My Culinary Adventures: Pineapple Fried Rice (Minus the Shrimp!)

I think I've outdone myself!  After I made this dish I was so giddily happy that it was difficult for me to go to sleep.  The rice tastes amazing (in my opinion) and the ginger and cilantro really give it that oomph.  I can't wait to cook it for other people.

The other day I was craving fried rice, and I had bought snow peas from the grocery store the other week and needed to use them up!  Some were already going bad.  I wanted to try a new recipe because I knew how to make basic fried rice with Chinese sausage, and I liked to eat that with the Sriracha hot sauce.  Seeing as how I don't have either of those with me here (I'm hoping my family will send me the Sriracha in a package!), I wanted something different that I could do with what I could get here.  I was also reading the other day about 100 ways to cook an egg (thank you Gestre) and one style caught my eye, so I decided to incorporate that into the fried rice recipe.

Egg, semi-tamagoyaki style

Recipe
Adapted from caper berry

Ingredients
Depends on the amount of fried rice
2 eggs
1/2 tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
Oil for the pan

1. Beat all ingredients together but not too foamy.
2. Heat a small non-stick pan over low heat.
3. Dab paper towel into oil and wipe the bottom of the pan.
4. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of egg mixture into the pan and spread it around in a circle.
5. Cook until the bottom of the egg is dry and the top is still somewhat runny.
6. Lift and roll the egg with fork or chopsticks to one side of the pan.
7. Wipe the pan again with the oily paper towel.
8. Pour the same amount of egg mixture into the pan and spread around, lifting the rolled egg to make sure the new egg mix gets under.
9. Cook until it's ready to roll, and roll it to the other side of the pan.
10. Repeat until mixture is finished.
11. You may increase the heat when completed to slightly brown the egg on its sides.
12. Let cool, then slice.

Majority of the ingredients set out

Recipe
I don't have exact amounts for you because I really just used my best judgment and winged it.  Sorry!

Ingredients
Broccoli, broken into florets and stem pieces
Carrots, chopped
Snow peas, can break them into half or thirds depending on the length, making sure to snap the ends off and discard them too

Vegetable oil

Garlic, minced

Onions, diced

2 cups day-old rice (or 2 or 3 days old)

Less-sodium soy sauce

Sugar

Salt

Butter (optional - to give it that restaurant-style look and taste)
Pineapple chunks
Ginger root, minced
Egg, tamagoyaki style
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Fresh cilantro for garnish (optional)

1. Boil 1-inch of water in a pot, then add the broccoli, carrots, and snow peas and cover pot with lid.  Lower heat to medium and steam vegetables only for a couple minutes.  You don't want them too tender because they will cook more with the rice.
2. In a big skillet or wok, heat 2 tbs oil on medium-high heat. 
3. Add the garlic and onions and continuously stir until onions are translucent. 
4. Mix in the broccoli, carrots and snow peas.
5. Stir in the rice until it is warmed up. 
6. Pour in the soy sauce, sugar, and salt and continuously stir the entire time so that nothing burns.
7. Toss with butter if it looks too dry. 
8. Add pineapple, ginger, egg and cilantro and stir until finished and everything is warm. 
9. Garnish with cilantro! 
10. (The burnt rice off the pan is good too ^_^)

Things I may do different next time:  Add some teriyaki sauce to see how that affects the flavor, and also use fresh pineapple instead of the frozen chunks I had from one I cut up a while ago..

My Culinary Adventures: Vegan Banana Cookies ♥

During one of my Spanish classes while still in training, the other class was making these cookies in the kitchen of the family's house we were using.  As soon as they were made, they were eaten up like crazy!  I am pretty sure the recipe is Caitlin's but I'm not sure if she has a blog to link you guys to =/.  I've made these probably 3 times already, for each of my host families.

Recipe - Yields about 22 Cookies


Ingredients
Dry Mix:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Cinnamon to taste

Wet Mix:
2 mashed bananas
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. In one mixing bowl, combine all dry mix ingredients together.
3. In another bowl, mix sugar and bananas together until gooey.
4. Add the vanilla and oil to the wet mix and combine again.
5. Make a well in the center of the dry mix and slowly add the wet mix to it, stirring to get all the dry mix covered.
6. Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheet and pop into the oven.  Keep an eye on the cookies while they're baking because the time varies for some reason.  It may be because I'm working with a toaster oven in degrees Celsius.  It usually takes about 15-20 minutes for me.

~♥ in love cookie ♥~ 

)=Broken-hearted cookie =(

I gifted the cookies to my landlady and her family, my host family, and my friend and his wife

My Culinary Adventures: Poached Egg with Tomato and Fresh Basil on Toast

The other day I was looking at cooking websites to learn the basics, and "poaching" as a subject came up.  That's when I realized I don't think I have ever poached an egg.  Eggs are plentiful around here since there are always chickens and hens running around laying eggs, and well, the stores sell them too of course :)  I thought about maybe having a hen of my own but I think she would be bored and I'd need a rooster so she could have babies but that would mean enduring the crowing of all hours of the day and night and I really, really love my sleep.  Anyway, I also wanted to make use of the basil I have growing in my solar, or backyard area so I decided to try something fun for lunch.  Only thing missing is the mozzarella, but I could have gone out and bought some quesillo, which the cheese here which most closely relates to mozzarella.

Recipe


Ingredients
1 Egg
1 Slice whole wheat bread

1 Tomato, sliced
Few fresh leaves of basil

1. In a small pot, heat about 3 inches of water and some vinegar (vinegar helps the outer layer of the egg congeal faster) to the point where you can see bubbles on the bottom of the pot, but they are not rising to the top and breaking.
2. Crack the egg into a small cup.
3. Lower the cup into the water in the pot and tip it to very gently let the egg slide out.
4. Push the strands of egg that float away back towards the egg.
5. Poach egg for about 4-5 minutes depending on your preference for doneness (is that a word?).
6. The white part should be firm.  Remove the egg with a slotted spoon and let it drain on paper towels
7. Toast the bread.
8. Layer the egg first on the toast, then a slice of tomato, then the leaves of basil and add whatever else you'd like to it, salt and pepper, hot sauce, whatever :).  Alone is kind of bland.

Side note - the article I read about poaching eggs has a picture at the top of poached chicken and it reminded me with a nostalgic pang of Hainan Chicken, which I would love to attempt here but I don't think I have the means to.  We'll see!

My Culinary Adventures: Great Way to Wake Up!

I am a HUGE cereal person.  In the states I would mix my cereals together, toss on some flax seeds (which I just learned last week you are supposed to grind for them to have any real nutritional value -_________-), and add some sliced strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and/or banana.  It was quite the production.  I'd even eat yogurt with cereal mixed in.  Unfortunately for me, the only cereal that they sell here in my site is Corn Flakes, or some sugary cereals, but most commonly throughout Honduras is Corn Flakes.  I am very close to being sick of it, so I took advantage of that huge grocery store and bought some things that would help liven up my morning bowl of sunshine.

Additions: Just enough Honey Bunches of Oats to blend with the flavor of the Corn Flakes, fiber, banana, and raisins!  Mmm Mmm Mmm good!

My Culinary Adventures: Banana Pancakes à la Jack Johnson

I first tried making banana pancakes using the pancake recipe from my second host mom and those didn't turn out too great.  The flavor was off somehow.  So I went to my trusted favorite recipe website, Allrecipes.com and searched there.  Lo and behold, I found a great recipe!  Although, I had to double the dry ingredients to make the pancakes thicker.  I really don't know what is going on with my dishes.  They still weren't fluffy but one of my neighbors is a big fan of the pancakes and I thought they tasted good, so they work for me!  I added vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves to the mix too, and sifted the dry ingredients as well.

Recipe
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cinnamon, ground cloves, and nutmeg to taste

1. Combine flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, vegetable oil and bananas.
2. Sift flour mixture into banana mixture; batter will be slightly lumpy.
3. Heat a non-stick griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides; serve hot. 

I like to eat them with either honey and peanut butter, or maple syrup and peanut butter >_<

My Culinary Adventures: Ants on a... Boat?

I am 5 years old <(^_^)>  I stole the granny smith apple from where we had our meeting.  They had a lot of really yummy snacks there, including red, yellow and green apples, bananas, Oreos, healthy wheat and whole grain bread, peanut butter, jam... mmmmmmmmm <3 And of course we put the peanut butter on everything, true American style ;).

Recipe
Self-explanatory methinks? =]

My Culinary Adventures: Curried Cumin Potatoes

Recipe:
Adapted from Allrecipes.com (I pretty much copied the Directions)

Ingredients:
1 lb potatoes, cut into 1/4 inch thick pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1. Place whole potatoes into a saucepan with water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until just tender. Drain, and cut potatoes into quarters. Set aside to keep warm.
2. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Sauté the cumin, turmeric, and curry powder for 1 minute. Add potatoes, and sauté until toasted. Toss potatoes with sea salt, pepper and fresh cilantro, and serve hot.

My Culinary Adventures: Steamed Broccoli & Carrots with Balsamic Vinegar/Soy Sauce

I was so happy to be able to buy balsamic vinegar at the large grocery store in the city we had our annual meeting a couple weeks ago.  I can use it in so many dishes ^_^.

Recipe
Extremely adapted from Steamy Kitchen
Obviously I didn't use asparagus.  Didn't use an oven either.

Ingredients
1/2 head broccoli, broken into florets and stem pieces
1 carrot, chopped
2 tablespoon butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

1. Boil 1-inch of water in a pot, then add the broccoli and carrots and cover pot with lid.  Lower heat to medium and steam vegetables until tender.  Drain when done.
2. Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat; cook 3 minutes or until lightly browned, shaking pan occasionally. 
3. Add garlic to pan and cook until done.
4. Remove from heat; stir in soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. Drizzle over broccoli and carrots, tossing well to coat.  Add salt and pepper to taste and toss again.

My Culinary Adventures: Crêpes with Apple-Cinnamon Filling & Topping

Who doesn't love crêpes?  They can be filled with almost anything and served for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and even dessert!  Back in elementary school when I lived in Jordan, my best friend at the time and I would eat the crêpes her mother made for us and they were incredibly delicious.  We liked to smear butter over it and watch it melt, then sprinkle sugar and squeeze lemon juice on top, then roll it up and eat it!  Here is a variation :)

Recipe
Crêpes: Recipe from Allrecipes.com
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. 
2. Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. 
3. Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.
4. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. 
5. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. 
6. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
7. Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. 
8. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot.

Apple-Cinnamon Filling Ingredients:
1 Apple finely chopped
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp powdered sugar
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg

1. Fry all ingredients together until apple pieces are soft.
2. To thicken the sauce, add corn starch, or if you don't have corn starch, you can substitute flour/water.

My Culinary Adventures: Coconut Curry Vegetables

I was extremely pleased to find that coconut milk is readily available in my site, and suddenly had the craving for curry one day.  I made a huge mistake with this recipe though and have definitely learned my lesson.  Tomato paste is NOT the same as tomato sauce.  As I added in the coconut milk, the curry started to smell delicious and I couldn't wait to try it!  But then I added in the whole bag of tomato paste thinking I could substitute tomato sauce for that, and then I watched as my wonderful coconut milk-smelling curry changed from a lovely yellowish color to a deep orange-red and smelled strongly of tomato =(.  It still tasted okay, but next time I am definitely diluting the paste with water and adding only what is necessary.  It was also too soupy.  Whoops!

Recipe
Adapted from Allrecipes.com
Obviously don't do what I did with the tomato paste.  I didn't include paste in the recipe below, don't worry =].

Ingredients
1 tsp each salt and pepper
1 1/2 tbs vegetable oil
2 tbs curry powder
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
1 can (14.5 oz) stewed, diced tomatoes (I had to stew my own tomatoes, recipe is below)
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
3 tbs sugar
1 head broccoli, broken into florets and stem pieces

2-3 carrots, chopped

2 potatoes, cut into small chunks

1. Heat salt, pepper, oil, and curry powder in a large skillet over medium-high heat for two minutes. 
2. Stir in onions and garlic, and cook 1 minute more.
3. Pour coconut milk, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and sugar into the pan, and stir to combine. 
4. Add broccoli, carrots, and potatoes. 
5. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally approximately 30 to 40 minutes.

What I would do different: Less sauce and more veggies!  Must figure that out though..

Stewed Tomatoes Recipe

Recipe from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

Tomatoes

Salt

1. To peel the tomatoes, place them in boiling water for 1 minute and then immediately transfer to cold water. 
2. Peel and quarter tomatoes, and place in a large saucepan with the salt. 
3. Slowly simmer over low heat for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.

My Culinary Adventures: Honduran Food

Living with host families for our three months of training really took a toll on our bodies, since Hondurans loooove to use manteca, or lard.  And salt and sugar.  But not together.  There is also manteca vegetal which is something like vegetable shortening.  I have never eaten as much fried chicken in my life as I have here, or plates where everything on it is fried!  I don't even like fried chicken (and when I eat it, I definitely take off the skin), but we pretty much had to eat what was given to us and try out the different types of food.  I am just extremely grateful that nobody has given me sopa de mondongo yet, because I don't think I could even bring myself to eat that.  It's a soup of beef tripe that some people serve every Sunday.  Other volunteers have had to eat it, and other things that I wouldn't be able to even look at.. like seafood.  I have a seafood phobia.  I only eat fish, and it has to be grilled or baked, not fried, not raw.  I'm still trying to figure out what happened to me because when I was little I ate everything, shrimp, crab, lobster, beef tongue, chicken liver, etc, but since elementary school everything changed.  Maybe I'm blocking a memory?  Hmmm....

Back to the topic.  Honduran food.  Yes, it's greasy, yes it's clogging your arteries, and yes you may get diabetes and high blood pressure problems one day from the obscene amounts of sugar and salt, but MAN, it is SO GOOD!  In moderation of course ^_^  I have learned to cook a couple Honduran staple foods here, and still have more to cook, such as pupusas, baleadas, and taquitos de pollo, but I've got time.  Here's what I've made so far:

Refried Beans and Fried Green Bananas with Garlic

Recipe for Frijoles Fritos y Tajadas


Ingredients
Manteca Vegetal
1 Package Red Beans (Frijoles Rojos)
1-2 Green Bananas
Minced garlic

1. Melt manteca vegetal in small saucepan over low heat, add the beans from the package and mix well.
2. Rub a bit of manteca on hands before handling the green bananas so that the resin doesn't stick to them.
3. With a knife, cut along the banana peel on the curved-out side, from bottom to up, wiggling the knife left and right to widen the cut.
4. Put banana in a bowl of water and peel under the water.
5. Slice banana diagonally
6. In a frying pan, heat up manteca vegetal on medium-high heat.  Add banana slices and fry until they are as crisp as you want them to be.  Should be like french fries.  
7. When done, turn the heat down to low and cook the minced garlic, then mix the garlic with the bananas.

Fried Plantain, Refried Beans and Onions, and Mantequilla

Recipe for Plátano Frito, Frijoles Fritos con Cebollas, y Mantequilla


Ingredients:

Manteca vegetal
1/2 Onion
1 Bag Refried Red Beans
1-2 Ripe Plantains
1 Bag Sula brand Mantequilla (or whatever type of mantequilla you like)

1. Fry onions in frying pan until translucent, same manner as frying the garlic in recipe above
2. Cook beans in same manner as recipe above, then add onions and stir well, keep on low heat.
3. Peel plantains and slice diagonally, trying to keep the length long
4. Heat manteca vegetal in a frying pan on medium-high heat.
5. Add plantain slices and cook until browned on both sides.  Slices should be soft and flexible when finished.
6. Arrange plantains, beans on plate and add the mantequilla to your liking!

Cemita with Coffee

My Culinary Adventures: Domino Potatoes with Steamed Broccoli

This is the very first dish I made.  It turned out delicious, except for the butter taste on the potatoes.  The way butter is sold here is in sticks, but they are not refrigerated and don't need refrigeration.  I'm not sure if it was the brand or that specific type of butter, but it gave the potatoes a different taste.  Next time, I'm sticking to the good stuff.  My recipes are not going to have the exact measurements because most of the time I played by ear.  Just trust your own judgment and do a bunch of taste tests and it should be fine :)

Recipe
Potato Dominoes: Recipe adapted from Steamy Kitchen

Steamed Broccoli
Ingredients
1 Head Broccoli
Olive Oil or Vegetable Oil
Minced Garlic
Lemon Juice
Sliced Almonds

1. Break broccoli into large bite-sized florets, and cut and peel the stem
2. Rinse broccoli well with whatever you use to rinse veggies.  For me it'd be that Chlorox/water mix then rinsed with drinking water.
3. In a pot, bring an inch of water to a boil.
4. Add the broccoli to the pot and cover with lid.
5. Reduce heat to medium and cook until broccoli is crisp-tender.
6. Drain water from broccoli and return to pot.
7. In a frying pan, heat a little bit of olive oil (or whatever oil you have) and add minced garlic, lemon juice, and sliced almonds.  Cook until you think it's done..
8. Add to broccoli and mix well

My Culinary Adventures: The Beginning

I had always thought I loved cooking and baking, and swore to myself that as soon as I got my own place and my own kitchen, I would be doing those things a lot more.  Nobody really believed me and said that if I loved it that much, I’d be doing it no matter what.  Doesn’t matter if the kitchen is cluttered with other people’s stuff, doesn’t matter if other people are living there, I’d find a way and I’d be comfortable.  But I wasn’t, so I waited.  The Peace Corps has given me my very first opportunity of living completely alone, and I have definitely been making great use of the kitchen.  Buying kitchen appliances is always my priority when I go shopping, and I will even travel nearly 2 hours out of site to buy the ingredients I need.

Here are just a few simple things that I’ve made, with more blog posts to follow about other food (which I promise are more interesting and they all have recipes as well!).

It is really a pain to deal with fruits and vegetables here because we have to rinse with a Chlorox and water solution for at least 20 or 30 minutes according to our health manual, but I kind of completely skip that and just do it for a few minutes.  I still haven't gotten sick.  It does make cooking take a bit longer than it should though because I scrub and clean very well with that solution, then rinse with drinking water. Also, since I have limited space and limited kitchen appliances (2-burner portable stove and a toaster oven rather than a full-range stove/oven), it sometimes takes me a couple hours to cook something where it should really only take an hour or less.  Or maybe I'm just slow, who knows :)  I do get distracted easily....!

Smoothie made of broccoli and carrot juice (leftover from steaming veggies), apples, bananas, and water.  It was super delicious!

Banana, apple, orange, oatmeal, Corn Flakes (they put that stuff in smoothies here so I figured I'd give it a try), honey, milk, water and ice

Fruit salad: watermelon, canteloupe, apple, oranges, pineapple, and bananas

Rambutan, most often confused for lychee.  They are completely different.  Lychee are not hairy on the outside.

Burnt omelette! Haha. Tomatoes, onions, green onions, salt and pepper

Salad

Catching Up On 2 Months

Ahhh sorry for the lack of updates!  I’ve caught a case of teh laziness, especially after moving into my house.  I have close to 2 months to update on!  Where oh where do I start…. Alrighty then - October 15^th was Global Handwashing Day, or Dia Mundial de Lavado de Manos.  My site-mate Brent and I visited several elementary schools with people from an organization called Agua Para La Gente, and were put in charge of selecting the three best drawings done by the students, based on what they showed about water and being clean.  One of the larger schools had a singing contest as well and we helped choose the winner of that.  There was one kid who seemed really shy and messed up a bit but he was soooo adorable.  The winning students received new backpacks filled with a bottle of Johnson & Johnson soap. 

That weekend was the despedida, or goodbye party for Andrea, my former site-mate.  She extended her service in another site but wanted to say goodbye to all her friends.  It was a private party at the club here in town.  It’s actually a pretty nice venue, and I got to know the owner who is super nice and gave me a couple free drinks J.  He’s dug out space and is going to put a pool in too.  I’ve heard on event nights at the club, it’s packed with people and has laser lights and everything.  I still have yet to go to one, but one day for sure.

El Club - usually full on an event night

A couple days after that I headed to San Pedro Sula again with my host family and got a lot of shopping done.  We walked amongst the street vendors and headed to a Ropa Americana store so my host mom could buy 2 fardos of clothing to sell from her house.  Down here, Ropa Americana is like second-hand clothing sent over from the states and sold here for super cheap.   I’ve already bought some clothes, like excellent quality reversible Nike shorts for less than $2, a nice Aeropostale polo for about the same price.. and other shorts and shirts.  Fardos are like huge plastic bags packed full of Ropa Americana, and sorted out by category.  There are clothes for adults, for children, and then there are bed sheets, shoes, and probably some other home goods like drapes and towels.  I also picked up a connector cable for my computer to external CD drive for about a dollar.   Later they took me to Diunsa and Lady Lee, two of the biggest home stores in the area.  It was like being in the states again!  Of course though, that meant things were also a bit expensive and I had to really look around and price-compare to find the deals.  Bought a couple starter items for the house and then we headed back home, along the way puncturing one of the truck tires so had to fix that.. then ran into some old friends of my host dad.  These were young guys, all probably in their 20s and one of them was extremely malcreado and unfortunately for me, he lives in my site.  I’m glad I haven’t run into him so much though.

The fardos

My host mom's set up for the clothes

Sometime in there I visited the Hammock Bridge with Brent and his brother, who was visiting from the states.  It’s this rickety-looking bridge that several people cross daily to get to work from the other mountain.  It looked incredible.

One day President Lobo landed his helicopter in the soccer field right next to my host family’s house and was giving a talk in the park and handing out bonuses to single mothers who in return had to send their children to school and put them in health and nutrition programs.

The following weekend I went back to San Pedro to hang out with my friend Daniel who works a couple hours away.  It was insanely refreshing to see a familiar face.   Before heading to SPS, we stopped by this small community on the very border of El Progreso, where the people live in small shacks made of wooden boards and metal sheets.  It was astonishing to see the stark differences between that community when right across the street was El Progreso, which is I believe the fifth largest city in Honduras.  Just earlier this year or last year that area was flooded.  The leaders of the community have already found another location to move these people out of hazard’s way, so will begin that process soon hopefully. 

We had lunch at Subway at the food court and walked around inside a couple malls, which made me extremely nostalgic but it was a great time.  Watched Resident Evil 4 on IMAX 3D.  It was my first time seeing a Resident Evil movie and I admit, I don’t think I will ever see another one again.  We went bowling afterward while wearing Santa hats and for the rest of my week my arm was killing me!  It had been a while since I bowled and I could just feel that ball getting heavier and heavier >_<.  Went back shopping at Lady Lee and found out that they deliver!  That totally made my day because it meant my stuff wouldn’t have been stuck in the pouring rain we encountered.

Helped my host mom make a mural, or presentation board (?) for World Vision, the organization she works for.  That was actually pretty fun even though it was a lot of tedious work and measurements I had to do.  It displayed the 5 projects that Vision Mundial does, and had some extra space which they later filled with the Vision Mundial logo as I suggested.  It was looking a bit sparse.

Oh, the most important thing I almost left out!   I finally moved into my own house on Nov. 11^th!   It’s my first time living completely on my own so that was exciting.  It really was a real piece of work to clean up though.  2 PCVs previously lived here before I did so it made sense to move in, and it’s a wonderful house.. now that it’s clean and fixed >_<.  I had a cockroach infestation in the kitchen so had to spray RAID everywhere and after doing that, I swept up all the dead roaches and roach cases (inside each case were spots for about 20 eggs… GROSS!) and there were probably 100 at least that I could see.  They escaped from the RAID through the cabinet cracks and scattered about the kitchen floor before flopping over and dying.  It was quite a site.  I also have a termite infestation in my room, kitchen and bathroom, as well as bats that come in during the day and leave at night, but they don’t bother me since they stay in the space between the metal roof and the false ceiling.  Also have your common ant and geckos and some spiders but those don’t bother me too much.  I spoke to the landlady a few weeks back after discovering all the problems with the house and she’s been great in having people come and fix things!  They’ve already painted the entire inside and outside walls, so now the house is one color instead of white, blue, and a hideous shade of yellow in the bathroom.  They also cemented my pila, which is this big concrete open water storage tank that I use to wash my clothes in, because the water was leaking out on the sides.  My sink was leveled with cement and it looks great now.. they may even put tile on it.  My toilet was fixed so the tube would stop leaking and so it would flush properly, my shower can drain water now, and my kitchen cabinets all have handles and the doors aren’t broken and everything was varnished again.. if that’s a word.  I even helped with that :).  They did fumigate the house but not very well.  Only put poison in some places.  That didn’t get rid of the termites, but I think made it worse…. So I said it’d be better if they fumigated with gas so that it reaches everywhere and I think they’re going to do that.  There are a couple other things that were fixed too but in all… I absolutely love this house!  I feel so lucky to live here and I know some other people have it a bit worse off and are probably experiencing “real” Peace Corps, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Honestly I probably wouldn’t be able to survive in some of the living conditions they are in, so good for them!!!  They’re tough people =]. 

I went back to Yorito one day to say goodbye to my friend Janet, who’s service was coming to a close and she was leaving that weekend.  She gave away a lot of her stuff and I ended up taking 10 large items back with me on the bus to my house, including a toaster oven, 2 huge potted plants, 3 bar stools, a suitcase, my backpack, a collapsible chair, and a large basket that was also carrying stuff inside.  That was pretty insane traveling alone but my host family came to help me pick everything up at the bus stop and take it back to my house.

I quickly stocked up my kitchen and have been cooking a lot for myself, and it’s been a lot of fun.  I am really into cooking and baking and now that I’ve got my own kitchen I feel like I have more freedom to do so.  Hmm.. oh yeah, I also have some plants in the backyard from Janet – coffee, basil, oregano, lemongrass, ginger, and cherry tomato, but I think almost all of them are dying except the coffee and basil =(.  Can’t wait to make some awesome pesto sauce!

Cabildo Abierto in La Majada

As for work – still slow, but I went to two cabildo abiertos, or town hall meetings up in the mountains near my site.  Those were fun.. they were held outside both times, and my mayor counterpart spoke about issues facing these areas and what the priorities were while at the same time representatives from different groups and communities had their opportunity to speak as well.  

Cabildo Abierto in San Jose

In San Jose, a new Catastro office will be opening this month so that people can go there to pay taxes instead of going all the way down to the center of town to pay.  I’m working on creating brochures for the offices to raise public awareness about their taxes, the fines and interest they accrue if not paid on time, and the deadlines for paying, in addition to some other transparency things.  Most of the people don’t have any idea about any of this so are unknowingly accumulating a massive amount of debt to pay to the muni.  On another note, in February I’ll start giving computer and English classes to students.  I still have to meet with my School Director counterpart to discuss specifics, but it’s definitely a plan. 

I’ve had the chance to go visit a balneario, or swimming area near site that’s really only accessible by vehicle unless you want to walk a super long way.  There were about 4 different pools of different depths, and even one that looked like a lap pool!  I wish it was a lot closer because I would definitely be swimming some laps there. 

We had our annual E-Zone meeting too and that was fun.  All the PCVs from the North Coast stayed at a hotel and some of us were able to arrive a day before the meeting, and all of us could leave the day after.  I watched “Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows” my first night there and it was AMAZING!  …except for the weird semi-naked scene and a couple other awkward parts.  Can’t wait for the next movie to come out =].  Mostly we hung out at the Applebee’s bar, and for some reason, Applebee’s is considered a super nice restaurant here.  People propose and even get married there.  What the heck!  But anyway, we had our meeting.. then that night some of us headed to a lame bar which was empty.. so we left and went to this nice club that had some other people in it and played awesome music (ie, American club music).  There was a Honduran guy who worked at the hotel we stayed at as a translator (I think?) and we danced and the whole time he was hitting on me and saying that if he kissed me he’d fall in love to which I said NO THANK YOU, but then he replied that one day he’ll be my boyfriend and I’m like, keep dreaming!!  Not all Honduran men are that way of course, but for the most part from what I’ve experienced and my friends have experienced… most of them seem to be =/.  I suppose that in some people’s eyes, it could be a very flattering thing to have men always fawning over you and complimenting and it can be hard to resist if you’re not used to it or if you like the attention.  Just have to be careful I guess.