Alternate Realities continue...NY and back to TGU

CT, Tegu, Jody, Aunt Lisa, Tropeanos

Silverios on the Playland boardwalk in RYE, NY

Tom picked us up from our long train ride back into burb land in Long Island (understand why it is called LONG) and then we enjoyed a bit of rest, and laundry (thank you Mom). Wednesday, we were off again to Connecticut. We met with Will, Chris’s brother (the Tegu brothers- owners of the toy company Brian is volunteering with) and visited his wife Rachel’s new coffee shop in Darien called Espresso Neat. If you are in the are- check it out!

Espesso Neat

 Brian stayed with Will and met up with the rest of the Tegu team for business meetings, and I stayed with Jody in her lovely home in Cos Cob CT.

I can say, Jody’s home is my dream home. She had great style, and the location is an East Coast dream. Her kids Emma and Cole were so cute with Olivia and it was great for them to have time to hang as cousins. I really wish we were all closer so that the baby cousins could grow up together. I also must add that it amazes me how many blonde cousins Olivia has! That’s ok- they will all be jealous of her cinnamon complexion when they are older!

Cole, Emma, and Olivia bathing

    Livi love Cole                       

After two days with Jody, I went on over to Purchase to have dinner sand stay the night again with Aunt Lisa and Uncle Joe. Their family is very close to my heart because Aunt Lisa is my God Mother, her son John is my God Son, and when I studied at Manhattanville they were all my home away from home, and took care of me (feeding me the best food on earth). Another reason it s so hard to be away from family. The bonus is that when we do visit, we never take advantage of time, and spend our hours laughing, sharing memories, and building new ones. Aunt Lisa slept with Olivia and I that night, and Olivia must have slapped Lisa in the face about 15 times. I said my good byes in the morning and went off for breakfast at Aunt Lisa’s new bakery in White Plains (which is the city I was born in by the way). If in town you MUST visit her bakery called Meme’s off Main Street. It is gourmet, unique bakery goods at affordable prices.

Aunt Lisa and Olivia                 

Olivia at Meme's in White Plains

Meme's bakery treats

We had a blast. Finally, I met back up with Brian at Aunt Andrea and Uncle Tony’s home in Rye. Brian had been up in Rochester checking out the woodworking shop and production of the first line of Tegu toys. He and the team had a great and educational visit and you can read more about it on their blog at www.tegu.com and order a set of blocks already!! http://www.tegu.com/

Gia, Bria, Cannen, and Liv

At The Tropeanos, everyone came! It was Aunt Andrea’s birthday and we had such a great visit! More cousins- ok- they are not blondes! And more amazing food! We must have gained 5 pounds on this trip. But that’s ok, because Olivia and I lost 5 pounds getting sick over night! We had a bug, and the both of us spent the night ill. So sorry Aunt Andrea and Uncle Tony! Thanks for the hospitality in your home!

Joey and Cannen withAunt Andrea's bday cake

Tropeano bunch!

We recovered the next day, and as we drove away from Rye, I'm flooded with memories…this was the house my father’s father lived in- generations past sharing one roof. Play land board walk and beach is where I would go to think and dream and cry when times were hard. It is also where my father’s father- Nono Joe, would fish, and where my Dad worked as a kid. Rye is an amazing place and holds our family history as well as many memories. I’m glad I had a chance to make new memories with Olivia and Brian. I brought Livi to the same duck pond that I went to as a baby. She loved feeding the ducks and laughed at them. Oh the many places in NY that I love! Back to Long Island again for the end of our trip...

Olivia's first visit to the duck pond! RYE

Rye walk

Playland at RYE

Long Island, Freddy, Great Grandma, and the long, long, LONG journey back to Tegucigulpa
Our last two days we packed. Well Brian packed. We came with 2 bags and left with 4. We also squeezed in a visit with Freddy and Cara and their beautiful babies. Kezi was born just 2 weeks before Olivia and they were so cute together! More friends we wish we were closer to! Here is Cara, her baby Kez, and Livi. Overload of cute!!

We spent our last day in Long Island visiting with Great Grandma Adrian, who is Tom's mother.  She lives in the most beautiful place on teh Northfork of LI, and it was such a blessing to have time with her, AUnt Maureen, and little Uncle Robbie (who was great with Olivia).

queen Olivia and Robbie

Grandma and Great Grandma

              LI Bluffs at Adrian's

Livi and Pappy

The Carrs

Well with technology today we are all close. The world is getting smaller and staying in touch is easier. But I miss the eye contact, the embrace, the sound of familiar voices, and most of all time together.
To all of you in NY and CT, you are here with me in my dreams and in my heart--- and in my blog (haha!)

By the end of our time in NY, Olivia had her first tooth!

The very Long journey back to Tegus

To begin, we wake up at 6:30am after a very restless night. I am visualizing life back in Honduras to help me make a transition from having everything, to having basics. The alarm wakes me from some odd dream, and I hear Olivia crying in the other room. From the moment she is awake, I am in Mommy mode- on and ready to meet needs and spread cheer. We get up, get ready, and my Mom is already making coffee and persuading us to stay, we can live in their house. We can find good jobs near by. We can all live happily ever after in Eastport. Sounds tempting…but we know where God has called us for now, and so we finish packing our bags into the car, and set off to JFK. We had 2 bags and 2 carry-ons coming to NY, but somehow, we now have 4 huge bags, and 3 carry-ons. Funny how that happens…

 

\Saying Good Bye

It’s like the “Honduras black cloud” finds out you are coming and follows you. First, after we park at JFK, the parking ticket falls deep into the car console, and Brian is under the dash fishing it out. He gets it and we continue with Mom to our terminal. We are laughing at memories made and making plans for our next visit. We say good bye, surprisingly I still do not cry (although if I knew what was ahead I would have) and we cross over through security. Our TACA airline plane seats are ones that don’t recline, and so Olivia is on my lap, hitting and yelling at the flat screen TV. screen in front of her face. She passes between Brian and I about 25 times, nurses during take off and landing, and sleeps long enough for me to watch 17 again (cute movie). We have a lunch? On the plane ride (TACA still has free food!) and Olivia and her seat and our seats and the floor is dusted with cheese, bread, wrappers, spoons, and toys. Pretty good trip considering we are traveling with a 10 month old who is teething. Oh ya, we had a bear, and Olivia had teething gel and Motrin.

JFK-El Salvador

Tecate and Motrin

hare bear is doing all right

Now in San Salvador, El Salvador, we have a 6 hour layover. The airport is clean, with great shops and restaurants. We decide to get express massages! The highlight! And then have a great dinner? And cappuccino. Drinking and eating slow. Finally, after 2 poopy diapers, another nap, and feeling very at home in El Salvador, its time to leave- although we both wish that we could just stay here.

a much needed crawl at El Sav airport

boarding for Honduras

Once we arrive in Honduras, the black cloud continues…we are stopped at customs to pay some kind of tax for an item we had with us. This took about an hour. Our ride to the hotel we are spending the night at before we take our bus ride to Tegucigalpa is waiting outside for us. The driver was expecting only one person with one bag, so we have to call a cab. We wait another hour. It’s now almost 10:30pm. Olivia falls to sleep in my weak arms.

 Finally we arrive at our lovely hotel and eat some bread, cheese, snacks, and chocolate for dinner? We all shower up and pass out. In the morning, we have a great breakfast, and our driver, this time with a pick –up truck, takes us to the bus terminal. It’s very hot. Brian presents our ticket and we are told that the trip was changed due to the demonstrations that were occurring- so we have a 2 hour lay over and that brings us to now, with me here typing, sweating and hoping to steal a few more lines before Olivia wakes from her nap. Meet the Robinsons is now on, because Olivia woke up, and the guys controlling the TV must have seen that that the baby is awake, and so, with good customer service, they play a cartoon, in English. They also offer us a voucher for a free bus ride in the future, although I’m not sure that we will ever ride with this bus company again. Ever. Ever.

sleepy traveler

San Pedro Sula Hotel
Honestly, I do not like this place. Honduras. Everything is difficult. There is a moment of justice in a cup of coffee and view of the landscapes that embrace the country. And then, the ill logical challenges begin.

I am trying to be a Mother through all of this. Holding Olivia and singing and smiling while my bicep burns, and sweat collects in the bend of my arm. In my mind I am thinking of all the things we would be doing together back in lovely Santa Monica- my happy place, my dream home, my alternate reality- we would be walking to the beach, swinging at the play ground with friends, driving along the PCH, sitting in green dewy grass…here we are waiting, arguing, sweating, fighting tears and fatigue, and wondering- why is this so dang hard! God reminds me that anything of greatness comes with challenge. OK. I keep singing to Olivia while these thoughts cause an ache in my back and mind. She is smiling back at me, waving and laughing. She is God’s love and comfort reaching down from heaven to make this whole “experience” more tolerable. I can be anywhere if Olivia is smiling back at me.

When we finally get the bus back to Tegucigulpa, after surviving Olivia getting sick all over me, and a sea sick 4 hour ride, our friend Charie picks us up.  We can't help but notice that the front bumper of the car is in the back seat?? Humm. AT least now the 4 Runner fits in with the rest of the cars in Honduras! We pack our bags and ourselves into the car and try to get out of the major down pour of rain. Thanks for the welcome back thunder storm Tegus!
The saving grace to all this is a big bad Baleada for dinner - Yumm! and our home waiting for us- warm bed, all of our things, and the peace in knowing that there are memories to be made here now.  God has spoken to our hearts and we sleep with peace because we are right where we should be...in His hands.