Amigas del Senor
The Long Trip Home -- Feb. 6, 2008
By Beth Blodgett, missionary to Honduras

Dear Friends,

We did the quick (week and a half) orientation to monastic life for Autumn. She is a very apt pupil and there is the temptation to brag. Well, suffice to say, I felt confident about leaving Prairie and Autumn. Prairie had been gradually taking over more and more of what had been "my" responsibilities before I left.

Monday morning (Feb. 4), we took our backpacks and walked to the highway. Since my backpack was quite a bit heavier than the others, they traded off with me some. We caught a lift all the way to Tocoa almost right away.

First order of business, public bathroom. Second order of business, call the attorney. We have been in the process of getting Honduran residence. Once that process gets to a certain point, one doesn't have to do the expensive passport stamping thing. Well, we are not at that point.

It was obvious that we couldn't do our usual Monday work in the clinic and still get to La Ceiba in time to go to the immigration office, so we had given our excuses the week before.

Called the attorney. He had nothing for us, but asked us to call him again in the afternoon.

Caught a bus to La Ceiba and got there in time for a late lunch. Went downtown to Zion Methodist Church, where we could leave our backpacks while running around town. Jerry, the custodian, was there, but he never has much news, and none of our other friends were around.

To the immigration office. $120 to pay the fine and have a clean record for leaving the country the next day. BUT, I could pay at the airport (if they notice that the passport is not in compliance, she says). We waited a long time while she called her expert consultant in Tegucigalpa. Then she stapled the official notice of what I owed into my passport. Our attorney was out when we called him again.

We went to the bank and withdrew money for living expenses for the monastery and for paying the fine in the airport the next day.

We tried calling Eloyda, the nurse at El Pino, to start our medicine order process. But couldn't connect with her either. So, we caught the city bus to the bus terminal. By now it was after 3 p.m. and it was time to be arriving in El Pino.

We bought oranges on the street for snacking. We bought coconut bread products, bananas, and a cantaloupe for our breakfast the next morning and for traveling food for me. When we got to the bus terminal, we bought some cheese and then went to catch the bus.

When the little bus from El Pino pulled up, Eloyda climbed out!! We were delighted. She made a date with Prairie for the next morning to go over the medicine list. This is the first time that Prairie has had to handle a medicine order. It would have been nice if I could have been part of it, but she will do well. There is always at least one medicine not available and we just have to deal with it.

Even with our conversation with Eloyda, we were able to climb into the little bus and get to El Pino by about 4 p.m. Tired. Bought drinking water.

We did our afternoon prayers. Since some of the brothers of the church were hanging out near where we usually do our prayers and one, especially, likes to join us, we invited them. Autumn has had the responsibility of planning and of being the emcee for the afternoon prayers. But, with guests, we all shared. One copy of a song doesn't go very far with six people (and isn't much help for the illiterate ones, anyway). It went well. We are getting over our self-consciousness of monastic prayers in public and semi-public.

Set up our beds, took showers and went to order dinner. We had decided to eat at Dona Ada's place. The idea being that my travel day would be long and tiring the next day--a solid meal to start out would be good. We had a lovely dinner. We stopped to see one friend, Reina, who is in charge of the children's program. The kids were to attend their first classes for the year on Tuesday (yesterday). She and her team are ready.

It was a long day. I fell asleep during one of the Psalms in bedtime prayers. The Psalm ending woke me up, fortunately. It was a big day.

Yesterday, up at just before 5 (only a little earlier than usual). Morning prayers and a light breakfast before the sisters walked me to the bus. When it pulled up, I was on my way and the young women were on their own. They planned on working some with the children's program, doing the medicine order, washing their laundry, and catching up on Internet responsibilities.

The bus ride put me in touch with a couple of carsick travelers. I graciously gave up my window seat (the wind was too much for me anyway), so the car sick one could have that spot. Then another carsick one. Well, I moved twice. Am I bragging about my niceness? No, I am sharing my gratitude about arriving at the airport with no vomit on my clothing. Neither of them got messed up either. We were all very satisfied.

Taxi to the airport. When I was checking in, the guy checking me in looked with some disapproval at my passport. I told him that I was going to take care of that next. Well, the disapproval wasn't about me, it was about the official note saying that I had to pay the fine. He said that religious don't have to pay that. Well, I suggested, perhaps that is something between the Roman Catholic Church and the government, since most religious are Roman Catholics. He said, no, it's about the role. OK. What do I know?

He called over a guy with a cop-looking uniform and showed my passport to him. He looked it over and agreed with the airline worker. Then he just ripped all of the offending pieces of paper out of the passport. Just like that. Well, I could have done that the day before, but it would have been illegal for me to do it. But I had thought of it.

So now we have a new discernment question. When we hitch a ride, we keep track of that. The money that we would have spent on the bus, we put into our "tithe" account to donate. When I return, we can decide if that is what we should do with the fine that we didn't have to pay. There are always discernment questions. If our financial management isn't a spiritual practice, then we fall into the dreaded "duality" mess. You know, it goes something like this: Money is bad, all physical things are bad, only spiritual stuff counts. It leads to things like wars and other kinds of dangers--like self-righteousness for starters. So, our financial management is an ongoing discernment question. We get one settled and another pops up to take its place.

I had arrived early to the airport to be sure that I had time to do whatever was required. I spent the time writing in my journal and reading the newspaper in the departing passengers' area.

San Pedro Sula to Houston. Some hours of layover. Tempting bookstores. I didn't buy anything, but I noticed how tempting they were.

Arrived in Minneapolis about 10 p.m. Another hour-and-half wait for the shuttle. It felt pretty cold to me. I had put on my slacks under my dress in Houston. Now I got out my traveling sheet and used it for a shawl and a pair of socks for mittens. Worked very well. People are so polite, no one said a thing about this strange get-up. Marguerite, my sister-in-law, met me at the shuttle drop and brought me to Mom's house. Mom looks great. Her 90 years sit lightly on her, it seems to me.

So, I am back in one of my homes, the one in which I grew up. I am tired, but, thanks to layers of clothing and an electric blanket, I am fine with the cold.

be well,
beth