"Oh yeah, I'm here"

Funny things happen here. Sometimes I almost forget I am in a strange other world. Sometimes, I am reminded by strange and/or amusing events. As I rushed through a bustling grocery store in Tegus last week, I had one of those, "Oh yeah, I am here" moments. I passed by a sample table. Not so strange. But when you look to see what they youthful girls in matching "La Colonia" shirts are passing out, it's booze. Guaro actually. Aguardiente, commonly known as "Guaro," is a Honduran liquor made from sugar cane. It's strong, dirt cheap and tastes like it. This was not the first time I have seen liquor samples in a supermarket here but every time it makes me laugh. That would NEVER fly in the States (for better or for worse). Come to think of it, I can't recall seeing any sort of sample here besides alcohol. I am sure I have, just not that I can recall. I guess because that would be so "normal."
Behavior toward alcohol is very interesting. Guaro is abundant and often abused by drunks due to its affordable price. There are 4 national beers, all mediocre (in my opinion). "Wine" can refer to anything that isn't beer or hard liquor, including liqueurs. I noticed wine and "wine" (Boones Farm) on the tables at a high school graduation. I thought it a bit funny that the Argentinean bottle on one table and Boones on the next. I also predicted that the majority of the people (mostly parents and godparents) would prefer the Boones, too bad decent wine goes to waste without appreciation and maybe even a little disgust. I was entertained thoroughly when the table next to me started trying to open their corked bottle. The graduate tore off the label at the top of the bottle expecting a screw cap like on the other bottles. They passed the bottle around for about 15 minutes trying everything from shaking the bottle to pop the cork to picking at it and trying to pull it out with the ice tongs. (By the way, several tables put their red wine on ice as well.) When my table picked up their own bottle to open it, I warned them that they needed a corkscrew. The response: "no Laura, but this is wine." "Exactly, it is wine, you need a corkscrew." They were a bit befuddled but luckily didn't try shaking the bottle. Someone must have come prepared. Finally people figured out which table to go to for a corkscrew. I know it is just a lack of exposure to such things but I still found it entertaining.

I play soccer with a varying group of women and girls on the weekends. We are technically in a tournament in Tegucigalpa but most weekends we don't end up going for one reason or another (no field, the field is flooded, the other team can't make it, etc.) Last time we played 9 vs 9. It was the best game of women's soccer I have seen here. I like playing because it is something to do, great exercise, I am getting to know some of the girls pretty well and honestly, it's great for my self-esteem. Many weekends we go to fields not farm from town and play the team in the next municipality or from aldeas nearby. Last weekend we made one of these aldea trips. Never mind that I was told we were going at 11, when I arrived was told 12:30 then we finally left about 1:30. That is all normal. It was some of the worst soccer I have seen. I got bored playing defense so asked to play forward to get some exercise. I normal request to play anywhere BUT forward. I don't like making runs with my back to the goal, it's unnatural for me. I guess that just comes from so many years of playing behind and/or level with the ball. Anyway... The games are just for fun and it is a wonderful opportunity for some of the women and girls to get out of the house and away from cleaning and cooking (yes that is still the current role of many women here). Sometimes I wonder where you draw the line. It's a friendly scrimmage but should the goal keeper be allowed to hand the ball to another player, who takes it in her hands and punts? Should you be allowed to dribble away at a place kick? I thought you had to pass the ball first. It is all in fun and we don't worry about minor details like that, or shin guards or footwear. In the middle of the second half (I think it was about 8-0, us) one of the best players from the other team dropped back by her goal and started taking off her shoes. I thought she had a rock in or shoe or something, until she took off the other. Off went the socks as well. I heard her say, "I can't play with these." Assuming she meant the socks or shin guards. Nope, she meant the cleats. The next thing I knew, she was playing barefoot amidst girls in cleats, converse and tennis. That's the campo for you and that was another, "Oh yeah, I'm here" moment. During the same game, several girls just sat down on the field. J-rod would have had a conniption!
The futbolito final and carnaval in the park after was cancelled/postponed because they didn't have the prizes (soccer balls, trophies, $$$). I don't know if the mayor's office didn't leave them available, the trophies weren't made in time or someone pocketed the money. I have no idea but the event hasn't happened yet. You would think they had time to prepare, the tournament started in around the first of October. Teams of 5 (including keeper) play soccer on a cement court (basketball size) with a miniature ball. You should see the slide tackles these guys will do on the cement! The semi-final was intense and I was looking forward to seeing the final. Most of the town was ready. There isn't much of a night life in Talanga, therefore, when there is something to do, people are ready and just about everyone goes. Canceling the futbolito final meant a bunch of people were out, ready and now had nothing to do. I stood in my doorway watching foot traffic and talking to a neighbor. Bello lay at my feet waiting for someone to make the move toward the door so he could bark at them and protect me. He is such a good vigilante. Five guys walked past my house. Across the street they stopped, 2 guys ran back toward the park. That was weird. No reaction from Bello. The neighbor said they are ladrones (translation: robbers, or generally mischievous bad people.) A few minutes later, the others turned to head back toward the park (the direction from which they came.) As they passed my house, Bello started barking up a storm and ran toward one guy. I had to blink, make sure what I saw was true. Most people pick up rocks and cock their arm, ready to throw. This guy pulled a gun. He pointed it at the dog threateningly as I called Bello back to the house. Was the dog supposed to be afraid of the gun pointed at him? Seriously Dude, what good is that going to do? I guess you are ready if he lunges or bites. Thankfully, the dog came back to me, the guy turned and continued down the street, gun hidden away in his pants again. I think the neighbor was right, they probably are ladrones. I wonder if that is why Bello randomly freaks out at certain people walking by. Are they carrying guns? It's quite likely; many men here are packing heat. Who knows, but I hope I never see my dog held up again, I guess its better him than me.

Yes, I survived Christmas. The Danish Pastries were a hit. My host mom even asked for me to teach her to make them and the family joked about selling them. I spent both the 24th and 25th in my site, passing in and out of the host family's house. It was rather uneventful and didn't really feel like Christmas. I did enjoy one of the best meals I have had in quite a while: baked, stuffed chicken that actually had meat on the bones! WHOA!

Happy Holidays!
I was going to post pictures of making Nacatamales and Pin the Star on the Christmas Tree but you will have to wait because the computer won't let me upload now.

Tis the Season, or something...

Once again, Christmas is upon us and I am completely confounded by it. It just doesn't feel like Christmas. While I hear (at least parts) of Washington are experiencing the coldest temperatures in almost 20 years, I am getting sunburnt and impatiently awaiting my first scuba diving experience. Without snow, cold weather and being assulted by holiday sales, it just doesn't feel like the season is here. Although I appreciate the peace that comes from the lack of advertisements (not that they don't exist here, I am just isolated from them, no tengo TV), I miss seeing streets of houses lit up with little white lights and Christmas trees poking through windows. Many people here have Christmas trees but due to serious deforestation issues, most of them are artificial. Inside some houses it does feel a bit festive but since many people keep their doors, curtains and shutters closed preventing me catching a glimpse of their "arboles navideños". There are periodic decorative encounters that make me laugh. For example, the giant inflatable snowman hanging from a second story window (multiple stories in and of themselves are quite uncommon). The enourmous Frosty lasted about a day before losing all its air and hanging limply. Here, instead of hanging lights the common activity is to paint your house. I am amazed how frequently people change the colors, inside and out. My neighbors house is change from green bricks to yellow, the mortar is still white.

To bring a little American tradition to Honduras, I decided to make paper snowflakes with my summer school kids. I agreed to teach English to a group of 2nd-going-on-3rd graders during vacation. We skipped the English yesterday to make Christmas cards and snowflakes. Even though they can't imagine real snow, they loved cutting up paper to make pretty designs. Tuesday we are having a party. That means I have to come up with Christmas activities and make gingerbread cookies. Although I am not a huge gingerbread fan, it's too traditional to pass up. (And I don't want to buy food coloring and put the time into red and green frosted sugar cookies. The more intricate types, the ones I like, either would not be appreciated or ingredients are too hard to find.)

As for actual Christmas, I plan to dine at midnight (as is tradition) with my host family on the 24th and fulfill my family tradition by making Danish pastries for breakfast with them on the 25th. Really, it's all just keeping myself busy until I can meet Marta at the airport on the 26th.

Thing I love: the ridiculously popular trend of drivers putting the seatbelt over one arm or across their lap but not buckling it. Occassionaly, this is due to broken seatbelts but the majority of the time, that does not seem to be the case. They police enforce the lax seatbelt law from time to time but most people don't want to wear them.

Thing I hate: cuetes (firecrackers), still.

photos: girls in my English class making snowflakes and christmas cards, 6th graders performing at graduation, and my favorite sign in Talanga, a paper on the side of a house stating, "for sale information"; I think they mean the house is for sale but it's still funny (and it's been there as long as I have). Also, a few from the waterfall near Lake Yojoa.

Let there be LIGHT!

I left the "cave" and am officially in my new house! I moved almost an entire block. I am actually so close that it was easier to move my bed and table (my only furniture, still) by hand rather than load it in a truck. Actually, I recruited a couple of boys to do it for me since those things are bit awkward for one person. I am really excited about the move despite giving up several wonderful things in the old house. Of course, "wonderful" is a relative term. Here is the low down:

I Gave up... fruit trees (mangos, limes, oranges, I don't miss the nances and if you don't know what they are you aren't missing anything. I think the smell like vomit yet Hondurans love them.)

"tanque": aka running water in the bathroom

A land lady who would feed Bello if I left town for the night or a few and he didn't have to go anywhere and had 2 other dogs to play with in the shared backyard.

A porch in which my hammock hung.

An extremely awkward floorplan where you had to pass through the bedroom to go from the living room to the kitchen.

A nice bathroom but it was outside.

Built in closet/shelf thing.

Wood panneled ceiling which insulated but added to the darkness.

Virtually ZERO natrual light.

I now have... 0 trees or desireable plants, just a few weeds.

to bucket shower and bucket-flush the toilet. Except Monday and Friday mornings when water comes, usually.

My OWN space! I'm still on good terms with the old landlady so Bello can go visit. We now don't have untrained dogs interferring with our "rigorous training schedule" (or something like that).

No porch, just a slightly more central locale with MUCH more traffic (mostly foot, cow and horse, still a few pigs.)

Great floor plan that feels more like a normal home.

Bathroom inside! Although, privacy is limited since the "door" between the living room and bedroom is a curtain and the bathroom door (to the bedroom) is glass, clear glass! Good thing I live alone.

Wonderful neighbors who starting looking after me from day one. One of them even mopped the house for me before I moved in!

No where to put my clothes. As a result, I am completely unmotivated to unpack and am once again living out of a suitcase.

A metal roof which will NOT be plesant once dry season hits.

An eleven year old neighbor girl who likes to just come hang out and tell me how nice the house is.

NATURAL light!!!! I definitely prefer waking up to the light and dog than the old landlady's birds sqwaking.

I definitely miss a few things (a flushing toilet and cold shower) but am extremely pleased with the move. It is also good motivation to take Bello for walks/runs since he no longer has a lap dog to play with. It was like a stuffed animal that plays back.

Thanksgiving was good and I think it will continue to be. Instead of not celebrating, I am doing it twice. The Passionist volunteers, their boss and her husband, another PCV and I had a traditional turkey dinner last night and enjoyed some family games and speaking English. Saturday, I plan to celebrate again in Siguatepeque with some other PCVs and some bilingual school teachers. Thanksgiving day was good, despite not spending it with family. Playing "pass the phone" definitely helped as I was able to speak to several family members and was filled in on the goings-on. It's always hard spending holidays away from the family. It's never quite the same but as with all of life, we make do with what we have.

Work wise, I am still working on my world map kids and starting a few youth groups. School is out for the year so I am trying to stay busy during the vacation and am enjoying working with the girls who want to show up. I am posting a picture of WorldMap girls but every time I start working and forget to take pictures. Baseball continues with both teams. It is frustrating having a different group of kids every week and that increases the challenge to make progress. There is a small core group of kids who come almost every week but a large portion varies greatly. While consistency and progress can be difficult, it is wonderful being able to reach more kids and offer them something new. If they like it, they will come back.

Speaking of baseball, if anyone has a few old gloves they would like to donate, my sister is coming to visit just after Christmas (I am volunteering you, Marta) and equipment is always appreciated. While my team has enough equipment, Peace Corps is trying to start as many teams as possible and many of the other teams only have 9-11 gloves, or fewer for their entire group. Just let me know and we will get them distributed to expand the project.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Doorjambs are for Shelter

Growing up on a faltline in the Northwest, I clearly remember earthquake drills and learning about the safest places in the case of an earthquake. If you cannot get outside, away from buildings or other tall objects, a doorjamb is supposed to be one of the sturdiest places. Wednesday night, I discovered that doorjambs also serve as a suitable shelter from firework shells.
The past week Talanga has been celebrating the town’s patron saint San Diego. Wednesday was the big night including mass and a fireworks show! Although firecrackers are extremely popular, (especially between the hours of 4:00 and 5:00am) fireworks, you know, with pretty colors, are not common. I have now seen them twice in my 16 months in this country; last time was for Independence Day during training. My first Honduran firework experience was one of shock and awe. Not because of the number of fireworks, or how big they were but because of the proximity. Explosives were set up in the street between the Catholic church and the cancha (cement court) in Parque Central. The distance between the two is the width of a two lane street, without a shoulder. The entire town crowded to the edge of the street. The fireworks literally went off above our heads. Until this second show, I forgot about the one thing that made people back up a bit. The first firework finally went up in Talanga, “Oooh!” Expression of awe and beauty from the crowd. Immediately followed by, “Ooh!” Expression of surprise and fear as a shell landed within two feet of me. My three host siblings and I took quick cover in the only thing available, a closed doorway. The house we stood against didn't even have overhanging eves. The four of us hudled close for shelter as we watched the lights in the sky and the shells falling in front of us, some still attached to 2-3 foot sticks. Needless to say, safety standards here just wouldn't hold up in the States. Sometimes, this can be appreciated, even enjoyed (think climbing ridiculously steep stairs/ladders to un obstructed views at the top of Mayan ruins). The utter lack of people waiting to file a law suit is beautiful. At the same time, I don't dare climb aboard a carnival ride here. Well, I may consider a man powered ferris wheel as Kyler did. Seriously, man-powered, as in, a guy reaching up and pulling the rungs to make it move. Oh, I love Honduras.

Other than ferria, I have been BUSY! hooray! I am working on a World Map project with 6th graders. We spent all week painting the wall and drawing the world on it. We are almost done and should start painting the countries tomorrow. This project has provided an excellent opportunity to get to know the kids a little better and I am having fun but it is extremely frustrating as well. Most of the frustration is my fault and I am now motivated to do the project again with a different group of skills so I can put my hindsight to use. First, never try to draw a grid on an uneven brick wall, especially with sixth graders who are unfamiliar with the process. Second, check their work constantly. It looks like the get it, and are doing well, only to find out after a good start, they proceeded to cram three squares worth of map into one, TWICE! Also, work in small blocks of time with small groups of kids. Their attention goes so quickly. In the end, I did a lot more of the work than I would have liked. Now I know.

Photos include the frequent siting of cattle herding down the highway, my 6th grade world map kids working away, the same kids playing in the school yard (they have no toys so a few abandonded 4x4s became teeter-totters) and photos from the Copan to Cabañas (Rachel's site) hike. That was a great time and it was good to see friends again. I will try to update more frequently but my communication skills have been lacking lately.

PS: I HAVE A REFRIGERATOR! I know, that sounds strange but yes, I have been living with out one for the last year and bring a little baby one home today. I finally caved.

I am still here

Looks like it has been awhile...

It was pointed out to me that from my blog, it appears I travel a lot. That isn't really true, it's just the most interesting things to write about. That is probably a major reason I have not updated the blog recently, I haven't been out and about much.

Work wise, things have been hit and miss, as always. I just finished a teamwork and creative thinking project with 5th graders at one of my schools. Once a week I met with the class to do different activities teaching them how to work in groups, share ideas and have fun. We started with the "human knot" and failed miserably. We had 6 teams of 6 and not a single group was even close to figuring it out. After several minutes of trying to explain, demonstrate and attempt, they were still trying to pull against each other. I tried hinting that some people may need to turn around. They all turned around and twisted themselves even more! I let them try several times and decided to use it as a pre/post test. At the sixth and final session, every group figured it out! I was so proud to see the improvement. It is a little thing, but a big step. Any task outside the norm can be very difficult. The norm is copy and memorize. I did none of that. During the 6 sessions we had a longest object competition, made "Puff mobils" (a vehicle powered by a group member blowing on the object), made skits utilizing props, amoung other things. The kids really seemed to enjoy it and were even prepared after holidays and another teacher strike postponed our fifth session for 2 weeks! I am starting a "world map" project with 6th graders at another school as well. We have only had a few preporatory session so far. I am leaning how little they know about geography and they are learning how to enlarge a map using a grid. Final exams start in a few weeks and I hope to work with the kids who don't fail their exams and paint a giant world map on the side of the school while the kids who did fail their exams are in review session and retakes. Ojala we can get it all done before school is officially out.

I am still trying to implenent a water filter project to distribute water filters throughout the homes of the aldea where these two schools are. It hasn't been going anywhere. In addition to teachers striking, the nurses have their own fight. That means the small health center I am trying to work with was closed for almost 3 weeks. I am also having trouble getting word out that these filters are available and cheap. I wanted to work with the community to find ways of fundraising but the response I received was not positive, "but Laura, people in this community don't want to work." If people don't want to work, how am I supposed to help? This is a constant battle for all of us. There are people who work but in many communities, the people who are willing to work hard for things, volunteer and put forth time and effort are already involved in so much they have no time for anything else. I don't think this is a trait unique to Honduras or even developing communities but it's still frustrating.

After having 17 PC trainees in my site for 5 weeks, I did take a short vacation to the beach town of Tela. When I say short, I mean I had a day and a half at the beach. Like a weekend, if I remember what those are like. My schedule is so erratic it's hard to envision a 9-5, Monday through Friday type schedule. Tela was great, the beach was beautiful and I took a whole 2 pictures. It was just nice to vacation for a few days and see my good friend Rachel.

I will try to update this a little more frequently but the laptop broke again and I get flustered and stressed out in the internet cafes just trying to check my email.

Pictures: Tela (2); Teamwork kids preparing "Vuelo de los Huevos": Flight of the Eggs; Teams after their egg survived being dropped from about 12 feet; Dia del Nino: Kids, teachers putting on skits, etc.

Bad to Bathe

So we all know that strange rumors fly around medical issues. I heard two this week… The first was from my host sister. I help her study English a few times a week, whenever I have time in the afternoon/evening. She could not come to my house to study one day. No big deal. The next day, I went to her house. She informed me that she could not come over because she had cramps. (About once a month she doesn’t come because she is sick due to menstruation. Side note: menstruation is a fairly regular excuse for women to not show up to various things like studying or soccer games.) This time, she had gone to the doctor and was told that since her stomach cramps feel worse after she drinks hot or cold beverages, she should therefore not bathe for 2 days. What?! What the hell does bathing have to do with it? I have enough confianza with her to tell her that I think it is ridiculous and that I don’t see the connection between her menstrual pain and bathing. She couldn’t explain the connection.
Numero dos: I heard about soap cancer from the Passionists but yesterday, in the back of a pick-up on our way home from a soccer tournament, I heard a local guy talking to one of the players about it being “malo” to bathe with soap after exercise. Another guy chimed in and asked if it was due to chemicals because your pores are open from sweating (the closest thing to a pliable explanation I have heard) but everyone just said “no” or “I don’t know why, it’s just bad”. Apparently, it is ok to bathe with water after you exercise but don’t use soap! It will give you soap cancer and is bad! I have been doing that my life so if I suddenly get sick with soap cancer you will know why. When you hear things like this, what do you say? If it is someone I know well, I will tell them that I don’t believe it and try to explain why some claims are unrealistic. But when I am surrounded by people I don’t know that well, how do you tell them something they believe seems ridiculous to me and that I don’t believe it? The best I have found is to show subtly that I don’t believe it but try not to negate them. Some outlandish beliefs very well may be true but some, I just don’t see the logic. I have also been told not to bathe when you have a fever. I did it anyway. When I talked to the doctor, the first thing she told me to do was shower. When is it bad to bathe? I can’t think of a situation where you shouldn’t bathe for health reasons but if you can, let me know. I guess taking a freezing cold shower if the weather were cold and you are sick may not be the most comfortable thing but you can always heat a bucket of water.

Oh, yes, I found a women’s soccer team to play with on Sundays. The “team” has an interesting dynamic. I am appreciative of the chance to play and the experience is great for my self-esteem. It can be a little frustrating seeing 5 people from the same team within 5 feet of the ball but I see it as a great opportunity for a little exercise and a way to get to know some women (even though the majority of them are under 18).

Photos: I took another trip to La Tigra with Lauren, one of the new Passionists.  It is always nice to get out in unspoiled nature.

Suicidal Spider

The last group of Passionist volunteers are gone, leaving room for a new group to settle in to life in Talanga and the next group of PC youth development volunteers getting to know life in Talanga for the next few weeks as they continue the “Field Based Training” portion of their training. While it is great having new people around and the opportunity to drop in on training sessions whenever I have free time, all these gringos are proving to be a challenge to my Spanish. I have been speaking so much English; it is sometimes difficult to spit the words out in Spanish. I catch myself interjecting English words in the middle of sentences with Hondurans. I guess that is the price I pay for socialization with my fellow countrymen.
Aside from feeling tongue-tied, things are going really well. I am finally experiencing the busyness I anticipated for months. This isn’t even “PC Honduras busyness” but real, legitimate—I have something to do all day everyday—busyness. It’s great, I love it! I showed up at the colegio Wednesday, prepared for a self-esteem talk which I was invited to give on Tuesday. The administrators informed me that the students to whom I gave the HIV workshop to a month or two ago, were giving the talk to other students! I was so excited that the plan was being actualized but annoyed at the administrators for not telling me ahead of time. I requested 3 days to work with the students, prep time the first day and two days to give the charla. I also told them 6 people was the maximum number of people per group to give the talk. The kids didn’t get prep time at school, just one night to prepare, broken into 2 groups of about 16 (yes, 16 people GIVING one talk, a bit ridiculous but whatever). Wednesday they gave day two of the talk. I just wish I could have been there for both days. As I ran back and forth between the two classes, one group really impressed me. They were so prepared with visual charla papers and condom-balloons, each containing a question for an activity! They other group did alright as well but spent most of the time I observed reading off individual papers. They didn’t seem to have the other students’ full attention but they did include a few activities (activities are NOT in the normal teaching method here). After the talks, I met with the kids who gave the charlas. The purpose was to do a little self-evaluation, find out how they felt about giving the talks to other kids and see how we can improve the session. I don’t know why I expected this plan to be lucrative. We sat in a circle as the rain poured on the tin roof of a classroom. “Which part of your charla was most successful, what did you feel worked the best?” Response, “All of it. The activities went well but all of it was good.” Ok… “Which parts were difficult?.... Which were the worst parts or what challenges did you have?” Response, “None of it, it all went well.” “How can we improve this?” Response, “No, it’s all good.” SERIOUSLY?! I asked a few other questions and tried to re-word things but was unsuccessful at any constructive feedback. I even asked how many of them were truly interested in the information and how many did it because they had to. Not a single person admitted to doing it because it was required. Maybe they are just nice, maybe they are full of shit. I think they are so accustomed to giving the right answer and agreeing with everything that they no longer consider the possibility of disagreeing. Sad reality: creative thinking (including forming individual opinions) is not a widely encouraged or taught skill here. Despite my feedback challenges, I am ecstatic that the kids gave the HIV prevention info to their younger counterparts.
Also moving forward, my water filter project! We are still at early stages in the process but a filter sits in the Centro de Salud in La Ermita (one of the aldeas where I work in the schools and the colegio) as an example of the filter anyone in the community could have in their house. I no longer buy 5 gallon jugs of purified water but add pila water (the supposedly potable-bacteria-filled water that comes through the tap outside into a concrete holding tank: a pila) to my clay and colloid silver filter. They first few batches tasted like clay but that issue is resolving itself. The plan is to leave the example filter in the health center for a few weeks then start taking orders… we’ll see.
Thursday, I spent almost the entire school day mixing soil and creating a raised bed with 2nd and 6th graders (two separate beds) at one of my schools. Friday we planted basil (that is what I had on hand) and flowers in each bed and talked about composting, replacing nutrients and not littering (an issue I think I raise everyday at the schools). Most of it they will probably forget or didn’t listen to but hopefully something will stay with a few of them. If nothing else, it was a good morning of manual labor side-by-side with young Honduran kids.

Changing gears… I have been getting up early to run with one of the new Passionist volunteers. I rose just after 5 one morning and as I stumbled to put my contacts in and clean the pila (water only comes twice a week). I moved my cleaning brush to find a huge tarantula hanging out on the back ledge of the pila. I don’t like spiders, especially big, hairy ones. I went to the bathroom as I considered my options. I am afraid to kill the big ones because it’s creepy and I don’t want to clean up the mess afterwards. When I returned a few minutes later, the spider was inside the pila, towards the top of the concrete side. I walked away again, still considering my options. When I looked again, the beast had moved to the waters’ edge. Still unsure of what to do with it, I decided to start the cleaning process as normal: I dumped detergent and bleach in the water. The next thing I know, the tarantula is IN the water. It was still, then swam… sort of. It did this dead-man float, sink, swim to the top routine a few times. It finally moved far enough from the drain that I was willing to brave it. I reached in and pulled the drain on the pila. My biggest fear was that the spider would stick in the drain and I would have to pull it out in order to re-plug the drain and fill the pila. Luckily, that didn’t happen. Since the tarantula was curled up in a ball, I assumed it was dead and cleaned around it. I went for my run. When I came back, the water was on and when I dumped clean water on it, it ran to the front corner of the pila (still on the bottom). How was this thing not dead? I watched it for a few minutes, it must have been a reflex, the thing looked pretty dead. Maybe this is gross, but I re-plugged the drain and let the pila fill enough for me to scoop the spider out in the bowl with some water. I then threw the seemingly dead spider in the street in front of my house for the neighborhood chickens. I didn’t know tarantulas could be suicidal but I am thankful to this spider from relieving me of the decision regarding whether to smash it and deal with the mess or find a way to get it out front for the chickens without touching it or letting it fall on the way, which by the way is through my house. Hopefully I the geckos will continue to fill that niche in the food-chain and I won’t have to deal with anymore giant arachnids. Just to note, I consider it my fault I found it because the day before, the new Passionists found a similar tarantula in their house and I mentioned that I had only seen one large spider in or near my house here. The first one, my landlady’s son picked it up on a stick and fed it to the chickens so I didn’t actually have to deal with it.

Photos: Last night with my first group of Passionists. The new group is fun but I still miss the others. They will always be my first. (If I finish out my service, the next group will arrive a few months before I leave.) Volcan San Cristobal; the Cathedral in Leon, Nicaragua; The cross above Talanga; and some Baseball pics.  They wouldn't move, I will try to fix that another day