adios.

We say goodbye to Honduras today and head back to the Great White North and the cold.  We don't want to say that we'll never be back; one day we hope to return.  We leave behind amazing friends, gringos and Hondurans, and a little piece of our hearts.  We take with us wonderful memories of children's smiles and hugs, sharing crunchy baleadas with friends, people passing you on the street and greeting you, visiting new places, seeing natural wonders, and many unforgettable experiences.

I wish we documented our time here better through this blog.  We did and saw so much.  I wish we could have shared more with you.  It was just too easy to get caught up in the new environment and new experiences.  Even in the slower pace of this place, life still got busy.  Or the heat and hilly terrain just made it harder to feel motivated to write, which is probably a pretty weak excuse, but I'm sticking to it.  I think we were pretty lucky to spend the majority of our first year of marriage in a foreign country.  It was fun and we are so grateful that we had time here learning to be spousal with each other.

So for those of you wondering, the plan is to head to Vancouver via Miami and Dallas.  Two very long layovers.  Gross.  We spend one day in Vancity and then fly to Saskatoon for two weeks, spending Christmas with the Wall-side of the family.  Then we return to the Westcoast for New Year's and wait it out until mid-January when we take a trip to the Philippines, where Matt will get to meet more of his new Filipino family.  We spend a month there, doing the relative circuit and some island hopping.  Then it's back to Canada and figuring out what's next for us.

We spent our last few days in San Pedro Sula.  We went to the championship final for the Honduran National Soccer League, Real Espana vs. Olympia.  We were with our dear friend and Real Espana fan, Luis.  Fans climbing and shaking fences, bonfires in the stands, firecrackers going off in the face of a goalie, drinks being thrown out on the field at the referees, riot police throughout the stadium.  Honduran soccer fans = insanity.  Learned some cusswords in Spanish that day.  Although Olympia scored the first goal, Real Espana won with two goals, the second one in overtime.  A highlight.