(written 5/5/09)
Don’t come visit me in Orocuina! As many of you may already know, yesterday I found out I will be serving my next 2 years in Orocuina, Choluteca. Choluteca is the southernmost department of Honduras that borders Nicaragua. My site, Orocuina, is a relatively small town with about 6000 people living in Orocuina proper and over 8,000 living in surrounding aldeas (kinda like villages). The city is only an hour outside the department’s capital and the third largest city in Honduras, Choluteca, and about 3 ½ hours from Teguz which should make future travel easier than a lot of other sites. Most people make their living through small scale farming of beans, corn, sugar cane, watermelons, cantaloupes, and peppers. My principle work counterparts will include two women’s’ groups, one which makes hammocks and another that makes spices, as well as the local municipality and schools. I am really excited because this is the type of work I have the most interest in and exactly the type of projects I pictured myself working with when I first started applying for the Peace Corps.
After my last technical interview I was pretty sure I was going to Orocuina based on my work interests and site size preferences but I kept myself from doing any research or getting my hopes up so that it would still be a surprise. And even though I knew where I was going, the site announcement process was pretty torturous because Jesus and Jorge (the Business PTS) enjoyed dragging it out and watching us all suffer while they described all 17 sites and pointing them out on the map before telling us which site was ours. As part of the process we made a tape outline of Honduras on the floor with all the sites marked out so once Jesus and Jorge were finally ready to announce our sites they called us each down one by one to receive our packet of info and stand on our site. Once all the sites were announced, I looked around and was a little sad to see that all my friends have been placed really far from me. In fact only 4 volunteers out of all 44 are being sent to sites in the south. However, I am trying to look on the bright side that I will be forced to integrate that much quicker with the locals and I will also have a ton of beautiful places to visit. Now all we can talk about is what our sites are supposed to be like and how we are going to get there (we are all praying our counterparts have a car because if not we will have to ride a public bus with ALL our luggage, basically saying please rob us!) More than anything I can’t wait to be sworn in and get to my new home for the next 2 years!
As far as training goes, today we were supposed to start our Business simulation with the local high school but as luck would have it today was the first day of a nationwide teacher strike so there was no school. I really hope we are still able to work something out though because the simulation is our final big project of training and supposed to be the most fun out of all the activities. But vamos a ver!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Lets Talk About Sex
(written 4/24/09)
Thats right… what I am about to describe to you will most definitely sound like an awkward movie scene but it is all in the name of educating the youth of Honduras. On Thursday 3 volunteers came to Ojojona to do a TOT (Training of Trainers) on HIV and AIDS which sounds really intense but actually involved doing a lot of fun activities to learn about HIV/AIDS and how it is transmitted so we could teach them to students at a local High School the following day. These activities included learning a game about white blood cells, doing a picture game of how HIV is transmitted, and then doing the ever popular condom on a banana demo. After we finished the charlas (lectures) and dinamicas (activities) we were split up into groups of 4 to begin working on our presentations for the following day. Now I was a little nervous because as you all know I am not typically the best with kids, ok let’s be honest I had no patience for them at all at home, and I have never taught anything to anyone so this was definitely going to be a day of firsts. However, I have already come so far in terms of patience and actually interacting with children of all ages that I would certainly surprise all of you. Therefore, once we were in our groups I figured why not jump in head first and offered to do the condom on a banana demo. Unsurprisingly my group members were happy to let me do it so, like a good student I went home and studied my condom vocabulary for the next day.
The following day I wore my best “teacher” dress and arrived with condoms and bananas in tow to get down to business. I had practiced all my vocabulary and prepared myself for a fair amount of jokes from the kids. What I was not expecting was to actually know three of the students. The weekend before I had gone on a beautiful beach trip with my host mom, sister, and her two boys to a private beach called Los Delgaditos with the local church. Of course, I was the only gringa on the entire beach and consequently caused quite a stir with my two piece bathing suit and tattoos (don’t worry I ran the whole outfit and tattoo thing by my mom before hand and she gave me the green light). Everyone was super nice and wanted to know where I got my cool tattoo as well as wanted to learn how to swim since apparently very very few Hondurans know how. Well in this group were some high schoolers who spent the majority of the day watching me until a few got up the nerve to talk to me. Lucky for me these same boys who were talking to me on the beach were in my class for the HIV/AIDS charla and felt like they were pretty cool because they knew one of the teachers, specifically the one holding the condoms. So I got a few more personal jokes from them than expected. Nevertheless, I forged ahead and with the help of my lovely assistant Kyle, who held the banana and did the appropriate thrusting actions when necessary, and successfully showed 21 Hondurans between the ages of 14-18 how to use a condom. I hope you all can picture me standing in front of a class putting a condom on a banana and being smi-serious about the whole thing because if that isn’t movie material, I don’t know what is! The entire charla lasted a little over 3 hours which was definitely long enough for everyone. It was a good thing also that we left the condom demo for the end of the class because there was no getting anyone to calm down after they were able to talk about sex and play with condoms for hours. However, it was obviously so important for them to learn this because so many of them had no idea how to use one and/or believed alot of the popular myths about condom use here.
One thing I did learn, apart from Spanish condom vocab, is that I am surprisingly comfortable teaching a class and that I actually even enjoy it. I am sure it had a lot to do with the age I was working with but I really was able to relate to the students very well and give my lesson without worrying about the language barrier. I think my personality and my ability to hear some pretty outrageous comments without "batting an eye" works a lot to my advantage too. Who knows after this maybe I have a future in teaching… or a career in condom demos, vamos a ver (we’ll see)!
Thats right… what I am about to describe to you will most definitely sound like an awkward movie scene but it is all in the name of educating the youth of Honduras. On Thursday 3 volunteers came to Ojojona to do a TOT (Training of Trainers) on HIV and AIDS which sounds really intense but actually involved doing a lot of fun activities to learn about HIV/AIDS and how it is transmitted so we could teach them to students at a local High School the following day. These activities included learning a game about white blood cells, doing a picture game of how HIV is transmitted, and then doing the ever popular condom on a banana demo. After we finished the charlas (lectures) and dinamicas (activities) we were split up into groups of 4 to begin working on our presentations for the following day. Now I was a little nervous because as you all know I am not typically the best with kids, ok let’s be honest I had no patience for them at all at home, and I have never taught anything to anyone so this was definitely going to be a day of firsts. However, I have already come so far in terms of patience and actually interacting with children of all ages that I would certainly surprise all of you. Therefore, once we were in our groups I figured why not jump in head first and offered to do the condom on a banana demo. Unsurprisingly my group members were happy to let me do it so, like a good student I went home and studied my condom vocabulary for the next day.
The following day I wore my best “teacher” dress and arrived with condoms and bananas in tow to get down to business. I had practiced all my vocabulary and prepared myself for a fair amount of jokes from the kids. What I was not expecting was to actually know three of the students. The weekend before I had gone on a beautiful beach trip with my host mom, sister, and her two boys to a private beach called Los Delgaditos with the local church. Of course, I was the only gringa on the entire beach and consequently caused quite a stir with my two piece bathing suit and tattoos (don’t worry I ran the whole outfit and tattoo thing by my mom before hand and she gave me the green light). Everyone was super nice and wanted to know where I got my cool tattoo as well as wanted to learn how to swim since apparently very very few Hondurans know how. Well in this group were some high schoolers who spent the majority of the day watching me until a few got up the nerve to talk to me. Lucky for me these same boys who were talking to me on the beach were in my class for the HIV/AIDS charla and felt like they were pretty cool because they knew one of the teachers, specifically the one holding the condoms. So I got a few more personal jokes from them than expected. Nevertheless, I forged ahead and with the help of my lovely assistant Kyle, who held the banana and did the appropriate thrusting actions when necessary, and successfully showed 21 Hondurans between the ages of 14-18 how to use a condom. I hope you all can picture me standing in front of a class putting a condom on a banana and being smi-serious about the whole thing because if that isn’t movie material, I don’t know what is! The entire charla lasted a little over 3 hours which was definitely long enough for everyone. It was a good thing also that we left the condom demo for the end of the class because there was no getting anyone to calm down after they were able to talk about sex and play with condoms for hours. However, it was obviously so important for them to learn this because so many of them had no idea how to use one and/or believed alot of the popular myths about condom use here.
One thing I did learn, apart from Spanish condom vocab, is that I am surprisingly comfortable teaching a class and that I actually even enjoy it. I am sure it had a lot to do with the age I was working with but I really was able to relate to the students very well and give my lesson without worrying about the language barrier. I think my personality and my ability to hear some pretty outrageous comments without "batting an eye" works a lot to my advantage too. Who knows after this maybe I have a future in teaching… or a career in condom demos, vamos a ver (we’ll see)!
Amapala
(written 4/17/09)
Buenas! This week was probably the best week of training so far! On Monday afternoon we packed up our batallas (the large white Jurassic park looking vehicles that we cruse around in) and headed 2 hours south to go camping on the beach. This excursion was a working trip to learn about sustainable tourism in Honduras by doing some interviews with a few restaurants and then writing business plans based on our interviews. But to be honest no one was concerned with the amount of work involved as long as we got a chance to get out of the classroom and onto the beach! After stopping for our first interview at a zoo/restaurant we continued south until we reached Guayaba Dorada, a private beach that Peace Corps rented for us. All of us were divided up into groups to get all the prep work done, like a cooking team, campfire team, tent team, and games team. However, for some outlandish reason I ended up on the loading and unloading the truck team with one other boy… haha must have been all my muscles. Either way we all worked well together and helped each other out (good thing or more than one bag would have fallen off the top of the truck if it were left up to my rope wrangling skills). After setting everything up we spent the rest of the night swimming, eating REAL campfire food like hotdogs and marshmallows and playing games/ playing the guitar. It was so much fun! The only down side was the overwhelming heat! I literally sweated the entire time I was there. And while it was wonderful to wake up and look out the tent and be only a few feet from the ocean, it was less fun spending the night sweating in the tent.
The next morning we woke up bright and early to tear down the tents and have breakfast at the little restaurant on the beach. It was so gorgeous being only a few feet from the water and being the only ones on the beach! Not to mention this was all part of “work!” After wards we loaded up the batallas and drove about an hour south where we took a little speedboat to an island called Amapala. We took our little speed boat past some beautiful houses to a private beach owned by two families that looked like a long lost beach out of a movie. It was super clean with no houses or people in sight and no amenities at all. It was really perfect. And as a bonus, there was all this volcanic mud because Amapala used to be an active volcano so we collected the mud from the bottom of the ocean floor and rubbed it on ourselves to have the best mud bath ever. Our skin was so soft afterwards and all we could keep thinking was how much something like that would cost in the states. We stayed and swam around for about 2 ½ hrs and afterwards we took our little boat to another part of the island to visit the island’s tourism office to speak with the woman who runs it. Afterwards we went to the municipality where we looked at really old photos of the island and heard a bit about its history. Then we all loaded up on the boat again and went to Playa Burro to do another interview and then have the most fabulous lunch to date here in Honduras! Again the restaurant was only a few feet from the ocean but this time we had a buffet of seafood including cheviche, paella with shrimp and lobster as well as grilled fish and shrimp. We spent a lot of time stuffing our faces and relaxing at the restaurant before getting back on the boat and loading back up in the batallas to head back to Ojojona. Although the trip back was pretty hot with all of us stuffed into two vehicles (about 24 of us) we did get to stop for ice cream as well as stop to visit the Wat/Saners in Prespire which was really nice. We ended up getting back around dinner time, totally exhausted and glad to be back in our much cooler site.
Overall the trip was so amazing! It was so nice to go to the beach and “relax” a little because we have been working so hard in FBT (Field Based Training). Plus it was a great way for all of us to spend time together outside of training and become more of a team. In addition Amapala is a future site so someone will be doing their service there which has more than a few people excited. It won’t be long now (May 4th)!!!
Buenas! This week was probably the best week of training so far! On Monday afternoon we packed up our batallas (the large white Jurassic park looking vehicles that we cruse around in) and headed 2 hours south to go camping on the beach. This excursion was a working trip to learn about sustainable tourism in Honduras by doing some interviews with a few restaurants and then writing business plans based on our interviews. But to be honest no one was concerned with the amount of work involved as long as we got a chance to get out of the classroom and onto the beach! After stopping for our first interview at a zoo/restaurant we continued south until we reached Guayaba Dorada, a private beach that Peace Corps rented for us. All of us were divided up into groups to get all the prep work done, like a cooking team, campfire team, tent team, and games team. However, for some outlandish reason I ended up on the loading and unloading the truck team with one other boy… haha must have been all my muscles. Either way we all worked well together and helped each other out (good thing or more than one bag would have fallen off the top of the truck if it were left up to my rope wrangling skills). After setting everything up we spent the rest of the night swimming, eating REAL campfire food like hotdogs and marshmallows and playing games/ playing the guitar. It was so much fun! The only down side was the overwhelming heat! I literally sweated the entire time I was there. And while it was wonderful to wake up and look out the tent and be only a few feet from the ocean, it was less fun spending the night sweating in the tent.
The next morning we woke up bright and early to tear down the tents and have breakfast at the little restaurant on the beach. It was so gorgeous being only a few feet from the water and being the only ones on the beach! Not to mention this was all part of “work!” After wards we loaded up the batallas and drove about an hour south where we took a little speedboat to an island called Amapala. We took our little speed boat past some beautiful houses to a private beach owned by two families that looked like a long lost beach out of a movie. It was super clean with no houses or people in sight and no amenities at all. It was really perfect. And as a bonus, there was all this volcanic mud because Amapala used to be an active volcano so we collected the mud from the bottom of the ocean floor and rubbed it on ourselves to have the best mud bath ever. Our skin was so soft afterwards and all we could keep thinking was how much something like that would cost in the states. We stayed and swam around for about 2 ½ hrs and afterwards we took our little boat to another part of the island to visit the island’s tourism office to speak with the woman who runs it. Afterwards we went to the municipality where we looked at really old photos of the island and heard a bit about its history. Then we all loaded up on the boat again and went to Playa Burro to do another interview and then have the most fabulous lunch to date here in Honduras! Again the restaurant was only a few feet from the ocean but this time we had a buffet of seafood including cheviche, paella with shrimp and lobster as well as grilled fish and shrimp. We spent a lot of time stuffing our faces and relaxing at the restaurant before getting back on the boat and loading back up in the batallas to head back to Ojojona. Although the trip back was pretty hot with all of us stuffed into two vehicles (about 24 of us) we did get to stop for ice cream as well as stop to visit the Wat/Saners in Prespire which was really nice. We ended up getting back around dinner time, totally exhausted and glad to be back in our much cooler site.
Overall the trip was so amazing! It was so nice to go to the beach and “relax” a little because we have been working so hard in FBT (Field Based Training). Plus it was a great way for all of us to spend time together outside of training and become more of a team. In addition Amapala is a future site so someone will be doing their service there which has more than a few people excited. It won’t be long now (May 4th)!!!
Holy Jesús Cristo y Semana Santa
(written 4/12/09)
Happy Easter everyone! I hope everyone is having a great day! The celebrations here have been great but I must admit it doesn’t feel like Easter without a Cadbury egg or at least a peep L This week was Semana Santa which is the biggest holiday here in Honduras. The majority of Hondurans have the entire week off and those who are not participating in the dozens of masses and processions are spending their time at the beach, so its definitely the time of the year that everyone looks forward to. It was a good week for us aspirantes (trainees) too because it meant we only had two days of training. The week’s activities started off on Sunday morning at 3am when selected members of the Catholic Church begin making their sawdust carpets for the morning’s procession. The carpets represent those laid out for Jesus on Palm Sunday and are made from dyed sawdust laid in large paper stencils. My family made a carpet and the whole process actually takes quite awhile (even though I did not go down to the plaza with them at 3am). The carpets were made down the center of the entire road that connects the two catholic churches in town and they were really beautiful. It was so surprising that some of them were only made of sawdust. Then at 9am a large procession began in the Catholic Church at the top of the hill. Everyone was holding palms and singing when the priest came out of the church with a donkey that was decorated and carrying a statue of Jesus. After some prayers the priest led the donkey down the carpet path to the church at the other end of town with everyone following behind singing. The procession completely destroys the carpets so I was really glad I got there early to see them because so much work went into something that was only used for less than 20 minutes. Once the procession reached the church everyone went inside for a 2+ hour mass. The whole church was so packed with people that there wasn’t even room to stand inside that many people just stood outside the church in the blazing sun for the entire thing. The whole morning was really beautiful and interesting and I am so glad that I was able to experience it in a small town that still practices old traditions like this.
Later in the week on Wednesday Peace Corps hosted a cultural day where everyone made a traditional Honduran dish/ drink with their host family and brought it to share. Someone must have warned everyone that I am no chef because my mom and I only had to bring Posol which is a traditional beverage made from cornmeal, sugar, milk, ice and cinnamon. But it was still good despite my previous disastrous kitchen experiences and we didn’t have any leftover so I guess it was a success. In fact all the food was really amazing so I hope I will be able to make some of these dishes when I am in my site. Aside from the food every Spanish class had to do an activity so my class did a skit. It was actually pretty funny because I was the mom and my teacher Victor was the dad and the three other boys were the aspirantes who couldn’t speak Spanish and just kept repeating phrases like “Tengo un gato en mis pantelones “ ( I have a cat in my pants) or “Donde esta la biblioteca” (Where is the library) for every conversational situation. Some of the other activities included a country line dance, a map game where all our families had to put our names on our home state without asking us direct questions, a song by the business boys and of course a piñata for the children. Afterwards a group of children did a traditional Honduran dance for us and then pulled people up on stage to dance with them. Of course I got chosen and had to try and replicate the dance in front of everyone haha. It really was a lot of fun and it was nice to do something for our families.
On Thursday I went to Teguz with my family to buy supplies for the big Easter dinner. My host brother drove my mom, nephews and I and then we met up with my host dad who got off work early form the airport (unfortunately he has one of the few jobs that don’t get the holy week off). We spent the entire afternoon there and by the time we got home I was exhausted so I went to bed directly after dinner. Unfortunately, I woke up at 1am really sick with the flu. For those of you who heard the details it was pretty intense for a few hours and now I am pretty much dreading being alone and sick in my site. So, I spent all of Friday in bed but phone calls from home and visits from my friends here definitely helped make me feel better. On Saturday I tried to lay low for a lot of the day and get myself back in business for the night’s activities because Saturday night is when Easter is actually celebrated here. Everyone spends the entire day cooking and decorating the house and then at 10pm they go to mass. I had originally agreed to go to mass with my mom because I wanted to see the differences in the celebration but when my host sister informed me that mass starts at 10:30pm and goes until 2am and that no one else in the family was going with my mom, I quickly reconsidered my decision. In the end I am glad I did because I was able to go to movie night with the other aspirantes and then get in a quick nap before everyone came back from church and the party started. Around 3am my host mom and about 12 family members/ friends came home to have Easter dinner which was really good. Afterwards there was a toast followed by some dancing and desert. Even though it was late, everyone was in a great mood and spent the night talking about who fell asleep during mass and how I only got up to eat and dance lol. I even got some meringue lessons courtesy of my host cousin because my mom tells anyone who will listen how much I love to dance and makes everyone dance with me! It was all so much fun that I didn’t end up getting to bed until 5:30am. Since everyone celebrates late on Saturday night, today is saved for relaxation and I am definitely enjoying it!
Tomorrow we are going camping on the beach as part of our tourism training and I can’t wait!!!!
Happy Easter everyone! I hope everyone is having a great day! The celebrations here have been great but I must admit it doesn’t feel like Easter without a Cadbury egg or at least a peep L This week was Semana Santa which is the biggest holiday here in Honduras. The majority of Hondurans have the entire week off and those who are not participating in the dozens of masses and processions are spending their time at the beach, so its definitely the time of the year that everyone looks forward to. It was a good week for us aspirantes (trainees) too because it meant we only had two days of training. The week’s activities started off on Sunday morning at 3am when selected members of the Catholic Church begin making their sawdust carpets for the morning’s procession. The carpets represent those laid out for Jesus on Palm Sunday and are made from dyed sawdust laid in large paper stencils. My family made a carpet and the whole process actually takes quite awhile (even though I did not go down to the plaza with them at 3am). The carpets were made down the center of the entire road that connects the two catholic churches in town and they were really beautiful. It was so surprising that some of them were only made of sawdust. Then at 9am a large procession began in the Catholic Church at the top of the hill. Everyone was holding palms and singing when the priest came out of the church with a donkey that was decorated and carrying a statue of Jesus. After some prayers the priest led the donkey down the carpet path to the church at the other end of town with everyone following behind singing. The procession completely destroys the carpets so I was really glad I got there early to see them because so much work went into something that was only used for less than 20 minutes. Once the procession reached the church everyone went inside for a 2+ hour mass. The whole church was so packed with people that there wasn’t even room to stand inside that many people just stood outside the church in the blazing sun for the entire thing. The whole morning was really beautiful and interesting and I am so glad that I was able to experience it in a small town that still practices old traditions like this.
Later in the week on Wednesday Peace Corps hosted a cultural day where everyone made a traditional Honduran dish/ drink with their host family and brought it to share. Someone must have warned everyone that I am no chef because my mom and I only had to bring Posol which is a traditional beverage made from cornmeal, sugar, milk, ice and cinnamon. But it was still good despite my previous disastrous kitchen experiences and we didn’t have any leftover so I guess it was a success. In fact all the food was really amazing so I hope I will be able to make some of these dishes when I am in my site. Aside from the food every Spanish class had to do an activity so my class did a skit. It was actually pretty funny because I was the mom and my teacher Victor was the dad and the three other boys were the aspirantes who couldn’t speak Spanish and just kept repeating phrases like “Tengo un gato en mis pantelones “ ( I have a cat in my pants) or “Donde esta la biblioteca” (Where is the library) for every conversational situation. Some of the other activities included a country line dance, a map game where all our families had to put our names on our home state without asking us direct questions, a song by the business boys and of course a piñata for the children. Afterwards a group of children did a traditional Honduran dance for us and then pulled people up on stage to dance with them. Of course I got chosen and had to try and replicate the dance in front of everyone haha. It really was a lot of fun and it was nice to do something for our families.
On Thursday I went to Teguz with my family to buy supplies for the big Easter dinner. My host brother drove my mom, nephews and I and then we met up with my host dad who got off work early form the airport (unfortunately he has one of the few jobs that don’t get the holy week off). We spent the entire afternoon there and by the time we got home I was exhausted so I went to bed directly after dinner. Unfortunately, I woke up at 1am really sick with the flu. For those of you who heard the details it was pretty intense for a few hours and now I am pretty much dreading being alone and sick in my site. So, I spent all of Friday in bed but phone calls from home and visits from my friends here definitely helped make me feel better. On Saturday I tried to lay low for a lot of the day and get myself back in business for the night’s activities because Saturday night is when Easter is actually celebrated here. Everyone spends the entire day cooking and decorating the house and then at 10pm they go to mass. I had originally agreed to go to mass with my mom because I wanted to see the differences in the celebration but when my host sister informed me that mass starts at 10:30pm and goes until 2am and that no one else in the family was going with my mom, I quickly reconsidered my decision. In the end I am glad I did because I was able to go to movie night with the other aspirantes and then get in a quick nap before everyone came back from church and the party started. Around 3am my host mom and about 12 family members/ friends came home to have Easter dinner which was really good. Afterwards there was a toast followed by some dancing and desert. Even though it was late, everyone was in a great mood and spent the night talking about who fell asleep during mass and how I only got up to eat and dance lol. I even got some meringue lessons courtesy of my host cousin because my mom tells anyone who will listen how much I love to dance and makes everyone dance with me! It was all so much fun that I didn’t end up getting to bed until 5:30am. Since everyone celebrates late on Saturday night, today is saved for relaxation and I am definitely enjoying it!
Tomorrow we are going camping on the beach as part of our tourism training and I can’t wait!!!!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
New Places, New Faces
Hola from Ojojona! Last Sunday, the 22nd the business project moved to Ojojona to do Field Based Training for 7 weeks. Ojojona is a cute little mining town that was founded in 1584 and looks exactly like what you think Latin America should look like. There is a central plaza where people of all ages sit and talk for hours in the shadows of the surrounding churches. All along the streets are little tiendas where people sell everything from leather goods to painted pottery to mangos. The two most obviously Honduran details of this town are that a thin layer of dust covers everything and no one is in a hurry to get anywhere. Yes it is Perfect. It’s a good thing that the town is so cute too because getting here was definitely interesting. First of all everyone had to bring their luggage to their training bus stops themselves so thank god for Theresa’s host dad who used his large farming pickup truck to haul us and our luggage to the bus stop or it is very possible that I would still be trying to walk the 15 min trail with my 200 + lbs of luggage. Then, due to what we believe to be some budget cuts, Peace Corps had the Business and Wat/ San projects travel south together on the same chicken bus with ALL our luggage. Now, this means that 33 people with at least 3 bags each all have to ride on a yellow school bus for 2 hours. For those of you who saw my luggage, imagine that 33 time over plus needing space for us to sit down. Needless to say luggage was stacked everywhere and people were forced to sit in the aisle and on top of bus seats/ luggage. However, being the flexible group we are, we got out a laptop and my speakers to play some music and make the best of it.
Unfortunately, the whole Business project is not allowed to live in the same town so half of the people were dropped off first in a small town called Santa Ana, about 15 mins outside of Ojojona. Once we arrived in Ojojona we were dropped off with all our luggage close to the central plaza with some directions to our new homes. After asking a few passersby, Jp, Jose, and I made our way up a hill to our new homes. I would be lying to say that I wasn’t already excited about my new family after reading my little information sheet but as soon as I met them I was so happy! I live my host parents Dona Ana and Don Luis and their children Ronal (28), Alejandra (26), and David (21) as well as Alejandra’s two boys Luis David (8) and Issac (7). Dona Ana is a teacher at the local high school and Don Luis works at the airport in Teguz. All their kids are studying at Universities in Teguz: Ronal is studying law and working at the Human Rights Office, Alejandra is studying to be a teacher, and David is working in the Customs dept of an importer/exporter in Teguz as well as studying to be a teacher. Although I truly loved my last host family, I can’t express how beneficial for my Spanish as well as just enjoyable it is to talk to educated adults here outside of the classroom. Not only do I already feel so at home but I also feel like I am learning so many new things about Honduras from them every day! The stories are just great and make me realize how easy it is to have a slower paced culture that is so relationship oriented because story telling/ talking is an art form and popular pastime here. Its also nice to have so many more people around, especially the boys with the ages they are because it reminds me of being home. I play with the little boys whenever possible, this includes schooling them in soccer haha (no really I won twice now) or playing card games. So now they are calling me “Tia” (Aunt) and making sure to split their chips or pop evenly 3 ways for all of us which is just too adorable and makes me feel like a mini Ms. Gates! The parents also introduce me as their daughter so that makes me feel good too! The only thing that is going to take some getting used to it the fact that we have a muchacha (a maid) named Carolina so I am not quite sure how to act and what I should or shouldn´t be helping with. Carolina is pretty quiet but she has 3 adorable kids that I also spend alot of time with which is nice.
As far as training is concerned, it is getting more intense but I am really enjoying it. Its really nice to start having more time to work on exclusively business related topics as a group. So far I have given a lecture with 3 other group members to the town water board as well as visited the farm of Don Berto (87 yrs) to hear about the town’s history and learn about the traditional farming methods here. I am also in a new Spanish class where I am the only girl but I like my teacher’s, Victor´s, teaching style much better so 4 hours a day isn’t quite so bad now. It has also been nice to get to know the other business volunteers better. Ojojona is really small and tranquilo so its been easy to plan afterclass activities where we can hang out together. However, the people who live in Santa Ana are at a disadvantage because they have to be driven to and from their town so its much harder to include them in things which is affecting the whole group. Hopefully we will be able to work out something soon so we can all do some fun things together. Tonight for instance is my host brother, Ronal’s, birthday and all the volunteers as well as a ton of family are invited so it should be fun! I guess last year´s was a blast so we shall see! Also the volunteer who is serving in Ojojona invited us to a barbeque tomorrow! So it should be a great weekend! Hasta la proxima!
Unfortunately, the whole Business project is not allowed to live in the same town so half of the people were dropped off first in a small town called Santa Ana, about 15 mins outside of Ojojona. Once we arrived in Ojojona we were dropped off with all our luggage close to the central plaza with some directions to our new homes. After asking a few passersby, Jp, Jose, and I made our way up a hill to our new homes. I would be lying to say that I wasn’t already excited about my new family after reading my little information sheet but as soon as I met them I was so happy! I live my host parents Dona Ana and Don Luis and their children Ronal (28), Alejandra (26), and David (21) as well as Alejandra’s two boys Luis David (8) and Issac (7). Dona Ana is a teacher at the local high school and Don Luis works at the airport in Teguz. All their kids are studying at Universities in Teguz: Ronal is studying law and working at the Human Rights Office, Alejandra is studying to be a teacher, and David is working in the Customs dept of an importer/exporter in Teguz as well as studying to be a teacher. Although I truly loved my last host family, I can’t express how beneficial for my Spanish as well as just enjoyable it is to talk to educated adults here outside of the classroom. Not only do I already feel so at home but I also feel like I am learning so many new things about Honduras from them every day! The stories are just great and make me realize how easy it is to have a slower paced culture that is so relationship oriented because story telling/ talking is an art form and popular pastime here. Its also nice to have so many more people around, especially the boys with the ages they are because it reminds me of being home. I play with the little boys whenever possible, this includes schooling them in soccer haha (no really I won twice now) or playing card games. So now they are calling me “Tia” (Aunt) and making sure to split their chips or pop evenly 3 ways for all of us which is just too adorable and makes me feel like a mini Ms. Gates! The parents also introduce me as their daughter so that makes me feel good too! The only thing that is going to take some getting used to it the fact that we have a muchacha (a maid) named Carolina so I am not quite sure how to act and what I should or shouldn´t be helping with. Carolina is pretty quiet but she has 3 adorable kids that I also spend alot of time with which is nice.
As far as training is concerned, it is getting more intense but I am really enjoying it. Its really nice to start having more time to work on exclusively business related topics as a group. So far I have given a lecture with 3 other group members to the town water board as well as visited the farm of Don Berto (87 yrs) to hear about the town’s history and learn about the traditional farming methods here. I am also in a new Spanish class where I am the only girl but I like my teacher’s, Victor´s, teaching style much better so 4 hours a day isn’t quite so bad now. It has also been nice to get to know the other business volunteers better. Ojojona is really small and tranquilo so its been easy to plan afterclass activities where we can hang out together. However, the people who live in Santa Ana are at a disadvantage because they have to be driven to and from their town so its much harder to include them in things which is affecting the whole group. Hopefully we will be able to work out something soon so we can all do some fun things together. Tonight for instance is my host brother, Ronal’s, birthday and all the volunteers as well as a ton of family are invited so it should be fun! I guess last year´s was a blast so we shall see! Also the volunteer who is serving in Ojojona invited us to a barbeque tomorrow! So it should be a great weekend! Hasta la proxima!
Volunteer Visit in Yuscaran
(written 3/19/09)
I just got back from my volunteer visit and had the best time! On Sunday, the 15th I left Santa Rita and the comfort of my host family to spend a few days with a current volunteer to learn about how life really is for volunteers here in Honduras. Luckily I was able to go with Erika, another business volunteer, which made the whole thing a lot more fun. First I took a bus, the yellow buses like those used for Public Schools, from Santa Rita to Teguz with Jose, Harrison and Erika to meet the guys’ volunteer at the Mall. After a glorious value meal from McDonalds..mmm…. Erika and I took another bus to Yuscaran. It was a pretty short ride, only about 2 hours, but random men taking our photos with their cell phones and crowded buses made the trip much more interesting.
However, as soon as the bus climbed the last hill and rolled into town I knew I was in for a nice trip. Yuscaran is a small pueblo with a population of only about 4,00. It was originally built as a mining town so it still carries the same colonial feel in its central plaza and white washed buildings. When Erika and I got there our volunteer, Ana, still hadn’t returned from her trip yet so we went to the only hotel in town to sit outside and drink some lemonade. About an hour later Ana arrived with another volunteer named Nathan who is serving in a nearby city named Danli and we all went to her house for dinner. Both Ana and Nathan are H13 Municipal Development volunteers which means they have only been in site for 6 months. Luckily the Municipal Development Project is a cousin project to the Business project and they both have some interesting projects underway already. The rest of the night was spent eating Ana’s amazing chicken soup, talking, and getting down to the business of trying the local Guaro.
The next morning Erika and I got to “sleep in” till 7am!! Then we spent our morning relaxing around the house while Ana and Nathan finished up their 6 month reports which have to be sent to Washington to keep track of project process. It was so nice to sit around and read magazines for the first time since we’ve been here. Ana’s house is also super nice. She has two bathrooms and 3 rooms plus a kitchen and two patios all to herself! Her back patio is great because she has a beautiful view of all the mountains surrounding Yuscaran including a view of those in Guatemala as well as a Guaro factory close by so the intoxicating smell stays in your nostrils all day! In the afternoon we went out for taquitos at a local comedor and then walked around to meet her local counterparts. We were able to go to the Yuscaran National Reserve where Ana takes photos to help promote the park and also the Reckin Library where she does children’s programs. We met both the women that she works with and they were really nice which definitely gives me hope about my future counterparts.
Afterward Ana asked if we wanted to go for a walk, which I quickly agreed to. Little did I know that this would turn into an extreme hike / death march up a mountain. It all started out innocent enough because she wanted to show us what is rumored to be an amazing view of Yuscaran and she even invited the kids that live next store to come with us. Now let me just state two things up front 1) Yuscaran is a colonial town in the mountains so its hilly and the roads consist of what seems to be disorganized cobblestone, so just walking around the town in the sun is not a leasurely stroll and 2) Ana is in excellent shape. Now as soon as we start out it became apparent to Ana and the kids, our leaders, that it was already pretty late and we would need to keep up a good pace if we want to get there and back before nightfall. At this point we were still on somewhat of a road so I was not thinking anything of it. However, this all took a turn for the worse when Ana left the road and started hopping down a hill to walk on stones down a stream. As I scrambled after her, the young kids started making comments about how Ana likes to run this trail so she will probably leave us in her dust. What followed was a two hour hike up and down stones and hills while I unsuccessfully tried to keep Ana in my view and not kill myself in the process. So of the more exciting moments included crossing a makeshift drawbridge made of wood and rusting fence wire which the kids were shaking on purpose so obviously I cut myself… good thing I had that mandatory tetanus shot!, as well as catching myself fall off of about a million step rock inclines. In the end, I had to stop 15 mins short of our final destination because I just didn’t have it in me to go any higher, especially when I didn’t even have my camera to catch the moment anyway. However, I did make it ¾ of the way and got a great view out of it anyway. Either way Erika absolved me of my lack of outdoor skills by explaining that it wasn’t my fault because I am from Ohio! (Them both being from out west) hah. Going back was also uphill and exhausting but at least I had the end in mind. We spent the rest of the night eating and just relaxing which I felt was much deserved!
Tuesday morning (St. Patty’s Day!!!) we were up bright and early to catch the 7am bus to Danli. The ride over was also really crowded but surprisingly cheap. We ended up getting there around 9am and spent the morning walking around Danli, eating baleadas and helping both our volunteers prepare for their community presentation that afternoon. After some amazing lasagna in an authentic Italian restaurant we all went to a woman named Jeanie’s house. She is currently a missionary here but was a PCV in Columbia back in the day so she is really sympathetic to the volunteer lifestyle and has become good friends with Ana and Nathan. She was really nice and really relaxed about the whole religion thing with us which was great. After some homemade chocolate chip cookies, Jeanie made sure to let us know that missionary work pays much better then volunteer work hah, we all hopped in her car and drove 30 minutes outside of Danli to a village called San Lorenzo. Jeanie and a local priest had heard about how poverty stricken this community was on television and took it upon themselves to start developing projects to help improve the people’s lives there. The village is located far off the main road and I would have never even known it was there if it wasn’t for this trip. Even buses only drive halfway there so the community members have very few travel options to help them find jobs outside their village. As soon as we road into town the poverty was very apparent. The village consists of 180 people who live in huts constructed of found materials and earth and who all live without latrines or regular access to clean water. Most of the people have small farms and cattle to survive off of but since this is the dry season the crops, cattle, and people are forced to share the same limited water supply and nearly all the community members have major health issues. In truth it was my first experience with poverty of this level in my life. However, I was also immediately struck by the passion these community members have. As soon as we arrived everyone was already waiting for us in the one room school house, keep in mind that being prompt is not something Hondurans typically concern themselves with, ready to take notes and participate in the meeting. First the priest spoke about the health community projects that they wanted to do like build pilas to store potable water, construct latrines, and improve roofs. Then the community members were able to give their input and vote on which projects should be started first and how they were going to manage the funds and labor. Afterwards Ana and Nathan gave their presentation of the idea of contrasting a community center and playground for the children. It was very interesting because we all took for granted the fact that nearly no one in the community had ever been able to use a community center or playground so they had no real idea about what they wanted. Although it was only the very beginning stages f the project so issues such as budget haven´t been discussed yet, I was very impressed with both Ana and Nathan´s presentation. It really focused on community input and sustainability which are two of the key issues we have been discussing in training. The entire meeting lasted about hours but was by far the most exciting experience since I´ve been here. The community was so welcoming and genuinely enthusiastic so you could really feel everyone´s true desire to come together and work on improving the community. It was the kind of meeting that I think everyone pictured when they decided to join the Peace Corps so it was very motivating to be able to be there and be a part of it. Although I know deep down that this type of meeting was an exception to what I will probably experience the majority of the time, I am still so excited to get to my site and to start to work on projects like this.
After the meeting we spent some time measuring the schoolhouse to get an idea for the community center and talking to the people. Then we all piled in the car and headed back to Danli. After saying our goodbyes to Jeanie we all went back to Nathan´s to order some pizza and drink some beers which felt surprisingly American after the traditional Peace Corps day we had. A little later we went out to a restaurant called Le Café in honor of St Patty´s day. Yes, we were 4 of maybe 8 people there and the only gringos for certain but it was the thought that counted.
We turned in pretty early and we up and on the bus by 8am the next morning to head back to Zarabanda to meet up with the training staff o talk about our trip. Although Erika and I had a great time and felt really lucky to be able to see 3 different size sites, some of the other trainees weren´t as lucky and ended up visiting some volunteers who don´t have too many projects going on. This just reinforces the fact that this experience is absolutely what you make of it so its important to stay motivated. Overall, I had a great time and feel so much better about the idea of moving around the country alone. Now I am just even more excited to get to my community and get to work!
Vaya Pues, Well I hope everyone had a fun St. Patty´s Day! Miss you all! Hasta la proxima!
I just got back from my volunteer visit and had the best time! On Sunday, the 15th I left Santa Rita and the comfort of my host family to spend a few days with a current volunteer to learn about how life really is for volunteers here in Honduras. Luckily I was able to go with Erika, another business volunteer, which made the whole thing a lot more fun. First I took a bus, the yellow buses like those used for Public Schools, from Santa Rita to Teguz with Jose, Harrison and Erika to meet the guys’ volunteer at the Mall. After a glorious value meal from McDonalds..mmm…. Erika and I took another bus to Yuscaran. It was a pretty short ride, only about 2 hours, but random men taking our photos with their cell phones and crowded buses made the trip much more interesting.
However, as soon as the bus climbed the last hill and rolled into town I knew I was in for a nice trip. Yuscaran is a small pueblo with a population of only about 4,00. It was originally built as a mining town so it still carries the same colonial feel in its central plaza and white washed buildings. When Erika and I got there our volunteer, Ana, still hadn’t returned from her trip yet so we went to the only hotel in town to sit outside and drink some lemonade. About an hour later Ana arrived with another volunteer named Nathan who is serving in a nearby city named Danli and we all went to her house for dinner. Both Ana and Nathan are H13 Municipal Development volunteers which means they have only been in site for 6 months. Luckily the Municipal Development Project is a cousin project to the Business project and they both have some interesting projects underway already. The rest of the night was spent eating Ana’s amazing chicken soup, talking, and getting down to the business of trying the local Guaro.
The next morning Erika and I got to “sleep in” till 7am!! Then we spent our morning relaxing around the house while Ana and Nathan finished up their 6 month reports which have to be sent to Washington to keep track of project process. It was so nice to sit around and read magazines for the first time since we’ve been here. Ana’s house is also super nice. She has two bathrooms and 3 rooms plus a kitchen and two patios all to herself! Her back patio is great because she has a beautiful view of all the mountains surrounding Yuscaran including a view of those in Guatemala as well as a Guaro factory close by so the intoxicating smell stays in your nostrils all day! In the afternoon we went out for taquitos at a local comedor and then walked around to meet her local counterparts. We were able to go to the Yuscaran National Reserve where Ana takes photos to help promote the park and also the Reckin Library where she does children’s programs. We met both the women that she works with and they were really nice which definitely gives me hope about my future counterparts.
Afterward Ana asked if we wanted to go for a walk, which I quickly agreed to. Little did I know that this would turn into an extreme hike / death march up a mountain. It all started out innocent enough because she wanted to show us what is rumored to be an amazing view of Yuscaran and she even invited the kids that live next store to come with us. Now let me just state two things up front 1) Yuscaran is a colonial town in the mountains so its hilly and the roads consist of what seems to be disorganized cobblestone, so just walking around the town in the sun is not a leasurely stroll and 2) Ana is in excellent shape. Now as soon as we start out it became apparent to Ana and the kids, our leaders, that it was already pretty late and we would need to keep up a good pace if we want to get there and back before nightfall. At this point we were still on somewhat of a road so I was not thinking anything of it. However, this all took a turn for the worse when Ana left the road and started hopping down a hill to walk on stones down a stream. As I scrambled after her, the young kids started making comments about how Ana likes to run this trail so she will probably leave us in her dust. What followed was a two hour hike up and down stones and hills while I unsuccessfully tried to keep Ana in my view and not kill myself in the process. So of the more exciting moments included crossing a makeshift drawbridge made of wood and rusting fence wire which the kids were shaking on purpose so obviously I cut myself… good thing I had that mandatory tetanus shot!, as well as catching myself fall off of about a million step rock inclines. In the end, I had to stop 15 mins short of our final destination because I just didn’t have it in me to go any higher, especially when I didn’t even have my camera to catch the moment anyway. However, I did make it ¾ of the way and got a great view out of it anyway. Either way Erika absolved me of my lack of outdoor skills by explaining that it wasn’t my fault because I am from Ohio! (Them both being from out west) hah. Going back was also uphill and exhausting but at least I had the end in mind. We spent the rest of the night eating and just relaxing which I felt was much deserved!
Tuesday morning (St. Patty’s Day!!!) we were up bright and early to catch the 7am bus to Danli. The ride over was also really crowded but surprisingly cheap. We ended up getting there around 9am and spent the morning walking around Danli, eating baleadas and helping both our volunteers prepare for their community presentation that afternoon. After some amazing lasagna in an authentic Italian restaurant we all went to a woman named Jeanie’s house. She is currently a missionary here but was a PCV in Columbia back in the day so she is really sympathetic to the volunteer lifestyle and has become good friends with Ana and Nathan. She was really nice and really relaxed about the whole religion thing with us which was great. After some homemade chocolate chip cookies, Jeanie made sure to let us know that missionary work pays much better then volunteer work hah, we all hopped in her car and drove 30 minutes outside of Danli to a village called San Lorenzo. Jeanie and a local priest had heard about how poverty stricken this community was on television and took it upon themselves to start developing projects to help improve the people’s lives there. The village is located far off the main road and I would have never even known it was there if it wasn’t for this trip. Even buses only drive halfway there so the community members have very few travel options to help them find jobs outside their village. As soon as we road into town the poverty was very apparent. The village consists of 180 people who live in huts constructed of found materials and earth and who all live without latrines or regular access to clean water. Most of the people have small farms and cattle to survive off of but since this is the dry season the crops, cattle, and people are forced to share the same limited water supply and nearly all the community members have major health issues. In truth it was my first experience with poverty of this level in my life. However, I was also immediately struck by the passion these community members have. As soon as we arrived everyone was already waiting for us in the one room school house, keep in mind that being prompt is not something Hondurans typically concern themselves with, ready to take notes and participate in the meeting. First the priest spoke about the health community projects that they wanted to do like build pilas to store potable water, construct latrines, and improve roofs. Then the community members were able to give their input and vote on which projects should be started first and how they were going to manage the funds and labor. Afterwards Ana and Nathan gave their presentation of the idea of contrasting a community center and playground for the children. It was very interesting because we all took for granted the fact that nearly no one in the community had ever been able to use a community center or playground so they had no real idea about what they wanted. Although it was only the very beginning stages f the project so issues such as budget haven´t been discussed yet, I was very impressed with both Ana and Nathan´s presentation. It really focused on community input and sustainability which are two of the key issues we have been discussing in training. The entire meeting lasted about hours but was by far the most exciting experience since I´ve been here. The community was so welcoming and genuinely enthusiastic so you could really feel everyone´s true desire to come together and work on improving the community. It was the kind of meeting that I think everyone pictured when they decided to join the Peace Corps so it was very motivating to be able to be there and be a part of it. Although I know deep down that this type of meeting was an exception to what I will probably experience the majority of the time, I am still so excited to get to my site and to start to work on projects like this.
After the meeting we spent some time measuring the schoolhouse to get an idea for the community center and talking to the people. Then we all piled in the car and headed back to Danli. After saying our goodbyes to Jeanie we all went back to Nathan´s to order some pizza and drink some beers which felt surprisingly American after the traditional Peace Corps day we had. A little later we went out to a restaurant called Le Café in honor of St Patty´s day. Yes, we were 4 of maybe 8 people there and the only gringos for certain but it was the thought that counted.
We turned in pretty early and we up and on the bus by 8am the next morning to head back to Zarabanda to meet up with the training staff o talk about our trip. Although Erika and I had a great time and felt really lucky to be able to see 3 different size sites, some of the other trainees weren´t as lucky and ended up visiting some volunteers who don´t have too many projects going on. This just reinforces the fact that this experience is absolutely what you make of it so its important to stay motivated. Overall, I had a great time and feel so much better about the idea of moving around the country alone. Now I am just even more excited to get to my community and get to work!
Vaya Pues, Well I hope everyone had a fun St. Patty´s Day! Miss you all! Hasta la proxima!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Primer Cumpleaños en Honduras!
(Written March 14th)
Buenas! Well yesterday was my first birthday in Honduras and it was so wonderful! The day started as any other, bright and early at 5am to take my bucket bath and walk to catch the bus at 6:30am. But right away everyone went out of their way to make my day special! The other volunteers bought me presents like cup cakes and candy and a charge card for my cell phone as well as made me cards!! Then later at lunch they brought out a cake all lit with candles that had my name on it and sang to me! I was really not expecting anything because another volunteer named Katie had her 23rd b-day on the 12th and we had an ice cream cake for her so I really thought there would be no way we would have cake two days in a row but I am glad we did! For the rest of the day all the Peace Corps directors and trainers kept hugging me and wishing me Feliz Cumpleaños! THEN… my little community threw me a surprise party!!! I was so shocked that I almost cried! Apparently they had been planning it all week and I had no idea! They tricked me by telling me that we were all getting together to practice Spanish so I just went along with the plan and followed Matt first to his house and then to Theresa’s. Although there were a million clues, like my missing little sister, Maune hanging out in our neighborhood, no dinner, two volunteers “studying” at theresa’s, and Sonia’s dark house but, I was clueless as usual! When I walked into the house, the whole place was dark and everyone yelled surprise and started snapping pictures of my shocked expression. The entire room was decorated with balloons and streamers and a huge sign (they even made sure that they were my favorite colors!) It was so cute! Plus we had tons of yummy food like pizza, chips and guac and salsa, spiked punch, and a cake compliments of Gloria, Sonia, and the volunteers! As it turns out, two cakes in one day make me a very happy girl! I really felt so loved! It was so wonderful to celebrate with new friends and to feel like I am making a place for myself here. And although I missed celebrating with everyone at home, all the phone calls, cards hidden in my bags and messages made me feel so loved and a lot less homesick! So heres to many more amazing birthday’s in Honduras!
Hopefully some of my photos have made it one here for you to enjoy!!
Buenas! Well yesterday was my first birthday in Honduras and it was so wonderful! The day started as any other, bright and early at 5am to take my bucket bath and walk to catch the bus at 6:30am. But right away everyone went out of their way to make my day special! The other volunteers bought me presents like cup cakes and candy and a charge card for my cell phone as well as made me cards!! Then later at lunch they brought out a cake all lit with candles that had my name on it and sang to me! I was really not expecting anything because another volunteer named Katie had her 23rd b-day on the 12th and we had an ice cream cake for her so I really thought there would be no way we would have cake two days in a row but I am glad we did! For the rest of the day all the Peace Corps directors and trainers kept hugging me and wishing me Feliz Cumpleaños! THEN… my little community threw me a surprise party!!! I was so shocked that I almost cried! Apparently they had been planning it all week and I had no idea! They tricked me by telling me that we were all getting together to practice Spanish so I just went along with the plan and followed Matt first to his house and then to Theresa’s. Although there were a million clues, like my missing little sister, Maune hanging out in our neighborhood, no dinner, two volunteers “studying” at theresa’s, and Sonia’s dark house but, I was clueless as usual! When I walked into the house, the whole place was dark and everyone yelled surprise and started snapping pictures of my shocked expression. The entire room was decorated with balloons and streamers and a huge sign (they even made sure that they were my favorite colors!) It was so cute! Plus we had tons of yummy food like pizza, chips and guac and salsa, spiked punch, and a cake compliments of Gloria, Sonia, and the volunteers! As it turns out, two cakes in one day make me a very happy girl! I really felt so loved! It was so wonderful to celebrate with new friends and to feel like I am making a place for myself here. And although I missed celebrating with everyone at home, all the phone calls, cards hidden in my bags and messages made me feel so loved and a lot less homesick! So heres to many more amazing birthday’s in Honduras!
Hopefully some of my photos have made it one here for you to enjoy!!
Breaking Hearts and Speed Limits
(written 3/10/09) Happy B-day Gumpy!!
Well two weeks down and it feels like a lifetime has passed me by in only a few moments! Time passes so differently here because they days are long but filled with a million new experiences. This past weekend was so much fun! On Saturday we had our half day of class which was a cultural day. The entire morning was spent moving between 8 stations to hear a presentation about each of the major indigenous groups of Honduras and then try their traditional food! The food was amazing and there was even little children dressed up in traditional clothes and presentations on how to dance La Punta, the national hip shaking dance. Everyone had a great time and since I am such a nerd for those kinds of cultural activities I had a blast! Afterwards the cellphone man came and I bought a phone! It is free for me if you want to call, though definitely not free for you, so if you want to buy a phone card and call me just email me or ask my mom for the number! Later on when I got back from class and a quick trip to Valle to do some homework, I met my host dad, Isidrio, for the first time! He is like a breath of fresh air! Unlike Gloria, who is super nice but very shy, he talks a lot and knows so much! I liked him immediately and spent hours talking to him. Turns out he has a degree in biology and spent 6 months doing his practicum in the U.S. on bees. He also lived with the Moskitia Indians, which I learned about earlier that day, for a little over a year and worked in their hospital in 1990! Now he works in San Pedro Sula for a clothing importer and apparently he is in charge of the majority of the paperwork and general processing to bring the clothes in from China and resell them to other countries. You can really tell how much Gloria and Reyna miss him too. Later at 7pm Gloria, Reyna, and I went to a block party! It was in a neighbor’s front yard and you could definitely hear the party before you could see it! The whole yard was decorated with streamers and lights and children were running everywhere. Once everyone arrived one of the host mothers gave a really nice speech welcoming all of us to Honduras and saying how happy they are that we are here. It was so nice! Then played musical chairs, yes I did knock a small boy to the ground in order to win, and then we ate some delicious chicken, rice, and tortillas and Brent played the guitar. Afterwards we got down to the serious business of dancing! One of the host mothers moved all the furniture out of away in her living room to transform it into a dance floor and blasted the meringue and reggeton for hours. Everyone was dancing, the kids, host moms, and all the volunteers! I really forgot how much fun it can be when people don’t take themselves too seriously! We all danced with the little kids and my little Reynita was a dance machine! I even got some of the old boys to dance with me, Jose who is about 12 and Samuel, Matt’s host brother, who is 14 but lied to me and told me he was 15. However, this may have been a mistake because after that the boys would b-line it for Theresa and I to make sure they took turns dancing with both of us for every dance! Samuel even made it a point to let me know he currently is single even though he is usually too shy to look my in the eyes hah. It was so cute though because he was clearly dressed up in his pink and white stripped polo. Matt and I also spent a good amount of the time displaying our sweet dance moves such as the fisherman, shooting the guns, and various hand dances. Apparently we went to the same middle school dances. Overall the party was so much fun and a really great way to let loose with our host families! It is important to note though that since the party Samuel (14) has been lingering outside my house waiting for me to say hi to him and playing various English songs loudly such as evanescence on his cell which I am told is an attempt to impress me haha. I guess Matt and his host mom have been making fun of him relentlessly, poor boy. How was he to know I am such a heart breaker (just kidding).
On Sunday I woke up at 7am to clean before our trip to Teguz (the capital). Now I know everyone is shocked to hear ME say clean, but its true. On Sundays I wash my clothes by hand on a concrete type of washboard and hang them on the line to dry as well as sweep and mop my room. I was finished by 9:30am and them took a quick bucket bath before we were off! Our official mission was to go to the grocery store since Gloria only goes once a month when her husband is home to go with her, but I was especially excited because the whole family as well as my neighbors Sonia and Theresa, my fellow business volunteer were going with us for Theresa’s and my first trip to Teguz. Now I had known we were going but it had not occurred to me what type of transportation we would be taking. To my surprise we were taking Isidrio’s work van which is basically a white plumber’s or carpenter’s van with nothing in the back apart from some tools. So lucky Theresa and I, because we got to ride in the back sitting on a really thin mattress the whole way! It was so funny because there were 3of us in the back and it felt like we were in a movie and we were gonna roll up to someplace and all pile out like we were about to rob the place haha. Unfortunately, the road to Teguz has a lot of twists and turns which made the whole trip feel like we were riding a roller coaster! Plus everyone here drives super fast so we were barreling around corners and totally disregarding speed limits which made the whole experience feel so much more like a movie. Once we got to Teguz, about 30 mins later, we went to two supermercados which are grocery stores that are very similar to Sam´s club in the U.S. to buy a months worth of groceries. It was nice because Isidrio kept asking what I like to eat and then buying it for me! Afterwards, we went to Pizza Hut which was amazing! I was able to enjoy stuffed crust ham and pinbnable pizza with some awesome jamaica (fruit punch). Once we finished we all piled back into the van for the outrageous ride back to Santa Rita! All in all it was a great visit, especially since I didn´t get robbed which apparently happens to everyone at least once while they are serving in Honduras.
Once we got back I spent the rest of the afternoon talking with Isidrio before he had to head back to San Pedro Sula the next day :( I am really going to miss him and all of his stories! In fact he gave me the cutest speech before bed, at 8:00pm haha, about how happy he is that I am living there and how he hopes I will love Honduras and visit often. It just goes to show how important having a dad in the house can be to making it feel like a home!
Overall this weekend was great and now I am looking forward to my birthday and my volunteer visit!! Hasta Luego amigos!!
Well two weeks down and it feels like a lifetime has passed me by in only a few moments! Time passes so differently here because they days are long but filled with a million new experiences. This past weekend was so much fun! On Saturday we had our half day of class which was a cultural day. The entire morning was spent moving between 8 stations to hear a presentation about each of the major indigenous groups of Honduras and then try their traditional food! The food was amazing and there was even little children dressed up in traditional clothes and presentations on how to dance La Punta, the national hip shaking dance. Everyone had a great time and since I am such a nerd for those kinds of cultural activities I had a blast! Afterwards the cellphone man came and I bought a phone! It is free for me if you want to call, though definitely not free for you, so if you want to buy a phone card and call me just email me or ask my mom for the number! Later on when I got back from class and a quick trip to Valle to do some homework, I met my host dad, Isidrio, for the first time! He is like a breath of fresh air! Unlike Gloria, who is super nice but very shy, he talks a lot and knows so much! I liked him immediately and spent hours talking to him. Turns out he has a degree in biology and spent 6 months doing his practicum in the U.S. on bees. He also lived with the Moskitia Indians, which I learned about earlier that day, for a little over a year and worked in their hospital in 1990! Now he works in San Pedro Sula for a clothing importer and apparently he is in charge of the majority of the paperwork and general processing to bring the clothes in from China and resell them to other countries. You can really tell how much Gloria and Reyna miss him too. Later at 7pm Gloria, Reyna, and I went to a block party! It was in a neighbor’s front yard and you could definitely hear the party before you could see it! The whole yard was decorated with streamers and lights and children were running everywhere. Once everyone arrived one of the host mothers gave a really nice speech welcoming all of us to Honduras and saying how happy they are that we are here. It was so nice! Then played musical chairs, yes I did knock a small boy to the ground in order to win, and then we ate some delicious chicken, rice, and tortillas and Brent played the guitar. Afterwards we got down to the serious business of dancing! One of the host mothers moved all the furniture out of away in her living room to transform it into a dance floor and blasted the meringue and reggeton for hours. Everyone was dancing, the kids, host moms, and all the volunteers! I really forgot how much fun it can be when people don’t take themselves too seriously! We all danced with the little kids and my little Reynita was a dance machine! I even got some of the old boys to dance with me, Jose who is about 12 and Samuel, Matt’s host brother, who is 14 but lied to me and told me he was 15. However, this may have been a mistake because after that the boys would b-line it for Theresa and I to make sure they took turns dancing with both of us for every dance! Samuel even made it a point to let me know he currently is single even though he is usually too shy to look my in the eyes hah. It was so cute though because he was clearly dressed up in his pink and white stripped polo. Matt and I also spent a good amount of the time displaying our sweet dance moves such as the fisherman, shooting the guns, and various hand dances. Apparently we went to the same middle school dances. Overall the party was so much fun and a really great way to let loose with our host families! It is important to note though that since the party Samuel (14) has been lingering outside my house waiting for me to say hi to him and playing various English songs loudly such as evanescence on his cell which I am told is an attempt to impress me haha. I guess Matt and his host mom have been making fun of him relentlessly, poor boy. How was he to know I am such a heart breaker (just kidding).
On Sunday I woke up at 7am to clean before our trip to Teguz (the capital). Now I know everyone is shocked to hear ME say clean, but its true. On Sundays I wash my clothes by hand on a concrete type of washboard and hang them on the line to dry as well as sweep and mop my room. I was finished by 9:30am and them took a quick bucket bath before we were off! Our official mission was to go to the grocery store since Gloria only goes once a month when her husband is home to go with her, but I was especially excited because the whole family as well as my neighbors Sonia and Theresa, my fellow business volunteer were going with us for Theresa’s and my first trip to Teguz. Now I had known we were going but it had not occurred to me what type of transportation we would be taking. To my surprise we were taking Isidrio’s work van which is basically a white plumber’s or carpenter’s van with nothing in the back apart from some tools. So lucky Theresa and I, because we got to ride in the back sitting on a really thin mattress the whole way! It was so funny because there were 3of us in the back and it felt like we were in a movie and we were gonna roll up to someplace and all pile out like we were about to rob the place haha. Unfortunately, the road to Teguz has a lot of twists and turns which made the whole trip feel like we were riding a roller coaster! Plus everyone here drives super fast so we were barreling around corners and totally disregarding speed limits which made the whole experience feel so much more like a movie. Once we got to Teguz, about 30 mins later, we went to two supermercados which are grocery stores that are very similar to Sam´s club in the U.S. to buy a months worth of groceries. It was nice because Isidrio kept asking what I like to eat and then buying it for me! Afterwards, we went to Pizza Hut which was amazing! I was able to enjoy stuffed crust ham and pinbnable pizza with some awesome jamaica (fruit punch). Once we finished we all piled back into the van for the outrageous ride back to Santa Rita! All in all it was a great visit, especially since I didn´t get robbed which apparently happens to everyone at least once while they are serving in Honduras.
Once we got back I spent the rest of the afternoon talking with Isidrio before he had to head back to San Pedro Sula the next day :( I am really going to miss him and all of his stories! In fact he gave me the cutest speech before bed, at 8:00pm haha, about how happy he is that I am living there and how he hopes I will love Honduras and visit often. It just goes to show how important having a dad in the house can be to making it feel like a home!
Overall this weekend was great and now I am looking forward to my birthday and my volunteer visit!! Hasta Luego amigos!!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Hola de Honduras!
Hola a todos! I am alive and well in Honduras! As many of you know I left for training early Tuesday morning and arrived in DC at 10:00am. Right after I collected my mountain of luggage I spotted another girl with a similar backpack and knew she must be on her way to Peace Corps staging also. As luck would have it she was on her way to staging in the same hotel with the group of trainees that were going to Ecuador so we were able to share a shuttle and later when we arrived at the hotel and left our luggage in the bell hop’s room we were able to walk to a whole foods store with a café and have a nice lunch together. It was so nice to have someone to pass the time with until check-in and discuss what lies ahead.
Staging itself began at 1:30 with registration which lasted until 3:00pm when we began our introduction to Peace Corps and to each other. We did some activities to get to know one another, talked about Peace Corps expectations and how we were going to arrive at post in Honduras. Staging lasted until 7pm so afterwards a group of us went out to a nice sushi dinner for one last splurge. Since checkout time was at 2:30am, none of us stayed out late so we would have at least some energy for the following day. However, I think I got a whole 3 hours of sleep before I was up and on my way to Honduras! I will say right now that I was immediately regretting how successfully I was able to pack EVERYTHING into my bags because they were so heavy! To make matters worse none of my luggage has wheels because I was only thinking of the Honduran terrain and not the airports so I had to physically carry all of my luggage myself which would prove more and more difficult as the day went on. We flew out of DC at about 6:40am to Miami and then onto Tegucigalpa (the capital of Honduras) where we arrived at noon local time (1pm eastern). The airport was really hectic with everyone trying to get all of their luggage and get through customs but we all made it out fine. The Peace Corps representatives were really organized and met us at the airport exit with tags for our luggage to be delivered to our host family’s house as well as snacks. A bus then arrived and took us to our training center located about a half an hour outside Teguz when we met the Peace Corps staff and our host family was waiting to pick us up. I am living with a host mom named Gloria and her 4 yr old daughter Reyna Maria. They live in what I believe to be an average Honduran home that has two bedrooms, an indoor bathe, and one large central area for the kitchen, dining area and living room. They have electricity but as I found out the first morning, when it rains the electricity goes out so we use candles and flashlights. The water for all the household activities arrives on Thursdays and Sundays so on these days we can use the sink and flush the toilets. But, when the water runs out, usually within 24 hours, you must get water from a large bucket, similar to a rain barrel, to flush the toilet and wash with. The water we drink is purified water that the family buys in large containers like those found in offices in the U.S. I have my own room, which is the daughter’s, with a lock and key as the Peace Corps requires and screens on my windows.
My first night both my host mom and sister were very quiet and didn’t speak much at all which I was really nervous about. However, since then they have opened up much more and now Reyna Maria is running to hug me when I come home from training and sitting in my lap so I am feeling much better. As for my host father, he works in another region of the country which I am told is very far away so he is only able to visit the family one time per month.
Training is really good so far. I have training Monday through Friday from 7:30 until 4:30 with lunch, packed by our host families, at the training center from 11:30 to 12:30. We also have a half day of training on Saturdays from 8:30 to noon. A Peace Corps bus picks me up at about 6:45 during the week and I live about 15 mins from the bus stop so I wake up a little after 5am to make sure I don’t miss the bus. There are 9 other volunteers that live around me, with one in the house next to mine so we are all able to walk together which is really nice. There are also some really great views along the way! Overall the training directors seem really well prepared and very nice which helps make the whole adjusting process much easier.
So far things are great. I need to practice my grammar because things are coming back slower than I would like but I am trying hard not to beat myself up about it. I have already done some pretty traditional Honduran things like take a bucket bath by candle light, wash my clothes by hand using a pila and play soccer with the local boys and other volunteers (I know what you’re thinking but this really is Katie writing haha)
Anyways, I have so much more to say but I just wanted to touch base and let everyone know I am here and doing well. I hope to get some pictures up soon! Hasta la proxima!
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