Sight of the day

A lot of cast-off clothing from the US finds its way to Honduras. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that some of those t-shirts printed for the World Series losers end up here.

This means that it is quite common to see people roaming the streets with clothing sporting brand names or English text. The wearer's grasp of English being what it is (or isn't), this can create some humorous pairings.

Like the portly, middle-aged Honduran man I saw at the auto mechanic shop the other day sporting a sweatshirt labeled thus:

Taco Loco

Not far from the church is a fairly nice mall (which I have mentioned in a previous post). We went there for lunch today as they have a fairly extensive food court (far more extensive than what we knew to be in our refrigerator). 

The restaurants on offer are a mix of local names--Tacontento, Paseo Universitario, and the ubiquitous Espresso Americano--and North American imports (or knockoffs)--Quiznos, Subway, Little Caesar's, Wendy's, Popeye's, and Buffalo Wings (no "wild"). 

Our favorite?

Hands down it's Taco Loco. 

I suppose some day we may get a hankering for some "American" fare (and for the sake of their playgrounds D and E do frequent McD's and Wendy's) but so far, given the choices at the mall, it's Taco Loco every time. 

We're loco for...

It only sounds like complaining

I know what you're thinking.

"Okay, Steve. You've been funny and informative and even thought-provoking on the blog so far but honestly, haven't you been a bit too positive? I mean, it can't be all peaches-and-cream, right? C'mon, give us the dirt."

Fine. I'll tell you what I don't appreciate so much about life in Honduras.

• Tile floors. Some of it can be attractive but most of it is just functional. And I know that there are good reasons for having tile floors here rather than carpet, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Thankfully it doesn't get too cold so the whole shocking bare feet on the icy tile thing doesn't happen.
• Motorcyclists. They are a lot like mosquitoes. They are buzzing everywhere, they follow no rules, they frequently make you swat (or swerve) at inconvenient moments, and they don't particularly care. If you hit them they make a bigger mess on the front of your car than mosquitoes, though.
• Taxi drivers. Complete disregard for the flow of traffic and all other motorists. If it is an inconvenient place to stop and especially if stopping there is prohibited, that's where they'll stop.
• Bikini Saturdays. Every day the newspaper stands along the road put up an enlarged version of the front page headlines. A fine way to advertise. However, on Saturdays they replace the front page with bikini-clad women. Viva le weekend I guess. (The adds inside the newspapers here tend to be a bit more risque as well).
• Loud music at restaurants. This is epidemic here. Hard to have a conversation. And when I need to hear and understand Spanish I prefer complete silence. No chance.

As you can see, these are not exactly important aspects of life here. We genuinely enjoy our lives here so far in spite of the changes and challenges.

And I haven't hit one motorcyclist. 

Yet.

Score one for Belgium!

Further investigation into the reliability of blogger's statistics leads me to make the following update to a previous post about the site's traffic. 

You may recall that in an earlier post, a certain relative of mine was chided for her lack of faithfulness to visit the site. It now seems that the data recording hits from Russia likely reflects false hits rather than unknown faithful Russian readers.

Accordingly, I have elected to disregard all data from Russia. This rockets Belgium from fifth place to, um, fourth place behind US, Honduras, and Swaziland.

Further in my sister's defense is the fact that there are far more interesting things to do in Belgium than there are in Swaziland (not to mention that she has three children, all boys) leaving her less time to stop by for her brother's witticisms and, well, criticisms.

Wiki'd Weather

I have the weather for Tegucigalpa on my Google desktop, though I'm not sure why. The sample to the left is representative. Don't be fooled by those different temperature predicted for Friday and Saturday. The guy at Google weather just adjusted by two degrees to convince us he's doing something. I've been told that it will get hotter and drier in March and April and that may be so. But if one takes a close look at the climate averages one discovers a rather monotonous pattern for the weather here in Tegus.
According to the wikipedia article for Tegucigalpa, the average monthly highs and lows for the city vary very little. The lowest monthly average low (57.7 in Jan.) and the highest average monthly low (64.8 in May and June) differ by a whopping 7 degrees. Similarly, the highest average high (86.4 in April and May) and the lowest average high (77.7 in Dec.) differ by fewer than 9 degrees. The yearly averages are nicely symmetrical:

Average High - 82
Daily Mean - 72
Average Low - 62

No point in even having words for the seasons.

If you take another look at that chart though, there is a datum that does show variation: precipitation. The rainiest months (June and September) have over 9 more inches of rain than the driest months (January and February).
The color-coding highlights another pattern, that the rainy season is not an undifferentiated period of wetness. A wet May and June give way to a moderately wet July and August followed by another month of heavier rain in September and October. Kind of reminds me of this:

"Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains." James 5:7

Bugs

Either I have an overactive imagination or I saw one too many missionary slide presentations as a child. Brazil was a popular Baptist missions destination during my youth and having at least one picture of a gigantic insect seemed to be compulsory in these presentations. You know, something like this:

And so, as I thought about moving to Honduras I thought, "Semi-tropical climate equals big/lotsa bugs." I wouldn't say that I was worried about this. No one talked about needing mosquito netting in our bedrooms or anything, but I know it was at the back of my mind.

Now, understand, we live in the capitol city of more than 1 million people. I am sure that the insect situation is different/worse in other parts of the country. There's a region of the country called La Mosquitia for crying out loud (though I believe that was named after a people group, not the insect). But our insect experience has been generally positive. We have our windows open all the time and the screens aren't especially bug-tight. We do get insects in the house but they have not been any worse than during the summer in the states. We have cockroaches at the church but they are pretty harmless (thought Ellyn wasn't too impressed when there was one barring her exit from the bathroom). We have seen one scorpion and several common spiders. Termites are common. We occasionally have large (5-6" across) moths in the church. And we have seen a  lizard or two scurrying around the church and the house.

So, if you were thinking of visiting but were scared off by images of tarantulas and swarms of dengue bearing mosquitoes, I can lay your fears to rest.

(For the linguistically curious: The Spanish word for fly is mosca making the word mosquito a diminutive--little fly. However, mosquitoes are called zancudos. According to Wikipedia, the region of Honduras and Nicaragua called the Mosquito Coast was named for an indigenous group called the Miskito Indians).

What's for dinner?

One of the questions that comes to our minds when we hear of someone living in another culture is: "What do you eat?" Having seen too many episodes of Survivor and Fear Factor we imagine that people in other places all eat weird, even inedible stuff.

In truth, our eating habits haven't changed all that much. We can find most of the things that we need for the recipes we enjoy. Here's a survey of some of the main categories of comestibles and what is available here.

• Vegetables. Most of the vegetables that we use on a regular basis are widely available here: potatoes, carrots (gigantic!), onions (red, yellow, white, and scallion), tomatoes (mostly Roma), garlic, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers (a few varieties), cilantro, asparagus, beans, cucumbers, green beans, corn, avocados, lettuce (so-so), cabbage, and even leeks. There are other options in the vegetable department that we have yet to assimilate: cassava, pataste (called chayote elsewhere), and plantains (we've eaten these in restaurants). In particular the avocados (especially the smooth ones) are very nice.
  
• Fruits. The fruit selection varies more from what we're used to in the states. Bananas, of course, are a staple and believe it or not, far more flavorful than their US counterparts. You can buy them green or yellow. We prefer them in between so we only buy a few at a time. We have also gotten: grapes, apples (red and green), pears, oranges, limes, grapefruit, tangerines, pineapple, and watermelon. The following are either expensive or difficult to find (fresh or frozen): berries in general (except for a generic "mora" of indeterminate origin), peaches, cherries, and cranberries. These absences are offset somewhat by the seasonal availability of mangoes, papaya, guava (2 types), and lychee (though comparing information it seems like what is sold here are actually rambutan).
  
• Beverages. In hot beverages, of course, coffee is king. It's a bit challenging to find decaf. There are teas available but not much selection. Rosa de Jamaica or hibiscus tea is easy to find. It has a sour, cranberry-like flavor.
  In cold beverages other than water and milk, there are packages of fruit juice powder a step or two above Kool-aid that are popular. The top two brands appear to be Zumo and Tang. Horchata, a sweet drink made from rice, is available in many restaurants and from roadside stands.
  Not surprisingly Coca-cola and Pepsi products are available, though Diet Coke is called Coca-cola light here. Other sodas are available (a friend recently rejoiced at the arrival of A&W Root Beer to a grocery store here) but the selection is either limited, short term, and/or expensive. A new brand for us is Link. They have banana soda (which doesn't sound appealing to me) and a really good grapefruit one.
  
• Dairy. Milk is available in whole, semi-descremada (like 2%), and descremada (skim or 0.5%). A local university, Zamorano, has quite an extensive and reputable dairy operation. Yogurt is available. Cheese is another matter. Mozzarella is expensive and the Cheddar is not great. We do like quesillo which is a fresh cheese somewhat reminiscent of cheese curd (it squeaks!). Our other cheese favorite is the unremarkably named queso amarillo or "yellow cheese." It reminds me of Edam. Crema is a local product that has the consistency somewhere between yogurt and sour cream. It has a milder flavor than sour cream. It is often put on beans. Eggs are common, though they seem to have a stronger (not necessarily bad) flavor.
  
• Meat. Meat has been more of a challenge. Most of what we buy we get from PriceSmart the local Sam's Club subsidiary. Though we like our grocery store a lot, the meat section just doesn't speak to us. Or rather, it speaks to us but what it says is not encouraging. Consequently, we eat mostly chicken (purchased in packages similar to those we are familiar with) and ground beef (available in a Sam's club sized tube). 

So, in general, our eating habits haven't changed dramatically. We probably eat more beans, rice, and tortillas than we used to do (or at least Stephen does). If anything, our culinary experience has been an improvement. We love the local foods that are available reasonably priced at local restaurants and can eat as we're used to at home. It's a win-win!*

*Well, except that there's no Chipotle here!

Just in case you were worried...

It has not required expert stylistic analysis for many to figure out that I, Stephen, have been the primary (by which I mean only) author of blog posts here at The Communion of the Saints. For those of you who might wonder why Debbie has yet to register her voice, I can assure you that it is NOT because:

1. I won't let her near the computer,
2. She is so overwhelmed by life and culture shock that she can't bring herself to post,
3. She has been so barraged by Spanish that she has forgotten how to speak or write in English,
4. She hates Honduras so much she can't think of anything good to say,
5. She's been thrown in jail for some undisclosed infraction,
6. She has secretly moved back to the US,
7. She's so busy scrubbing clothes on the washboard, hand making tortillas, plucking and gutting the chickens, feeding and cleaning up after the goats, and patching the thatched roof on our hut that she doesn't have time to write.

For the truth of the matter, I guess you'll just have to ask her.

Same name, different face

As long-time residents of Racine, Wisconsin, home of S.C. Johnson company, we have developed a preference for their products. After all, can you really beat Windex for cleaning windows?

We were pleasantly surprised to find Windex when we arrived here, but don't remember this cleverly (or cheesily, depending on your perspective) named fellow featuring on the bottles in the states.

Out with a bang

The principal method for celebrating the New Year here is fireworks. I don't know what, if any, restrictions there may be on them but it doesn't seem to be too many. There was quite a raucous fusillade outside our home last night around 11:30 accompanied by children screaming and running up and down the road in front of the house. At midnight one could hear a nearly incessant sequence of explosions near and far for about 10 solid minutes. Needless to say, sleep was elusive. So the year went out and came in with a bang.

Amazingly, Ellyn slept through the whole ruckus.