What’s Spanish for “I know you speak English...”

Things are moving along nicely here in Honduras. Last week I did my first ever topographical study of a village and it was fantastic. Actually I only did from the water source in the bosque to the site where the town wants to have the tank built, so I have to return next week to finish the distribution network (going house to house). I went up on a Monday and went with a different group of men from the town every day to do the survey until we finished Thursday afternoon. The town does not have electricity (or running water, obviously) and there is only one bus that comes through twice a day taking people to the town where I live. What a great experience, though—I stayed with a host family that was very generous and kind and during the day I was out all day hiking into the forest and crossing little rivers. The actual work of the survey is extremely boring and repetitive but I love that it is outdoors and that we’re making up our own path as we go. Then when we finished in the afternoon we would walk back and just relax and soak up the cool air and beautiful scenery—this town is 1000 meters higher in elevation than where I live so there is almost a constant, refreshingly cool breeze blowing through. Add to it that the town is in the middle of the mountains and the clouds are so close and active and it makes for a very peaceful experience.

The living there was great too, particularly because the family that hosted me was excellent. The water they use comes from big drums they have positioned outside to catch the rain as it comes off the roof—a great idea because it rains there so consistently during these months. They boil the water to drink and use in the kitchen on their wood burning stove deal and it all kind of works from there. They fed me more than they ate, I think, and I felt bad about that. But after being in the sun and hiking and taking measurements all day I was grateful. And no electricity is not a big deal when you’re so exhausted you end up going to bed by around 8pm or so anyway. The brief taste of life in that town, as in most towns in the municipality (only 5 out of 178 have electricity), that I got was extremely peaceful and relaxing and invigorating. I had a little fight with the family’s pig one morning when I was out on the front porch area washing my face with the rainwater and the pig picked up my soap dish quickly and scurried off. The mother saw it all from the kitchen window and was laughing hysterically and screaming to her six yr old to chase down the pig and get my soap back. I know this idealized picture of life there is only in my head—as much as I enjoyed it I would not choose to live without electricity for the rest of my life. And when I asked the family they said of course they want it as well and are going to ask the mayor to start a project in their town (but water first!). But there is something appealing and refreshing about seeing life stripped away of excess, in all its forms.

As I ran out the door of the family’s house to catch the last bus leaving on Thursday afternoon, the mother thrust a bag full of bananas into my hands. By the time I got home to check them out, it appeared as though they were all heading south quickly. But it gave me a chance to put my kitchen skills to work, as well as the microwave-sized toaster oven I had purchased the weekend before. Yes, I was fully into my own house—had gone to the big city to get groceries and all—only a few days before I left to do the topo study. So once I returned life on my own began in earnest and I decided to make task number one the baking of as many banana breads as my recently-gifted (and quickly blackening) bananas could support. I got the recipe from my sitemate, Gen, and rounded up all the ingredients at a nearby pulpería (corner shop type store, usually run out of a person’s home). The entire process was not the smoothest run operation, but it worked and I was able to make three deals of banana bread, after all was said and done. What a payoff! I ran with my first one straight out of the oven to my host family’s house. They were shocked and laughing and kept saying, “You cook?” over and over. But they ate it up quickly and told me it was excellent. It actually was not too bad and since I did not have anyone else I thought it was appropriate to give the other loafs to, I kept them for myself (still working on loaf three).

Yes, life in my own casa is going well. Slowly I am getting back into the groove of cooking for myself and it is nice. I have eaten more vegetables in the past week than in the previous four months combined. That’s a bit of an exaggeration but really not much. The house is pretty smooth as well, significantly bigger than my apartment in San Diego, and it has running water and a huge, enclosed back yard. There are a couple hiccups, of course, and one of them is that the roof is not exactly rain-proof. During rain of any kind I have water streaking down a main room wall and when it pours there are a couple of spots where there is heavy dripping action. These spots are directly over locations on the wall where there are electrical outlets, which is cool, since of the entire three locations in the house where I occasionally plug something in, two now have rainwater falling on them during storms. As a result mr. mini-refrigerator is now in the living room.

A fridge in the living room is not the worst thing, either, when a house is as bare mine is now. There was absolutely nothing in it when I moved in (some volunteers move into fully furnished places) and since I spent all of the no money PC gives us on a bed and a mini fridge, well there really isn’t anything else in any of the rooms. In the backyard there was a whole stack of wood and a couple of benches, so I cleaned the benches off and brought them in and with the wood got set to making something reminiscent of furniture. But as you might imagine that has not been a success, in the traditional sense of the word. I made a table which works decently, actually, but it is a lot higher than a table that one normally sits at to eat (don’t ask how I did that), so I use it to stand and type on my laptop. It is not super-stable, either, so I doubt it would have tolerated the little shaking that might result from cutting things with a knife and fork. And speaking of stability, you all should witness the marvel that is a bench/chair that I put together. I say bench/chair because the seat is the size of a chair but without any back support, so also bench-like. Anyway, I found a piece of wood that has a cool shape to it; curved and coming to a point at one side and the opposite end has a broad, flat side—almost like the back end of a Nike swoosh. Good seat for a chair, I thought, and so I measured out some legs and put my wonderful creation together. I wanted to maintain the cool, modern (?) look it had going for it so I only used three legs, strategically placed, so as to suggest that this chair could just as easily be in a hip club somewhere as in my house. I thought the legs were strategically placed. This chair subsequently became known as the “most unstable piece of furniture…ever” for a period of time before I tacked on a fourth leg. It was amazing how truly unstable, unpredictable one might say as well, this thing was. Almost like a horse that is refusing it’s rider-to-be, this chair would buck up on one side nearly as soon as it was touched. Sitting on it took careful consideration and planning. Even using it as a footrest was something not easily accomplished and ultimately bound for failure. I swear this to you: a master craftsman could not intentionally design a piece of furniture this unstable if he tried.

And that’s kind of it in the way of updates. I did manage to find a cheese here that does not melt at all but I’m not sure I want the blog to descend to those levels of storytelling just yet—we have a higher standard here on El Amor Prohibido, don’t we? Is that a common thing, by the way? I’m asking because I don’t know—cheese that does not melt for anything seems a bit odd. I guess its time I learned about stuff like that. Ahem, in the time since I last wrote an update my mom had a birthday (happy belated, mom!) and just recently was the bday of one Janelle Naños—feliz cumpleaños a usted, también. And if I don’t get to update within the next ten days or so, there is going to be a major event in the vicinity of Syracuse, New York on or about the first of September. If you don’t already know, well, you better aks somebody. Josh, Kate—a big congrats to the both of you!! You each get a kiss from me when we meet next.
Much love from Honduras,
Joe