Hilcheys in Honduras

Well, the summer is here, hot days upon us…you know what that means! Yup, cold ones! And no, I don’t mean beer. We don’t happen to live in a beer connoisseur’s country…rum, maybe, but definitely not beer! Honduras though is an interesting place to drink. There are varying views and opinions about it, and you have to know how to be balanced.

While the Bible doesn’t condemn alcohol in itself (notably Psalm 104:15 and 1 Timothy 5:23), and in fact Jesus first miracle was changing water to wine (John chapter 2), it does caution against drunkenness (Ephesians 5:18). Yet there are some churches, notably evangelicals, who look down on any alcohol consumption, and others who don’t seem to mind. Much of the drinking that does go on is in bars that feature billiards as well. (The Bible is silent on the appropriateness of playing pool…) And those places aren’t looked upon with favour by most. In fact the music-blaring establishment across the street from us is one we wouldn’t mind seeing find a new location. Once in a while things get a little out of hand over there, but so far we haven’t been directly affected. Public drunkenness is not a punishable offence here it seems, so there are various men you will see on a Sunday afternoon finding a resting place anywhere from a busy sidewalk to a palm tree in the middle of the highway, or bent over a car hood! So it’s easy to understand why some churchgoers prefer abstinence.

Nevertheless, I picked up a bottle of cheap gin the other day. It cost about $9 US. I was optimistic, but at home I discovered the reason for the low price. No worries, people drink gin and tonics for the tonic anyways, right? I know I do. And you won’t see me coming down with malaria! True story! Tonic water has quinine, an ingredient used to treat or prevent malaria! And now that I’m educating myself via Wikipedia, I see there are several potential side effects… But then again, any sort of natural substance Wikipedia is particularly biased against, rather than being objective. However, a recent Watchtower article prevents me from opining too freely on the matter...

Recently, I also tried a shandy imported from Spain. It was pretty good. And about 2 hours away, in touristy Copan Ruinas, is a German brewpub which has possibly the best beer in Honduras! Now, while alcohol certainly isn’t our focus here, it provides an interesting cultural study in a country where views can be fairly polarized. Also makes one reflect on one’s own language: perhaps in reading the title to this blog you immediately thought of alcohol. With so many kinds of drinks to choose from, why do we in English associate “drinking" with alcohol? Why are we hesitant to say “I have drunk", a perfectly correct grammatical construction, and instead stumble over a cumbersome “I have drinken…drinked…drunken…"?

(My gin and tonic ingredients. On the far right is the shandy. Notice it’s not spelled “damn" with an “N" so it’s assumably a Germanic last name. Perhaps some distant relative of Jean Claude…)

Anyways, musings aside, the week’s happenings have been good. Last week we had the visit of the circuit overseer and his wife. A very kind and loving couple from Mexico. We received a lot of encouragement from them, and hope we reciprocated it. They are here for another week, a pioneer week, to support us in our Bible studies with the deaf, and in locating more. They are staying in the same house as us, but have a separate apartment. (Aside from the main house the owners live in, there are 3 attached apartments.) We have been able to provide some meals, trying to give a bit of a Canadian twist, with Nutella on the pancakes, bacon and eggs and hash browns, and lots of smoothies. I have incurred some mocking by pronouncing “bacon" as if it were a Spanish word (which I swear is how someone said it to me…but maybe it was a setup!) which sounds like it means “large bull"! That would certainly disappoint if I were seeming to promise a lot of steak and merely handed our guests a few measly pieces of pig meat! (Sounds worse, calling it “pig meat", eh?)

We also got to try “posole" (poh-SOH-lay) which is NOT a soup, I’m told, though it has all the characteristics of it. I suppose if I were to call borsch “soup", I’d receive the same reaction. In any case, posole is a souplike concoction consisting shredded chicken meat (or pig meat) cooked in a broth, to which you individually add lettuce, oregano, lemon, hot sauce, chopped onions, and chopped radishes. Then on a large, round tortilla chip bespread with a cream-like butter, you scoop the soupy mix and eat. Quite delicious actually! But it’s not soup. Let’s just make that clear…as it was to me…haha! And it’s not “bacón", it’s “tocino". And it’s not about the gin, it’s about the tonic. And it’s about time I took some preventative medicine, so excuse me, and please pass the quinine.

(Jorge, the deaf brother on the right, recently bought a retro Westphalia van (which conveniently says “Copan" on it) so we could go visit some deaf friends a half hour away. So he and I took little Noé who quickly fell asleep on the bumpy ride. But he woke up and smacked his head for this group selfie!)

I do have to admit though, the mechanics here haven’t been all bad. I’d prefer a delay on a job well done, than a hurried huge mistake! The friend of mine looking after things has known these guys for quite some time, and assures me we’re not getting ripped off. So no worries. No pressure! I mean, once it’s all said and done, I’ll be sure to pay the bill…mañana!

Well here we are back in Canada. Hopefully for a good time, not a long time. But we will see how that turns out. I have another blog before this one I should be posting, but I want to revise it. So I figure I will catch you up, us being home and all! But that's just it: home. Where is it now? In one sense, Victoria will always be home. But really, we want to make Santa Rosa our home.

The title of this blog aptly describes our journey to Victoria. And it included a boat. Well, a ferry. We took a bus from Santa Rosa to San Pedro Sula, then from there to Puerto Cortes. In Cortes we caught a ride with one of my old students in their pickup to Tulian where we visited with Celeo, Bersa, Annie, and Yazid.

From there another pickup back to San Pedro, to the airport. Didn't get our Land Cruiser running yet, but we did borrow its battery to use in the truck we had borrowed! Thence the two planes. One to Houston, then a delayed one to Seattle. A short visit in Tacoma led up to a train ride to Vancouver, where a DHL coworker met us with a rental van, which we drove to the ferries.

I don't think I've ever used so many forms of transportation to get home before! Been home now for about two weeks. Got right down to business work-wise. That's why it's been so busy and I haven't written! Anyways, while we are here we are attending meetings with the Spanish congregation which has been a great encouragement to us! Next week we will have a part in the Theocratic Ministry School. We will be doing together the final number three talk before the new meeting format!

Anyways, hope all is well, and will keep you posted as plans take shape!

Since last post about the flora and fauna, we acquired some flora of our own. Now we have a couple palms adorning our deck, as well as a coffee plant, and a few others I can't identify. I recently snagged a baby mango tree, so we will see how that grows... We have our own seeds to plant, but we will probably wait until we return next year to plant them...don't really want them to die in our absence! We also have a ginger plant to plant, just need a planter.

It's a very interesting looking flower too! (Photo above is the ginger flower.) You would think that having a father who has been gardening for much of his life, this sort of thing would come naturally to me. It doesn't. But I admit, I do enjoy it. Reminds me of the days our family had a vegetable garden in our yard!

(The coffee plant is the one on the right in the foreground. In the pot behind it is the mango tree and another larger plant.)

A little more on flora: last Friday when we went out to an area called Potrerillos where 7 deaf live, we got to pick some fresh lemons. Victoria, a deaf woman in her 60’s who knows only very basic sign language, showed me a tree that was full of lemons. And who knew that lemon trees have spikes?! Well, I found out…and the tip of my finger stung the whole day! It’s also kinda funny how the bottom of a lemon looks like puckered up lips…the face you make when you eat one…someone has a sense of humour!

The week before we got to see the deaf brothers who live out there put their seed-sowing expertise to good use as they planted beans in amongst the corn.

Our place is slowly coming together now. We have a propane countertop stove. Not a huge fan of propane (eg. its explosive capabilities) but thousands of Hondurans daily use it with few major incidents...just that recent one in a huge market in the capital city... Propane does bring it to a boil much faster than water does though! That's nice!

Shelagh has been working online in the wee hours of the morning the last month. We had great goals of both getting up early then hitting the gym early. The closest I get to the gym is walking past it every afternoon on my way to work... There's still hope though!

Less than 2 weeks from now we will be having our Regional Convention for Honduran Sign Language in San Pedro Sula (http://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/conventions/). So arrangements have been underway for that. We started our campaign to invite the deaf here a couple Fridays back. We have been organizing transportation and accommodations as well. Hondurans typically prefer to stay in other Jehovah's Witnesses' homes rather than pay for hotels. That has proven more difficult this time around...but we're getting it sorted out! These last few weeks have been good to get our list of deaf in the area reorganized. We try to visit them all at least twice a year, but we haven't been doing that lately. Since some of them don't live very close to our city, it's more difficult to visit them. Thus they miss out on the opportunity to learn sign language (if they haven't learned it yet) and learn about the hope for the future the Bible offers. (http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/peace-on-earth-how/)

This week we are also hoping that our Land Cruiser will be repaired. We haven’t been able to use it the whole time here! While we were away, a good friend of ours was looking after it. In his care, it had engine problems. He has mostly been able to cover the costs of repairs and get the needed help to get it done. But the last thing that (hopefully) needs to be done, he wasn’t as easily able to arrange. To make a long story short though, looks like things may come together this week! It would be very opportune as we would like to visit some of the deaf who live a little farther out of town. Depending on buses isn’t always that convenient, and walking can take a long time.

Last Saturday was the one year anniversary of the tragic bus accident that happened near here. (http://www.jw.org/en/news/releases/by-region/honduras/fatal-bus-accident-20141111/) The destroyed bus still sits in the tow truck owner’s lot which is across the street from our house.

(Photo above shows the wreckage of the bus in the middle with the cemetery eerily in the background.) What has become of those who were involved, we do not know, but hope the best for them. Saturday was of course also Halloween. The next day is All Saints’ Day and the following day, November 2nd, is Day of the Dead. (Apparently the names of the days and how they correspond to which date can vary by country, but the way I list it is how I understand it is here in Honduras.) Since we live on the road that goes to the cemetery, this past Sunday and Monday saw hundreds, if not thousands, of people pass by our house. Some in overpacked truck beds, others on foot. Some carrying hoes or bamboo, presumably to attend to the graves of their deceased family members, and many with flowers. The pulperia (or “corner store" as we might call it in English) across the street from us boomed with business from the pilgrims. Other business opportunists set up “booths" to sell flowers, and other things they thought might interest the family members of the dead. Even a local store had a little tent set up down the street. The bar owner on our street apparently had some kind of refreshment stand set up farther down, perhaps in the cemetery itself. Military police stood nearby directing traffic, both on our street, and where it intersects with the highway not a few hundred feet away. Jehovah’s Witnesses too were not oblivious to the opportunity, however not with money as the end goal. We had a couple “witnessing carts" set up on Sunday: one near the entrance to the street, and one in the cemetery. They featured publications that talk about the Bible’s teachings about death. (http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/when-you-die/) Since the local congregations had not planned on setting up on Monday, and yet there were still many people passing by, Shelagh and I and another sister from our congregation, Avi, set up the cart in the late afternoon. Since Hondurans are quite religious, many did stop to take information or have a brief chat. They were still passing until about 7pm (it’s completely dark by then as the sun sets here before six!) when we called it a night. Not before Shelagh shared some “Caleb videos" with some youngsters who came to check out what we were doing. (http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/children/become-jehovahs-friend/videos/) And yes, of course, Shelagh got a few looks for other reasons…haha, I guess the young guy didn’t notice her gringo husband standing there watching as he very obviously pointed out the beautiful gringa to his friend!

So it hasn’t necessarily been an eventful week, nor exactly a boring one. We did get a good rainstorm (which helped refill our water supplies) and some spectacular lightning, but that’s not unusual this time of year. I leave you with one last picture of Santa Rosa. It’s taken from the east, looking west. On the hill on the right is the Catholic University. You can vaguely make out a cell tower on that hill as well. Directly behind that, and a little distance away is where I’m on the deck talking to the mango tree. I think he wants to trade places with the coffee plant...

Flora and Fauna

Flora: well, that one’s obvious. The word looks enough like “flower" to fool no one. “Fauna" on the other hand…unless you’re a Bambi aficionado (in which case you know he’s a boy!), you are forgiven to think is the name of a Roman goddess! Oh wait, it is…and somehow from there it means ‘animals of a particular region’… As if the name “Bambi" weren’t curious enough!

Anyways, my point with this blog is to talk about some of the animals and plants we encounter here in this part of Honduras. It should be noted that these are not necessarily daily encounters…in fact, some are pretty rare. But still, some of these birds I will talk about are native to this part of Honduras. The unfortunate thing is that they have often been hunted for food, or regarded as pests and subsequently killed. These are the noisy birds belonging to the parrot family. And they can be quite vicious actually! We recently visited a bird sanctuary called Macaw Mountain just north of Copan Ruinas, and we saw a lot of these beautiful creatures! (I like the word creature, because even evolutionists use it, but it literally refers to something that was created! Maybe they should say “evolutures"…) Anyways, one of the large bird cages houses red macaws, and you can walk right through it. The macaws leave you alone, maybe squawk at you…but the very next cage, is green macaws, who show their strength by biting apart tree branches and attacking the cage as close to you as they can! Even some of the smaller parakeets will jaw at you if you get close enough! I guess they are tired of being hunted or culled… I learned at this place that parrotlets, parakeets, parrots, and macaws all belong to the same family…except I guess Adam ran out of P-names when he got to the macaws… Interestingly, sometimes the only way to tell a male from a female parrot, is to take a DNA sample! Unfortunately, I had forgotten my pocket-sized tester, so I could only call them all “Polly"…maybe shoulda been “Pauly"…

Towards the end of the tour, they put a few macaws on your arms and shoulders to take pictures. I didn’t realize it then, but which one do they put right beside your head? The violent green one! But he (or she??) was fine and seemed more relaxed outside of a cage… For a moment I felt like a pirate..but with both eyes and legs and hands. Maybe the macaws would poke out one of their eyes necessitating the patch…who knows? I would actually say the toucans were a little scarier to be around. We saw what a macaw could do with its beak, now imagine a bird with a beak five times longer, and keenly interested in what we were doing in its cage! It’s a beautiful bird though, and I really wanted to pet it. At least have a bowl of fruit loops with it… Now that I think about it, the toucans were very into eating fruit… It was interesting to see how they turned their head to see the fruit, then blindly, and with perfect precision picked up a small piece of fruit in the end of its beak, then tossed it and caught it in the back of its throat! The toucans have an interesting way of hopping along tree branches: they start facing one direction, then hop and do a 180 and land facing the other. Back and forth like that they will go!

At this sanctuary they had other birds: hawks, owls (that blink the whole time), and some ground-running fowl that no doubt tastes like chicken… They have all kinds of plants too…they label them and give a description which is very helpful!

Picture below: having taken horses up to Haciendo San Lucas (http://www.haciendasanlucas.com/index.html) we had a panoramic view from the city of Copan Ruinas to the ruins themselves! (The ruins can’t be seen in this picture…)

More on flora: Mangos, a favourite fruit here can be very plentiful when in season. I mean, VERY plentiful! There are different varieties, and I mostly see the smaller ones around these parts, and they absolutely cover the trees! At one place where we go to study the Bible with 2 deaf siblings, they will give us bagfuls every time, because it’s too many for them to use up!

Picture below: Mango seeds sprouting below a mango tree.

But that’s not all they’ll give us. They often give us lemons. So we make lemonade. Well, we do all kinds of things with the lemons really… What’s interesting is that most “lemons" look like “limes", but the cognate word for “lime" is “lima" which is a much more different fruit than one would expect. It’s still citrus mind you, but not as flavourful. Hence, I am thoroughly confused as to which is which, but some gringos will adamantly assert that these here are limes, not lemons, but I tend to disagree with the dogmatic approach…fact is, there’s different kinds of most fruits, so just because their lemons look different, doesn’t mean they’re not lemons. Besides, who’s the idiot who named the “pineapple"? Not a Spaniard, so we shouldn’t implicitly trust our linguistic ancestors to know what’s what! On a side note, “lima" can also mean “file", a tool for sharpening, but a “file" can also be an “archivo" in Spanish, which is of course, an “archive"…

Picture below: a “limón" and a “lima".

Really, Honduras is a beautiful country. The variety of animals is not always easily seen, but it’s there, just hidden in the hills. The plants, the flowers, the trees, can range from the intriguing to the inspiring! But most curious of all, is how did I go all these years not knowing Bambi was a boy??