I arrived in Honduras without a glitch after having a surreal experience all day, like someone had put me on the Metro this morning. Like I arrived for my first day at work, and someone said-- we´ve booked a trip to Honduras for you. Like I didn´t spend the last 6 weeks waiting for this day to come.
Anyway, for me the most noteworthy event so far has been supper. I´m staying at a hostel, and the husband of the couple who runs it picked me up from the airport. I told him I´d been anticipating my first meal in Honduras. When we arrived he said at the hostel, he said he´d be glad to transport me to a nearby restaurant whenever I was ready. Being me, I said, ¨How about now?¨ (Wow, this is my first experience with a Spanish keyboard. Some things are not where I expected.) So we went to a local pub, and asked the bartender if he accepted American dollars (hadn´t gotten money changed yet :( and ordered the special "enchiladas" for 15 lempiras, $.80. What came out was a cute little tostada. It lasted for 3 bites or so. "Tengo hambre," I said. I´m hungry. An order of the Yuca, like potatoes, con todo "with everything" and a Salva Vida. It´s "la cerveza nacional" afterall. At least that´s what it said on the bottle. Of course I need to have one. And of course there was a soccer game on. Honduras vs. Guatemala being played at the Dophins stadium in Miami. And also "Give me one reason to stay here" by Tracy Chapman was playing on the radio, along with Stevie Wonder and Stevie Nicks.
The bartender asked me if I wanted anything else. Yes, a taco, por favor. "Con todo?" Si, con todo! (And everything, btw, meant finely shredded cabbage, tomatoes, cilantro, (so much for avoiding raw food)pork, chicken, hot sauce and what I think was a pork rind.
So there I was, sitting on at a bar, eating bar food, listening to American music, watching a soccer game with locals and drinking the national beer. Is this a different country? In Mt. Pleasant they at least play music with Spanish lyrics! Well, it is 80º and everyone really only speaks Spanish. Though I was too busy eating to say a whole lot.
I feel at home, and full, and tired. Now I´m posting this story and going to bed. Being me, I didn´t bring a watch or an alarm clock, so we´ll see how big a deal that is.
