Noche de Fumadores

Well this was my first real event with Peace Corps Volunteers from a different projects and groups. I stayed at Kathryn’s place with a bunch of people; about 10 to be exact. We were all on our best behavior and everyone was still alive by the end of the weekend. I think Peace Corps gives you such a traveler’s mentality and people are really conscious of their actions and try to be really accommodating. It’s weird, but I don’t know if that many people eating and sleeping in such a small space would have worked at home.

Anyways, there were a lot of people in town and I think final calculations of PCVs in attendance at Noche de Fumadores was about 65 – 70 people. There are four Volunteers living in Santa Rosa and each hosted at least 2 or 3 people in their apartments. The remaining people we in a hotel right around the corner from Kat’s house.

It has become a tradition for me to go and get the “good beers” when I have gone to Santa Rosa overnight. The store that sells the “good beers” is remodeling and I was extremely dismayed to find that there were three HUGE coolers blocking the wee one that houses all the ice-cold Hoegarden, Leffe and Stella. Luckily, they like us and Kathryn has befriended them, so I didn’t think it would be too much to ask if they could do some moving around for me to get at the equivalent of beer heaven in Honduras. I think they figured out what we wanted … can’t help but notice the two gringas standing, staring longingly at the lovely beer cooler. I actually got really embarrassed when three men were called to help move the coolers. It took them a few minutes to get everything situated. Meanwhile, every other customer in the store is watching us wait for the moving of the cooler and then the smiles spread across our faces as the beers are handed over. My pena (shame) was quickly abated when we had the beers and sour cream and onion chips in Kathryn’s apartment. It’s kind of nice living in a world where such simple pleasures as good company and sour cream and onion chips become the highlight of your month and was monumental events in your life. Ok, that might be slightly exaggerated.

After that more people started trickling in and we began the shower process. As people rotated in the shower the others were getting ready and drinking the crappy Honduran (albeit slightly cheaper) beer. Really the point of this blog is not supposed to revolve around beer, but such is life…

So we get all pretty (pictures will be posted). It was really weird to see everyone formally dressed. I’ve seen people in my training group dressed up for swearing – in, but I think people put more effort into Noche de Fumadores.

So, basically they had 400 tickets for this event; about 70 of those tickets were bought by Peace Corps Volunteers. We get there, and after getting out little tote-bags with 4 cigars, matches and a little sample of coffee, we’re shown to our tables. They put us outside on the balcony, very much separated from the rest of the people who were in the main room. You could look at this as they were purposefully trying to get us isolated from the event or they were doing us a favor by putting us outside and together. Either way, once the event got underway they actually gave us a nice shout-out, actually thanking all the Peace Corps Volunteers for their attendance. After the opening ceremony they opened the food line, which was my main focus at the time. They didn’t plan very well on the food front. Maybe they didn’t realize the all the PCVs would pointedly not eat dinner, knowing full well that there would be food at Noche and we could fill up there, since we already paid for it! We also were the first in line and as a result there wasn’t much food left for people who went later. Damn greedy Americans!

There was also free beer (crappy Honduran beer) and free wine (well, free in the sense that you had already paid out you’re a—and they had the courtesy not to charge you more inside). At one point I saw a friend (no names!) walking in with three beers and pointedly putting them down in front of her, making it very obvious that she had no intention of sharing.

Personally, I got excited about the CHEESE! Cheese here is terrible; would make the French weep with the bastardization of an art that they pride in. Nonetheless, the cheese here was decent and more varied that the high-sodium stuff I find in Corquin. I made several passes by that table…

Apart from the cheese I was also very attached to the dance floor. Don’t know what happened, but I took to dancing this past weekend. After a couple of beers and a lot of Friday nights spent alone at home, I wasn’t about to sit around! One of the early dance partners complimented me on my moves (I know he was being nice!) and that coupled with a little liquid courage had me out there all night! I had a blast just kind of making things up as I went along and pretending that I could dance Latin music. For the most part, I don’t think I was all that bad.

I think we actually left around 1 a.m. and a large group split off to find some more dancing places. Instead of going home I tried to find another place to hang out, but they tried to charge cover and that’s when I decided to go home. I have a thing against paying cover and I’m sure not going to start paying it here.

This is one of the main reasons I love Kathryn: the next morning we had bagels! She spent a weekend making dozens of bagels for her house guests! We had cinnamon and raisin, poppy seed and onion, chocolate chip and plain! And cream cheese! Drank coffee, ate bagels, chatted and some people popped some aspirin. I went to bed probably around 3 a.m. and woke up around 7 a.m. Couple of the girls woke-up at a god-awful hour because everyone is so used to waking-up early and then the traffic on the street was horrendously loud. During the carnivals here, they hire trucks to go around announcing things and for some reason they start at 5 a.m. I vaguely remember something loud passing by and Kathryn moaning, “I HATE HONDURAS!”

The adventurous people actually left the house at a decent hour to explore the day’s events, but a few of us stayed in a bit longer and just relaxed. Finally we did go out, eat and explore the coffee tasting. In the Central Park there were a whole bunch of local coffee producers that were giving coffee tastings and selling their wares. We walked around and enjoyed the music and nice weather. Great afternoon.

The partying was not yet completed! Apparently the night before wasn’t enough for us! Actually, one of the girls in Santa Rosa left for the States today (Monday). She finished her service and it’s tradition to have a huge party for the people leaving. Saturday night we all went out to a couple of bars and there was more dancing. I had a blast! Reminded me of times with Old Glory people, just with three times the people! I hardly knew any of the Volunteers who weren’t in my training group, but it was nice to meet people and hang out. I met two girls in the bathroom and here’s the normal conversation when meeting a PCV:

“Hey! (usually there’s no point asking if they’re with Peace Corps) what group are you?”

“I’m H14 Wat/San.”

“Oh, I’m H12 business. What’s your site? I’m in X…”

“Corquin.”

“OH! :insert here mention of sitemate or other people that reside near this site. Also, it’s common to spout-off other information you might know about this person, which usually comes from the rampant Peace Corps gossip chain. (RANDOM EXAMPLE: Oh! So you’re the one who got drunk in training and no one likes?: Obvious exaggeration…).”

And then you carry on. Actually, I ran into one PCV towards the end of the night and asked (in English) if he saw someone from our group. He must not have heard me, because he just whipped me onto the dance floor and then proceeded to talk to me in Spanish… I did the head-cocked, are you crazy look, before saying, “I’m a Peace Corps Volunteer … You bought me a shot earlier!!”

He was like, “OH! Whoops.”

I was really confused when he started speaking Spanish, although there are those Volunteers who are so intent on practicing their Spanish that they won’t speak English to you. I want to smack those people; this is the only time that I can speak English and you better believe I’m taking advantage of it! Snap out of it!!

Some people went out after that bar too, but about 4 am is my limit for being awake. I don’t know what happened to me this past weekend. I morphed into a rare form of Hannah … I don’t dance and I don’t generally like to stay out past 1 am. Sleeping is an important part of my life. Actually, I didn’t expect to even make it to the first bar because I was so tired, but once we got there it was like an adrenaline rush and I became the Energize bunny! I think it was just the excitement of actually seeing people and having something to do that kept me going. I met a lot of cool people and had an absolute blast. I’m not going to make a habit of doing the big, high-profile partying in Peace Corps, but I think events like that are really what keep a lot of people sane. It’s great to get away for a weekend and recharge your patience with Honduras.