Last weekend Lourdes, Jairo and I went for some R&R in the country. We headed up North and stayed with their friends. Lourdes and Jairo used to live in this area many years ago. They showed me the home where they used to live and Jairo's former office. He was in charge of building many of the National Forest areas, as well as all sorts of programs to educate the illiterate. He was one of the founders of Habitat for Humanity, building many homes in this area as well as schools. He coordinated more than 40 churches and worked with people who had never really left their villages in the mountains. Now there are roads that never existed, schools, and most exciting for Jairo is to visit the people, who are now educated with fruitful lives. He is not prideful, but is happy for this generation as he sees the way the programs he created have changed their lives for the better.
The drive to get there was absolutely gorgeous. Deep green mountain after mountain with lush forests that were the home to many indigenous people. These people make crafts or sell wood at the side of the road to make a living. They live in homes like I'd never seen before. I don't know how the homes remain standing with no cement or anything to hold them together. They make a row of rocks, then put a 2x4 on top, then make another row of rocks with another 2x4 to create the walls of their homes. There is nothing to fill in the cracks between the rocks. Some people sold honey, some wood and some gorgeous crafts.
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| This was one of the big groups of stands. |
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| Selling platanos |
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| Hand made crafts |
Part way there, they asked if I wanted to share the music on my iPod through the car speakers so we sang and danced in our seats to songs from the 70's. It was a good trip. We passed the small village where Don Juan was born, and where his family still lives. We also passed an area where many of Walter's relatives live, and a store they own. We passed the place I will go for a conference this weekend. And we passed where Jairo was born. He was born in a state called Olancho, which he said is known for it's agriculture and for having lots of burros. We did see a lot of burros. But if Olancho was known for it's burros then I think the state where we stayed, Santa Barbara, should be known for the number of men who travel with machetes. There were people walking down the street with machetes (not unusual) people riding bikes with machetes sticking out in front of them, climbing trees with machetes hanging from a rope below them. Machetes were everywhere. At the same time, it was very noticeable that people there felt safe. They walked alone at night, after dark. I was so envious! Such freedom and lack of worry.
The home where we stayed was nice. The front part of the house was a pulperia, so people passed by and stopped to buy things. They had everything from sneakers and perfume to razors and flour in the pulperia. It was planned that I would stay in the living room, but as time came for bed they decided that all three of the boys/men should sleep in the living room, I was to stay with a daughter in the boys' room, Lourdes and Jairo got the daughter's room. I was appreciative, but felt bad about displacing three people!
We took a ride into the nearest town. Lourdes and I stood in the back of the truck and enjoyed the view. The men road in the cab. I loved every second of it. In the pueblo, the men had to change a tire on the truck so Lourdes and I went window shopping.
Lourdes talked to me about his friend's oldest son. He returned three days before from living in Florida for the past 12 years. He has not seen anyone but his mother in that time. He has a brother who is only 11 years old. They had not met. He was very happy to be with his family. He said he really doesn't miss the US at all and is happy to be back in Honduras. He was the foreman of a construction company and speaks great English, so he already has a job offer to be a translator for mission teams who work near his home, which is amazing, because there are not many jobs here.
As soon as we got back home from town, the feasting began. We didn't stop eating the entire time I was there. We had huge meals every 3 hours! I gained a few pounds, but the food was so good it was well worth it. Carlota, the mother, taught me how to make tamalitos. Tamalitos are like tamales, only they are smaller and have no meat. It is corn season right now, so they ground fresh corn, added a little sugar and some margerine, then poured the mixture into husks to cook. I learned how to fold the husks. We made fried corn, which is like a pancake with the mixture above, and some baking soda. You would think there was cream or milk inside, but the corn is so creamy that no cream is necessary. YUMMY!!!
I watched the men prepare for the fishing trip and said I wished I were a man so I could go. Jairo explained all of the reasons why I can't go - the most important being that I don't have written permission from the government. Also the men spend the entire day from 6 am - 7 pm, in a small metal boat with not much space in the HOT, HOT sun. He said it is a tippy boat and not a good place to learn to fish with the equipment they use. I thought he was doubting my fishing knowledge until I saw them wrapping line around Gatorade bottles and jabbing the hook into the plastic. I guess that is their fishing pole.
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| The mens' catch (mostly tilapia) from Friday |
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| Carlota with a Tilapia |
The men woke at 3:30a.m. to fish - as did the rest of the house because four men who are as excited as children on Christmas Eve are very loud. They came back at about 8 p.m., all of them teasing the brother who just returned from the states, saying he had been in the US too long. He agreed that he will not go fishing again any time soon. The men had two coolers of fish. Mostly Tilapia, but some smaller (and easier to gut) fish. I went out to the pila and watched as Carlota scaled and gutted the fish. We had a nice time talking and getting to know each other. She is also teaching preschool at her church. A few days later I met some of the kids she teaches. They were cute!
The next day was Saturday. We all were tired, so we cooked, ate, and rested. Lourdes and I worked on a project together for the whole day. Jairo made chicharron, which I never had before. It is the skin, fat a some meat of a pig, deep fried outside in a huge pot over a fire. He stirred it with a paddle, made specifically for stirring big pots. We also talked about the paperwork that he will be starting soon. I had never asked about it specifically, but was really excited to hear that I will be applying for residency here! The church will be my sponsor. That is so cool!
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| Jairo and Carlota making Chicharron |
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| Chicharron |
Comayagua is home to the largest US military base in Central America. It went on for miles, but I didn't see much activity. We were stopped on the way home by Honduran Military Police at a checkpoint. I had been leaning forward into the front seats to talk to Lourdes and Jairo, but at that point I sat back and tried to be invisible. The police asked who was in the car. Jairo said family. Then he talked to Lourdes. He never looked at me and told us to continue on. I was glad. He could have made things difficult if he wanted to, even though I was traveling with my passport.
I thanked Lourdes and Jairo repeatedly for allowing me to come with them. The roads were almost impassable in the city. Everything was flooded and water poured off roofs literally like a waterfall. As I got out of the car in the downpour and crossed the river that used to be the sidewalk in front of my house, I had a big smile. Fany heard me coming in and said Jett had been very calm while I was gone for the four full days. I thanked her for taking care of the cat, then climbed into my own bed. It was a GREAT weekend!
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