Valle de Angeles

Thursday, June 10, 2010

It is truly incredible how God has orchestrated our plans this trip!
We had talked briefly with teachers/the school chaplain about taking a day trip to Valle de Angeles, but did not have any plans solidified yet.
Lo and behold, we get a call this morning from the school chaplain saying that there is an IST teacher who wants to be our guide for the day. What a blessing!

Valle de Angeles is a small town about 45 minutes outside of Tegucigalpa; it is known for its colonial architecture and local artisans. The taxi driver had to follow very windy roads around the mountains in order to get to Valle, and we saw a gorgeous view of the valley and countryside of Honduras. We passed casitas selling pottery, lush greenhouses, and tiny turismo cars chugging their way up the hill.

During the drive and our walk around the town, we were blessed to get to know the IST Bible teacher, also our guide for the afternoon. She told me about how Christ had radically transformed her life and the lives of her family members, how she had come to live with missionaries, and how God was there during the hardest time of her life.

We had fun admiring the intricately carved wood, elaborate basket designs, clay pots, and much more! It was the perfect time to come, because it was quiet with not that many tourists. Each shop we walked into was playing Christian music, and I recognized many of the songs from Newsboys to Hillsong.

We had lunch at El Anafre ("portable cooker"), enjoying typical Honduran cuisine and even an anafre appetizer. An anafre is a clay pot with cheese and refried beans melted together on top of a clay plate with burning charcoal; it is typically served with warm tortilla chips to dip in. Delicioso! It was like a Honduran fondue.

We shopped around, and then quickly headed back to Tegu., because an emergency had happened at the school and our teacher-friend had to return right away. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Mall (Las Cascadas) and finally found the grocery store. We walked into a store called Hiper which had neatly organized aisles of groceries, clothes, and household products, and I could swear we were in a Wal-Mart. Sure enough, when we got to the counter, I saw a tag on the cash register that had the "Wal-Mart" logo. Figures that there's even a Wal-Mart in Honduras. We also went to the "Starbucks" of Honduras, which is called "Espresso Americano," although it sells Honduran coffee. This coffee chain is everywhere, and it is very inexpensive (25 Lempiras for Granita de Cafe-about $1.30). I may start liking coffee after all.

On Friday morning, we spent time at different mall (El Metro), closer to IST and less expensive than Las Cascadas. El Metro is probably where I'll be shopping next year. Through these trips, I've been realizing that I won't have to worry about bringing a lot of stuff down to Honduras, because you can get almost anything here in the city. I am grateful to know this before I start packing this summer!