Oreos, Giggling Schoolgirls and rabid dogs

Our second week at La Esperanza also happened to be our longest. It was filled with yapping dogs at night and the sounds of our croaking parrots at home. We slept very well for those four days. We spent most of our workdays digging trenches for the house we are building in Chiligatoro.

One notable event of those four days was the discovery, at the Mercadito Melissa, of a two-for-one deal on galletas de Oreo, as they say over here (They don’t seem to know what an Oreo cookie is). Unfortunately, when I brought my four packs of 48 cookies for LPS. 90 at the counter, I found out the offer was only valid for the paquetes amarillos — the chocolate ones I am allergic to. On the spot, I was quite irritated, so I declared I would write about it in a blog post. Well done.

Later on that week, as we were taking a walk around the city, we had our first encounter with the Giggling Schoolgirls. We wanted to check out a small clothes shop at the other end of the city, and as we entered it we saw a pack of them at the snearby school’s gates, pointing at us and crying out to us. There was nothing of notable interest in the store. However, when we came out twenty minutes later, we found the same girls still there waiting for us to come out. They were now clearly crying out for my friend Dre “La camisa azul, camisa azuuuuuuuuuuul!” (Blue shirt, blue shiiiiiiiiiiirt!). He was obviously enjoying it, for he started waving and laughing at them as he blew a kiss at a distance. By that time they were all chanting in english “I looove youuuuuu!”. I thought that may have been the highlight of our week. End of The Giggling Schoolgirls, Episode I.

Our short stay at La Esperanza was nearing to an end that week, and we decided thursday night that we were too lazy to pack up our stuff for the next morning — we were to wake up at 2:30 AM the next day, throw some stuff in our bags, and leave for Copán city.

We woke up the next morning at 3:00 AM, threw some stuff haphazardly in our bags, and left for Copán city. The moment we got out of the house (after savouring our Corn Flakes sin leche), we realized the walk to the bus station might just not be as much of a breeze as it had been in the past. We could see nothing of the street under our feet: they were a mass of black darkness marked by the faint moonlight on the walls of the surrounding houses. It would have made for a pleasing stroll if not for the presence of rabid starving dogs in the middle of the street. Usually, they are quite calm and restful during the day, but a certain quality of the night seems to bring them to life at dusk. We walked the streets with our knives out and ready (Dre was equipped with his steeltoes) to the house where our other two friends were staying.

Once again, we had to wait after them for a while, as they were not yet ready.

We made our way to the bus station a few minutes early, and in doing so encountered the usual drunkards of La Esperanza, some more dogs and very little light. Thank god our friend Fred was there to lead us to safety. /subtle sarcasm