Random adventures

The last two weeks have been kind of slow at work, but full of social events.  One morning last week, I went into Santa Barbara with Leti when she had a meeting with some classmates in her colegio.  They have a big final project to do before graduation in December, and I have been helping Leti type up everything since she does not have a computer.  I met her classmates and then we wandered around the city for a little bit.  I realized after attending their meeting that it is not just my offices that barely get any work done in a day, it is Honduras.  Everyone here is tranquil and takes their time doing things and going places, and no one worries if things do not get finished.  The largest part of all meetings is chatting and drinking coffee.  I don't know why I'm still surprised by this because it is normal for all ages and all types of work.

A little man-made waterfall in Santa Barbara.

A big mural, this is the church of Santa Barbara, and these people exist in real life.  They are known for their various businesses.

This man plays in the park every night.

This woman makes and sells hats from palm.

All of the mountains of Honduras are full of coffee bean fields.

This is what a typical neighborhood street looks like in Santa Barbara.  Some are dirtier, and most have more shops.

There were also a few more birthdays last week.  My host-mom's brother's wife, Maira, had a birthday and invited us all out to dinner in Santa Barbara.  She had made a reservation, but as sometimes happens in Honduras, they did not keep her reservation so we had to find somewhere else to go.  We ended up at a taco stand (probably as sketchy as you're imagining) outside of someone's house that only made and served taco's with pig meat.  Well my host-brothers as well as Maira's mother do not like pig meat, and I can't eat that meat  for health reasons, so four of us ended up having to drive around and find a different taco stand.  By the time we got back, the others were done eating.  Then it started to rain.  But the point was to have family together for Maira, so everyone was still happy.  And of course after dinner, we went back to the house and had birthday cake.  Two days later, we went to a birthday party for the daughter of close family friends.  Once again, the focus seemed to be food, but there were also games for the little kids as well as two pinatas.

Leti holding Maira's two month old baby!

Singing for Maira

Everyone but her helps to blow out the candles...

Manuel breaking the pinata.

The children all rushing to grab candy as kids are still swinging sticks around their heads.... not super safe.

My host-dad Omar and brother David

On Friday night, my host-brother David drove me, Leti, and my host-grandmother into Santa Barbara to the carnaval.  This is not an American carnival, but a carnaval with a band who plays while people dance in the street.  This carnaval was just in one neighborhood of Santa Barbara, but there are more every weekend of November because beginning December 1 is the feria of Santa Barbara.  Every town in Honduras has its own feria, which is a celebration of a Saint or a Virgin, that lasts for a week or two.  We went to this particular carnaval because the band playing was New Combo '75.  Combo '75 was the band my host-mom's dad started back in 1975, and New Combo '75 is the band my host-mom's two brothers re-formed.  Both of my host-uncle's are very musically talented and can play just about any instrument as well as sing.  There are a few other members who sing and play instruments, but the "lead" singer, Luis, is only 21 and lives in an extra room at my host-grandparent's house because his family is from another town.  They live too far for him to stay at home if he wants to be a part of the band, and he really has incredible talent so my uncles always say they are lucky he wants to be a part of the band!

I wanted a picture of the band, but this bolo (drunk man) danced into my photo.