A hot day today, with several showers that blew through this morning.  That makes the air steamy! 
I spent the morning washing down 4 concrete outhouses and fogging them with mosquito spray.  The next time we went out, cockroaches were laying all over the floors...about 40 in one stall.  whew!  Don't know what the local teachers thought when they used the bathrooms during a break in their workshop on the Catholic Compound.

Ash Wednesday Service this morning in the sanctuary near our sleeping quarters.  The church bell rang out, "Hallelujah, hallelujah, sing praises to His sacred name, hallelujah, hallelujah, sing praises to His name.  Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth.  ...."  I can't remember the rest of the words to this praise song....  There will be another service at 7pm that some of us will probably attend. The nuns are walking around with ashes on their foreheads. 

Each evening we have a meal brought in - last night we had baked pork, boiled potatoes, red beans and rice.  We have been promised a dozen coconut rolls every other today.  Perhaps tonight!  Maybe I can get the recipe!  (First you climb a coconut tree....)

One team member, Jack from Minnesota, has been coming to Honduras for more than 25 years.  He is a newlywed of 3 weeks, a widower marrying a widow. 

Another team member, Bill, is from Texas and captains a tugboat that services oil tankers, offloading oil at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Platform (LOOP).  He pushes tankers into place, pulls pipes to them, etc.  He's our translator, having lived in Mexico for a time.  

The third of our team of five is Drew. I would call him, AC Drew - All Contingencies Drew.  He ships supplies for any contingency and is delighted when one of the remote village teams calls on the radio for some supplies that they are missing. This could be anything from medicines to personal items (tents/sleeping pads lost en route) to radio gear.  He also sets up a more than adequate living arrangement here in this cowboy town.  He is a nurse anesthetist (he was able to teach me how to pronounce it) in real life in Minnesota.  He also has been coming down since before IHS was established. 

Our patient with the abscess did make it into town last night, and is probably in the hospital being seen.  One of the teams needs a different radio antenna and other items.  They will be delivered tomorrow by "express motorcycle" in 3 hours, a trip that takes 7-8 hours by truck.  (The motorcycle can take a shortcut, no doubt like a motocross route)  "Express" means that you're hiring the driver, and is more expensive.  Sometimes you can find someone going anyway, and get a cheaper rate. 

This morning, the translator, Bill, and I went shopping for lysol, rubber gloves, a scrub brush, and chlorox.  (Not in Drew's contingencies.)  I was well equipped for my morning task.  Everyone is appreciative.  This afternoon, I may be scrubbing down a tarp on the compound yard, to clean it up after a few years of use.

Thank you for your prayers.  Blessings,  Alice