Monday morning we were informed that the meeting we had hoped to attend on Thursday was, in fact, in Tegucigalpa on Tuesday morning at 11:00 a.m. The Mayor was planning to meet us in Tegucigalpa for the meeting. Well, change of plans all around.
I sent Jessica to the bank to change the last of my U.S. Dollars. We were running out of Lempiras and so I dipped into my emergency funds one last time. Transferring money from Canada is a several day affair and fraught with difficulties at times. The latest transfer is being sent to my new account in Santa Cruz. If it works, then five hour trips to do banking will be a thing of the past. Fingers crossed please everyone.
Having lunch each day is almost a sacred institution. Each day I have to remember how important it is and, finally, I am learning to think ahead enough to get it organized for everyone. Monday we had spaghetti with a ham and vegetable sauce. No one had had spaghetti that way so it was greeted with a wee bit of nervousness but, after surviving the first few bites, it went down with approval. As per my custom, I put in a healthy dose of hot pepper sauce so it had a little bit to it. Nothing major mind you but something to put interest into it.
Once all the office work was coordinated, Manuel and I headed to San Pedro Sula to rent a car and drive to Comayagua so that we would be in good time for the meeting Tuesday. Fortunately, traffic was light and we were in Comayagua by 7:30 p.m. – one and a half hours earlier than I had thought.
We found a nice barbecue type place that served lovely food at a good price. Seeing as we had second class Chinese food last time we were in that city, this was heavenly. They even served a type of deep fried taco with bean sauce, cream and cheese dip as an appetizer. We definitely moved up a class there.
Finding the meeting place was a real challenge. Thank heavens for cell phones. Despite that advantage we eventually got into site of the major building that the office was supposedly “just in front of”. After giving up driving to the office we found a mall and began walking. Only a couple of dead ends and we saw the Mayor standing on the corner waiting for us. He too had spent an hour trying to find the place.
The meeting was a bit strange and not all that comforting. We are to hand in some more paper work and then will see what happens. Talking with the Principal’s office today leaves us a bit happier but still not sure how things will turn out. Very frustrating.
The drive back was fairly easy. Construction and road repairs made for some long line ups at times but a good portion of the way was clear and we only had to contend with slopes and corners. We were back in San Pedro by 4:30 p.m. We returned the car and I headed to the Terminal to catch my bus home.
At the terminal, I was greeted by the every exciting “Divine Women” bus driver. I climbed aboard and was promptly asleep. Twenty minutes later, someone else joined me in my seat so I awoke and we pulled out. It was a different bus with a different driver. My “D.W.” driver was just along to get back to Santa Cruz. It was just as well he wasn’t driving. The different bus was as barren of icons as an Alberta evangelical church after a week of revival meetings. We had none of that extra protection needed to handle the “D.W.” driver. Not having to drive left the “D.W.” driver free to chat up the young women getting on at various maquila stops. Wow, if I had his ability ... well ... then again ... with my luck I would already be dead from AIDS.
Today we had a solar cooked meal. We have a couple of Solar Hot Pots promoted by SHE Inc. and made in Mexico. We had a rice, vegetable and sausage stew/pilau that turned out nicely in less than three hours of cooking time. The girls were a bit disappointed that it wasn’t ready at exactly noon but bore up well under the strain of an extra forty-five minutes cooking time.
The painter, who is painting something for me for a Christmas present, brought his finished product for approval and payment. Delightfully done. It has just the right mixture of originality, careful work and rustic quality that I had hoped for. A very pleasant outcome and one I had been quite concerned about. Everyone in the office was impressed as well. Now to pack it and get it back to Canada without breakage.
Three warm days in a row. +30 or more in the afternoons. It is still cool at night and I needed a sheet and a light blanket last night. It is easy to handle a few hours of heat if you have a cool night to relax in.
Leuceana seeds are sprouting already – three days. Moringa are now about four inches high. Stevia seedlings at Santo’s place are into the third and fourth pair of leaves. We stopped at Santo’s en route to Tegucigalpa to check if the seedlings were indeed Stevia. He could recognize everything else growing but wasn’t sure what Stevia looked like. I wasn’t a great deal of help but checked out the pictures on the internet today and Stevia it is.
A man was selling bundles of firewood today by the road to my house. One bundle of sticks 2 feet long and about 1 foot in diameter was selling for over $3.00. I suspect that one bundle would only last 2-3 days at most. That is a huge expense for people. Lots of opportunities for land holders to plant firewood as an income source. Don’t get me started on that. You have already read enough.
Bryan
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