Cave and Sinkhole Exploring

Two weeks ago I went cave exploring with a group of local guides. Although there were times when I was certain I was going to slip on the mud and lose my grip and fall down holes, I got to go into some really awesome caves. One was down a fairly steep slanted wall that dropped down onto a level chamber probably the length of two football fields, at the end of which was a lake that went deep and probably connected to another room on the other side. There were bats and cave crabs and those creepy cave arachnids. We also saw deep and scary sinkholes. The ecotourism committee hopes to soon put in a better trail to get there. It was one of my coolest Peace Corps moments thus far, hands down.
1. Crazy cave arachnids (this one dead)












2. The cave entrance, looking up

3. Some of the endless examples of interesting stalagtite formations

4. An immense sinkhole. Fall in and you won't make it out.

5. A cool tree on the way to the caves.

Celebrating New Year's in Rural Honduras

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
My New Year’s celebration went as follows:

1. Host family invites me to a late dinner at their house to begin at 9pm.
2. Arrive at 7ish to a houseful of children, old people and a few of us in between—dinner preparations are just beginning to be considered.
3. Host father invites me to a drink outside with friends = passing the bottle of Jim Bean then Jose Cuervo then vodka in a circle around the pickup truck telling crude stories. Do not worry, I partook hardly any. (Host father had started at 2pm)
4. Go inside after a few short minutes to escape the cold breeze and the escalating debauchery. Get a general lecture about how not enough people save their money in San Luis Planes from host grandmother—an appropriate conversation for any PCV… always on duty (actually, go granny… I begged her to give a talk at my coop!).
5. Firecrackers are going off like crazy. A few bottle rockets, a few volcanoes, a few sparklers, a few poppers, but mostly just the loud ones that go BANG.
6. Dinner is served on time at around 11:15. Three types of meat and lots of beans. Welcoming in the new year with farts all around.
7. Piñata smashing committed by those of us between the ages of 17 and 30, the real children of the group, as it turned out.
8. Midnight: burning of an effigy representing the old year (naturally, loaded with firecrackers), down on the plaza; explosions everywhere; host dad and cohorts firing pistol into air; hugs and kisses (when not jumping from the bangs); and did I mention the firecrackers?
9. Music so loud you could taste it: ranchero, techno and Lady Gaga.
10. Dancing. Yes, I danced to it all. And they had never seen such moves. Of course I would never ever even think about dancing with my 17 year old host sister. Never.

Anyway, it was a fun night and I’m very glad that I decided to stay in my community for the big day. I am also grateful I’ve got such a great host family. My host dad, by the way, showed back up at their house sometime around noon the next day with something of a headache I’m sure.

To be good and cheesy, I hope that everyone has a healthy and productive 2011.
Finally, below are a handful of my choices for top bug sightings in Honduras in the year 2010:

1. Stick Bug

2. Earring cocoons

3. Pincer bug

4. One of the many non-descript spiders

in my house

5. Brown butterfly on door

Spiders

Some people have rational fears like the fear of drowning or speaking in public. But when people ask me what I'm most nervous about in relation to going to Honduras, the first thing that inevitably comes to my mind is something very irrational. Sure I think about the difficulties of adjusting to a new culture and fitting into my community, dealing with poverty, strange food and all the other normal things to be just a little unsure about. But what I can't help shake in my mind is my hopeless fear of SPIDERS.

If I were to be logical about it, I'd reason that car accidents or heart disease kill many millions more people a year than spiders do. Logic would have me conclude that I should be deathly afraid of driving and butter and cigarettes instead of insects that are one one hundredth my size that mostly just want to avoid me. But tell logic to shove it because it can't see how creepy spiders are with their many beady eyes and their hairy legs and their fangs and the way they crawl and the way they surprise you then disappear when you look away. Yes, I'm like a six year old, I'll admit it.

Once during a mission trip in Bolivia, I stepped into the shower (which is one of those few places where you're completely exposed- both figuratively and literally) and found a Huge tarantula just chilling on the wall, staring at me with all its eyes. Okay, it was probably a normal-sized one, but it seemed big at the time. Also, I'm pretty sure I saw it lick its lips as it watched me step into its lair. So what could I do? I froze at first to make sure it wasn't going to jump on me and bite me in the face then I slowly backed away, put my clothes back on and called my friend to look too. Needless to say, I didn't take a shower that day. The spider won that round.

Seriously though, I'm sure that spiders won't be a real problem for me in the long run. I probably won't see very many and when I do, I'll try to man up and shoo them away. 'Check your shoes before you put them on,' they say. But thinking about Honduran spiders is just one of those crazy obsessions that you can't help avoid when you're preparing yourself mentally for what lies ahead. I just hope I don't have any more in my shower this time!