Goodbye, San Marcos. Hello, El Progreso.

This morning was a time of "lasts"-- last accordion reveille, last breakfast together, last exchanges with the Honduran friends we have made. By 8:30 we were on the bus and rumbling out of town, waving to people as we passed. The school grounds that had been our clinic for eleven days were filled with children already starting their first day back to school.

We were leaving half an hour earlier than originally planned, because we were expecting delays along the way. Public transportation workers are striking today throughout the country. There are protests at points along all the major highways. The protesters-- mostly bus drivers whose secondhand yellow school buses are the backbone of the country's public transport system-- have parked their buses along the shoulders and targeted any bus that is on the road. And because we were traveling aboard just such a secondhand (circa 1975) yellow school bus, we expected to be stopped.

And we were.

Daniel Castro rode ahead of us in a pickup truck and Tomas Rodriquez and our bus driver phoned ahead to friends along the highway to check on the situation and alert them that we were on the way. The idea was to let the protesters know that our bus was not "public transportation" but a chartered busload of North American mission workers.

Still, at three checkpoints protesters thronged around us. We quickly shut all the bus windows as one protester leaped onto the back of the bus while others surrounded us, pounding on the sides of the vehicle. No threats were made, and there was no real violence, but there were several tense minutes before Daniel and police with batons managed to explain the situation and get the protesters to agree to allow us to pass.

At the second checkpoint, the protesters clearly were expecting us. While they crowded around the bus, they allowed us to pass, slowly, and waved and gestured to us as we did. It was apparent, though, that there had been a threat of trouble there earlier, because police there were standing by in full riot gear.

The third stop, late in the day, was the least threatening, but it was clear that the all-day protest was still in full swing.

Amid all this excitement, we went about our scheduled activities. First, there was a two-hour stop for shopping at the Guamilita Market in San Pedro Sula, then a visit to the CURE International Hospital now under construction on the outskirts of the city. Then, finally, we made it to our final stop-- the town of El Progreso and the Hotel Casa Blanca. Warm showers. Flushing toilets. AIR CONDITIONING!!!

The bus has just pulled up out front of the hotel to take us to our closing banquet. So I have to run. A great meal with everyone will be a wonderful way to end an exciting day.