Weird Single Habits

That’s actually something I remember from a Sex and the City episode, but it’s something I was just thinking about as I was sitting here watching a movie and eating dinner.

I’m sitting here in my house because I can’t leave for the national curfew that’s in place. I guess before it wasn’t so annoying because I lived in a house with other people and the curfews didn’t seem to last for so long. This curfew started yesterday (Monday) at 4p.m. and supposedly is going to last until 6 a.m. Wednesday.

With the last curfew no one really seemed to abide by it. I’ve heard only recently that the old sergeant of the police (apparently he has left) actually did arrest people when they were outside during the toque de queda (curfew). The last curfew definitely would have interfered with working and such, but I never really remember people actually abiding by it.

This time, however, people seem to actually be following the national curfew. I don’t know if the new sergeant somehow impressed upon the people how serious he would be with curfews or, although, no one really expected this. I don’t know if people are ready to take advantage of this unscheduled say off or what, but all of the sudden the streets are deserted.

I had told my Educatodos students that we would still have class, thinking that the curfew was ending at 6 p.m. Well, then we got word from Peace Corps that the curfew was extended until 6 a.m., which means I really shouldn’t have left my house. Imagine, if the police had arrested me, I would have been kicked out purely because I didn’t listen to the national curfew or Peace Corps’ rules. Anyways, despite this I wandered up to the classes, because I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. On my way up the police passed and I got pretty nervous, but they continued on their merry way. Of course, I got to the classroom and no one was there, so I just turned around and went home. At least the puppy got a walk out of it.

On the walk home I really didn’t want to return to the house and sit there anymore, so I loitered outside on the stairs and let the puppy nose around some more. Two girls came up and started talking to me, which was nice until I realized that the one seemed to be trying to coax money or something out of me. I mean, she kept talking about how her mom kicked her out and she didn’t have any clothes or family. I felt bad, but what was I going to do? It was awkward.

Anyways, the whole point of this rant was to comment on the weird things that happen when you live alone. The puppy was exhausted, so he went straight to bed after I fed him.

I really love frijoles fritos (essentially refried beans) and had started soaking beans earlier in the day with the assumption that they would become part of dinner, which I hadn’t really done much planning for other than the bean soaking part. I had had tuna fish for lunch and still wasn’t very hungry, but without a fridge I couldn’t let the tuna fish sit overnight. As a result, I convinced myself that I had to eat. Now, instead of eating just the tuna fish, I naturally had to finish cooking the beans to accompany the tuna fish. Odd combination you say? Yes, well you get creative when you’re bored and no fridge leads to interesting food combinations.

So I finally finish the beans at which point I realized I had never really made them before. When in doubt and trying to recreate Honduran cooking just add a lot of oil and salt. In any case, I had refried beans and tuna fish for dinner. It wasn’t all that bad, but I really would like it if I could manage to get a ride to buy a fridge. There’s only so much oatmeal and cooked veggie combinations you can eat before you really wish that you could at least buy milk for the oatmeal or coconut milk to make curry. In any case, that is one sample of the odd things you are able to do when you live alone. The dog eats burned plastic and wood, so who is he to judge??

I, of course, have odder eating habits that I am not at liberty to disclose in such a public forum, but they may include a spoon and a jar of peanut butter … Hey! Don’t judge! You don’t know what it’s like!!

Maybe tomorrow I’ll just go to my host family’s house to get fed some real food.



Just got word from Peace Corps that the curfew has been extended until 6 p.m. tomorrow night! Now ODECO won’t be open (the police called them and told them to stay closed in the afternoon today!) I’m going to go crazy!! There’s only so many times you can watch the same 5 movies and episodes of Friends before you feel as though you’re lacking something in life … for instance variety. I’m reading a good book right now entitled The Omnivore’s Dilemma, but that of course is about food and merely rubs in the fact that I’m not eating anything all that interesting at the moment!