March 4, 2010
I’ve always thought that the Spanish word for “tomorrow” was manana. Turns out there’s a second definition:
mañana Spanish [maˈɲana (English) məˈnjɑːnə]n & adv a. tomorrow b. some other and later time
Apparently, the Hondurans typically mean the 2nd definition because every project that we try to have them get done is always going to get done “manana”, and that was days ago.
The last couple days has been a continuation of our whirlwind chaotic experience. I was shocked to realize that today marks our first week here in the country, and we are looking forward to getting through another week and hopefully seeing some of these projects come to fruition.
Tomorrow, our neighbors are having a cook out with some of the local business owners and we are trying to have the bar cleaned up and ready to serve them some beers. Seems like a simple task – it depends if we knock out any more concrete walls today.
Here’s an idea of the many projects that we have going on:
Exhaust fan for the kitchen: Steve (our handyman) had found a couple at a store a week ago, which were gone when he went back. So, the guy that he bought our stove and fryer from had one. That was bought yesterday, and a window in the kitchen had to be broke out to fit the fan…which was when they discovered that the fan blows in instead of sucking out. So, now a box needs to be built out the outside of the window to put the fan in the other direction.
The Stove and Fryer: We bought these things from some guy the first day we arrived. We got them set up, and a week later the fryer is still not working. In fact, we probably have to order a part from the states to get it up and running. The stove, I am proud to say, does seem to be up and running – but we still need to get a rack for the oven See – nothing is ever 100% complete around here. But you can’t just run out to the restaurant supply place and buy a new fryer. And if you could, it would cost you thousands of dollars. Heck, a cheap-ass toaster here costs $25. I bought my toaster at Target for $4. You would think things would be cheaper here, but everything is imported, and it’s really crazy expensive!
With all of the repairs and projects going on, we haven’t had much time to enjoy ourselves living in a new country. We did get to go to the center of the city a couple days ago, park the car and run through the market and a zillion different stores to do a lot of shopping for the restaurant. The market is pretty cool – the meat market is pretty gross, but all of the produce looks pretty amazing. Once we have a fridge for the kitchen, we’ll be able to start thinking about buying things in ‘bulk’ there and building more of a menu. It’s funny the little things that you get excited about finding – since everything is such a task to find. We went to half a dozen stores, and in one random grocery store we found salt and pepper shakers – with lids! That is HUGE – everything is so humid down here that it is essential to have these shakers with lids for the restaurant. We were able to buy a dozen of them!
So, we’re getting there – at least that’s what I tell myself every day. It’s only been a week and we’ve at least got a lot of projects up and running. Some of them are bound to get done this week!