Is that the air??

A week ago last Thursday Andrew and I flew back to San Pedro after spending over two weeks in the states visiting friends and family... we spent a short day and a half in Albuquerque before driving to Hesston, KS with my dad and his wife Brenda to celebrate my gram's 95th birthday. This was the main reason for our trip and was definitely worth the effort. During the three-day birthday bash we caught up with the Linds, ate a lot of my aunt Marilyn's good food and, along with all my relatives, bid on Gram's quilts and other homemade quilty things... we were all given baggies with 50 dried beans for the auction. Gram wanted to see her treasures doled out to loved ones and wanted to have some fun while she was at it. There were minimal tears and I think we're all still friends.

We took Amtrak from Newton to Goshen (in my opinion the train is THE WAY to travel) and spent a good bit of time there staying with Andrew's parents and remembering what it's like to have a really active social life. We even made it to the MCC relief sale in Goshen where I was able to get my fill of apple fritters, sausages, and egg rolls. I savoured biking everywhere I needed to go (even at night!!!) and still feeling safe. It was a really great trip.

On the flight back "home" to San Pedro I was thinking about things that struck me as odd or notable about being in the states for a while. I felt inundated by politics and the fear of economic disaster... I probably shouldn't have watched so much news. I also saw the towns I call home in a new light - the streets looked cleaner and wider for one thing. After being accustomed to being among a gringo minority among the generally mestizo Honduras, I was struck by the incredible diversity of Chicago during our 3 hour train layover downtown. And then struck by the whiteness of my Goshen community, especially at the MCC relief sale. Despite a good trip it did feel good to get back here. As we stood and stretched with the other passengers aboard our TACA airlines plane at the end of our flight, the back door of the plane was opened, letting in a wall of hot, humid air that engulfed us all. The loud woman behind us was coming to Honduras for the first time to visit her Honduran in-laws with her husband and kids exclaimed loudly, ¨What is that smell?? Is that the air??!! Oh [explitive]! We're going to sweat our [different explitive] off here!"
Home sweet home.

Some photos of the birthday lady and one of her (4) identical cakes: