Houseguest

A month ago, wow actually nearly almost two, we had the blessed opportunity to have a dear friend of Ashley's from Honduras come stay with us for nearly three weeks. It was Anel's first trip to the United States so it was such a treat to be a part of so many firsts for him. He was so sweetly excited to get to see snow for the first time!! He was open to trying many new foods and I enjoyed cooking extra desserts and a variety of foods. Ashley told Anel he wanted him to stay around because we were eating more sweets and bigger meals! Anel said he gained weight while he was here. I was just so relieved he never got sick! I did, however, fail at making coffee. He never complained but I do not think it was ever quite right and certainly not gourmet! He did like trying some different sweet coffee drinks with Ashley.

We were spoiled as a family as we took the oppotunity to take a few road trips and eat out much more than we usually allow ourselves to do! One day we left early and ate breakfast in Mississippi, then lunch in Alabama after going to a cool NASA space center and then supper in east TN. The next day we toured a really neat cave with a gorgeous waterfall and then went to the TN aquarium. God is so creative!! Eating out and doing tourist things gets expensive but we sure did have fun. We also went to the zoo in Nashville one day which was neat to see Anel's reactions to all the animals. He commented on how much people in the United States ate. I so enjoyed talking with him about his perceptions of the US and differences in our countries in regards to food and tradition and family and work and money. I felt bad for him working on his English here. He does very well with his English but had a hard time understanding people here in TN. I have trouble understanding some people here and I speak the language!!!

Anel had quite the red-neck experience of the US. He spent a lot of time shooting guns and riding 4-wheelers and fishing. He seemed to enjoy the quiet of the country and the open space to do such activites. He was very sweet with Jonathan and played with him and looked after him. Jonathan really enjoyed having him here and loved excuses to do more of his favorite things like shooting and fishing and riding 4-wheelers!!

We have many fond memories of our time with Anel. We look forward to his family coming with him next time. though a next time is not all that possible. Such a trip is a huge expense. He said many times that this was a chance of a life time. We will enjoy seeing him and his family again on future trips to Honduras. They have been incredibly helpful to Ashley in his work there and so hospitable to Ashley, Sherlynn and Matthew. Ashley has a great deal of respect for Anel and the godly man he is and how hard he works for his family. I knew he really appreciated Anel when Jonathan made this comment and it just rolled off Ashley's back:

Anel is a great mechanic and was very helpful while here. Jonathan's four wheeler kept acting up and Anel worked a lot on it. Ashley worked on something on it and Jonathan asked him if he knew what to do. Ashley told him yes, he went to school to learn about mechanics. Jonathan then said, " Daddy, I think Anel went to school longer than you!" It was priceless!!