Friday - We left Juticalpa at 5 pm on a charter bus to Tegucigalpa, which took about 3 hours. I was expecting something a little more trashy or dirty, but this was pretty nice. The buses in the US are probably grosser, but I've never taken one, so they're probably pretty nice, too. We got to the hotel, Hotel Granada 1, got ready to go out and ate dinner at TGI Friday's in the MultiPlax mall. I got this pasta thing that definitely didn't do good things to my body, but everyone else really wanted American food. What I really wanted was a good beer at a good bar, and this was fulfilled on Saturday.
After this, we went to a bar that was called something that had to do with Mexico. The performers had a Blues Brothers dance routine and sang in a karaoke style. It was really fabulous. This bar also completely reaffirmed my thought that Spanish men are way more aggressive and space-invading while dancing than Central American men. This is why: I went onto the patio to smoke a cigarette and started to talk to this younger, Spanish man. An older (in his 60s) Spanish man came out and started talking to us and eventually a song came on that he wanted to dance with me to. The way he did this was by licking his finger and rubbing it down to his butt. I thought he was joking until he started unbuttoning his shirt, licked his fingers again, and rubbed his chest while bending his knees. I tried to tell him I was going to go dance with my friends, but he followed me. So, I got my roommate to dance with me until he left. Not the first time we had to do this, but the difference with Central American men is that they ask if you want to dance first, then you act like you're together and say "no," and they leave. Or you just say no and they leave. Or you say yes and you dance not touching, just together. Spanish men do not ask if you want to dance, they just start being a pervert (and this happened in Barcelona, too, and at least this time they didn't resort to rubbing their junk on you until you have to walk away). It's similar to going out in El Paso, TX, or even Las Cruces, NM, where all of the sudden someone is rubbing on you. After that, though, a group of us Americans danced together and it was one of the best going out experiences I've had so far.
Than I went back to the hotel.
Saturday - We all slept in until about 11 and went to get breakfast/lunch after changing hotels to Hotel Granada 3, which was a lot nicer and a block away. I ate at what is apparently the biggest baliada chain in Honduras, and it was the best best baliada I've had yet. It only rivals the ones that set up a tent in the park.
I was planning on visiting Helping Hands for Hound Honduras, an animal sanctuary in Tegucigalpa, but I couldn't get ahold of the woman who runs it, so I couldn't. I did have an entire conversation in Spanish over the phone with her neighbor, though, which was really cool.
Instead, I ended up going to Valles de Angeles with everyone else. Valles de Angeles is basically a tourist town that exists off selling stuff that says "Honduras" on it to tourists. It would completely adorable and felt like being in Epcot and gave me really great ideas for gifts for me family and for myself. At the end of the day, four of us decided to get a bite to eat, not knowing that in an hour the last bus to Teguc was leaving. By the time we got our food, we had to shovel as much food into our mouths as we could, pay, and run to the bus. It was the most expensive meal for the least amount of food I've had yet. A 16 limp baliada in the park it way better than a 200 limp three tortillas filled with beans. But what can I say? It was a tourist town.
That night we went to a Cuban restaurant for dinner (the music was crazy loud), and the 10 of us split up. Myself and 5 others went to a Canadian bar called Angry Beavers, which is where I finally had a real beer: New Castle. After drinking nothing but super light beers for a month, this was such an amazing flavor. The man who owns the bar sat down with us and talked until 2 am, and told us that we should come back at any time and he'll close down the bar but let us stay as long as we want. It was exactly what I needed: a chill bar that played music that every so often we all stopped to sing to that had good beer. We even talked about politics! I was a little drunk at this point, though, so I mostly ran my mouth, but overall the conversation was great. This bar definitely hit the spot. Next time we go to Teguc, I guess we're going to go to what has been described as a "hipster bar."
Sunday - I woke up at around 7:30 am so that I could meet the woman from HHHH. She picked me up and took me to her house that doubles as the sanctuary. She has about 15-20 dogs living there, 3 cats, and 4 birds that she has rescued and has a story for every single one. We mostly talked, but she definitely needs help. Her house is a mess and she takes care of close to 30 animals every day, mostly on her own. Next time we're in Teguc, I'm planning on spending an entire day there cleaning and feeding the animals. She's in her 60s and has been doing this for about 20 - 30 years, so she knows what she's doing, she just can use some help. She could also use monetary support to fix some stuff around her house and buy food for the animals, so if you want go to Animal-Kind International's webpage and donate some moneys, she could use it. It would be nice if this could turn into something bigger, have an actual location maybe, with more hands, like, perhaps, a hired veterinarian on hand. It's not the only animal rights organization in Teguc, but it is the only one that has connections to an organization based 20 minutes away from my home town, so it's the one I'm choosing to support.
After talking for a few hours and giving me a Spanish/English book to read about the organization, she dropped me off at one of the malls. We spent a few hours there, I bought a shirt at a store called Charley and Siddhartha in Spanish so I can work on my Spanish with a book I know well.
I'm not much of a shopper. I usually just wonder around bored if there isn't something I'm specifically looking for. That store Charley, though, was an eye-opening experience. I understand now why people like shopping... The shirt I bought I wore out of the store because I loved it too much, and I think I'm going to start a tradition. Slowly, over the course of the year, I am going to add to my wardrobe with items that are a mixture of Annie Hall and the early 90s, and wear them out of the store. This is exactly the style I've wanted for a while, and now it will happen, dog-gonnit.
We got on the bus back around 3 pm. When we got back we had no water in our house, apparently since Saturday. Today is Tuesday and still no water. If it doesn't turn back on soon I'm seriously going to need a shower. The chic head scarf thing can only last for so long.
It was a really great weekend. This upcoming weekend is promising to be really great, as well. This year could potentially be punctuated by the weekends.
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