Honduran cultural tidbits
It's been so hot here lately (supposed to get up to 110 degrees later this week) that for the past few weeks when I walk around town between 8 am and 5, I use my umbrella. Honduran women in La Paz do too so I don't look like the idiot gringa.
Did you know you could have a washing machine but no running water?
There are millions of geckos here and they make an extremely load clicking noise. For the first few weeks in my new house, I was convinced a bird was trapped between my ceiling and the roof but turns out I just have geckos crawling on my ceiling.
There are at least 7 types of mangos in Honduras and they're starting to get ripe now. They are delicious! It's really hard to eat a mango off the seed because it ends up stuck in your teeth. The best way to eat in (especially if it's a bigger one) is to slice it in half around the seed then make criss-cross cuts in that slice, turn it inside out, and the bite off each of the small squares. That probably makes no sense but believe me, it works much better than eating it off the seed.
I absolutely love fried plantains. They cook up really sweet and are a common food for dinner.
Hondurans have a ton of phrases that have "God" in them. The one I hear all the time is "Si Dios quiere" which literally means "If God wants/wills". They say it all the time! For example, my family ran out of water in the tank a few days ago (we still have water in the pila to take bucket showers with) and I asked my host mom when the water was coming and she said "lunes si Dios quiere" which means "on Monday if Good wants/wills".
4 comments:
Once again the food sounds delicious.
The three goals of PC are interesting. I would have thought it was basically to HELP other countries. It makes sense for those people to also get to know Americans.
MOM
Hey,
It sounds extremely hot! I can't even imagine 110 degrees.. Probably good weather to get fried in. So how big are the geckos that are crawling on you ceiling?
I really want to take a Spanish course my freshman year at ISU so I can at least know something before I come to visit you. Spanish in high school was absolutely worthless, so I probably start in Spanish 101, and it maybe it will help me learn something. I'll have some credits gone my first year because of the classes I’m taking at Kirkwood.
I love the pictures that you guys are posting!! It lets me get and idea of what everything is like. Keep taking photos and keep blogging.
Love,
Josh
Annie-
Roman says "Si Dios quiere" all the time too! I think it comes from Mexico/Latin America being highly catholic countries, where religion has a strong presence within the community. Does anyone have a little shrine in their house dedicated to a particular saint? THey are all over Mexico, and lots of mexicans here have one for the virgen de Guadalupe/Maria.
Those mangos sound yummy- I think you have found the best way to eat them! We had some great ones on our honeymoon, and they are so sweet!!
Smart idea with the umbrella, gringa! :)
Keep us posted on all these tidbits!
love, erin and baby vega
Annie and Luke,
I just spent the last hour and a half reading all your blogs. Very interesting. Brings back a lot of memories. Wild bus rides. Vince deposited his half digested breakfast on another missionary friend during one high speed up and down bus trip through the mountains.
I like all the Spanish words you include. It helps me remember all the things I've forgotten. We were in La Ceiba on the north coast from 2000-2002. Back then the dollar was 13 lemps.
The food descriptions are great, too. I know exactly what you are talking about. We had some neighbor kids that our kids called the "Nance kids" because they came and ate the nance fruit that fell off the tree in our yard. I never could eat them. They were too sour. Have you had pastelitos? Little fried flour things with hamburger in the middle. I ate so many of those that I eventually got sick of them and couldn't eat anymore.
I look forward to hearing more of what you do in the future.
Chris Rhodes
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