didn't i tell you i was indecisive?

So I've been making plans and changing them, again. Jose is getting very tired of this. :)

We had to change the wedding plans. Instead of having a destination wedding in the Bay Islands here in Honduras, we are having 2 weddings: one in Honduras, and one in KY. Why are we changing the plans? It's a reallllly long story. But in the end, this is better because now ALL of our friends and family will be able to share in our special day(s). :)

The Honduras wedding is a civil ceremony only, on 11/29/08. Here in Honduras couples often have two weddings (a civil and a religious) so it's not too strange for us to do a civil wedding here. It's going to be in what I call the "hotel district" in a charming part of downtown Tegucigalpa, in the Hotel Plaza San Martin. There will be a short ceremony with the lawyer, dinner, and dancing.

The KY wedding is the religious wedding on 12/20/08 in the KY Building on WKU's campus (Jose and I met on campus 4 years ago!). Ever since I was a little girl I've been dreaming of a Christmas wedding, and now I get to have one! However, since Jose is Catholic and I am Baptist, we aren't getting married in a church. :) Being married outside of the church is going to allow us to combine our favorite traditions from both religions for our ceremony. We are also combining 2 languages with a translator. This should be a very different and very interesting wedding ceremony. :)

And remember a while back when I announced that I was working as the Coordinator for the Academia Europea? Umm, that changed too. :) To make a long story short, I didn't get the job because I decided to stay in KY a week longer than originally planned. I know it wasn't responsible, but I think it happened for a reason. Since I've been unemployed for several weeks now, I have had time to plan 2 weddings (which, trust me, is a full time job). And while planning those weddings, I came across an excellent business idea. I've decided to open a store designing/creating/selling invitations. While planning my own weddings, I realized how much I enjoy it and that I'm not that bad at creating the invitations. :) And everyone that has seen my work says the same thing. Soo, HB Designs will be opening in January when Jose and I come back from our wedding/Christmas vacation in KY.

Hopefully, these plans won't change! :)

we finally found an apartment!

It hasn't been easy. Rent here is more expensive than rent in Bowling Green, KY. I really don't know how families afford to live in safe neighborhoods here when the minimum wage is $150/month!!!

We were driving around my favorite neighborhood in the city and stumbled upon an apartment building that was still under construction. It turns out that Jose's dad knows the owner, and he was willing to give us a fantastic deal on a 2 bedroom apartment...with a view!!

It's not completely finished yet, so we have to wait a couple of weeks. But the owner is letting us paint and letting Jose's dad rearrange the very awkward layout of the kitchen.

Finally...our own place!! :)

This gringa needs a ....

pharmacist that knows more about medicine than me!!

This is the way the pharmacies here work:
You don't need a prescription for most medications here.
You get sick. You go to the pharmacy, not the doctor, and tell them what your symptoms are. (Unless it's something serious, of course, then you go to the doctor. If it's just a cold, sinus infection, etc, you go straight to the pharmacy.) They then sell you the medicine that they think you need.

For the last couple of days I've been experiencing runny nose, headache, and cough. This morning I self-diagnosed myself as having allergic rhinitis. I took some pseudophedrine, but also needed an expectorant for my annoying dry cough. I walked to the pharmacy down the street to buy some. According to Jose's parents, it's the best pharmacy in the city. I went prepared. I wrote down the name of what I wanted, the ingredients, possible brand names, and even looked up the names of the ingredients in Spanish before I went.

When I told them what I wanted, they didn't know what I was talking about. I had to walk behind the counters and pick out what I needed myself.

I also had to correct them twice:

1. At one point they told me I should be taking X medicine. I asked them if it could interact with anything else that I might be taking, and they said NO. This was just a test because I knew before asking that it CAN interact with my anxiety medicine and I shouldn't take any medicines with that particular ingredient.

2. I thought while I was there I would check on the price of my anxiety medication (before my supply runs out in a couple of weeks). I argued with the pharmacist over this as well. He wouldn't believe what I was saying about it until I asked for his "drug book," as he called it. I had to look up the medicines and show him what I was talking about.

After I corrected him the second time, he said, "Oh you are very smart, you should come work here!"

This is the second time a pharmacist in Tegucigalpa has told me this. I'm thinking about opening up a pharmacy.

embassy experience

Today I had my first experience at the US Embassy in Honduras. I had to go to get notarized paperwork so Jose and I can get married in November. First of all, I felt like a rockstar going inside. There were probably almost 100 Hondurans lined up outside waiting to get in, but I got to pass the line. All I had to do was wave my US passport and they let me in!! I think the Hondurans waiting for their visa appointments kind of resented that. :)

Once inside, I checked my cell phone (you aren't allowed to take your phone in, for some reason) and made my way to the US citizen services department. I told the woman at the window what I needed, and I was shocked at how nice she was to me! Most Hondurans don't know the meaning of customer service and act annoyed and bothered by customers. But these people in the embassy, they are polite and very helpful. :)

My only complaint was that they didn't post on their website that there is a fee for this notarized paperwork. AND they don't accept credit cards. So, I had to walk 2 blocks away to the closest ATM and get cash. When I got back to the window, I paid, waited about 15 minutes, got my paper, and I was outta there!!

Now, all we have to do is get our medical exams and we're set to get married! Hooray!

15 de septiembre

(This is an old post I never finished...whoops!)

The Honduran Independence Day is September 15. I was shocked to learn that people here don't celebrate like we celebrate July 4th in the US. No one buys sparklers and there are no cookouts. There is a parade...but no one seemed to know where it started or who/what marched in it.

So, being the little party planner that I am, I announced that we (meaning Jose and I and our friends) would be celebrating Sept 15 MY way. :) I planned a cookout at the country house in Valle de Angeles.

I planned on having a strawberry/feta salad, burgers, corn on the cob, apple pie, and a flag cake (of the Honduran flag, of course). The day before, Jose and I made a trip to the supermarket to buy our supplies. They didn't have any of the supplies that we needed. They did have hamburger meat and buns, and sweet corn. And I should I have know this was going to happen. I have been able to avoid a lot of mistakes here in Honduras so far by learning from my fellow ex-pat bloggers. They always write about how they can never find what they need here. And so far, this has been true for me. If I'm craving bagels, Pais won't be selling them that week. What I consider a good find one week (like whipped Philly cream cheese!), they will probably never sell again. So, like I said, I should have known and planned for this.

There was no feta, no raspberry vineaggrete, no pre-made frozen pie shells (and I mean, really, who knows how to make homemade pie crust??), and the biggest disappointment...no blueberries (for the flag cake). I decided to drop the salad off the "menu," attempt a homemade pie crust, and get creative with the cake. I bought regular cake mix, white frosting, and after searching for 30 minutes, found food coloring. I should mention quickly, just so you understand my frustration, that none of these things were where they "should be" in a normal grocery. The cake mix was not with the frosting. In fact, I think it was with the canned goods. The food coloring was hidden behind boxes of other things (not baking supplies!). And they did not have blue coloring. All they had were green and yellow. Me being the genius that I am, remembered that green and yellow make blue, so we bought both bottles (at 100 lempiras each...like $5 each!!!)

We took our groceries and packed up the car and headed to Valle. That night, we prepared all of the food. And I made my cake....with green icing...because yellow and green don't make blue...blue and yellow make green!

Are you laughing? It gets better. :)

The next day, our guests arrived, and we decided it was time to get the grill ready and cook the burgers up. We waited until they got there because, as you know, it only takes like 15 minutes to cook burgers on a grill. Well, not this grill! It uses wood, not charcoal. And evidently, I'm not very good at starting fires in these types of grills. We had to get the guard's wife to come and help us. She taught us to fan the flames. It turns out she cooks on a stove like this for every meal. HELLO - this is 2008. I want to buy this woman an electric stove. I mean, this is obviously why women here in rural areas don't work. They spend all day fanning the fire so they can cook 3 meals...they don't have time to work!

So we all took turns fanning the fire...for FOUR HOURS! After about 20 minutes, it would go out, and we'd have to call her back to help us again.

After suffering from burns on our hands, burning eyes from the smoke, and very tired arms, we decided to let the "men" take over. They did, after a little begging, and they got it going and cooked up all the food. They said they had more skills than us. I'm pretty sure it was so easy for them because we spent so much time getting the fire going before they got there!

In the end, the food was good. And even if it wasn't, no one noticed because we were all so hungry from waiting so long to eat! :) Haha!

tropical depression #16

These are the "official" numbers of people affected by tropical depression 16, released by the Honduran government on Friday, Oct 24.

Affected: 257,023
Evacuated: 41,215
Homeless: 53,709
in shelters: 19,505
Homes affected: 9,870
Deaths: 25
Missing: 8

227 roads and 106 bridges damaged
222,300 acres of crops destroyed

I found out last week that the Honduran government created temporary shelters in the city and through out the rest of the country. They are set up in high school gyms, etc.

When I saw in the paper how many shelters there were in the city, I wanted to help. I called my friend Mandy who works at the Casa Presidencial, and she told me I could help at the receiving center for donations at the Casa Presidencial. I spent a few hours on Friday sorting through clothes with Mandy and other volunteers. Maybe this week I'll find something a little more exciting to do. ;)

it´s raining it´s pouring...

When they told me there were really only 2 seasons here, hot season and rainy season, I wasn´t sure what that meant. Well, when they said rainy season, they literally meant it rains. All. Of. The. Time. And It doesn´t just rain a little bit. It´s raining all day, and all night. And not just light showers, but downpours! I can´t believe the house hasn´t washed away. Because this is exactly what´s happening in the rest of the country...



There are massive landslides happening everywhere. Peoples homes have been destroyed, and the roads are covered.

The parts that aren't covered with mud are under water....





This one is in my city, Tegucigalpa...



A LOT of people have been evacuated...
(picture below from Valle de Angeles, about 30 minutes outside of Tegucigalpa)


I'm curious as to where they are being evacuated to...because I know there aren't enough shelters for all of the people that have been evacuated. Hmm...I'll do some research and let you know. :)