Celebrating En Familia

The cumpleañeros, Bryan, Benicia, & Darwin, with their piñata

You know those days where you feel like ¨Wow, this is my life! Amazing!¨ Yesterday was one of those days... Yesterday we celebrated the birthdays of not only one or two, but three Salinas. Included in the cumpleañeros where Benicia, my closest friend, and Brian, her grandson and my godson. People in the states often have a hard time understanding when I say that my best friend here is 50 years old, but if you met Benicia, you too would fall in love with her. :) She is one of those people whose smile lights up a room, who never holds a grudge, and who truly makes makes the world a better place, beginning with those closest to her. To say that I wouldn´t be here without Benicia is an understatement... As for my godson Bryan, he is handsome, smart, and absolutely adorable!!

The Salinas´fiesta began this morning at 4:45am with the familia arriving into town in a pick up truck, blasting ¨Las Mañanitas.¨ This song proceeded to grace our barrio for the following 4 hours- until sleep became a unless pursuit. I had offerred to put on a small birthday celebration for Benicia and Bryan, which, true to Honduran form, morphed into 17 of us :)

Fiesta celebrations included pizza, pastel (cake), and a piñata. While pizza I have down scratch by this point, the cake turned out to be a bit more complicated than expected, and at one point I found myself whipping egg whites into mirengue with a fork :P Martha Stewart, eat your heart out!!! For this, and other technologly related reasons, I was in the kitchen for a grand total of nearly 10 hours today!!! While I am not exactly the most conventional or domestic, I have to say... it was fantastic!

3 hours into cooking and annoyed with ¨infrastructuraly appropriate¨technology (ie things that don´t run on electricity)

I´m not sure how your family was raised, but in mine, for major events, the kitchen was off limits to all except the alpha females. (ie, 30+, with children, and related BY BLOOD to the hostess) Growing up, I got the feeling that us youngens would have been shooed out with a broom had one been available... Cooking in Honduras is completely the opposite. There may be a primary cook, but people come and go. Some help when appropriate (chopping, mixing, etc.), others sit and chat, keeping you company while you chop and mix, and others pull on your pant legs, asking to be picked up and offerring to be your official taste testers :)

Men making pizzas!

After the cake fiasco, I decided to call in backup and break some stereotypes by bringing the men into the kitchen! Together, the three (and a half) of us made four pizzas while contemplating the Honduran pizza market and how much to charge when selling our new product on the local buses. In the end, everything turned out wonderfully! The pizza was to the birthday girl´s liking, there was just enough cake to go around, and the piñata rained so that everyone - even adults- got a shirt full of candy! My camera ran out of battery juice just before the dancing began- but we spent the rest of the night dancing to punta, bachata, and reggeaton. My dance partner was celebrating 9 years :) This was truly one of the most memorable evenings I have yet to have in Honduras, celebrating en familia!

Helping my godson blow out his candle- so serious!!

Cumpleaños Feliz!... Ya queremos pastel! (Now we want cake!)

Squeezing the Juice Out

It is hard to imagine that just a week ago, I sat in the Chicago airport, sad to leave friends and family in the States and at the same time excited about the adventures awaiting me in Honduras. While I have yet to find the perfect recipe for ¨reacculturation,¨ I´ve learned a few things seem to help:

• Friends: No matter where you are going or coming from, having someone that you care about and understands where you´ve been- or is at least willing to listen and ask you questions makes a world of difference - helping you to debrief, process, and integrate more quickly and smoothly
• Time to yourself: Whether it is to journal, exercise, or lie wide eyed in your hammack, it´s important to give yourself a little time
• Projects: While a little down time is good, it´s equally important to have projects and activities to jump into and reconnect yourself
• Patience: This is important for both yourself and those around you. Reintegrating is a process that takes time and may mean some major changes. Be patient with yourself, knowing that these changes are most likely for the better!
• RELAXATION: Whether it´s yoga or a couple of beers... or both be sure to enjoy and know that ¨every little thing, is gonna be alright...¨ :)
  Unfortunately the ONLY picture taken during Miguel´s visit to Orocuina... Benicia, 4 volunteers and a bottle of ¨Catrachito Guaro¨ combined Friends and RELAXATION

This ¨reentry¨ was especially emotional in that I finally realized that I will not always be here in Honduras. While I considered looking for work and staying in Honduras or Central America, the cultural differences make dating, let alone raising a family ... well, a little hard to imagine. (Dating in Honduras is a blog entry to come ;) ) I am both excited and nervous about the pros

pects of moving back to the states... but more than anything, I am determined to squeeze as much juice as possible from the time I have left here!!!

Since arriving in Orocuina, I have stayed busy writing grants, mentoring a volunteer, reconnecting with friends, and traveling! This past weekend a friend and I headed up the mountain to catch the early corn harvest and spend time with Benicia and family. The weekend consisted of a hike through the mountains, making and eating tamalitos, singing and playing music, and lots of hammacking. It has been a great first week of being back in Honduras, and I am looking forward to ¨approvechando¨ the weeks and months to come!!

View from Benicia´s house!

Lunch after our 40 minute hike in was chicken soup... I only finished half!

Cutting down Elotes with Benicia to make tamalitos with.

Walking on top of mountains...