La Goma

The Walk 

Yesterday I learned the spanish word for hangover.

It FINALLY stopped raining on Thursday which led to the perfect opportunity to get out and about and enjoy the weather.  We went to el Río María to take in the sights and go for a swim.

The walk was gorgeous.  Tons of banana trees, orange trees, grapefruit, rambután, etc.  And of course, tons of mosquitos.  After a long hike up hill we came to a tiny trail off to the right where Josue announced we were supposed to climb down.  A few hundred meters later we came to our destination.

Me sliding down the waterfall

Gorgeous.  There was a swimming hole, a waterfall and several pools.  We spent the afternoon swimming, climbing and relaxing in the sun.  Josue announced that many of the teens liked to slide down the waterfall.  I was, of course, intrigued.  Josue said that they don't let the gringos slide though, because it is too dangerous.  Naturally, I took that as a challenge.  I watched Josue do it twice then went for it.  He gave me a set of instructions: lean forward so your head doesn't bounce off the rocks, keep your arms in so they don't get caught on the rocks and cut off, and once you start you have to go for it...don't hesitate.  I climbed up and went for it.  What a rush!  I was shaking still when I finished!

We headed home to shower and go out for the night to see a band play at our favorite local bar.  All in all a good day in La Ceiba.

Josue, Me and Sarah at the bar

Just Your Average Tuesday

Tuesday was an incredible day.  I spent the day in Cacao, a quiet, tiny little town on the outskirts of the city.  I have been helping out an American man named Les who is here working on a census type project to try to pinpoint exactly how many children there are in the village, and how many do not go to school for lack of funding.  It costs about $25 US dollars for each kid to go to school-uniform, book bag, supplies.  In an area where $500 is the average annual salary that is a HUGE chunk.

Part of the issue is that there are no stores anywhere close.  People from Cacao have to come down into La Ceiba to go to the pharmacy or any type of store.  The only thing they have are the neighborhood Pulperias, which are tiny corner stores that are overpriced and tend to sell things that are not really needed (beer, tiny toys, Gatorade) but lack in necessary objects (toilet paper, milk, etc.).  The majority of their money is going to these pulperias, unfortunately spent on the beer, etc.)

His ultimate plan is to try to help this town keep more of their resources (mangos, pineapples, avocados, oranges, grapefruit, chile peppers, etc.) in the town and set up a sort of town market where they can buy other items that are not grown/raised in town at fair prices.  Hopefully, providing jobs for some members of the community, and freeing up some money for families to be able to send their children to school.

I have spent a few afternoons helping him translate questions and talking with him about the types of questions to ask about health and school and kids or not to ask (specifically about abortion—which I have been told is not nearly as huge of a legal issue here as in Mexico because, as my Honduran BFF Jorge likes to say, “It’s Honduras, Everything is legal! You can kill any kind of person and it is ok!”

He wanted me to see the town for myself, so Les, Jorge, Juan(an Evangelical Minister and our driver), and I headed out to Cacao. 

Me with the Cacao tree

Our first stop was to hunt down some cacao (cocoa) plants.  I had no idea how it was grown and was really kind of shocked!  I guess I assumed it was grown on the ground like tobacco or something.  What a city girl I am!  We, along with a plethora of mosquitos, found fields and forests and streets lined with cacao trees.  Apparently the pods are poisonous to humans until they are ripe, or so Les had been told.  Jorge to the rescue.  He stealthily hunted down a ripe pod and cracked it open.  Any good Honduran would have used their machete but Jorge doesn’t carry one.  I have taken to giving him a hard time and saying that because he spends too much time with the gringos at school he is only a medio-hondureño at this point.   

The cacao pod opened up

The fun part about the cacao pod is that you can suck the milk white slime off the inner pods.  It is sweet and tart at the same time with a pleasant flavor but a creepy texture.  Les and I were not huge fans so Jorge happily ate the rest.  Inside those little pods are where the seeds are. 

The Bridge

The Lagoon

The next stop on our tour was the lagoon.  Even Jorge put mosquito repellant on at this point (again, medio-hondureño) because we were being eaten alive.  The lagoon, home to crocodiles, lizards, monkeys, crabs, etc., was once used for a British version of Survivor or something similar.  The TV company built a long wooden plank style bridge throughout the entire lagoon which was seriously dilapidated at this point.  Even in this state it was easy to appreciate its natural beauty and imagine what it once was.  We cautiously walked out as far as we were able and spoke with 2 men who were tooling around in handmade wooden canoes.

Jorge peeling our oranges-with a machete of course

From there, we walked around the town and spoke with the woman who is acting as the administrator for Les’ project.  We were shown potential property that is for sale and spent some time just chatting with the locals.  We ended up in an orange grove and snacked on the bitter green oranges that are so popular here.  The farmer, taking a break from “mowing” his land with his machete to offer us the fruit, gave Juan 20lbs of oranges to deliver to people less fortunate than he, and sent me home with several grapefruit for myself. 

On the way home we drove up a little ways into the mountains to look at the scenery and because I wanted to see the “Jungle School” that I had read about.  We paused roadside to look at the rapids of the Rio Cangrejal, the waterfalls and the iguanas that were all around and just be still for a bit.  I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by the unspoiled beauty of this place and gratitude that I am feeling at this point in my life for being blessed enough to be given the opportunity to do all that I have done and see all that I have seen.

Around Town

El Mercado 

In between monsoon style rain I have been able to get out and about a bit this past week.  With the other gringos that I'm in school with, I went to the beach, the mercado (market), and lots of other places around town.

Rambután

I have fallen in love with rambután, a fruit with crazy hair all over it.  I've never had lychee in the US but from what I can understand they are very similar. You can buy it on just about any street corner and at every market stand, along with green oranges, bananas, etc.

Other than fruit, the food is fairly plain.  LOTS of rice and LOTS of beans.  Also lots of pork chops.  I have had the super common pupusa-tortilla/potato/cheese contraption made flat and grilled, and they are good.  Not many, or really any, vegetables to speak of other than plantains.

Half of the Gringo/a Group

One of the most exciting things I have done so far is going to the Honduras/Jamaica futbol (soccer) game.  Wow!  What a difference from sporting events in the states.  The first challenge was getting into the stadium.  I guess for crowd control purposes, the stadium is divided in half with a 10 foot tall fence topped with barbed wire.  Unfortunately, our group ended up getting split up and on other sides of the stadium.  After figuring it out we were able to get on the same side to watch the game.  What an experience!  Honduras ended up winning 2-1 and with each goal the crowd went WILD.  Woman took their shirts off, kids blew incessantly on plastic horns and men screamed.

My favorite part though, was the wave.  In the circular soccer stadium the wave went around at least 10 times.  If not more.  It started tamely enough, but by the end everyone was throwing their basura (trash) up in the air along with their hands when it got to them.  Then the kids would run around and quickly collect all the trash so that they were ready to throw it in the air again by the time the wave came back around.  It was like trash confetti--such a happy time.  I kept chuckling to myself thinking about what would happen if you tried to do that at a stadium in the states.

My New Digs

My bedroom

Life in La Ceiba reminds me so much of my time in Monterrey, Mexico.  Similar house and similar neighborhood, although Monterrey is a much bigger city.

I am living in one of the nicer neighborhoods in La Ceiba.  Middle class at least.  The houses are pretty typical: one story, tiled floor, lots of Jesus paraphernalia.  Our house and gate are pink. Very pink, which is nice for identification purposes.  I am sharing a room for the week with a Swiss girl.  She is working on a project in the mountains and is in Ceiba taking language classes for only a week.  Her spanish is VERY limited and her english is only slightly better so my heart goes out to her frequently.  The living room and dining area are kind of an open format in the house and there is a tiny kitchen off of the dining area.  In the kitchen is a cooktop hooked up to a propane tank.  There is one bathroom in the house, and the shower water is FREEZING!!! Which is actually a welcome relief from the daily heat.  No working sink, but we just brush our teeth in the shower and rinse it down with water.  The biggest challenge is that the entire city is on water rationing-so our water is turned off every night from 9pm-5am.  Makes it tricky for that late night potty break.

Stove

Living Room/Dining Room

The shower--we store water in the buckets for late night rationing time

Kitchen

My temporary family is great.  My "mama", Gloria, is a former teacher.  I have a "brother", Alex, who is 21.  He is in school part time and teaches part time at the high school.  I also have 3 "sisters", Pamela, Susan and Aldita.  Pamela is 22 and works at a preschool.  Susan is 14 and in 8th grade and Aldita is 9 and has Downs Syndrome.  I love being part of a bigger family and find myself thinking a lot about what it would have been like to have stepped into the middle of my family as a ex-pat.

I started school on Monday and I love it!  It's pretty intense-only me and my teacher, Karla, but she is awesome!  We tell funny stories, she is an elementary school teacher too, and talk about pop-culture topics and music.  I think I am going to get so much out of my time with her.  She studied linguistics in college and likes to tell me about the roots and origins of the words which is fascinating to me as well.  I leave school every day with my brain hurting, and I think that's a good thing!

Thats all for now. Internet is very slow here, in fact some days its non-existant all over town, and I have homework to do!  Love to all!

Getting Here

The view at the airport in San Pedro Sula

After a great trip to Florida: a day on the beach, a night time boat ride and gorgeous weather, I awoke on Saturday morning to a gloomy, rainy day.  Anxious and excited I ate breakfast, repacked (a feat in itself) and headed to the airport.  As soon as I walked up to the TACA counter the man working there began speaking spanish. BAM. The adventure began.

The flight from Miami to San Pedro Sula was uneventful.  I was way too excited to sleep so I watched a little of a movie and ate the delicious pre-packaged cheese croissant.  When we got to SAP baggage claim was kind of a disaster but once all was found, immigration and customs was easy enough.  Then, I bought a bus ticket to La Ceiba and waited for the bus to board.

Bus Ride

From the airport I took the bus to the main terminal in San Pedro Sula and then waited for my connecting bus to take me the rest of the way to La Ceiba.  There were only 4 of us on the bus-2 Japanese tourists, an older Honduran couple and myself.  It was a long ride.  We watched Lassie twice, and I'm pretty sure at one point that the older man peed in the back of the bus.  When we finally got to the bus station in La Ceiba everything was dark and shut down, but Raphael, the director of the school I'm attending was there to greet me.  He brought me to my host family's house where I fairly quickly went to sleep, exhausted after my 12 hour travel day.