Transportation

Windshield Cleaner 

For the first few weeks I was simply a passenger in the car just observing the sites as we drove in this foreign place.  I've since decided that I LOVE to drive here.  It's FUN!  You can drive anywhere you want as fast as you want passing anyone and anything that you want.  In our town most of the main roads are paved and there are some traffic lights and traffic signs, but here everything is just a suggestion!  Nothing is enforced.  Everyone drives crazy and everyone honks their horn!  Dogs, pedestrians, cattle, sheep, chickens, kids, donkies, bicyclists, motorcycles you name it - they are
sharing the road with you and there are lots of them!  It is crowded everywhere you look.  On one of the main roads there are always young boys trying to wipe your windshield for 1 limpera (which is like not even a penny).  In the market area there are so many people in the streets selling things, buying things and asking for handouts the driving can be quite tricky - you always have to be aware.  No more Sunday driving or trying to apply makeup while driving thats for sure!  Another thing that's strange is that there are no street names and no addresses!  I might have told you all that in an earlier post but if you ask directions to somewhere you are often told - "it's on the main boulevard" or you are given a hand sketched map.  The public transportation here is hopping in the back of a pick up tuck and holding on to an iron frame that was designed for passengers riding in the back.  Now this isn't official "public transportation" it's just that you frequently see trucks picking people up on the side of the road and they tend to get super full of people- all ages too!  They do have busses here that take people to the neighboring towns.  They are most often discarded School Busses from the United States!  They are everywhere and it's not uncommon to see them for sale.  Many people rely on bicycles for transportation.  Most times you see a bicycle you will see more than one person on it.  You will often see the main rider transporting a passenger sitting sideways on the bike.  Sometimes  you will even see a whole family on a bike!  Tons of people walk everywhere they go too.  They are often carrying heavy loads - women might be seen balancing a load of something on her head!

Lady Cooking

Dinner Stop

This week we've passed around a stomach bug - not fun!  Jose is the only one who hasn't had it yet.  Even Sancho was eating grass today.  Jose said we got it from eating Mangos from the little boy that sells bags full outside of Jordan's school.  It's one of my new favorite treats!  The boy is there every day.  He calls out "Mango Mango"  he charged 10 limps (about .50) for a bag full of cut up and peeled GREEN (not ripe) Mangos.  They are doused with "salsa negra" which is Worcestershire sauce and salt.  It's the best thing I just love it!  Jose has been joking us that they were "an unauthorized food source" and probably made us sick!  I think not.  Speaking of unauthorized food sources.  All of the eating places here are dine at your own risk.  Which I guess means that there are no health regulations governing food preparation.  All over town you will see ladies on the side of the road cooking things from a hot pot or fire or something.  Some of them have a table or two set up for passerbys to stop and have a bite.  Not really sure yet what they are cooking and I guess it varies from day to day but just overall strange to see.  On our drive to Tegucigalpa which is over the mountains on winding roads there is a lady just there selling roasted corn.  I suppose she just comes down from her home in the mountains and cooks.  She must do some business because she is always there.  One of these days we might just stop!

Teamwork

Horse on the Road

Delivery Moto

Cute Little Truck Thing

Fancy Bus With Vendors Selling Snacks

Bus Parking Lot

Fruit

Ugly Couches for Sale

Movies Anyone

Fruit for Sale

Market

Busy Market

Market

Wheelbarrow

That Looks Heavy!

Volunteer Firefighters

Carpool

Power Outage

What a slacker i've been!  Several days since my last post.  So much to tell about!  

Jordan's Stack of Books

Jordan & Everett's School

The kids are getting adjusted to school and we are finally in somewhat of a routine. 

 Jordan is still getting used to the ways of his classroom - how to know what is for homework etc...  he has a ton of books and a ton of supplies.One of the strangest things 

on his school supply list was Toilet Paper!  The things we take for granted huh?  Jordan said when you want to go to the restroom you have to ask for that Bathroom Pass and then you are given Toilet Paper and Hand Soap.  Last week he had a "uniform inspection" 

and he was sent home with a Warning Notice!  He was out of standards!  Missing from his handsome little get up was: a belt and the appropriate socks.  He is required to wear black dress shoes and we had no idea that there were specific requirements for the socks so we put him in black dress socks - can you believe that the socks are supposed to be white athletic socks?   The warning was sent home for the FATHER to sign.  All of the paperwork that comes home requiring a signature asks for the Father's signature!  Jordan almost missed recess on Friday for failing to bring back his weekly report - we of course had no idea that this was to be signed and returned each week.  

Street View

 Street View

The square downtown

Sunday around 9AM the power went out and we had no idea why.  It appeared as though it was out in the whole neighborhood so we decided to go site seeing in down town Comayagua.  There are beautiful old buildings there, a really pretty cathedral and that's 

Cathedral Downtown
Comayagua

about it.  The streets were quiet.  It was almost lunch time when we found a really nice little restaurant/gift shop set back in an awesome courtyard.  It appeared to be closed but when we peeked in the gate, the owner came out and asked us to come in.  She was a beautiful woman who spoke great English and of course Spanish too.  Turns out she is a native of Comayagua but shares her time living in Cleveland, Ohio for 4 months and then 3 months here and so on.  She explained to us that power was out in all of Honduras because there were Political Conventions of opposing parties going on.  The electric company is run by the government so to minimize viewership they turned off the power to prevent the people of Honduras from watching it.  Power would most likely be out until 4pm that day she told us.  Wow - what a Democracy.  She was able to be open and fix us lunch because she had a gas stove.        

We finally got a vehicle after a month of a rental car - a 2000 Ford Explorer with new tires and 105k miles.  Sounds crazy but this car is quite the luxury!  Vehicles are hard to come by here and all of them cost a fortune.  We got lucky and bought this one from an American guy that was working on the base.  

Our New Ride

We also got a kitchen table!  The table was handmade by a local artisan here that makes beautiful furniture.  It is made of Honduran Mahogany wood and is super heavy.  Next in line is a handmade desk from the same guy. 

Our tiny new table

Walking Stick on our porch!

Escuela Bilingue Honduras

School has officially started for the Torres boys and what a process this has been!  We knew school started on the 9th after the Chirstmas break so last week we went to try and register Jordan.  There were reception type staff there (Spanish speaking only) and they told us we had to come back on Monday.  We went back on Monday and met the Principal and the English Coordinator who pretty much gave us no information.  We did manage to arrange for testing for Jordan which would take place on Tuesday and we asked about a program for Everett, met that Coordinator and were told we could get all of that information on Tuesday after Jordan's testing.  Tuesday we had to drop Jordan off for two hours (tear) and when I came back to get him I talked with another administrator who explained to me that they needed to have a meeting with both parents about the paperwork.  The meeting had to be scheduled for Wednesday.  I convinced them to let Jordan and Everett both start school on Wednesday and they did.  At the meeting they suggested  we hire a lawyer to assist us with all the required paperwork  (we can use the Base Legal dept so it works out fine).  Official records such as the Birth Certificate and School Report Cards not only have to include the state's official seals on them but they also have to have an Apostille which is a certification done at the U.S. Department of State's office that says the document is "entitled to recognition in the country of intended use" at the meeting we signed formal contracts promising to initiate the process obtaining this paperwork and try to have it completed within 60 days.  Whew - what an ordeal!

School day was very stressful.  Boy boys were a wreck.  Jordan more so than Everett... he was super nervous about everything and hated the uniform he had to wear.  The English Coordinator who he tested with, Laura (pronounced Lao Da) made a great connection with him so he felt at ease when he saw her.  Jordan ended up making some fast friends and realized that all of these kids DO speak English just not so perfect.  The majority of the classes are taught in English and all the teachers are English speaking.  The Principal and Office Staff; however are not.  There are 3 classes that are taught in Spanish:  Social Studies, Spanish and Values.  Jordan won't be tested in any of these classes but will have to attend them sort of like an audit situation like we have in the states.  The school is set up like an open mall type building and during recess and lunch they have free reign of all the spaces - can you imagine?  Recess is scheduled in the morning at 8:40 and during this time the kids are allowed to eat a snack from home.  I packed Jordan some cookies and a water what the heck right?  Cookies in the am just because it was allowed!  At lunch time I received a call from Laura saying he had no lunch!  She put Jordan on the phone and he told me he had eaten the sandwich and the rest of the lunch I had packed him at snack time!  I had given him 100 Limps just in case he needed to buy something so that's what he ended up doing.  Lunch was some sort of chicken, beans, plantains, etc. and cost 20 Limps which is about a dollar.  Most parents bring their kids lunch.  They walk up to the gates right before noon with a plate of something covered in foil that they have just cooked.  We won't be doing that..... Both boys ended up having pretty good days.  Everett seemed to have a great time.  He only goes until 11:30, and Jordan came out with a smile.  He had lots to say about just how different things were.  This morning they both went off with a smile.  Today I will be working on getting all the cash together to go pay for their registration fees and their books.  Some has to be paid in American Currency and some in Limperias.  All of it has to be paid right at the school's bank and then you take the payment slip back to the school.  Jordan can't be issued his books until I get that part done.  School starts promptly at 7:00 am!  If  you are late you have to miss your first class and sit in the counselors office.  Needless to say  - Jose will be taking them to school!

Potty Talk

Nasty!

notice the trash can

See anything different about Jose?

Dennis, Jose y Alejandro

Nikki

Imperial - my new fave!

So yesterday after work, Jose came and picked us up and we went to Happy Hour with some of his co-workers.  They are going to try to do this every friday.  Most of the wives don't go - but Jose wanted me to meet everyone so off we went.  We dropped the kids off at Dennis and Nikki's (co-worker and his Honduran wife).  Dennis was at the Sky bar so we grabbed Nikki and had her come with us.  There were several kids at their house and Karen, the 20 yr old daughter so our boys were in good hands (and super excited to be going there to play).  We found the little dive on the side of the road The SKY BAR and met the guys.  I so wish I had some pics of the place but I don't.  It was interesting.... An open space connected to someone's residence I think?  because there was laundry hanging on the line in this courtyard area.  They were happy to have us there because besides our group there were maybe 3 other people there. Beers were 20 limperias which is about a dollar.  The gathering was fun until I had to go to the bathroom.  Now I've visited some bathrooms in Honduras of course and none of them had been too too bad but I only go if I absolutely have to.  They are usually pretty dirty and may or may not have toilet paper.  My mom had warned me of this and she was right.  Lucky for you I do have pictures to share of this particular bathroom.... Written on the door in marker was the words "Damas Y Caballeros"  which was the first clue that it might be less than desirable- a shared facility.  There was no toilet paper and it was overall just a nasty nasty place.  Dead cockroaches littered the floor some being eaten by ants......the pictures here can tell the rest.
Overall it was a fun time - we got back to Dennis and Nikki's to find Everett asleep on the couch and the boys begging for Jor DAN to spend the night.  They had a fun time and so did we but we made it an early night.

Trash Day

Trash men in front of our home

Going through the trash behind our home

I've been waiting for today to come! Today is trash day and i've been watching the trash guys come every time.  They come twice a week- pick up all the trash in the neighborhood and then they park behind our house and literally cut through each of the bags looking for aluminum, plasticos, and anything else that might be salvageable.  As most of you know, I drink quite a bit of diet coke and the boys have been guzzling Fresca so we tend to have several cans for them.


 I've decided to separate them in the house just as if we were recycling - cans and plastic items.  You can imagine my disappointment when this morning I went out to add to the trash pile and to my dismay someone had already scoured our trash pile and had taken the items meant for the trash men!  I was so disappointed and I bet they were too to find that we had nothing good for the taking!  Next trash day I will be doing things a little different!





Yesterday was a fun day in our house - we got a couch, a rug, 19 boxes from home and some Christmas boxes!  It feels so good to have some of our things!  The boys were super excited to see some of their toys and to get some new ones for Christmas!

19 boxes!

Our new couch and super contemporary  rug

Boys LOVE Tech Decks!

Christmas from the Albright's!  Thanks friends!

Jordan says: FINALLY Nana! His birthday game

Christmas from the Torres'

I am thankful that Jose is so outgoing and that he speaks Spanish!  Yesterday after work he met a local Honduran man, also named Jose, that lives is our neighborhood. Jose has two boys - one is 10 and the other is 3.  Yay! He invited my Jose and the boys to meet up to play soccer.  There is a big group that plays every day at 5pm right behind our house.  Jordan had to be coaxed to go out.  He is a little uneasy sometimes about the language barrier and even though he is learning some Spanish words, he doesn't like to use them.  Everett and Sancho went along too.  They had an absolute blast!  Every one of them.  Turns out the 10yr old boy (don't know his name) goes to the same school that Jordan will start on Monday.  He knows English but wont usually speak it because he is not so confident in his ability - you see where I am going with this......

Moving Day

Found this little guy in the driveway

His life was short lived

This is drinking water purchased at your local gas station

The road up to Jose's friends house - it will eventually be paved

That yellowish image is the house we were driving to

had to wait for cattle crossing

The road up to the top - that is a house on the left

Dinner?

We're getting closer.....

Why did the Chicken cross the road?

This is a narrow road!

At the top

Photos don't do the place justice!

Karen - One of Nikki's girls

Jordan 

Beautiful bouganvilla!

This weekend we helped one of Jose's co-workers move.  The guy is American and has 2 teen-ish girls living with him and he is married to a Honduran woman with 5 kids.  From what I can understand 3 of her 5 kids live with them for a total of 5 kids + mom and dad.  The guy has been a super huge help to us - letting Jose borrow their van several times to pick up furniture and us from the airport.  The wife, (who speaks no English) has helped Jose on several occasion to negotiate things in town - since locals always get a better price on everything.  The reason why they were moving was because the wife wasn't so happy living so far out of town.  Their current home was AMAZING which is why I wanted to share.  The home is positioned way up the side of a mountain at at the very tip top of a dirt road.  The house is surrounded by a wall of course and inside was this huge compound perfect for all those kids and a large family.  The grounds were incredible - beautiful flowers everywhere, a poinsettia tree, bouganvilla of all colors, fruit trees- limes, coconuts, mangos etc.  A fountain with a small pool, a playground for the kids,  basketball court, paved areas to ride bikes, and the most picturesque view of all of Comayagua.  The inside of the house had plenty of bedrooms but what was so incredible was grounds of the home, and you would not believe that they only paid $500.00/month rent!  The home that they are moving to was much smaller and i'm still not quite sure where they will put all the people, but the lady seems more than happy to be moving there.  Jose left me at the new house with the kids while he made trips with his friend up and down the mountain in the van.  They moved furniture and all of their belongings (none of which were packed) and we helped to unload when they got back.  So many people were there to help at the new house - I have no idea who they all were - several extra kids, and adults of all ages (many just spectating), and none spoke English.  People were painting, fixing faucets in the tiny bathroom and buzzing all around.  I was a little uncomfortable and not sure what to do with myself so I offered to help clean.  My job was to help "limpiar" or clean by wiping down the kitchen cabinets.  The mom cut a t-shirt in 1/2 using a machete and she and I wiped down all the cabinets in the house using only water.  I learned a new word - "sucio" which means dirty or filthy and that it was.  The kids all ran around playing tag and having a ball.  The two American girls speak perfect Spanish and English and helped me to translate from time to time.  The rest of the kids spoke no English and none of them seemed to care.  The older American Girl, Maggie is going to work with Jordan each week at our home teaching him Spanish.  He seems to really like her so I think it will work out great.