18MR08
Como puede ser verdad
How could it be true?
Last night I dreamt of san pedro
Just like I'd never gone, I knew the song
A young girl with eyes like the desert
It all seems like yesterday, not far away
Tropical the island breeze
All of nature wild and free
This is where I long to be
La isla bonita
And when the samba played
The sun would set so high
Ring through my ears and sting my eyes
Your spanish lullaby
I fell in love with san pedro
Warm wind carried on the sea, he called to me
Te dijo te amo
I prayed that the days would last
They went so fast
He told you, I love you
I want to be where the sun warms the sky
When it's time for siesta you can watch them go by
Beautiful faces, no cares in this world
Where a girl loves a boy, and a boy loves a girl
Last night I dreamt of san pedro
It all seems like yesterday, not far away
La la la la la la la
Te dijo te amo
La la la la la la la
El dijo que te ama
He told you, I love you
He said he loves you
We found our way to the noisy, bustling Mercado this morning. I found out that this was the San Francisco market. There must be others. People were just setting up and it was fairly quiet at 9:30 a.m. – not like when we went on the weekend. One of the meat vendors was really nice and let us watch her cut up a large piece of meat and remove the bone. They showed Ciaran and Aodhan a pig’s head and a cow’s head and some of the internal organs – like the corazón en el vaca. We walked back through the side streets and bought some delicious tasting beef on a stick with tortillas, shredded cabbage (this comes with everything whether you like it or not) and plantain fries. We walked back home through the Parque Central. We sat in the Parque for a while and watched the fountain and the people. There are a lot of people here with misshapen legs, and I quietly wonder what the comparative statistics are for Canada, and why the prevalence here seems elevated. They seem to get around quite well, and many are gainfully employed. The richer ones seem to have wheelchairs and we even saw one with a hand pedaled the wheeled bike. There was one or two begging, but mostly they seem to find a way to get around to the point that it is definitely not the first thing you notice about them. I tried my Debit card in an HBSC and it works fine, so that is quite a relief. We went home and finished our laundry.
We walked all the way to the Hotel Santa Maria. It was a little farther than I thought – I will probably take a taxi next time. It is out on the highway towards Tegucigalpa about a kilometer. We stopped at some little casas at the bottom of the ditch across the street and bought some pop & water. They are just a row of little two room shacks. One room had a bed and one had a fridge with drinks and some chips and buns and cookies hang from the ceiling. There was a whole family that lived there. The place was quite tidy, and the woman was very friendly. One of the other little casas sells tortillas and things. They have a woodstove outside with a built in metal frying surface. I took a photo outside, with the chickens, but I need to ask Rita about the customs regarding photos of people and their houses.
Hotel Santa Maria is lovely. The manicured lawn is surrounded by palm trees and tropical flowers. The pool is beautiful. The well armed guard delighted Ciaran by throwing his machete in the air and catching it! I have just ordered my pool side filet mignon, rare with salad and vegetables. This place is a little piece of paradise. It cost us 200L for the three of us to come there for the afternoon and use their pool. If I’m ever feeling lonely or sad, we will come here and I will sit by the pool and order my 130L ($7) steak dinner. Ciaran is having a hamburger for 60L and Aodhan’s hot dog is 35L. Their lemonade and my club sodas are all about 20L ($1). The lemonade just arrived – it is fresh squeezed lemon juice in club soda – how delicious!
Things I have Learned in Comayagua…
NEVER order a filet mignon (or probably any other steak) – Especially NOT RARE. It was the toughest piece of meat I ever wrestled with – somewhere between a hamburger patty that is well past it’s best before date and a piece of beef jerkey – except that beef jerky definitely tastes better. It should have come with some power tools and a nose plug. The smell took me back to the market and the disconnected cabeza en el vaca. The slimy canned mushrooms on top reminded me of the little bits of fat that slid to the table as they sawed through the eviscerated corpse. I forced down two tiny pieces and gave up. I chewed inconsolably on my sad little piece of iceberg lettuce and my soggy tomatoes and overcooked carrots. Luckily the whole meal only came to $13. The lemonade was delicious.
We took a taxi home, and it was quite easy. I simply asked the driver to go to Banqua Atlantida en boulevard and then when we were almost there, I told him to go dos quadrato, then izquierda, and then two blocks and go dos quadrad and then turn derecha.
The boys have a great friend – Amber’s dog ‘Spike’. He’s like the one in Little Rascals, I’m not sure what kind of breed that is. I asked Amber and she told me he’s a boxer. He is about 6 months old and very friendly. He likes to chase the kids and jump up on them. Ciaran & Aodhan love it! Aodhan slaps his knees to call him over and than shrieks delightedly when he jumps on him and laughs and does it again. I guess his fear of dogs is over – Spike is nearly as tall as Aodhan when he stands up. Ciaran was trying to teach him to fetch a stick.
There is a little cement house outside near the laundry with a little doorway that the kids can crawl through and a square hole in the top that the kids can climb down through. I have no idea what it is for – maybe an above ground septic tank that has never been used? I’m sure I’ll find out eventually. But the kids are having a ball with their ‘fort’.
Tonight I cooked chicken and rice, and dreamed about going to Stonegrill when I get home.
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