Melthing Pot

Did anyone else have to look twice too? I'm assuming the English word that they were looking for was "melting". Maybe it was a mistake on the sign makers part or maybe the owners didn't do a spell check when coming up with a name.
This misspelling is very common in Honduras and I always get a kick out of seeing things like this.

By the way, the "Salva Vida" on the sign is a Honduran beer. It translates to "life saver". Salva Vida seems to be a very popular sign sponser for stores and restaurants that keep this beer in stock; so you will see the bright yellow nautical looking Salva Vida signs all over.

Wear Deet- Beware of biting flies

It looks as if I was the blood meal for some happy mommy sand fly. I can't imagine you all want to look at my feet, but too late. This is day 9 of these little bites. Not really itching anymore, but still there nice and red. I have about seven on one foot and three on the other foot.

One night Papa and I sat out on the open patio enjoying a cocktail while the kids slumbered upstairs in their beds in an ocean front hotel in Tela. After the sun sets is when you are the most susceptible to bites. I noticed as we were sitting down at our table that underneath was burning some incense type bug repellent. I didn't think much of it. Just glad it was there. The restaurant obviously knew these flies enjoy feet. The sand was about 10 feet away from where we were sitting.

So why did I get the bites and not Papa you might ask. I guess some people can be natural repellents. Maybe they have stinky blood? Maybe Papa put on the repellent like a good boy and I didn't. But from here on out, if I'm near sand and the sun is setting I will have at least 30% deet on and remember you should too if your ever in the tropics and near sand because these sand flies can also potentially carry some pretty yucky infectious stuff.

Honduras trip highlights 1

We've been back for 6 days and it feels like it's been a month already. It's snowing like mad outside and we could have more than a foot of the white stuff by tomorrow evening. Ugh! I still have bug bites on my feet that are itching. I'll have to tell more about that later...but let me just say...I don't think these are mosquito bites.


I tried this trip to take more photos of some of the cultural differences and ways of life in Honduras that differ from the US so I could write about them here on the blog and then you will know a little more about the world I'm heading to.

Let me just say first that I think the blood is finally starting to flow through my hands again. It was all that white knuckle driving. Sorry, I don't have a picture of this -ha ha. We took plenty of road trips in a very comfortable car that we rented. The car worked in perfect condition, Papa is a very good driver save for a bit of a temper at idiot drivers. It's everything outside the car that makes it hard to have a relaxing drive that many of us think of when driving to our favorite summer destinations up north or where ever. I could not let myself take a little doze because I had to keep my eyes on the road. I figure 4 eyes are better on the road than 2. Papa almost daily referred to me as his "co-pilot". One thing that is different about driving in San Pedro Sula at least is that you drive with one hand on the horn ready to sound at any car driving poorly and through most intersections- controlled or not. You see...you honk to alert others who might ignore traffic signs and signals that you are coming through.

Anyway...outside of the city one thing that actually works great for speed control are these patches of road that is not paved. You can be driving down a highway and suddenly come onto a small patch of dirt road...who knows why but I'm sure there is a reason the pavement skips. It could maybe only be 20-50 yards of road. These dirt roads can get very bumpy with potholes and these holes create a little means of income for some young boys.

I'll call them the pot-hole patchers.

Usually about 2 or 3 boys will stand at the unpaved road with their shovels stopping cars and asking for a few lempiras (Honduras currancy) for patching the holes. The thing is...I never actually saw them patching the holes. I think they are selective on how many and how well they patch the holes because if they did too good of a job, where would their source of income go? So they push a little dirt around, but never really finish the job.

Back in the US

We made it back from Honduras. It was an amazing trip. 2 weeks is a long time, but it also flew by.

We didn't get much to the internet cafes that are all over the place down there. It was hard to carve out enough time for showers and meals between the fun things we did and places we saw. But I did like to sneak away in Copan for some computer face time a few times. Here I am typing away before our new camera got dropped and broke the next day :O(.

I'm more comfortable in Copan not only b/c it's a very safe little town, but b/c so many there are tourists and have skin as white as mine.

Speaking of white skin. I have gotten a few comments about my lack of tan when I got back. I just wasn't too concerned with getting sun. I did get some, but I was wearing good sunscreen and with the kids, I didn't want them to be out in the sun too much with me. We sure enjoyed the warm weather though. The kids loved it immediately and we could barely put Brother Sprout in the car b/c he just wanted to run around all the time.

I wished I could write about so many things, but maybe I will save that for future posts. I feel like I look like I've aged 5 years in the last 6 months. Yes, I know it's bound to happen, I'm gonna get old, but I really over worked myself the last 6 months or more and the lack of sleep staying up on the internet is not so good for the youthful glow I'm trying to hold onto... at least until my wrinkles get too deep. So I'm trying to get disciplined and go to bed earlier to get my "beauty rest".

Honduras Day 8

Well...We are here in Honduras. It is our 8th day. Just got into
Copan last night.

We spent a few days at a lake about an hour outside of San Pedro Sula.
Papa and I were adjusting to having the kids with us full time and
were wiped out tired. But we all were having lots of fun.

We spent spent some time in another port town called Omoa. Sister Sprout saw
the ocean for the first time. We also went to a local museum and
there Mama Sprout started to not feel so good and by nightfall I was sick and
running a fever. It took about 12 hours for the antibiotics to work,
but was feeling better by morning.

We got into Copan last night and it is so peaceful here. The kids
love it. It´s in the middle of all these green mountains and getting
here made the kids very car sick with all the twists and turns we had
to make. Both kids looked a little green in the back seat of the car.

We found a perfect little hotel with a gated patio where the kids can
run around and play. They like to hang out at the gate and watch all
the passer-bys.

The only bad thing is that we managed to break our brand new digital
camera here. We dropped it. Man am I pissed about it. Trying not to
feel too bummed, so I´m sitting here at the internet having a beer
helping Sister Sprout figure out her fun internet games she misses. It´s about
.75 US /hr.

Papa went and got Brother Sprout a fruit smoothie in the downstairs shop.
It´s easier to feed the kids healthy here than in San Pedro Sula or
any other place we´ve been. Everything is fried. Good, but very,
very heavy.