Adapting

Buenas Noches from Honduras!

This is my room! I was lucky enough to have my own room and bathroom. That is very rare for down here, and I'm so thankful. I don't know if the TV works or not, still working on that. But magically this room holds all my stuff and I have a nice window that overlooks the neighboring houses and you can see the mountains in the distance. The window is always open so usually the curtains are flying everywhere haha. I have been studying on my bed and it seems to working just fine for me. I just found out from my dad here that I am going to be able to have hot water now in my shower. Because the second day I was here, I thought I would take a shower before class, so I turned it on. And only a small dribble of freezing cold water came out. I was like hmm maybe this is how it suppose to be, so shaking and shivering I took my first shower in Honduras. But now its fixed so my mornings will be much easier haha. I just have to remember not to drink the water at all and to throw the toilet paper in the trash. Its actually harder than I thought it would be to break my original habits in this area.
So far I have had some amazing food here. My mama is a great cook. However, I have found that they don't snack hardly ever here, but eat huge amounts of food three times a day. And if I forget to tell them I'm full, they just keep feeding me. When I first came, I had had dinner before coming to their house and I guess my mama didn't understand that and so I ended up having 3 dinners the first night. I had a chicken tostada at school, then eggs with tomatoes, spinach, and something else in it and then ham and beans, then an hour later she gave a large bowl of noodle and potato soup. I mean it was all delicious but my stomach was about to explode. I think for the first time in my life I was told that I don't eat very much. I tried to explain to my mama that in the US I eat more than most people haha, but here I guess I just can't keep up with them. I need to eat all the time in little amounts rather than just 3 large amounts a day. Apparently she didn't understand that because for breakfast that next morning, she brought me corn flakes in milk with a cut up banana in it, then a huge cup of coffee (which I guess I now drink coffee because I didn't want to say no thank you haha) then fried platanos with mantequilla (which is like butter but white and much creamier) and then more fruit after that. I was full after the cereal haha. But I have discovered I love fried platanos con mantequilla( picture on the right). If you ever have the chance to try it, please do! Another thing about the food is that they have many different ways of eating things. Sometimes they have tacos like we do in America, but then sometimes they put only meat in soft tortillas and fry them and then cover them in cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and salsa. It is amazing (on the left). They also eat their oranges like we eat grapefruit and eat their grapefruit like we eat oranges. I always have to watch them eat it before I can do it haha.
On a separate note, my family is great, they are very patient even when I have no idea what they are saying (which is a lot). My mama can't speak english at all but knows how to explain things so I can understand them. She is so nice and always wants to make me happy. My papa is so funny, he loves saying my name over and over again and then asks questions very slowly so I can understand. He is also quite good at card tricks. One of my sisters, who is 18, is named Sharon and she is great, she can speak English and loves to joke around and introduce me to all her friends and brings me to her Bible study. Another sister, Lily, is married and is having a baby in 4 months, so I might be able to be here for the birth! Her husband is great, he can always explain what is going on and can speak good english. I have another sister too, but she is studying in the US now at the University of Minnesota. Then I have my little brother, Luis, he is a riot at only 6. He dances and sings and loves Grand Theft Auto even though he can't understand English. But he talks very fast and slurs everything together when he tells stories, I just laugh and smile and try to understand what I can. So thats my family here! Well that is all for now. I need to get some sleep because we are going to visit the downtown area of the capital, Tegucigalpa, and see cathedrals and other important buildings. Adios!