¡Feliz dia del independencia!

9-15-07
Happy Independence Day!

Sitting here, in the gated area in front of my house in downtown Juticalpa, I hear roosters crowing. In the distance, car horns honk and a salsa beat plays at a restaurant around the corner. The night sky is dark and the temperature is cool. Honduras is beautiful!

Veronica, Jessica and I have begun to make our home in this simple, three bedroom home in the city. We live on a dirt street with no name in a quiet neighborhood. Our neighbors down the hill live in a stone hut with a metal roof. They have chickens, dogs and children who run around outside all day. The children are adorable and greeted us as soon as we arrived. These children have nothing at all, yet they are filled with indescribable joy. Every time we come home, they run up to us just to stare, ask us all sorts of questions and sing "Bienvenidas, gringas." Our other neighbor is a doctor, and he and his family live in a stylish home with an SUV parked in the front. From our home, we have a gorgeous view of the surrounding mountains and the city. We've had a problem with our water pump, so we have not had tap or toilet flushing water for the past two days. Instead, we've been washing ourselves with soap and storage water and flushing with a bucket. Still, compared to how the rest of the people in this country live, we are lucky. I am shocked to see how poor this country is. Never before have I seen entire communities of people living in shacks with dirt floors. Never before have I watched women with bare feet beat out tortillas on large stone fire pits. Never before have I known of families who are forced to send their children to the corner to sell bags of water in order to survive.

Juticalpa is not a tourist town. We gringas stand out in any crowd. Knowing Spanish has helped tremendously and I already feel pretty comfortable using the language. Padre, Carlos, Juan Carlos, Tula and Annie have made a warm welcome for us. This afternoon, on el dia de independencia, we enjoyed our first Honduran meal- pupusas (corn tortilla-sandwiches with cheese) and cabbage salad. Tonight, Annie taught us how to make a dinner of comida tipica (fried plantains, refried beans, corn tortillas and avocado). Tomorrow morning, we'll follow Padre to nearby Jutiquile, a rural community where he conducts the mass, and then we'll begin orientation for the school year. Buenas noches- I'm off to sleep!