jalon-ing

Our weekend in La Esparanza was really fun. Technically we spent less than 18 hours in that town, but that´s ok. The fun part actually was getting there, which involved a process called jalon, literally "pull" but really means to hitch a ride on the highway. La Esparanza would be about six hours away if you could drive directly, and there are two stopping points (Santa Rosa and Gracias). There are buses from Ocotepeque to Santa Rosa, but they are chicken buses and cost a few bucks so instead we decided to jalon. People do it all the time here, and it involves sitting or standing in the back of a pickup truck. Sometimes ther are rails for you to hold on to, sometimes not. It looks incredibly scary, and is in fact a bit dangerous, but it turns out it´s really fun!!

So on Friday after school, Jonno and I went to what´s apparently the best spot to grab a jalon in town (because there´s a speed bump there so the trucks are already stopped). We tried for a while, and finally a huge Mac truck stopped with a big flatbed in tow. He let us ride in the cab (a bunch of guys were hanging on to the straps of the flatbed, but we didn´t want to do that), but it turned out to be the slowest truck in the history of Honduras. Obviously, noone wants a speeding truck on those twisty mountain roads, but we got passed by a man on a bicycle!!! After a couple hours, we had to stop because there were trucks pulled up all along the side of the road, and we were told there was a huge accident and no trucks could get by, only cars and pickup trucks. It was around 5pm at this point, and we had no choice really but to get out and start walking and hope that another jalon would stop for us. As we walked, we saw all the poor Hondurans, and many immigrants I¨m sure who had hitched rides on these trucks and were begging us for money. It was pretty sad.

Luckily a truck stopped w/ El Salvadorans who had just come from Miami, and they let us hop in the back. We passed by the accident - a huge tractor trailor had gone right off the side of a cliff. It was really scary, and it´s quite possible we had tried to hitch a ride on that truck earlier. There were also probably lots of guys hanging on on the back of the truck as well, and I can´t imagine anyone would have survived. So after pondering that for a while, Jonno and I turned our attention to the beautiful countryside all around us. It was like being in a convertible, but so so much better! When we got to Santa Rosa, we ate at everyone´s favorite pizza place and then stayed at the house that the Peace Corps runs there with our friend Paul.

In the morning, we had some breakfast (eggs, beans, tortillas and orange juice) and caught a jalon that would take us halfway to Gracias. We then caught another one to Gracias, and from there, THREE MORE!!! I got more jaloning done in that day than most people do in months! All the drivers could only take us part of the way there, but it was better than nothing, and there literally is no other way to go from Gracias to La Esparanza. The jalons are usually free, but I guess along this road people tend to charge about $1-2, and they loaded up their trucks with people, as a way to earn some extra cash. We rode at one point with a bunch of cowboys, and when one of them got off he asked if I would stand so he could get his stuff that I had been sitting on, and he pulled out a machete! I had been sitting on a machete, no case or protective anything!!! I laughed and laughed. There was also a woman carrying an infant in her arms and everytime we hit a bump I felt like lunging for the baby!! The roads were paved to Gracias, and occasionally after that, but towards the end it was all dirt and rocks, and my butt is still a bit sore.

But I loved it -- the freedom in knowing that you can get where you need to go as long as you´re patient enough to wait or flexible enough to go only partway. And it was so beautiful to get a look up close at the trees and the sky and the mountains. We were incredibly dirty by the end of the day, but I can´t wait to do it again!! (On the way home on Sunday we tried to jalon but ended up being in the right places at the right time to catch buses, which only took us from 11-7pm!)

And now the festival in La Esparanza... It seems like kind of a side event, really. The fun was getting there, sitting with Jonno in the back of the pickup truck in the sun. But we were joking on the way there about how determined we were to make it worthwhile and party it up in La Esparanza. When we got there it was POURING rain, and we tried to find a cheap hotel but there was nothing left so we ended up paying $5 each (and that´s a lot around here). The festival was great - people selling food and crafts in the street, wine made from potatoes, traditional Honduran dancing, and watching the people walk up and down the street. And later at night they set up dj booths at either end of the street and people danced to salsa and reggaton and some old American 80s classics. There were fireworks, too, Honduran style, which meant a little disorganized and strange. Just good clean fun, and I´m so glad we got to experience a real local event like that. The ride home yesterday sucked, but the experience as a whole was so fantastic.

I can´t believe I´ve only been here for a week.