Beanland Diary #3 - Spontaneous Church Combustion
What's up good people? The times they are a'changin here in Honduras. Next week we finish this heinous training process, swear in as official volunteers, head off to our separate sites and get to work. True, Honduras does have a lot of problems - drug trafficking, gangs, rampant corruption and one of the highest poverty levels in the western hemisphere...but our group of volunteers-to-be is solid and we should have this country cleaned up in no time. They've given us two years but I think 6 or 9 months should be plenty. (btw at swear in we get to meet the president, Ricardo Maduro, and ask him questions. Cool.)
Last week we visited our future sites for the first time. I've got a good one - Cantarranas (aka San Juan de Flores) in the department of Francisco Morazan. It's a town of a few thousand people which sits only about 45 km from Tegucigalpa in a beautiful valley (although a tad warm, but hey cold beer is better when you're sweating, no?). It's right next to La Tigra national park which is supposed to be some of the best hiking/camping in the country. I'm gonna be super busy working with a school and the municipality office and, unavoidably, teaching some English.
OK let me give you all some new contact info. Since I'm so close to Tegus, I'm gonna keep using the same mailing address that I've had thru training - the Apartado #3158 one. If you need to get at me quick and you're up for an adventure, you can try one of these phone numbers: Hondutel 777.0233, Honducor 777.0227. I have no phone in my house, so these are the local telecentros. You'll need to call and just leave a message, and they'll come find me and let me know you called. I'm known as "Daniel el voluntario del cuerpo de paz." And you thought all those years of Spanish in high school would never come in handy?
So normally things are pretty chill over in Cantarranas, but when I was there last week the shit went DOWN. I'm casually walking across the town square on my way to introduce myself to the police as the friendly new gringo in town when I smell smoke. This in itself wasn't that odd because burning trash is pretty common here. Then I heard some shouts, some screaming, and looked up to see an enormous black cloud billowing from the roof of the catholic church. SHIT! People swarm in from all directions, break down the front doors to a see that the entire inside of the church is consumed in orange flames (see pix on Snapper). "OK" I think, "maybe I'll postpone my visit to the police...they might have their hands full this afternoon." Since the nearest fire department is in Tegus, there wasn't much to do other that rip the pews out, grab the statues, and watch it burn. And burn it did, in front of a crowd of about 500 people - some crying, some quiet, some dumbfounded and some discreetly taking pictures with a pocket-sized digital camera (me).
Other than that spontaneous church combustion, life is good. Some of us are planning a quick trip up to the north coast next week after swear-in to celebrate, unwind, and then head to our sites with a renewed spirit and a fresh hangover. I think we deserve it, don't you? Hell yes. Now granted, a trip to the carribean coast to sit in a hammock and drink beer doesn't quite compare to a weekend camping in the frozen tundra steppe of Mongolia and drinking fermented yaks milk, but we can't all be so lucky to have Peace Corps send us to central Asia. This'll have to do.
Mucho love, miss y'all...
Your Correspondent
ps. I just got word from Deko of the Pixies world tour in April. I'm still in shock. Have they announced the locations yet? Are they, say, going to Mexico City? Let's make this happen. I've already got a wingman here and we're ready to act.
pps. just a warning that it might take me a long time to respond to emails these days. I've been averaging about one hour a week of internet time so it's kinda hard. fyi.
p3s. Happy birthday Tom (late) and Deko (early).
Last week we visited our future sites for the first time. I've got a good one - Cantarranas (aka San Juan de Flores) in the department of Francisco Morazan. It's a town of a few thousand people which sits only about 45 km from Tegucigalpa in a beautiful valley (although a tad warm, but hey cold beer is better when you're sweating, no?). It's right next to La Tigra national park which is supposed to be some of the best hiking/camping in the country. I'm gonna be super busy working with a school and the municipality office and, unavoidably, teaching some English.
OK let me give you all some new contact info. Since I'm so close to Tegus, I'm gonna keep using the same mailing address that I've had thru training - the Apartado #3158 one. If you need to get at me quick and you're up for an adventure, you can try one of these phone numbers: Hondutel 777.0233, Honducor 777.0227. I have no phone in my house, so these are the local telecentros. You'll need to call and just leave a message, and they'll come find me and let me know you called. I'm known as "Daniel el voluntario del cuerpo de paz." And you thought all those years of Spanish in high school would never come in handy?
So normally things are pretty chill over in Cantarranas, but when I was there last week the shit went DOWN. I'm casually walking across the town square on my way to introduce myself to the police as the friendly new gringo in town when I smell smoke. This in itself wasn't that odd because burning trash is pretty common here. Then I heard some shouts, some screaming, and looked up to see an enormous black cloud billowing from the roof of the catholic church. SHIT! People swarm in from all directions, break down the front doors to a see that the entire inside of the church is consumed in orange flames (see pix on Snapper). "OK" I think, "maybe I'll postpone my visit to the police...they might have their hands full this afternoon." Since the nearest fire department is in Tegus, there wasn't much to do other that rip the pews out, grab the statues, and watch it burn. And burn it did, in front of a crowd of about 500 people - some crying, some quiet, some dumbfounded and some discreetly taking pictures with a pocket-sized digital camera (me).
Other than that spontaneous church combustion, life is good. Some of us are planning a quick trip up to the north coast next week after swear-in to celebrate, unwind, and then head to our sites with a renewed spirit and a fresh hangover. I think we deserve it, don't you? Hell yes. Now granted, a trip to the carribean coast to sit in a hammock and drink beer doesn't quite compare to a weekend camping in the frozen tundra steppe of Mongolia and drinking fermented yaks milk, but we can't all be so lucky to have Peace Corps send us to central Asia. This'll have to do.
Mucho love, miss y'all...
Your Correspondent
ps. I just got word from Deko of the Pixies world tour in April. I'm still in shock. Have they announced the locations yet? Are they, say, going to Mexico City? Let's make this happen. I've already got a wingman here and we're ready to act.
pps. just a warning that it might take me a long time to respond to emails these days. I've been averaging about one hour a week of internet time so it's kinda hard. fyi.
p3s. Happy birthday Tom (late) and Deko (early).
Labels: beanland
posted by Dan at
4:46 AM
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