Typical Honduran House in the Country

Garifuna

The Garifuna are a people that live on the northern coast of Honduras and have a very distinct and vibrant culture. They are descendant from Carib and Arawakan Amerindian tribes, as well as escaped African slaves. In 1635 two Spanish ships loaded with black slaves sunk off the coast of San Vicente. The Africans quikly mixed with the natives to avoid being sent back to their owners as slaves. From this mixture, Garifuna culture began. Through a series of disputes and battles between the French and English, the Garifunas were expatriated to the nothern coast of Honduras in 1797.

Garifunas speak a dialect of the native Brazilian language family Arawakan, and within Honduras they are well known for their dance, the Punta. There are around 70,000 to 80,000 Garifunas living in Honduras out of a total population of around 200,000. Signfigant Garifuna populations are also found in Guatemala, Belize, and Nicaragua, as well as Los Angeles and New York City. I experienced Garifuna culture a little bit when I lived in Honduras and when I returned and visited the northern coast. I as well met a Garifuna woman in Dallas, and I would have to say they are a people who are extremely proud of their culture and mixed heritage. I found a great site of Garifuna culture as well is this YouTube video of Garifuna dancing. Here you can see the webpage of a "#1 Souleh Chillin Garifuna Mami."

Hurricane Mitch

When many people think of Honduras, they think of the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch. Hurricane Mitch was a category 5 storm that hit Honduras in 1998. Today many Hondurans still think of life in terms of before and after Hurricane Mitch like Americans think of 9/11. The hurricane left 20% of the population homeless (~1.5 million), ~7,000 dead, and the Honduran president at the time claimed it destroyed 50 years of progress in the country. In 2001 I took this picture of destruction caused by Hurricane Mitch. Wikipedia has this good writeup.

New Blog!

Welcome to La Baliada! The purpose of this blog is to provide general news and information that pertains to Honduras and Honduran culture. La Baliada refers to one of my favorite Honduran foods, baleadas. The baleada is a simple yet very delicious concoction made up of a flour tortilla, refried red beans, and mantequilla crema (similar to sour cream). Sometimes scrambled eggs are added as well. Baleadas are akin to a sandwich in the U.S. They're very easy to make and offer a quick and tasty way to fill the stomach. I couldn't find a picture of an actual, true life baleada, so please enjoy this picture of prepared refried red beans in a can.

The "i" in La Baliada as opposed to the standard "e" is in reference to internet. Inspired by the meaning behind the name "iMac", La Baliada is like a delicious digital baleada.