friday

so, life is absoluetly crazy but completely AWESOME.
don't remember when i last sent a message, but i know that it was while we were still in xela. right now, i am typing from a cafe in copan honduras (yes, that is a new country). it has been a crazy weekend. we finished language school last friday. the night before we had a big going away party which included a dance competition (won by allyn and christopher, though shiloh stole the show. also, somehow kristina and i took 4th, only god knows how). then on friday mornging we split off in groups of 3 or 4 to go to different cities in the plunge (pronounced pluunge). i went with allyn k, kelsey o, and laura h to a town called totonicipan. it wasn't that small and was close to xela. basically we were checked into our hostel by 10:30 after leaving xela at like 9. so with travel out of the way, we explored the city a little (which is known for its indigenous clothes). it was pretty tight. then we took a walk into the mountains and ran into a procession of the virgin of candalaria. it was pretty crazy.
the next day, we got up and went mass (i haven't converted,..... yet) and the priest said some amazing liberation theology things about how there is poverty in both material and personal ways and that only christ can pull them together. it was pretty tight (and i was stoked because i understood basically everything, even being in another language). afterward, we were looking around for something to do and then 34 disney characters appeared comming down the street. they were wearing the HUGE disneyland style costumes and they came and danced for about 20 mintues in the street to a marimba band that was on the back of a flat bed truck. this truck was connected to another speaker truck that was powered by a dude who connected some jumper cables to the power lines. it was pretty crazy. i promise that i will put up some pictures at some point (though not tonight because i don't have time or my adapter with me, so it won't happen for quite a while). after that, we headed to the main part of town and were buying a frozen banana and started talking to the woman who was selling it. she was really nice and gave us some free flan. then as we continued to talk, she revealed that her family was mormon and that they wanted the four of us to come over for dinner. so we did. it was a good dinner. they gave us a full fashon show of indigenous clothing and their family pictures. it was great. then we tried to watch the book of mormon in spanish on dvd, but right as christ was decending onto the steps of this temple, the disk broke. i was curious about what was going to happen next (but again, not going to convert). so then the mom gave us a very heartfelt discussion about how much people didn't like mormons and how they were just trying to present a good life for others. it was quite touching. so we gave them the gifts that we had brought (which was some play doh, pan dulce (sweet bread), and crayons). they were so moved that they gave us each gifts. the girls got whicker baskets and i got A POT. it am very grateful, but my first thought was "how in the hell am i going to truck this through central america for 3 more months?" but it will work out somehow. it was quite a dinner. we then headed back to the hostel to watch the 4th quarter of the superbowl (by the way, the spanish announcers scream TOUCHDOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN, oddly similar to their GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL screams when people score).
on monday morning we headed to antigua to meet up with the group. after a little detour to see a really pretty church and some bad directions on which busses to take, we got there (and were not surprisingly the last group to arrive). it was really great to reunite with the other groups and to hear about all the things that they did during their pluunges (just pronounce it like it looks and you can be in on the jokes).
yesterday, we went to one of the coolest museums that i have ever been to. it started out with a gallery of drawings of mayan artwork and other loca history stuff. as we followed the arrows, the museum just kept on getting bigger. there was a huge room with photography. then there was a cool exhibit that compared mayan and modern sculptures of the same topic (like fat guys or something). then we went out the back door and there were the ruins of an old convent/monastry. it was fascinating. there was a really cool part on spanish art, two crypts that you could see the bones of people that had been buriried there (including one that you stood on glass and looked down at the bones, CREEPY). also there was a candle making place. then cheri and i accidentally got lost in the hotel part of the museum, which turned out to be pretty cool because there was lots more cool art. then, after a lunch "entrevista" with our kim, our spanish prof, cheri and i went on a self guided tour of catholic churches in antigua. the first was the main one which was huge and beautiful. my favorite part of this one was that there was a cross that didn't have jesus on it. it was in a display case (sorry to any cathoics, but i don't know the real word for what the sculptures are kept in) that was supposed to show the trinity. i have always thought that catholics worry too much about good friday and that protestants only think about easter sunday and thsi was a cross over between the two. it was great. the second church was the main one in the central park. it was really cool and had a great painting of the last supper, but also had a plasma tv on the wall, kinda strange. the third church was definetly one for the common people and had a beautiful mureal (spelling?) of monks doing good work for the poor. YEA FOR LIBERATION THEOLOGY. and finally we hit up the church called san francisco. their is a saint named hermano pedro who is buried there. it was pretty awesome. also it was a jesuit monestary. so yea, i got a lot of education out of that day. i should note that antigua is a beautiful city and it felt that behind every wall was going to be another beautiful courtyard. i really like courtyards. also, at night we did kareoke. i think that our rentition of sexual healing brought down the house (no, it sucked).
this morning we hit the road at about 5 and got here to honduras by 1. we are a little angered because we didn't get new stamps in our passports.
tomorrow we are going to go to the copan ruins and get our homestay stuff. that is the big thing about this message. THIS IS MY LAST MESSAGE FOR 3 WEEKS. i absolutely love you all and will let you know about what happened when i get to the other side, but this is the last time you will be hearing from me. i think that there is a mail drop before then, just a reminder.

prayer requests
safety - we are going to be alone for a long time. i don't want to get sick or anything crappy. it will be tough.
awkwardness - the first few days are going to be hard because the family will really not get whey some gringos are hanging out in their town. yea.
language - i think i'll be fine, but scholastic spanish is very different from what they speak in the campo (fields)
god - he is going to some awesome things, i have no doubt about this, but just a little prodding for reminding him to work in my wouldn't hurt
me - yea, i just would love you to pray that i do what i am supposed to do, whatever that is. yea. i have now idea, and i am completely ok with that, but i would love prayer.

so this is the end. i love you all and will hear form you when i get back? (please don't let me have an inbox that only has aswu messages). yea, that was a helpless plea. so thank you for your prayers, thoughts, and love. I will let you all know how life is on feb 27 or 28 (depending on how much "oh my gosh, we need to hang out as a group" time we need. so, thank you for being special.

so remember that "the worst sin in the indifference of society." please tell me about what you think about this all. so yea, sorry, i'll get off my soap box and just send this message

With all the love that our good lord has placed in my heart and in the heart of those that love him,
joe