The Sabbath

I am so glad we came to Rio Viejo on a Saturday, so that our first day here was the Sabbath.  I remember the long school days and the hot Sun and feeling so exhausted from daily work, but the Sabbath is equally long and equally restful.

The government decides to save electricity around here by just turning all the power off for 8 hours at a time.  That, coupled with natural power outages, makes for power that works about 4 out of 7 days. Sunday morning they decided it would be a good time to save electricity, so off went the fans (and the oven that was cooking breakfast).  Somehow, even with the loud noise of dogs barking all around, Cuatro was still able to take cat naps throughout the day, which he needed after our long day of travel.

After waking up at 4:30, breakfast at 8:00 felt like an eternity away:)  By the time we gathered for a house church service, Cuatro was pretty much ready for his afternoon nap.

We spent most of the day getting to know the other group, lazing around on the hammocks, chasing Cuatro, and talking about the week ahead.  In the afternoon we went down the road for a swim in the river, which ended up being a raging river because of the storm from the night before.  We did get to play near the edges, and the children were able to collect some lovely stones.

Because we enjoy learning about birds together as a family, I thought it'd be fun to bring down Peterson's Bird guide to this region.  It's funny, but Hubry and I remember very little about the birds down here.  Even though we lived here for 14 months, I only remembered in specific seeing the Rainbow Macaw's of Copan Ruins, and hearing this enchanting Lark at the tip-top of our El Tigre hike.

Within our first 2 days here, the children had identified 8 different species, and had located multiple nests with babies in tact.  The birds seem so extravagantly dressed here.  They wear so much bright blue, green, yellow and red.  And they are everywhere!!  How could we have missed them before?

Here is Songbird's list:
Crimson-collared Taniger
Grackle
Chachalacha
Black-Headed Trogon
Lessens Mot-Mot
Great Kiscade
Various Hummingbirds
Egret
Pelican
Weaver Bird

And this is just the beginning!

We have also enjoyed watching the geckos in the window screens, gigantic toads, frogs (which we can not touch because many are poisonous), and some large fish in the Caribbean Sea.

Bird-watching above the school

The King's Institute

Do you see him?