Christmas musings

Well, as we only have one half day left of school until Christmas break, I'm finally thinking: "Hey, it's almost Christmas." It's been such an exhausting five months. I think that since the seasons down here pretty much remain the same, I've not really "caught the spirit" yet. Christmas lights are everywhere, people are shopping for gifts, the students are bringing the "Favorite Teacher" ornaments, but I'm just now thinking, "Huh...so this is Christmas..."

What's Christmas like for most folks in Honduras? Well, we're discovering that at all Christmas parties (which begin like at 6:00) dinner is usually served at 9:30 or 10:30. Last night, we enjoyed a little fiesta with some of Colin's colleagues. It was delightful to hang with Hondurans and gringos. It's customary to have a huge Christmas village setup somewhere in the house. Baby Jesus usually is not present in the scene until Christmas Eve at midnight. All trees are artificial. There are no real trees in Honduras for sale because of the deforestation laws. Much of the decor is flashy, like Christmas in the States. There are no yards to admire. All the yards are behind walls. But, windows can be seen above the walls, decorated with all kinds of lights.

What am I missing about Christmas right now? Good question. I'm missing wearing sweaters, sitting in front of someone's fireplace drinking hot cocoa, hearing good Christmas music, driving through neighborhoods seeing the Christmas fanfare, watching Christmas movies (yep, I left those in storage with my Christmas stuff at home), and getting excited about sharing gifts with the family.

Our church hosted a little Christmas concert this past Sunday. It was a lovely (and short) affair. The kids put on a play about what they have been studying in Sunday school on the Voice of the Martyrs. Then, Colin and I sang our favorite Christmas hymn, "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus," and then the choir took over with a few robust numbers. It was quaint, and had a little bit of homey-ness to it. But that's another thing I'm missing--Christmas hymns. Gotta get to singing some more of those around the house.

I've posted some pics of our school's Christmas party. It was a nice dinner at the Marriott hotel, complete with some crazy Latin dancing (which of course I really got into) at the end. Then, Colin treated me to a stay there to celebrate our six-year anniversary. It was lovely! And I'm so glad to be married to this handsome husband of mine (sorry for the chummy romance...)!

Jennie and Eric, our close friends and neighbors

Mollie--the students think we're sisters. So we have the ongoing joke that we're "gemelas" (twins)

La gringas de Escuela Americana

My wonderful Honduran peers--these ladies join me in teaching middle school. Maurici, our aerobics instructor, is the second from the left (red lipstick)

Colin serenading Mike with his pork chop.

Iris on the dance floor--she's amazing! I was trying to keep up...and cracking up the crowd, of course.

Alejandra and Raquel, my partner teachers and friends

Wish I had a camera

There's been more than one occasion where Colin and I have failed to bring the camera along to capture some unforgettable moments. "What's our problem?" we have asked ourselves time and again. And if I had pictures to show, these would be what you would see from our recent outings:

1) Four Honduran "Santas" at the Mall Multiplaza greeting all the little ninos and ninas.
2) Santa with Winnie the Poo standing in the back of a pick-up truck waving to all the folks on the main street (it wasn't a parade, just a Santa drive-by)
3) a taxi cab driver holding a huge stack of 2 X 4s on top of his cab (no ropes or anything) driving down the main highway
4) the security guards on our way to school changing guard...and clothes...on the side of the road
5) Eric (our neighbor and friend) driving on the sidewalk to avoid the HUGE sewage pothole in the middle of a side street (all the other cars had taken a different direction)
6) the view of the city at night from atop the highest mountain in Tegucigalpa as we ate an amazing meal with our friends, the Lofchies (and our Peace Corp buddy, Justin)
7)  three cars passing the bus on an uphill while we were coming downhill--at 50 mph
8)  the two clowns that hop on the public bus and tell jokes (especially about gringos) for a few lemps

So...from now on I'm bringing the camera along for the ride.

I'm Back

Hey folks. Colin here. It's been a while...over a month. Good to smell ya again.

Why has it been so long, you might ask? Can't say exactly. Several factors were at work. For one thing, it's been pretty tranquillo around here and I didn't really have much to comment on. For another thing, Elisa and I felt like we were scrounging around on the bottom of the culture shock floor, there for a few weeks, and I just didn't care to put my thoughts out there. They were mostly not happy ones.

But things are looking up now. For one, there's a new president now (you can see him handsomely pictured above). His name is Porfirio 'Pepe' Lobo. I'm sure that he's a real nice guy. Honest, wise and just, no doubt. And everything went well at the elections. No major violence broke out anywhere and the largest number of registered voters ever turned out at the polls...so that's nice.

But there's still plenty to be thoroughly annoyed by in this place. For example...when you go in to use a public bathroom around here, there's always a sweet little lady called a 'muchacha' who is diligently mopping the floor. Even at our school, the cleaning ladies are always in the bathroom...and they don't leave when you come in! So, I'm supposed to maintain my composure and urinate properly with a muchacha swabbing my feet with a dirty mop.

Or try this on for size: every time you go in the dern grocery store--they've switched things around on you. What once was the potato chip aisle might now be the home of feminine products...and vice versa.

Or if that doesn't get you sufficiently frazzled, you ought to try getting some kind of nasty tropical fever that leaves you with 18 of the worst hours of your life, complete with hallucinations, sweats, vomiting, tremendous aching (especially around the spine and shoulders), etc. At first, I thought it was dengue fever. Now, I suppose it was only jungle chicken.

Anyways, it's not paradise. But then again...what is?

Ciao for now.