Christmas in Danli

We have had a different sort of Christmas here in Danli- different but good. The big celebration here is Christmas Eve- in the evening. We had a quiet morning, ate tamales for lunch (corn dough stuffed with meat and veges, wrapped in corn leaves and boiled- traditional christmas food here and tastier than it sounds!) and then went to do some Christmas shopping... even crazier here then at home! We spent 2 hours in a department store, and half of that standing in lines. First we had to pay for the things we bought, then wait in another line to get them gift wrapped then go back to the checkout line to pay for the gift wrapping. Bizarre. We had a snack about 6, talked to family in NZ, got all dressed up, then watched some TV (Three Tenors christmas special) until family started showing up about 9pm. We finally ate dinner around 11pm- rice and chicken, Honduran-style Chop Suey, more tamales, and a traditional dessert- kind of like french toast boiled in a thin vanilla-cinamon custard! Again, sounds stange but tasted good! We opened pressies close to midnight as some of the kids were getting tired, and the dancing started around 12:30. I think it was about 3am when we finally went to bed.Christmas day itself is a bit of a non-event here- a recovery day from the parties! We finally got moving close to midday. Someone suggested a picnic at a lagoon "near" here... a promised 35 minute drive became nearly 1 1/2 hours off-road in a tiny little peugeot (definately not a 4-wheel drive which the road really needed!)... Luis drove and did very well- we made it there and back with car intact! The lagoon itself was very pretty, the picnic very Honduran-tostadas (crispy tortillas) with cold refried beans and cheese and boiled eggs. On the way back we stopped at a farm to buy traditional fresh cheese (kind of like soft feta... for Luis an others to eat... I can't). As you can imagine the farm was rather different to a kiwi one- they had a few cows and a couple of sheep (first sheep I've seen here and kept in a small pen), they also had lots of very free range chickens, geese, turkeys, ducks, parrots, horses, dogs and who knows what else. They have a small fish farm, and they grow corn (a couple of different types at least), beans, coffee, pineapple, bananas, a couple of types of lemon (one as big as grapefruit!), guava... and other fruit I've never seen before. They made us fresh coffee (from beans they produce) and it was the best coffee I've ever tasted! As we were leaving one of the women came up to the car with freshly roasted sweetcorn... calling "para lablancita"- "for the white girl"! I was the only one to be given corn... they definately look after pregnant women well here!On Sunday we were taken for lunch in nice restaurant abaout 45 minutesaway- anafres (Honduran style nachos), and a huge plate of meat (chicken, beef, chorizo sausages and chichrrones- fried pork cracking... ugh) and salad. The reason for going that far for lunch was because it is very close to a town they wanted to show us- Yuscaran. Yuscaran is one of the oldest towns around in the area, up in the hills where the silver and gold mines were... very spanish colonial and very picturesque- all cobbled streets and old adobe houses on the hillside. The last couple of days have been quiet- apart from a lot of visitors! Tomorrow we are off to visit friends in Nicaragua and are planning to be there for New Year (see updated itinerary). If I don't get a chance to post before then, Happy New Year Everybody!

With Brenda in Yuscaran, Dec. 27 

Street view, Yuscaran 

Balcony view, Yuscaran 

A "viejo"- representing the old year. Each barrio (neighbourhood) makes one and puts labels on it such as "poverty", "hunger" and "illness", and they burn it on New Years eve to symbolise the passing of all the was bad in the last year. 

Cat in the window, Yuscaran 

Traditional nativity scene, Yuscaran 

Hens around the Christmas tree! Yuscaran. 

At the laggoon, Danli, Dec. 26 

With Brenda, Brendita and Berta at the lagoon 

Luis get some practise with a baby (2nd or 3rd?) cousin. 

The party gets started! -Christmas Eve, Danli 

Christmas present time! 

Christmas and kids go together anywhere in the world! 

...from Danli 

Baby belly- 12 weeks (Luis' christmas present!) 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

From Danli, Honduras. We are here in Danli, staying with Luis' cousin Brenda for Christmas- my first Christmas with "in-laws"! However they are looking after us very well, spoiling us really.It was a bit of a mission to get here... 2 buses from Omoa to San Pedro Sula, then we got the last ticket on one of the last buses to Tegucigalpa on Sunday evening. Brenda picked us up in Tegucigalpa on Monday morning, took us to the mall for some shopping then back to Danli (about 2 hours drive). Since then we have been relaxing, and doing a lot of visiting and being visited! My spanish is getting a very good workout!
The good news is that today I am 12 weeks pregnant... and feeling much better. At the request of certain friends I have posted a picture of my belly (above)- just starting to get a little rounder (Luis says this is his Christmas present!).
The other good news is that while in Tegucigalpa we were finally able to get a local internet account so I am now typing this on my own computer! Although we have had no problem finding internet cafes even in small towns, it was starting to get time consuming and expensive. Now I have no excuse not to keep up with my emails! Anway... we wanted to say Merry Christmas to all our friends, family and readers of this website! We hope the season is peaceful, happy and healthy for you all. OK... not too healthy, enjoy that good Christmas food!

Christmas tree at Brendas 

Brenda's pet Toucan (very pretty but very noisey!) 

The Catholic church in the centre of Danli 

Christmas tree on the fountain in the central park, Danli 

With Berta, Luis' aunt. 

Omoa

I just heard a remix that seems to sum up Christmas here- Macarena with Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Now I don't know if this is a top 20 this Christmas... but it seems very appropriate and certainly made us laugh!
We are in Omoa now, and have made ourselves very cosy in a nice beachfront hotel. It wasn't our original plan, we were going to stay in a cheaper hotel across the street but the receptionist and all the staff appeared to have disappeared for a siesta. After waiting for half an hour or so we decided to check out the nicer one across the street. Turns out it was cheaper than we thought- this being the off-season here. In fact its very quiet, as far as we can work out theres only one other couple staying at the hotel. Which means not only a cheaper room but great service! The beach is not white sand or particularily stunning but it has the same peaceful atmosphere and great seafood we remember from three years ago. It's a good spot to relax and get over our colds and hopefully the last few days of morning sickness. I've been much better over the past few days and am happily anticipating what I've been promised- it should end at 12 weeks (11 1/2 and counting!).

Pelicans fly past a fisherman on Omoa Bay 

The beach at Omoa, our hotel is in the middle of the photo (red roof) 

The other end of the beach, Omoa 

Pineapple fields outside La Ceiba 

Country house, somewhere between La Ceiba and San Pedro Sula