Fiesta Típica

Today our school held its annual Fiesta Tipica, which is basically a celebration of Honduran traditions. All of the students and teachers wore traditional Lenca (Indian) or Garifuna (Afro-Carribean) clothing, and we sold tons of traditional Honduran food. Each grade was in charge of a champa, or hut, and they were in charge of building their hut and providing the food. Each grade had a different type of food that they had to bring, and 9th grade (my class) had to bring deserts. The parents built a fantastic hut, complete with a mud oven, and served sweetened rice with milk, a hard cookie type of thing called a rosquilla served in honey, ayote (kind of like a type of squash) served in honey, chocolate covered bananas, a type of sugary, peanut brittle looking desert called conserva and sweet bread.

The students performed traditional dances, sang, and recited poetry. They did an absolutely fantastic job, and it was really fun to see some of their hidden talents. There were also indios bonitos for each grade, which are a boy and girl elected by each class to represent their grade. The girls have to create a traditional dress made of natural materials, such as beans, grass, etc, and the boys act as their escorts. It was pretty cool to see the amazing dresses that the students wore. All of the teachers dressed up in traditional dresses as well, which was really fun.

We use it as a fundraiser, and this year our school was trying to raise money to build a classroom for next year’s 10th graders, as well as a room to serve as a library/computer lab. We raised about $1,300 this year, which is a good start for the new rooms. The champa for 9th grade made about $140, which was pretty darn good. There were lots of people there, which was nice, considering its probably the most exciting thing that has happened in town since I moved here.

This coming week we only have 2 days of school, then I am heading off to Roatan, one of the islands off of Honduras, for a 5 day vacation. I’m definitely ready for a short vacation and spending some time on the beach. I feel like I haven’t done much traveling in Honduras yet, so I’m ready to see some more of the country.

Fiesta Típica

Today our school held its annual Fiesta Tipica, which is basically a celebration of Honduran traditions. All of the students and teachers wore traditional Lenca (Indian) or Garifuna (Afro-Carribean) clothing, and we sold tons of traditional Honduran food. Each grade was in charge of a champa, or hut, and they were in charge of building their hut and providing the food. Each grade had a different type of food that they had to bring, and 9th grade (my class) had to bring deserts. The parents built a fantastic hut, complete with a mud oven, and served sweetened rice with milk, a hard cookie type of thing called a rosquilla served in honey, ayote (kind of like a type of squash) served in honey, chocolate covered bananas, a type of sugary, peanut brittle looking desert called conserva and sweet bread.

The students performed traditional dances, sang, and recited poetry. They did an absolutely fantastic job, and it was really fun to see some of their hidden talents. There were also indios bonitos for each grade, which are a boy and girl elected by each class to represent their grade. The girls have to create a traditional dress made of natural materials, such as beans, grass, etc, and the boys act as their escorts. It was pretty cool to see the amazing dresses that the students wore. All of the teachers dressed up in traditional dresses as well, which was really fun.

We use it as a fundraiser, and this year our school was trying to raise money to build a classroom for next year’s 10th graders, as well as a room to serve as a library/computer lab. We raised about $1,300 this year, which is a good start for the new rooms. The champa for 9th grade made about $140, which was pretty darn good. There were lots of people there, which was nice, considering its probably the most exciting thing that has happened in town since I moved here.

This coming week we only have 2 days of school, then I am heading off to Roatan, one of the islands off of Honduras, for a 5 day vacation. I’m definitely ready for a short vacation and spending some time on the beach. I feel like I haven’t done much traveling in Honduras yet, so I’m ready to see some more of the country.