More Holidays, Rio Maria, and Making Tortillas

More Holidays
On Friday, after the memorial, my class arrived back at the school just in time to celebrate Day of the Americas... another made-up holiday. Definitely an awkward transition from the memorial. One student couldn't stop weeping so I let her stay in the classroom.

I was told on Wednesday that the kids needed to perform something for the celebration on Friday... nice advance notice. Since I only had one day and I had no idea what the holiday was, I chose the shortest song I know about people uniting: "It's a Small World." Yup, the Disney song, that's the one. The kids amazingly learned the songs and motions in about one hour. They were great. School was also canceled Monday to for the Holiday.

After work, we had a staff dinner for Father's Day. Honduran Father's Day was March 19 but that was during Semana Santa so it was rescheduled. The women staff all pitched in to pay for the male teachers' dinners. We had a lot of fun. The dinner being especially ironic since only one male staff is actually a father. Miss Pacheco was hilarious as usual posing for silly pictures. Then a mariachi band stopped by to serenade us with a few songs. This coming Friday our students need to learn and perform yet another song or skit to celebrate Father's Day. The week after that is Earth Day. Intermixed with all the holidays are those never-ending student birthdays involving cake, soda, ice cream, and usually a pinata. All during school hours. The party never ends here in Honduras.

Rio Maria
Saturday morning Christina and I got up at 6:00am and got ready to go check out a river, Rio Maria. We had heard it was a beautiful river with some little waterfalls and swimming holes surrounded by verdant jungle. Through a travel guide, we had rough directions on how to get to the spot. First we took a bus into downtown Tela, then a 2 hour bus to La Ceiba, and then a 30 min. bus to the Rio Maria bridge. At the La Ceiba bus depot, we looked for a bus either headed to Trujillo or Sambo Creek or something in that general direction that would pass Rio Maria.

Getting on the bus, we informed the driver we wanted to be let off at the Rio Maria bridge, since we had no idea what it looked like and there are never signs when you need them. While paying the assistant, we also asked him to let us off at the Rio Maria bridge. When we reached Sambo Creek... Christina and I both knew we had gone too far. The driver and assistant admitted they forgot about our stop and had passed it but kindly gave us back our money. Crossing the highway, we took a bus in back in the direction we had come. This time we got off right at the bridge over Rio Maria. We verified at the nearest house that this was indeed Rio Maria.At the bridge we reviewed our directions:
"As you face the river, take the dirt road on the left, which quickly becomes a trail. Continue on to where the river crosses the trail and go left up the path before crossing the river. The trail continues for 10-15 min. The first clear path, 1 ft wide, on your right leads downhill to the pools."

We followed these precisely and luckily found them to accurate. A pickup gave us a ride part way and a few young boys followed us awhile also, all confirming we were headed in the right direction. Along the hike we were surrounded by green vegetation everywhere. At a few points there were excellent views all the way to the ocean. The 1ft pathway to the pools was very steep and slippery but we made it. We emerged to find a beautiful little waterfall with a large pool below it and a smaller one above. The water was crystal clear and refreshingly cool but not icy. It was all very enchanting with huge blue and yellow butterflies curiously drifting by and large leaves gently falling off the trees like snowflakes. I even climbed up the rocks to the top of the little waterfall. It was a little slippery but I found a rough patch with more friction so I could stand. (Thanks for the inspiration Ray Remy). Climbing down the steep cliff was a bit scarier with few finger and foot holds but I was careful and made it back down safely. After a couple hours we hiked back down, bought an ice cream at Pulperia Claudia next to the bridge, and waited for the bus. For some reason the bus took forever in coming. Finally one approached but just drove right on past us. We were both baffled and frustrated as to why it didn't stop. Luckily another one came in a few minutes more. In La Ceiba we transferred to a bus for Tela, then took a taxi to our house. It was a very lovely day trip.

Two interesting sights on the bus ride back to Tela: one, a man was walking down the highway completely naked except for an unbuttoned, open shirt and a hat; two, there was a bad accident and a dead body was lying on the roadside. The body was covered with a white sheet but you could see the blood running from him or her down the road. Too much death for one weekend.

Making Tortillas
On Sunday, Marlon, a teacher from our school, invited Christina and I to learn how to make tortillas. He knew a woman, Virginia, who had happily agreed to teach us. First we went to the Tela's tiny beach front boardwalk for some lunch and drinks. There were many people at the beach so we had fun just watching everyone. Then we bought some ingredients from a local mini super and went to meet Virginia.

Virginia is so sweet and giggly... like a little school girl. To make the tortillas, we mixed 2lbs. flour, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 tbsp. baking powder. Then, while kneading it, we added water little by little. Then we kneaded it even more. Afterward we rolled the dough into little balls and rubbed a little oil coating onto each ball. We let them sit for about 10 min. Finally we patted the balls into pancake shapes and cooked them in the frying pan. They were delicious and it was all quick and simple. Try some yourself.

Our day off
Since there was no school Monday, due to Day of the Americas, Christina and I had a relaxing day at the beach. The water was turqouise and clear all the way past my feet. It was warm but not too warm and just a little rough so as not to bore you. It was perfect. On the way home I spotted the hippest goat ever. A close runner up to the coolest beatnik of all time... Maynard G. Krebs from Dobie Gillis. Like, you're a real cool cat daddy-o. I also noticed a propane tank delivery bike in front of our house... convenient yet somehow dangerous at the same time. Later that night at home, I found the cutest, tiniest gecko I have ever seen. The weather here continues to be as unpredictable as always... all weekend and Monday it was 88F, clear and sunny, while Tuesday was 72F and pouring rain the entire day. Then again, that's why it is so naturally green and lush here while in the San Diego you need to use sprinklers to pretend you're not living in a desert.