January 15, 2008

Another first today. At this point many things we do are firsts. We made our first trip into San Pedro Sula driving on our own. We had several things we needed to do and nobody else was going so we decided this was the day to try it. It went well. We had no wrecks and made it back home. It was a success.

While in San Pedro Sula we needed to pick up a part for the one of the trucks from the Isuzu dealer. We saw what we thought was the Isuzu dealer. Big building with a glass front with many new cars sitting on the lot and in big red letters on the building ISUZU. It was located on one of the main streets – just like a car dealership would be expected to locate. The only problem was when we tried to enter the lot it was protected by a locked gate. The guard at the gate pointed as if we should go around to the other side of the building. We did and found another locked gate with no guard. Apparently we were not to go to this dealership (if it was a dealership).

Earlier we had passed a store that looked like a parts place and had Mazda, Datsun, Isuzu, Toyota, etc. on it’s store front. We made our way back to it. Walked in. Held up the broken part we needed replaced. And immediately got the response, is Spanish, but it was very clear they don’t have it. Using our best broken Spanish we asked if they knew where we might get it. A gentlemen sitting at one of the desks jumped up and said “I speak a little English.” Great we thought. Now we’re getting somewhere. He English was decent (much better than our Spanish). He begin giving us directions. He asked if we new where the ???? Center was. Brad thought he meant the Centro (or center of town). Brad knew how to get there and immediately responded “Yes.” As the directions continued and he begin to draw map Cindy realized he wasn’t saying the Centro but Email Center. We had no idea where that was.

Brad remembers we have a map in the truck and goes out to get the map. He brings it back in and the gentleman shows us on the map where we need to go. Based on what he showed us it looks like it’s on one of the major streets and we know how to get to the street. This doesn’t look too hard. We get in our truck and just close the doors when the gentleman comes out with another employee and tells us they have an idea. This other employee will ride with us and show us how to get to the parts store. The only problem is he will need money to take a taxi back to work. We ask how much is the taxi fare. It’s 50 Limpiras (about $2.50). We jumped on that and said “Get in.” He (Santiago) spoke no English but we had a good time getting to know each other with our limited Spanish.

Before the left for the city Faith Home’s lawyer (a Honduran gentlemen) showed us on the map the area of the city we should avoid. Guess where we had to go to get the part. Yep, that part of the city. We parked. Santiago went in with us, handled the entire transaction, made sure the part they gave of was the correct part, we paid, and we left. We thank Santiago for his help and gave him 60 Limpiras. He told us he was happy he could help us. This whole adventure was just like running down to the local Autozone and picking up a part. Cindy thinks the next time we are back that way we should stop in at the store that helped and give them so cookies.