Honduras Parties

So last Saturday night the Santa Rita barrio threw the nine of us a little party. Husbands around here don’t really participate in much, so it was mostly women and children. There’s a little open space near some of the houses so the families pulled out their kitchen table, a stereo system and some Christmas lights. It was a nice little set-up.

We played some musical chairs, and of course ATE. The moms spontaneously started bringing out plates burdened with rice, chicken, broccoli, and of course tortillas! Darren, sitting next to me, groans, “Oh my god, I see a tortilla and my mouth just goes dry!” Perfectly put Darren. After we forced fed ourselves yet again (thank god the food tastes fantastic here!), we started the dancing portion of the night.

The stereo system was moved into Darren’s house where couches were cleared and the reggae ton was turned up so all the neighborhood could hear. Luis, Darren’s brother (host brother), was quite the dancer and started the dance party. Some of us, who don’t really dance without some liquid courage, grabbed nearby children and used them to shield our shoddy dancing skills (yes, me). We danced until about 10:30, which around here is pretty late. The moms tried to teach us the punta, a traditional Honduran dance. The punta basically consists of women shaking their “booties” all over the place. Awkward.

By the end of the night a couple of the teenage boys gathered up the courage to dance with the “gringitas.” Every time another song started the crowd would shout, “La ultima (last one)!,” and then that song would end and the crowd would shout, “MAS, MAS!” and yet another song would be blasted before enough people finally left before they started to break down the party. It was great fun and a different view of the Honduran culture.


We also had some birthdays this week, which was incredibly exciting. A little while ago a Wat/San Volunteer came to teach us about designing water systems and she brought brownies. She warned us that we would begin to understand how precious treats like brownies were, and I didn’t really understand what she meant. Well, Honduras treats are pretty different. The cookies and chocolate just taste weird and they never quite satisfy those crazy cravings you randomly get during Spanish class.

So, in honor of the two Katie’s birthdays on Thursday and Friday, we brought cakes each day (not exactly planned). Groups of friends right now are pretty much divided up according to who you live close to because they are the only people you really have access to outside of class. So Katie One’s friends brought ice cream cake for her, which was purely heaven. If you have never eaten an entire slice of ice cream cake with your fingers you are really missing out! It makes the treat that much more delightful. I’m doing that from now on.

Also, Katie One not knowing that people were going to do something for her birthday baked a cake with her Spanish class, which we all ate too. Thursday: 2 cakes.
Now, Katie Two, who lives in my neighborhood, had a birthday today (Friday 3/13). Some people, not knowing that our barrio was having an exclusive party tonight, asked one of our facilitators to pick up a cake on her way to work. Thus, during training we had cake for Katie Two. Then promptly, went home, where we successfully surprised Katie Two with a great spread including: pizza, supposedly spiked punch, and CAKE!

I think one of the highlights of tonight (Friday nights in Honduras are definitely different) was when Brent, a very quiet and nice friend, walks out of the bathroom and asks Theresa (whose house the party was at) if she had a towel. It appeared as though he wanted to dry his hands, but it turns out that Theresa’s bathroom sink doesn’t actually have any plumbing, therefore when Brent, God forbid want to wash his hands, poured water into the sink, created a lake on the bathroom floor. Now maybe, had this been your friend’s house in the States, you would have laughed and moved on. In Honduras, when you awkwardly live with a family nice enough to host you for a few weeks and put up with your crazy American habits with very minor communication, it’s incredibly awkward and just one more moment that makes you want to crawl in a hole and die. HILARIOUS (guess you had to be there). Only Brent.

Friday: 2 cakes.

All my sweets cravings have been satisfied for a time. BEST. WEEK. EVER.