Long Overdue

Sorry to those of you who have been waiting on the edge of your seat for my next blog.  103 degree fever + finding housing for 13 new teachers and getting them settled + teaching 6 hours of night classes at the university...you get the point.  Life just got busy.  But all the teachers have arrived and life is finally getting back to normal.  I will lead an orientation for the newcomers next week, so I'm getting all of that planned right now. 

Before I get months behind again, I wanted to post a little bit about the fabulous cultural festival we celebrated in July.  Every July 20th, Honduras celebrates Dia de Lempira.  The reason for the season is this guy, Lempira. He's kind of a big deal around here.  He's even got his own statue in the Parque Central.

Long story short, he led the resistance efforts against the Spainish soldiers when they were conquering Honduras.  The town I live in, Gracias, is the capital of the department (equivilent of a state) of Lempira.  So we get the honor of hosting this event each year.  People from all over Honduras come to celebrate.  The streets were packed!  I heard an estimate that there were around 15,000 people at the parade this year.

July is also National Identity Month, so all week long there are events in the park celebrating different aspects of the Honduran culture from dance to art, and even food.  There were vendors set up all over the park.

There were vendors at the parade selling all sorts of goodies...

The parades represented much of the Honduran history and culture- past and present.  Of course, in honor of Lempira, there were politically- incorrect little Indians (running around shooting arrows and screaming and batting their mouths)...

And of course the Spanish soldiers came out to battle...

 And speaking of politically- incorrect, how about some adorable little slave girls?

There was an India Bonita pagent held during the week.  I love these little beauties and the attention they put into the costumes.  The dresses are made with seeds and other natural materials.  Gorgeous!

Other children paraded in traditional dresses...

Some depicted more modern aspects of culture like the the market...

These girls were adorable making tortillas and selling "pan" (bread) from their float...

These are the pobres, or the poor people, depicted wearing patched-up clothing...

And the floats made me laugh.  From the hammocks, to the monkeys on Mt. Celaque, and even some powered by oxen...

And what would a parade be without a music band and dancing girls?

But I think my favorite part of the parade was playing I Spy.  Here's my neighbor, Tonio...

Hi, Miss Joceline...

And my good friends, Orson and Eddy (and Peace Corps Eben in the blue shirt in the background)...

The parade ended in the park with a re-enactment of the great battle, which Lempira has become so famous for.  Sadly, he was killed by the Spaniards.  I was really hoping he would pull through this year.  :)