Opening Day

Every now and again we all get the chance to take part in a "cultural experience". I'm not talking about the Cultural Experience stuff like Fiestas that everyone recognizes as part of the culture and something to take part in, I'm talking about the everyday sort of stuff that nobody would ever know is different or special until you stop and explain it to them.

Not to long ago in Cara Sucia a new supermarket opened and I had the opportunity to be there for it's grand opening. Things were a bit crazy. I mean Car Sucia always has street vendors, but they were crowded outside the Despensa Familiar with unusual concentration and selling fewer products than usual. It was rather noisy, but I couldn't really see what was going on because of the crowd and all the vendors. I sort of pushed my way through and into the parking lot. It was then that I noticed that there two DJ's in the parking lot, along with a moon bounce and several little stands to sign people up for cell phones and whatnot. I forged on ahead and moved inside. Indoors I found another DJ in hte bag check area, where I gave over my bag in exchange for a locker key and a hand basket. I made my way through the free Salva Cola gauntlet and finally I was inside and ready to shop.

I first made my way to the bread, hoping to snag my whole wheat bread at a better price than usual. That wasn´'t happening, my way was blocked by a crowd of youngsters hoping to get a hold of some balloon animals that the Bimbo (bread company) reps were making. So I decided to move on and found my way to soups, where for all the hub-bub they only had one variety. Ok, so that was excuseable, salvadorans pretty much only eat one variety anyway. Over to the snacks now, I picked out a few I liked. I couldn't just add them to my basket though, the friendly woman had to put a labeled bag on each individual snack item to emphasize the fact that I had chosen Diana brand snack products. Finally after similar experiences in each and every aisle I decided it was time to bail. I paid, recovered my bag and got out.

In the parking lot I stopped to reflect that the old market was far better: less crowded, more variety, similar prices, and no DJ's, clowns, balloon animals, moon bounces, give aways or other distractions that really just masked the lack of products. De Todo, you will remain my market for as long as it takes.

Local Beer

It has been a tradition for me to get around to new places and try a local Beer when I am there. I just added another beer to that list. I have now had Salvavida in Honduras. It is one of their big national brands and reminds of Coors for the most part. A little bitter, not too dark and smooth enough to drink a few if you want. Nothing great though.

Honduras was pretty, at least Roatan was. It reminded more of the Carribbean than Central America because the island is home mostly to African Americans left there as a result of the slave trade generations ago, and that they speak both english and spanish natively. The beach where I was was gorgeous, soft white sand and crystal clear water that I just couldn't make cloudy by kicking up sand. I only spent a few days, but I would have spent more if I could have. It had jungle tours to try, good snorkeling, better diving, decent hotels, a cool little town at West End and all sorts of Dolphin encounters available. I think there are other places with some ofthe same sort of stuff or better, but I don't know if they have it all. I doubt I'll be back soon, but I do recommend it.

I also had the pleasure of helping to welcome a new group of Volunteers into the country and look forward to working with them. There are a number in my region and it should be interesting to be the "old" Muni group now.