Slept late today - up around 7:00 AM. Here's a little travel tip: always pay attention to which way the hot/cold faucets turn in the shower. Don't assume that they both turn the same way, don't assume that they turn the same way as the ones on the lavatory. Don't assume anything - pay attention and remember!! The skin you save may be your own!!

Off to Espresso Americano. Bought a paper on the way - actually bought two papers: First La Presa and then La Tribuna after I realize that La Presa is primarily a San Pedro Sula paper.

Ned was already there drinking a cappuccino. I sit down with my espresso and read the paper. Some absolutely gorgeous businesswoman walks past. Perhaps an accountant or lawyer on the way to the office. Perhaps … We eventually start looking at the real estate and help-wanted ads. The real-estate ads are hard to figure out since location (location - location - location) is such a large factor of the price. The help-wanted ads are pretty revealing: Automobile mechanics L1300/month, Commercial Secretaries L900/month, Bilingual receptionists L1200 month, domestics L400/month, and engineers L3000/month. You get the idea - just divide by 11 to get dollars. (For you Aggies: just discard the rightmost digit- that's the one on the side opposite the side of the car where the steering wheel is - when you're sitting in it - facing the front - in America. Ask your horse)

I then headed toward the doughnut place where JTC said everyone gathered (around

"Tiger" the dog.

10:00 - 10:30). I ran into him in the parque. He was feeding some stray dog a bowl of bread and milk. He claims to have adopted the dog - he calls it "Tiger". Feeds it, takes it to the vet and so on. When he's out of the country, he has a friend take care of the dog. He claims that his friend didn't do a very good job last time. When he returned, Tiger had the mange/ scabies/ worms/ hypertension/etc. He complained that it was almost a can't win situation: if he took really good care of the dog and got him fat and healthy looking then the Hondurans would kill and eat him.

We go over to the doughnut shop. On the way we meet another young female friend of JTC 's. He makes the usual introductions. She has a large piece of bamboo stuck in the lobe of one ear. As she walks away JTC says "Don't turn your back on her. Don't trust her."

He buys me a coffee and we discuss Honduras, Costa Rico, Ecuador, etc. He seems pretty bitter about the way a friend of his was treated in Costa Rico. Had to do with a heart attack and medical treatment (or lack thereof). All sots of stories about guys marrying and then discovering that their wife has 5 kids; marrying and your wife running up $8,000 worth of bills in a week and then bailing out; marry, give wife's mother a refrigerator, they cash it in for the money and split; it goes on and on. I wonder why he's here.

After a large dose of these horror stories, an American couple comes into the shop. They want to call someone back in the USA. Apparently, the best place to do this is at HONDUTEL - JTC goes off with them to help out.

I head over to Book Village (A bookstore that specializes in English books). I hope to get a copy of Honduras This Week (The weekly English-language newspaper) Maybe at Percy Soto Bookstore - a place I visited last trip.

Along the way I go by the Piccalilli cafeteria (picture from 1994) to see what the special of the day is going to be. I grab a tray and go up to the line. Order some Guacamole and fettuccini (The special). Sorry - so fettuccini. I assume I'm too early - it's just a little after 11:00 AM. I order a chicken-shish-ka-bob. It's OK but I sure had my heart set on the fettuccini.

Well, I couldn't find Percy Soto Bookstore but I do stumble across a sign that says "Shakespeare & Co. Books". Through the door I can see a lot of book shelves and an open area in the back. Inside there's a guy from Hotel Nuevo Boston reading a book and drinking coffee. It's a used book store. Mostly paperbacks. The owner, a little guy with a pony tail from Florida (the guy - but actually both I suppose) plans on turning the back area into a bar/restaurant. He's already got the bar up and is working on installing a ceiling fan when I walk back there. Naturally, helping with a ceiling fan is something that I can do! Slightly beyond the bar area is an open courtyard - tile floor and whitewashed walls below a blue sky and red tile roof. I think it's going to be a nice place when he gets it set up. He's even got a espresso/cappuccino/coffee machine up front (not the type that I would buy but certainly indicative of good intentions)

The owner (Ron) has moved his bookstore here from Costa Rico. It seems that his opinion, and that of most of the other people I've met her, is that Costa Rico has "burned itself out". He says that a lot of people bought land/houses down there and, now that the market has fallen and crime is up, they just can't afford to leave. He on the other hand was just renting. So he packed up his books and left.

He thinks that Honduras is great, the people honest and friendly, etc. Perhaps I should

My ability to "Frame" things with the camera is certainly suspect. It's probably the camera. Anyway, here's the sign outside the bookstore. If you're keeping your eyes down on the sidewalk watching for cracks you may miss it. Or you may run into it since it hangs kinda low.

introduce him to JTC. Perhaps not.

We talk for a while - I give him a copy of my Honduras 94 (Please Don't Eat the Tamales) book. The guy from my hotel joins us in the back. He's living in Mexico and rode his bicycle down here. (Well, he rode his bike except for those times when he was riding the bus) He is currently importing used books into Mexico. He's thinking about starting to import old 286 computers. Says that you can just about get them for free in the USA but sell them for a reasonable price in Mexico. Maybe he could sell them to JSC? We both leave for Book Village.

On the way we stop in some little place for a snack. He gets a taco that looks like a enchilada and an enchilada that looks like a tostado. I get some chicken that looks like chicken with rice, beans, and coleslaw.

Book Village hasn't changed that much since last trip. Except that it's open. (It was closed most of the time last trip) While I'm there an American couple comes in - they're laughing about Pat Buchanan. (It seems that you view things like that from a different perspective if you live overseas) I get a copy of an old Honduras This Week and we stop downstairs. Guess what? There's an Espresso Americano stand downstairs. What a country!

Back to town - past the Texaco station. Their public relations operation is going full blast!

Now to Duncan Maya restaurant for a snack. He orders something - turns out to be deep fried chicken parts and a quartered sandwich made of white bread with the crust cut off. (That's a pretty popular dish here) I have papaya con leche. (Kind of a papaya smoothie) L9 for mine and it's back to the hotel.

The guy from the hotel (I may start referring to him as TGFH since I'm not sure I ever heard his name) is pretty interesting. he did voter registration in the south back in the 60's. Was a conscientious objector to the Viet Nam war and usually stays in a hotel here in town that costs L15 per night (Remember the place I'm staying is L110) Then every now an then he treats himself to a night in a place like the Hotel Nuevo Boston. He's really happy that Pat Buchanan won in New Hampshire. Seems to think that will assure a Clinton victory.

I decide to go out after dark again. Now that I've seen who and how many are out after hours I'm a little more adventurous. But there just isn't anyplace to go or much to see (it gets dark at night) I decide to stop in again at the Chinese restaurant that had the 12-volt lighting system last time. They've taken down the alternative wiring but that's about the only change. There's still plenty of shoeshine and chiclet kids. There's a dive/bar next to the restaurant. Perhaps some other night. Perhaps not.