This n That

We started out the day on Sunday with an earthquake! The first tremor hit around 3:30 a.m. and registered 4.7, the second hit at 9:30 a.m. and just about shook me out of the porch swing. Don was in getting ready for church and came running out, wondering if that was an earthquake. We have since learned that it was centered in the ocean just east of La Ceiba and that this is not an unusual happening.

Sunday afternoon we attended a fundraising event called Sundae by the Sea, an annual event to raise money for the Clinica Esperanza. This is a wonderful clinic started by Peggy Strange, R.N., in her kitchen in Sandy Bay seven years ago to meet the medical needs of the community. It has grown, moving from her kitchen, to needing a waiting room under her house, to the former hotel rooms in the SonRise church building, to a brand new 4500 sq. ft. clinic across the road, treating over 1,000 outpatients per month. Ms. Peggy also offers many community health and education programs. The clinic is staffed by a medical director, pediatrician, dentist, medical advisor and pediatric emergency physician, Ms. Peggy, and over 110 volunteers. There are currently several residents and interns from the U.S working here. The newest addition is a pediatric inpatient unit and a birthing center. The clinic relies completely on donations for all medicines, equipment, supplies, and staff. Ms. Peggy is a highly respected, deeply loved and very humble woman, giving God all the credit for the success of the clinic.

It was a fun afternoon, held at Fins & Flippers on Osgood Key, a small island owned by Anthony's Key Resort. (This is where many cruise ship passengers come to spend the day.)
It is a beautiful place. The food was wonderful, the live entertainment excellent, and the auction was lots of fun. We saw people we had just met Friday at the foreign residents' meeting, people from our church, our neighbors, and sat to eat and visit with a new friend from the Thursday night inter-island Bible study group that I've begun attending. We enjoyed meeting her husband who is quite the photographer and was running around taking pictures all afternoon. I haven't heard how much money was raised. They still need $40,000. to complete the pediatric/birthing center.

Yesterday we were in and out of the bank in record time! And I successfully made a deposit and converted some dollars into lempiras. Yay!!!
We took our Rav4 to the Toyota mechanic who works for the Kia dealership. He came highly recommended as a good, honest mechanic and a Christian. The problem: one of the constant velocity joint boots is torn. This both lets the grease out of the joint and allows dirt to enter the joint which will grind it up. It must be fixed. (Thank you, Don, for that explanation.) We're waiting for him to call us with the estimate, then he'll have to order the parts from La Ceiba on the mainland. And we still have not made the effort to find freon to fix the air-conditioner. Mañana.