Intestines for Lunch

Happy Spring. I grew up in the days when March 21 was officially the first day of Spring. Somewhere along the way, that got changed to March 20. Not sure what all the details for that change were but, nevertheless, I trust that the waxing sun is making for brighter, if not warmer, days.

Translation phrases. Yesterday Manuel started talking about a mutual acquaintance of ours, Mariano. Manuel said that he was a “Sweet Father”. As the conversation continued, I queried about the phrase. He said that it was from an American book he had read. I realized he meant “Sugar Daddy”. Same thing really.

Yesterday was spent in a rather frustrating search for documentation and authorization stuff. In an earlier project, we had endeavoured to buy some land to resettle ten peasant families giving them a new home and land to support themselves. Well, the employee who was charged with this figured out that he could buy the land in his own name and, possibly, walk away with it. Needless to say, we disagreed with that perspective. So, we are in the throes of gaining control of things again. Yesterday we went with two gentlemen who have offered to help us to two different offices. One was in El Progresso, a short hour away and the other in San Pedro Sula, a further hour away. The upshot of the whole deal was: a. You need to go to Tegucigulpa and it only takes a year. b. The man isn’t in. Come back at 8:00 a.m. on Monday. I asked Manuel why we couldn’t have done all this by phone and he was a wee bit puzzled at the concept of doing it all by phone. Sigh. He is right. The only one wondering about the whole procedure was me.

On Tuesday, Manuel and I went to look at a piece of property. Once the education project gets the funding it needs, I would like to get some property to begin some of the agriculture projects we have been considering. I don’t want to start them until it is on land we own. Marcos, a local land agent, took us the twenty minutes to the land. It was a lovely piece of land but to see it we hiked for over two hours up and down and around. We certainly have a good idea of the boundaries though. Unbeknownst to us, there was a small fly or something that was busy munching away. Unlike the black fly which just gets on with it and you know right away that you have been bitten, this no seeum type bug left its calling card about 24 hours later. Both Manuel and I have scores of little welts on our legs to remember the hike by. Obviously people who live in the area develop immunity because I have not seen anyone with the measle like scenario that I sport.

Yesterday, for lunch, we went to a restaurant that was featuring, as its Soup of the Day, Mudongo soup. That is a soup which takes two days to cook. Day one is to cut up the meat portion and give it a good boil. Day two adds the coconut milk and the vegetables for a final boil. The vegetables include plantains and another type of banana along with a squash type vegetable which remains somewhat crunchy even after cooking. The meat portion consists of pieces of stomach, intestine and diaphragm. Thanks to my butchering experience I was able to identify each portion easily. Because it is cooked so well, it is, actually, quite tender (I have had occasions in Africa where chewy was the operative word). As well, with the spices and coconut milk, it is very tasty. It is served with rice and tortillas. Lovely. I doubt I will persuade my family to give it a try.

Ardythe and Alyssa arrive tomorrow for a two week visit. Hopefully their luggage will survive the trip unscathed and unmolested. Post 9/11 baggage checks leave one uncertain what will be left opened for the next leg of the trip. It has made things so much easier for thieves in the destination countries because they know that luggage is no longer locked and is, often, partially open. So much easier to reach in a grasp a part of the contents.

We made a stew for lunch this week that featured mangoes, curry and cinnamon along with some meat and other vegetables. Everyone was pleasantly surprised and seconds were the order of the day.

Talk to you later.
Bryan