been a while

It has been inexcusably too long since the last post so I must apologize to my avid readers.

I'm weathering my first golpe de estado (Coup d'état) as most of you know but I'm not supposed to have an opinion on it one way or another so I'll leave it up to you so look up info on your own. In fact some of you might know more than me as I'm way out in the sticks and have been on travel restrictions for a while. I will say I have heard some crazy rumors though - like Nicaraguan troops massing on the border in support of ex-president Mel Zelaya. Things have been quite calm in my community. If it wasn't for the radio and the Nicaraguan news channel that comes in, I don't know if anyone would know the golpe had happened. As it is, the only noticeable difference is that there is an additional topic for chisme (gossip) conversations. It's been like a wierd out of body experience. I know demonstrations and military check points are going on but here it's just life as usual more or less.

To catch up, I finally got the letters sent to the school in the states. The emailed versions got there just before the end of classes thankfully and I sent the hard copies with the hopes that they could be forwarded to the students next year or used to start things off for the new class.

I went to help my host brother sembrar frijoles (plant beans) back in May. Since I had had a little practice in September of last year I zealously filled my cumbo (gourd with the top cut off and belted at the waist) to the brim. Turns out I wasn't much better than the first time around and barely planted half of the seeds in the 4 hours of work while my host brother probably planted 4 or 5 cumbos. It seems so easy: jab the stick with a steel point in the ground, twist to open a hole, and chuck the seeds in. I, however, spent most of the time bent over correcting my off target tosses. I need a lot of practice to perfect my technique but at least I was able to provide a few laughs for a while.

A few days afterwards I ran into one of the poorer men of the community and he told me something along the lines of "my don't you look gordo (fat) today". I'm pretty sure that comment would offend most of the people I know but in my site it doesn't necessarily really mean fat but more like well fed. It's more often than not a compliment and it made me feel really guilty. I've lost a fair amount of weight but I'm still gordo to those who don't always have enough to eat.

The electricity project appears to be on semipermanent hold. It was to be at least partially funded with government funds that dried up when the ex-president began to push the for the Cuarta Urna (the cause of the golpe - look it up if you're interested). Of course now things aren't looking any better. Good news is that the bank and the owner reached an agreement over the proposed dam site and supposedly there was a document drawn up and signed (I have yet to see it). Who knows if we'll get a chance to use it anytime soon as funding in Honduras looks pretty sketchy for the moment.

To help pass the time I started teaching english. I haven't really gotten far, just the alphabet and numbers and basic greetings but it has been more rewarding than I would have thought. I am not blessed with teaching abilities but the kids have been pretty enthusiastic and fairly attentive so far. I was set back when classes were on hold for a while because of the protest paro (strike) but the profesora in my site has started up again despite risk of punishment so the kids don't lose out.

Partially due to the fact that there were no classes for a while (can't get into the school area without the only key which the profesora has), and also due to apparent lack of interest on the part of the parents, the school garden has gotten off to a rocky start. I finally got a few parents together right before the golpe and we got some land cleared of weeds just in time to wait 2 weeks for classes to start again (unofficialy). Today we redid a lot of the work and extended the cleared area a little farther with the hope of planting Monday. We'll see what happens. Hopefully I can convince the parents to come again. To me it seems like they are quite reluctant to lose a day of work, even for something to benefit their children. I'm also a little worried about the rain situation. I was only just starting to get sick of the rain and mud when it started drying up again. I'm told that we've entered the canicula, the about a month long period of little to no rain in the middle of the rainy season. Hopefully it does not prove to be too difficult for the kids to get water from the rio to regar (irrigate) with. It is right behind the escuela.

I've also started a some small garden plots at my host family's place. The raddishes are gettting pretty close to harvest and I have some tomatoes and zuchini sprouting. Those of you who are aware of my mild dislike of chickens will find this hilarious. One day I decided I would try to plant some spinach. I spent all morning clearing weeds and preparing the soil of a small plot and finished planting the seeds right before lunch. I came back outside after eating to find that in less than half an hour the chickens had re-excavated everything I had done, probably eating all of the seeds in the process. Gallinas suck. Not only do they walk into my room and crap all over the place if I forget to shut my door, they now delight in ruining my attempts at improving my nutrient intake. There has got to be a better way to get eggs.

June 24th was the Dia de San Juan. My host brother told me that this is the preferred day to capar (castrate) animals and that others often scar trees with a machete on this day so they produce more fruit. Interesting huh. A few days later I watched some terneros (calves) get branded. Not much to say other than it was brutal. The interesting part was that afterwards I watched the folk treatment for the bulbuos growths on some of their necks. A stick was rubbed from the head over the back and down to the tip of the tail three times and then three times again in the opposite direction. Then the tips of the tails were split so that they would botar sangre (bleed). I'm not sure how it works but it was cool to watch.

Well I'll close with the observation that I've been in Honduras over a year now. Hopefully it won't be my only accomplishment.

Peace