As I am going through the piles of stuff in my house, I have begun placing things in three distinct piles: what’s going, what’s staying, and what ought to be burned (anything I wore while hiking Talgua). It’s been bittersweet. I’m enjoying reminiscing about all of my many, many adventures here in Honduras. Seeing as how I am a pack-rat-boarding-on-hoarder, I have collected a lot of, well, things. Here are some of my favorites:
The conch shell from the trip to Cayos Cochinos. This little cluster of islands was probably the most unique place I have been here in Honduras, if not my whole life. The Garifuna people were friendly without being overly so, and they managed to carry out their lives without being disturbed or posing for the camera while I took pictures. A photographers dream. These conch shells were literally lining the island. You couldn’t take one step on the beached with tripping over these giant beauties. I had actually collected like four of them but due to space constraints I only managed to bring back this one. It definitely made the cut to get brought back home.
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Mayan Statue – the obligatory touristy souvenir from Copan Ruinas. I’ve been to the ruins three separate times and fortunately I only have one cheesy statue.
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Sexiest Trophy – I earned this Halloween 2010 along with six other Lady Gagas. You might have heard, but we won the contest. This was originally at the house of another one of the Gagas but she left the country a year ago and passed it on to me.
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My Where-I’ve-Been map - I have circles around all the places where I have either worked, slept or partied. Sometimes all three. I could probably tell you a really good story about every single circle on that map. By the time I leave this country I will have been to 16 of the 18 departments in Honduras. And one of them is off-limits and doesn’t have roads. Not too shabby.
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My machete – To the untrained eye, it might just look like a really big knife. But I assure you it’s not. Did I really NEED a machete? Probably no. But I wanted one because, hell, I lived in the campo and every one else in El Real had one. The funny thing is I mostly used it for cutting cardboard for various art projects. Plus this isn’t the size of a normal machete. I once heard someone call it a “womans machete” because it is a size smaller than the ones the men use in the campo. But I liked having it. Although I’m doubtful this will make it back to Ohio with me….
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My Olancho Pueblo Crawl t-shirt. And matching computer sticker. Because, obviously.
(“Come if you want, leave if you can”. It’s a reference to how people really like Olancho and stay forever. But honestly I think it’s more probable that people come to Olancho and get shot so they can never leave… Potato, potato.)
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My hammock. Why would anyone ever want a couch when you could have one of these?
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Well that’s it. If only I could figure out how to pack the REST of my stuff….
-Sarita
