On Monday I was dropped off at school (I'm think I may get in trouble for putting it this way but maybe it's worth it for comic effect..?) after three weeks travelling in which I probably should have written already. Its not that I've forgotten anything! At least I don't think so... But, because there is now probably too much for one post, all the most interesting details are lost in a bit of a blur and finally, because of a variety of boring technical difficulties; I shouldn´t get too ambitious... Still, having spent an afternoon as I start to write this, cooking Nacatamales (A kind of pork and vegetable dumpling) at one of the teacher’s houses I feel ready. We'll see how we do but I'll also post a quick itinerary which will be homework for next time for the extra keen. So... Exciting no? And on the positive side what I don't manage now will be fodder for next time. Not that the next few weeks might not deserve their own post or posts but I admit that me sitting around and programming in Tegucigalpa and occasionally pestering Nick via skype (and the story of me learning spanish now...) may be less *objectively* exciting...
Arriving in Honduras, into the glorious San Pedro Sula at night on the third of May Alex made sure I dove straight in, immediately taking me to get a Baleada. Baleadas are kind of a big deal in Honduras and almost everywhere at almost any time (within Honduran reason) you can get one hot - a tortilla wrapping up cheese, egg, beans, cream and (if you want it) much more. And starting here I have rapidly learnt that Central American cuisine outside of Mexico, is nothing if not a meditation on a theme. Though as soon as you cross a border all you’re met with is blank stares on requesting one (to Alex's extreme dismay) you are never far from these ingredients. Despite this, and rather amazingly there are real national rivalries about who invented or who makes the best of some of these dishes consisting solely of rice and beans. And despite this, I loved it. As I type this, I've just finished another one of these studies I carbohydrates. It´s all being rather basic but currently I am actually pretty damn happy with the food...
From here to Tegucigalpa the next morning and two nights there of decompressing, planning and meeting Alex´s housemates we were roughly ready to go. Off we set then for the north coast, with vague dreams of palm trees, grilled fish and snorkeling and though perhaps not all at once by the end of our first week of travelling in Honduras, we had managed to achieve all three. We started in Tela, near the beach and a sea that is perhaps not quite gorgeous enough to swim in but almost. Still we had the taste - a couple of nights there and a day at a botanic garden (complete with dammed river for swimming). Next on to La Ceiba – a party town apparently but we think we were a couple of weeks early for the party sadly. Still, We busily planned however and the next day found ourselves in a bright yellow jeep on our way up Rio Cangrejal, a beatiful river valley bordering a national park. In most of the world (well some) a canopy tour consists of earnest explanations of jungle flora and fauna but here after about 10 minutes of this it all fell apart somewhat, ending up in furious ziplining between trees, rocks and over gorges for the next hour. The day, the night and the next morning consisting of a short burst of this and then a long burst of lazing by natural rock pools and jumping into rivers, I slowly turned an amazing English red - quite like a rose really. And so, fully prepared with this in hand, and maybe against our initial judgement (but as of the imagined trip we had really only managed palm trees so far) we set off the next day for Utila.
After what might be called a rough ferry ride we arrived and were met completely by accident by Angela – the daughter of Alex´s previous landlady and friend Alex and the whole Tegucigalpa group. She immediately offered us a bed in her house that promptly turned out to be hers. And so despite initial attempts to polite our way out, we spent the next few days being amazed by hospitality. Borrowed bikes and snorkeling gear, meals and hammocks and finally we got our fish both living and dead (as in to eat... I´m not a great writer really). We had a plan though and after a bit longer than we really intended, towards the end of our first week we set of for Guatemala. Livingstone by sundown? Find out next time I think.
So, there we go. I feel like I broke the seal at least. Central America is great, but it´s obviously a little troubled - a history of civil war, bloodthirsty banana companies, poverty. inequality and drugs tends to do that. So though people are generally really friendly, you know that in certain places there is a not so fun undercurrent of anger and resentment from people who too many times have been denied quite a lot: Any kind of government you could call fair and maybe for more that just a few of the people, any left wing government that doesn´t end up rather embarrasing itself, and not being meddled with a great deal. But for now I´ll probably leave it at that because I´ve only just arrived and there´s a great deal more to learn.
The course I´m currently doing is great - 200 pounds for two weeks. Four hours of one to one spanish a day and afternoon ´activities´... A host family a bed and food. So hopefully by the end I´ll get somewhere and maybe have some greater insights... Anything could happen! But probably one of these things...
Will try and write again soon, Hasta luego!
Jacob
p.s. Oh, that itinerary! Next was Guatemala ' Puerto Barrio (I´m giving something away here), Livingstone, Rio Dulce, Flores (for Tikal) and Semuc Chempey. Back to Honduras - Omoa and a night in Tegus. Then Nicaragua - Leon, Granada, Omotepe and finally Esteli...
A few pictures, though Alex has all the good Honduras ones...
Esteli cooking:
Two more for now. More when I have a better connection...
