Keri with the bear/rat trap....
Keri enjoying some FRESH corn on the cob...just hours...
Nick and Don Marcos hanging out in the kitchen...just...
Gloria, Sandra, and Keri on their way to grind the...
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20th February, 2006 // Honduras
It's easy to forget
Nick and I have had an exciting month or so of visits, jungle trips, COS (close of service) conferences and more. In fact, the month of January passed by record speed. And now, here we are back in Cabañas with a little over a month before we say goodbye to what has been home for the last two years. Upon returning from our trip with Nicks parents (which was awesome, and will be written about soon) – the idea of going home to California has become even more eagerly anticipated. O sea, we are REALLY ready to come home and are looking forward to it.
Part of this might be spurred by the fact that for the last two weeks Nick and I have not had a full night sleep due to the large infestation of rats that have overtaken our roof. That’s right, RATS. How do we know they are rats you ask? Well, about 3 months ago Nick saw a HUGE one scale the side of our house and enter through the gap between the wall and the roof. Although he told me this lovely story, I thought “out of sight, out of mind”. But lately, “out of sight, out of mind” hasn’t been holding up since they aren’t “out of earshot”. These uninvited guests are LOUD! Once the lights go out, these rats PARTY!! And we’re not talking about a couple – no. We are talking families and families of horse-sized rats. It sucks! At first we decided to just ignore them and leave them for the following tenant to deal with. But after 5 consecutive sleepless nights – Nick and I founds ourselves growing cranky – or better said, down right MEAN! So with that said, we decided it would be in the best interest of our relationship to murder these intruders. That night we came home prepared to feed them poison. Poison advantages – KILLS them (slowly but surely), and we never have to acknowledge their existence ever again. BUT…poison has its disadvantages also. Disadvantages that we didn’t consider until that night. Because it takes 3-4 days for them to die – they probably will croak on the beams of our roof. Mind you – we are entering the hot time of year. How many days do you think it will take for a dead rat cooking under a tin roof to smell up a house? Well, we thought a week tops – and neither one of us wants to climb up there and dig the dead corpse out. So…we decided perhaps traps would be better. Putting the poison on hold, we endured another sleepless night, and continued the next day in search of traps. Let me tell you about Honduran traps. These things are NOT childproof – nor are they like the small, dainty, traps you buy for your ONE mouse problem in the states. No, these are more like bear traps, mejor dicho. After much advice from our Honduran friends, we set them up (with much caution – don’t want to lose an arm now) and tied the loaded trap down (we’ve been told if big enough they can and will run off with trap and all). Three nights now and nothing. The first night – one smart rat got some bread without setting it off…and the last two nights – nothing. We will see. If this keeps up we will revert back to the poison. Stay tuned.
With problems like this, it is easy to focus all our sights on going home to California. It is easy to look towards only the future and forget to enjoy the present. It is easy to forget where we are, and let the anticipation of leaving take over you, forgetting to cherish the last moments we have here. It is easy to focus only on the negative. In fact, maybe focusing on the negative is something we do subconsciously in hopes to make leaving that much easier. It is easy to overlook the last two day we’ve had that have been both incredible and unforgettable in every way. Yesterday (Saturday), Nick and I woke up and decided to walk to the closest farm up the road (20 minutes) and buy ourselves some fresh corn. Right now is the second and last harvest of fresh corn (called maiz nuevo or elote) for the year – so we wanted to take advantage of this harvest. Upon arriving at the farm, we requested 25 “elotes” which cost 1 lempira a piece – quite a steal if you ask me. The man on the farm then proceeded to cut down 25 stalks and de-husk 25 of the freshest corn imaginable. How coos is that? Within one hour the corn went straight from the stalk to our pot of boiling water to our stomachs. Talk about fresh. And today was just as amazing. After another horrible night sleep, we woke up and spent the whole day with our favorite family – Doña Gloria y Don Marcos. They invited us to come and help cook “riguas” y “montucas”. Riguas are tortillas but made from this maiz nuevo versus the hardened dried out corn – so they are very sweet and just delicious. Montucas are similar to tamales – but again, maiz nuevo is the key ingredient – creating a much sweeter tasted. Also they are cooked in cornhusks versus the banana leaves used for tamales. So today, we spent the whole day with our closest friends cooking, eating, and simply enjoying each others company. It was fantastic.
So while I realize it is easy to focus on the rats, or on the excitement of coming home….I also realize that I am going to be home before I know it. And I will hate myself if I finish my last month here taking it for granted. These last two days reminded me why I have been so happy for the last two years, why I LOVE Honduras, and even more, why I LOVE Cabañas. I am still HERE, and I’ll be damned if I don’t appreciate every last second I have with these amazing friends and the life we have made here. It is so easy to forget – but luckily, I have remembered!
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