Thursday, January 6, 2011
HONDURAS - I am so tired
We walked down off the mountain today after hiking for three straight days in old growth cloud forest. Both Zac and I plan to blog about the trip. For now check out some photos at the farmer to farmer facebook page. For now very very tired.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
HONDURAS - January 1st - A Day of Rest in Comayagua
By Zacarias
Waking up a bit later than I hoped, I was overjoyed to hear the knocking of Andy bringing in a fine breakfast in bed as the kitchen was ready to close before I was up and out of bed! Huevos, frijoles, jugo de mora, jamon y pan a las Nueve y media! The luxeries of our hotel (Hotel Morales) continued to surprise us (Farmer to Farmer makes this a yearly stop in Comayagua) as showers provided us a comfortable wake up with warm water and very comfortable beds to slowly soak in the realization of the new year (and exciting date of 1-1-01!).
After deciding to stay another night at this location and not relocate to a friend´s home on the outskirts of comayagua (our hotel feels centralized, safe, very welcoming and connected.) and not having to move to a less walkable, perhaps not being able to enjoy the great variety of foods avaible in the downtown markets, restaurants and great concentration of new years celebrations spilling out into the streets. From these windows flows music and dance, the smells of home made delicacies and community of a warm greetings and unbelievably generous invitations. We celebrate friendships, new and old, burning scare crow like symbols of the new and the old... perhaps a cleansing that comes from farther back than any of us are aware of.
As we walk the streets I can feel some of the similarities and differences that draw farmer to farmer to such places as Comayagua. I carry a bottle of purified water that helps during a good amount of walking through this vibrant city, my paces seem to take the upbeat rhythem of a unadapted and certainly a non-catracho. Even my shoes seem larger than life to people as they speak to my dedication to efficiency in walking from point A to point Z, shadowed by a pair of athletic shorts and tshirt... hardly the usual getup for a day of celebration! Most Catrachos (Hondurans) are very well dressed and are hardly as ready to commit their clothing selections to short notice excersize or simply the clothes that might alow you to make that impulsive jump! Though I stand out here, the people we great on the street and share our day with are tremendously forgiving and seem to accept my style of what someone might wear to the gym, as well as my attempts to speak Honduran Spanish!
Andy and I have found that we are constantly eating a large quantity and great diversity of food while in Honduras (It´s quite hard to say no to so many great invitations and food). As two travelers that live to enjoy the fine fruits and vegetables, baked goods and beverages, seasonal delights and the occasional street food (we´re quite careful to make sure that things are thuroughly cooked and try not to consume water from the tap) we look forward to stepping back from so many in between meals and large traditional meals to hike up and around the mountain (Comayagua National Park) with three other friends that will help us follow old trails and perhaps machette our way through numerous new routes we plan to make in order to visit several small communities that grow amazing coffee for farmer to farmer.
In getting ready for the trip we visit a few old friends to see maps, get updates on the politics and community dynamics that relate to the strength of the Cofeacoma Coffee Cooperative. At one of these visits (visiting Andy´s old friend, Cerritos) we are welcomed with the surprise of ESPN2 and american futbol broadcasting the bowl games of the day... including our own Wisconsin Badgers! During a grocery run we happen across two more old friends that our delegation was able to visit last year and plan to visit again after our delegation of six returns from a second trip to the mountain (visiting the pueblo of Rio Negro and numerous eco huts, cofee growers, womens artisan groups, scholarship recipients, and more). These friends hope to show our delegation their farm and model for exporting chinese vegetables to a global market of cucumbers, chives, and other vegetables), share a meal and discuss the partnerships developing in the community with farmer to farmer.
New years parties take away some weekend possiblities in the city as everyone tries to be at home with friends and family (their family businesses stay closed for a few extra days around this time of year), so our meals are detoured to be shared with a chinese family restaurant (we´re fed very well with fried rice, wontons, bread and iced tea) and then with our friend Hector´s family for a dinner of potato salad, pickled vegetables, chicken and bread. We are fortunate to have friends growing their own coffee or getting it from the very mountain that we will camp tomorrow (Sunday) through Thursday.
The last events for our day of rest (farmer to farmer doesn´t really rest on these trips!!!) is to pack our bags of food and camping gear for an early departure to the mountain, and these two blogs that summarize some of the more urban experience we´ve had so far! We can´t wait to tell you of the reality of our four day hike around the national park of comayagua, visiting the park´s nucleus, bird watching, searching for cappuccin monkeys and visiting the small communities that make the park a future destination for farmer to farmer delegations.
I believe that´s all for now! Happy new year and let us know if you get to try some farmer to farmer coffee from your local cooperative or neighborhood store, we look forward to sharing more of the struggles and joys of this beautiful place and better and better coffee and human connections, peace and understanding.
Waking up a bit later than I hoped, I was overjoyed to hear the knocking of Andy bringing in a fine breakfast in bed as the kitchen was ready to close before I was up and out of bed! Huevos, frijoles, jugo de mora, jamon y pan a las Nueve y media! The luxeries of our hotel (Hotel Morales) continued to surprise us (Farmer to Farmer makes this a yearly stop in Comayagua) as showers provided us a comfortable wake up with warm water and very comfortable beds to slowly soak in the realization of the new year (and exciting date of 1-1-01!).
After deciding to stay another night at this location and not relocate to a friend´s home on the outskirts of comayagua (our hotel feels centralized, safe, very welcoming and connected.) and not having to move to a less walkable, perhaps not being able to enjoy the great variety of foods avaible in the downtown markets, restaurants and great concentration of new years celebrations spilling out into the streets. From these windows flows music and dance, the smells of home made delicacies and community of a warm greetings and unbelievably generous invitations. We celebrate friendships, new and old, burning scare crow like symbols of the new and the old... perhaps a cleansing that comes from farther back than any of us are aware of.
As we walk the streets I can feel some of the similarities and differences that draw farmer to farmer to such places as Comayagua. I carry a bottle of purified water that helps during a good amount of walking through this vibrant city, my paces seem to take the upbeat rhythem of a unadapted and certainly a non-catracho. Even my shoes seem larger than life to people as they speak to my dedication to efficiency in walking from point A to point Z, shadowed by a pair of athletic shorts and tshirt... hardly the usual getup for a day of celebration! Most Catrachos (Hondurans) are very well dressed and are hardly as ready to commit their clothing selections to short notice excersize or simply the clothes that might alow you to make that impulsive jump! Though I stand out here, the people we great on the street and share our day with are tremendously forgiving and seem to accept my style of what someone might wear to the gym, as well as my attempts to speak Honduran Spanish!
Andy and I have found that we are constantly eating a large quantity and great diversity of food while in Honduras (It´s quite hard to say no to so many great invitations and food). As two travelers that live to enjoy the fine fruits and vegetables, baked goods and beverages, seasonal delights and the occasional street food (we´re quite careful to make sure that things are thuroughly cooked and try not to consume water from the tap) we look forward to stepping back from so many in between meals and large traditional meals to hike up and around the mountain (Comayagua National Park) with three other friends that will help us follow old trails and perhaps machette our way through numerous new routes we plan to make in order to visit several small communities that grow amazing coffee for farmer to farmer.
In getting ready for the trip we visit a few old friends to see maps, get updates on the politics and community dynamics that relate to the strength of the Cofeacoma Coffee Cooperative. At one of these visits (visiting Andy´s old friend, Cerritos) we are welcomed with the surprise of ESPN2 and american futbol broadcasting the bowl games of the day... including our own Wisconsin Badgers! During a grocery run we happen across two more old friends that our delegation was able to visit last year and plan to visit again after our delegation of six returns from a second trip to the mountain (visiting the pueblo of Rio Negro and numerous eco huts, cofee growers, womens artisan groups, scholarship recipients, and more). These friends hope to show our delegation their farm and model for exporting chinese vegetables to a global market of cucumbers, chives, and other vegetables), share a meal and discuss the partnerships developing in the community with farmer to farmer.
New years parties take away some weekend possiblities in the city as everyone tries to be at home with friends and family (their family businesses stay closed for a few extra days around this time of year), so our meals are detoured to be shared with a chinese family restaurant (we´re fed very well with fried rice, wontons, bread and iced tea) and then with our friend Hector´s family for a dinner of potato salad, pickled vegetables, chicken and bread. We are fortunate to have friends growing their own coffee or getting it from the very mountain that we will camp tomorrow (Sunday) through Thursday.
The last events for our day of rest (farmer to farmer doesn´t really rest on these trips!!!) is to pack our bags of food and camping gear for an early departure to the mountain, and these two blogs that summarize some of the more urban experience we´ve had so far! We can´t wait to tell you of the reality of our four day hike around the national park of comayagua, visiting the park´s nucleus, bird watching, searching for cappuccin monkeys and visiting the small communities that make the park a future destination for farmer to farmer delegations.
I believe that´s all for now! Happy new year and let us know if you get to try some farmer to farmer coffee from your local cooperative or neighborhood store, we look forward to sharing more of the struggles and joys of this beautiful place and better and better coffee and human connections, peace and understanding.
December 31st, 2010 Comayagua, Honduras
By Andy
Yesterday was my first New Year´s Eve in Honduras in more than 15 years and it did not dissappoint.
In the morning, Zac and I found the bus easily in San Pedro, and I even had time to buy a cell phone. For $25 I am now living at the same pace as literally every Honduran. Our number is (504) 99034869. Call us. The bus ride was full, full, full, with people standing in the aisles the whole way. But I beat out a single mom with a teething baby to secure my seat, so you don´t have to worry about me standing. The ride was uneventful, although it was nice that every so often people would come on the bus and offer things we might need, like cold drinks in a plastic bag, fried chicken (throw the plastic out the window, please), fried plantains, candied squash, and a three-disc set of childrens´bible stories ($1.50 in case you were wondering -I passed).
I was able to call all my friends from the bus (yippee!), so once we arrived in Comayagua we had Hector and Adalid waiting for us. We dropped our stuff at Hotel Morales and went straight to Hernan´s house where we proceeded to talk for 2 hours while Hernan brought food out at regular intervals. Hector is our guide here and an old friend from my Peace Corps days. Adalid is the President of the Coffee growing coop here and also the installer of the microturbine system for producing electricity. We had a long talk about the difficulty they had last year getting the coffee adequately dry. Apparantly, according to Adalid they did a very good drying the coffee, but that the mistake they made was storing the coffee in the houses in the mountain village instead of bringing it down into the dry valley. In the moist cloud forest climate it seems that the coffee re-took on moisture while waiting in the storage area. So now we know not to have them store the coffee on the mountain.Adalid has a place in the valley, so this year they´ll store it there.We had incredible mandarin oranges, luscious papaya, and some meat that Hernan had roasted for friends the day before.
Then we went straight to Priscila´s house. I lived at Pris´s during Peace Corps and her daughter Xochitl is mine and Jen´s goddaughter. Pris was planning on having us over for a new year´s eve party. We caught up with Pris and Xochitl and Pris´s sisters Marta and Luzli. Her neighbors were cranking the music as we played cards and ate garlic toasted casabe (Casava cakes) with Salva Vida cerveza. We were on Pris´s new patio and from inside we could smell the chicken roasting. After we ate the truly fantastic food, we decided to go up to the central plaza to see what was happening for New Year´s. I was not prepared for what we saw.
First off, as we were walking to the plaza, it sounded like we were in a war zone. All day people all over the city had been setting off fireworks. As it got closer to midnight, the good people of Comayagua took it upon themselves to redouble their efforts. Smoke hung in the air like a thick fog and there was a strong smell of sulfur. Near the park, some kids who should have known better were throwing firecrackers into metal garbage cans and making some pretty impressive booms. Then, a block away from the Central Parque the fireworks gave way to a booming sound system. As we got closer I saw that there was a small military presence, which probably kept the firework-wielding delinquents away. They were protecting a massive stage that had been set up in front of the Cathedral.In addition to the stage, there were various screens around the park projecting close-ups of what was happening on the stage. The park was full of people, most dressed to the nines for the party. There were people walking around passing out free glow sticks and it seemed that there were a good many people with ¨Happy New Year¨plastic fedoras.
We had walked right into a media event.The music and festivities were being broadcast to all of Honduras. They had chosen the Comayagua Central Park as their own version of Times Square. Instead of a ball dropping, they had the oldest functioning clock on all of the Americas. When that clock would strike 12 times, the confetti would drop and people would wave their glow sticks and blow into the noise makers to beat the band while real fireworks went off right over the Cathedral. Until then, it was one lip-syncing act after another, with booming sound and a lot of patriotic pop songs. It was actually pretty cool.
In talking with Pris, her take was that the current President had commisioned the party and the national television coverage as a distraction from the continued effects of the coup from 2009. The deposed President Mel is living in the Dominican Republic and his supporters are still working to try to bring the leaders of the coup to some sort of justice. As the months pass, the government that was elected following the coup takes on more and more a sense of legitimacy. But the problem of the disenfranchisement of nearly half the population still exists. Of course, in this context, Pris might be right to regard any state-sanctioned display of patriotism to be a side-show, an attempt to get back to business as usual. There had been rumors that the President (Pepe Lobo) would show up in a helicopter to count us down, but we waited til past midnight and he never showed up. But they did bring out a big salsa band and people probably danced until the wee hours.
In the end it was an entertaining side-show and it probably brought some great attention to Comayagua, a city which deserves to be noticed for all of its history and beauty. I found myself imagining what would happen if Comayagua hosted this event every year. It could grow into something big. We could see people traveling from all over to have an all night party in the parque.
As we walked back to the hotel we re-entered the war zone and in some places we saw the remains of a Honduran custom of packing an effigy with fireworks and setting it off to represent the passing of the old year. The roosters and fireworks continued well into the night, but I was so tired that I went right to sleep.
Yesterday was my first New Year´s Eve in Honduras in more than 15 years and it did not dissappoint.
In the morning, Zac and I found the bus easily in San Pedro, and I even had time to buy a cell phone. For $25 I am now living at the same pace as literally every Honduran. Our number is (504) 99034869. Call us. The bus ride was full, full, full, with people standing in the aisles the whole way. But I beat out a single mom with a teething baby to secure my seat, so you don´t have to worry about me standing. The ride was uneventful, although it was nice that every so often people would come on the bus and offer things we might need, like cold drinks in a plastic bag, fried chicken (throw the plastic out the window, please), fried plantains, candied squash, and a three-disc set of childrens´bible stories ($1.50 in case you were wondering -I passed).
I was able to call all my friends from the bus (yippee!), so once we arrived in Comayagua we had Hector and Adalid waiting for us. We dropped our stuff at Hotel Morales and went straight to Hernan´s house where we proceeded to talk for 2 hours while Hernan brought food out at regular intervals. Hector is our guide here and an old friend from my Peace Corps days. Adalid is the President of the Coffee growing coop here and also the installer of the microturbine system for producing electricity. We had a long talk about the difficulty they had last year getting the coffee adequately dry. Apparantly, according to Adalid they did a very good drying the coffee, but that the mistake they made was storing the coffee in the houses in the mountain village instead of bringing it down into the dry valley. In the moist cloud forest climate it seems that the coffee re-took on moisture while waiting in the storage area. So now we know not to have them store the coffee on the mountain.Adalid has a place in the valley, so this year they´ll store it there.We had incredible mandarin oranges, luscious papaya, and some meat that Hernan had roasted for friends the day before.
Then we went straight to Priscila´s house. I lived at Pris´s during Peace Corps and her daughter Xochitl is mine and Jen´s goddaughter. Pris was planning on having us over for a new year´s eve party. We caught up with Pris and Xochitl and Pris´s sisters Marta and Luzli. Her neighbors were cranking the music as we played cards and ate garlic toasted casabe (Casava cakes) with Salva Vida cerveza. We were on Pris´s new patio and from inside we could smell the chicken roasting. After we ate the truly fantastic food, we decided to go up to the central plaza to see what was happening for New Year´s. I was not prepared for what we saw.
First off, as we were walking to the plaza, it sounded like we were in a war zone. All day people all over the city had been setting off fireworks. As it got closer to midnight, the good people of Comayagua took it upon themselves to redouble their efforts. Smoke hung in the air like a thick fog and there was a strong smell of sulfur. Near the park, some kids who should have known better were throwing firecrackers into metal garbage cans and making some pretty impressive booms. Then, a block away from the Central Parque the fireworks gave way to a booming sound system. As we got closer I saw that there was a small military presence, which probably kept the firework-wielding delinquents away. They were protecting a massive stage that had been set up in front of the Cathedral.In addition to the stage, there were various screens around the park projecting close-ups of what was happening on the stage. The park was full of people, most dressed to the nines for the party. There were people walking around passing out free glow sticks and it seemed that there were a good many people with ¨Happy New Year¨plastic fedoras.
We had walked right into a media event.The music and festivities were being broadcast to all of Honduras. They had chosen the Comayagua Central Park as their own version of Times Square. Instead of a ball dropping, they had the oldest functioning clock on all of the Americas. When that clock would strike 12 times, the confetti would drop and people would wave their glow sticks and blow into the noise makers to beat the band while real fireworks went off right over the Cathedral. Until then, it was one lip-syncing act after another, with booming sound and a lot of patriotic pop songs. It was actually pretty cool.
In talking with Pris, her take was that the current President had commisioned the party and the national television coverage as a distraction from the continued effects of the coup from 2009. The deposed President Mel is living in the Dominican Republic and his supporters are still working to try to bring the leaders of the coup to some sort of justice. As the months pass, the government that was elected following the coup takes on more and more a sense of legitimacy. But the problem of the disenfranchisement of nearly half the population still exists. Of course, in this context, Pris might be right to regard any state-sanctioned display of patriotism to be a side-show, an attempt to get back to business as usual. There had been rumors that the President (Pepe Lobo) would show up in a helicopter to count us down, but we waited til past midnight and he never showed up. But they did bring out a big salsa band and people probably danced until the wee hours.
In the end it was an entertaining side-show and it probably brought some great attention to Comayagua, a city which deserves to be noticed for all of its history and beauty. I found myself imagining what would happen if Comayagua hosted this event every year. It could grow into something big. We could see people traveling from all over to have an all night party in the parque.
As we walked back to the hotel we re-entered the war zone and in some places we saw the remains of a Honduran custom of packing an effigy with fireworks and setting it off to represent the passing of the old year. The roosters and fireworks continued well into the night, but I was so tired that I went right to sleep.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Farmer to Farmer´s Honduras Delegation is off to a Great Start!
Andres y Zacarias arrived with great success late Thursday evening to spend the night at a fantastic spot in San Pedro Sula! Dos Molinos B&B (http://www.tripadvisor.es/Hotel_Review-g292025-d1077841-Reviews-Dos_Molinos_B_B-San_Pedro_Sula.html) connected us with two current peace corps members, provided us with a great pancake breakfast and now will help us get to the bus, taking us to our new years celebration in Comayagua with many friends and great food, music, games, stories and joy. We hope to have photos for next time!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Guatemala!
We are set to begin our trips. We hope you'll follow this blog to keep up with our travels. Below are some shots from our past trips to Guatemala.
the local market
Lake Atitlan
coffee
the local market
Lake Atitlan
coffee Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Testing the invitation
I Think there is a monkey in this photo somewhere. Photo taken in mangrove swamp near Tela, Honduras.
Hello all,
I invited Jen and I to contribute using our other e-mail account. I am posting this to be sure it works. It looks like in order to post, you will need to set up a google account, but that does not mean you need to be using gmail. Just sign in using your regular email as a username.
Welcome to the Farmer to Farmer Blog
Hello Intrepid Web Users!
As we are about to embark on three different trips to Central and South America, we decided to initiate a blog, so people could post stories and photos from the trips.
Please contact me (Andy Gaertner <farmcrew@centurylink.net>) to either send me a post that I can put up or I can send you an invitation to become an author on the blog.
Disclaimer: This is a blog for a non-profit group in Western Wisconsin dedicated to solidarity between people of of Central and South America and Wisconsin and Minnesota. It is not a blog for a USAID program.
As we are about to embark on three different trips to Central and South America, we decided to initiate a blog, so people could post stories and photos from the trips.
Please contact me (Andy Gaertner <farmcrew@centurylink.net>) to either send me a post that I can put up or I can send you an invitation to become an author on the blog.
Disclaimer: This is a blog for a non-profit group in Western Wisconsin dedicated to solidarity between people of of Central and South America and Wisconsin and Minnesota. It is not a blog for a USAID program.
On the way to Rio Negro in Comayagua, Honduras
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