| Dessert was delicious! Sometimes closing your eyes makes it even tastier |
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Memo's suit
We got our annual tropical storm on May 3rd. The rainy season should be here soon. In Honduras it rains every May 3rd. Some people even save the rain as a religious thing. The rain started about 10 pm on May 2nd and came down hard with lots of thunder and lightening for a few hours. Then it calmed but woke me again about 2 a.m. I knew it was a bad storm, but I didn't realize how bad until I drove to the church. As I was going down the mountain switching radio stations heard a man speaking in a very dramatic voice about the problems in the capital city. I wondered what in the world was going on. Was I about to drive into some huge, violent protests? That is the first place my mind goes when I think of problems in Tegucigalpa.
Then the man talked about all of the places that are without power, all of the streets that were closed from mudslides and walls that fell down. The area worst hit was "La Kennedy" which is adjacent to Los Pinos. Since the houses are poorly built on a steep mountainside they sometimes slide away with the side of the mountain. I was grateful for my truck as I drove through the streets. Bulldozers and backhoes were cleaning the mud out of the street and holding up traffic. Huge rocks were in the road along with about 2 feet of mud in some places. There was no power at the church, just as I expected after hearing the man on the radio. This is what I saw as I pulled in:
Yesterday Lourdes sent a suit home with one of Memo's older brothers. She told him to tell Memo he could use it for Mother's Day which is a HUGE deal here. This morning Memo's Mom went to work and Memo dressed himself. (So did Jose apparently.) Memo had on a white tee shirt and white sneakers with his blue suit. It was awesome. He strutted around all day, soaking in all of the compliments.
We were able to make pancakes for the kids on the gas stove. The power didn't come back all day. I was happy that for once, we had power up in the mountains. Every other person I spoke to had leaks in their roof. One person said she slept with a bucket on her bed. I was the only person who had no leaks in my house. (Although Hermida and I did decide today that it would be wise if I parked in front of her house instead of in my driveway. We are pretty sure my driveway is safe, but it is possible that land could give way in the rainy season.)
Friday was fun, and Saturday was even better. A few weeks ago I got to know a lady from the church a little better. She invited me to her son's birthday party in an enormous park near my house. There were over 100 people there, maybe 200. It was really nice! She had a DJ, a mickey mouse piñata, games for the kids and homemade pupusas. It was fun for all ages.
Then the man talked about all of the places that are without power, all of the streets that were closed from mudslides and walls that fell down. The area worst hit was "La Kennedy" which is adjacent to Los Pinos. Since the houses are poorly built on a steep mountainside they sometimes slide away with the side of the mountain. I was grateful for my truck as I drove through the streets. Bulldozers and backhoes were cleaning the mud out of the street and holding up traffic. Huge rocks were in the road along with about 2 feet of mud in some places. There was no power at the church, just as I expected after hearing the man on the radio. This is what I saw as I pulled in:
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| Jose in his pj's and Memo in a suit |
Yesterday Lourdes sent a suit home with one of Memo's older brothers. She told him to tell Memo he could use it for Mother's Day which is a HUGE deal here. This morning Memo's Mom went to work and Memo dressed himself. (So did Jose apparently.) Memo had on a white tee shirt and white sneakers with his blue suit. It was awesome. He strutted around all day, soaking in all of the compliments.
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| Memo strutting |
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| Soaking up compliments from Eunice |
We were able to make pancakes for the kids on the gas stove. The power didn't come back all day. I was happy that for once, we had power up in the mountains. Every other person I spoke to had leaks in their roof. One person said she slept with a bucket on her bed. I was the only person who had no leaks in my house. (Although Hermida and I did decide today that it would be wise if I parked in front of her house instead of in my driveway. We are pretty sure my driveway is safe, but it is possible that land could give way in the rainy season.)
Friday was fun, and Saturday was even better. A few weeks ago I got to know a lady from the church a little better. She invited me to her son's birthday party in an enormous park near my house. There were over 100 people there, maybe 200. It was really nice! She had a DJ, a mickey mouse piñata, games for the kids and homemade pupusas. It was fun for all ages.
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| Daniel Andres with his piñata |
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| Right next door the military were training in the park |
After the party I came home and cooked. I made a peanut butter and chocolate dessert with oreo crust, lasagna with spicy sausage, salad with dried cranberries, blue cheese, toasted pumpkin seeds, red and orange peppers and a sesame ginger dressing. My favorite part was homemade garlic bread with basil, garlic and parmesan cheese. Jairo thought so too. Josselyn asked if Jairo was tired because he was eating with his eyes closed. Jairo said no, he was closing his eyes because he was enjoying the food so much. Everyone said they really loved it. They knew I was nervous to cook for them so I received a lot of compliments. Joss played some nice music and we sat and enjoyed our dinner. Lourdes' nephew said he gave my food a 10 out of 10! Then we moved into the kitchen for desert. Lourdes said it was a real Gringo meal because we had desert. In Honduras we never have desert except birthday cake. It was a super great night. We watched a movie which we all enjoyed - "Parental Guidance". I recommend it for all ages. Now I have confidence to cook for them again. I need to make a meal for my landlords too. They invite me over a lot. I am looking forward to getting back into cooking.
I told Lourdes I think I am finally nesting here. She said that she could see it too. In the past 2 weeks I got a toaster and a blender. Now I can finally blend my beans instead of crushing them with the side of a cup. Lourdes was really grateful that I brought over a full meal. The Sarmientos host people all of the time, so they said it felt nice for me to serve them. I loved it too!
I got home at 11:15 and went straight to bed. Hermida and I left this morning at 6:30 a.m. to go to a marathon which raised money for kids with cleft lips. We did the 6 kilometer race but we decided to walk it. It was cool to see all of those runners. What a rush! The long distance runners passed us on their way out and caught up with us as we were crossing the finish line. In the end we were tired but happy. I wanted to bring my camera. There were awesome photos to be had, but it isn't safe to carry a camera on the streets. After the race Hermida invited me for lunch at Denny's. We each had a strawberry shake and shared a salad. We talked for a long time. It is nice to be doing fun things and getting to know people better.
Tomorrow back to the breakfast program. Wonder what surprises Memo will have in store.
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