Along the road

I got to ride into La Ceiba, the nearest city, several times. Here are a few of the sights along the way.
The Plancha is the only major river crossing without a bridge. It doesn't look like much here, but with a couple days of rain, it becomes too deep to cross.


The places where there are bridges aren't all that reassuring! This used to be a railroad bridge for trains bearing bananas from the local plantations. And I used to think the bridge going to Wolf Point was narrow!

A number of the locals have cattle, a brahma-like breed with big, floppy ears. Farmers milk them, but were unable to transport the milk on their own to anyplace where they may have been able to sell it and make a profit. That was until this milk cooperative was built. Now the farmers pool their resources and are able to, together, afford the costs of moo-ving it. Now they each have a little milk money to put away... okay, okay, I'll stop with the puns =)


Of a finer construction than most buildings in the area, this six-seater outhouse cracked me up (just one more, okay?). As you can see, there are only two doors. And I'm taking the picture from the car! The perplexing thing to me is that there isn't anything on the other side of the building. Why not just face the thinking rooms AWAY from the prying eyes of the traveling public? I'm sure there's a reason, I just have no idea what it could be!

Gettin' Around

This is the gate to the hospital. It is manned by a guard at all times and serves as a triage. If you follow the road up the hill along the left, you can see a corner of the hospital in the distance. If you take the road that branches off to the right, you will find a number of houses for the doctors, nurses, and other staff.


This is the hospital itself, with the main entrance to the daily clinic just off-screen to the right. The building is a large square with an open courtyard in the center. The steeple-like thing you can see is a small covering for a chapel area in the center.


If you've ever had to pound in a mile of fence posts, you know how great it would be if the fence just sprang up out of the ground by itself. Well, in Honduras, it practically does. When a branch from this tree is cut off and stuck in the ground, it immediately starts growing. It sprouts branches and sends down roots with amazing rapidity. Here you can see how the "fence post" has grown around the barbed wire! The branches can also be cut, dried, and used for firewood. Talk about a renewable resource...

Eating Out - Honduras Style

We made grand plans one night to treat ourselves to dining out at one of the local restaurants. While we may be accustomed to strolling into an eatery, casually perusing page after page of menu items, and then ordering not just our hearts' desire, but all the particulars that go with it - no onions, if you put mushrooms on it I'll die a horrible and unnatural death, etc - this is not how it works in Balfate, Honduras. The "ordering" happened several hours in advance so the cook has time to buy the food, if necessary. It is at this time that you must designate your choice du nuit: chicken or fish. (Saying it in French makes it sound better, doesn't it?)

We met up with Mike & Peggy Yost and had a grand time with fried chicken, beans, rice, and tortillas. Mike works with Josh doing maintenance work while Peggy works at the hospital. The two empty plates were set out for Samuel & Kristel, but they found food somewhere else that night. They missed out!

On the way, we stopped to pick up a car seat for Hadley. While Josh & Linz & Hadley went inside and visited (it was only supposed to take a minute - we all know how that goes!). Guildy and I finally resorted to playing with the only thing available in the dark cab of the Keychain Car: my camera. This is only one of many, but the only one appropriate for a public forum. You know how crazy toddlers can be...

Video

Okay, through a complicated process which involved two countries, three states, two power outages, my less-than-watertight memory, and one fantastic cousin, we've got a short video up on YouTube for your viewing pleasure.

http://www.youtube.com/sistroll

"Hadley's First Week" should be the video already loaded on the page, but if not, you'll see it below.

Enjoy!!

New Year's Eve

For New Year's, we slipped next-door to Iain and Liz's house for a Scottish-American-Honduran celebration. We had Banana pop, potato salad, fried plantains, and haggis. Now, I had heard of this thing called 'haggis' but had never tried it, not even when I was in Scotland. For those of you who may not be familiar with this national dish from the land o'the Scots, here is the official description from the dictionary:

Scottish dish consisting of a sheep's or calf's offal mixed with suet, oatmeal, and seasoning and boiled in a bag, traditionally one made from the animal's stomach.

Mmmmm! Finger-lickin' good! It's really not as bad as it sounds - I found it surprisingly delicious. I may even have to track some down here and enjoy it on a more regular basis. Here is our jolly host, Iain, in his red "HOT STUFF" chef's hat. The brown stuff on the plate is the haggis.


We ate and enjoyed each other's company while listening to traditional bagpipe music as well as the more contemporary sounds of The Peatbog Faeries. Samuel is Iain and Liz's biological son (center). Jayson and Ana also live with them.


A lovely time was had by all, as we rang in the New Year (at about 9pm Honduras time)!