Immigration Process

I am writing this blog in hopes that it my helps someone understand the process of Immigration
*please note I am not a lawyer or an immigration expert and am just sharing my personal experience

Esposo and I moved to Honduras and had all his immigration paper work transferred to the American embassy in Tegus. We lived in Honduras for three years, our process took a bit longer than it should have because our paper was sent to the wrong lawyer in the US. Lesson learned even if you have a lawyer stay on top of everything.

During this time I stayed in Honduras as a tourist leaving the country every 90 or 120 depending if I got an extension. I did this because US immigration is somewhat ridiculous. If I obtained Honduran residency I would not have been able to apply for esposo's residency. I never stayed over on my tourist visa nor brake any Honduran laws, so I was legal.
To prove that esposo would not be a burden to the US I used a family member as a financial sponsor. When all the paper work was processed we waited for the appointment which we found out about a month and half before hand. We decided to get the medical appointment done with ahead of time, which took an entire day in Tegus. It started with a lung x-ray, then blood test where esposo got his photo taken and he got a sweet bracelet with the American flag he had to wear until the appointment that afternoon. Honestly it was pretty uneventful.
The appointment at the embassy was mostly just sitting, and sitting. I brought a insane amount photos of esposo and I including wedding photos. I also brought everything esposo and I did together, plane tickets, lease agreements, cell phone plans. You name it I brought it. At that point we had been married for three years so it was a lot. Better be safe than sorry, right?
In the end they only looked at the random photos we had together, and the required documents they requested. They asked esposo only a few questions, how long we had been together, where I was from. They also asked about visas he had, and dates which esposo entered the US. She asked me three times what country did I claim domicile (re wording it each time, and different times.) I was very clear that I have been in Honduras as a tourist pretty much for the last three years and I am not a Honduran resident because we are planning to live in the US. She seemed happy with this.
We sat down and waited... and waited. We got called up again, another lady asked I why esposo married me, and then she said she had good news, esposo was approved for the resident visa! and come back at three o`clock to pick everything up.

San Francisco de la Paz

Some direction

I am writing this blog entry to ask for some ideas and direction.
I would like to send more kids to school, my basic goal. I would like to do this by somehow providing school uniforms, books, backpacks, etc. Eventually I would love to be able to provide tuition assistance, so kids could go to better schools but I realize I cant do everything all at once.
I understand that I need money, as shipping things down to Honduras is cost prohibitive. The thing is I am unsure on how to ask people for money if I don't even have an organization- or should I just go for it?
Thank you in advance for any ideas and suggestions you might have.

Ohh I do know that school does not start until February- but just trying to get ideas.

Bad words

I learned Spanish in Honduras, I had taken Spanish 101 in university but that only gets you basically nowhere. In learning Spanish my mother-in-law and husband were very guarded about the words I learned, trying as hard as they could that I learned as little bad words as possible. With the help of esposo's aunt it did not work out too well, but still they both tried as hard as they could.
One day working at the store my mother-in-law was very upset at an employee. She was going on and on about how the display was in the wrong place, but she kept on saying this word over and over, and I had no clue what it meant. Being the curious person I went to esposo and asked him. I said "esposo, what does mierda mean?" his faced dropped, he was upset "who told you that word?" me, looking confused, "your mom" pointing to the part of the store where she was at. Looking slightly defeated esposo replied "shit."

The Cashew fruit

I remember when I first saw this fruit, esposo told me about how wonderful it was, and how he never new about the nut. Esposo told me how it was one of his favorite fruits, but he had a hard time describing it. Knowing that it was his favorite fruits, how could it be bad? Well it was awful- but not in the way you would expect. It is juicy tropical fruit that sucks ALL the saliva out of your mouth. It is the most bazaar thing. I think the photo explains it all, that is why cashew nuts are so expensive, it is a small part of the whole fruit.

A photo

A coyol palm that has been killed to the coyol beetle.

I admit...

I am no longer in Honduras after almost three years, I left.
So now comes the question, what should I do with this blog?
I could pretend I am still there- I have lots and lots of photos, but I feel like that would be a bit of a lie. So I open this up too my few readers that I have left, what should I do with this blog? Any suggestions?

Coyol

The pride and joy of Olancho, Coyol. I have been told it only exists in Olancho, I am not completely convinced. It is a type of palm that during the dry season ferments (by itself) the liquid that is inside it to create a alcoholic drink. True Olanchano style. The pictures I have included below are the nasty nasty spines on the palm, the coyol fruit (kind bland tasting to me) and the palms themselves. Coyol it self is one of the few things that smells much worst than it tastes. I am not a huge fan of it but esposo I think might start a fan club.
Coyol I have been told use to be prominent around Olancho but now only in the higher elevations can you find it due to a nasty beetle that kills the palm. So I have never seen a live Coyol palm...
The video I put below is Coyol the drink being taken out of the palm. I think it is pretty fascinating.

My Semana Santa in Photos

The Anonas are coming but the jobos are here!

See, they are coming!
The Anona is the fruit that sorta looks like an artichoke, it is opaque creamy inside with watermelon sized seeds. The flavor is hard for me to describe, sweet but not too sweet. Anona is generally just eaten plain. I looked up and apparently this is a fairly common fruit around the world. In English it called a custard apple.
The jobos (pronounced hobo- yup like a bum) are about the size of a large grape, the jobos in the photo are not ready quite yet they get a bit bigger then turn slightly yellow-red. When they are eaten, they are eaten plain or with hot sauce, salt, and cumin. Jobo trees are to me very odd because when there is fruit they have no leaves, so it looks as if it is dead, but then they have fruit... a bit bazaar. The seeds the majority of the mass, only a little layer of fruit is what you eat.

The good part of they dry season is that most of the good fruits are in season. The bad part is there is so little time to eat them all... he he he

No water

My pila is dry, my faucets are dry, and I am taking buckets showers. The dry season is here, samana santa is on its way...and the city of Juticalpa goes dry.
Living without water is not really possible, so we use the stores well water by filling up a few barrels and taking it home. Some people buy water to fill up their water tanks, I am a bit cheep so I don’t do that.
The water comes eventually; the water is rationed barrio by barrio but the river becomes more crowded as more people head there to wash their clothes and take a bath rationing the water they have themselves.

A few photos around olancho

Here is a few photos I took around Olancho this past week. enjoy!

No tell-Motel

Hotel and Motel in english are different, right? one outside, one inside. Well in Honduras there is a bigger difference. Motels are no-tell motels. Let me explain, they are hotels where you take your other significant other or if you just want to get the deed done. I have posted a picture of one above. This one includes an electric door so you don't even have to get out of you car to close the door, and once it is closed get out of the car and enter the room. Amazing what people will think of.

Betting on Chickens

Closer...
Closer...
yes, yes...

Let me start this of with saying yes I know I am going to hell.

Sundays afternoons are the only free time I have -but because it is Honduras I usually have no clue on what I am doing till that day.

This past Sunday was of a similar story, then at about 10:00 a cousin of esposo comes and tells him about a cock fight they are having at their house, and apparently you just can’t pass up a good cock fight. So after we closed- off we go to a cock fight passing up two perfectly good birthday party offers in the process.

The entrance fee for the cock fight is one hundred lmp (about five dollars) luckily cousin lets us in for free. The people bring the roosters in cages; they are weighed before each fight to make sure it is a fair fight. The bets are taken, and the fight begins.

There are two types of hooks that they attach to one foot of each rooster, a big hook or a little hook. The big hook fights last no more than a minute and it seems to me luck has more to do with who wins than anything. The little hook fights last longer but it seems the better fighter of the two who wins.

To win the fight one of the roosters must die, but if both the roosters are injured and can’t really fight it is a tie. I am unsure where all the roosters come from- I did meet one man from El Salvador but I don’t know if he had any roosters there. They say that you have to train them to fight- and that the gringo chickens are the best (yes, I managed to get a few good jokes out of that statement.) The people who were betting did not bet small change one of the fights had 20,000lmp in the pot- betting on chickens.

I am not a fan, I suppose in the end they do end up eating the chicken and having chicken soup, but the killing process is a bit too gruesome for me. Needless to say next Sunday you won’t find me at a cock fight

School

The Honduran school year is starting up next week, the kids who's parents can afford the uniform and books are going to school. The other kids will simply just not go. The education system in Honduras is very far from perfect, but it still makes me sad when I meet someone my age that can not really read. The same person writes their name, but with a concentration that is similar to someone trying to remember a sequence of shapes. School here is a privilege not a right. The tortilla kids, or the orange kids, or what ever the kids happen to be hawking that day. These kids will not go to school.
I really do think the improvement and development of one country is dependent on the education of its poor, but in using this type of scale, the future of Honduras is not headed in the right direction.

Feuding Families

People in Olancho hold grudges, for a very long time. While the grudge might not be obvious every day of the year, or every year don't let that fool you, the grudge is still there. In Juticalpa there are two families the Garcia family, and the Ramirez family that have decided that they needed to do something about that grunge the Olancho way-with weapons.
The first spark started with with an attempted hit on the main man of the Garcia family using AK-47`s and grenades. They only managed to kill two body guards- but the feud was restarted. The main man Jose Garcia was interviewed by the main newspaper in Honduras, in this interview he named one of the people who took the hit out on him. A politician in Juticalpa.
The next hit was equally impressive, but this hit killed the head man of the Ramirez family. Killing the main man has caused his family to re-gather in Juti. People that left because they had to, and now they are back. The families are feuding and the job market for bodyguards is improving, but these jobs have a quick turnover rate.

*Please note I have changed all names, but all events are true.