It's a mess. Do you notice anything out of the ordinary?*
I've been incredibly busy lately and have been neglecting you loyal readers. There is lots going on here − I've been taking photos and notes so hopefully one day I can update you (I still have the urge to say 'y'all', the perfectly sensible plural of you.** ;-D ).
Speaking of that (y'all), I was talking to a Honduran man the other day. We started conversing in Spanish but he switched to English and, taking the easy way out, I did, too. His English was excellent, no − perfect. At one point, he said 'y'all' and I couldn't help but smile. I haven't heard that in a long time and it sounded good to my ears. I guess it is like 'pucha'. Those slang words just sound so cute coming from someone of another language.
This man is someone with so much knowledge! And he was as willing to share it with us as we were eager to learn it. I told him that I would like to meet again so that we can 'pick his brain' some more. Hopefully, he understood that expression and doesn't think I meant something weird. I think that he understood. El Jefe and I both told him that it was our lucky day when we came to meet him. I said (and meant) that it was an honor to meet him. We all vowed to fight city hall together someday!
Status report: Amazingly, David is still whooping Goliath. Some of our neighbors have been just incredibly supportive. It has been a real roller coaster ride of elation and despair, but so far, so good. The thing that makes it difficult is that there is never a definite end to something in Honduras. You can win on all counts, but in the blink of an eye, everything can change, especially if money passes hands − and that is what my Honduran neighbors warn me, not my personal observation, just in case anyone wants to get upset about it.
Other things that I'm working on are an audit of our patronato (homeowner group) books (all I can say is HARD!), writing a letter to the neighbors, in Spanish, of course (El Jefe edited it but he was mightily surprised at my draft), writing a neighborhood newsletter in Spanish (only have it down in English so far), meetings, meetings, and more meetings. I wrote the letter directly in Spanish and didn't use an internet translator so I was pretty proud of myself. I did have to look up a few words, especially the accounting words, and of course, there were mistakes, but it wasn't bad if I do say so myself.
Reading back over this, I realize that this sounds a lot like my life in Dallas, except that was easier because I knew how things functioned and it was in English!
Oh, in other news, there is a big fight going on in the comments section of Immigrating to Honduras, revisited −again! Yay, Deena! You go girl!
Though my blogicito is ranked 4 by Google, most of my individual page articles are not even ranked. That one has a 3 rating thanks to all the attention. It's number one in the whole world (of 1,720,000 entries) on a Google search for "immigrating to Honduras" so thanks for the publicity, anonymous commenters. Follow the link above if you would like to stick up for me.
My good Garífuna friend E is back in Honduras and I am so glad. Missed you and our brilliant conversations, E!
A previous maid came round today to ask for work. She's coming tomorrow, so maybe if we can get these floors cleaned and I won't be ashamed to invite anyone over. I actually couldn't place her at first and had to ask El Jefe if she had ever stolen from us. "No, she was the one who missed 2-3 days of work per week." Oh, well, I'm playing hard to get this time and told her it was only a job for one day. Will she show up? We'll see.
Best of all news, we have been getting rain!
Wow! It is a lot easier and faster to write an article from memory and not have to look up facts and and figures and quotes and links. Easy! I need to do more of this.
* Besides the fact that I recently realized I forgot to do my tax return, there is a dog coming in the window in the photo! Dogs, chickens, lizards, birds − no telling what you'll see coming in my windows. No wonder I can't keep my house clean.
** For my Honduran readers who may not be familiar with this slang word, 'y'all' is an abbreviation for 'you all', just like ustedes, except that it is not a proper word and should not be used in formal writing or speaking. Feel free to use it if you go to Texas. ;-)
Welcome to my Blogicito — 
