Turtle Eggs

Hello everyone! Life in site is going well. Hot as always, but usually a storm in the afternoon to cool things down. Projects are going great, especially the library projects in the two elementary schools. Right now the teachers and students are rallying together to raise money for the transportation of books to Victoria from the United States. A number of friends and acquaintances have donated books to these schools. I´ve been able to get some back to Victoria already, but there´s another load to be taken. The kids and teachers are very excited about the help their school is receiving, and are very much willing to do whatever they can to help. We have received a good number of books so far, but I am hoping to get even more into the two schools-if anyone knows anyone that would be willing to help out and collaborate with this project, please let me know!!
Besides working, I was able to get away a couple weekends ago to Danhli and El Paraiso, El Paraiso (Paradise, Paradise—who wouldn´t want to go there?!?). I got to see a great PC friend down in El Paraiso and help out with her baseball team as well as make it to the infamous Corn Festival that´s held once a year in Danhli. That was an awesome experience. There were shops set up everywhere selling anything from bras and underwear to ice cream and corn on the cob. There were parades, shows put on by the Japonese volunteers, car races, and bull riding! I had the pleasure of going to see the bull riding with my friends, and it was great. Definitely different than in the states, it´s a little slower paced, the clown is a little more aggressive (it tackled a bull and made it smoke out of its nose), and instead of people walking around selling hotdogs and hamburgers, vendors were selling turtle eggs (expensive but heard they are good) and nail files. I have to say that I was really craving a fat, juicy hotdog, but the experience was priceless.
On the way there and the way back we had to push ourselves through the crowds, one of my friends almost getting pick-pocketed in the process. There were so many people there, but with good reason because it was the night of the carnival-when they block off about 6 streets and put a live band and/or Go-Go dancers at the end of each street. We had a blast dancing in the streets (even though I wimped out after a few hours and had to go back home to change out my heels). We all definitely had our share of corn that day as well. There were pupusas (corn tortillas filled with cheese and sausage), elote loco (crazy corn, or corn on the cob with mayonnaise, ketchup, and cheese), atol (a sweet corn drink), fritas (a fried corn pastry), tamales (a corn mix filled with vegetables, meat, and sometimes rice, then put in a corn husk and cooked), and many other foods that I can´t think of at the moment. Needless to say, we had our week´s worth of corn intake that day. I would definitely recommend it for anyone wanting a taste of the Honduran culture.

Some cultural insights to my site-since they are so normal to me now that I forget they might be intriguing to others:
-There are not many cars in my site, most people take the bus, bicycle or a motorcycle.
-If you´re seen talking and smiling to the same guy or girl twice, many people think you are novios (boyfriend/girlfriend).—maybe that happens in small-town America too, huh? (It´s happened to me here already)
-The electricity likes to go out every now and then. Sometimes for a few hours, other times for a couple days.
-When it rains a lot, the water contaminates the water in the pipes so if I try to brush my teeth or take a shower, it´s with brown water or no water at all.
-The Spanish in my site can be difficult to understand-in smaller towns words start to get clipped and squished together with other words.
-Music is a big part of the lives of many people-I would say more than I have experienced in the States. There is always music playing, and a lot of the time people are watching music videos on TV.
-The 15th of September (Independence Day) is coming up, and so recently school days have been committed to preparing for this (this year it could be marching in the parade or only preparing for a cultural event/night).
-People (mostly kids) walk around the streets of Victoria selling things that their families have prepared in the house whether that´s cheese (we make our own cheese here), bread, or perfumes.
-Many people are very proud of the beauty of the land in which they live, and love to have discussions on which towns or villages are the prettiest or the coolest (usually they are about 5-10 minutes drive away).

Let me know if you liked the cultural insights and I´ll keep doing it!

Paz y amor,

Sarita