The Sprouts Holiday Wrap Up and "El Gripe" Came To Visit

If you have been following me on Twitter, then you know that I have been dog sick the past week. With that and the Holidays being busy I haven't taken the time to sit down and write.

The holidays went by with places to go and family to visit. Christmas was a grand fiesta like the 4th of July in the states. Fireworks going off all night long. Literally all night long. Everywhere. On every street. We decided to stay in San Pedro Sula and celebrated with a cousin of Papa's and that cousin's wife's family. Most of Papa's family goes to another town where the matriarch of the family lives and where the family comes from. There they all crash in this simple little adobe house with a few extensions built on for bedrooms. They party until the wee hours and then knock out on the floor or couch or chair or probably in cars or anyplace they can find to lay their heads. And this is how they have been doing it for years and it's tradition and no one seems to question it. Don't get me wrong, I love it there. It's a beautiful quiet town and the home is simple and welcoming. But sleeping on the floor doesn't sound the most comfortable and since we have kids (and many other reason too), we skipped this year but went to visit Christmas Day. When we got there around noon there were lots of people still milling around in the clothes they were wearing from the night before, cleaning up after a shower and eating tamales and chicken sandwiches. There were kids running around, playing and having fun. It seemed to be a nice relaxing day for everyone.

With the cooler weather and with Honduras being generally pretty humid and lots of rain in the "winter" there seems to be quiet a bit more mold in the air. I never knew I might be allergic to mold. I know I'm allergic to dust, some trees and grasses that grow back in MN, but didn't know I might be allergic to mold. By my best guess, this is what has been bothering me since about November when the rainy season got underway and it's been slowing getting worse and worse. By New Years my allergies were bothering me quiet bad and on New Year's Eve I needed to take something which made me pretty foggy. I made it until midnight when 2008 came in. I made the rounds of kissing a ton of people I didn't know or barely know, or just know because they are family, but we haven't ever really talked because of the language issue. At about 12:10am poor little Brother was really starting to become cranky from being kept up about 4 hours past his bedtime. So I found a spot on a couch next to the pretty red ribboned, lit up Christmas tree and we both passed out for a good hour or more while Papa visited with family and Sister was having a grand time hiding in a bedroom with a few other girls dancing their tails off to music so I didn't see much of her. Brother and I were firmly knocked out on the couch and I didn't care one bit it felt so good to finally let my eyes sleep.

The next couple of days were spent just taking it easy from the rush of Christmas. Then last Sunday, Papa starts to have a bad cold. It came on pretty strong. It lasted about 2 days and then he was on the mend. No worse for the wear. The middle of last week a cold front came in. The weather turned chilly, for Honduras anyway, and lots of rain. My allergies started to go bizerk. Literally. On Thursday the allergies went from a mild/moderate irritation, to absolute misery by night fall. What had happened was I had caught the virus that Papa had and on top of that were my allergies. It sent me over the edge and I became more sick than I have in years. I barely was able to get our of bed for 3 days. And to make matters worse, Brother caught the cold too. Now who knows when a cold is actually the flu, but for me it seemed pretty clear that I had the "flu". Here in Honduras they call it the "gripe" (gree-pay) and it was not pretty. It was a pathetic state to be in.

By Sunday I asked Papa to take me to the doctor. I couldn't see my way out of the misery and I seemed to have developed an ear infection that was really starting to hurt. I was having a hard time sleeping from everything that seemed to be plaguing me. Fever, pain, congestion, coughing, dizziness, nausea, chills and I was desperate for relief.

The start of my first doctoring experience in Honduras was...well, I guess you could say I'm not used to the way things are handled here. We weren't sure where we could go on a Sunday and Papa got recommended to a doctor that runs a 24 hour clinic out of his home. It was like going back into a bygone era where doctors ran things out of back rooms of their homes. It was not something I was used to nor ready to deal with. But I made it through with a shot in the butt of a steroid to help with the swelling from everything (virus + allergies). It did bring the relief I needed.

The hard part was dealing with the medications that the doctor wanted me to take. I'm not sure how things are handled in general here. But I was a bit surprised. The language barrier and needing a translator didn't make it any easier to deal with. I'll share one little tid-bit about the medicines I was prescribed. I got this one called "Vontrol" and I asked Papa what it was for after we left the clinic. Everything was a whirl so if he had told me, I may of forgotten. He seemed a little unsure but told me it must be for my allergies. Then I asked further, "then why would he prescribe me the Zyrtec-D? Isn't that for the allergies? Do they want me to take two allergy medicines?" Then he got irritated and told me that I should just trust the doctor and continued "why did I take you to the doctor if you aren't going to follow his recommendations?" I just told him that I wanted to understand what the medicine was for and I didn't understand. He said, "I told you. It's for the allergies." Man, I miss the little info packets you always get with your meds in the states.

I got home and looked up Vontrol on the internet. I'm just like that. I just have to know. Yeah....I didn't take the medication. Click on the link to read more. The medicine is an anti-nausea medication. I needed to take some of those when I was pregnant with Sister due to severe morning sickness. One of the big side effects for me was severe anxiety attacks. I just don't think Papa could take it if I had a similar reaction, let alone start to hallucinate! Here is the info on the medication:

Vontrol

Generic Name: diphenidol
Dosage Form: Tablets

'Vontrol' may cause hallucinations, disorientation, or confusion. For this reason, its use is limited to patients who are hospitalized or under comparable, continuous, close, professional supervision. Even then, the physician should carefully weigh the benefits against the possible risks and give due consideration to alternate therapeutic measures.

Hello. It says that about 1 in 350 will hallucinate from taking this medication and that is not the only other side effect. And it wouldn't even be thought of being given outside of a hospital setting in the US.
And this isn't everything either. Remember that we have been dealing with Brother being sick as well. But all I will say is that this doctoring experience is much different than one I would ever have in the US. So, so, so different. I am now on the hunt to find a good, English speaking doctor here in Honduras for both me and the kids. I realize that I don't want to be caught again without a doctor that I feel I can trust or can communicate with.

I feel I'm on the repair now, but I can tell it's going to be a little slow to be back at 100%

Oh! And if anyone has any history or knowledge about why it is thought to be bad to drink anything cold when you are sick, I'd love to hear. I've never heard this before and two doctors have told me that I should not be drinking anything cold nor should Brother because of our colds.

Christmas Treats in Honduras

Christmas treats for sale, originally uploaded by Honduras Sprout.

Yep. Christmas is here and that means lots and lots of treats, cookies, candies and all kinds of goodies to rot our teeth. I was actually pretty hungry as were Papa and the kids when we walked up to this table at a local Christmas festival we went to last week. Pretty much everything on the table was for sale by the piece except for a few pre-bagged things. I think our rumbling tummies got the better of us and we were like, you guessed it, kids in a candy store. We'd buy a piece of this candy and take a bite and ooh and aah. Then turn our eyes to another candy we thought looked tasty. Some were much too sweet. Some used Anise, which is a spice that I am not used to so didn't care for much. It's a typical Christmas spice for baked goods and candy here. Maybe it's an acquired taste?

I picked out a piece of what looked like peanut brittle but it was a little disappointing. Oh, it was good and sweet, but it wasn't made quite how my grandmother makes peanut brittle. Papa bought up some coconut bars and some candied papaya. All good. But hands down the winner was these sweet little plantain candies. I have no idea how they are made, but they are perfect in my book of candies. Only slightly sweet, chewy enough but not so that they get all stuck in your teeth or the roof of your mouth. They seem to melt in your mouth once you start to chew. I've managed to have a few still hanging around because I've not been able to keep myself from these babies....

They are called Torrejas and they are about the most perfect dessert I've had to date in my life. Okay, maybe I'm talking them up a bit here possibly because I just don't get to indulge in American rich desserts that much and now that I'm thinking about it, there was that one chocolate cake that I had on a business trip at this bay side restaurant in San Francisco that was so good, if I wasn't sitting when I ate it, my face might have met the floor due to my knees giving out under me. My chocoholic co-worker had to ask where they got it and once back from the trip he actually looked them up to see how much a cake would cost to ship to MN. Oh...that was good cake, but I digress and back to these beautiful little slices of heavenly spice and everything nice. Torrejas...Ohhh yummy yummy yummy. I love you Torrejas. Can I marry you?

Let's see. They are basically white bread (French bakery bread would work good) that has been toasted (like french toast) dipped in this cane syrup that has a flavor maybe similar to molasses. I know molasses comes from sugarcane, but this stuff is sold in stores in a big block. It must be one step up in the processing of the cane from molasses. It's definitely sweet, if you eat it raw and you have even the slightest hint of a cavity it will send a zinger up into your mouth.

The woman that made these is a client of Papa's who owns a little restaurant. Papa says she has really good food and knows how to cook. For his Christmas present she gave him 20 slices. She made them perfectly. She added all the good spices. Cinnamon, allspice, cloves. It seems to be a sort of french toast - bread pudding type thing only on steroids. I think they can be served warm or cold. I prefer cold. But warm was really good with a cup of (unsweetened) coffee for breakfast.

So Christmas will be here in just a few short days (2 when I wrote this) and I'm not sure I'm going to get to another post so I'm going to end this one with a slide show of our night out at the Coca~Cola sponsored Christmas in the park night. It revived my Christmas spirit that has been low due to the lack of cold and snow.

Merry Christmas everyone!

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." ~Luke 2:14

The Sprouts Celebrate Halloween

I admit it. I've been homesick the past month. Maybe it's that the "holidays" are here and it just doesn't feel like the holiday spirit yet? At least not the way I know it. I need it to get very chilly, turn the heat on in the house and cuddle up under heavy blankets at night.

The stores have all been decked out with Christmas gear already. There were only a few Halloweeny things out at stores. I did get a bit nostalgic driving by a Hallmark store though that was spookerific. Fake cobwebs and big black spiders and ghosts in the front windows. It was awesome. We drove by and I thought to myself that I wanted to go back to drive by again. I don't know why? To feel nostalgic again? he he he

I find myself wanting to pretend I'm in the US. For example, I try to look at something and put a frame around the image. Mostly when at stores or restaurants that remind me of someplace in the US, but I have done it even driving past green fields and rivers. I place myself in the US for a moment to feel what it would feel like there. Lately I try to imagine cold air and the smell of the house with the heat on. Especially the smell of leaves drying on the ground once the trees have given them up for their long winter sleep. MN has great smells. The seasons are clear as a bell and each has it's own unique scent. It's awesome.

I used to think Halloween was silly and evil. I tried to not celebrate it. But then I had kids. And gosh, it's just good fun. I also realize now that without it, a time marker is missing. I feel disorientated. Like I just woke up from an afternoon nap and I'm not sure what time it is.

It was a little discouraging to try to celebrate Halloween for the Sprouts. Sister was getting a lot of flack at school about it. Her friends don't "believe" in Halloween and think witches will come to get us if we do celebrate. I said *boo* and decided that since Sister wouldn't be able to go out trick or treating we would bring Halloween to Honduras. Well, at least to Sister's classroom. I made a trip to the big City Mall to the K-andy Land store and bought some candy corns and chocolate foil wrapped eyeballs. We also picked up some caramels from the grocery. Placed some of each candy in little plastic bags to keep them fresh and then into paper Halloween treat bags that I found at the grocery store. It was a big hit with the kids and I guess some decided they like Halloween "a little".

Pumpkins grow in Honduras, but I don't think many farmers plant and harvest them only for Halloween. We heard about stores having some in, but they proved to be elusive. No luck with pumpkins. But! If you get lemons, you have to make lemonade - right? So we carved watermelons! It worked out great! I'd do it again. And we don't mind eating the insides.

We went out for pizza for dinner to celebrate and had a very happy time. Came home and played around the candlelit watermelon jack-o-laterns for a few minutes and called it a night. Here is a slideshow: