Hola amigos in Pittsburgh. I bet you wish you were here. I clock the roosters each morning...seems to differ by how wet or dry they are??? On wet nights (we're talking thunderous rain), they have squawked as early as 12:30 am, and definitely by 2:30 am, but on dry nights, they usually give us until 3:00 am each morning. Then we are treated to a scene not unlike 101 Dalmations, with the dogs howling across vast distances...only it's with roosters, hundreds, across these mountains...an incredible and unbelieveable sound (especially when using the outdoors bathrooms in the middle of the night, and one squawks right behind you!) It is a wonderful experience, really, to hear, and they make all kinds of sounds, with a rare "cock-a-doodle-doo" thrown in. Their sounds continue until the sun is up....and by then the pigeons roosting outside our door and the birds are chiming in, as well as village dogs, goats, and whatever else is wandering around.

Today, we ate breakfast quickly, and rushed on the rocky village road to get to the school early (by 7:45 am), so that we could set up 4 stations, 2 with Henry the Hand for handwashing techniques, and 2 with microscopes to see germs. We "ran" many grades today, first, second, third, seventh, eighth, and ninth grades, with grades three, four, and five scheduled for tomorrow. The older students saw photos of bacteria, with teaching from our wonderful minister Medardo, who doubles as interpreter, teacher, custodian, and driver, who is passionate about cleanliness due to the swine flu pandemic here (over 1,000 cases) which their government is doing nothing about. We had teams of 4 at each table, with our wonderful Honduran teen interpreters helping, as usual, with everything.

We worked until noon, then had a program from a few students, celebrating their culture through dance. Can't wait to show you all the pictures of this week. After lunch, a walk back (I call this the Health Spa...walking up and down rocky dirt roads in sweltering heat, sweating profusely all day long...checked on the scale, and I have lost 4 pounds so far!!!), we had a great lunch, a beef soup with bananas, yucca, and carrots, with lime juice squeezed into the sauce. A quick lunch, then a race back to do the next program at the local community center, where we were conducting a bible lesson (10 commandments with hand signs for each, a puzzle game of the 10 commandments, a bookmark craft, and a bible for all).

A joy: Sharing art, a universal language, with the students, first coloring books, then liquid acrylics on paper to train for the mural, and then, after questioning the principal for interest and desire, a wall mural on an outside wall of the school, depicting a rainforest scene with animals. I brought over enough supplies to paint the entire length of the building with many scenes from a book called "The Umbrella" by Jan Brett, which the interpreters are translating now, to be presented tomorrow for the school's library. The second grade teacher loves art, and is excited to take on the project which we started. I was able to draw one mural (14 feet by 10 feet) and with the help of Bo, and 3 of our 5 teen interpreters, make a good start on the drawing...always surrounded by crowds of curious students.

A sadness: passing skeleton dogs on the streets, and around every building, with heads down, eyes averted, searching endlessly for food on the ground... They often meet with harsh words, kicks, or stones, and I have never seen anyone show kindness or pet a dog yet... they breed unwanted and unloved...so different from many dogs in our country.

Carole will tell you about the incredible afternoon!

See you Sunday night, Barry and Rebecca!

Love to you all,

Andrea