Tom's Book Corner #1

Hello everyone. I am a librarian now, so I guess one of my responsibilities is to recommend books. Well, the first book I read down here is Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Love in the Time of Cholera"

Its a real wang doozey. It takes place in a fictional country that could very well be Honduras and is, I suppose, one of the greatest love stories written in any language. Its a romance that spans eighty years. It features deadly parrots, several suicides, and man who wears a mustache protector when he sleeps. It is a throughly heartbreaking and inspiring story of LOVE, Latin-American style.

Free Bananas in the Teachers' Lounge!

One benefit of working for Dole...

How many people does it take...

We've been out and about a lot lately. We're nailing down the final details on moving into our house. Last night, we were involved in an 11 person "meeting". This meeting involved, us, the former tenant, his assistant who also used to live in the house, our landlord in Costa Rica, the acting landlord, (who happens to be the secretary to Dole's general manager), the movers that the former tenant hired, our real estate agent, our real estate agent's friend who is a painter, and the president of the largest bank in Honduras.

Basically, everybody owed everybody money -k and t owe the 1st month rent, when they pay, the landlord can reimburse the former tenant, who can then pay his movers to get the furniture out, and pay his former secretary so that she can get out of the sketchy area she is currently living in. Unfortunately, our money is still tied up in our US bank account and in US dollars. Since all these people need money to pay people now, we needed to locate the former tenant's aunt- who just happens to be the president of the largest bank in Honduras. So we all piled in the car and went to the bank after business hours. After greeting her personal bodyguard on the way in we were escorted to her office by armed guards. She graciously agreed to honor our checks and cash them for the people who needed our money. We will be opening a bank account there in the next few days.

In addition, we asked that the house get a fresh coat of paint before we move in. This of course involves several more mini-meetings. We are happy to know that our house will now receive a fresh coat of pretty pink paint. (The pictures from the previous entry show a washed out color. The house was actually painted blue just last summer, but they used cheap Mexican paint. It all washed off during rainy season, leaving a stonewashed look.) We voted for the more expensive Sherwin Williams brand this time. It will be pink and white for years!

When all was said and done, I think that everyone got what they needed. We'll get the keys to our place on Saturday, but our stuff is still trying to break out of customs. Hopefully by the middle of next week, it will be on it's way to our house!

Long entry- kind of confusing- but really, we're learning that the old "how many people does it take to screw in a lightbulb" deal is right on. To get things done here, plan on twice as much time as you would expect, and 4 times as many people!

Oh- we got a refrigerator and stove (only 2 years old) and a washer and dryer! I feel like I'm really moving up in the world! (This transaction was made between us and the former tenant. It only involved 6 people)

La Playa (The Beach)

We got some sun today at the beach. Tom put his own sunscreen on, and now he's kind of like a leopard- except he's got pink and white spots. Luckily, there's still a half can of aloe vera drink in the fridge!
Today, we went with 3 other teachers to a little restaurant/hotel on the beach about 20 minutes outside of town. It is located just beyond Sambo Creek, a small Garifuna villiage. Hotel Helen is a great little place with tables and hammocks right on the beach. We had lunch, fresh juice and 5 hours of sun all for about 5 bucks! The ocean was so warm, and when we swam, we looked back at shore to see the mountains right there.
It was perfect! We'll definitely make it a regular weekend mini-getaway!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday everyone! We're ready for a great weekend. Our maid picked and arranged these flowers while we were at school today. Que Bonito!

Lip pointing and other gestures

Here in Honduras, there are a few ways you can communicate without speaking.
While shopping at the supermarket last night, Tom was carrying his bag past the armed supermarket guard, and he said a few words to Tom. Not sure what he said, Tom asked him to clarify. The guard simply pointed his lips towards the bag. Turns out the guard just wanted to check the bag and receipt on the way out. He didn't even need to lift his hand to point (which supposedly can be considered rude). Instead, he just pointed his lips in the direction of the bag. We've heard rumors that lip pointing was prevalent here, but this was our first encounter with it. How exciting!

Another favorite communication trick is the Honduran Hand Gesture. When executed properly, one appears to be screwing in an imaginary fat lightbulb. The hand twists while the fingers are fanned down and inward. This "handy" gesture can say so many things. A person with his mouth full of a tasty baleada might use his hand to say "What are you doing?" "Where are you going?" "What do you mean?- clarify!" "What do you want?" "Why are you doing that?" and countless other phrases!


Tom is pictured here lip pointing towards a small package of rez cubes- we think this is the same thing as beef bullion. At least, that's what we decided to use it for!

La Casa Lewandowski

Mr. and Mrs. Lewandowski have just signed the lease on their new house!

La Casa Lewandowski

After a week of trying to track down the woman who is moving out so that we could look inside, we have now seen it and liked it! So, tonight we signed the papers and on September 1, we are the tenants of a 3BR 2Bath home in the Sauce Neighborhood (pronounced sow-say here!) The front of the house is currently painted a cute pink color. (seen above in flaking pink) They are re-painting in September and we get to choose the color. I vote for pink. We'll see... I just figure that this may be the only house in my lifetime that will be pink.

This is one of the smaller bedrooms.

We're working out a deal on buying the appliances from the previous tenant!

The house has many perks. There are 4 air conditioners in the house and ceiling fans throughout, so we will be able to stay cool inside. In addition, our big backyard is also home to a small shed-size building known here as the maid's quarters. Inside, there is room for a bed and dresser, there is a shower and toilet, and an air-conditioner. We don't plan on getting a live-in maid right away, but it's nice to know we have a place for her if we need it!

We've already found our guy to mow the backyard- his name is Leonardo.

In front of the house, we have a big covered terreza and 2 stalls for parking cars. Since we don't have a car down here, we'll be able to turn that entire space into a tropical outdoor living room- complete with handmade Honduran wood chairs and hammocks!

Our dog (we get to find one soon!) will have plenty of space to frolick and play. Tonight when we went to look at the house, 6 teenage boys were playing street soccer out front. Happy Honduras!