leder legends

Here are a few pictures of our daughter Nathania and her friend LIsa...in Alaska. They are skating on some lagoon and having some Alaskan fun while we sit and watch our green lawn. She was bemoaning the fact that I had not even mentioned her in my last posting but that's what she gets for moving thousands of miles away!! ha ha

Merry Christmas everyone! I am posting a few pictures of the kids. We really love all the picture-Christmas cards we have once again received this year. Just got a nice one from Chuck & Louise. Thanks so much. You'd think that because I love getting these picture updates so much that I would reciprocate in kind ...the problem is that I am just not organized enough in the summer before I go to Honduras. One of these years you MIGHT get one in the mail from us. In the meantime, rest assured that we love getting your Christmas photos and have a grand display of them on our refrigerator. Until we get a new one, the old one stays on display. It's a great conversational piece. So here are a few of some of us.

Well, I'll back in Michigan-via Toronto. I got back Wed. night and then the next morning early we headed to Brampton to celebrate Tante Tini's 80th birthday. Her brother from Winnipeg (plus a niece and nephew) and her sister from Seattle (plus brother-in-law and niece) came to help celebrate. All of Arie's brothers from Edmonton (and two sisters-in-law) came plus two cousins from the Netherlands. It was a happy crowd.

Well tomorrow is the day for final goodbyes. Today has been full of last minute details and tonight is the official farewell for the families that have housed, fed, counselled, doctored, etc etc all the students this semeter. It would be impossible to do a program like this without them. Today I'm interviewing the professors and making plans with them for next semester (Development program) and next fall (Spanish program with Ed Miller). I still have some grading to do but that might not get done until I'm in the plane. I really need to go home and do laundry. We are leaving all our extra toiletries and towels and clothes we don't want to take home for two organizations. So by tomorrow night , Wednesday, Dec 13, I will be back in Grand Rapids and back to a normal life...how "normal" that will be waits to be seen. Thanks for your interest in Honduras and my adventures there.

High above the stadium is a park called Monumento a la Paz. I finally figured how to get up there today...one of the things on my TO DO list before I leave. It was so peacful up there and the view was great.

These pictures taken in Vancouver area says it all! (my sister's backyard)

Greetings from chilly Tegucigalpa....it's been downright cold here ....for the Hondurans. For those of us from the northern realms it's been heavenly. No sweating, rings and watches suddenly are loose, blanket on the bed ..etc. etc. HAPPY AMERICAN THANKSGIVING to you all. Since we are in Honduras, we are having class this morning and dinner at 6:00 this evening. That's the best part about Thanksgiving Day ...getting together with family and friends. Have a great day!

We spent some time at the McCaw Mt. Bird Park. It's such a lovely treat. I encourage to visit the Honduras blog (link on the side) and find out what else I'm doing. Arie is coming for his second visit on Thurs Nov 2 and the students are heading off for a week of vacation that same day. Last year we had a hurricane dump lots and lots of rain on Honduras and especially the Bay Islands where most of the students were at the time. We are hoping for better weather this year.

Pensamientos (thoughts) it is SOOOO hot this year but it finally rained last night…more than a 10 minute shower… and so it’s cooler today. 5 and ½ days seems very short (Arie’s visit) time flies…how long is this semester? next week is our excursion to Guatemala , then Ed comes for a week and before you know it will be vacation time (and Arie’s next visit) it is very strange to think that this is the last time I will be doing all of these things!! Skype is incredible! I talked with Sarah and Nathania at the same time the other day. digital cameras…what can I say? there are 22 fantastic students here in Honduras this semester they speak Spanish with each other ALL the time (like they promised -way back in April) they work hard and are dedicated to their studies they are patient and flexible or try to be! (When things don’t work out as planned, when someone doesn’t show up… etc) they all have a Honduran conversation ...

Hi Tamsin, We thought of you a lot during our visit to Roatan. Here's why:

Arie and I had a good visit...5 and 1/2 days is much too short! We flew to the island of Roatan and spent three days at an all-inclusive resort called Fantasy Island. It was the first time we had ever been at an all-inclusive and although it was a very nice place and the food was good, I don't think we would do that again. The setting was incredible...warm, blue, clear water, white sand , lots of sun, music, hot weather (33-34 C) and air-conditioned rooms etc I must say it was relaxing and it was hard to get back to work yesterday. The students all survived without me but yesterday I spent what seemed like hours talking with students about a variety of personal issues. At least there were no emergencies. I must say I enjoy this group of students! Last night 16 of them took me out for dinner- I got to choose the restaurant. It was a Mexican one...and the waiters all sang Las Manaitas while I had to wear a huge sombrero (mariachi type) and hold a mini beer keg that had a baby bottle...

I can't believe we've been here three weeks already and yet we've done so much that it's also hard to believe that it has only been three weeks. Besides the trip to La Tigra we have also visited the US Embassy and the Honduran Congress. One of the girls got a photo of me.

It is a warm Saturday. The heat has dissipated somewhat by the recent rain showers. The fans in my apartment are all on, filling the air with that white noise that fans make. Above all of that is the music of a very good mariachi band that came to serenade the neighbors for a special occasion…probably a birthday. We walked out (like other neighbors) to watch and listen for awhile to this group of singers and guitar and trumpet players. It seems so strange to hear mariachi music here in Honduras because this is a very MEXICAN thing. It gives the whole night a festive air.

Hello everyone. It's been along time since I've had a chance to update this blog. I do hope you are looking at the blogs that I have linked to this one...especially the Calvin students in Honduras. That is where I am once more...in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. It is good to be here once again amd a little bitter sweet to think that this will be my third and last time. We arrived here 10 days ago and have been very busy. I have a new apartment this year that is in walking distance to the university. It takes me 15 minutes and I love it but would love it much more if it wasn't quite so hot and humid. Here I don't perspire...I sweat!! I have internet at the apartment now so I will be trying to update more faithfully. We spent the weekend up in he National Park "La Tigra". Our bus takes us to the small town of San Juancito where Jorge meets us with his 4w drive truck/jeep. We pile all our stuff in the back and 4 lucky people get to ride up while the rest of the group be...

Our hosts: Tamsin and James, Nathania's good friends and neighbours who provided us with a place to sleep etc. They were so kind to let us use the soon to be nursery...so exciting!

The view of Anchorage from Flattop The weather was spectacular The girls made it all the way up while Arie and I enjoyed the view from a lower vantage point.

We left at three in the afternoon from Seward. It was a gloriously warm (especially for Alaska) and sunny day. We got a great show by the HUMPBACK WHALES and the ORCAS. The glacier was impressive and noisy.

Our Vacation in Alaska Arie loves watching the planes. Alaska King Crab is costly but quite tasty. We spent a glorious week in Alaska with our two daughters, Nathania and Sarah. Nathania is an RN and works and lives in Anchorage. Sarah was there visiting her and doing an internship in speech pathology. The girls and their Dad. We went to Alaska for the Halibut Portage Lake has icebergs. Foxy fellow! The Da Vinci Cod