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Quiznos, La Ceiba, Honduras
Quiznos opened!Having never been to Quiznos in my life, I was pretty excited about the new grand opening. We didn't make it there until a week later, but we've had Quiznos three times since.
I was even more excited to see Chop Salads − I like to live dangerously. And then they have bread bowls and soups and desserts and everything! Does Quiznos in the U.S. have Tres Leches for dessert? This place evens lets me have mustard on my sandwich unlike the hamburger joints who insist that all hamburgers must come with mayonnaise and charge me extra to leave off the ketchup, mayo, and onions.
The restaurant was still crowded even though it must have been near 2:00 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon. The regulation lunch hour in La Ceiba is 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. There is even a loud Dole horn which you can hear all over town that announces lunch and then announces when it is over. It sounds a little like an air raid warning, lunchtime is that important. It used to be that all the stores and banks even closed during lunch but that is slowly changing.
I was really impressed with the pepper bar. I love those salad peppers. Free food sitting out where anyone can take as much as they want. That is rare in La Ceiba. I have an idea that they will close this up before long. No doubt some people will fill up plastic bags of the stuff to take home and ruin it for everyone.
I predict that Quiznos is going to stay a big hit − as long as they keep up the quality of their food and don't start skimping on the portions. I'm sure it will be a hit with the expatriates and tourists who may get tired of those big, heavy, hot lunches every day. Sometimes you just want something fast, cold, and that isn't fried. I rarely make sandwiches here because the ham and lunch meat is, well, scary. Funky tastes and mushy textures. Do you like Quiznos or is it just that I have been deprived for so long? I've been saying for a long time that La Ceiba needed a place to get fresh sandwiches. Now we have one.
Who knows? Maybe Home Depot will be next.
La Ceiba prison yard, Honduras
Well .... not exactly "goes" to prison.
Well .... not exactly inside either, but up to the guard watchtower. That is as close as I want to go.We were walking along the street past the prison (maybe it is more like the jail − you know for short term or pre-trial stays − I'm not real sure and don't plan to find out).
I took a photo of the wall with the razor wire on top and started imagining how my lame post would go: "This is the prison wall." Big deal.
Then I noticed the guard up in the watch tower waving at me, like "take my picture!"
I took a photo, but he was pretty far away and in the shade. He came out a little ways and I took another.
He was asking me how it came out and motioning, "show it to me." Apparently, he couldn't come down the stairs − 'cuz he had to guard and all − so I went up.
I got a couple of better shots which he wants me to print out for him so I guess I'll be going back to prison soon to deliver the photos. Nice looking guy, huh? I can find out if he is single if anyone is interested. :-D
Once I was up there, of course I had to take a look around. There were guys playing basketball and it looked more like a high school playground than a prison. Then they saw me and started hooting and hollering and waving for the camera.
Now here is some gossip that I've heard from El Jefe who heard it from a friend who visited a friend inside. There are drug dealers inside who have private suites, complete with air conditioning, TVs, and you name it. They rent the room, from the guards or whoever is in charge, I guess. For a price, prisoners also can take women visitors into the cell with them. Well, actually, for the right price, they can just get out. Mysterious escapes from Honduran prisons happen all the time.
Is there nothing La Gringa won't do for a story? Well, putting aside paid cell visits anyway.
Honduran President Mel Zelaya held a press conference regarding the status of the country this morning after Hurricane Felix. Reports were given by several heads of various business and government organizations, including COPECO (Honduran national emergency agency).I'm going to relay what I can from that press conference as well as various other Honduran reports today. The sound of the press conference was cutting out and the questions being asked by reporters couldn't be heard. That, along with the difficulty of understanding very fast Spanish speakers and taking notes in English at the same time means that I only have the highlights.
President Zelaya stated that the red alert has been lifted for the entire country with the exception of low lying cities along the northern part of the Ulúa river. He said that the sun is shining all over Honduras right now. He stressed that international businesses and investors have nothing to worry about. The country, including Puerto Cortés and all airports, are functioning as normal. An adequate supply of gasoline is available.
Tourist areas have no damage. The first chartered tourist flights will arrive on Monday and cruises will be arriving soon. Flooding around the Copán area was in agricultural areas. The Minister of Tourism reported losses of U.S.$5 million due to tourist and flight cancellations.
President Zelaya said that Nicaragua suffered much more damage than Honduras. Honduras air force and navy have been helping our neighbor Nicaragua. In fact, the first plane to arrive with aid for the La Mosquitia area of Nicaragua was a Honduran plane.
The most affected, as always, are the very poor with houses of clay and sticks and palm frond roofs which are often located in the high risk river border or low lying areas. No deaths or even injuries were mentioned, except for a police officer who died in a traffic accident.
Some small bridges have been damaged. The flooding yesterday has caused some road problems. Villanueva, Potrerillos, and Pimienta experienced damage to agricultural crops. Four schools are without roofs. Crews are working to restore electric and phone service to those areas that lost service yesterday.
COPECO was given congratulations for their organized work and given credit the lack of human casualties. Food and supplies are being sent to the shelters that need them.
In Cortés, Copán, Ocotepeque, and Santa Rita and El Progresso in Yoro, many of the schools are still being used as shelters so there will be no school tomorrow. In the rest of the country, classes started back today or will tomorrow.
Later, in an interview of a woman in a shelter in Villaneuva who was asked if they need food or supplies in the shelter, she loudly proclaimed, "We don't need food! We need the government to fix the bordos (riverbanks). They promised to do it after Hurricane Mitch (in 1998) and they still haven't done it!"In La Ceiba, where flooding occurred for a short time, a newsperson complained, "For decades, these things have been happening to the same roads after a few minutes of rain! Shame on our mayor!"
Japan has already donated US $6.7 million in emergency aid and President Zelaya will be meeting with the various embassies tomorrow, I'm sure to ask for more aid.
I plan for this to be my last Hurricane Felix weather report although I have some ideas about a couple of other related articles. I hope you have found the weather reports helpful. Thank you for all the nice comments and emails. I have passed along your thanks to all of those people who helped to compile the information from different parts of Honduras.
I guess the real thanks should go to Televicab for not losing my internet connection throughout the past few days. I was having tons of problems for two weeks before the hurricane and it has been out a few times already today, but it worked perfectly during the weather reporting period!
Oh, and just one reminder: Some areas of Honduras are still experiencing problems with electrical and phone service, as La Ceiba was last night. In many cases this has nothing to do with storms or flooding, so if you can't connect with your friends or relatives, stay calm, try not to worry, and try again in a day or two.
All photos from La Prensa, September 6, 2007 except this one of La Gringa's garden a few minutes ago:
Yikes! Before I could get this optimistic article posted, it has started raining heavily in Tegucigalpa and Comayaguela is flooding at this moment. Rio Choluteca is overflowing its borders. The special TV report is showing vendors in the market in water up to their waists trying to remove their products to safety. One woman was drowned.
After the video finished, the announcer said, "Hmph! Como siempre." (Hmph! Like always.) and went back to what he was discussing previously.
Previous Hurricane Felix articles:
Flooding in Northwest HondurasFelix doesn't live here anymoreFelix is no match for the Honduran mountains3 p.m. Honduras weather updateHurricane Felix afternoon update - HondurasLots of people looking for Hurricane Felix informationNo problems yet from Hurricane Felix, 9 a.m. TuesdayWe are taking Hurricane Felix seriously nowHurricane Felix heading for Honduras and Bay Islands
Quiznos, La Ceiba, Honduras
I was even more excited to see Chop Salads − I like to live dangerously. And then they have bread bowls and soups and desserts and everything! Does Quiznos in the U.S. have Tres Leches for dessert? This place evens lets me have mustard on my sandwich unlike the hamburger joints who insist that all hamburgers must come with mayonnaise and charge me extra to leave off the ketchup, mayo, and onions.
The restaurant was still crowded even though it must have been near 2:00 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon. The regulation lunch hour in La Ceiba is 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. There is even a loud Dole horn which you can hear all over town that announces lunch and then announces when it is over. It sounds a little like an air raid warning, lunchtime is that important. It used to be that all the stores and banks even closed during lunch but that is slowly changing.
I was really impressed with the pepper bar. I love those salad peppers. Free food sitting out where anyone can take as much as they want. That is rare in La Ceiba. I have an idea that they will close this up before long. No doubt some people will fill up plastic bags of the stuff to take home and ruin it for everyone.
I predict that Quiznos is going to stay a big hit − as long as they keep up the quality of their food and don't start skimping on the portions. I'm sure it will be a hit with the expatriates and tourists who may get tired of those big, heavy, hot lunches every day. Sometimes you just want something fast, cold, and that isn't fried. I rarely make sandwiches here because the ham and lunch meat is, well, scary. Funky tastes and mushy textures. 
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