¡¡Talanga!! ¡En foto! (by Todd)

Let´s start with a map of Talanga. As you can see, it´s just south of the road to Tegucigalpa. It´s also divided into eight "barrios" (neighborhoods), each of which has a different color (or white) on the map.

Here´s a shot of Talanga from above. What you see is about a tenth of the town - it´s the red sector in the map above.

And here, finally, we have Talanga from the ground. This should give you a feel for the town. All the streets are dirt roads, the houses are all one story. Most of the streets around town look like this.

Here´s another typical street. What you don´t see is all the stray dogs that are everywhere. Nor the chickens. Nor the holes that are always popping up as they put in an underground sewer system.

This is the "calle principal" - the main street of Talanga. It´s formal name is the "calle San Diego", named after San Diego, the patron saint of Talanga. This is the busiest street in Talanga. It´s lined with shops on either side, and it´s usually teeming with cars, bikes, and pedestrians.

And, while we´re on the subject of streets, this is our street. You can just barely make out our house on the left. It´s the first one that´s strikingly white.

One very convenient thing about our street is that on either end there is a "mercadito" (a little market). So we actually don't have to stock a lot of stuff in our house. When we want to eat, we can just hop on down to a mercadito and by what we need for the meal.

This is a shot of the church from outside. We spend a lot of time in the church, since we're so involved with the parish here.

And here´s the church from inside. It´s pretty simple: stone walls, wood benches, plain scaffolded ceiling. On Thursdays, the have an "hora santa" (holy hour) and they decorate the altar beautifully. They put tons of effert into it. Also, you can´t make it out, but the crucifix is extremely lifelike.

Here´s a shot of the "plaza central." I think it´s so pretty. Out of view there are basketball courts where kids are always playing.

This is a shot of the office building for the municipal government. We got a tour a few weeks ago and got to meet the "alcalde" (mayor).

This is a gigantic tree that grows on the outskirts of town. It is ENORMOUS! I think it must be a thousand years old. They call it "La ceiba." Ceiba is the type of tree. I guess when you´re that big you earn the "La."