Feliz Navidad, Prospero Año, y Felicidad.

It's been a while, huh? I hope everybody had a delightful holiday season. I heard Michigan/Indiana spent the entire two-week period completely bereft of snow. How does that happen, folks?

Here in Tegus, things were pretty chill. Paula and I stayed in town and spent two relaxing weeks with Michelle as she took a break from her graduate studies at Virginia Tech to fly to Honduras. Paula and Michelle have been friends since childhood in Allendale. Michelle and I lived in on Deloney Street in downtown Grand Rapids last year. Over vacation, we spent both Christmas and New Year's Eve in Valle de Angeles, visiting Manu and Paula's friends and family.

Honduran Nochebuena ("good night" or Christmas Eve) traditions dictate that one travels from house to house all night, being fed along the way at each stop. Many tamales (veggies and meat stuffed inside a soft corn-based shell) and torrejas (a type of soggy french toast drenched in cinnamon syrup) were consumed by us gringas.  New Years Eve boasts much the same, but with the added effect of cuetes (firecrackers) and the act of burning the "viejo."  Each barrio in Valle burns their own version of the el viejo (old man), a homemade scarecrow-like figure filled with cuetes. The burning of the viejo represents the passing away of the old year and a hope for the year to come.

Please enjoy the following pictures:

A candid shot of a horse and his dog caught in their extra-species relationship.

Sweet stray dog.

























Big ole lemon.


 Apparently, we weren't allowed in. Psh!

We climbed up this water tower.

Rumor is, the pipes from this supply of water run all the way to Tegus.

Paula climbing like a pro. 

Michelle (near the ground) showed that ladder who's boss. When it came time for me to climb down, I got scared, lost myself and teared up a bit. People laughed and took pictures, but at least I have the memories.

The water in the stream appeared orange. Unfortunately, my dreams of suddenly finding myself in an ultra-sleek SciFi novel were not realized.

Once again, we saw the mysterious Quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala. At one point, there were two in the trees in front of Ana's house at once! This time, I took a better picture (for the previous image, see Chatos, Tucanes, y Guayabas). 

The poinsettias in Ana's garden.

More flowers. 

Stopped by to say "hi" to Gab.














Our hike ended in a waterfall.

 Gorgeous stairs.


























Another water reservoir. In the summer, the people of Valle block the openings in the dam (not seen, but to the right of the picture) and swim in this pool.

After Michelle left last Thursday (sad!), Paula headed back to Valle and I spent three blissful days at Jean and Jairo's house (which feels a lot like home). Jean and Jairo form quite the dynamic married duo; they both work at IST, they enjoy The Office, they allow me to love their labradoodle, Jacko (pic soon!), and they don't mind me hanging around their house for days on end. Plus, Jairo and Jean take me with them to visit Jairo's family where we enjoy incredible Honduran food (Surprise! the existence of another Honduran supermom!) and American movies dubbed in Spanish on TV.

What great friends I've made in Honduras!

Coming soon:
- An update with the Big Birds.
- My thoughts on teaching Romeo and Juliet in Honduras.
- The announcement of my grand return to my homeland.

Oh, and I took a little video of the waterfall. It's not all that exciting, but I thought the water fall was beautiful. Plus, it wasn't like in the States where one pays to walk on a paved sidewalk to the falls. In Valle, the waterfall felt like mine: no interference, no cement, no railings.