Last week of vacation....and the Terceros!

April 15, 2012

This was the last week of vacation and so we wanted to take advantage of some cool experiences that we could do nearby.

We went swimming a lot as a family and that was great. The pool is spectacular (see the first blog post) and everyone gets so refreshed and is happy when we’re swimming together. Makes me think we need to make an investment in our house when we move back! With the children home, when Stuart came home for lunch, we all got to eat one additional meal all together each day. The children also got to learn from Miriam.

Stuart: At work, I am pretty busy advising and traveling around (locally) in the mountains and on campus with a few students doing their Sr. theses. That has been interesting. This week a new botanist, a systemetist or taxonomist (a person that classifies and identifies plants) began work at the herbarium. His name is Hermes and he knows a LOT of plants. Working with him has been great, so far this week. I am excited to keep working with him for the next 4 months. We plan to go on a 10-day National Geographic-funded expedition to a place called Sierra Agalta and go to what is called a pygmy, or dwarf, forest. This is a high-elevation forest with tropical spruce and fir trees that are short. In Spanish the directly translated name for this place is the midget forest. I will learn a LOT traveling with one native Honduran botanist and one botanist from the Denver Botanic Gardens, who has traveled to Honduras since the late 70s or early 80s.
The Terceros are a family we have mentioned before who are outstanding people and have a great, pretty isolated farm at the end of a long, long, bumpy, narrow road. The land was where Bro. Tercero grew up and he bought the farm from his dad and additional acreage since. It is very large in the mountains.

They essentially own their own watershed and consequently control a lot of water, which is precious in the hot valley. (Tangent:The area here is like the California Central Valley, in that the valley bottom is hot and dry, full of spiny plants, but as you ascend in elevation, you pass through oaks, then pine/oak forest, then reaching higher elevations, becomes “broad leaf cloud” forest. That is really cool!! Very large pines and other broadleaf trees dotted with bromeliad epiphytes and orchid epiphytes grow alongside tree ferns. If you were observant in Lord of the Rings, you would have seen some of the same vegetation (so watch it again, and pay attention to the good stuff—New Zealand Flora!).)
As a result, the Terceros have spring water piped to the house that is always running. They have no lack of water and it is fresh, mtn. spring water. They raise all their own food (except rice and garlic and few other things) but consume their own beans, bananas, squash, broccoli, etc. They have a small solar panel connected to what looks like a car battery (though I was assured it is not) that powers their old CRT-powered TV (not flatscreen) and their 6 lights and can recharge cell phones (which they both have). It is such a great system for the two of them in their small house, in sunny Honduras. I want to get that exact set-up for our house here, but it is HNL 26,000 (divide by 19.4 for the exact exchange rate), or about $1300. But since the power goes out regularly and they will begin rationing electricity, it would be handy for those times when we will not have power. It won’t run a fridge, but as long as we keep it closed, it will last the day. Definitely want to get one for the house in CA…Grey water system, solar power for the house and a gas stove and sun oven. Then, we’ll be ready in case the power goes out. Oh yes, and store some water.


Aspen: Our whole family went to the Terceros. All of the children except Calla got a bull horn. Me and Jack got huge ones. They are very, very big. Jack’s is bigger than mine. My horn is bigger than my arm. The Terceros have a cute kitten named Mariposa, which means “butterfly”.

They also have a mean horse that bit Hno. Tercero’s son on the arm and he (the son) has a big scar. But I didn’t see it. They own a ranch with cows, horses, dogs, kitten and chickens. There are two roosters. And one of the roosters has a punishment. The punishment is that he has a string tied onto his ankle with a corn cob on it. If he fights, they put it through a crack in the fence and he only has 3’ of movement. I got some cowbones there. The guard dog here took my bone from me. Henry got it back from the dog by petting the dog and Abe grabbed the bone away from the dog.
We had a huge storm at our house yesterday or the day before. We had no power until the morning. It was raining really hard and the thunder was really loud during the movie we were watching (Despicable Me). I jumped at the thunder. Jack, Henry and my Dad went to my Dad’s work to clean up a place where my dad works. Jack found a light that looked really pretty if you turn out the lights. He also got india ink, but gave it to Abe so he could write with his feather. Henry got a picture and an old fashioned calculator that you have to plug in.

Jack: We went to the Terceros’. Hna. Tercero, who is very very old (70), played soccer with us and even though she is very very old, she can kick the ball very hard… Like across the field. We also helped make tortillas. I made them on the little tortilla press. We ate chorizo, and it was very yummy and I got filled up from chorizo and un montòn de rice and beans. I liked the chorizo.
I got my cast off on Wednesday. My cast smelled very bad and we made it into a vase for some flowers. My left wrist is kind of weak and pale. My wrist still hurts a little bit [but I should be putting a splint on it, which I am not, but should].
We made pastelitos. They are mashed potatos with chicken boullion cubes in it. We put that stuff in a tortilla that you make from Maseca [Maseca is the brand of tortilla flour—made from corn, lime and some other stuff], water, salt, tomato paste, cumin and 3-4 boullion cubes. You get a 2” dia lump of the masa and squish it into a tortilla. Then you put a little strip of mash potatoes in it. Fold it over. Pinch the edges and then put it into a lot of hot oil.
We found a very gordo caterpillar. It was probably like 3” long a 1” thick. [a sphingid, hornworm, so like Manduca sp.]. Then it died.
So we cleaned out the [Paul C. Standley] Herbarium. I got a cool old lamp with an almost completely bare copper switch that I already shocked myself on. You plug it into the wall and it fits one light bulb. We were in the attic of the herbarium, that hasn’t been cleaned out since the 40s or something, and found an old map from 1948, where Belize was still labeled British Honduras. We also found in Paul C. Standley’s suitcase some pants, an old band-aid (unused), burn medicine, surgical powder, and some water purifying tablets. [the chemicals in everything were interesting].
We also found a gallon of formaldehyde and put up in the attic a bottle that used to have acid in it. Someone found a Commodore calculator that plugs into the wall. [as an aside, the inventor of the Commodore 64 computer died last week]. The electricity went out twice, once for about 1 hour, and another time for about 15 hours. We bought some queso con fresa ice cream two times.

Note the name on the tag in the lower right.

Henry: On Wednesday we went to the Terceros’ house. They have at least 200 acres out in the mountains of Honduras. They have a horse, bunch of cows, a lot of chickens, two dogs, and a cat. The horse is not very nice. It is a bad horse because it bites and sometimes kicks. When we were out in the field with the horse, Hno. Tercero put Abe on top and led the horse 50’ with Abe bareback.
They get their water from a spring in the water and it runs all of the time. Their bathroom and their sink are both outside. The sink inside they only use for dishes. They have an outside kitchen with a stove powered by a wood fire [a fogòn]. Hno. Tercero gave us each an old cow horn, after the cows died. Mine is black about 10” long. Jack’s and Aspens are like 2’ long. We’re trying to polish them to make them look nice.

I found an axe and a log. I started trying to chop the wood, but it was way too hard. The wood was really hard. I tried to chop it with a machete, an axe and a metal stake and sledgehammer. I think it is cool that they have at least 4 machetes lying around their place.
The Terceros grow beans, corn, and sugarcane. We had fresh beans (theirs) for lunch with rice and sausage. The sausage wasn’t very good, so I fed some to the dog. They also have a mandarina tree that they take the mandarins from and they make juice with it. We had some for lunch. They have to husk their corn by hand. We helped them and took the husks off the corn and put the cobs in the wheelbarrow.

They have to dry it out and then they make it into flour [and also chicken feed]. The cows eat the corn husks. I fed one of the bulls some husks. I got so close I touched his horn with my hand. Abe got too close and the bull shook his head and hit Abe’s hat.
One time two wolves came and ate some calves.
Saturday morning, me and my dad and Jack went to the Herbarium to clean up, organize and that hadn’t been done since it was founded in the 1940s. The guy that founded it, we found his suitcase with his pants in it. We also found an old, old, old calculator and I also found a big poster of the Honduran National Seal. I also found an old light bulb from a projector from one of those old film projectors with those circle-ey things [reel-to-reel for those that remember!]. There was a LOT of old stuff up in the attic.
We also found a 2-3” long caterpillar and 1”wide on Saturday. See the video and picture of the caterpillar.
With our maid we made pastelitos, which are like fried mashed potato filled tortillas. They are good, but very filling.
We went swimming almost every day at the pool here in the compound.

Abe: I don’t know. We found bull horns at the Terceros. Two were super big and two were kind of little. Them have like a little tortilla smasher thing. You put a little ball of masa on it. Then you push down the top and smash the tortilla. Them also have a stove that they cook on with wood. I rided a horse, bareback.
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Interrupting cow.
Interrupti---MOO!--ng cow who?


Ranae: So you may have heard that we went to the Terceros’. Can I add that it was a beautiful, practically perfect day? The light, grey cloud cover diffused the light from the sun, and the day seemed to pass unmarked by hours. Spanish words floated all around us in the pleasant air, to the background music of water gurgling from the pipe and splashing on the rocks at the washing station. Spanish stories, Spanish herbal remedies, Spanish names for the animals, Spanish questions, halting Spanish answers—at times I felt like a teeny minnow trying to swim upstream in a tremendous river of Spanish words, but by the end of the day, I felt that my Spanish was greatly improved by the exercise. The children romped and explored, climbing in the Terceros’ jeep, learning about the animals, discovering treasures of bone and metal. Stuart filmed Hermano Tercero talking about medicinal properties of some of the plants they grow, and then those men-folk sat and husked corn, laughing and talking through the afternoon. Hermano Tercero is a gentle, kind man with bright eyes and a generous smile. He is wise and warm, relaxed and strong. He is as much at home working with his hands as he is sitting quietly with a child or two snuggled up on his lap and under his arm. The children all love him.
As for me, it is difficult to accurately describe the feelings that welled up in my heart as Hermana Tercero shared her day and ranchero with me. Admiration? Love? Humility? Truly, I felt admiration, delight, and awe to watch Hermana cooking in her little outdoor kitchen—a simple shack with plenty of ventilation whose centerpiece is a large whitewashed clay stove.

With her bare hands she flipped the tortillas. She stirred the beans in a little clay dish whose rounded bottom fit in the hole in the top of the stove. When the basin of washwater was dirty, she tossed the water out the door onto the dirt path. She added a log to the fire and offered me a sample of the fresh tortillas and beans. She laughed at the bird in the mango tree who wanted to come in and steal one of the bananas hanging from the ceiling. Hermana moved effortlessly through the tasks of traditional Honduran cooking, which was a marvel to witness. I was humbled that she was so patient with my language barrier and so willing to share her life and day with me.
Timidly, she invited me to see her home, telling me that it was not fancy. We stepped through the lace curtain that hangs as a bedroom door, and she gave me a tour of the two bedrooms. All was simple, neat, tidy, and dimly lit by the few windows. She was right; it was not fancy. But how beautiful it was! How beautiful because here these good people live good lives, productive and honest, hard-working and joyful. Here they rest after long days of work. We stood in the little bedroom, talking of our love of the gospel of Jesus Christ and our common desire to follow him. My heart swelled. If I possessed the gift of weeping, I would have wept. But as it was, I stood speechless, left with a vocabulary insufficient to express my love for this lady and her goodness. Somehow, I think Hermana Tercero understood.
The day at the Terceros was certainly the centerpiece of our week. But I should also mention the happy day we spent with Hermana, Blanca, and Ivan Martinez on Monday, swimming, playing soccer, making bread, practicing English with Blanca, and lunching. Hermana Martinez fell asleep in the hammock

while Blanca and I reviewed some tricky points of English. And Thursday we planted pepper seeds, cantaloupe seeds, and basil and oregano, as well as a geranium and a celery plant we bought at the nursery next door. Miriam taught me how to ask to borrow a shovel. The children all helped with the gardening, and we were blessed with that satisfied feeling that always comes from being busy with something productive and good.
Miriam has been busy sewing; I have started doing more of the cooking so she can do more sewing projects, which benefit our home and wardrobes and also give her good practice. She changed our top sheet into a fitted sheet, since that bottom one was becoming threadbare. She cut off and hemmed some of Calla’s pants to make shorts, since Calla is not fond of wearing anything that obscures her view of her shoes. The sad thing is that we had to return our friend’s sewing machine this week, and we will have to find another one for Miriam to keep practicing.
All week, the children have been happy at home. Tonight there is some trepidation about going back to school tomorrow. They are not excited to face the culture differences, the slower pace of English instruction, and the constraints on their time. We have had such a fantastic vacation, though, and I hope they will carry that goodness and sense of love and life as they face their coming days and make solutions to the challenges that arise.