Meanwhile...

I'm Sick  =(
So it's my first bout of sickness in Honduras. Seriously, I'm very fortunate to have warded off all the bugs, germs, parasites, viruses, and general nastiness for this long. But now's my time. It's only a cold, but it still takes a toll. I'm blaming it on the 5 dirty buses I took on my 10-hour return trip Sunday.

Training
The business group had a training this last week in Valle de Angeles (outside of Teguz) about Project Design Management. The basics are this: get a good idea, get a plan, make sure it's a good one with measurable outcomes, then execute. We were asked to bring a counterpart or someone with whom we work closely from our community. Despite multiple advance notices, I received a last minute confirmation that I would be accompanied by the Plan D person - the English teacher from the high school. Which is fine because we get a long and well, she speaks English. Together we outlined the vision, goals, and objectives of our recycling project.

Vision
To create a recycling center and waste management system to make Subirana a pretty and prosperous place.

Goals
1. To generate income that will improve the Institute
   > By the end of 2012, the students will gain 50% of the necessary funds to construct one new classroom
   > Establish collection areas in 5 of the aldeas by the end of 2015.

This is still a rough draft of the plan and we will soon be talking with the principal, other teachers, and the students to further refine this project as well as incorporate their ideas to personalize and internalize it.



Travel
After this training, there was a little PC gathering not far from Teguz, so I decided to spend the weekend with some friends before heading back on Sunday. The plan was to take a bus to Talanga (1-2hrs outside of Tegus) and take a 7:30 bus north that goes straight towards my site. I've done this before, and even caught the same westbound bus to arrive in Talanga at the same time. But this is Honduras. I had missed the bus by about 5 minutes, and these aren't the kind that leave every half hour. So I jumped back on the Teguz-bound bus with my friend and took the long way around. I did catch some pretty good bus luck on the last leg of the trip as I was expecting to wait an hour for the bus to my site. Turns out it was running an hour early and I arrived right on time while it pulled into town, turned around at the end of the street and headed back. How lucky! But 10 hours is a long time, it wears you down, and those buses aren't very clean. I'm not one to usually complain about cleanliness, but something had to get me sick.

Old Habits Die Hard
There's something innately comforting about accidentally throwing a piece of toilet paper in the toilet. I know it sounds weird. The septic systems in Honduras, or anywhere in Central America for that matter, are not equipped to handle toilet paper. So if you ever visit me, or come to Central America you will find a small waste basket conveniently located next to the toilet. You know, it's almost like Honduras is ready for recycling - they separate organic and non-organic materials every day! And it's not like one piece of TP will explode the system, so please don't go digging after it. As long as it doesn't become a habit. But that's what I wanted to talk about. Absent-mindedly tossing some hygienic paper into the toilet reminds me where my habits - and my home - lie. Or every so often I will rattle something off in English to someone here in my town and expect them to understand me. Then I remind myself they don't speak English and I repeat myself, but in Spanish.

Catracho Food

That's right folks, I'm not only perfecting gringo food but learning the fine art of making tortillas by hand. Because when you have tortillas, you can make baleadas. You may recall I've attempted this before, but this time I pulled out all the stops and made the tortillas myself. And to my surprise, it wasn't a complete disaster. I'm a long way from being an expert, but the foundational skills are there. That tortilla is approaching circular-ness. After the first few, I decided to create a saran wrap tortilla press which made the remainder of my tortillas perfectly round (though still a little thick).

I don't really have a recipe for this. I used 1 lb. flour, 1 tsp baking powder, a handful (yeah, that's a specific measurement), and enough milk/water to form the dough (about 2 cups). Then you cover your hands in vegetable fat and start squeezing off little balls of dough, being sure to let them rest covered for a little while before throwing them onto a really hot skillet (no oil/grease needed since it's in the dough).

I also previously mentioned I was trying some new recipes involving yeast. Here's one of the success stories: Basic White Bread a.k.a. Delicious Bread. I got this recipe from Stella Culinary. Great with soup, as french toast, cinnamon toast, or just eating it fresh all by itself






Whiskey's Corner
Well, he's getting a little bigger and finally healing (read: growing hair) from the mites he had. Luckily my friends are gracious enough to take care of him while I'm on trips, but it's weird not seeing your puppy for an entire week when I've only had him for about a month. But he's almost 3 months old, at which point I will run down to the agribusiness store and get him vaccinated. Then we won't have to worry about all the little bugs that are trying to eat him (nice thought isn't it?). Still a puppy. Still trying to tear stuff up. Luckily I've done this before. And for any other dog owners out there - if you haven't heard of César Milan, the Dog Whisperer, you need to check him out.


"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way."



Adam & Whiskey