Do I really need a car?

September 7, 2007
For the most part the effects of the Tropical depression are past here in Honduras though I am hearing of lots of flooding in the capital, 4 hours from me. Some of the rivers along the main road to the city were very high but the roads were quite passable. This afternoon I arrived in the city with hopes of getting together with a woman I was supposed to meet with last week and had to cancel on because of transportation problems. Of course I could not actually reach her by telephone until I got to the city, but thankfully she readily invited me to her house, even at the last minute. I appreciate that about the Latin culture – ability to change plans last minute and graciously.

So I said that we had electric throughout the storm. That was true until Wednesday night when suddenly the power went off around 7:00PM. I was on the phone with Cindy in the city and I learned that they lost power at the same moment and I figured the problem must be pretty big and might take a long time to fix (the whole country I later learned). But by midnight the electric was back. It did hinder the plans that I had to bake cookies with the two Honduran women and one of their daughters. But even with electric we probably could not have made them because we could not get the oven to work without giving off gas. We sat on the kitchen floor around a candle instead, ate a few chocolate chips, and chatted. Quality moments.

The excitement of this morning was checking out the snake that the dogs had killed the other night. A boa, about 4 feet long. Enjoy the photos! It was quite comforting to hear that the night watchman thought he saw it on the roof of the cabin next to mine shortly before its death. Perhaps the wildlife on camp is a little too prolific. I had to evacuate my house Weds. night for fumigation against the many unwanted insects. When I return on Friday, I will have to do lots of washing of everything that is now contaminated by the spray. The car issues were supposedly a defective oil filter that exploded so once it was replaced the mechanic said that it should be fine for me to drive to the city. But this evening I noticed oil on the floor beneath the car so I am not so sure it is fixed. At least it has not lost all its oil like last time though. I am considering taking up the recommendation of the one night watchman and buying a horse for my transportation instead. The benefits – 4WD in any type of weather, no mechanical issues to deal with, and if I use my big backpack, I could carry my groceries. Of course the drawbacks are too numerous to mention.