Trouble-Free Trio

After a slightly nerve-racking scramble to make my flight at the Houston airport this morning, surviving one of the "top ten scariest airplane landings in the world" (which was surprising not that scary), and causing some slight suspicion at customs in Honduras with 700 eyeglasses, my arrival to the clinic and the apartahotel in Tegucigalpa went very smoothly (discounting the crazy Honduran driving and bumpy roads, that is)! The wonderful and welcoming (and hilarious!) Señor Alex Flores chaffeured me and two other UFS volunteers who arrived today (Leah and Ryan) from the airport to the hotel and around town this afternoon, taking care of some preliminary errands: checking into the hotel, meeting some of the ZOE clinic's staff, exchanging dollars for lempiras, eating our first Honduran meal (tacos cazadores con queso en tortillas de harina...mmm!), and doing some grocery shopping. Leah and I are sharing an "apartment" room with a kitchenette, so the three of us who arrived today are planning to try our hand at some cooking! 

Weather-wise, today was hot and very, very humid. A little different than the Austin heat I'm so accustomed to! And as per the weather forecast (which seems to be identical nearly every day), a thunderstorm began just as I started writing this post! 

One of my favorite anecdotes from the day:

When Alex picked us up from the airport, the first song on the mix CD in the car was "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus. I am officially convinced that American pop music is omnipresent. Alex skipped many of the songs on the mix CD (Lady Gaga and a few rap songs), assuring us that the CD did not belong to him. Later, when we rode in Alex's own car, we listened to his favorite Christian radio station, which he deemed as much more acceptable. 

As for some of our other adventures of the day... the three of us dived into using some Spanish on our errands at the grocery store and negotiating prices at the hotel and overall, we simply tried our best not to look like a bunch of gringos (which is nearly impossible as a blonde!), but that will definitely take some more practice. 

It sounds like we will not start working in the clinic until Monday, and we're not entirely sure what the rest of the weekend has in store for us, but after being introduced to some of the staff members at the clinic today, I am very excited! The doctors and staff were extremely welcoming and genuinely excited to see us. One of the Unite For Sight directors even invited us to church with her on Sunday! We also met a couple of the volunteers who have been here for two weeks. From what I gathered, we have a lot of hard work ahead of us, but it will be rewarding and it all will be done in great company! 

A church and a hillside in Tegucigalpa

Ryan, Leah, and Blair - The trio that arrived today!