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.