Beware When Grocery Shopping

One day while in Honduras we went to this grocery story in Santa Rosa De CopanAs we walked into the store we were greeted by this guy. Sawed off shot gun and ready to use it
I would not suggest trying to shoplift here.....Now you might ask (How in the world did you get this picture?) Well all you have to do is ask...I'm sure he would have let us pose with him....but we didn't want to push it.

It was not uncommon to see guns like this or even more serious than this everyday

Honduras, Lepaera.....Market Place Day

As market day moves along people come from all over and they setup all over the place. The green walled building belongs to Marcos parents and the yellow walled place belongs to Marco and Meredith Notice how the tarps are right against the buildings. Well at Meredith and Marcos place the front door is blocked.

THis picture is taken from the bridge at the bottom of the road from Merediths place. On Market Day (Sunday)the whole street is full. The Thursday market day is not as full...at least it was not when we were there.

Marco and Meredith getting their shopping done

Marco checking out some fruit and vegy's

And as I walk thru the market all eyes turn on me...must be my good looks.....Yup its getting thick in here.

Donkey loaded with firewood....to sell....or just passing thru, were not sure.

On Thursdays and Sundays the street in front of Merediths turns into a market place. People come from all over to sell what ever they can. Clothes, shoes..(non would come close to fitting me), fruit, vegetables, fish, corn and flour tortias. And a lot of other things. The street is so crowded it was a wonder that any cars could drive thru. They start arriving early early in the morning and by 7 AM the street is full. We decided to venture out into the market and everyone, I mean everyone was looking at us. They would come real close, maybe 10" away and just stare. I was white and I was at least a head if not 2 heads taller than most people. I even had one guy follow me around. Everytime I turned around there he was. My new best friend.

It was real fun to check out the market. All who were there were trying their best to make enough money to live off of for the next week..not an easy thing there.

Heres Jaun Valdez the coffee bean guy as I call him. His product like the guy with the firewood have come in on Donkeys. Other come by car, truck, back packing and others by balancing their stuff on their heads....I would get a sore neck

The average working person in Lepaera makes between 5 and 700 limpera a week. Thats like 37 US dollars a week. Not much. We here can spend anywhere from 30 to 100 dollars or more for a dinner for 2. There maybe 30 US dollars for a week or more worth of food.

People we won't Forget In Honduras

Here Lisette works at keeping Maria entertained. Lisette makes alot of things happen as we visitAnd Heres Maria herself....She has taken over her mothers Sun Glasses....maybe to be the next beauty Queen
Marco the reason we head to Honduras. An opportunity to visit his family...Hopefully there will be more visits in the future. Here Marco is involved with the shopping

Ahh The cook or shall I say part time cook, and full time mother. Meredith trys her hand in making corn tortias....I think

Here is Carla, one of Marcos sisters. She cooked for us one evening. Food was good...but it was the first time EVER that I had fish that had everything there...It was looking at me while I tried to eat it.

And here is the youngest, making his mark in life. Cooper always happy except when hungry or tired....then look out the bear comes out

We can't forget Maria's little friend. Orfetto. Not sure if I spelt his name right. Lives next door to Maria and always has a happy smile on his face

Hmm who's the giant...or should I say who are the two ladies. The one in the pink shirt is Marcos mother. A very kind hearted but shy person. She doesn't have pictures taken of her very often...Last time was when she got married...at least thats what I heard

The other lady is Kristina. She comes and does the laundry and what ever else might need to be done in order to make money. She lives a long way from town and walks in to town every day and then home at the end of the day. I'll guess that it takes at least one hour if not longer ....and she walks fast

This here young man is about 12. He took to Lisette and made sure that she didn't get lost from the rest of us....I think we could say he became her private Body Guard. His name Kevin

That picture of me with Abuala and Kristina above...well I decided I was too tall so I shrank down to their size.

These and many more people that we met while in Honduras made our trip there special. The people are wonderful. They may not have much, but to see them you wouldn't know it. What we have doesn't matter. Maybe its how we use what we have. The people and family we met in Honduras made us feel at home.....except for that guy who followed me around. Every where I went I turned around and there he was.

To the people of Honduras, may blessings come your way



Here be two special people. They open their home to many people...including us. Marcos Father and Mother

We finally got them to sit next to each other for a picture

Honduras

While visiting Meredith we saw many people hauling their goods home. Some people had donkeys. One guy reminded me of a comercial years ago to do with coffee. This guy has a donkey loaded with large bags of beans. He walks and is wearing a sombero. (Jaun Valdez leading a donkey loaded with Columbian Coffee bean)

Small taxis are everywhere. They have 3 wheels and work well. Sometimes these are loaded so much that people have to walk. They stop to pick you up, but then they see someone else in need of a ride and they stop to pick them up also. Before you know it there are 4 to 6 diffent people going to different locations. Smart taxi drivers. This taxi driver had a tarp so he could keep going while it rained...no doors on the taxis

Now because most walk, there a few people with trucks and I think these guys love to see how many people they can get in the back of their truck. I think the most we counted was 35 people in the back of a pickup. Most time it was less, but still a large number. I just kept waiting for someone to get hurt. They say there are many who get hurt or die, but they just keep on doing it.

Motorcycles may have 4 or 5 people on them...and the only person who might be safe is the one driving.

Honduras, Lepaera....Weather

Lepaera is in the mountains of Honduras at an elevation

of 3,138 ft above sea level. During the time we were there Daytime temperatures were in the high 80S, a couple of days into the 90s. At night the temperature drooped into the 70s. It was mostly sunny with some haze. Into the 2nd week of our stay we started to have PM rain showers. At about 3:30 PM the lightening and thunder would start and almost right away following the first crack of thunder it would start to rain. Not like here. Rain it did. Somewhere between 4 and 8" in a 2 hour period. The street would become a river. If there was garbage up hill it was swept down the hill.

Jumping ahead here a little I don't recall seeing any dust pans. People had brooms they would sweep the floors of their home and all that was swept would be pitched into the street. The rain comes..washes the garbage down hill. Its put in a pile and then set a lite. Its burned If the garbage truck isn't due to come.