My Mysterious Disappearance

Reflecting on the past few weeks, it appears I’ve been missing in action.  I know — I say that as though it’s some kind of surprise to me, as though I wouldn’t know I have been neglectful of this blog — of you.  For this, I apologize.

I have been as missing as the mysterious disappearance of the Mayan civilization of Central America some 1500 years ago.  The difference is that I haven’t left any sacrificial altars or pyramids of stone around to make it easier for you to find me.  I always have my iPhone nearby and if you want to keep up with me, you can can follow me through my photos and quick musings on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

But I digress.   Back to my disappearing act — You may not know, but there are stages of Culture Shock.  There is something called the Cultural Adjustment Curve and if you Google it, you’ll see it depicted in many different ways and images, but for the most part, it’s all the same message.  Sine waves — up and down, and they all say pretty much the same thing and while somewhere in the back of my mind these stages are always waiting to define themselves, I think overall, I’ve adjusted fairly well.

This mattress sure looks uncomfortable

I hadn’t remembered the “Withdrawal” (Negotiation) stage, but it appears this is what has happened to me these past couple of months.

Work is intense and in order to deal with it, I have not only been spending little time at home and in my kitchen, but I haven’t been able to stay awake in front of the computer once I am finally home after the day has ended.  So there’s not much cooking, shooting or writing in my world recently other than a quick pic on the way to or from someplace exciting and a barbecue or two.

Not sure, but I'm sorry I didn't buy one of these to try it out

I could recharge on my day off at home, but there is a whole country to discover, people to meet, places to see!  There’s just too much to do to lounge around the house all day so I head out somewhere on Saturdays.

Not to worry, here I am!  After a beautiful drive to Copán yesterday and a little time at the Guamilito market this morning my friends and I went out to a new ASIAN RESTAURANT for lunch!!!!

Love these guys -- anytime I can get a shot of a gaucho in a cowboy hat is a good day

YES!  Everything is right with the world.  San Pedro Sula has a comfortable new restaurant with a rather unoriginal name — Asia.  But who cares about the name, we had a good Asian lunch!!  I hope people will frequent this little gem so that it can stay in business.  I plan to become a regular and that’s good, because they’re part of a group of good restaurants in town and they have a frequent guest program. I wish someone would get on the bandwagon in this town and get these businesses on board with this new-fangled thing called the Internet, because none seem to have a web presence.

Oh, there I go again … just because we put EVERYTHING out on the web in the US doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do here in SPS.  Yep, I’m learning.  But really, what I think would help this culture shock situation is if you would please come visit.  No, not all of you at once, but a visitor or two while I’m here in the land of Corn Tortillas, Beans, Rice, Ancient Ruins, Beautiful Beaches, Palm Trees and Coconuts would be great.

And no, the plague of the creepy, big, ugly, gross, palm tree frond-eating locusts won’t last that much longer — I’m sure of it.  Maybe.

If you don’t want to see a close-up of one of these ugly creatures, please don’t scroll down.  If you have a wacky sense of curiosity, don’t say I didn’t warn you!  These “Flying Lobsters” are evil!  And yes, the literal Spanish translation for locust = lobster.  Yes, en serio — really!  :p

Do you suppose these langosta voladoras are what cleared the Mayans out of Copán????

¡el Ataque de las Langostas Voladoras de la Selva!