This morning we checked out of our hotel rooms in La Ceiba and went for some breakfast before today's competition. Wendy's was this morning's choice. (KFC for lunch, Pizza Hut for dinner and now, Wendy's for breakfast? Ick!)
At the counter I asked for the combo with a bacon, egg & cheese biscuit and a Coca Light sin hielo (without ice). The following conversation ensued with the girl at the counter, who I will call 'Wendy':
Wendy: No hay Coca Light. (There is no Coca Light)
Me: ¿No hay Coca Light? (There's NO Coca Light??)
Wendy: Sí. No hay. (That's right, there is none.)
Me: ¿No hay Coca Light? (There's no Coca Light? -- asked as I leaned forward to look at the Coke dispenser, and seeing that Coca Light was the second choice from the right.)
Wendy: Sí. No hay Coca Light. Tenemos café, jugo de naranja y té frio. (Yes, there's no Coca Light. We have coffee, orange juice and iced tea.)
Me: OK. ¿No hay Coca Light o no está disponible? (OK. There IS no Coca Light or it's not available?)
Wendy: No vendemos Coca Light en la mañana. Sólo café, té or jugo. (We don't sell Coca Light in the morning, only coffee, tea or OJ.)
Me: ¿En serio? Pues, no quiero nada. (You're kidding? Then, I don't want anything.)
That was the basic gist of my conversation with 'Wendy'. While we were waiting for our food, or rather, the others were waiting for their food, Alejandro told me that Hondurans don't drink Coke or Coca Light at breakfast. I reminded him that there were many place in Comayagua where I could have a Coca Light with breakfast. He agreed.
Why all the fuss over the choice of a breakfast beverage? Well, since I drink Luis' coffee, I'm pretty much spoiled. All the juices here add extra sugar. LOTS of sugar. And the iced tea is also sugared. I just didn't want to start my day with that much sugar.
Hmmm, in retrospect, maybe I should have. It might have sweetened my disposition. :-)
The end to this breakfast drama? After getting the students set up for the competition, I walked downstairs and had a baleada, a pastelito and a Pepsi Light. (No Coke. Pepsi.)
All is good with the world!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
On the Road to La Ceiba...
So, I was asked to be the female sponsor for a group of our students going to La Ceiba for a computer/technology competition. I said, "yes."
We left this morning. We were supposed to leave Enlaces at 7:00 a.m., but Mr. Allan (the computer teacher) told me it would probably be closer to 8:00 a.m. We left at 10:00 a.m. Although, that's not out of the ordinary. We had to wait for the rental car to arrive, then do a few more last minute things. Then we were ready to start our 5 1/2 - 6 hour drive.
Can you imagine my surprise when we made it to Naturaleza, at the lake, in right at one hour? Normally, it takes about 1 1/2 hours to get that far. Hmmm... This trip might go a bit faster than I thought. And it certainly did. We made it from Comayagua to La Ceiba in 4 hours, 15 minutes.
Don't ask how fast we were going. Don't ask how many times we passed on blind curves. I would have reminded Mr. Allan that we were on a school trip, with students, but since he was driving the lead car, it seemed that the best thing for me to do was to put the pedal to the metal and keep up.
Along the way I was struck by just how normal it seemed to drive on the roads here. It felt like I had been doing it all my life. Passing banana plantations, pineapple fields and sugar cane and dodging people, cars, motos, dogs, horses, cows, bulls, pigs, goats, etc. ~~ it all seems so normal now. I never grow tired of the view, but it really does seem like it's been part of my life forever. To me, that's a good thing.
Well, the kids are all up on the third floor at the pool, with Mr. Allan, so I'd best end here for now.
We left this morning. We were supposed to leave Enlaces at 7:00 a.m., but Mr. Allan (the computer teacher) told me it would probably be closer to 8:00 a.m. We left at 10:00 a.m. Although, that's not out of the ordinary. We had to wait for the rental car to arrive, then do a few more last minute things. Then we were ready to start our 5 1/2 - 6 hour drive.
Can you imagine my surprise when we made it to Naturaleza, at the lake, in right at one hour? Normally, it takes about 1 1/2 hours to get that far. Hmmm... This trip might go a bit faster than I thought. And it certainly did. We made it from Comayagua to La Ceiba in 4 hours, 15 minutes.
Don't ask how fast we were going. Don't ask how many times we passed on blind curves. I would have reminded Mr. Allan that we were on a school trip, with students, but since he was driving the lead car, it seemed that the best thing for me to do was to put the pedal to the metal and keep up.
Along the way I was struck by just how normal it seemed to drive on the roads here. It felt like I had been doing it all my life. Passing banana plantations, pineapple fields and sugar cane and dodging people, cars, motos, dogs, horses, cows, bulls, pigs, goats, etc. ~~ it all seems so normal now. I never grow tired of the view, but it really does seem like it's been part of my life forever. To me, that's a good thing.
Well, the kids are all up on the third floor at the pool, with Mr. Allan, so I'd best end here for now.
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