Peeps

I'm not happy about the monopoly that Mas X Menos has going on with the Easter candy. I paid $1.50 for FOUR peeps today! And I don't mean 4 packages. I mean I paid $1.50 for 4 pieces of delicious, yellow sugar-coated, marshmellow heaven.

Normally, I wouldn't splurge on something like that. But, when I saw them I had to have them. Blame it on the pregnancy. (Ha, who am I kidding? I'm always craving candy...pregnant or not!)

When I go back to the states after Easter, I'll be sure to buy ALL of the Peeps at half off.

Yummm.

Our Marero Gardener

I promised you some entertaining stories a really long time ago, soooo....

A few months ago we were greeted on a Sunday afternoon by a strange guy in front of our house. He was carrying a machete.


He explained that he was a gardener and did work for some of our neighbors, and would we be interested in hiring him to help out? Well, it just so happened that the grass/weeds were taking over our backyard. It was so tall that even Charles was scared to walk through it. So we invited him in to take a look. He suggested a price, we haggled, and we had a deal. He said he would be back the following Saturday to start the work.

The next Saturday he showed up (which was a surprise!) and he did a great job cleaning up the yard.

He showed up the next 2 Saturdays like he was asked....even on time!

The 3rd Saturday, he came again. It hadn't been raining, and the grass hadn't grown at all. There was no work for him to do. Also, more importantly, I was home alone because Jose was out of town. I asked him to come back the next Saturday instead. He got upset, understandably, because he had been counting on the day's work and pay. I gave him all I had in my wallet, which was a lot less than half of what I owed him for one day. I told him to consider it an advance for the next week, when I would deduct it from his regular pay.

Now, you've probably already guessed.... he didn't show up the next Saturday, right?

Right!

I didn't mind it, because I was only out $2.

The next Saturday? He didn't show up then either.

But the next Thursday (Thanksgiving!)....

I came home from work and there was a strange man in front of my house. When I saw the machete, I realized it was the gardener. He had been beaten up so badly that I didn't recognize who it was.

So I got out of the car. Stupid! And I asked him what he was doing there, on a Thursday. When I'm home alone! He explained that someone had robbed him and beaten him up. Hmm. Ok, that could be true, but why risk it?! He asked if I had any work for him. I explained that since he hadn't shown up the Saturday before, we had already hired someone else and that we would no longer need his services. Which wasn't true, but....

You see, I had decided from the second that I saw his swollen face that I did not want him in my house or anywhere near it. Around here, being beaten up that badly screams GANG (mara in Spanish). Now, it doesn't necessarily mean he is IN a gang, but that one had beaten him up. And who wants an employee in their house that is either a gang member (marero) or has upset one badly enough to beat the living daylights out of him!?!

So you can imagine my fear when instead of just walking away, he got upset.

"But I don't have any money and now I have to pay the doctor bill and you were supposed to pay me to work in your yard!"

"Umm, you were also supposed to show up on Saturdays, but you didn't come, so I hired someone else. I'm sorry for what happened to you, but I can't rehire you now that I have someone else," I explained.

"Well, you HAVE TO give me some money then!" he demanded.

Eeeeek. "Gerardo, I don't even have 1 lempira in my purse. I don't have anything to give you."

"But I have to pay for my x-rays at the hospital!" He was getting more angry.

"Like I said, I have no money. I'm sorry. Now, I think it's best if you leave," I said, eyeing his machete.

"I NEED SOME MONEY!" he yelled.

I glanced at the front door. Even if I made it there before him, he could try to push in after me and it would be worse than what could happen outside where the neighbors could see, I thought. I prepped my car key in between my fingers in case I needed it as a weapon. You know, to fight off his machete. !?!

Then, thank God, my phone rang. It was my husband.

"Oh thank goodness you called," I said in a completely normal voice so Gerardo wouldn't know what was up. "The gardener is here, and he's really pissed off, and he's demanding money, and I don't know what to do," I said in a cheerful voice.

And then, Gerardo did something totally unexpected, and turned around to leave.

I waited until he was near the gate, and rushed inside and locked the door. *sigh* Safe at last!

About 45 minutes later, the doorbell rang. Eeeeeek! He's back!! Probably with his marero friends!

But it was the neighbor, letting me know that the muchacho golpeado (beaten up guy) had just stolen the spare tire off of the other neighbor's truck, AND a gas tank from the other neighbor's house.

I don't know how he made out of the neighborhood carrying both things on foot. (I mean, why do we even pay the guards at the tranca?!) But, the guards were given clear instructions to never let him back in, and we haven't seen him since.

And if you think that was as bad as the day could get, you're wrong! Later that day my wallet was lost/stolen and I met a lovely scam artist. Stay tuned for that entertaining story...

You've Got Mail!

I LOVE getting real mail here in Honduras. It's just such a rare occasion to receive something in the real mail! In fact, we don't even know our own mailing address. (How do we receive our bills, you ask? We don't. Sometimes the ticket for the electricity/water is stuck under the door of the house. Other times, it's not. Then you have to pay it online via your bank, or go to the bank to pay it. With cable/internet and cell phones, we don't get a bill...we just have to know when they're due!) So when friends ask me how to send me cards and packages from the US, I have to give them my in-laws address.

Now that I think of it, I have never seen a mail carrier or a mail truck....I have no idea where the post office is located or how to send a package/letter via snail mail. Hmmm, maybe this is something I should investigate!

So anyway, I love getting mail. And I was so excited when I saw TWO letters in my hubby's hands when he came from a visit at my in-laws house the other day.

Letter one was just a bank statement from the US. I LOVE my bank in the US...can you believe they send my statements all the way down here??

Letter two was a Christmas card from my friend Amy. She sent the card from Tennessee on December 10 and it arrived in Honduras on December 28. The envelope was torn on the back...but the card inside was fine!

Thanks Amy! And to the rest of you....send me more letters!! ;)

Surprise!

We're gonna have a baby!!

I posted this on Facebook yesterday and got lots of questions, so I'm going to try to answer them all here in one post...

-I am 7.5 weeks, and due on September 4, 2010.

-I am feeling good, just very tired. The nausea isn't too bad (I hope it stays that way!), and is worse at night than any other time.

-I love my OB! It took me weeks of calling every day to try to get in to see him because he is one of the best (ok, I think he's THE best!). His office is one of the nicest doctor's offices I've ever been in, and I was very impressed by the technology, etc that he uses. So all you people in the US - don't worry...I'm in good hands over here!

-We weren't exactly trying, but we weren't trying not to either. We figured it was going to happen sooner or later. :)

-The plan is to have the baby in Kentucky. I will hopefully be going at the end of March/beginning of April for a week to do some paperwork and meet with an OB, etc. Then I will be going back in August to have the baby.

-We do not have any names picked out yet.

Thank you all for your lovely comments and well wishes. We are so excited!!!

updates....finally

Our lives have been so crazy lately! I think when you read my updates, you'll understand why...

Since August, I have changed jobs 3 times...

First, I started at one school working as the Bilingual Academic Coordinator. The owner was nutty, she felt that God had sent her to earth to save Satan's children. Yes, her exact words. And, it was a really horrible neighborhood. The first day of school, there was a series of 5 or 6 gunshots right outside the school, and no one even flinched. "Umm, didn't anyone else hear that?" I asked. "Yes, but it happens all the time, we're used to it," they replied. Ok, thanks, but no thanks....

I decided from the first school that I really enjoyed the work, so I went to interview for a position at another bilingual school, in a safer neighborhood. I ended up being hired as a 3rd grade teacher. There were 2 sections that I shared with another teacher, so I only taught language, reading, and health in 3rd grade. I LOVED LOVED LOVED it. And I didn't want to leave, but.... I got an amazing opportunity to go work at one of the private universities. So I will start teaching English full time at the university starting in January.

This whole time, I've still been running my stationery business from my house instead of the store. The storefront is still there, but it's more of a showroom, and it's by appointment only. I've done several weddings and a lot of social stationery. I participated in a couple of local Christmas bazaars where I got so many orders that I was completely booked for 3-4 weeks and couldn't accept any other orders.

Charles is doing okay, but pobrecito, he has suffered from several Honduran ailments the last couple of months. First, he got amoebas, which, according to the vet, he most likely contracted from licking water off of the concrete patio in the backyard. That was a 10 day regimen of pills and a bland diet. Then, he was infested with these teeny tiny ticks. I still haven't figured out where they came from, because we don't have rats/mice (they would be getting into the trash outside and there's no evidence of that) and no other dogs have access to the yard. The only thing that I can think of is the birds....does anyone know if they carry ticks? When I say infested, I mean I was pulling 20-30 ticks off of him everyday. And we were using Frontline regularly, so I don't know what happened with that. A few days later, the house was infested. Yuckkkk. We had to use foggers in the house and spray all of the nooks/crannies with this bug spray. That took care of them in the house, and we treated the yard with these granules that you spread around. So after about 2 weeks, we finally had the tick problem under control. Then, just last week, he got this mysterious skin condition that looks to be like some type of mite (mange?). His ears are all scaly and crusty on the inside and on the tips, and he's got the same thing on his "armpits." I tried taking him to the vet last week, but I guess they were closed since they didn't answer all week. Jose is going to take him this week, since I can't because...

I'm in the US! We spent Christmas eve together in Tegucigalpa with Jose's family, and then on the 25th I flew to KY to surprise my grandparents for their 50th wedding anniversary. I'm staying until the first week in January.

Okay, I'm sure you're dying for more ;) ... so stayed tuned for stories such as...

The Stolen Wallet and Crazy Scam Artist

Our Marero (gang member) Gardener

and

Immigration Problems (aka, almost not being able to leave Honduras)

12 days of giving

Christmas is a time of giving and sharing. In the US I usually pick a name from the Angel Tree each Christmas. But here....?? And this is a country with such poverty that I had no idea where to start...

So I'm snagging an idea from Heidi over at Sacred and Profane....

I'm modifying it a little since I'm getting a late start (can you believe there are only 4 days until Christmas?!) and I'm going to do 12 ACTS of giving instead of 12 DAYS.

And I think you should do it too! If 12 acts is too much in 4 days, do 10, or 5, or even 1!

For those of you that live in the US or elsewhere, check out Heidi's blog at the link above for some ideas of what you can do. For those of you that live in Honduras, here are some ideas ...

-Collect all the coins in the house/car and put them in one of those buckets in the check out line at the supermarket
-Give the guard at your office or neighborhood a small gift
-Christmastime adds a lot of extra work on our maids since we are having more people over and cooking more. Give yours an unexpected afternoon off to do whatever she wants
-Pay for the coffee of the person in line behind you in the drive thru at Espresso Americano
-Let the kids at the gas station/intersection wash your windshield (even though it makes it more dirty!)
-Stop to let someone cut in front of you when they are trying to turn at a busy intersection, etc instead of speeding up so they can't get through (like we all normally do)
-Keep several sandwiches/apples/bags of water/cups of noodles in your car and give them to the kids that beg at the intersections, instead of giving them a few lps that their mother is probably going to take anyway
-Give an extra tip at a restaurant instead of only what's already included in the check

Do you have any other ideas?? It's usually just the little things that make a big difference here.... Once, at the gas station, I bought some gum from a little girl going car to car. She commented on how pretty my lip gloss was, so I put a dab of it on her finger to use. She was smiling ear to ear and went on and on about how pretty she looked in my side mirror. The bombero almost cried, haha. It cost me nothing, but made her day (and mine)! So you see! It's the little things. :)

Now you go try, and then come back and leave me a comment telling me about it!

The Little Country that Could...in jewelry!

Yeah yeah yeah, I know, I've sort of abandoned you. But I promise there are exciting updates coming soon.

As you wait in giddy anticipation for my life updates, feast your eyes on this...

It's a custom creation designed by my friend Mandy...a bracelet depicting the story of the Honduran political crisis that, thank the Lord, is basically over. Que creative, right!?

It's handmade with silver and precious stones. You can order them via her Facebook page, or you can email me and I'll put you in touch with her.

Delivery time is approximately 2 weeks after ordering, and costs L. 1,700 (about $90).

This is the story behind the jewelry...

There once was a president (Mel's cowboy hat) that violated the constitution and national institutions. He tried to remain in power via the fourth ballot box (4 colored stones). He was so disrespectful that he said that neither the Virgin of Suyapa nor God could stop his plan (Virgin of Suyapa charm). And then, by the national institutions (Congress, MP, CS) and based on Article 239 of the Honduran Constitution, he was sent abroad (airplane charm). Together, all the Honduran people, government, and armed forces (doll charms) fought 5 months (5 pearls) to defend its sovereignty (Honduran flag charm). And on election day, the sovereign people spoke as never before by voting among the five political parties (5 colored stones, each color depicting each party). They selected the candidate of their choice, recovering and achieving peace for their country (dove charm).

Que bella! It brings tears to my eyes. I've GOT to have one! :)