left to right (Copan Ruinas (the second time I went when Katie and Laura visited!), pods of a sweet plant, beautiful view from the rooftops of Copan, the brillance of flowers here, and a quaint cafe where coffee is so fresh and so stong.
Happy holidays. Hope you all had a relaxing Christmas. Sounds like weather is freezing but here it is a breezy day. There has been a bit of rain here in San Pedro Sula but I´ve definitely enjoyed the heat. I´m still sweating but I enjoyed my chill Christmas here.
My two great friends Laura Swick and Katie Copeland came to visit me the week before Christmas. It was so refreshing to be with them again. I felt like I could express myself and they really understood me! Finally. And we went to Copan Ruinas again and it was fun to see how much I had grown and how much more spanish I now know. All of that with the knowledge that I know so little in the sceme of grasping this language and it keeps me humbled every day. We had a really fun time trying new foods and just sharing a relaxing time together. Why don´t we, as Americans, just relax more together? It was blissful. They were a blessing on my host family, who was excited for them to be there even though it was short. Their presence also made me miss so many wonderful people in my life but it was the perfect Christmas gift just to see them.
For many in this world, Christmas is not a time to relax but to work. On the 24th, I went with my host mom Teresa to work at her tajaditas (plantain chips) business. We started early in the morning to pack the chips into small and big bags. We fried two huge barrels of plantains. The business went well that day but it got hot sitting inside this building when the electricity and water was off for most of the day. Teresa was so good to me, always offering fruit juice and water to me. She offered the best that she had.
Christmas day was quite tranquil. I watched Titanic with Diana, Carlos, and Daniel (my host siblings). I also lost in a 45 min game of monopoly. That was a record loss for me, as the capitalistic game did not even last an hour. However, it seemed so indicative of how capitalism can really encourage greed, as Daniel complained about paying 25 dollar amounts of rent after I shelled out thousands of dollars on his hotels. Haha.
They served nacatamales. This is a specific type of tamale that has a corn based masa, chicken, a red masa, olives, and red beans. It is tasty, especially with hot sauce, but it can sit heavy on your stomache. I could only eat one. Also, torejas are a special dessert here. They are basically fried eggs surrounded by bread and coated in dark sugar cane. Fairly nutritous. With torejas I could also only eat one but I enjoyed it.
The day after Christmas we were back to pack tajaditas. Teresa really appreciated my help and kept giving me juice and water to keep me hydrated. My mom also travels in the buses, selling her products in the local towns. This is hard work and can be quite uncomfortable, as the buses rock and drive really crazy. However, I am always amazed at her generosity as she gives bags of tajaditas to my friends that visit and anyone else deemed a visitor. It is an exhausting life to pack tajaditas all day and then return home to cook dinner for about an hour and fall asleep to her soap operas on tv. Women here have some serious stamina.
I´ve really been amazed also how she seems to live day to day. Talk about asking for daily bread... She goes to the local pulperia (local store run out of ppl´s houses) to buy just the exact amount of sugar, eggs, and manteca she will use to cook that day. And each day in her work, she fries and packs just two barrels of plantains. It seems to give her no security at all and no time to ever be sick. Daniel and Carlos are working to find jobs around the town. When American groups come in , Carlos works to sell various things to them. Daniel went to work to pick watermelon and beans for a while. It´s all seasonal work and only allows them to work for weeks at a time. Diana has no cares in the world except to support her team Olympia (one of the club soccer teams from Tegucigalpa) and to win as much Uno as she can.
I finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and it really made me want to plant vegetables. I don´t get much of those here. When Teresa heard that I liked veggies she decided to make a veggie stew but ended up putting an entire stick of butter in. That kinda defeated the purpose of why I like vegetables. As is true to the Honduran manner of cooking, I´ll bet she added some sugar. Overall, I feel very grateful for the food that she makes and it makes me all the more aware that I am another mouth she needs to feed and that she does it with grace.
I missed so many of you this Christmas. Hope you are eating lots of pepernuts and chocolate covered things. That book also made me realize how eating should be a spiritual or sacred experience. So many people don´t have the options that we have. We need to choose well and eat slowly. Kingsolver also talked about supporting locally because it really is more effective than buying foods that are shipped over miles and miles. It makes me convicted about bananas. It really sucks that bananas are so abundant here and so many Hondurans do not get a fair price selling them. It makes me not want to buy them in the US because of this injustice. Really so much of what we do is based on what we are used to and the habits that we establish. If we can break our habits to create a more just society, than what is this small sacrifice really?
This book also really made me want to just take in nature. Just marvel in what´s around me. Sometimes the trash here can be distracting but Honduras really is a gorgeous country. The natural beauty is overwhelming, the brillance of the flower and funky shapes. The birds also have amazing songs that they never stop cooing. There is so much life here and it is abundant, despite human attempts to trash it, relocate it, or destroy it.
I´m heading up to Utila for New Years. This is a bay island on the north coast of Honduras. I´m excited to see the beaches but everything will be more expensive because it is a well-known backpacker spot. Really it won´t be super expensive in US terms but after living with my monthly allowence here and understanding typical Honduran spending its a bit humbling. I´m working to spend money well and give generously while living simply. Its quite the balance actually.
Anyways, we´re traveling to La Ceiba today and then off to the island. Should be a good adventure. There are a lot of those here. I just love how easy Hondurans are to talk to. They seem to always want to know where I am from, are my blue eyes real, and what I think of various Honduran dishes. May you all be well, take in the winter world around you (wherever you may be) and breathe in a bit deeper. Remain in love.
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