Before I came to Honduras my friend kept saying that I needed to pack some things to send in a shipping container that was being sent down here in April. I kept asking if there was a size or weight limit. I was thinking like a wooden crate shipping thing. So I packed up my two bins of things I thought I would need- my contact solution, my shampoo liters, my laundry detergent, My Dr. Pepper.
I went to the warehouse to meet Sherri and she said "That's it?" I said "This is a lot". As I went in the warehouse I saw about 8 pallets of ramen noodles, oats, a front end loader tractor. Oooooohhhhhh. So you mean it's going to be like a big 18 wheeler shipping container. I should have packed more stuff.
Then US Customs decided they needed to unload the whole container to see the tractor. And then the Honduran government had something to say about it. So the container that was sent April 6 did not leave the US til May 7. It arrived this past monday.
I knew it would arrive after lunch because they told us it left Tegucigalpa at 1030am. I was completely distracted. And then I saw it. Coming down the street with two guys on top with brooms to hold up the power lines.
So I ran down to the warehouse. Well, I walked down there. And helped unload it. There were a lot of guys down there and it moved pretty fast. It was a mess because it was repacked- poorly. Thank you US Customs. I was happy to see my bins pretty soon after it opened. It was fast, hot, and messy. Ramen noodles and elbow macaroni scattered all over the floor.
At one point Wade was on top of the tractor digging out things from around the tractor.
When they got it unloaded from around the tractor they hooked up the forklift with a chain to the front and pulled. Nothing. They decided that the customs folks put it in gear and then repacked it. The Cab then had to be unloaded to put it in neutral. And then voila. It came out.
I got Lourdes to drive me and my bins up to the volunteer house and on the way she said "You got your Dr. Pepper?" "Yes! It is like Christmas for me!" And then she said that I could buy Dr. Pepper in town. Oh Christmas AND New Years.
And the other day when I went to town…lo and behold. There it was. Dr. Pepper in a can. Small things my friends. Small things.
Posts to come- firewood field trip. Photos of some food. And who knows what else.
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