The challenge of multi-culturalism at the pool

Summer is officially here and we are enjoying it to the full. It's so nice being outdoors, not having to grab a coat when leaving the house and knowing that whatever the forecast is for the day, it will be hot. After all, Jonny and I are from the tropics and we feel most at home in the heat. What has been especially nice is enjoying the pool in the evenings after work, it's so relaxing. The pools are open until 8 pm every night and when we go, we feel like we are on vacation and our daily work stresses are washed away...

But interestingly, our pool experience has shown us the challenges of multi-culturalism... Yes, I'm proud to admit that Jonny likes to wear a speedo to go swimming! :-) He was brought up in Malaysia mainly wearing shorts, but several years ago he was converted to the speedo after going to Brazil, where most men wear them. I remember clearly that the first time he wore one he said "wow, it's just so much more comfortable!" However, we have recently become highly aware that wearing a speedo in this country, at least where we live, is not cool - definitely not. It first started with a comment from a friend last year who said "Yes, I enjoy the pool in my neighborhood but when the guy in the speedo arrives, I leave the pool!". To which I responded "Oh really, Jonny likes to wear speedos"... to which our friend smiled with a surprised and embarrassed look... And then, as Jonny recently walked by a group of teenage boys by the pool, we heard one of them say "Uhm, speedo..." I try to encourage Jonny by saying "you look like a professional swimmer in them!" :-)

But the good news is that for the first time yesterday, there was a "speedo buddy" at the pool! For once, Jonny was not alone and we were so happy with our new buddy that we asked him to take a photo of us in the pool! So in tribute to the speedo, here's the photo our new buddy took yesterday...

And here is Jonny being silly - though challenged by the speedo, not at all embarassed!

So, for any of our "non-speedo" friends who may come swimming with us in the near future, don't be shocked, you may just find that Jonny will wear his speedo! And if you are a "speedo buddy", do let us know since the club is still small. Yes, multi-culturalism makes our world interesting, but it does have its challenges...

Celebrating Ana's 30th birthday!

It's official: 20s are now in the past and the 30s are here... We've been celebrating my birthday the last 2 days and it's been really nice.

Yesterday, the actual day of my birthday, we spent the night at the Staggers' new home. Mike cooked an absolute feast on his new grill, it was sooooo yummy! Kristen baked and decorated a beautiful cake for me, so sweet! We enjoyed our time together eating out on their deck, enjoying the kids, watching a movie and going to bed on their brand new and comfortable sofa bed - it was special being the first guests down in their basement. Thank you guys for having us over, we really enjoyed it!

Here are some photos of the evening:

Mike's creation - he's a talented chef!

Dinner on the deck

Presentation of cake - Kristen is a pro-decorator!

Mikey was happy too and showed off his first 2 teeth!

And then it was time to blow the candles... Kristen said "Ana, I'm not going to be able to put 30 candles on the cake!" And I said "no problem, there would be too many to blow out anyway!" :-)

Holly's gift to me!

Very thankful for gifts - I was a spoilt girl!

Today we continued the celebrations in the afternoon with a group of friends at Centennial Park. It was so nice to get together again in much happier times - the last time I had seen many of the people who came was at Jonathan David's memorial. We all brought food and just relaxed together. The evening was perfect, warm with a nice breeze and a tree nearby provided us with all the shade that we needed. The children were able to run around and so that was great too. God's hand was evident again in all the small details - for example, a table became free just as we arrived...

Here are some photos of the memorable afternoon:

Joel Boon (just 2) is so adorable and had fun running around!

Jonny decorated the cake for me and made a wonderful fruit salad! If anyone had doubts about my age, here is the proof!

Ella Bella (19 months) on the phone - so cute!

Group photo of the last friends to leave the party...

Thank you all for coming and making my 30th celebration a special day! And it was fun singing Happy Birthday to Shenorva too - whose birthday is 2 days before mine! Happy Birthday again Shenorva!

And thanks also for the phone calls and e-mails I've received from loved ones around the world!

P.S. Hi Phil! (Was happy to hear you are reading the blog!) :-)

Jonny's first Father's Day - a surprise lunch with other fathers...

Today was a special day to honor Jonny as the father of our precious son Jonathan David. Our friend Shenorva decided to invite a few couples who have experienced a loss in the last year in relation to fatherhood - either losing a father or losing a baby. None of the men knew about this special feast we prepared for them. They were all very surprised and it was wonderful. Each father received a rose from either their children or wife. Here are some photos of the afternoon:

It was so good to enjoy a meal with Pastor Dan and his family. Dan lost his dad this last year...

Jackie presented a rose to Quill - exactly 9 years ago on their first date she gave him a rose for father's day. Quill's grand-father passed away this year...

Sivert got a rose from his kids - we remembered Sivert's dad who passed away this last year and also Stephen, their first son who is buried next to Jonathan David...

I gave Jonny a rose too and a special present...

... a mug with a picture of him holding Jonathan David...

Close up photo of mug...

It was a very special day and comforting to spend time with others who are also sad on father's day.

Jonny, I thank God for the most amazing and loving father that you are. Jonathan David is also thanking God today for all the love he has received from you, his Papa. We are so proud of you and love you very much!

Back together and some photos of the last 2 weeks...

Thank God, we are back together! It is so good to be back home after 2 weeks away, we really missed each other. My flight was delayed and I only got home after 1 am Saturday morning. We've had a relaxing weekend and I'm going to write a separate blog about Jonny's first Father's day today, after this.

Here are some photos of us back together on the tennis court on Saturday:

(Like I said, we missed each other! :-))

Here are also some photos of the last 2 weeks - most of which I wrote about in the previous blogs from Honduras.

Photos of Jonny with Linnan cooking lobsters, last Monday the 11th:

Lobsters alive before cooking:

Linnan, the master chef:

Lobsters ready to eat:

Since Jonny never wrote a blog, let me quickly write the highlights of his last two weeks - he was very busy!

- Jonny's friend from Imperial College, Niraj, visited the first week. They hadn't seen each other in years and he may be coming to Hopkins to work, which would be great.

- Lab friends came over on Saturday the 9th to play the game "Risk" - they had been planning this for several months and it finally took place. It was fun but a bit too long - and Jonny lost! :-)

- Jonny played tennis with lab friends twice at the Hopkins tennis courts.

- Jonny had dinner with the Boons and helped the Staggers move.

- Linnan stayed over for 3 nights and it was good company.

- Jonny spoke at the men's fasting retreat on Friday night for the first time, he said it was very special.

Now here are some of the photos of my trip to Honduras - June 3rd-15th:

Buffy helping me pack the night before traveling!

With colleagues Perla and Norma and Perla's daughters at a Cuban restaurant:

Visit to high school:

View from high school of nearby hills:

Visit to rural community outside of Tegucigalpa, "Divina Providencia":

Visit to health center in rural community - wonderful people:

Dinner at Perla's house with her family:

Enjoying Perla's food - the shrimp dish I'm holding was so yummy!

Photo of graduation picture of Perla's daughters - Livny and Wilsen (they are very special to me):

I'll be home tomorrow night!

After a very productive week, I am so excited about going home tomorrow! I'll be leaving early tomorrow morning from the hotel for an 8 AM meeting and then straight to the airport. I'll be getting home after 11 PM - can't wait darls!

It's been a good week, thank God. The TB research is underway and the results coming in are already fascinating. TB patients and their family have very little knowledge about the illness and there is a lot of fear and discrimination. There really is a huge need for developing a communication campaign about the topic here in Honduras and I'm happy to be involved in this much needed cause.

Jonny has been so busy the last two weeks too. The highlight of this last week included that his Chinese friend Linan from Boston stayed over for a few nights and brought fresh (alive) lobsters for them to cook together! Linan is a master chef and Jonny said he really enjoyed cooking with him. I'll post some of the photos when I get back this weekend of Jonny with the lobsters, they are fun.

Anyway... I better start packing and getting to bed... Good night!

Highlights of first week in Honduras and some photos from the Salisbury Festival

I'll be home in less than a week! Though my time here has been important, I'm really looking forward to going back home next Friday. I'm really missing you darls! Today has been a good day of rest. I watched Bridgeway online and had a special time joining Jonny and our church in worship and listening to a wonderful sermon by Pastor Anderson about dealing with trials and transition. I then received a phone call from my dear sister all the way in London! Thank you so much for calling honey, it was so good to catch up. I miss you! I got my hair washed and dried again at the salon across the road this afternoon and just finished chatting with Jonny online. He's had an eventful last week and says he plans to blog about it soon - let's wait and see ! :-)

The highlights of my first week in Honduras were:

1. Time with Perla and daughters: During the busy week, I have had some special times with Perla listening to all her amazing life stories and sharing with her about Jonathan David in detail. Last night, I had dinner at her house and got to eat her wonderful food. I will definitely remember the yummy grilled shrimp cooked with garlic and butter and the variety of grilled meats with delicious beans. Jonny, we wish you were with us, you would have loved watching Perla cook the food and then eating it! After dinner, Perla told me she wanted to watch Jonathan David's online video which she hadn't seen. I sat in between Perla and her daughters and the four of us cried together as we watched the video. I then translated to them Jonny's talk from the memorial service...it was a special time and healing for me. Perla's daughters who are in their early 20s are still so young in many ways and I felt concerned about sharing with them a heart breaking experience. But I guess part of growing up is facing the realities of life... we spoke about how there is a purpose in everything we go through and that how through our experience, we have already seen God working in amazing ways.

2.Visit to health center: Yesterday, we went very early in the morning to visit a health center in a small rural community about an hour outside of Tegucigalpa. We spent the morning talking with the staff about the communication materials that we had produced for Maternal and Child Health and what we could do to encourage their use in other health centers in the country. What was amazing to me was to see the commitment and love of the people in caring for their community, despite all the challenges they face. It was also really interesting to meet this Cuban volunteer doctor working at the health center. She told me about life in Cuba and how she loves her country - it was fascinating hearing her side of the story. What was really striking about her was her humbleness. It was evident that she really did consider everyone equal and had no arrogance about being a doctor... lots of food for thought as a result of our conversation...

3. Pre-testing in high school: On Friday, I observed the pre-testing of an HIV/AIDS prevention TV spot with young men and women in a school in Tegucigalpa. It was fun listening to the youth and to see that the work we are doing resonates with them. I was also clearly reminded that it's been a while since I was in school and that yes, the big 3-0 is fast approaching!


Tomorrow morning, the training of interviewers to conduct the TB research will begin. I'm praying that all will go well and that I can also successfully finish some other work before my return on Friday.


And just to finish off, today I also got an e-mail from my sister with some beautiful pictures of her time yesterday participating with her Brazilian choir in the Salisbury Festival. Adri, who also sings in her choir, brought her daughters and they all had so much fun playing with Aoi, Sarah's daughter - the photos of the girls are so cute!

Multi-tasking in Honduras...

It’s already Wednesday night here and the week is flying by quickly... Soon I can say that I’ll be home in a week. It’s been good and always a huge learning curve. I’m in the middle of preparations to train interviewers next week to interview local health providers, patients and their family members about TB (tuberculosis). It’s the first time that I have ever worked on TB so it’s been a steep learning curve. At first I didn’t think I would find it interesting but it has been. But what has been most interesting is having to multi-task more than usual - at the same time as I’m preparing for the TB trainings, I’m having meetings with several different people, discussing and planning completely different and new projects, etc. And all of this is in Spanish - it’s challenging... No wonder by the end of the day I’m worn out. But what I realize is that I enjoy the business, I enjoy the multi-tasking, I enjoy being with lots of different people throughout the day (though at times, I do feel overwhelmed). I want to now learn to do that more efficiently - I’ve been observing our office head closely and other managers to learn from them. It’s amazing to me how some people can do it so well. One minute you are on the phone talking about X, then someone walks in to ask you about Y, while you are also responding to an e-mail about Z... just incredible to watch. Any tips? Please let me know.

Ana back in Tegucigalpa and Jonny making paus!

I arrived safely here in Tegucigalpa early this afternoon after facing that early morning flight again (got up at 3:30 am). It's nice to be back and it's very hot! I've been coming to Honduras now for the last 3 + years and always stay at the same hotel - the Intercontinental. Every time I walk through the lobby or speak to one of the staff they call me "Señora Franca" and I feel quite at home here. Given that it's a Sunday and I didn't have to go straight to work from the airport (which I've done in the past), I went to the hairdresser in the mall across the road and got my hair washed, cut and dried straight all for under $20 - it would cost me at least $50 back home! They blow dry my hair the same way they do in Brazil and it's always a treat to get it done.


I spoke with Jonny briefly this evening since I cannot get skype to work and calling from the hotel is really expensive. We're already missing each other... He said he had lunch at the Ritchies today and finally got to meet Shenorva's mother who is just like her and likes to "squeal" too :-) - so sorry I missed her, I've really been looking forward to meeting her. Anyway, he said he went to the lab in the afternoon to set up experiments for tomorrow and that he was in the process of making Chinese pork paus to take to one of his Chinese colleagues. He made some paus for us for the first time ever on Saturday and it came out really well! I found the photo below online for those who do not know what paus are. It looks hard to make but Jonny says it's really easy - you just basically make pizza dough, fill it with a filling of your liking and steam it! Anyway, it was really yummy and I am very blessed to always get to try new things that Jonny decides to make!



Tomorrow will be an early start to a hectic week ahead so better get to bed... At least I know Jonny will be well, cuddling up to Buffy until he decides to put her out of our room so he can really get some sleep! Love you darls, good night.

A special letter to Jonathan David from Vozinha Teteti (Ana's mother, Zenete)

My dearest Jonathan David, my little angel,

Today is the 31st of May. When I opened your mommy-daddy’s blog, I saw their message of “saudade” to you and “auntie” Kristen’s letter to you. Then, I realized that you must be at the “door of heaven”, waiting for “vozinha Teteti’s” letter and wondering when it will be arriving.

YES, my little angel, Jonathan David, my letter is with you now and you know how much I miss you and how difficult it has been to accept your departure to heaven so quickly!

“Vozinha” dreamed of holding, kissing, and embracing you much before you were conceived! I knew you would come! I did not mention this to your mommy and daddy, because I did not want to pressure them. But, in fact, when they announced your arrival, I was ready to be the most loving and the happiest “vozinha” in the world!

The days that I lived (until the 12th week of your life), were the most beautiful days of my life as “vozinha”! I was very happy and feeling like dancing at the top of the world! I was jogging and wanted to be fit for you to trust that your “vozinha” was strong enough to take you on her bicycle by the sea in Cascais and do many other things together!

I was dreaming of having you in my lap to tell you stories of your mommy’s and auntie Fafa’s childhood over and over again! I had planned to act those stories out for us to laugh and laugh a lot. I would be repetitive, I know, but you would love and even ask me to repeat most of them. I even dreamed of you repeating the stories to me and laughing about them. I knew it would be fun and our friendship would grow full of joy!

Now, Jonathan David, I am still very sad because you have left, but let me tell you how much I thank God for your life. Your short life on earth raised me from death (and other family and friends too). Before, I was distracted and lost focus on God. Your precious life transformed my soul and brought me closer to God during my suffering for your health. I did not find anybody else who could give me deeper comfort and hope than Jesus and His promises. I am so pleased that your life provided me with the chance to find my way (in time) to meet you in heaven. Isn’t this wonderful news?

That is why, my little angel, I cannot wait to meet you, to hug you, to kiss you, to thank you, and, together with you, to thank God over and over again for the grace of your life and then… we, happily, in heaven, will ride bicycle, tell funny stories, laugh, and pray. We pray that your mommy and daddy, as they understand, fulfill their purpose on earth and do that well, glorifying God and making you, Jonathan David, proud.

Finally, my grand-son, let me join your mommy and daddy and say to God: “Thank you Lord for the privilege to know you and that because of our son's (grand-son’s) life, we are now more focused on heaven.”

We are sure that we will meet you there, Jonathan David! Please wait!

So long.

With lots of love and many kisses,

Vozinha Teteti