A bit of culture shock...

I have the house to myself because my family went to a school presentation, but I have class in an hour so I couldn't go. I had forgotten what a bit of peace and quiet felt like!

My host Dad came home while I was on vacation, so when I got home I met him again for the second time. That means there's money in the house, so my 11 year old brother got a sweet cell phone, my host Mom got her nails done, and my little sister got a bushel full of toys. On Saturday morning, we went to a beauty salon to get Andre's haircut. I had a bit of culture shock, as all the ladies getting their hair done gossiped about everyone they knew. They talked about my Aunt, my host Dad, my cousin, the other exchange students from Calvin, the newest girl who got pregnant, etc. I had no idea how they knew everything about everyone, and I felt a bit out of place as they were saying some pretty inappropriate things that I didn't feel comfortable knowing.

Saturday afternoon/night we went to a carnival type thing, which are very popular in Honduras and they last several months. There are mini roller coasters, ferris wheels, games, food, dancing, and lots of drinking. I played the babysitter role for a while while my host parents drank lots of beer and I took the kids on some rides and games. My host Dad gave me a fist full of money, so we rode the Worm roller coaster 6 times, did bumper cars, and won some cheap prizes at the games. (It was actually pretty cold, so we all wore sweatshirts and jackets!)

We left the house at 3:00pm and got back at 1:00am, but stayed up talking until 4:00am with one of their family friends named David. Each of the adults had bout 12-13 beers, so things got pretty funny. David is a biologist and a very smart man, and he kept giving Yaqui advice about her life, and Yaqui kept arguing back. I ended up being the mediator because they always ended the argument with my advice, and whatever I said went. I enjoyed talking to David because he has different opinons than my family about the environment, consumerism, racism, etc.

On Sunday we headed to Phanie's house for her little brothers 1st birthday party. A party would be an understatement..picture a teeny house with about 25 kids under the age of 11, with all of their parents, all talking and screaming at the same time, with twinkle twinkle and mary had a little lamb music blasting in spanish. Then picture pin the nose on the clown, and as a child is trying to pin the nose on the clown, there are 25 people huddled around screaming up, down, left, right, right there, stick it on!!!!! in the child's ear....pretty overwhelming and I was just watching!

Then there's the piñata. A big piñata attached to the electrical wire, and each kid gets 10 smacks. After the first little piece of candy falls out, all the kids dive to the floor and start fighting for the candy. Then, a parent gets up and starts shaking the piñata until the candy starts pouring out. The electrical wire breaks and the piñata falls, but it doesn't matter. All of a sudden confetti starts coming out like a blizzard, and there are 30 kids in a space the size of a car are screaming and throwing confetti everywhere.

Then there's the cutting of the cake. A candle is lit, and about 10 different versions of Happy Birthday are sung, with kids sticking their fingers in the frosting about every other word. The cake is cut, pieces are served, and everyone leaves. Apparently the cutting of the cake signifies the end of the party.

Needless to say, I am taking advantage of this hour alone in the house to start writing one of my many final exam essays for the semester. The pictures are of a Mariache man at the carnival, Jimena on one of the rides with her winter jacket, and my family eating. I also tried to put a video of the three of us on the Worm roller coaster, but Im not sure if it uploaded.