Local flavor

Did you know? ... Sabias que? ...

There is a New Orleans influence here in La Ceiba, which originates from the banana trade in the early twentieth century?  "New Orleans style" is featured on some restaurant menus, and I heard that after hurricane Katrina, flooded out vehicles were repaired and brought here for use (or brought here and repaired for use).
Old school busses are used as public transportation, they're painted fun colors.
School vacation is from the end of November until the beginning of February.

Some of the rules I learned about pronunciation and intonation (textbook and Costa Rica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Panama and Spain) are different here.  Usually the second to last vowel in a word carries the most weight, for example "agua" or "casa" unless it has an accent mark, where obviously that vowel then is enunciated "informacion" (I cant find the accent button but I hope you get the idea). When you add a syllable to a word by adding a pronoun (WHAT! haha) so I sit down is "me siento (pop quiz: which vowel is enunciated???) if you said the "e" you are correct. So anyways when it changes to a command like "SIT DOWN" the pronoun is attached to the end of the word and an accent is added to preserve the original pronunciation of the verb "sientate" but naaaaaat here, it comes out sientate.  At first I thought I was missing something, but the more Ive listened, Ive realized its the local accent here. 

Local speak:
Vos is used instead of tu to say "you"
Vaya pues = esta bien = its all good, alright, or ok
Aseo is used for "chores" instead of "quehaceres"
Motorista is used to refer to the bus driver
Dinamica is what musical chairs is called (I thought it would be more literal like "sillas musicales"
Bote is an abbreviated for botella (bottle)
Pucha hombre - is what I hear the older kids say when they get frustrated, exact translation, idk.

Living things that I have encountered since my last post:

• small snake (culebra) in the road on the walk to the bus. The kids asked me why I didn't kill it. Well, 1) because that's just not my style, and 2) who wants snake on the bottom of their shoe?
• star fish (pez estrella) BIG AND BEAUTIFUL
• conch (concha) also BIG AND BEAUTIFUL
• pink boa (boa rosa) lives ONLY on Cayos Cochinos, and nowhere else in the world. Katie held it, I touched it, not because im scared, but snakes make me gag.
• sea urchin
• barracuda, translation, BARRACUDA, and who was wearing silver jewelry while snorkeling...? This girl.
• Fish (peces) of all colors and shapes and sizes.  Imagine the variety in Finding Nemo, and you'll get the idea,
• Sea pickle. Not sure what that was all about.
• Crab (cangrejo)
• Vultures

Food/drink I have tried:

• tamarind juice - this I LOVE.
• guanabana - green and prickly on the outside and white on the inside. This is also a fun word to say, just ask Katie, it comes out of my mouth periodically throughout the day.
• (I had jambalaya last night with my seafood - hola New Orleans)
• almond fruit, so you think its just a nut... on one of the Cayos islands today there were yellow oblong fruits under the trees. Alex, our tour guide (guia) ...quick! where does the accent fall??!... told me that when the almond is ripe the fruit turns red. Today is was inmadura (not ripe) and was yellow, I tried it, it was bitter! (amargo) So what is a fruit in Honduras, is a nut at home in los EEUU (USA) ...the pit/seed whatever you want to call it.

Stay tuned for my next post which I dedicate to "things kids say" and "in the classroom"
-EMILY