Electricity On – Game Night

The second leg of the semi-finals in the Honduran soccer league is on tonight. Real España, the team from San Pedro which I nominally cheer for is down by a goal to their arch rivals, Marathon. They are definitely the underdogs tonight. We will be having supper at the Happy Restaurant so that we can watch the game and enjoy the spectators who will be there watching both semi-final games. It promises to be noisy and lots of fun. I will break down and don my team jersey, more for the fun of everyone’s comments than true blue loyalty.

We have spent the day going from one town official’s office to another’s. Fortunately, all but one were in so we had the good schmooze visits that we needed and are ready move on with the project details. The next big step is getting the students registered and school underway. That should be done by the end of next week ... we hope. Tomorrow we will go into San Pedro Sula and order some more computers. We can get a new computer with monitor and so forth for $320.00. So, that will allow students to work quickly with the files that we have. By the end of six months we hope to have a number of used and refurbished computers from Canada to set out in the villages with small groups of students there. Then things can really get moving.

Last night I went to music group practice with the musicians from the Catholic church. They are getting ready for the Christmas Eve service and are taking their practice very seriously. We started at 6:40 (read 6:00 sharp) and ended at 10:00. Only one of the musicians can read music so all the parts were learned by rote. The musical memory that these folks have is incredible. They are able to remember their lines and make adjustments and corrections without having a paper in front of them. Amazing. We started out with Adeste Fidelis so no new words for me to have to learn ... phew. This group practices three nights a week so make a huge commitment of time and effort to provide a service to their community. It was great to sing and contribute a little.

When I asked the girls in the office how to get to the school where the practice was held, they were in agreement that it was just “down there”. Well, I started off, address in hand, down the hill towards the area that might properly fit the description. Fortunately for me, after a few blocks I spotted a member of the music group as he passed under a streetlight and was able to follow him for awhile. I lost him at a corner but, by that time, had come close enough to the school that some boys were able to show me where to go. At the school, I found out that the practice was, in fact, across the road from the school. The guard kindly let me cross the school yard and came along to open the gate for me to exit. He pointed out the right house for me to look into and I was set. I spotted an electric piano so waited at the gate until two more members showed up and we could breast the pack of dogs together. The dogs, once they realized that this new guy was part of the pack so to speak put their heads back down on their paws and went into evening rest mode. That way they will be prepared for barking throughout the night.

The Post Office for Santa Cruz is in a small lean-to attached to a private residence. Julia told me the general area where it was located and I found it without any trouble. Unfortunately, the hours include an hour’s break for lunch. I arrived at 12:05. They people of the house (the Postal employees) happily chatted to me about postal costs and so forth but made no move to open the office so I could buy some stamps. Oh well, as that is the only place, I think, to mail the letters I will have to go back again. Obviously writing letters to post is as high on people’s priority lists as it is on my daughter’s.

Friday night I went to visit a friend who has shown some interest in bees. When I arrived she left momentarily and then came back with a tray of Rambutan fruit. This fruit looks like a small red hedgehog with soft, spindly spines. You pop off the cover to find a very delicious white fruit around a white seed. We went through a large number of the fruits as we talked. About twenty-five minutes into the conversation four men appeared. Evidently, her birthday had been some time ago (isn’t it always for ladies?) and these men had promised to come and sing for her. They were making up their promise that evening. One man had a homemade mandolin with eight strings. The other had a steel stringed guitar. These two sat down and began singing local folk songs. The other two took turns joining with the harmony line. Well, this was call for people to come and hang about the porch and listen and chat. Soon my friend was off to get some coke and water for the singers. When she left, one of the four reached into the guitar case and came up with a large bottle of local hooch. A large swig for each of them and they were ready to roll even before the coke came along. The party grew as more people came to listen and enjoy the songs (evidently full of lots of humour ... my occasional catching of phrases like “cold, black river” not particularly helpful). Eventually baleadas appeared and everyone wolfed those down before continuing. I left at the two hour mark as it sounded suspiciously like the same songs were reappearing and the quality of music was deteriorating rather markedly. Nevertheless, what a wonderful evening.

My two wheeled cart is made and the paint is drying. It will likely need some modification so as to steer more easily. However, it looks great and should handle the heavy beehives without any problem. That will be great to get them settled and in a place where everyone in the community will be happy. We hope to do that Friday night although Manuel says that the forecast calls for eighty hours of rain. So far, the weather is working hard to manage that.

Oh yes, yesterday afternoon I was interviewed on CBC Radioactive in Edmonton. I was nervous all day hoping that I would do the project proud. Fortunately, the phone connection was good, there were no loud trucks hammering up and down the road and the questions were nicely put. A number of people heard the interview so I know it wasn’t a phone prank. Hopefully this will garner some more support for our efforts here.

Our Canadian organization’s head is down for a few days. He brought with him some filters for a local group that is making pineapple vinegar and pineapple wine. They are to try them out this week. This should allow them to multiply their production exponentially. Instead of doing five to ten litres overnight, they can do several hundred in an hour. Currently they use unglazed ceramic pots as their final filtration medium. Any particles quickly fill the pores of the pots and slow the process down enormously. These new filters are made from some type of fibre that allows them to be washed and reused. I am excited about seeing them in use. It would even be more exciting if it works.

Well ... time to see if the internet is up and running so I can post this and then head off to the game. Viva España.

TTYL
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