We have been burning-up the road between Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. We vary our travel dates, but are typically in San Pedro Sula 2 days each week. There are so many neat people that we have met along the way and in between the two cities.
Below is Mercedes, a 74-year old woman that we met in Comayagua. She cannot speak well due to a tracheostomy (I think that's what is called). When we first met, she pointed to my feet and told me she needed shoes. Unfortunately I didn't have anything to give her at the time. After I placed our feet side-by-side to gauge the size of her foot, I promised I would return with some shoes.
A few weeks later, we returned to visit Mercedes. I presented her with two options from my closet - a pair of tennis shoes or my favorite pair of Naturalizers - she chose the latter. :-) Those will be comfy, cool, and durable shoes for her. I was also able to give her a couple of shirts - one of which belonged to my late mother.
We also met a lot of Sammy's family in Comayagua. They received us with open arms and made us feel like part of the family. We had such an amazing afternoon with them! I saw so many plants and trees that I had never seen before. They grow everything from cococa, coffee, flowers, fruits, herbs, and vegetables,
Sammy showed us how to use this long cane pole with a cloth bag attached to harvest fruit from the tall trees. People are so innovative here!
Below is a cacoa (cocoa) pod. I don't think that I realized or even cared about the origin of chocolate until now. Wow!
Sammy's family actually dry the cacao and make their own cocoa powder. Would love to try this sometime!
The fruit pictured below are Nance; they grow on trees and fall to the ground for easy harvesting. Nance's have a mild sweet and sour taste are largely used in preparing carbonated beverages.
This young man is Sammy's 14-year old cousin. Check out how he quickly and skillfully scales this tall tree to harvest coconuts.
Sammy's aunt is so sweet and generous. She dug-up this lemongrass plant for us to take home.
We went home with plants, flowers, coconuts, and a bag full of aguacate (avocados).
