Life slowly returning to normal...

Well the fair is now over and what a fair it was - 22 days later and a little low on sleep, life is returning to normal. I am trying to get some projects going that were delayed during November – I am realizing that not much work gets accomplished during this time of year. But it was a fun month and was really most helpful with becoming more acclimated to Honduras and especially to La Paz. I spent a lot of time with new Honduran friends, with the mayor and his family who are quickly becoming my home away from home, and I noticed a drastic improvement in my Spanish. So not all was lost in November if this is what I accomplished.

I will be starting the redesign of Parque Francisco Morazan this week and will be traveling to my friend Erin’s site in El Nispero to help her on another project. I am still working on the market and basketball court in Camasca and will hopefully finish the drawings here in the next few weeks. In the New Year I hope to begin a community campaign “La Paz – La Ciudad Limpia” talking with students about the importance of keeping their city clean for their own health and others, initiating a recycling program with a recycling contest between the elementary schools, and painting art trash cans to install around town. Am hoping to get a grant through the Peace Corps to execute this project. La Paz may even be getting a proper trash truck by a generous donation.

Will keep you all up to date as life continues here in Central America…right now I am looking forward to what will be a very different Christmas season here in Honduras – wondering what that will be like – and looking forward to a beach vacation on the north coast for New Year’s with my friend Sarah who will be visiting from New York City!!!

more birthday photos...the food, the cake, and my friends...

my birthday cake...with all the pink frosting a girl could ever want!!!








my previous neighbor Linda and her daughter Andrea Marisol dressed up for first communion...








grilling out carne asada in our back patio...








the mounds of food...carne asada, beans, rice, cheese, tortillas, and pasta salad compliments of patrick. yummm!

November 28th - My 28th Birthday...Honduran Style!!!

In this photo the mayor the mayor gave me a birthday toast...and then everyone sang La Mananita and Happy Birthday to me...

Well, I feel like I am getting old, so good thing I was here in Honduras for my 28^th birthday – where everyone gets a party, even if you’re turning 80…

Tuesday night my house was once again filled to the brim with people…this time though with all of my Honduran friends and coworkers turning out to celebrate! People started arriving at 6 pm with pots of food to serve armies. We had a real Honduran dinner with rice, refried beans, fresh cheese, tortillas, and carne asada grilled out in the backyard by the mayor and his wife. Others brought boquitos (appetizers/snacks) of soy chips, crackers with “sandwhich spread” and taquitos. Patrick and I each made a dish to share as well and another friend brought a cake, with my name spelled correctly, the American way!

The night was complete with all the Honduran touches – chairs lined up against the walls, small plastic cups of coke (because it WAS a special occasion), little girls dressed as if going to their first communion, cake smeared across my face, Bachata music, and lots of dancing! Some friends wanted to douse me with eggs and flour (a Honduran tradition I’m not sure I believe) but I was able to evade that by dancing with Patrick - Whew! I think they just really wanted to make fools of us…

So, I survived my 28^th birthday – a better and more rich person because of it…and I will make sure I am out of town next year when it comes time again…not sure if I can outrun the eggs and flour a second time…

November 26th - Moto Trial

The last day of the fair I went to watch the motorcycle races up in the mountain. These trials bikes are especially made to run at a low speed and, with low air pressure in their tires, mount obstacles such as large rocks. The competition was held in the river where there were plenty of challenging maneuvers. It was neat to watch, plus being out there with the smells and sounds of motorcycles reminded me a lot of Steven’s riding in California.

me and my buddies on thanksgiving...

steph, erin, miriam, and jerome...

patrick and i enjoying our rooftop balcony!

Thanksgiving 2006

I spent my first Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday in Tegucigalpa at the house of a US Embassy Official for a proper dinner – an evening I won’t forget. Let’s just say that the food was excellent and the conversation was, well, a bit stuffy!

I then took the first bus back to La Paz Friday morning to start preparing for a volunteer Thanksgiving dinner at my house! We hosted 33 volunteers who traveled from all around the country to be together for our first holiday in Honduras. A friend in La Paz cooked a turkey for us at his restaurant and everyone brought a dish to share – we had mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, squash, olives, pasta salad, bread and olive oil, pumpkin pie, and apple pie – just some of the things people were able to find in the markets around the country, but I think everyone’s tummies were happy and full!

19 of the 33 stayed in our house – it was a squeeze but made for a lot of fun, especially when we ran out of water and had to bucket bathe and wash the dishes outside at the pila! We went to the fair Friday night so that everyone could experience the toro fuegos – two of our volunteers even ran them in the streets.

Saturday was a much more relaxing day – For those who remained I led a tour of La Paz to see the parks, and market, and we hiked up to “La Hermita” - church in the hillside that yields pretty amazing views of the city! The church was built during the term of ex-president Roberto Suazo Cordova, who is from La Paz and lives here still. Then Saturday night, we ordered pizza and just chilled at the house. It was a nice cozy Thanksgiving – certainly good to spend with my new friends since we are all so far from home.

November 21st - Cerdo Encebado

Cerdo Encebado - Literally a greased pig. Let loose in the central park. Men and boys of all ages running to catch it. Whoever wins, gets free dinner for a week!

November 14th - Tegucigalpa

On my way into Tegucigalpa I took a few shots of the city from the bus. This is the outskirts of Teguc, but gives you an idea of the housing types and informal economy of the Capitol City. You also see western influence in the commercial investment of Pizza Hut and McDonald’s – a dichotomy amidst the local Honduran vendors, squatting on the side of the road with items such as oranges, flip flops, and toilet paper. You should also note the lack of organization in the streets – this is a boulevard with 2 lanes of traffic running in each direction.

November 14th - VAC meeting

Aside from the many doctors and hospital visits this past month, I also had to go to Tegucigalpa for a Volunteer Advisory Committee meeting. I was selected to represent my project group as a VAC member - to discuss and update policies of Peace Corps Honduras with the country director and other representatives. This photo at the home of the Country Director is of all the representatives.

The mayor and his wife the night of the Reinado








All of the girls in their traditional Honduran dress








One of the traditional dresses fanned out to a Honduran flag

One of the cowboys who earned his sash and a kiss...
On the run for the prize...
Parading through the market street in La Paz...

Nov 11th - Carrera de Cintas y Reinado

This parade day is when all the candidates for the Queen of the Fair dress up like cowgirls and parade through the streets on horseback! The cowboys come running on horse into town to sweep up the girls on to their horses at the start of the parade.

The event ends with a competition amongst the cowboys. The prize – kisses from the girls! Each cowboy runs their horse underneath a string tied between two poles, attached to the string are rings with numbers which signify each girl. As they pass underneath the string they must grab for the rings to win their kisses!

The Reinado event that evening was essentially a beauty pageant to elect the Queen of the Fair – Reina de la Feria. There were series of competitions from evening gown to traditional dress - this was my favorite part! These photos show some of the traditional dress and also a shot of the mayor and his wife at the event.

November 5th - Toro Fuegos!!!

Tonight I witnessed something I’ve never seen before (besides an event starting on time) – TORO FUEGOS!!! Fireworks are a big tradition with the fairs in Honduras and since the fair lasts the whole month, there is a need to get creative with how to use the fireworks, thus we have Toro Fuegos... a combination of bull and fire…a wooden structure built to look like a bull, complete with head, tail, and horns…that is small enough for a person to carry but big enough to fit a person on the underside. Fastened to the cow are about 50 fireworks set to go off like a timer over a period of 20 minutes. Somehow they find volunteers to run through the streets and the park with this man made cow on top of him, setting off the fireworks. It is the job of the people to run and get out of the way of the bull…kind of like the running of the bulls but with fireworks instead of horns. Its a pretty interesting, or shall I say scary, sight – something security would never allow to happen in the United States. As the length of the fair continues the number of toro fuegos increases at each celebration (2-3 times per week) – up to 6 during the final week of the fair. There were definitely a few times when I could be found ducking out of the way beneath a telephone booth to stay away from the flames of the fireworks…yes they come that close. I tried to stay clear of the charging bull, but close enough to get some pictures…enjoy!

November 2006 - Feria Patronal de la Virgen de los Dolores

Bright and early Saturday morning November 4th, the annual fair commenced in La Paz. Every November the community gathers to put on a fair in honor of the “Virgin of Pain”. As history goes, in 1848 Priest José Felicitas Jalón gifted an image of the Virgen de los Dolores to the city of La Paz, and from that moment, she has been considered the patron of the city. So, on Saturday morning, since the Mayor deemed it necessary that I help initiate the fair, I joined a group of about 30 people in the central park at 3:30 am to get the fair started...In typical Honduran fashion, we piled into the backs of pick-up trucks to parade through the streets, a police truck leading the way with sirens blaring, another truck in the back with music playing an announcement of “Felicidades” for the commencement of the fair. Along the way, we stopped in each neighborhood to set off fireworks and wake up the city...I was back to sleep in my bed at 5:30! (this photo of the central church is taken just after it got a paint job...)

November 2, 2006 - Dia de Los Difuntos

The month of November started out with the Dia de los Angeles y Dia de los Difuntos (Commonly known as Dia de los Muertos in Mexico and Spain). The first day of this two-day celebration is in remembrance of the children who have died young – “Angelitos” – and the second day in remembrance of the adults. Following tradition, the celebration consists of laying flowers and offering prayers at the cemetery, and also singing and parades throughout the streets.

On the Dia de los Difuntos, my host mother invited me to observe the celebration with her at the cemetery. She was honoring her recently deceased husband who committed suicide just 7 months ago at the age of 41 – leaving her behind with 3 boys. She honored him by cleaning off his tomb and placing flowers and evergreen branches on the grounds. The cemetery was full of people, doing the same in every corner of the place. Another tradition that has been abandoned in recent years is the bringing of food to the cemetery. It was believed that during the night the souls of the deceased would come back to partake of the food that their loved ones had left for them.