David is here……and he already has lost a tooth

Javi and I got back to work on Monday, the 7th. We are pretty busy trying to get the kids (and ourselves) organized to open the store through the vocational school we work with. After our 3 month business training, about half of the kids have decided to stay on with the school and try their hands at entrepreneurship. They are finishing building their shop and where the store and reception will be. The administrator of the program is busy working with us on how this all will work. Its fun and we are enjoying ourselves. As auditors in Dallas, we didn’t get much experience on starting and running a real business, so this is new for us as well. A Spanish girl working at the school for 9 months as a business “consultant” is also working with me on making a business plan for the store.

But, moving on the title of this post….what you all have been waiting for. What is this business with David’s tooth???? For those readers who don’t already know….David is Javi’s brother. He arrived last Friday and he will be here with us for two weeks. We picked him up at the airport on Friday afternoon, and because we were already up in the part of the country where most of the “fun” stuff is to do, we decided to head over to Pico Bonito National Park (near the coastal town of La Ceiba) where we thought we would try out a little white water rafting.

Pico Bonito is said to have some of the best white water rapids in Central America. The three of us spent two nights in an Eco Lodge called “Omega,” which also arranged various trips in the area, including a white water tour with a guide. The rapids were class III – IV, and being our first time, we were all a bit nervous. On Saturday morning we set out for our trip. After a quick survey of the “drops” on the river (and our subsequent approval to move on with the trip) we were given a quick run down of safety tips while rafting. A few minutes later, we were paddling down the river. My memory has already gotten fuzzy, but on only the first or second drop (I can’t remember!), only about 5 minutes in, David and our guide were violently tossed out of the raft in a very crazy rapid/drop. They both quickly climbed back in, but as David was climbing into the raft he yelled…. “Well, lost a tooth on that one!”

I was like you lost what?!!!!

Apparently, recent crown work on the tooth had not had enough time to “settle in” and it came off when he was thrown from the raft. I couldn’t believe how well he was taking it!

After that, I lost my nerve and decided not to do the last drop in the river. I took pictures with our water camera from the sidelines, but David and Javi pressed on. I climbed back into the raft AFTER we had passed the craziest part of the river.

The good thing is we all had a great time and it was a fun introduction to Honduras. Javi and David have gotten some recommendations for good dentists in Comayagua, and they are out looking for a dentist to fix him up as I write this.

When the pictures are developed I will see if I can post a picture of the three of us smiling from the raft after we finished the trip, David missing tooth and all.