The big news in our neighborhood right now is the opening of a gigantic new mall, "Gallerias del Valle". It is only 3 blocks down the street from our apartment and given our lack of car and a general lack of accessibility to banks, restaurants and shopping this new opening is a pretty exciting event. We walked to the mall this morning, and although only about 50% of the stores are actually open at this point, we were still pretty impressed. San Pedro residents are crazy about malls, there are already 4 huge ones in the city, but this one is going to be the biggest. As you can see with the ferris wheel, they are not holding anything back! Today we visited the book store, and were pleasantly surprised to find a good selection of English books, and Dan and I both found books. I chose, "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Husseini and Dan walked out with "The Strategies of War" by Robert Greene. Not exactly sure what he's planning with that book, but I guess we'll be prepared in the event of an uprising.
We also visited the fantastic "Ace Femosa" which is a relative apparently of Ace Hardware in the States. It has many lovely treasures, ranging from board games to home furnishings to garden supplies. We stocked up in the garden department and this afternoon I've been putting our new purchases to use. A few weeks ago we went to the greenhouse and bought several plants and now they're finally in the ground.
I also was able to find some basil, chive, cilantro, watermelon and squash seeds so I got those planted as well. I'm confident the herbs will do well, less sure about the watermelon and squash, but I figured I'd give it a shot. So, all in all, a successful shopping trip! I never thought I'd be so enthusiastic about the opening of a mall, but I never thought I'd be living in San Pedro Sula either, so life is full of surprises.
Last night Dan and I made a rare venture out into the city to explore a little San Pedro nightlife. We began the evening at fellow teachers Karen and Kim's house for a little get-together. It was a great chance to catch up with our fellow teachers; even though we technically all work together we don't always see each other as much as we'd like! Everyone had lots of stories about their week off and their travels.
Afterwards, several teachers were going to check out a new bar called "TreeHouse" so we thought we'd tag along as well. We've been a little hesitant to go out in San Pedro, primarily because we don't know where to go and are unsure of what to expect. I'm happy to report we were pleasantly surprised and enjoyed a great night of talking and dancing. We will definitely be back!
If I haven't written it before I'll say it now or if I have written it, I'll do it again: Honduras is a football mad country. If you haven't seen the pictures and video from the Honduras National Team game a few weeks back, I highly recommend them.
The point is that for someone as football mad as these Hondurans there's not a moment that goes by were I can't not get my football fix. Football on TV? Yep... there's a whole channel for it in Spanish, another one that fills about 20 of 24 hours with football, and both ESPN and ESPN2 down here cover the football world (with a few Beisbol de Grandes Ligas and Futbol Americano in between). Football in the park? Pick up games are found everywhere. Dirt pitches, rock pitches, goat manicured pitches, pitches with indoor grass that is outdoors, pavement pitches... you name, we've got it. Live football? San Pedro Sula has two football teams, Marathon and Real Espana, and their always playing at Estadio Olympico (and in fact they're playing each other there this weekend... unfortunately I can't go).
I did manage to catch another game at Estadio Olympico this week. On Tuesday I got word that the Major League Soccer's very own DC United would be playing Marathon the next day and so myself, along with a few other curious folks went to go see how an American team was welcomed in Honduras.
The stadium wasn't even close to being as full as the national team game, but it was a pretty electric atmosphere. We sat in the "sol" section which my (wealthy) students were later shocked that I went (and survived) in there with "those people." It wasn't even close to being scary... I had a family with two, very young daughters sitting behind me.
DC United was totally out-classed and frankly I was embarrassed by their performance, but it was fun to watch as the fans jeered every time DC touched the ball or their keeper held it for too long. I went hoping to root for the American side, but they gave me nothing to cheer about, my fellow seventh grade teacher Sava and another teacher Elle were both Marathon partisans, and Luke was just there, I think, for the beer.
My fellow seventh grade LA/SS teacher, Savarino.
All in all, another awesome football-related cultural experience. And even though I got absolutely no work done on a Wednesday work night, we did have this beaut to show for our evening:
We left out a few funny stories from our adventures, including the beginning of the trip with the chaos and subsequent aftermath of our ferry ride to the islands. I think I was charged with retelling that tale, but luckily for me Andy and Jen, our travel companions did a great job of explaining the ordeal on their blog (read: roatan, part deux). Check it out, I'm pretty sure it will make you laugh.
Dan is out tonight at a soccer game with his buddies, so I'm enjoying a night at home. With my newly acquired techno-savvy I thought I'd make another slideshow for your viewing pleasure. Just in case you didn't see enough of our honeymoon pictures already, you can now experience them set to music and with an 8mm feel. You lucky readers!
I made this slideshow to post on my classroom webpage, but I thought some of you might enjoy seeing it also. With the music I know it's a little cheesy, but I can't help but smile when I watch it. I am absolutely loving teaching First Grade, and I have the coolest students ever! Being a classroom teacher instead of a "specials" teacher is definitely an adjustment, but it has been great and I'm enjoying having a small group that I can really get to know instead of the 600+ I had in my previous life.
Enjoy the slideshow and I'll post more as I make them.
I originally tried hosting all of our photos on Flickr, but unless you pay a monthly fee they restrict the amount of pictures one can upload a month. Given that we're taking pictures of pretty much everything that's not going to cut it.
Enter, Fotki (yeah I don't get the name either). Unlimited photo (and video!) sharing. I've put a link on the sidebar, but I thought I'd let everybody know about it here too. Just click on the link and you can check out the whole albums of whatever we post here.
Obviously we can't put every picture in every entry (ex: Roatan had 80+ pictures) so this a a convenient way for us to display them all.
A wise* (* = not wise... the guy was a frickn' idiot) jewelry seller once told me that "the marriage begins when the honeymoon ends... that's when the marriage begins." As if it was some sort of cryptic warning to soon-to-be-newly-weds, Anah and I have done our best to not allow the marriage to tumble into some sort of wedded disaster.
This week we've been vacationing off the coast of Honduras on the island of Roatan and these islands might as well be their own country because everything here is nothing like the mainland and the city of San Pedro Sula, where we have spent nearly all of our time since moving down here.
Spending the last week on West Bay Beach in Roatan is like being the people that are relaxing in all of the promotional posters for places you wish you had enough time and money to travel to, but don't. The sands are white, the sea and endless stretch of alternating light blues and dark blues, and the people relatively friendly and unobtrusive to make the entire stay a delight.
Roatan benefits from being slightly off the vacationer's radar. It lacks the high rises of a Cancun and the regularity of pasty white American tourists so that's very nice. Its only downfall is that very off-the-radar-ness. Our resort, Bananarama, is beautiful, but if you're looking for all sorts of options in the food and entertainment department you'd be sorely disappointed.
But that's not to say Anah and I are disappointed. We are far from the hustle, bustle and nitty, gritty of San Pedro Sula. It is the perfect recipe for a great honeymoon.
Despite our travel trouble with the ferry from La Ceiba to Roatan (which only Anah can elaborate on) we have had a great week. I've found out that scuba diving is not for me since (unlike Anah) I am not a mouth breather and have trouble managing my air underwater. Snorkeling on the other hand has been gorgeous. One of the best things about Roatan (and its emerging appeal for many) is that its coral reefs are easily accessible from the beach and are not at any depths like some of its more famous cousins around the world (Australia's Great Barrier, etc). While scuba diving can get one access to the most limited reefs some of the very things one would see scubaing you are able to see via snorkeling.
That was an activity that I was able to be somewhat competent at. With only a depth of 10 or so feet at the max all of the reef near the shore of our beach (and the finest in Roatan) were within our grasp (that's just an expression because you're not allowed to touch the reef). The day before Anah and I snagged a pair of ocean kayaks and took them down the coast to the nearby village of West End. Our journey their and back took a leisurely three hours, a nice trip to waste away the morning hours. It also confirmed our suspicions that we had the best beach of all of the spots advertising that very fact. Going up and down what is Roatan's resort coast proved that the white sand in front of Bananarama was not to be beaten.
Other than those activities our week has been defined by inactivity. When the convenience of ocean front property calls it is hard to refuse. The circular lifestyle of sun, swim, sun, swim is not an easy one to break and we weren't about to try. In the four days we've been here, I've never been as tan as I am right now. Luckily, we've both managed to avoid sunburn from what has to be one of the most brutal and unrelentingly suns. The heat is just as bad as in San Pedro, but it obviously lacks the relief that the water provides here.
We explored the other vacation spot, West End, by foot last night having a delicious dinner at the Half Moon Bay Resort. We’ve been sharing a good part of our honeymoon with another pair of EIS teachers, Andy and Jen (their blog is here) and we went searching for a party on a Wednesday night. Normally, Wednesday are not a good night anywhere, but we thought this being a vacation spot that it might be party-time all the time.
As you might suspect Wednesday nights in paradise are just a quiet as Wednesday nights in anywhere in the world. We found ourselves in the West End (alleged) hot spot, the Twisted Toucan, which according to its owner (a good looking blond woman from Montana) was listed in Maxim magazine as one of the coolest bars on Earth. Like everything in that magazine I was to take this claim with a grain of salt and the lack of visitors to the Toucan would back up my skepticism.
Shawna, the owner, came to Roatan to find herself, presumably after some bad divorce. She was nice enough, but spent a good part of our conversation talking about the difficulties of running a business on a tropical island. The downturn in the American economy (damn you AIG!) and the fits and starts of a growing tourist trade has taken its toll on the Toucan and its (Maxim endorsed) reputation.
Many gin and tonics later and even one Long Island Ice Tea (the sign that Daniel’s night is almost over) we left only to find the bar next to the Toucan was West End’s hot spot. Maybe next time.
Now it may seem like Anah and I are on a perpetual vacation, but that's not entirely true. We do work hard, but we've got to leave some time to play hard as well. Surprisingly, after only a month of school there is a fall break for us and our students.
It all coincides with Honduras' Independence Day which is September 15th. On that date in 1821 Honduras, along with Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador declared their independence from Spain. The goal was the form a republic based partly on the United States, but it quickly degenerated.
Enough of the history lesson, but all you really need to know is that that history grants us a week break from school. Anah and I are making time to finally take our honeymoon and we're in the beautiful Bay Island of Roatan, off the north-eastern coast of Honduras. We're staying at the Bananarama Dive Shop and Resort
There will be plenty of posts of our adventures (so don't worry Rob and Diane!). So far we've experienced (well actually just Anah) massive sea sickness from our ferry to the island, a great first night dinner, and a nice moonlit walk on the beach where we met a few crabs. Like this guy:
Later this week, we're going to get our certification to SCUBA dive and then there should be lotsa great underwater pics. The beach outside our place is supposed to be one of the best on the island too. So we've got that going for us.... which is nice. We've got the Inter-web here (obviously) so we'll try to update ya'll.
On Wednesday, Jesse, his mail-order girlfriend Jenna*, and I went to a football (soccer) match. Now this isn't any old game; not some Major League Soccer pedestrian affair or even the little ball kicking contests that are the USA international games... this is a Latin American football feast!
A little background: the Honduran national football team (along with the US and many other nations) are in the midst of trying to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Even though its only 2008, the process takes quite a long time and there are several rounds that each team has to fight through in order to whittle down the 200 or so national teams to the 32 that ultimately qualify for the WC. Currently, Honduras is in the second-to-last round of qualifying and needless to say that is very exciting for the nation as a whole.
Last Saturday Honduras faced Canada in the second game of this round. Previously the "Catrachos" lost 2-1 to Mexico and were staring at a difficult game away from home. But the Hondurans pulled out a 2-1 stunner in Canada and came home to face Jamaica.
A win would put Honduras in the driving seat in their four team group. Mexico is clearly going to qualify for the next round, but the second of two spots is up for grabs between Jamaica, Canada, and Honduras.
I have to admit, even though I love football and supporting the local team is exciting I have very selfish motives for cheering for the Catrachos. If Honduras makes it to the final qualifying group there is huge chance that I will be able to see them play the United States down here. That's a huge deal. The U.S. is kicking ass and taking names in their respective group so Honduras just needs to do their part and then the two will face off twice, once in the U.S. and once down here. As long as its not in the summer of 2009 (which it very well could be) you can count me as an attendee of that match.
Anyways, back to Wednesday. International match days are huge in football mad countries. Many of my students were going to the game and those that weren't wanted to. They were super excited that I was going to match and I even ran into a few waiting in line to get into the stadium. Its a bit surreal to have your favorite sport, which is so maligned back in the U.S., sitting center stage.
Getting to the game an hour early the stadium was already packed. People are everywhere and there are dozens of lines zig-zagging all over the place. There is no rhyme or reason as to how to get to our section. Between fake tickets and just plain over-selling, finding a spot to stand without getting crushed, much less a seat, will be difficult.
Jesse, Jenna, and I tried one entrance only to be met by a mass of people shoving themselves to get to an open space. From there we found a quieter entrance and tucked ourselves in the corner of one section.
Our view of the game.
From there I witnessed one of the more spectacular things I have seen since I've come to Honduras. It was just such a local take on a standard American thing it was easy to chuckle at it.
Our spot in the stadium put us with our backs up against a high fence that separated us in "preferencia" with the more expensive "silla" seats. That did little to dis-sway the numerous "concessionaires" that roamed the stadium. Now, unless I'm mistaken the stadium has no formally food/drink distribution system like in your standard American stadia, but many "entrepreneurs" that smuggle soda, beer, and various other food stuffs into the stadium to sell to the fans. I noticed, before we went into the stadium all sorts of Pepsi products nearly some isolated parts of the gate, but didn't make the connection until we were being served these goods.
Whether known or unknown (I find it hard to believe that this is under the radar...someone at the stadium must be getting a cut) there are guys running sacks of bottles of Coca-Cola up and over these fences, I'm watching kids selling beers and running out only to have to pour more from bottles in the back, and random people pulling out trays of homemade sandwiches to hawk.
Even though this is all wildly entertaining there is also a game going on, but not just any game, but qualification for the largest sporting event in the world and Honduras actually has a shot. Its been over 20 years since the Catrachos qualified for a World Cup, but the team has several very good player on their squad.
The atmosphere is unbelievable. The crowd is pulsing and screaming long before the match even starts. We've got a guy with a horn, another one on a drum, and most awesomely a guy with a turtle shell he's banging all night.
Oh and the wave is pretty cool:
If you've ever been to a United States international game they are pretty timid events. Soccer moms and dads with the kids, a few Europeans catching the only quality football around, the small, unoriginal American soccer support. In most cases the visiting team is the most exciting part of the crowd and the noise they create can make it feel like you're the away team.
Not the case in Honduras. If the visitors made a sound I wouldn't have known because there was no chance for them to. Honduran fans climbing on fences, banging the aforementioned objects, and general screaming-your-head-off noisiness. Pure bliss from a football fans perspective.
All of this was enhanced by the dominating play of the Honduran national team. Jamaica spent the whole game on their back feet. The first half ended scoreless, but the Catrachos had the run of play and a goal was imminent. The second half was just as dominating. A beautiful string of passes resulted in Honduras' first goal sending the crowd out of their minds. Beer and whatever else was thrown into the air sending me for cover. Fences were climbed, flags were waving. Pure, unadulterated pandemonium.
But a 1-0 a win is never safe. Honduras, to their credit, pushed for the second decisive goal. They were rewarded when one of their forwards was tripped up inside the 18-yard box resulting in a penalty kick. I captured it on film:
As you can see, people were pretty excited. The game ended 2-0 to the home side and Honduras, if it can keep up the momentum, could book themselves a place in the next round of qualifying.
If you haven't been able to tell, these sporting contests are hugely important to the Hondurans and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they do make it to South Africa (as long as its not at the expense of the U.S.). A success like that would be awesome to witness.
We escaped the stadium, beat the traffic, and got a good night's sleep after a mind-blowing experience. Honduras has two more home games and right now were not sure if their in San Pedro Sula or the capitol, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there are a few more international dates on my calendar, including a USA vs. Honduras match in there.
- By Dan
* By "mail-order" I mean, arrived later than us. She is a returning teacher from last year, but just got here this week. Jesse is obviously excited about her arrival.
Or in our case.. do. Anah and I ignored the advice of the immortal 1995 TLC song and headed to the Pullapanzak Waterfalls about one hour southwest of San Pedro Sula. Joined by our perpetual chauffeur Jesse, Margaret, and Jesse's roomie Luke we were in search of grand adventures.
We found them. The drive from San Pedro to Pullapanzak is very scenic, passing several small towns and more fruit stands than I can remember (everyone has bananas, watermelons, and pineapples for sale) we made our way to the park which contains the falls. For 40 Lempieras (2 smackers) we were allowed entrance to the park and after gazing in amazement at the view of the falls for another 100 Lemps (five bucks) we got to get up close and person via a guided tour.
Now I'm not talking a nice tour with information and a slide show, but one where this guy makes us scale slippery rocks swing across small ponds, walk under the crash of the falls, climb into a cave behind the falls, and grope for each other because we can't see, hear, or basically make contact with each other through any of the five senses because the falls are so intense.
I can't even begin to tell you how intense the whole experience is except to say that I felt like I was got more soaked next to the waterfalls then actually submerging myself in the river it poured into. When you are making your way around the falls water is everywhere... you try to breathe and its in your mouth, nose, ears, eyes... its suffocating, but at the same time exhilarating. Needless to say.. Anah and I were scared shitless.
Which is nothing compared to the fear that washed over me after we got out of the falls. Just a few meters from our falls adventure is a point where one can jump into the deep river below... for fun. Its about a 25 foot plus jump and needless to say I was less-than excited to take the plung.
Readers may not know this about me, but I'm a tad bit concerned with it comes to heights. I'm the guy that has passed on several once-in-a-lifetime-opportunities because of the height-factor. Washington Monument... too high, roller coasters... only if I'm on a date in ninth grade, Eiffel Tower... how about halfway, Holy Hill... nope.
But here I've just watched four other people jump from a cliff and so far we're four-for-four on not dying. Those are the kind of odd that get me thinking about being one-for-one on death. For about a minute or longer I just sorted stared at the water below contemplating my morality (boy those rocks look awfully rocky) before deciding that it was time to shit or get off the pot.
I shat. All the way down. Not really, but jumping and essentially not landing for quite awhile is a very scary feeling. Eventually the water meets you, but in between I'm not really sure whether I'll make it there or not.
Once you get the first jump out of the way the second one was just a bit easier. Just a bit, though. I still took a shorter moment to contemplate my life.
Here's a bit of video of the falls. Just put Anah, I and, company underneath that.
After the falls we hit up the same place that Anah stayed at last weekend, D & D Brewery, Honduras' only microbrewery if you believe the travel guides. Getting any other beer other than the Miller Lite rip-offs (not that they aren't good... cool beer in 100 degree weather is always welcome) that are the national brewers was a welcome addition to my beer palate. Having a pale ale or a porter is a nice change of pace. Granted these aren't going to win any tastings, but they're still decent.
Margaret, Jesse, Anah, Luke, and Dan (l to r)
On the way home Jesse got pulled over (or since they don't use their vehicles that much it was more like flagged down to pull over) by the Honduran National Police. Normally this is a cause for concern because the corrupt police see a gringo and see big bucks in bribes (aka made-up fines), but for whatever reason (maybe because Jesse was twice as tall as the officer or he had his Honduran DL and registration all in order so he couldn't do anything) there was no drama. Papers checked and we were on out way.
As most of you know, I really love cooking and of course, more importantly I enjoy the fruits of my labor i.e. EATING. So, being down here has been a bit of an adjustment because while nearly every type of food is available at some point, it's not consistently available and variety is extremely limited. Unless of course, what you're looking for is beans, lard, or bananas. Those three ingredients are plentiful and have many delicious varieties. Also, there is nearly every type of meat available although it can't be guaranteed it's not going to kill you. This being said, with a little careful exploration nearly every ingredient is available here, you just have to hunt for it. You also have to join PriceSmart. Yep, that's right. We've joined a MegaStore just like Sam's Club.
Certainly not something we'd be real into in the States, but here it's pretty typical because the store has a very nice selection of vegetables, seafood and meats as well as delicious things like raisins, whole wheat rolls, and granola bars. We made many exciting purchases here,as well as at another grocery and as a result were able to cook our first truly successful meals. The first edition was Tilapia, sugar snap peas and mashed potatoes and tonight we revisted the Tilapia and mashed potatoes to make fish patties on whole wheat buns with corn on the cob. Delish!
The other surprise is that good wine is regularly available for about $5/bottle. Lots of great Chardonnays and all kinds of reds from Chile, Argentina and California. Good rum is also available for about $3/bottle or $5/bottle if you're feeling fancy.
So, here's hoping for more delicious dinners to come! Hopefully by the time we have any of you as visitors we'll have a few dishes under our belt! In the meantime we'll just have to test them on Jesse!
I also was able to find some basil, chive, cilantro, watermelon and squash seeds so I got those planted as well. I'm confident the herbs will do well, less sure about the watermelon and squash, but I figured I'd give it a shot.
