I don't know the dates of the 2013 La Ceiba Carnival, do you?

La Ceiba's Carnival parade

Update: The final big celebration and parade are scheduled for May 25, 2013. I'll post the schedule of events if and when I can get it.

When is the La Ceiba Carnival? That question pops up every year and every year I make fruitless attempts to find an answer including emailing the municipal tourism office. Oh, I know that Wikipedia used to say that it is the third week of May, but that has been corrected to "the third or fourth week of May". Besides, it is a two week event, though most people are referring to the last big day of the parade and all night partying when they speak of 'the carnival'.

I remember one year Ceiba's tourism office set up the dates about a month in advance....and then changed them at the last minute to start a week later. I felt sorry for anyone who had already arranged their vacation and bought plane tickets based on the previous calendar of events. Similarly, the big parade itself can be delayed for hours and hours due to disorganization or waiting on some dignitary to arrive.

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No rice with potatoes!

Rice and potatoes?

"You're ordering rice and potatoes?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Because you just don't. You don't eat rice with potatoes. That's two starches. It's not allowed!"

"Whatever. It's good. You should try it."

Honduran chicken pastelito

Actually, I have tried it. There is no way around it. Yummy pastelitos (fried meat pies) often come with rice and potatoes inside. So do many tamales, including the ones I make.

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Honduras' Gag Law

President Pepe Lobo, "What's the worry? It's for democracy!"

President Lobo is pushing hard for a 'gag' law that would seriously curtail freedom of speech and freedom of the press in Honduras, in emulation of what Hugo Chávez accomplished in Venezuela. Under this proposed gag law, media sources speaking critically of the government could face fines in the millions and even loss of their license under what the press is calling confiscatory measures. The proposed law is said to call for a censure committee and to also give the President discretionary rights to regulate all media, including deciding what is information and what is not, who is granted frequencies and who is not, as well as the final discretion to revoke or confiscate media as he sees fit. While the law will apply to online news sources, it's unclear whether it could be also applied to personal blogs.

While Lobo claims there is no intent to previously censor any news or confiscate private property, fines for violating the new rules range from 3% to 5% of gross annual income! The penalty for repeat violations can mean license revocation. Self-censorship among reporters is already a huge problem in Honduras where dozens of radio, television, and print journalists have been murdered in the past 10 years and where lucrative government advertising contracts can make or break a radio or television station and likely has a major effect on the slant given to the news.

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