Pollo

The last week and a half have been pretty busy, so I'm going to split the events into two posts. Starting on the 14th, two of MCC's IT techs, Sam and Emmanuel, joined us in working from the office here in SPS. They were able to work on our computers and do some updates that would've been more difficult to do remotely, like update my graphics drivers to hopefully address a flickering screen issue I've been having.

Meanwhile, I was helping get ready for the regional retreat by making a new nametag template in InDesign, making some of the content that would go in the folders everyone would get, printing out habitación occupancy pages, and other such details.

On Saturday, Emmanuel, Sam, the reps and their kids, and I met at the church for the BBQ chicken fundraiser that the congregation puts on several times a year. I think the last one happened during our miniretiro in Copan, though, so this was my first time getting to participate! Pollo menonita has a reputation for its tasty secret sauce... and each iglesia in the Honduran Mennonite Conference has a slightly different recipe! We had been treated to pollo menonita when we'd met with Pastor José during orientation, but that was with the salsa recipe of his other congregation.

I always thought that was just a counter before... but no! Remove the tabletops that usually cover it up, and it's a giant fire pit used for grilling chicken!

Insulating the chicken after grilling so it'll still be warm when peeps come to buy it

Most folks take the chicken to go, but the seven of us ended up just going upstairs and eating in the office kitchen (AC 😅). You get half a chicken, cole slaw, and 2 tortillas for 100 lempiras (about $4)... So I definitely had leftovers for my lunch on Monday!

The reps were going to take S&E to the Bazar del Sabado, so we said seeya and I took my bike to the shop since the cord connecting the gearshift to the front gear set had snapped a couple days earlier (luckily, the chain was on the middle gear, so with the 7 gears in back, it was still pretty versatile). While he was at it, the mechanic also adjusted my brakes and put on a new, more comfortable seat that I'd purchased back in September but hadn't had the time or tools to install myself.

Bike in the shop

Comfy new seat! Oh yeah, and a bit of spray paint on the handlebar connector. Looks nice!

I was a bit taken aback when he said I didn't owe anything, but could tip him if I wanted, since he'd used spare parts in good condition that had been left over from other bikes—so I tried to pay him fairly for his time. I tried to estimate quickly what that would be, and then later looked up the average hourly wage in Honduras. I think I did pretty well; I probably aimed a little high... but I'd rather be on that side of fair! When I got back on my bike and realized how smoothly it rides now, I decided it was worth every lempira!