"All-American" Weekend

Let me take a pause in my weekly routine to let you in on my past weekend events. Let's just say it was an "All-American weekend. A group of us (Vanessa - San Francisco, Markus - Germany, Jean - New York, Aline - France, Laura - Mexico, Daniela - Switzerland, Daniel - Austria) went to Tegucigalpa. We checked into the Nan King (the hotel we usually stay in; it has hot water and cable TV), took showers, and got ready to go to....T.G.I. Friday's! It was sooo good. We treated ourselves with pina coladas, hamburgers, french fries, and mud pie! Afterwards we went to the movies and saw Pirates of the Caribbean 2; in English with Spanish subtitles. I really liked it, but felt a little cheated because of all the set-up for part 3. Saturday morning we headed to the center and had licuados for breakfast. Then we all split up. Some ran errands, some went back to the ranch, and Markus and I headed out of town. We caught a rapidito/mini bus to Santa Lucia, which is a small pueblo about 20 minutes outside of Tegucigalpa. It is beautiful, up in the mountains, with great views of the city. We spent the afternoon meandering the streets, stopped for a drink, chatted it up with the locals, walked around the lagoon, and did a little shopping. We then headed back to the city, napped, showered, and met up with Miguel. Miguel is an ex-pequeno who now works for NPH. We went to a bar called Duncan's where we had dinner, drinks, and listened to live music (mostly Elvis). We then went to Sabor Cubano for Cuba Libre's and salsa dancing. It was a very chic place for Tegucigalpa standards. On Sunday I met up with Annemarie (Minnesota) for lunch. We went to Pizza Hut and indulged in breadsticks, pizza, and pop. As you can see, I ate very well this weekend! It was a much needed and much enjoyed escape from the daily routines of ranch living.

**Picture of the church in "el centro" of Tegucigalpa