Tex is coming!!!!

***I wrote this blog last week - Feria already happened and we had a great time! We had some Peace Corps friends come and stay with us a couple of nights for Feria which was a special treat for us - we don’t get too many visitors down here.***

Hi All!

This year I am going to be really good about blogging regularly! I know we sort of ignored the blog last year….so here it goes!

Our town is growing! Just in this last week three new restaurants have opened up. We now have a Chinese restaurant, a Honduran/Mexican restaurant, and one that looks like it could be a bar (I don’t know if they sell alcohol though)/restaurant. We have yet to eat at any of these new places, but definitely want to try the Chinese place. I really enjoy the Chinese food in this country! And it has a spiffy name - Bamboo. This brings the restaurant count up to 7 - there could be more, but this is what we have counted. We are not quite sure how this is possible considering there are only about 2,500 people in our town and most of them do not go out to eat!! But Brian and I like the variety!

So, this week is feria week in our town. The patron saint of Colomoncagua is Jesus de Rescaste so our town throws a giant party for the week. Almost all towns in Honduras (and I would assume most of Central America) celebrate their patron saint in the form of a feria. The party has already started here - the rides are set up (a small Ferris wheel and a bug Ferris wheel), the papas fritas (French fries) have arrived, the various vendors are set up, and people have essentially stopped working in preparation for the big night(s). Our town will be basically transformed these next few days and then suddenly everything will vanish.

The feria celebration begins with a few nights of dancing and loud music in the Casa de Cultura. There are some shows - traditional dances, kids lip syncing, a cultural fair. Then there is the election and crowning of the Princess of Colomoncagua (the prettiest teenaged girl in town) and a Rey Feo (basically people make fun of each other - Rey Feo means ugly king). These last two will happen on Friday night - the biggest night of the feria. Soon there will be carnival games set up, some sort of gambling games, and lots and lots of food stands. Many have already arrived and many are still setting up. It is pure madness!

The last thing I want to mention is our little battle with Peace Corps. Yup, we are fighting the higher ups at Peace Corps Honduras. Since moving in to our new home our rent has gone up (and yes, I admit quite a lot). Peace Corps Honduras thinks too much and does not want to pay for all of our rent. This makes me upset. Peace Corps says they are going to pay your rent and I think that if rent is reasonable and average with what other people in town are paying then it should not be an issue. But because our rent jumped when we moved, they are saying they will only pay for a 10% increase…crazy considering they have not reevaluated the cost of living in this area for a very long time. Anyway, our fight is over 500 lempiras, which is about $25 US. Not much, but it is principal and I think PC should have to pay. I am sending an emaill to the country director and a few other Peace Corps employees here in Honduras. If the situation is not settled with them, then I am going to start emailing my Congressman, Senator, and Peace Corps in Washington DC. I do not know if any of this will help to solve the problem, but I am going to try. Usually, I wouldn’t do this much, but other volunteers are having rent issues as well and Peace Corps seems to be doing nothing about it (except not paying the entire rent). I will let you know what happens in these next couple of weeks.