CULTURAL

Monday, August 30, 1998 Online Edition 121

'98 SEASON OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION -- THROUGH SEPTEMBER 26 -- AUG. 29: Cachivaches Theater Group in "The Stick Doctor." SEPT. 4, 5: La Fragua Theater Group in two short plays, "Bald Mountain" and "The Thing." SEPT. 11, 12: La Fragua Theater Group in "A New Dream." SEPT. 12, 13: Party in celebration of Children’s Day for all of the children of El Progreso. (No admission fee for this event). Showtime is 7 p.m. Admission is Lps. 20 for adults and Lps. 10 for children. Weekday performances for school children, Thursdays at 4 p.m. La Fragua Theater is located in the City of El Progreso in the Colonia Patty, two blocks behind the Clinica Cristiana.

Youth Theater Festival Against AIDS -- OCTOBER 29,20,31 -- The Educational Center for the Prevention of AIDS, COMVIDA will be hosting in San Pedro Sula the II Annual Central American Youth Theater Against AIDS. Groups interested in participating should be comprised of 10 actors between the ages of 13 and 25. Subject matter should focus on the AIDS problem or on social, cultural, economic, and political factors that contribute to the spread of this disease. Video and script should be sent by Sept. 15 to the COMVIDA Kiosk, located in San Pedro's Central Park, tel/fax: 550-2075.

CHILDREN’S THEATER - SUNDAY MORNINGS - The Teatro Latino will present "The Three Little Pigs" puppet theater Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. at the Restaurant "El Jardin" in the Hotel Suites Los Andes of San Pedro Sula. Admission is Lps. 25. For more information, call director David Vivar at 225-2440.

PAINTING AUCTION -- OCTOBER 23 -- The Rehabilitation Department of the San Felipe Hospital in commemoration of its 50th Anniversary, together with the Honduran Polio Association will host an auction of the works of outstanding Honduran painters. The exposition will dedicated to painter Salvador Leary for his charity work benefiting Honduran children; proceeds will go towards buying medical equipment for the Rehabilitation Department. Check future Maya Calendars for more details about the event.

FAMILIES ANONYMOUS -- Families Anonymous (FA) meetings are held every Tuesday evening at the Union Church at 7:30 p.m. Call Eileen for more information at 239-9779 or 239-9778.

AL-ANON FAMILY GROUPS -- Al-Anon helps the relatives and friends of problem drinkers. Groups met weekly in Colonia Alameda (Saturday afternoons) and Colonia Loarque (Sunday evenings). For more information, contact Amanda at 239-2698 (Spanish) or Margaret at 226-6576 (English).

WEIGHT WATCHERS -- Weight Watchers, an international weight loss program with over 40 years of experience in helping people maintain a healthier lifestyle is offering classes in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. To join or for more information, contact Juan Cueva Membreno at 239-0161.

ENGLISH SPEAKING WOMEN'S CLUB -- The English Speaking Women's Club invites all English-speaking women to attend its teas held the second Thursday of each month at 2:30 p.m. in the Hotel Honduras Maya. Participate in interesting programs, sign up for activity groups, and make new friends. For more information, call Sara at 211-8369.

FLOWER ARRANGING -- THROUGH SEPTEMBER 10 -- The Garden Club of Tegucigalpa is sponsoring a flower arranging course from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Banco Atlantida gardens in Miraflores, Tegucigalpa. For more information, call 237-4361 or 237-5625.

FLOWER DESIGN -- SEPTEMBER 22, 23, 24 -- The Garden Club of the Honduran Arab Women’s Association (APHA) is sponsoring a course for flower design judges, at the Honduran-Arab Club of San Pedro Sula. For more information, call Sorea de Mahomar at 550-2165.

ART, READING & TUTORING FOR CHILDREN -- The Art and Education Center, BONAMPAK, at the Plaza Millennium, is currently offering hourly art courses for children ages 6 to 12 on Mondays and Wednesdays, as well as Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 to 5 p.m. Hourly reading courses for children ages 7 to 12 are being held on Fridays from 4 to 6 p.m., as well as for children ages 4 to 6. Tutoring services are also available. Call 222-5487 for more information.

CHILDREN'S LIBRARY -- The Centro Cultural Infantil of San Pedro Sula currently has a program titled "The Reading Corner" offering young people a chance to read and listen to stories in a comfortable environment. The library of this center holds a "Story Hour" daily and has a study area where students may do research. For more information about CCI services call 557-8639.

SPANISH CLASSES -- Spanish as a second language courses are being offered at the National Autonomous University of Honduras. Learn Spanish with personal and advanced methods for beginner, intermediate, advanced and superior levels. For more information, call 232-2110, Ext. 217 or write to University Certificate in Spanish Proficiency, P.O. Box U 8779, Tegucigalpa.

MUSEUMS AND GARDENS

TEGUCIGALPA

The Museum of Republican History is located at the Villa Roy building in Tegucigalpa's Barrio Buenos Aries. It is open 8:30 to 3:30, Tuesdays through Sundays and features portraits, paraphernalia, and other interesting items from past presidents. Admission is Lps. 20 for non-resident foreigners and Lps. 10 for Hondurans and Central Americans. For more information, call 222-3470 or 222-1468.

The Central Bank of Honduras located at the Comayaguela annex building is open from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday. It has a permanent coin and painting exhibit. For special presentations, call the Emision y Tesoreria department at 237-2270 (-78), ext. 2117 (-2120). [CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.]

The Galeria Nacional de Arte features rock art, pre-Columbian ceramics, colonial paintings, religious art and a wide selection of 20th century Honduran painters. The gallery is located at the Plaza de la Merced in downtown Tegucigalpa. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10-5 p.m. and Sunday from 10-2 p.m. Admission is Lps. 10 for adults, Lps. 5 for senior citizens, Lps. 3 for students and Lps. 1 for children accompanied by adults.

The Biosfera Ecocentro Iguana Farm in Colonia La Joya invites the public to come and learn everything about iguanas. Admission is Lps. 5 for adults, Lps. 3 for children. The facility is open every day (except Wednesday) from 9 to 5. For more information, call 230-6346.

YUSCARAN, EL PARAISO

Yuscaran's Casa de la Cultura is located at the former Casa Fortin in downtown Yuscaran, El Paraiso department, just 45 km from Tegucigalpa on the road to Danli. It is open Mondays through Saturdays.

LA PAZ, LA PAZ

The La Paz Casa de la Cultura is located in downtown La Paz. It features an attractive exhibit of the Lenca handicrafts and culture. It is open Mondays through Sundays.

SAN PEDRO SULA, CORTES

The Museo de San Pedro Sula is located between 3rd and 4th Avenues, 4th Street N.O. in San Pedro Sula. It is open from 10 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays. Admission is Lps. 5 for adults, Lps. 2 for students (must present valid ID) and Lps. 2 for children under 12 years of age. (Tel: 557-1496, Fax: 552-7091)

Sponsored and managed by the Fundacion Ecologista H.R. Pastor Fasquelle, this new museum was inaugurated last December in its current location at the Biocentro on 3 Avenida and 9 Calle Noroeste. It has 24 exhibits on the environment, natural resources and biology of Honduras. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and 8 a.m. until noon on Saturdays. Admission is Lps 5 for students from public schools and Lps. 10.00 for everyone else.

COPAN

Located in the village of Copan Ruinas, Copan department, the museum exhibits a splendid assortment of Mayan pieces that have been found in the Copan Ruins Archaeological Park just 1 km away.

Featuring a sizeable collection of Mayan handicrafts and photographs as well as a room with Japanese antique ceramics, this museum is located at the El Puente Archaeological Site, about an hour's drive from Copán Ruinas.

Inaugurated in 1996, this is the premier Mayan museum in the Mundo Maya, featuring the finest examples of Copán's tombs, sculptures and architecture. Located at the Copán Ruins Archaeological Park, the museum is open Monday through Sunday.

COMAYAGUA, COMAYAGUA

Located in the city of Comayagua, 2 hours north from Tegucigalpa, the Comayagua Colonial Museum is in the building that served as home to the government in the 19th century. It contains objects used by indigenous cultures and the Spanish during the pre-Colombian and Colonial eras.

Located in the Casa Cural in front of Comayagua's cathedral, this museum features religious paintings and objects dating back to the 16th century. Hours are 8-12 and 2-4 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. For more information, contact Leonardo Letona at 772-0348.

TELA, ATLANTIDA

Located 2 kilometers from Tela on the Atlantic coast highway, the gardens feature one of the largest collections of tropical and subtropical plants, shrubs and trees in all Latin America. It is open from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Mondays through Sundays. There is an admission charge.

LA CEIBA, ATLANTIDA

Thousands of butterflies and insects from Honduras and 18 other countries are on display in La Ceiba' private Butterfly and Insect Museum. It is located in Colonia El Sauce, 2nd etapa, casa G-12. Visiting hours are 8-12 and 2-5, Monday through Saturday. The museum is closed Wednesday afternoon. Fees are Lps. 15 for adults and Lps. 10 for students. Tel. 442-2874, e-mail: rlehman@ns.gbm.hn

ROATAN, THE BAY ISLANDS

The private Carambola Botanical Gardens and Nature Trails is located in Sandy Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands. A wide variety of exotic plants is featured here, including "Roatan's most extensive orchid collection." It is open daily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 445-1117 and ask for Bill or Irma Brady.

The Maya Calendar is a public service for our readers. If you would like to announce an event taking place in Honduras, please send the information to: Calendar Editor, Honduras This Week, Fax 232-2300, e-mail: hontweek@hondutel.hn

Deputies of the National Congress are currently considering legislation that would change or eliminate Article 107 of the Honduran Constitution, which prohibits foreigners or foreign companies from owning land within 40 km of the coast. This article repeats the contents of a 1890s Agrarian Reform Law.

This law and the Constitutional article were specially designed to stop foreign-owned banana companies from obtaining all the land near the Coast, thus possibly affecting Honduran access to fishing, ports, and prime agricultural land.

The Garifunas have been organizing to fight against the change in the Constitution and also to denounce violations of their rights under Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization, which states among other things that the government shows respect for the special importance of lands or territories, according to the spiritual values of the ethnic group.

Not only the Garifunas in Honduras are worried about land issues. In agreements made at the end of the civil war in Guatemala, the government there made promises to respect Garifuna and Indian lands, taking into account land held by tradition and belief to be sacred to the tribe. This raises an interesting question: Where are the sacred places of the Garifuna people?

There seems to be two ways to define sacred areas. The first is where sacred ceremonies take place. The second is where sacred beings live. The two are related.

Most of the ceremonies for ancestors take place in the center of Garifuna communities, where their residences are located: wakes (velorios), baths for the dead, one year end of morning ceremonies (fin de novenario), mass (lemessi), banquet for the ancestors (chugu), dance for the ancestors (dugu). There are also ceremonies for the purification of a new house and certain kinds of healing.

The spirits of ancestors (gubida) are frequently seen near houses. Both good and bad spirits can be seen in the villages, especially at night, according to the Garifunas.

When it does not rain or crops do not prosper, it may be that the land spirits are unhappy. There is a ceremony in the agricultural lands to appease them. The Warini begins his Christmas dance from the agricultural area. It is this dancer's job to bring fertility here and in the whole town. While the women work in the fields, they sing, and some people reportedly cast spells to help crops grow and be protected.

There are stories of ancestor spirits being seen coming back from agricultural work. Mafia, which the Garifunas translate as devils, also inhabit the paths where the Garifunas walk to their fields.

Behind Garifuna communities, there are forest areas. The Garifunas, like Hawaiians, believe that underneath certain trees there are spirits who live there who must be appeased. For example, before cutting silkwood (ceiba) or mahogany trees for making canoes or picking corrozo nuts, the people performed a ceremony with guaro (a local alcoholic beverage made from sugar cane), a candle and a gourd. Mahogany cutting also required several kinds of songs.

Donna Clara of Cristales reports that the earth spirits also live in forest areas. Before medicinal plants are used, the spirits must be paid. Currently, real coins are used.

Because the Garifuna are a fishing people, there are many beliefs focused around the sea. At the mouths of rivers, lagoons and estuaries, men performed ceremonies to the spirit of the sea to obtain fish. Failure to do the ceremony resulted in the spirit taking the fish away.

For the religious ceremony dugu, men must fish for three days, including lung diving for lobster or conch if the spirits require it. There have been conflicts with protected area managers about ceremonial fishing. Men used to sing special songs while fishing.

The beach or shore area is also important in dugu. After fishing, the ceremonial fishermen collect products from the agricultural and forest areas. These are received by the whole family and the community with candles, drums, guaro, and songs on the beach. The fishermen bring with them not only food, but also a child representing the ancestors.

The Garifunas believe the land of the ancestors is on the other side of the sea. When dugu is over, the food for the ancestors is sent to them either by burying it on the beach or by throwing it into the sea. The Garifunas also take ceremonial purifying baths in the sea at the end of the dugu.

This belief is also seen at the end of the ceremony "fin de novenario." Like some African peoples and the Miskito Indians, the Garifunas believe the soul of a person is not ready to go to the land of ancestors immediately after death. After a year has elapsed, the soul has become ready for its journey, so the people have a ceremony in which a doll representing the dead person is placed in the sea, thus giving it a start in the right direction.

Several spirits live in the areas where fresh and salt water meet. These include duendes (a nature spirit associated with water among Garifunas), the man of the sea and water mafia, such as the buyubiyuti. Bad spirits such as the agayuma (a female spirit) and a small being called the humero are also attracted by this area.

Thus for the Garifuna, like the Navajo, every part of their area has sacred beings and ceremonies. The loss of any area, be it beach, sea, forest or cassava fields would affect the Garifuna's ability to maintain beliefs and practices already threatened by immigration and acculturation.

Monday, August 24, 1998 Online Edition 120

Good food can be found on Calle Los Horcones

By RICARDO MADRID

Special for Honduras This Week

Many years ago, Calle "Los Horcones" in the heart of Tegucigalpa had a very colonial atmosphere. This street used to be paved with cobble stones and the houses had porches that were held up by wooden poles, which are called horcones in Spanish. Early settlers even used to tie their horses to these posts.

Today the colonial architecture has given away to modern buildings and has become a commercial zone with more than six typical food restaurants. Los Horcones street spans from Futuro Bank to El Arbolito, a famous Tegucigalpa landmark. This highly frequented zone is also located within about 400 yards of Tegucigalpa's best hotels.

The quantity of restaurants in this area has created a healthy form of competition that promotes fair prices and excellent food. "Pupusas Ricas" has taken up this challenge and has developed a faithful clientele. José Colindres, who lived and worked in the United States for six years, is your English-speaking host and food and beverage manager.

This restaurant offers budget priced daily nutritionally balanced meals for under Lps. 25 lempiras, including a soft drink. They also serve their specialty, which are pupusas -- corn meal tortillas filled with a pliable typical Honduran cheese called quesillo. Sometimes, they even include chicharrones (pork rinds) along with the quesillo if the client so desires. Pupusas are very filling and only set you back Lps. 6.50 each.

Pupusas Ricas also serves Mexican-style fastfood such as tacos and enchiladas. The house special hamburger is very tasty and only costs Lps. 16. There is always plenty of ice cold beer and soft drinks to go with the great food.

If you so desire you can eat in one of three private dining rooms. The front public dining room is a nice vantage point to see just how many foreigners frequent this excellent restaurant. Expatriates and tourists from the United States, Argentina, Australia, Canada, England, France, Spain, and Denmark, along with local Hondurans really enjoy themselves at bargain prices.

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Try Vicente's for that special night out

By WENDY GRIFFIN

Although most people who visit or live on the North Coast dream of beaches and clear water, at some point they will all end up in San Pedro Sula. Whether for supermarkets, dentists, hardware stores, buses or airports, San Pedro Sula is the place to go. And of course, one looks for good restaurants.

Like Tegucigalpa, the area where most of the hotels in San Pedro are located is not the same area where most of the good restaurants are found. However, there are a few nice places downtown. One is Restaurante Vicente, located on 7th Avenue between 1st and 2nd Calle, beside the Pizzería Italia. This is just a block away from a movie theater and three blocks up from the Gran Hotel Sula on Central Park.

Vicente's and Pizzería Italia seem to have the same management and definitely serve the same Pizza. Pizzería Italia is more humble with plastic tables, suitable for Honduran families taking their five children out to eat pizza. Its formal atmosphere is also comfortable for drinking cold beers with your hot pizza trips.

Vicente's is fancier, with red-checkered tablecloths and white cloth napkins. There are special tile designs on the walls and floors. For those suffering from San Pedro's heat, there is air conditioning that works. Instead of rap music in Spanish, which is now dominating in restaurant music on both the North Coast and in Tegucigalpa, classical music was played softly. Green plants, a full bar, and attentive waiters also help give the impression that this a fancy place for a nice dinner with your sweetheart.

At Vicente's, you can get paella with squids, crab, shrimp, chicken, sausages and rice for one person. A friend said, "Oh, this will be expensive. Look, they take Visa". But both the paella and the fettuccine Alfredo, accompanied by good rolls and real butter, were just Lps. 55. And they were excellent.

For that special night out, you might want to finish the evening with liqueurs like creme de menthe, Francelia or Kahlua, all of which they stock. On the North Coast, it is somewhere between difficult and impossible to get an after dinner coffee. The same restaurant that 7 a.m. the next day will serve café con leche, claims at 9 p.m., "No hay café" (There is no coffee). At Vicente's, there was no problem getting coffee at night.

For people used to the quieter pace of Trujillo, Tela or the Islands, San Pedro tends to rattle the nerves. Instead of looking on the trip with dread, live it up a little, dress up, and go somewhere nice for dinner like Vicente's. Afterward, you could see a movie, or take in the current play at the Centro Cultural Sampedrano. Or just stay and talk over coffee. This way you just might find yourself looking forward to your next trip into town.

THE PEOPLE’S ENEMY -- AUGUST 28 -- The Cultural Memories Association Study Theater Group will present The People’s Enemy, by Henrik Ibsen, dedicated to the memory of Janeth Kawas, at the Manuel Bonilla National Theater, 7:30 p.m. On Aug. 30, there will be a special presentation just for women at 1:30 p.m.

UPROAR AT HOME -- AUGUST 28,29 -- XXI Century Artistic Productions is currently presenting their third production "Uproar at Home," by Anthony Mariott and Alistair Foot, at the Renacimiento Theater, Plaza Millennium. Admission is Lps.40.00; Lps.20.00 for students with ID. Showtime is 8 p.m.

'98 SEASON OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION -- THROUGH SEPTEMBER 26 -- AUGUST 22: La Fragua Theater Group in High is the Night, a story based on the public execution in 1863 of Cipriano and Doroteo Cano in then Ilamtepeque, Santa Bárbara. The Cano brothers were accused of witchcraft and devil worshipping. AUGUST 28, 29: Cachivaches Theater Group in The Stick Doctor. SEPTEMBER 4, 5: La Fragua Theater Group in two short plays, Bald Mountain and The Thing. SEPTEMBER 11, 12: La Fragua Theater Group in A New Dream. SEPTEMBER 12, 13: Party in celebration of Children’s Day for all of the children of El Progreso. (No admission fee for this event). Showtime is 7 p.m. Admission is Lps. 20 for adults and Lps. 10 for children. Weekday performances for school children, Thursdays at 4 p.m. La Fragua Theater is located in the City of El Progreso in the Colonia Patty, two blocks behind the Clinica Cristiana.

YOUTH THEATER FESTIVAL AGAINST AIDS -- OCTOBER 29,20,31 -- The Educational Center for the Prevention of AIDS, COMVIDA will be hosting in San Pedro Sula the II Annual Central American Youth Theater Against AIDS. Groups interested in participating should be comprised of 10 actors between the ages of 13 and 25. Subject matter should focus on the AIDS problem or on social, cultural, economic, and political factors that contribute to the spread of this disease. Video and script should sent by Sept. 15 to the COMVIDA Kiosk, located in San Pedro’s Central Park, tel/fax: 550-2075.

CHILDREN’S THEATER - SUNDAY MORNINGS - The Teatro Latino will present "The Three Little Pigs" puppet theater Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. at the Restaurant "El Jardin" in the Hotel Suites Los Andes of San Pedro Sula. Admission is Lps. 25 For more information, call director David Vivar at 225-2440.

MAGIC SHOW -- AUGUST 30 - The Mago Fortin will be presenting a Magic Show at 10:30 a.m. at D’Barro Restaurant in Colonia Alameda in Tegucigalpa. Admission is Lps. 20. For more information, call director David Vivar at 225-2440.

FRENCH HORN AND PIANO RECITAL -- 28 AUGUST -- Dennis Behm, French horn soloist from Hattiesburg, Mississippi will be accompanied on the piano by Jorge G. Mejia in a recital next Friday. This event will be sponsored by USIS at the Museum of the Honduran Man, located on Third Street, the street descending into downtown Tegucigalpa from the Hotel Maya. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. There is no admission fee.

PAINTING AUCTION -- OCTOBER 23 -- The Rehabilitation Department of the San Felipe Hospital in commemoration of its 50th Anniversary and the Honduran Polio Association will host an auction of the works of outstanding Honduran painters. The exposition will dedicated to painter Salvador Leary for his charity work benefiting Honduran children; proceeds will go towards buying medical equipment for the Rehabilitation Department. Check future Maya Calendars for more details about the event.

FAMILIES ANONYMOUS -- Families Anonymous (FA) meetings are held every Tuesday evening at the Union Church at 7:30 p.m. Call Eileen for more information at 239-9779 or 239-9778.

AL-ANON FAMILY GROUPS -- Al-Anon helps the relatives and friends of problem drinkers. Groups meet weekly in Colonia Alameda (Saturday afternoons) and Colonia Loarque (Sunday evenings). For more information contact Amanda at 239-2698 (Spanish) or Margaret at 226-6576 (English).

WEIGHT WATCHERS -- Weight Watchers, an international weight loss program with over 40 years of experience in helping people maintain a healthier lifestyle is offering classes in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. To join or for more information, contact Juan Cueva Membreno at 239-0161.

ENGLISH SPEAKING WOMEN'S CLUB -- The English Speaking Women's Club invites all English-speaking women to attend its teas held the second Thursday of each month at 2:30 p.m. in the Hotel Honduras Maya. Participate in interesting programs, sign up for activity groups, and make new friends. For more information, call Sara at 211-8369.

FLOWER DESIGN -- September 22, 23, 24 -- The Garden Club of the Honduran Arab Women’s Association (APHA) is sponsoring a course for flower design judges, at the Honduran-Arab Club of San Pedro Sula. For more information, call Sorea de Mahomar at 550-2165.

BALLET & MODERN DANCE FOR CHILDREN -- The Centro Cultural Infantil of San Pedro Sula has opened enrollment for these courses to begin later this month. For more information call CCI call 557-8639.

ART, READING & TUTORING FOR CHILDREN -- The Art and Education Center, BONAMPAK, at the Plaza Millennium, is currently offering hourly art courses for children ages 6 to 12 on Mondays and Wednesdays, as well as Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 to 5 p.m. Hourly reading courses for children ages 7 to 12 are being held on Fridays from 4 to 6 p.m., as well as for children ages 4 to 6. Tutoring services are also available. Call 222-5487 for more information.

CHILDREN'S LIBRARY -- The Centro Cultural Infantil of San Pedro Sula currently has a program titled "The Reading Corner" offering young people a chance to read and listen to stories in a comfortable environment. The library of this center holds a "Story Hour" daily and has a study area where students may do research. For more information about CCI services call 557-8639.

SPANISH CLASSES -- Spanish as a second language courses are being offered at the National Autonomous University of Honduras. Learn Spanish with personal and advanced methods for Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Superior levels. For more information, call 232-2110, Ext. 217 or write to University Certificate in Spanish Proficiency, P.O. Box U 8779, Tegucigalpa.

MUSIC APPRECIATION CLASSES -- The Centro de Diseno, Arquitectura y Construccion (CEDAC) is currently offering free music appreciation classes on Mondays and Thursdays from 4 to 6 p.m. For more information, call CEDAC at 232-0449 or at 232-6024.

The Maya Calendar is a public service for our readers. If you would like to announce an event taking place in Honduras, please send the information to: Calendar Editor, Honduras This Week, Fax 232-2300, e-mail: hontweek@hondutel.hn

Monday, August 17, 1998 Online Edition 119

Pat McIntyre is a Peace Corps volunteer at Ojojona, Francisco Morazan department.

• Quiero ir al hotel.
• Necesito cambiar dólares.
• Necesito encontrar a mi amigo.
• Quiero comer algo.
• Quiero visitar a Copan.

Monday, August 10, 1998 Online Edition 118

Day of the Cross
(El Dia de la Cruz)

By Guillermo Yuscaran. 66 pages.
English/Spanish. Guaymuras ($ price)

Peering into the heart of darkness

By W. E. GUTMAN

Timelessness and continuity. Evanescence and immortality. Guillermo Yuscaran finds symmetry in extremes, equilibrium in contradiction, logic in paradox. Recurring devices in his work, these polarities help determine where allegory ends and reality begins, where fiction surrenders to actuality. They are essential to narratives that weave -- effortlessly and with sublime subtlety -- from the corporeal to the transcendent. These signposts help span the otherworldly domains the author beckons us to visit. Without them we cannot fully understand the denizens that dwell within them: spectral beings who possess both indelible memories and a prescience of the future, messengers who are always on the verge of the ultimate revelation but remain hidden in the shadows of anonymity.

A consummate storyteller, Yuscaran is the preeminent chronicler and champion of Honduras' unnoticed but vast reality -- the little people, the poor, the unseen, the forgotten, the maladjusted, the outcast, the mad, the dying. Devoid of artifice or sophistry, his renderings are both stark and uncompromising. He gets inside his subjects. Beneath their pores. Under their fingernails. He also journeys into their hearts and exorcises their fears and doubts, bears their misery and privations for all to see. He speaks of childhood overflowing with unattainable dreams, of old age filled with useless recollections. He can taste his protagonists' pain, feel their cautious joys. In a race against time, Yuscaran dissects a world where the obvious is willfully ignored.

In his eagerly awaited new book, Day of the Cross, Yuscaran leads an assault on conventional reason. Attacking preconceived notions about life and survival, compassion and magnanimity, beauty and monstrosity, he casts a cunning and sensitive eye at nature's most heinous miscalculations. Central to the story is the relationship between two people, one young but old beyond his years, the other old but recklessly defiant of age. Companions, reciprocal father-and-son figures and mutual disciples, Tono, congenitally malformed, and Chema, his alter-ego, are both witnesses and accomplices in a quest to find refuge from the abyss of solitude. Their bond, the silent covenant that unites them, the unbridgeable dichotomies that set them apart, the spiritual struggle in which they are pitted are fitting metaphors to both the human condition and the lunatic ambivalence of the human soul.

Unuttered but implicit in Day of the Cross -- as it is in much of Yuscaran's obra -- are haunting ethical questions: If humans do not peer into the heart of darkness, why should God? How else do you awaken a dormant conscience if not by prying eyes open and dousing them with acid? Whereas most of us are conditioned to regard ugliness as a blasphemy, as an offense by nature against innocence and vulnerability, as an unwanted gift by an uncaring donor to an unwilling recipient, Yuscaran does not see cripples -- physical or emotional -- as pathetic and pitiable creatures affronted by their creator, but as mythic beings and instruments of divine strategy. He finds lyricism in their disfigurements, inspiration in their tragic uniqueness.

Like Aesop and La Fontaine before him, Yuscaran has inherited the fabulist's predestination and tempered sense of morality: He walks among creatures who endure life's brutality and anticipate death with courage and dignity. He reminds the unmindful and the cynic that we all need someone smaller, weaker than ourselves, that the poor, the cripple, the simple-minded often teach valuable lessons in bravery and nobility to the well-to-do, the unimpaired, the worldly.

Attuned to the ear of the spirit, Day of the Cross challenges all those who can discern its hidden truths. A message of love. An ode to friendship. A triumph.

W. E. Gutman is a veteran journalist and a regular contributor.

Book Review:
Honduras:
Adventures in Nature
by James D. Gollin and Ron Mader,
John Muir Publications, Santa Fe, New Mexico

By ERLING DUUS

The long awaited publication of Honduras: Adventures in Nature sets a new standard for guide-books. Its purpose is not simply to help the traveler understand Honduras, its people, history, and culture, or to enable visitors to find their way around by giving information concerning hotels, restaurants, excursions, and the other things that guide books typically place in their pages. This book does all of that in an interesting and informative fashion, but its larger purpose is to inform the reader and traveler about the struggle being waged to save the natural and human environment of Honduras, and to enlist him/her in some manner or degree in that cause. It invites the tourist to be not just an informed and sensitive guest in the country, but to make a positive contribution, to be in fact, an eco-tourist.

This publication is rich with information about organizations and individuals who are involved in the environmental struggle, as well as about the problems and conflicts that give rise to them. It juxtaposes the struggle of indigenous people with such problems as deforestation and disappearance of flora and fauna, so that the reader can grasp the interweaving, and the complexity of the issues which face the nation. It does all this in the context of a clear and abiding love for the country and its people.

The passion of the authors for Honduras is unmistakable, and partly for that reason, their accomplishment is considerable. Other guide books may provide more detail, but none comes close to this one as an introduction to what a thoughtful and sensitive visitor to the country, whatever his/her specific interests might be, needs to know.

The authors struggle to provide a helpful definition of eco-tourism, one that might encompass different dimensions and styles. They identify different degrees of involvement that range from traveling in a manner that is non-exploitive and not giving one's business to operators or resorts who damage the environment all the way to participating in projects working with endangered peoples and eco-systems. Eco-tourism, as the authors envision it, includes but is far from limited to, low-impact tours into the wilds of the Mosquitia.

James Gollin, in his acknowledgements, praises John Muir Publications "for having the courage to publish a book that is more than simple travel fluff, a book that attempts to tell the true story of a threatened paradise and those fighting to save it."

This is a very appropriate recognition. For it is far from certain or clear that a book attempting to be a guide for travelers in the traditional sense can be successfully expanded into an extended orientation seminar on the environmental struggle in Honduras.

There is doubt about this from an artistic point of view, but, far more seriously, from a commercial stand-point. That is to say, will this book sell? Do visitors really want to inform themselves in the manner the authors wish for them to be informed? Is eco-tourism a real enough phenomena to make this publication successful, financially or otherwise, and can it become a vital force in terms of supporting sustainable, environmentally conscious life-styles and economies, and in winning at least some of the environmental battles?

The authors and the publisher have invested greatly in the notion that the answer to these questions is "yes." Let us hope so.

Much, or even most tourism, however, is a self-centered indulgence of the rich and privileged, an exercise more of hedonism than anything else. Its effect on nations and peoples has been to corrupt traditional cultures and in some cases destroy them. Economic gains are off-set by many losses. As a recognition of this, the concept of eco-tourism has been born.

It may be that it represents an important new concept, or conversely, it may be that it is mostly a fancy new word, a dressing up of the old tourism for easier consumption, an avenue whereon a new socially squeamish elite can travel into the undeveloped regions of the earth while feeling virtuous. It may be part of the dynamic that could save our endangered civilization, or part of the self-deception that will seal our doom. Of course, it could also be some of both of these, and other things as well.

James Gollin and Ron Mader do not give the impression of being naive. Though eloquent in their articulation of eco-tourism, they certainly know their book is an act of faith, and that it is an open question whether tourism, in any form, can become the creative and even redemptive force they envision. The book, in any event, becomes a player in the contest. Its influence can only be positive, it weighs in heavily on the side of the angels; it seeks to create what it envisions.

It is easy to end up in downtown Tegucigalpa around lunchtime, a fact apparently well known by Wendy's, Burger King, McDonald's, Little Caesar's and Pollo Campero. Not everyone likes fast food restaurant food, however, and prices by Honduran standards are high. The price of a burger, fries, and Coke are way over the Honduran daily minimum wage.

The street that begins directly behind the Cathedral and continues to El Arbolito has become a popular place for cheaper restaurants. Tourists are often here to go to Arte Sano for Lenca pottery or Tobacco Road Tavern for English-language books or to send e-mail. A restaurant where you can get a really good deal is La Pequena Cafeteria, located inside a Christian bookstore on this street.

When I taught English, my students would wonder why they had to spend all this time learning to say how they wanted their eggs or a steak. In many Honduran restaurants your choices are restricted to desayuno (breakfast), almuerzo (lunch) and cena (dinner). Only with difficulty can you find out what almuerzo is. Getting them to change something, such as giving you scrambled instead of fried eggs can be a challenge. This did not bother my students, who wanted to go into U.S. restaurants and say, "I want lunch."

La Pequena Cafeteria does have a plato del dia for lunch. It is clearly posted on a sign with a price. The price, Lps. 25, is extremely reasonably for a meal consisting of beef, rice, salad and tortillas. They also have a small buffet section where they will serve you just rice and a vegetable if you ask. Both systems will get you lunch in under 10 minutes, a modern day miracle for those persons used to North Coast restaurants.

There is also a full selection of typical Honduran dishes, like tortillas con quesillo or fried plantains. Most of these local foods, plus a soft drink comes to Lps. 12 or less. At fast food places that is just the cost of a soft drink.

Many of the people in line are office workers who get this food to go. At lunch time, the restaurant is busy, but stragglers come in throughout the day. Over the years, the cafeteria part has expanded to take over more and more space from the bookstore. It is currently quite pretty, done with dark wood tables and wood panelling. There is no music at all, a pleasant contrast to the noisy traffic outside. The messages on the Christian posters might also help make you smile.

If you are looking for tasty, well-cooked food, at a reasonable price in a quiet, no frills atmosphere, La Pequeña Cafeteria might appeal to you. If you are rushed, late for meetings, and need vegetarian food to go, the service here will get you and your food out the door faster than almost anywhere else in town.