kill the fattened calf...

Okay, so I don't have pictures yet. But I will, don't you worry. I just wanted to share a recent story. Our boss, Rory, is leaving Honduras. He is going to be working for CAUSE in Canada. So he threw a going away party in the village. But this was no ordinary going away party. I want to tell you about it. There must have been over 200 people there! And at these parties, everyone has to eat. So this is what we made. 75 POUNDS of rice! That's right...75 pounds of rice and beans! Also, we made like 200 of these things that are like tamales, if you don't know what that is, I'm not sure how to explain it to you, besides to say this. They are like a gooey mush that you pour into a banana leaf. You wrap up the leaf, tie it up with string, put it in a huge pot to boil, and then it turns out to be this yummy corn-based food, that looks a little like poo but tastes awesome! We also made three huge TUBS of coleslaw, and this is the best part. You know in the Bible, the story about the prodigal son who comes home and then the father is like "let's kill the fattened calf and have a party"?? That's what we did! The day before the party, they went and bought a cow. Yes, they bought a cow. They had it tied up near the beach. At about 2pm, they killed the cow. I wasn't there, thank the Lord, but they tell me that they broke it's back, hit it on the head with an axe, and then stabbed it through the heart. Then I arrived just in time to see them skinning the poor thing...and let me tell you, I have never seen anything quite like it. The poor animal's muscles were still moving, and they were like ripping it's skin off. Then a lot more gross stuff happened, and I left, because I felt like puking! Then later that night, I went to the kitchen where they were going to cook it, and it looked exactly like a butcher's shop, you know with the huge sides of beef hanging up?! Only there's no such thing as refrigeration! Early the next morning they were at it, cutting it up, seasoning it, and cooking it over fire in these HUGE VATS...three huge vats of cow. Wow. It was definitely an experience I will NEVER forget. I am going to post pictures. But I don't have my camera right now. Tomorrow. Anyway, the party itself was unforgettable. Lots of food, music, Punta dancing (which incidentally, I'm not a big fan of...I like watching, but I can't for the life of me make my body do the same as them! My bum just doesn't wiggle like theirs do!), and then when there was almost no one left except me and my friends, they put on some dance music! It was a very fun night. Pictures to follow!

Pictures...and Stories

This is me on the beach, and the beach in Ciriboya at sunset. It is the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen. No one is ever on the beach. Rarely anyway, except for the very poor people who do not have bathrooms in their houses, and who use the beach to have baths (then go home and splash some non-salt water over them to get rid of the salt water). People think we´re strange because we like swimming in the ocean! But we don´t care. We don´t go as much as we should, but we do go on a regular basis. It is like the ultimate tourist spot, because it is not touristy! You can look out over the ocean, see the sunset, look back and see the mountains and palm trees and coconut trees, and you can´t tell that there is anyone living there, except for a couple of little canoe-like boats on the beach, which people use to go out fishing. We eat a LOT of fish here. It is like, the staple meat. No one eats much meat other than fish. Fish, and rice, and bananas (but mashed up bananas that they put in soup) and fried plantains, and coconut everything. Those are the staples. I love the food here. I love the beach. My hair is in braids! I have my very own hairdresser, her name is Jessica, and she is Rosy´s 14 year old sister. She will do my hair in braids whenever I want. Usually they last about three days...next time I´m going to see if they´ll last longer!

Pictures...and Stories

Catherine (my roommate) had a birthday on October 28. So me and my friend Rosy threw her a party! We drove all the way out to this village to buy all the food, went back to Rosy´s house to cook all the food (it took all afternoon!) and then we suprised her by coming to the CAUSE office (one of the only places in town that has electricity because we have a generator) and having a party, complete with 20 people, cool music blasting through this beaten up old stereo in the office, and drums! Garifuna people are famous for their drums, and for their dancing. It was tons of fun. I didn´t get many pictures, but this is a not very good picture of me and Rosy, sitting around the table that night. I want you to know her like I know her, she is such a unique person! I will try and post more pictures soon.

Pictures...and Stories.

Here is the picture of my finger. And here is the story. We went to the mountain, to chop things down. Like firewood. And sugar cane. I carried a huge load of firewood back home, for one and a half hours. It was the hardest thing I´ve ever done, and the woman that we went with does this EVERY SINGLE MORNING!! It gave a whole new meaning to the idea of physical labour. I wish I could post a photo of what I looked like, but I don´t have one on my camera. Then, in the afternoon, I really wanted to cut the sugar cane that she gave us that morning, you have to cut the skin off so that you can eat it. And I was sitting there, trying to peel it, and thinking to myself, ¨I´m going to cut myself, I know it¨...and then, wouldn´t you know it, about 10 seconds later, I cut myself! I wanted to take a picture of it, but my camera was out of batteries. So this is a picture of my cut, 6 DAYS after I cut myself. I don´t know, but I think I should have gotten stitches!! What do you think? The good news is that now, it is completely healed, I just have a scar.