situation….though are very aware of the need to shake out shoes and clothes before putting them on. Well today is Saturday and we plan to do something nice with our friend Eva as the weather seems a bit better, be nice to get out of the house!!
Well since I last posted an update..We went to the local hotel pool to swim and relax with Eva, though it was way too expensive for what is was it was nice to chill out in the sunshine, though we somewhat overdid it and have some sore bits! Sunday we went to the finca church in the morning, where I enjoyed playing a saxophone with kids who really sing their hears out! Then went to the market to buy bread, and hung around the village square which they call parque central, and drank coke out of plastic bags.We then went down to Tegucigalpa and caught 2 buses to get to the English service of CCI church in the city.I sang what they call a special here, I sang one of my new songs and it went down well and they have asked if I can be more involved in the worship whilst here which would be lovely. The only difficulty is getting up and down the mountain on buses for practice, which is not safe at night and certainly not on my own..Sure we will figure something out.
After the service we went to pizza hut with our friend Leonnie from Hull.Sounds like things are going really well for her and the ministry she is setting up is growing rapidly.We will catch up more this week as we are going for a chat(speaking English…whoopee)and joining her to help with a feeding programme they do.
We have walked miles today up very steep mountains in raging heat,so we now feel tired but a satisfied kind of tired!Its fantastic up there!The kids come back with all sorts of berries and chomp on the coffee.A Honduran friend popped in and had tea with us..only pancakes but with fresh limes they were delicious.
Talking of food myself and Flora found a lovely little cafe that does great Honduran coffee and hot chocolate for Flora. The girl spent ages stirring chocolate ,milk ,fresh squeezed orange and chunks of cinnamon to make the most beautiful hot chocolate ever tasted! Flora said it was the best in the world ,and so much better than star bucks!!(a ton cheaper too!!).
We have been eating good local food and found a great chicken place recommended by a local but if it wasn’t you would probably never eat there..its just a wooden shack that only fits one person in,rustic makes it sound palacial,but she can cook chicken! All our tummies have been holding up ,a few hurried toilet trips but nothing more thankfully. Its off to bed now its 8.30!!Well we are up with the rooster!!hope all is well at home lovely to hear from you…don’t check emails every day, and electricity can be really dodgy at the moment which can be a pain. but now we have water most of the day which is better ,it means we can grab a shower at night ..it used to go off at 9 in the morning and come on in the afternoon for a couple of hours and go off at 5.But we could collect water in buckets and have a shower that way, certainly easier when its coming out of the tap, but its all good fun and great to engage in another way of life for a while.Hamishs mum and sister travelled to India yesterday so if you are reading this have a great time .Have fun and enjoy time together in the sunshine. See you soon, the time is flying by too fast 2 months seems ages but it isn’t. Write more soon when there is more news’s PS. the scorpion is still at large! Rachel and gang.

First Week

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:52:39 +0000

Thought I would fill you in on the comings and goings of our first week. Firstly there has been a cold front of very windy, cold and wet weather, we have brought the great British weather with us, and have been wearing fleeces and duvets at night!!I have never known it so cold here, though the sun is still strong and we still have to be careful not to burn whilst out, as we are at the height of Ben Nevis, and can feel the altitude when walking. We have been taking small groups of children out every afternoon which has been great fun, we walk for hours and miles up and down steep mountains ,its something we love to do its so very beautiful here.
In the mornings I teach our children which has been lovely, they say they would prefer to study at home (not sure mum agrees)and I do the floors which get very dusty and muddy. I have tried washing the clothes on the pilar ,a cement washing slab outside where you rub the clothes with soap and water, its hard work and takes ages, but I am in awe of the Honduran women who do this everyday and their clothes are so white!!I need to practice..But I still think I will be hugging the washing machine when we get back.
Hamish has been helping on the construction site of the new commodore (dining room) and he seems to be enjoying his new found muscles!
Tomorrow we are doing some music in a bible school for children in the village which should be fun; there will be 200 kids there. It’s a talent contest (Honduran x factor I fear) and I will be playing saxophone and talking to the kids about using our talents. So excited to have a sax to play, there is one that works in the orphanage so we have been practising some songs for the orphanage church ,Sunday mornings. This Sunday I am singing in the church in Tegucigalpa and it will be lovely to catch up with friends there.
We are very thankful for our lovely little house up the mountain, and are so blessed that Wendy let us use her new house before she did. They also said we can have anyone round and whilst we are here it is our house. They are such lovely and generous people.
Animal encounters….no nasty creatures in house yet, (apart from mice)though we have all had a fair share of mosquito bites. Seth was picking fleas off a puppy at the farm and I think he brought a couple home to join our family. Both he and Darcy are covered in what look like flea bites..Yuk..But taught him a lesson! I found Flora in the orphanage chasing cows, she thinks they are cute, I`m sure the terrified cows don’t think she is! The kids really love all the wildlife and Seth caught a baby chicken whilst on a walk….he was really pleased with himself until its mother leapt out and pecked him I’ve never seen him jump so much, it was really funny, all the kids were laughing.
We were talking the other night about how relaxed it is here even though people work hard. We are also amazed how early we go to bed and how lovely it is not to be distracted by television, phones and constant internet access. Our bodies seem to just sleep and wake in exactly the right time our bodies need, which is so refreshing and different from the UK, where every minute seems to be filled with activity, and every thought of what to do next.
Everyone is enjoying Honduran food and thankfully the kids enjoy the beans, particularly fried with cheese. Seth is the fussy eater yet happily told me for lunch he `d tried chicken livers which he didn’t like but thought the stomach was fine! Everthing is used here, and rightly so. So mums and Dads at home we obviously should be cooking more offal at home to tempt our fussy kids to eat! With that lovely thought we will leave you. We will hopefully send this tomorrow…electricity pending, we were without power last night. All our love the Macdonald’s.

Here in Tegucigalpa

admin — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:57:00 +0000

Some pics: here

Well the trip to Tegucigalpa was an epic 8 hours due to road works and a terrible accident involving an oil tanker which exploded.We arrived in a dodgy part of town at 9.30 pm and were reunited with friends as they picked us up. The journey up the mountain was our first pick up ride of the trip,the kids were so glad to be back..Pick ups are great fun! Wendy and Alberto took us to their new house (isn’t quite finished and they are moving in in a couple of months!!They are kindly letting us road test it).Its a 2 bed roomed house with electricity, a toilet and cold shower, and for Honduras safe and comfortable. It’s in a pine clad mountain side and although the days are noisy because its still a building site the nights are silent apart from the lovely sound of insects that lull you to sleep. Our first morning we woke up to knocking on our door. It was a workman wanting a spade..it was 7am, it made us laugh, its definitely Honduras. Me and Hamish are sharing a single bed..very cosy! Even though I’m only little I like my space in bed poor Hamish has nearly been knocked to the floor a couple of times. Yesterday we had our first animal invasion of a cute little brown mouse, we chased it out of the house then about an hour later another one appeared Seth caught it like a pro,all good family entertainment, we haven’t missed the TV once yet! We have caught up with lots of friends which has been lovely. We visited the orphanage and got mobbed by a load of children and young people we have got to know over the years, its been fantastic to see them all. The place itself has undergone changes and it looks lovely .The houses the kids live in now are beautiful, a great job has been done on them. We have taken the first few days easy getting used to the sun and heat,Flora running around with her friends despite factor 30 got burnt, it is very hot(wonderful after a cold winter).This morning we were woken by workman wanting cement this time stored in the house,then a little while later a gang of kids from the finca(orphanage) arrived all exited to come and see us. Will send some pis of thier gorgeous little faces. We then went to Mundas house who let all the kids make tortillas.Munda is a lovely lady who works tirelessly for the kids and the church. She and her husband always have a smile and food for anyone who needs it, and is a most inspiring woman, but is now struggling to keep up with all the work necessary to pay the fees for university for her youngest son. These are about 65 pounds a month ,so if anyone would sponsor her I know it would bless her and help her out so much. She has a problem with pain in her knees so the extra work she is now finding difficult, and that amount of money for her is a small fortune. So that is one need, but we are surrounded by so many struggling people on the absolute breadline. Many women have to leave their young children at home alone whilst they go to work to provide food. Life is a daily struggle,there is need everywhere…so if anyone reading this thinks they could help ,even a few pounds per month there is loads of opportunity for it to go straight to the people who need it. Today I have been helping write down the words to a Hannah Montana CD for the teenage girls, and Hamish has been chucking rubble in a pick up truck. We will be taking groups of children walking in the mountains to give them some time doing different things, and its really good for getting to know them better. The girls love singing and it would be nice to teach them some new songs(hopefully not Hannah Montana!)We have been eating the local foods and enjoying it, where we live smells gorgeous of pine trees and cumin and coriander, and the sky is a most amazing blue. We will post photos soon. Honeymoon is over!!Alberto brought us another bed today, we were quite happy to share but bless him its nice to have the space. We are all well and the kids are getting along really well together which is a blessing. We will write again soon to let you know what we are up to, as for now its just gone 8 and we are getting to sleep…we will be up early. Miss you all and really wish you could be here with us. All our love. Rachel Hamish Seth Darcy and Flora.

Arriving

admin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:48:09 +0000

Well we got across London on the tube without any major incident,Seth pulled on his hoodie and tried to look suspicious(or should we say more so).The children provided free entertainment in the carriage by seeing who could hang off the high hand rails for the longest. They looked like a family of bats having a nap.The other game for the girls was spinning round the central pole so fast they got dizzy.They reduced the carriage to giggles when they loudly asked Hamish if they could have a pole in our house to play with!Hamishs face said it all!Our freinds Alethia and Alex picked us up and put us up in thier home overnight.It was lovely to catch up with them and see them looking so well.Alethia cooked us a fantastic dinner and we felt truly looked after.The kids let off steam pillow fighting with thier two children…then we slept.After breakfast a taxi got us to the airport in good time.We had just checked in and my folks phoned us and asked us how we were ..then my Dad said youre looking good which I thought was strange,I looked up and they were there!!could not believe it!!made me cry.They had come to see us off(make sure we went!).We passed the time chatting and drinking coffee,and the kids blindfolded Grandma and Grandad and led them around terminal four which attracted some stares.Darcy and Flora took it one step too far and tried to lead them down an escalator.Its amazing what Grandparents will do when they know they wont see the kids for a while!After long waves goodbye we undress for security(thats what it feels like!)and get through with no problems.Aboard the flight to Housten..everyone is excited apart from me who is shaking with terror and wondering why I do this to myself.Once we are up in the air I have convinced myself its good to do things that scare us because it makes you feel very much alive and free..which is a wonderful thing.After a delicious dinner and a good movie I sing along to some great classic albums (the intro to U2`s streets have no name is particularly ace) start to relax and feel excited.As we fly into Newark we see the iconic New York skyline.The flight attendant was great with the kids showing her the land marks,statue of liberty,george washington bridge,and the empire state building.The kids were genuinly delighted to see it and want to go and visit New York,which we cant today as we connect in four hours!Security here is tight and smiles are few, hand signals are prefered to talking.I keep telling the kids off who are joking about and no New Yorkers are amused.Mum and Dad are feeling the jet lag and the kids are feeling our lack of patience.We then fly down to Houston which had just had a big storm and we were told the weather was causing moderate to severe turbulence…not what a nervous flyer wants to hear but it was not as bad as expected and we landed without any problems.It was like the north and south divide ,greeted by warm and smiling Texans with thier slow, long acents and big smiles.The staff called us Baby and sugar!!this is not New York!We had a night in a motel which was great.We have lots to learn from the Americans about family travel.We had a massive room with two enormous beds, tv ,microwave ,fridge and lovely ensuite all for about thirty pounds,with breakfast included.In the uk you are not allowed to have more than 2 kids in a room.Love the American system of paying for the room(feel a hotel chain in UK coming on..watch out dragons den).In the morning we set off for San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras,we had a good flight and saw some beautiful sites out of the window,it was such a clear day.We saw the beliezian reef and cays which were so stunning and the kids took pictures . We flew over all the banana plantations and as we were landing you couldnt see the aiport and it felt we were landing in a field of banana trees which Seth liked!the airport looked like a bunch of tumbledown buildings and we suddenly realise we are here in a culture and country so very different to ours.We get through customs and we see one Amerian lady has been stopped and in her case is a load of bones!!We are laughing with the Honduran security saying its her husband!But we hope it wasn’t!We get in the taxi and are amazed at the heat ,even the wind is hot.It is 92 blue skies and we are sweating.We tip the porters and we get in conversation that we are from England .They seem very excited and Seth gives one of them a British pound.He is obviously delighted wit it and so Seth gives his mate one too which was lovely of him.We end up in a hotel which is luxury by our normal standard but figure we need to rest and aclimatize.It is typially Honduran and looks tired but it is clean and cochroach free and has a pool .It didnt take us long to bare our lilly white bodies and have a dip to cool from the raging heat.We walked around San Pedro and got lots of stares which we thought unusual,but we didnt see any other gringoes .Feels wierd to be an ethnic minority.The children were a little unnerved but were ok.After a typical Honduran meal we went to bed at 7.30 and slept so well.As I sit writing this as I woke up we have tropical rain today ,so we are wondering whether to make our way to teguigalpa today rather than tomorrow.Its an arduous trip through three massive mountain ranges on a chicken bus..it can take anything from 4 to 6 hours….we will decide over breakfast.For now we say good bye I will post some pics relating to this post soon.We are very thankful to be here safely,and excited about the opportunities presented to us daily.All our love Rachel Hamish Seth Darcy and Flora.x.