By reh on 3/26/2004

March 25, 2004

Walked to Vicky’s office (Cesar’s mother-in-law) to say good-by.

Tegucigalpa International Airport is small with few gates and only the basic accommodations. Flew out a little late.

Arrived in Miami a little late. Took long to process into the US. Missed my connection to Atlanta. Stayed over, flew out at 2:30 PM. Got home at approximately 7:30 PM.

The magnitude of what I am attempting to do without understanding why I am doing it made this day an emotional roller coaster.

By reh on 3/25/2004

March 24, 2004

Compiled notes all morning.
Cesar and his wife picked me up at 12:15. Went to a quiet mountain town with steep, narrow cobblestone streets and a white church with twin steeples and a view across a valley.

Went to another similar town that has become a weekend getaway for residents of Tegucigalpa. We stopped at a street vendor for a late lunch of dough that is filled with cheese and grilled. This is covered with a relish of sliced onions, peppers in a vinegar-based solution.

Cesar called the teacher, Roxanne, in the evening to see how the first day went. Anabell was a little late and ate everything in site. Anabel showed up for breakfast all scrubbed up and dressed for school. Apparently, the ladies made a special trip to get water to wash her up. The women even found two ribbons to put her hair up in two pigtails.

Roxanne had to explain Anabel’s return to school ... Read More »

By reh on 3/24/2004

March 23, 2004
Met Cesar’s father-in –law for a beer at a corner store where the owner sells bottles of beer and patrons stand around the street corner drinking the beer. Very interesting and well-educated man.

By reh on 3/23/2004

Cesar and I walked across Central America Highway 1 (CA-1) a few blocks from the border crossing on the Honduras side. We entered a white with blue trim block building that is a general store in the front room and a restaurant in the back. Cesar’s greeting with the woman behind the counter was friendly; he had had business dealings with the owner in the past. We each took a Coke from the upright cooler next to the door and found a table by a window. Once seated, I said ¨ You know I didn’t come this far just to buy a scrawny little urchin some school clothes. Now what in hell do we do?¨

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I arrived at the house from my CA-1 trip on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 at 7:30 PM and finalized the trip log on Saturday, February 11. That was supposed to be the end. The trip log says ¨The End¨.

I don’t know why that little girl caught my attention. I have seen thousands of street urchins in many third worl ... Read More »