important addendum

I failed to mention an extremely important event in my previous blog about the sunrise hike...

On the way down the mountain two Honduran men, both whom were at least two and a half to three times our age, passed us, and were out of site within seconds. I'm sure they were thinking "silly gringas!"  Both were likely on their way to the market to buy their food for the week, and then carry it all the way back up the mountain...these people are tough, i mean REALLY tough...

A weekend in Honduras

I just had one of the best weekends I have had so far in Honduras...

It started out on Friday, at about 11:15...I went to the bus time to inquire about what time the bus left for Santa Lucia (where Erin lives) and found that the bus didn't leave until 12:30....so, since I had extra time, i enjoyed an ice cold pepsi from a glass bottle...

Then I began walking toward the main road where there is a bus stop, to see if I might be able to get another bus, or find some other means of transportation.  A truck pulled up next to me, and the driver asked me if I wanted a ride, and of course I did..i love a jalone! I hopped in back, with three other Honduran women.  I have never looked so conspicuous in my life...when I got to my bus stop, I banged on the side of the truck, the driver stopped and I hopped out...I had the 2nd biggest grin of my life on at this time...

I waited at the bus stop for about an hour, and a bus never came...but then I finally saw my original bus approaching, with about 10 boys sitting on top, so I knew the bus was already PACKED, and three more of us had to get on...we squeezed in, and I stood in the door of the bus, hanging onto the bus around the window, next to the ayudante (bus helper), with my backpack totally out of the bus...this was when I was wearing the biggest grin of my life...

also, it is important to know that the road looks like this, the entire way:

actually, this is the good part of the road...

sadly, i was only able to stand in the doorway for about 10 minutes before several seats opened up...

The electricity in Santa Lucia was off for most of the day on Saturday, so I spent the day laying in the hammock catching up on some reading.

Sunday morning Erin and I, along with two other members of a medical brigade at her clinic, woke up at 4am for a sunrise hike.  We hiked for 58 minutes uphill to watch the sun come up, and it was spectacular...i don't really love hiking, and this was worth waking up for, and hiking up hill for:

it was far more beautiful than the pictures portray

After the hike, drinking copious amounts of coffee, and a nap, we went to the river...and walked across this into El Salvador:

the bridge from the picnic/swimming spot

then we swam across the river back to Honduras, then returned to El Salvador for lunch...an El Salvadorian ice cream man even came to our picnic, and we all bought ice cream bars!

See, I'm in El Salvador!

When we returned home, we cut up a HUGE ayote (pumpkin squash) and Maria cooked it for us in a huge pot, and added a ginormous block of brown sugar, whole all spice, and cloves:

it tasted like the holidays at home!

Maria covered it with plantain leaves from the tree right outside the kitchen, and let it cook over the open flame for a couple of hours:

While the ayote was cooking, we went to a little Chinese restaurant in Santa Lucia, where we ate some of the best Chinese food I have ever had...then we returned to the clinic and enjoyed the ayote...it tasted like pumpkin pie, without the crust...next time I am eating it with ice cream, and pouring a little of the juice from it in my coffee to make a pumpkin spice coffee! luckily there are several more ayotes to be cooked!

I hopped on the bus this morning at 6 and returned home to camasca and began my work at schooo, but not before stopping and having "plato typico" (beans, cheese, eggs, fried plantains and fresh corn tortillas) with coffee at the little restaurant in Camasca.

I could get used to weekends like this!

favorite

my favorite thing about school today was going to make copies, and not knowing where i was going, so two five year old girls from class led me there, i'm sure it was a sight to see...a clueless gringa following two young hondurans, the story of my life as of late....mind you, the school does not have a copier, and they had to take me to the store, a few blocks away...i really do love honduras sometimes...

also..my other favorite thing is that one of the kids had a birthday today...in the states, this means over sugary treats..in honduras, this means the family basically brings a meal...we had rice with chicken, vegetables and hot dogs, along with white bread.  OH, and this horrendous drink that I have been warned about called "Tropical Banana" it looks like a refreshing cup of Fanta, but it is quite deceiving...it tastes like a juice of banana runts..it is AWFUL but the hondurans love it...if ever traveling to honduras, i would recommend avoiding it at all costs....

strange no more...

since living in Honduras for the past month, there are a few things that are no longer strange to me, such as:

chickens in the kitchen
randomly spotting chicken poop/pee in the living room, and cleaning it up
ants in the sugar
ants in my coffee...fish them out and continue drinking
lizards scampering out from behind everything
walking everywhere...because it is actually faster than driving
having irregular bowel movements, always of interesting consistency (or lack thereof)

and, there are still a few (actually a lot) of things that I'm still getting used to:

lizards scampering out from behind everything...they get me every time.
evidence that mice and/or rats have also been studying my spanish
always being a little dirty
running water every other day (for 2 hours)
showering every other (or every 3) days
freezing. cold. bucket. showers....they take my breath away every time, in the most unromantic way possible

changes....

things in Honduras rarely change quickly, but from time to time they do...and they change really quickly! so..last week Erin told me that a bi-lingual school in a small town called Camasca, near where she works, that was in need of an English teacher for the pre-kinder class...so, who better to warp the minds of young Hondurans than yours truly?  I mean, I tought swimming lessons a few times...so I should be able to teach education...right???

Apparently they have a teacher, but she speaks little to no English, thus defeating the purpose of a bi-lingual school...and they may or may not have even been holding classes, so they needed someone right away.  I was offered the job on Thursday, and they asked me to start Monday...so, I canceled the last 2 weeks of my Spanish school and hopped on a bus to La Esperanza (about 4 hours from Camasca) on Saturday morning.  I will be doing a home stay in Comasca with a total Spanish speaking family, and I plan on finding someone to teach me more Spanish..so the learning will continue!

I have to admit, I'm really nervous about this whole teaching thing, but it's with little kids, so it will probably just be a lot of singing and playing and coloring...and luckily there is a real teacher there, so I just have to hope that I can understand Spanish well enough to translate what she is saying to the kids...

here's to hoping and yet another new adventure....

mosquitoes

in honduras, they are relentless...

Tuk Tuk!!

One week of Spanish lessons are done, and I feel like I have learned a ton, but still have so so so much more to learn.  I can usually follow what my host mom is saying to me, luckily she speaks to me slowly. I feel like a  two year old, just learning to talk...i don't know many words, when i do use the words i know, they come out wrong and nobody can understand me.  Maybe i'll just start crying until i get what i want.

I went to the bird park/sanctuary thing that they have here.  It's a pretty cool project to try and rebuild the population of their native birds..such as parrots, toucans, etc...but i'm not much of a bird person, and one of the toucans hopped right up to me and bit my toe. I'm not going back...

BUT...the bird place did have a coffee shop with coffee that is all grown in honduras, and that made up for the bird incident...so i spent about an hour doing this:

OH!! and I finally got to ride in a tuk tuk!! In Copan, and in Utila, tuk tuks are what they use for taxis here, and they stuff 3 adults in the back seat...I've been wanting to ride in one since i got here!

learning...despacio

I have successfully(ish) made it through 3 days of Spanish class....learning a new language is hard work, and trying to communicate when only knowing a few words is even more difficult. My dictionary has become one of my most valuable possessions...

Not knowing a language and not being able to communicate effectively is really difficult, and incredibly frustrating at times.  On my first night with my hose family, my host mom (who speaks no english) told me that her son had been shot and killed, and I think it was either on his birthday, her birthday, or that day was the anniversary of his death...either way, i felt horrible for her, and she is still very upset about it.  In these situations it is hard to know what to say when you know the language, and when you don't know it, it is even worse..i felt so unsympathetic, and all i could come up with was "que triste." Such a horrible tragedy.

Meanwhile, I am learning little by little, but it just takes lots of repetition and practice.

spanish...say wha???

today was my first day of spanish class, and i feel completely lost...oh, and erin left this morning, so i am totally on my own for the next month...from the moment i walked into school until the moment i left i pretty much only heard spanish....then i went and met my host family..well, so far i have only met the mom, and she only speaks spanish. however, we somehow managed to communicate, though i am sure painful and slow for her..i have a long way to go...to console myself, i am drinking a coke out of a glass bottle with a straw...it makes everything better.

oh, and i purchased a spanish dictionary, note cards, and a pencil...i need to study...A LOT...i feel like this, like all the time:

and this:

back to spanish brain...