Craft fair

Today (and yesterday) there was a craft fair on base. There were a bunch of vendors. The Hondurans make beautiful wood products: bowls, boxes, etc. There were lots of wood products for sale. Also, pots and paintings and sculpture and jewlrey. It was fun to see the various vendors and their products. I got a couple of things. My best prize was a painting of Comayagua (the nearest town). It's framed and I actually like it very much. It cost $24, but I only had $20. It was 7 PM on the last day of the fair. The lady asked if I had at least $3 more... I said I only had 1 lempira (1 dollar=18 lempira). She laughed because that's like one penny. She wanted the sale, so I got the painting. I hung it in my hootch. I'll have to take new pictures of my hootch soon.

My hootch maid has been decorating. I now have curtains, silk flowers in a vase, plants in pots, pictures on the wall (several from her), art work from my girls, pictures of my girls... it feels like a house not a camping site. I'm so very lucky to have Maria Elena!

I didn't barter much at the craft fair. it was just hard to justify negotating down the prices when my most expensive purchase was $20. I know it's part of the culture off base (and I'll barter I hope in the future), but on base it felt weird to try to talk the vendors down. First, I know they give a part of the money to AAFES to be on base. Second, the prices seem very low. Third, I know the people here are very poor and I want to be able to give money back to the community...

Anyway, it was neat to see a market. I'll go to Valley of Angels (I hope) one Saturday to go shopping... I'm hoping to go to the waterfalls this weekend... we'll see if my work schedule permits the trip. (i work mornings and nights on the weekends.)

More later!