Moroceli, El Paraiso

Hondu 11 is here already! Every new incoming Peace Corps group is labeled with a number, for example, my group (which includes Health, Water & Sanitation and Business) is Hondu 10. Although it feels like Hondu 10 just got here, Hondu 11 (Protected Areas Management-PAM, Youth Development and Municipal Development) is already here and in training. Last week I went to Morocei, Danli, the training site of the PAM volunteers to do an HIV/AIDS workshop with them.

It was a small group of only 11 trainees (compared to Health which had 20) and they were pretty chill, much more chill than my group. Maybe it is because they are PAMers, who have it the roughest of all Honduras PCVs because they usually live in the boonies without electricity or cell phone service. Anyway, the training went well, much easier than I expected, and it was fun to meet the incoming volunteers. What didn’t go well was the “hotel” situation! I have to qualify it as the worst hotel experience of my life. The toilet was tapped shut to indicate that it was out of order and covered in about a years worth of filth. There was a big bucket of dirty water in the shower to bath with (although we did get lucky enough to have running water in the morning). There was no ceiling, just a tile roof, which means that bugs, rain and miscellaneous items can freely enter the room. The bed sheets were so dirty that I actually put my yoga mat on top of my bed and slept on that. Everything smelled like mold and the first night I was kept up practically all night because the guy in the next room was sick and I could hear him pucking and coughing all night. The whole experience made me appreciate the beauty and comfort of Santa Barbara and I couldn’t wait to get make to my lujo (luxury) apartment.

On a happier note, we had twoo side excursions to check out Honduran manufacturing. First we visited Yuscaran, El Paraiso, home of the Yuscaran Guaro factory! Guaro is strong liquor (35% alcohol) made from sugar cane favorite among Honduran bolos (drunks). All we had to do was knock on the door and a few minutes later a manager showed up to give us an in depth tour. The whole place smelled very sweet and we got to stick our fingers in the huge vats of processed sugar cane (I know, very hygienic). Then we got to taste different types of guaro, although the smell was so strong that I passed on most of the taste tests. They did have one type that I really liked because it had corn honey in it, so it was sweet. I asked if I could buy that one in stores, they said no, so instead they gave me a bottle right from the factory.

Second, we went to visit a cigar factory in Moroceli. Again, we just knocked on the door and a manger came and gave us over an hour long tour and lecture about Cuba (his home country). Although I don’t smoke cigars and don’t support the tobacco industry, the tour was really interesting and the entire factory smelled amazing!