My host mom mentioned to me briefly last year when I was still living with her that growing up, she had never had a piñata for any of her birthdays. I made note of this and as her birthday was rolling around the corner this year, asked her niece if she could make one in secret for her. She gladly did, and gave it to me practically for free! I bought the candy, we filled it up, and it was ready to go. My host mom invited my site-mate, his girlfriend, and I over for dinner since we both lived with her when we first moved to site (at different times), and we enjoyed a meal of fried rice and banana soda (which I've actually acquired a taste for, but would never go out of my way to buy it). After dinner we sat in the living room and talked for a bit, before I ran over to her niece's house to bring in the piñata. It was a pleasant surprise and we all enjoyed beating the crap out of it.
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| Me, host mom, site-mate |
That weekend was also Carnaval (Carnival) in La Ceiba, the largest event in all of Central America. I planned on meeting a couple friends there and we had spots in a hotel that had 12 beds crammed into 1 stuffy room. The other beds were taken by other PCVs, a volunteer for another organization, and two backpackers from Australia and England who turned out to be really cool and hung out with us most of the time. The first day was pretty chill; we watched a group of Garifunas play and sing punta music on the beach,
then later at night walked the carnavalito on one of the streets. It was like a normal fair with a lot of vendors, live music and dancing, carnival games with prizes, food, and jam-packed with people. I also bought my first pair of earrings in Honduras there! One of our group went up on stage to dance while everyone cheered the Gringo on as he provocatively danced with one of the Garifuna dancers.
After the long street fair, we headed to the nightclub Hibou, the best one in town. It really was amazing inside, with a smooth white floor and colored lights, smoke, platforms, fully-stocked bar, upstairs terrace, and great music. The next day was the parade on one of the main roads. It was unnecessarily looooong. The first part consisted of people riding gigantic horses and they just kept coming, and coming, and coming.... and coming. Then motorcycles followed, the loud noise scaring some of the horses. After those I believe was a car show, floats, marching band, fighting groups, and not sure what else. Oh yeah, there was this guy:
That night we headed to the night carnival which was a lot sketchier than the previous one, so I didn't stay very long. Everyone later met up at El Pacha, another nightclub in Ceiba because Hibou that night had increased their price to L500 a person, which was L500 more than we paid the night before. Usually the Pacha clubs are world-renowned for being high quality clubs, but this one was horrific. Service was terrible and we probably waited an hour to get drinks. They promised us VIP but we got nothing, and the music changed too often. The only benefit was that there were no walls as it was situated right on the beach, so the view, breeze, and salty sea air were quite refreshing. Carnaval finally drew to a close for us and everyone gradually returned to their sites the next day.
The following weekend was Volunteer Day. It seems to be they have a day for everybody in Honduras - Woman's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Worker Day, Children's Day, and I'm sure countless others. I worked with World Vision in setting up decorations and prizes at the pool area, serving lunch, and collecting food tickets. The event turned out much larger than I had anticipated. It's held annually in appreciation of all the hard work community members have contributed to World Vision's projects. Children from different communities participated in a talent show which included dances, singing, and reading passages from the Bible. Delicious food was served, catered by our dance club's owner who is a wonderful chef as well. After lunch, people lined up to play games and win prizes, while children donned bathing suits and went swimming. I couldn't resist jumping off the diving platform so I did that a couple of times before I got roped into a watermelon-eating contest, which I won! I guess it helped to be craving watermelon that day :)
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