My host dad collected a ton of coconuts to sell over the span of a few days – green ones, yellow ones, and the brown hairy ones that we all are used to seeing. I never knew there were different types of coconuts before I came here. The green and yellow ones have soft fruit inside and the brown ones are so hard and difficult to eat! The water doesn't taste like anything to me, and neither does the meat. I'm not really sure how anyone can enjoy such a flavorless fruit, and wonder how coconut-flavored things taste more like the fruit than the fruit itself.
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| The coconuts! |
My host dad, my host uncle and I went to San Pedro Sula so he could sell the coconuts. We stopped on the outskirts of the city to sell a few of them to a guy who kind of ripped us off, but we didn't say anything because I guess my host dad just wanted to lighten the load of the truck.
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| Selling the coconuts to a street vendor |
Then we visited some relatives and wished happy birthday to one of the girls, who just turned my age! We also sat down to enjoy a delicious chicken soup made by her sister that contained green bananas, potato, cilantro, and spices. After that, my host dad and I went to the urban center of SPS, passing a waterpark along the way, and the city is amazing! Better than Tegucigalpa. The streets were wider, it appeared cleaner and more organized, and there was less pollution (maybe it depends on the day). A lot of hotels, shopping centers, and restaurants. There is also a beautiful area of the city with mansions and gates, and this tree with vines crawling on it that I could just stare at forever. I was upset I didn't have my real camera on me, just my phone camera =(.
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Doing construction on one of the houses
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It was hard to believe that this was one of the most dangerous places in the world. As I mentioned in a previous blog, Honduras is home to the highest crime and murder rate in the world (at least that's what PC told us) with 66.8 murders per 100,000 people, as compared to the U.S.'s rate of 5.4 murders and the world's 8.8. The number of homicides here has jumped significantly from 2005, where it was 2416 victims, to 5265 in 2009.
We visited one of the houses in the rich neighborhood because my host dad is good friends with one of the guys who lives there. The man is apparently the owner of one of the meat factories down here, called Carne El Corral or something. He bought several coconuts and we chatted for a bit. His daughter came out to join us and she is 20, and speaks English and is learning French and Italian and invited me to join her in her Italian classes if I'm ever in town because I expressed interest in learning Italian. I had tried to teach myself when I was in college but I got too busy eventually. I also have an open invitation to stay with them whenever I have time. Super nice, tranquilo people!
The rest of the day was uneventful, but I would definitely love to go back someday soon and do my house shopping there. Just need to find someone with a truck who’s willing to help me out! I’ll keep my fingers crossed that my host family will =)
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Host mom cutting a coconut with a machete
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| Using some of the cut off shell as a spoon! |
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| Completely unrelated, but cute - Dusty teasing Mancha |
