On yogurt, cold, and Holy Week

I’ve twice successfully made yogurt at home. It’s a really simple process and since it’s hard to get plain yogurt here I’m glad that I have found a way to do it.

But I have had to wait for warm days.

Surprisingly twice in the last month we have had cold days. I know that this is not the bitter cold I experienced in Iowa in January (-17 below zero Fahrenheit). But one day it was about 55° and rainy. But worse was last Saturday.

Saturday I went with Fr. Efraín to a the village of Zapote de Santa Rosa in the parish of Dulce Nombre. It was cool when I left Santa Rosa but I didn’t bring a coat. When I got to Dulce Nombre, Fr. Efraín offered me a coat since the weather might be bad. I’m glad I took his offer.

The village of Zapote is fairly high up. It was raining and misty the whole way there and when we entered the church a fierce wind was blowing through the open windows and doors. The people closed a window which made the church fairly dark, since they have no electricity there. A few times they opened the window during the day and the wind blew my papers all over the place.

After the retreat Fr. Efraín went to the village of Delicias de Concepción, even higher up, for a Mass for the 15th birthday of a young woman there. I don’t think he usually goes for these celebrations, but he hadn’t yet had the chance to get to Delicias. Much to my relief the celebration was subdued – no men dressed up in tux, no flower girls or boys, no dressed up women attendants; just the young women in a sleeveless pink, floor-length dress. I don’t know how she endured it since it was so cold in the church that I was shivering all through the Mass. A misty rain made the cold worse.

But I survived it, and the trip back in a thick fog. When I got back to Santa Rosa it looked as if it hadn’t rained much. What a difference a few miles and an increase in altitude can mean.

However, since then it has been warm and should be even warmer for Holy Week. There are five people coming from St. Thomas and I am trying to get everything arranged.

I am looking forward to their visit and to my first Holy Week in Honduras.