My Tegucigalpa Trip

My first stay in Tegucigalpa was in July of 1998. I had a blast there. I went to visit the family of my good friends Loli and Nena. Now I had been in honduras before and even in Tegucigalpa but it was hardly a real trip there. I ended up in Honduras accdiently. That is for a story at later date. This story is about the July trip.

I arrived at the airport on July 1st. It was a typical Honduran madhouse. The power was off and they were trying to sort the bags and instead of being able to use a conveyer they carried in the bags, one by one. Loli and Nena's mom Irma and her boyfriend Howard were waiting at the door. I had brought down two bags for Loli and so I had to fight through the mobs with my bags. It was a sight. All the sites and sounds of Tegus were flowing in.

Now Tegucigalpa is a city of like a million people. I think all of them were out on the streets that day. After my bags were loading in the car, I realized I was in a car in a foreign city with people I didn't know going who knows where! It started to all sink in. Howard turned on the car radio and we cruised through the jumbled city streets, making twists and turns that destroyed my good sense of direction. Finally we turned off the paved roads onto a dirt road with potholes big enough to hide several small cars. Down the road we went. Near the end of the road, we stopped. We had finally arrived at Mamita Irma's house!

At this point I was thinking, oh my God, what have you done this time? I was kind of scared and kind of exhilerated. I sat in a house sorrounded by a lot of people. They were treating me like an old friend and I still wasn't 100% certain that I went with the right party. In all the haste, Tulio (Loli's brother) had went to the Pulperia to buy some Coca Cola. In my travels I have found that there is but one constant in the world, that is Coca Cola. Upon sipping some Coke, I felt a little more comfortable. I still had 8 strange people asking me many questions in Spanish, a language even to this day I am not very proficient in. I figured now was the time to break out the video camera and show the tape I had made of Loli, her daughters, and Nena.

I was right, the videotape was the trick. The problem is that since the tv had no a/v inputs, I had to show it on the screen of my Sharp Viewcam. The crowd at this point had grown to a dozen people, all gathered around a tiny screen to see Loli and Nena. it was like I was the bearer of a precious gift. In a way I was. I took this opportunity to head to my assigned room and do a bit of unpacking. My bags had already been taken there so I didnt have to continue breaking my back. It didnt't take long for me to be discovered by more neighborhood kids. I had borught candies from the US so I gave some candies away and the smile on the faces was worth more than a Queen's ransom. At about this time, I was being called into the main house.

Mamita was asking me if I was hungry. Si un poquito, which in my broken spanish means yeah a little. I learned in time that that reply isn't a very good idea. Dinner was promptly made for me. Now before I came Loli and Nena had to go to extra length to assure Mamita Irma that she didn't need to make any special arrangements with me and that I loved eating Honduran food. So food was perpared. Now I am overweight so I think my portions were supposed to reflect the appetite I should have. When I visit Mexico, I tend to lose weight over my stays, but here; aint gonna happen. I was served with a heaping dish of rice, beans, some kind of beef product, and a gigantic stack of freshly made still warm corn tortillas. I thought at that point I had died and went to heaven. The food was so so so awesome.

One thing that surprised me about Honduras was the fact that it gets dark earlier. I didn't expect it to be getting dark until later, not at 5:30 in the afternoon. Another thing that affected me was the tiredness I started to feel at 7:30 at night. I don't know if it was a product of Honduras or me to this day. Well as it begans getting dark it was time to relax. I got to sleep that night surprisingly early. My body forced myself up that morning at 8am. I was not totally surprised to see everyone at work. I was quickly asked if I was hungry and while I wasn't really hungry I siad si un poquito and was promptly told breakfast was ready.

Ah my heart was won over by Honduras. It was a bright sunny morning, I was eating some dleicious chorizo, tortillas, eggs and beans and I felt a lot more comfortable. Mamita Irma asked if I wanted to take a shower and I was like, sure! I didn't know that she would get the cold water and heat it for me. I finished eating and then I went to room to gather my shower stuff and clean clothes for the day. While gathering them, mamita came to ask for my clothes to wash them. I was like, well ok.

I quickly fell into a routine there. I was also showered with gifts in order to know Honduras better. I was brought hot fresh made donuts from the family next door to give my gringo stamp of approval on. I had little craft items made for me to display to my gringo friends. I was also the subject of many photo request so that people could show a picture of their gringo friend. It was cool. I also was the one poeple who knew but one English word would come to. They would be so proud to share their English with me. I was even prouder to hear them, I felt respected. I felt like I was someone. My spanish while horrible was more than adequate to communicate all of of my feelings and expressions. It was awesome.

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