Scavenging

Hondurans really do have more fun. Here’s the story. The other night I mentioned scavenger hunts and Amber adamantly requested having one organized in honor of her birthday that is coming up next week. We told her today, Saturday, would be the best day to do it. So last night we dreamed up possibly the most fun scavenger hunt ever. We referenced a bunch of inside jokes and events we’ve all experienced together over the past few months.

This morning we finished our preparations and by two in the afternoon we were finally ready to start. We were estimating that our epic plans would take about two hours. We were mistaken. The first clue led to the park up the street from our house, all of our (including the puppies, Tasha and Toby’s) favorite place since its construction over Thanksgiving. There, Amber had to search for clues to things that we’ve done at the park. The best view in Tegucigalpa can be seen from one of the benches, the seesaw will be the death of the Shine kids one day if they keep jumping off while their partner is still up in the air across from them, the futbol cancha is Darwin’s favorite place there, and you could “scavenge” for pieces of candy under the piñata hanger. With the last clue at the park we placed a bottle of Welch’s sparkling grape juice as a clue to the final surprise.

Her next clue led her to a book that Tess and Alli bought for Amber and brought back in January entitled “A Thousand Miles, A Hundred Years.” From there, she was instructed to use the computer (with iTunes already cued up) to search for the songs we had sung at karaoke last night (another part of her birthday celebration). We had recorded our own versions of the four songs we had sung, three of which told her to keep searching and one of which gave her the next clue. The next clue about me being a pro at stalking by this method directed her to Facebook, where we had posted the next clue on her wall.

The clue led us out of the house to the only place in Honduras that will satisfy your craving for Nutella, the super delicious crepes restaurant in the mall. After she told the chef that he was “el mejor chef en el mundo,” she was given her next clue that directed her to the grocery store, La Colonia. Her next clue came with birthday candles (another clue to the final surprise) and took us to the movie rental store where Amber once flirted with the guy behind the counter in order to rent some movies we didn’t quite have enough money to pay for. There we gave her a clue with a quote from one of our favorite movies, Baby Mama. Inside the movie box was a clue that told her to go to the restaurant where we experienced the worst service in the city, Tony Roma’s. She had to go inside and ask who Tony Roma was and if she could please speak with him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t available for comments. After that, she was directed to MultiPlaza Mall where, at the YogenFruz store the other day, we were the unwilling audience to a PG-13 face-sucking show put on by the Honduran couple in front of us at the counter. Her task there was to order herself whatever kind of frozen yogurt she wanted…and of course Alli, Tess, and I did the same : ) Her next clue sent her downstairs to Seventeen, the store where she once tried on this dress whose hideousness she was apparently the only one unable to see. Needless to say, we didn’t let her buy it. There was crazy traffic getting out of the mall, so we just made her guess the next two places, the Breaking Chains building and el parque, our third feeding stop, for the sake of time. At this point we pulled out fake moustaches that we told her she had to wear for the rest of the hunt. Tess and Alli and I also wore them. Probably my favorite part of the whole event was sticking my head out the window as we waited in traffic and having cars back up to get a better look at car full of crazy Gringas wearing fake moustaches. When we finally got out of the traffic we made our way to Chili’s, Amber’s favorite restaurant that we won’t go to unless it’s a weekday during lunch hours (because that’s when they have the best specials, of course!). There we gave her huge plastic martini glasses (another final surprise clue). Our last stop was a place none of us had actually been before called the Cupcake Café. It ended up being the perfect final stop! We brought in the candles, martini glasses, and sparkling grape juice and had our own little birthday celebration. The store was so cute, Amber says she wants to go back on her actual birthday for lunch!

The whole extravaganza took not two, but four hours. But it was worth every preparation and every minute! To top off a wonderful day, we went out to feed our homeless friends and followed it up with a trip to the cine to see a movie. See, I told you Hondurans have more fun.