E! News...reporting live from Copan, Honduras

So I was Skyping with my friend Rachel the other day and just started telling her a couple things about Copan. After I mentioned a couple things about very strange fashion, bizarre music and “unique” cuisine, I realized that even though all of these things really do feel like the “norm” around here for me, there really are some strange “trends” here in Copan that I thought I should report on...

So..in light of Rachel’s request and in an effort to remind myself that I am living in the twilight zone, here is a quick report on the fashion, the music and the food!

FASHION REPORT

So I have to split this part into 2 parts because let’s just say that men and women have very different senses of fashion around here.

Ok..the guys. In short, guys do not like to wear clothing. Yep that’s right. Men are everywhere walking in the street with no shirts on and many of them sitting on their front step with only their (very small) towels wrapped very low around their waists. I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen my host “dad” with a shirt on. Every dinner is me and shirtless Jesus (that is his name).

When the men DO bother to put a shirt on, it is almost always a wife beater and it is ALWAYS rolled up to show off the midriff area. See picture...

Ok...now for any of you ladies out there who have fantasies of walking among gorgeous, shirtless, latin lovers, don’t book your plane ticket just yet. Not exactly sure where this hot Hispanic guy stereotype came from but it definitely was NOT Copan. Pretty much everyone here could afford to lose about 30 pounds. Let’s just say if any of you out there are looking to open a Weight Watchers franchise, this would be an excellent market.

Onto the women...so I have never been a history buff but bear with me. Apparently, there was a big civil war here throughout the 80s (and maybe 90s??) Anyway...we all have a theory that because of this, there are many 80s trends that the Hondurans are just now discovering and enjoying (more on this in the Music Report). But let’s just say, neon is alive and well down here in Copan with the young folk. So I have tried to discreetly take some pictures of this trend VERY unsuccessfully (I need the paparazzi down here...). I managed to catch my waitress one time from the back...seriously, the things I do for this blog...

Anyway, the BIG trend is very bright colored shirts with EXACTLY matching earrings. Also, I think I mentioned this before but all of Copan is cobblestones and very hilly. So how these chicks walk around in stilettos is beyond me but anything in the name of fashion, huh?

Another resounding fashion trend is people wearing shirts in English that they clearly have no idea what they mean. So far, I have seen the following:

• A Hispanic woman wearing a shirt that said “Boys Prefer Blondes”
• A very cool student of mind (a boy) wearing a “Beauty School Graduate” shirt
• A 1st grade girl who is so sweet wearing a shirt that said “Sex Goddess”

Just for the record, I am definitely in no position to be critiquing anyone’s fashion at this point considering I’ve been wearing one of 8 t-shirts for the last 3 months. Truthfully, I could probably learn a thing or two from these people...

MUSIC REPORT

Like I mentioned before, music here is very 80s inspired. But somehow, a few current hits have managed to slip in. So basically, every time you go to a restaurant, it is like someone took the Saved by the Bell soundtrack, Enrique Inglesia’s Greatest Hits, Top 40 from like 2 years ago and WLTE radio station play list and put it on shuffle.

I seriously find myself laughing out loud every time I spend any length of time in a restaurant or a coffee shop. The play list goes like this:

Eye of the Tiger (always on), Enrique Inglesia, Dust in the Wind, Like a Prayer, Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy, Enrique Inglesia, Bryan Adams (LOVE him around here), Dancin’ on the Ceilin’, Ricky Martin, Eye of the Tiger (at least twice in an hour), Enrique Inglesia

Stay tuned...apparently there is a Karaoke place in town that I may check out this weekend.

FOOD REPORT

Any of you out there who have ideas that a person would come to a third world country for 6 months and lose weight, throw them out the window. If my Weight Watcher leader is reading this right now, please stop.

Last week, my house mom asked me if I wanted a cooking lesson to learn how to make the traditional Hondurean dish Baleadas. YES! I love them. Basically a tortilla filled with beans and eggs and cheese...oh and as it turns out...OIL!! Learning this was a very bad idea. Now I am fully aware of exactly just how bad these things are for you.
Basically this is an average day in the life of eating in Honduras:

• Breakfast...pancakes fried in lard (sooooo good)
• Lunch...Fried chicken, beans covered in cheese, tortilla fried in oil, rice (I’m sure made in oil of some kind...)
• Dinner...Baleadas (or something equally as terrible for you and delicious tasting), more beans with cheese, and yes...plantains. FRIED plantains...so good.

So basically I’m going to have to have a triple bypass when I get home. Either that or just roll my shirt up like the rest of the people here...and be proud of my new Honduran belly. So long as my earrings match my shirt (that says something completely inappropriate) and I’m rockin’ out to Enrique, I’m sure no one will notice!

xoxo,
Debra

P.S...check back soon! I already have the next post ready to go because I have had some serious internet issues...that's right, two blogs two days in a row!