Same old stuff
Trip Start
Mar 28, 2003
1
8
20
Trip End
Jul 23, 2003
Tegucigalpa,
Honduras
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Let's see, went out Friday night with the Marines to a bunch of clubs. Uh,
aturday night-same thing. It's starting to get old b/c there are really only like three "good" (if you can even call them that) places to go. Oh wait! Saturday night I went to dinner with some people at the only decent Mexican place in town. Then I got to go to my first Honduran casino. It consisted of about 5 card tables, a roulette table, and maybe 30 slots. The interesting thing about it, is that Hondurans are NOT allowed in there
Mennonite Community
. So the whole place was Asian and then us Americans. Also, the service kids come down from Soto Cano (the joint task AFB about 1.25 hours NE of Tegus), so there were a lot of them there as well.
I am starting to feel much better about work. I have to admit that I was pretty down last week, wanting to go home. I didn't like work much and I was just homesick and missed my friends and family. But work is starting to feel a bit more familiar and I'm not so lost. It's still very overwhelming-but I guess in a good way. So that's some good news. Some bad news is that the woman I am living with is being sent back to DC to be debriefed on her next assignment. So as of June 16 I lose my wonderful housing situation. I have been so lucky b/c it's a great house and she is always taking me places. This is very important b/c we are not allowed to take taxis or public transport and we are NEVER allowed to walk around town by ourselves. So I am very sad that she is leaving-plus we get along really well. So hopefully my next housing assignment will be alright.
Today I went on a field trip with some Consular people (they are the ones who process VISAs and generally watch out for Americans who live and travel here)
Mennonite fish breeding pond
. We went to a Mennonite community in Guaimaca, about 1.5 hours NE of Tegus. They are one of those groups of "Anabaptists" that broke from the Roman Catholic church along with Luther. They're much like the Amish in their lifestlye and whatnot. These folks were all pretty much from the Midwest: Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, etc. They first came to Honduras in 1969 to set up their mission with only 3 families. Now they have about 20 families (the main couple have 12 children!) and run two orphanages, a hospital, and a school. It's strange to all of a sudden see Western style homes and nice fat cattle and really cute homes...compared to what you usually see out in the campo here. They served us this huge lunch and I had homemade butter for the first time (it was good). They also have a bakery and everyone stocked up on homemade breads and pies. I brought back Moonpies for the office, which are these chocolate cake sandwiches with cream in the middle. Yummy.
Tomorrow I am leaving bright and early for the Copan ruins. It'll be about a 7 hour trip by car b/c we have to go NE then double back W b/c the direct route road is very dangerous--if you go this way you'll most likely be robbed. They are Mayan ruins and that's about all I can tell you. We're staying at an old colonial style hotel right on the plaza of the ruins. So I am really looking forward to it. Plus, it'll be great to get out of Tegus b/c tomorrow is Honduran Labor Day (i.e. burn the American flag day) and apparently the Hondurans get crazy on this day. It's funny b/c down in the consular office is a big color photo of people burning American flags with the caption "If you are in any of these photos, do not even think of applying for a VISA." So I'll be back on Sunday and will let you all know how Copan was.
Also, Alan did call and it is so nice to have a local as a friend...I get to see so much more of the "real" way of life this way. Unfortunately, I still feel bad about the circumstances and I find myself looking over my shoulder when we are together b/c it is inevitable that a Marine will spot us and it'll get back that we are dating. Whatever.
