Well, I'm paying for 30 minutes of internet use, so I might as well put it to good use, right? The remaining 10 minutes are as good a time as any to blog.
Alex & I are now at Hostel Tamarindo in San Pedro Sula, getting ready to meet our cab at 4 AM tomorrow morning. Our host assures us that we've booked a good cab driver and he should actually show up.
Meanwhile, we had a few hours of daylight to kill, so, as is our style when in a new city, we went for a stroll. Would we find someplace to eat? A mercado (supermarket) or a pulperia (small store, maybe like a convenience store, but not really)? We wandered around a bit, checked out some food places, got kicked out of the university (I guess foreigners are allowed in the high-walled, guarded University of San Pedro Sula), then settled on Baleada Express - Honduran fast food - yum. As any good Honduras traveller knows, baleadas are a staple of Honduran food. They consist of smashed beans, cheese sauce that is somewhat similar to runny sour cream, cheese crumbles similar in taste to goat cheese all on a folded flour tortilla. Sometimes, they have other things inside such as eggs or tomatoes. They are cheap just about everywhere. As usual, strangers in a strange land result in an unusual experience, especially for those who are unaccustomed to eating fast food in the first place. We had to have the cashier speak veerry slloowwlllyyy for us. I took our horchatas to the table and waited for Alex and the food. And waited. And watched music videos. He finally discovered that the ticket that the cashier had handed to him did not have some magic number that would be called when his order was filled but actually had to be handed to the prep cook in order to get the food made. Do you ever feel like you're being stared at all of the time? Ah well, it happens. So we ate, Alex his baleada with chorizo, me my platos tipicos (typical plate of Honduran food) and headed back to the hostel before dark fell.
Wish us luck on the early rising tomorrow!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Surreal moments in Copan Ruinas
The center of Copan Ruinas, much like a European predecesor, consists of a town square, replete with non-functional water fountain, Mayan sculptures, the requisite church, a museum, and food hawkers. It is a place to hang out, buy ice cream, sit and enjoy the sun (or shade, depending on how hot it is), and sometimes the entertainment. Since we've been here, we've wandered through the town square every weekend to find some sort of activity going on. From the very well attended church function to the visit from the President who was handing out money (but didn't actually show up) to the telephoneless telethon to raise money for something for children's heart issues, we've wandered through an amazing array of activities. Last night was the one, the amazing, the Coca-Cola Feliz Navidad show.
The show was supposed to start at 4 PM, we heard. Having learned the realities of punctuality in Honduras, we arrived at 4:30 to a stage still being set up. Alex enjoyed the recorded music over the loudspeakers, but I promptly grew restless and wandered the 2 blocks back home to make a rice and cheese dinner. Returning 45 minutes later, I was just in time for the opening act. A little Jose Feliciano, anyone? No? Well, how about Michael Jackson instead? Apparently, MJ is huge in Honduras, a little known fact that I was unaware of. I wonder how impressed my students, to whom I have yet to reveal my true age, would be if they knew that I grew up with Michael Jackson. I was still a kid when the big "Thriller" dance video first hit MTV. I remember the white glove, the moonwalk. So, now we are here in Honduras listening to "Billy Jean." The band moved on to Spanish songs, then the show moved on to events for kids. Santa arrived and threw candy, some girl got a big gift basket, and lots of kids got bottles of Coke. A dance troup came out, highlighting, of all things, Michael Jackson songs. (Just a minute, didn't MJ endorse Pepsi? Was that just a bad memory?) The mime, the real magician (the most magical being that I was actually able to understand a lot of what he said), and I was about to call it quits when the band returned and an excellent gentleman singer came out and started singing real Spanish language Christmas Carols. "Tuki tuki tuki tuki" had a familiar ring to it, as well as "We wish you a Merry Christmas," as we'd just sung those in the Christmas parade (although I admit, I was prone to ignoring the signing during all of the rehearsals as I had my mind on lesson plans and quizzes I was going to squeeze in before the holiday break). The singer sang a little while, involving audience members young and old, once asking if everyone in the audience spoke English ("Yes!" I wanted to shout from the back of the crowd, "I speak English! I know the words to 'We Wish you a Merry Christmas!'"). When he left for a little break, a violinist came out, playing, to Alex's delight, some latin music that eventually sequed into Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" and we descended into Surreal Honduras of unknown time, unknown place, where we are somehow still just another brick in the wall. We accomplished a major first here in Copan Ruinas. I have never heard Pink Floyd played on the violin. Mostly Pink Floyd with hints of Charlie Daniel's "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." After that, because who can top that?, the singer came back out to join the violinist and the band, and, finally, sang Jose Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad," which, thanks to last week's caroling, we now know the words to. He then sang a couple of songs we didn't know. Finally, for an encore, the bass player suggested the extremely appropriate and seasonal cheery favorite, the Spanish version of "Oh Where, O Where Can My Baby Be" (aka "Last Kiss"). You know the song, first sung by Dion and The Belmonts, then revived by Pearl Jam, where the singer's girlfriend dies in a car crash and he prays to be good so he can see her again in heaven. Surreal Honduras. That's what it is.
It is worthy to note that Alex and I are quite good at getting ourselves into situations where there are likely to be famous people that we are completely incapable of recognizing, thus leading to things like Amy insulting Vanilla Ice the last time we went to Costa Rica. I'm guessing the singer and the violinist are actually famous in Honduras, but we have no way of knowing if they are.
The show was supposed to start at 4 PM, we heard. Having learned the realities of punctuality in Honduras, we arrived at 4:30 to a stage still being set up. Alex enjoyed the recorded music over the loudspeakers, but I promptly grew restless and wandered the 2 blocks back home to make a rice and cheese dinner. Returning 45 minutes later, I was just in time for the opening act. A little Jose Feliciano, anyone? No? Well, how about Michael Jackson instead? Apparently, MJ is huge in Honduras, a little known fact that I was unaware of. I wonder how impressed my students, to whom I have yet to reveal my true age, would be if they knew that I grew up with Michael Jackson. I was still a kid when the big "Thriller" dance video first hit MTV. I remember the white glove, the moonwalk. So, now we are here in Honduras listening to "Billy Jean." The band moved on to Spanish songs, then the show moved on to events for kids. Santa arrived and threw candy, some girl got a big gift basket, and lots of kids got bottles of Coke. A dance troup came out, highlighting, of all things, Michael Jackson songs. (Just a minute, didn't MJ endorse Pepsi? Was that just a bad memory?) The mime, the real magician (the most magical being that I was actually able to understand a lot of what he said), and I was about to call it quits when the band returned and an excellent gentleman singer came out and started singing real Spanish language Christmas Carols. "Tuki tuki tuki tuki" had a familiar ring to it, as well as "We wish you a Merry Christmas," as we'd just sung those in the Christmas parade (although I admit, I was prone to ignoring the signing during all of the rehearsals as I had my mind on lesson plans and quizzes I was going to squeeze in before the holiday break). The singer sang a little while, involving audience members young and old, once asking if everyone in the audience spoke English ("Yes!" I wanted to shout from the back of the crowd, "I speak English! I know the words to 'We Wish you a Merry Christmas!'"). When he left for a little break, a violinist came out, playing, to Alex's delight, some latin music that eventually sequed into Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" and we descended into Surreal Honduras of unknown time, unknown place, where we are somehow still just another brick in the wall. We accomplished a major first here in Copan Ruinas. I have never heard Pink Floyd played on the violin. Mostly Pink Floyd with hints of Charlie Daniel's "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." After that, because who can top that?, the singer came back out to join the violinist and the band, and, finally, sang Jose Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad," which, thanks to last week's caroling, we now know the words to. He then sang a couple of songs we didn't know. Finally, for an encore, the bass player suggested the extremely appropriate and seasonal cheery favorite, the Spanish version of "Oh Where, O Where Can My Baby Be" (aka "Last Kiss"). You know the song, first sung by Dion and The Belmonts, then revived by Pearl Jam, where the singer's girlfriend dies in a car crash and he prays to be good so he can see her again in heaven. Surreal Honduras. That's what it is.
It is worthy to note that Alex and I are quite good at getting ourselves into situations where there are likely to be famous people that we are completely incapable of recognizing, thus leading to things like Amy insulting Vanilla Ice the last time we went to Costa Rica. I'm guessing the singer and the violinist are actually famous in Honduras, but we have no way of knowing if they are.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Merry Christmas!
It is definitely the holiday season in Copan Ruinas! Fake Christmas trees and lights have been appearing in houses. The Parents Association held its annual Bingo fundraiser. I didn't win anything, but took advantage of the great opportunity to practice my Spanish numbers. Hallie, a teacher from Tennessee, won a sheep, who is now being moved from lawn to lawn at the school to act as lawn mower and fertilizer.
The next big event was the school Christmas play. The primary students sang in the choir and the 10th and 11th graders acted out the play. The play was very educational about Honduran customs. The female conductor welcomed the audience and asked for quiet in a beautiful, but see-through shirt, with lace covering the important areas. The very accepted style here was astonishing to the US teachers. The lights dimmed, the first song began, and the audience kept right on with their conversations. There was a dim hum of conversation throughout the entire performance. I finally know why the 7th graders are incapable of sitting through even 5 minutes of class without chatting with their friends!
Finally, the Christmas Carol parade. After days of practice, during which 8A missed Science class and fell way behind 8B, 8B having the advantage of having science 5th period instead of 1st period, the singers were "ready". Led by my personal favorite of the show, the drum line, replete with xylophones and bass drum players that played first with the left hand, then the right, but hardly ever both at the same time, the singers followed Santa and, occassionally, sang. Also near the front of the parade was a truck carrying a nativity hut made earlier that day out of local branches and tree fronds by Alex and the high schoolers. The students, in their red shirts and neatly styled hair, with their hand-held lanterns made out of wood, colored cellophane and candles, looked beautiful. Wait! Candles? Yes, the Kindergarten through 7th grade (with one or 2 8th graders) were carrying fire. I've only heard two reports of hair being set on fire. The 7th graders somehow could not manage to keep their candles lit. Something about boys blowing out girls candles and girls blowing out boys candles. I followed up the rear of the parade with the other middle school teachers and decided not to force the 7th graders to sing, especially since the singing often took place with the front part of the parade and the guitar players (music teachers Hernan and Rudy as well as Alex and David, the webpage designer) around a corner from the rear of the parade. The 7th graders eventually tired of carrying their lanterns and took to burning and tearing the cellophane out, discarding the rubbage in the most accepted trash receptical - the street.
I, like any good science teacher, wrapped up the 3-day week before Christmas, by giving the 7th graders a quiz on Monday, the 8th graders a disastrous open book quiz on Tuesday (I unwisely let them vote for open book on Tuesday or closed book on Wednesday with 8A missing Wednesday's last Caroling rehearsal until they finished the quiz), and a chapter test for the 9th graders on Wednesday. Today, Friday, is our 2nd day of the holiday break! We'll be going to Costa Rica for Christmas to visit with some friends, Jose, Bernadette, Sophia, and Isabelle Solano, and renew our visas.
Happy Holidays!
The next big event was the school Christmas play. The primary students sang in the choir and the 10th and 11th graders acted out the play. The play was very educational about Honduran customs. The female conductor welcomed the audience and asked for quiet in a beautiful, but see-through shirt, with lace covering the important areas. The very accepted style here was astonishing to the US teachers. The lights dimmed, the first song began, and the audience kept right on with their conversations. There was a dim hum of conversation throughout the entire performance. I finally know why the 7th graders are incapable of sitting through even 5 minutes of class without chatting with their friends!
Finally, the Christmas Carol parade. After days of practice, during which 8A missed Science class and fell way behind 8B, 8B having the advantage of having science 5th period instead of 1st period, the singers were "ready". Led by my personal favorite of the show, the drum line, replete with xylophones and bass drum players that played first with the left hand, then the right, but hardly ever both at the same time, the singers followed Santa and, occassionally, sang. Also near the front of the parade was a truck carrying a nativity hut made earlier that day out of local branches and tree fronds by Alex and the high schoolers. The students, in their red shirts and neatly styled hair, with their hand-held lanterns made out of wood, colored cellophane and candles, looked beautiful. Wait! Candles? Yes, the Kindergarten through 7th grade (with one or 2 8th graders) were carrying fire. I've only heard two reports of hair being set on fire. The 7th graders somehow could not manage to keep their candles lit. Something about boys blowing out girls candles and girls blowing out boys candles. I followed up the rear of the parade with the other middle school teachers and decided not to force the 7th graders to sing, especially since the singing often took place with the front part of the parade and the guitar players (music teachers Hernan and Rudy as well as Alex and David, the webpage designer) around a corner from the rear of the parade. The 7th graders eventually tired of carrying their lanterns and took to burning and tearing the cellophane out, discarding the rubbage in the most accepted trash receptical - the street.
I, like any good science teacher, wrapped up the 3-day week before Christmas, by giving the 7th graders a quiz on Monday, the 8th graders a disastrous open book quiz on Tuesday (I unwisely let them vote for open book on Tuesday or closed book on Wednesday with 8A missing Wednesday's last Caroling rehearsal until they finished the quiz), and a chapter test for the 9th graders on Wednesday. Today, Friday, is our 2nd day of the holiday break! We'll be going to Costa Rica for Christmas to visit with some friends, Jose, Bernadette, Sophia, and Isabelle Solano, and renew our visas.
Happy Holidays!
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