Naca Tamales

This past Wednesday, we had a day off. Christina, one of the Honduran teachers, is an amazing cook. She's cooked dinners for the president (thousands of people) and cooks a lot for local functions as well. We went to her house, and she taught us how to make her amazing naca tamales (tamales filled with raisins, olives, peas, carrots, and chicken...mmmm!), which she served at a teacher dinner we had to celebrate teacher's day. We all contributed to writing down the recipe so hopefully I'll be able to recreate them back in the states. That is, if I can find banana leaves. The recipe made about 100 naca tamales so we have about 40 in our refrigerator since Hannah and I both went. It's like Thanksgiving leftovers....sort of.

Camarie stirring the batter on the outdoor fire

The filling for the naca tamales

Getting ready to roll the tamales

Christina instructing us on how to roll properly

Me rolling a tamale

Hannah and Saira (a Honduran teacher) showing off the banana leaves

The finished product (some are wrapped in foil so that they wouldn't fall apart while they were cooking for an hour)

The first finished naca tamale that we tasted....mmm!

Turning 24 in Tegus!

Four birthday celebrations later, and I had a blast. After the Friday night fun with teachers (see previous post), I was feeling much better and my roommates and I, along with a couple of other teachers decided to go to Tegus to celebrate in style on Saturday night. It was Hector's b-day (a Honduran guy who works at the American embassy in Tegus and a friend of my roommate's boyfriend). He had already planned to go to La Grotta, an upscale trendy club in Tegus where you have to reserve a table beforehand and have to get bottle service. They served free shots that tasted like mango all night and we got a free bottle of champagne with a sparkler in it because it was my b-day at midnight. The cocktails were too sweet though. It was a long, fun night. Normally the clubs close at 2 am but because of some anniversary, the club stayed open until 5. The next morning, Jess, Jess's boyfriend, Hannah, and I went to TGIFriday's in the mall for lunch. They told the staff it was my birthday so they gave me this huge hat (think Cat and the hat) and made me get up and dance while they clapped and sung in Spanish. It was embarrassing but fun. Pictures are yet to come because they're not on my camera. On Monday, my kids surprised me with a cake they bought from the director (chocolate with peanut butter icing) and sang to me in English. Very cute!

The B-day Girls: Sarah and I

La Grotta...where I celebrated my birthday on Saturday night (Sep. 29th)...see, even third world countries have trendy bars!

Some of the teachers at La Grotta













Free champagne with a sparkler in it,
which I got because it was my b-day

Hannah and I at midnight!

Maya and I toasting

Free glow sticks!

The birthday cake my kids surprised me with. :)

Almost a parasite!

Last week, I got really sick. I've been sick a lot since I've been here so I didn't really think much of it. The first day I had a fever and probably 14 hours. I felt dizzy and almost threw up in class. The second day, I did throw up in class (only a little though) and ended up going home early (the only class I really missed was P.E. since I only teach 1 class after lunch). I went to the doctor at 2 in the afternoon and waited over an hour to be seen, even after having an appointment. I had asked for a translator but since all the teachers are at school until at least 2:20, our director couldn't find one. So I wrote down all the symptoms I had (and it was a lonnnng list!) and managed to communicate enough with the doctor to get 3 drugs. At the end though, I had know idea what I actually had, just that I had to buy a lot of drugs. The cost of the doctor's visit was 150 limps or about $7. Not bad, eh? But the drugs were almost 600 limps or about $30, which is a lot for here. It turns out I had an intestinal infection. Better than a parasite, but not great. I wasn't hungry for almost 2 days straight. The worst part was that the day after I went to the doctor was Comidas Typicas or a festival where the high school students make and sell typical Honduran food to raise money for their classes. They made huts out of poles and banana leaves and I wish I had been hungrier because the food was so good! I tried fresh lemonade, which was amazing, and tripe soup (I didn't actually try the tripe though), and rice with milk. All were delicious. I also took home a plate that is typical Honduran food. It had chunks of beef (yes, I actually eat some beef here!), plantains, vegetables, and rice. That night, all the teachers celebrated 2 birthdays-mine and another teacher's, who happens to have the same b-day as me! We made pizza, which was a welcome break from traditional Honduran food, but would have been better with pepperoni which is impossible to find here but you can get at some pizza delivery places. We also had some chocolate cake. One of teachers is a baker (for all you New Yorkers, she interned at Chanterelle last summer....) so we get good sweets when there is a festivity, which is a perk. :) And that was the first part of my birthday celebration.