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Ryan’s Great Adventures

Volume 3: Mon Apr 29, 2002

The entrance for a local zoo... of sorts

A lot of people out here wield machettes. It's probably the weapon of choice behind guns, but it's much more practical. I haven't actually seen anyone use a gun, (heck, they may not even be loaded for all I know!), but I have seen people using machetes hacking away at bushes and trees. I suppose they think they're trimming the vegetation, but it looks more like they've gone beserk and somehow managed to get their hands on a weapon that crazy people really shouldn't have access to. It's a good form of entertainment if nothing else. =)

Speaking of entertainment, I also attended a soccer game between La Ceiba and San Pedro Sula. The best entertainment of the night occurred before we even got into the stadium. While waiting in line to buy tickets, a very drunk man whipped out his pecker and started peeing on the tire of a nearby truck. I doubt anyone would have noticed, except he appeared to have forgotten that he was peeing, and started walking back towards the line, his member dangling, people dodging the yellow stream, as he started shouting at some friends (I guess) in an attempt to get their attention. Probably needed help in zipping up, but the scene was something no one who saw it is likely to forget anytime soon.

One student from Maine feeds a monkey in the local zoo

The game itself was fun, but sadly La Ceiba lost. I haven't played nor been to very many soccer games—not since high school—and my knowledge of the rules of the game were a bit rusty. Consequently, I wasn't really sure what the score was most of the game. There wasn't any scoreboard nor announcer to tell you that sort of thing. However, I knew what team I was supposed to be rooting for and which direction they were supposed to be going, and that's all I really needed to know to enjoy myself. =)

Several times throughout the game players were carried out on stretchers, but it was hard to bring up much sympathy for them since as soon as they were carried off the field, they'd jump off and run right back into the game as if they never left. It's rather comical.

This tree is choked full of bird nests. No, I don't know what bird made these nests.

A couple of people have written asking about Lisa Lopez, the singer who was killed last week in Honduras not too far from La Ceiba. No, I did NOT secretly marry her just before her death, rumors to the contrary. Just kidding. =) First, I'd like to say I never even heard of the person until after she died. I didn't learn of her death until the next day when I logged into the Internet and saw that it made the news in the United States. It wasn't until two days after the accident that I read about it in the local papers, and they put a LOT of print into the event. (The entire front page, along with the next four pages.) So I guess it's a media sensation around here. However, I have no new details to provide beyond that which you can find for yourself. If the local paper had anything new to provide, I wasn't able to read it in Spanish! (Note to Mom: It was a CAR ACCIDENT! It could have happened ANYWHERE! So don't go worrying anymore about me than you usually do!)

A flower in the jungle

Now that I've become more familiar with the sights and sounds around La Ceiba, I spent some of my last week going to movies. It's hard to resist at 20 or 25 limperas (16.2 limps = $1) depending on when I went. The movies are in English but include Spanish subtitles which is where I've been picking up a lot of new bad words. =) (Sadly, my Spanish-English dictionary doesn't list them.) Not only are the movies dirt cheap, but it's AIR CONDITIONED! I had a wear a jacket for the first time I was out here! (I practically froze to death at the first movie I saw, but I learn from my mistakes quickly.) And get this, I even paid about a buck for a drink. How many places in the US can you buy a drink for a buck at a movie theater?!!! It's a great feeling. =) (That's probably really expensive for here, but I don't mind getting ripped off as long as it doesn't FEEL like I'm being ripped off! *smile*)

None of the movies had that 'dancing popcorn' clip before the movie, nor the "turn off your cell phones" fyi, and several people felt the need to answer their cell phones and have long conversations with the people who called them. Two of the movies didn't even have previews. Just straight into the movie, do not pass go, do not collect $200. The third movie had a preview for Star Wars: Attack of the Clones which was dubbed in Spanish. If you ask me, Samuel L Jackson sounds MUCH better in Spanish than he does in English.

The jungles are full of color

In case you want to know what movies I've seen:

The Last Castle (pretty good!)
Hart's War (decent)
Black Hawk Down (awful)

For whatever reason, the ONLY movies playing around here are action movies. I'd love to see a comedy or something, but they're nowhere to be found.

The movie theater I went to is at "The Mall". I swear this place is a tourist attraction for locals. They seem so proud of it. It's a large, indoor mall like you can find just about anywhere in the United States (with the exception of San Luis Obispo, of course). It's filled with very American stores like Applebees and Wendys. If you were dropped into it blindfolded, it would probably take you a while to realize that you were no longer in the United States. But the locals seems to love the place and they're quite proud of their achievement.

There's also a supermarket in the mall, which is kind of a weird concept for me since that's usually the ONLY thing that's not in any of the malls I'm familiar with. That's my favorite place in the mall, though. They play Latino music at very loud decibels—you'd think you were at a late-night club while you wander up and down the isles admiring all the products on the shelves. Many of the products are in English, but just as many are Spanish. And one time I was there, I saw a girl who had taken off her top while in the checkout line. That's not normal behavior for here (at least I didn't THINK it is!), but nobody else seemed to have noticed there was a girl who was clearly topless in the checkout line. But it was only briefly, since when I saw her leaving the store, she had covered herself up again. Very strange..... Even a trip to the supermarket is an adventure! =)

That's it for my latest volume. Farewell!

— Ryan

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