Spanish Honduras

May 4th 2012 20:23

Upcoming Features!

I haven't had many new posts in the blog since I've been in Kansas, doing other things. But this summer brings a new travel opportunity so I am dusting off the old Honduras blog to use for my trip to Nicaragua.

Here are some things to look for -- I will be posting photos and updates from my 2012 summer study abroad program, Language and Culture in Nicaragua: Spoken Miskitu. I'm sure there will be lots of photos, so that will be fun. We will be spending time in Granada, Puerto Cabezas, Omotepe, and Waspam.

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Honduran Foods -- Mangos

October 6th 2009 14:48

The best thing about Honduras is the availablility of fresh fruits and vegetables, almost 365 days a year. Ahhhh, the tropics!

Honduras Foods Mangos growing mango tree

Mangos growing in a tree

In Honduras the mangos usually start getting ripe around July, although Hondurans also love to eat Green Mangos. The green mangos are usually sliced and served with salt, hot pepper, lime juice, or some wild combination. These are often sold by street vendors and fruit stands, in little plastic bags. I once saw a group of street vendors gather around a five gallon bucket, mixing bottles of syrup, hot pepper sauce, and lime juice. Are they making a terrorist bomb?? No, just mixing the toppings for the green mango slices. Phwew!

Once the mangos are a little bit yellow, they are perfect for slicing and eating. At first, before they are truly ripe, they are firm and tart, sort of like an apple. Later as they become more ripe (July-August) the mangos become dark orange or red, and the flesh becomes much softer. Mangos are very juicy when they are ripe, and if you eat the fruit whole, it can be a drippy, but yummy, mess. Good for eating outside by the beach or river.

You can also eat mangos by slicing them for inside eating. They also can be pureed to make drinks (mango milkshakes, licuados, or mango daquiris) or frozen treats. You can put the puree on the stove and cook it up into mango jelly as well. You probably won't need to add any sugar to ripe mangos, because they are naturally very sweet.

Another delicious treat that a friend makes is a "high-class" version of the street vendor's green mangos. Take mangos that are starting to ripen and make a dressing of olive oil, sugar, vinegar and hot pepper sauce. It is absolutely delicious, sweet and spice and healthy all in one. You won't be able to stop eating it. Two days in the fridge makes it even better.

Mangos are a perfect example of foods growing on trees in Honduras. When they start to ripen, everyone goes crazy to see the mangos come again. Then towards August when everyone has been eating mangos for months, and there are still tons on the trees, and they are falling down and rotting everywhere, it becomes a social obligation to eat as many mangos as you can. The price drops quickly when they are all ripe. A campesina friend calls the mangos "mata-hambre" or hunger-killers. For a few months they are everywhere, and especially in the country they are free for the taking. She says that they are the perfect thing to eat and kill your hunger while you are waiting for the rice to boil. In the off-season, you just have to be patient.

That is all I have to say about mangos, except that they are a great source of anti-oxidant vitamin E. All this and good for ya too.

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Three Things I Hate About the Greedy American Deathsucker Media

July 8th 2009 17:05

Trust CNN???

The media is always an easy target, because frankly they put themselves out there to criticism. I usually try to avoid criticizing others, whatever their profession, because I believe that time spent criticizing others would be better spent actually accomplishing something (so that other slackers could then criticize me; it's what keeps the world going around). But since I don't have the time or money right now to launch a 24-hour cable news network with real priorities, I'm just going to slam on CNN and the mainstream media.

I'm a journalist, and I've done some work with the mainstream media. So I know how they work, and I know on an intimate level what type of coverage "first world" media is looking for from Honduras. I worked the angle for many years, and there are two great ways to get mainstream media coverage of Honduras: as a clown or as a body count. Other than those two slants, you are hardly ever going to get anyone in the world media to listen to what really goes on in Honduras. It's a small country and there is probably always bigger news elsewhere.

It's not just US media anymore, because CNN where I live at least, is produced in many countries around the world. There are also major players in world journalism from a wide variety of countries, with much more impact since our news has become more globalized.

So it's not just greedy American deathsuckers (to borrow a phrase from William S. Burroughs), but the Americans are a big part of it, and it is definitely a realm of the wealthy and highly educated (do I smell an Oligarchy??). So I'm going to paint them all with the same brush.

So here are the three slants from media coverage of Honduras that really bug me. Taken directly from the websites of CNN and Time Magazine, and paraphrased:

1. "The wealthy elite and the middle class support Micheletti. The poor and working class of Honduras support Zelaya."

First off, in Honduras the people we call middle class probably make about US$12,000 a year, which would be poverty level in any first world country. The wealthy elite are somewhat better off, and might have enviable holdings, but even so . . .CNN and anyone from Europe, and anyone from North America is making twice what the "wealthy elite" are making in Honduras. Don't kid yourself. I am so sick of seeing fat healhty well-educated talking heads on CNN claim that Micheletti has no support from the poor.

Without overstating the obvious, nobody from CNN has any idea what "wealthy in Honduras" means.

There have been demonstrations on both sides, I personally believe that Micheletti has about 80% support. Zelaya has about 20% This is from the crowds I see in moving pictures (all still pictures in Latin American Media can be altered . . . .video not so much).

Those are total gross estimates based on my friends, colleagues, protestors, previous approval ratings for Zelaya, etc. They also basically represent the split of the government, which is why there are a few small scuffles going on in the government, but mostly everyone is on the same side.

So CNN and the mainstream media should not classify this as a coup carried out by the wealthy elite. It is supported by the great majority of Hondurans, and the great majority of Hondurans are poor. If you need me to draw a circle graph I will. Ted Turner, Larry King and Anderson Cooper probably have more money between them than all of the wealthy Hondurans combined.

Also, I want to know, if an oligarchy (a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique) is good enough for the USA why isn't it good enough for Honduras? The first world firmly believes that their wealthiest and most educated people should be the elected representatives. Why must they insist that the third world be run by the poor?

2. "The Coup in Honduras Becomes Deadly"

Finally! I knew they were waiting for it, if there isn't goiing to be a body count, then the mainstream media is going to go home.

This was a CNN headline on Sunday and Monday. Time Magazine also did a Monday morning hot of the press article on it. There has been a death in the coup in Honduras, it has turned deadly.

Death needs time like a junkie needs junk. Like the First World needs the Third World. And, the first world needs to feel like the third world is populated with vicious dictators, brown people, and uneducated clowns. So CNN and Time always love to play to the body count, preferably with some photos and videos of the bodies.

Let's look at the reality. We have been in a state of total chaos, on full military alert, with an enforced curfew, and totally worried about our form of government for about 15 days now. And we have ONE dead guy. Well, some have probably died of natural causes in the time it has taken the international community to pull its head out of its ass. But the international community relies too heavily on CNN.

Anyway somebody finally got killed. This is a pretty good story too, it gets all Indiana Jones at this point.

On Sunday, ousted president Zelaya was supposed to fly into Honduras. He had announced his return. Our interim president announced that he would not be allowed to return. The Organization of American States, or as I call them, the Organization of American Facists, INSISTED THAT HE BE ALLOWED TO RETURN, and their people were accompanying him on the plane.

Can you say Mexican Standoff?

So we get up on Sunday, waiting to see what happens (it's been a long tiring week of waiting). We hear on the news that Zelaya's plane has departed for the country. they put on Cadena Nacional (required broadcast) and we all listen to some Honduran marimba music, on every channel. Then they start making the announcement about the airport, that the airport in Tegus is closed, and that all other airports are open. The head of Civil Aeronautics also announced that International Law states that any visiting Mandatario (Head of State) has to announce their entry into Honduras, and request permission.

In Tegus a group of pro-Zelaya demonstrators started marching towards the airport. When they got there, the airport was closed and surrounded by military and police. Let me reiterate that the airport was closed, and on Cadena Nacional they were advising everyone of this fact.

Well the protestors tried to get into the airport runway through a fence. The Military started firing, and one protestor was shot. Then there was tear gas and violence.

So CNN and Time got their deathwish satisfied and now they have a martyr to celebrate. He was of course poor! See how the poor are repressed?

Personally, I wouldn't try to cross an airport fence against the wishes of the military patrols that guard many airports all the time. I think even in the US or Canada, if there is a fence that is keeping people off of the runway, it is highly bad behavior to try to break through it.

But that is in Gringolandia, I don't know, maybe up there they let people run around on the runway at will (I did see a deer on the runway once in Houston).

But here in Honduras we have an additional problem. Did you ever hear the story a few years back about a man who flew in the wheel well of a commercial jet to Miami? (Survived, very cold in shock) Well, believe it or not, if there wasn't a secure fence around the runway of the airport in Tegucigalpa, there would be a small Honduran family in the wheel well of every plane landing in Miami. They would probably learn to bring coats and oxygen

So do I feel sorry for the guy who got shot in the head? No. CNN correspondent was really touched by the fact that this family was so poor (so poor, so poor), that they loaded his casket ("a simple wooden box," and I fucking quote) into a pickup to take him home to be buried.

Dudes, get the heck over your first world selves, because everyone in Honduras get buried out of a pickup truck. What the hell, do you think we have hearses? Break out of your shell, leave the hotel once in a while. Pickups are better anyway, then your whole family can ride along.

And the casket I see in the video is indeed a professionally made casket, that probably cost several hundred dollars. That is not the wooden box. CNN doesn't even recognize an economical casket, they probably get buried in gilded steel.

3. "The Military overthrew the government in Honduras, and are still in power."

Stupid and insulting. I wonder what would happen if you insulted the US military in mainstream media? But they feel fine insulting our military, the ones who are out there every day risking their lives.

The military acted on orders from Congress and the Supreme Court. They never had "power." They never wanted power. All they wanted was peace, and now they have a battle on their hands, and they have to fight to protect the interim government.

They have no power at all, they have miserable little Honduran salaries, and they are getting up every morning to put on flack jackets and body armour to earn their daily bread. They are not the bad guys here, they are totally innocent and admirable.

Plus, the military are obligated to protect the airport, disperse demonstrators, etc. as part of their job. The Protestors on the other hand are voluntarily getting up and going out into the street to throw rocks at them.

The military have not shot anyone yet!! I've wanted to shoot a few people . . .they have more restraint than me. Someone tries to forcibly enter the airport fence, and some brave soldier had to shoot him. I don't think that soldier got up in the morning wanting to kill a fellow Honduran. It was brought upon him by the actions of that person, and his orders to defend a port.

Sad sad sad. I'm going to go out and take donuts to the soldiers today (in full fatigues in the heat). Thank god most of them don't have cable to see how CNN is demonizing them.

Okay, those are my complaints. The media needs to do better. I hate to even send you to their sites, but if you do go review their coverage, you will see that their slant is exactly how I have layed it out. And it is stupid and unfair, and the "purpose" is to make the first world feel comfy in the fact that they are the only civilized people in the world, and are indeed much smarter and more capable than anyone else

CNN coverage of Honduras
Time Magazine Coverage of the death and funeral

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Day one of the Economic Embargo of Honduras

July 2nd 2009 00:16

Can I just tell you that we have no Chocolate Syrup in Honduras?

It seems our "neighbors" and I use the term loosely . . . have seen it necessary to enforce an economic embargo of the country of Honduras

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Regime change in Honduras

June 30th 2009 16:53

I´ve been asked, so I will give my recap of what has been happening in Honduras. Before I start, I have to make some important disclaimers. First, I am not Honduran, and have no rights to campaign or vote for elected officials in Honduras. Second, my political views are entirely my own opinion, and I will make every effort to respect the opinions of others, and acknowledge that their opinions on political leaders are as valid as my own.

Honduran President Zelaya (left), before being forcibly overthrown

Mel Zelaya was inaugurated President in January of 2006. It was an uneventful election, and as usual I wasn't paying much attention. I am generally a Liberal, and Mel was Liberal party so I expected normalcy. Things went along pretty well, although he wasn't much of a firecracker

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Songs for a Revolution: Senor Juez by Ricardo Arjona

June 27th 2009 18:50

Album cover -- Santo Pecado

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USA vs Honduras in World Cup Eliminatory Round

June 7th 2009 00:27

June 06, 2009

Honduras will meet the US National Soccer team tonight in Chicago for a crucial game in the World Cup eliminatories. The crowd is expected to be strongly in favor of Honduras, because even in the third largest city in the US you can't find 100,000 people who want to cheer for US Soccer

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Honduran Foods and Cuisine: Coconut

May 5th 2009 23:18

The coconut palm is a plant that has so many uses and peculiarities that it has influenced societies throughout the world. What would Hawaiian Tropic smell like if there were no coconut?

Hondurans, especially on the North Coast and the Bay Islands, use coconut in a variety of national foods and local specialties. Coconut is a seed or nut, so it's uses are a little different than your typical fruit or vegetable

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Honduran Foods and Cuisine: Fried Fish

March 8th 2009 01:29

The whole fried fish is a famous dish throughout Honduras. It is most popular on the North Coast, the South Coast and near Lake Yojoa. Anywhere that you can find a plentiful supply of fresh fish, you will see a smattering of small Honduran casetas, or restaurants serving Fried Fish.

Whole Fried Fish from Honduras, yum! Pescado Frito!

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Semana Santa Processions in Comayagua Honduras

March 1st 2009 04:33

Semana Santa is Easter Week in Honduras, a country where the majority of the population are identified as Catholics. In Comayagua, Honduras, you can see one of the most detailed and impressive Processions on Good Friday of Semana Santa or Holy Week.