Sometimes, I forget how beautiful this country can be

I feel as if I am constantly apologizing for the long time periods between my updates. I guess that is a sign that I am integrating and becoming more comfortable in my life here. I don’t feel the constant need to either for comfort or to share the bizarre things I see. The weird things no longer seem abnormal. I’m not sure if that is a good thing or bad but I do still have occasional “Oh yeah, I am in Honduras” moments. This week, it was dealing with my ant infestation. I thought ants made nests in hills, not in my bedroom ceiling! I don’t battle one type of ant in and around my house, but at least three. There are the little black ones that look like the ones from home, but they bite! There are the tiny ones, almost invisible except for their movement and they are the big reddish-brown ones. These are the ones I had to use the Raid on. I started finding big winged ants around my house, mostly in my bedroom. After a day or two of killing the ones I encountered, I noticed them crawling from a crack in the ceiling. I itch just thinking about it. Following a quick fumigation, their numbers appear to be dwindling. I hope it is at least semi-permanent. I am not a big fan of spraying Raid in my tiny box of a house. Really, I shouldn’t complain because I don’t generally have major ant problems, just a few each day. Some people have major issues and can’t leave anything unsealed for more than 30 seconds. I am thankful I have not had to deal with that, YET.
Aside from insect mass murder, I am just returning to work again after a nice week long break. Easter is a much bigger deal here than in the States. Instead of having the Easter Bunny and a special Sunday dinner, the entire country shuts down Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Even the buses and taxis stop running. Schools close for the entire week so if functions as spring break for the entire country. The highly religious (generally Catholic) diligently go to church every day, avoid eating meat (especially pork) and enjoy soup made with dried fish all week. I think I have expressed my dislike for consuming hot soup in the heat of the day. Mix a little dried fish and you can count me out. I taste almost anything but passing the dried fish hanging in the streets the last several weeks didn’t exactly peak my appetite.
The not-so-religious who can afford it often take the opportunity to travel. Therefore, tourist destinations generally stay open except Friday, the holiest of days. The lack of transport does present a predicament so those wishing to leave town must do so early and most people return Sunday when the bus system resumes. Imagine traveling Thanksgiving weekend except the majority of traffic is made up of buses. That is when you pay the extra buck for a lujoso line which only sells as many tickets as there are seats. Otherwise, you may end up standing for a 10 hour journey. No thank you. Monday I experienced another, “what the heck is going on?” moment. Apparently, the day after Easter is celebrated by men dressing in women’s clothes and scary masks, running through the street playing music and trying to dance with/chasing down other men throughout town. One claim was that it is a celebration of the death of Judah, another said it is like dancing with the devil. Either, both or neither could be true. Supposedly the women dress like men and try to dance with other women the next day but I did not witness this one. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, I just didn’t stumble across it.
Now that Semana Santa (Holy Week) has passed, I can start some real work. I am currently busy preparing and waiting for materials. I am scheduled to start TEAM (Teaching English And Methodology) with the teachers from 3 schools in Talanga and aldeas. Frustratingly, we have not received the manuals from the Ministry of Education yet. I am also waiting for a donation of tooth brushes and toothpaste from Colgate Palmolive. The goal is to teach 1st and 2nd graders about dental hygiene. Maybe they will still have teeth by the time they should graduate from high school. I was also reminded that Earth Day (happy birthday Traci and Melissa) is creeping up very quickly. That means I need to come up with Earthy activities. It’s a good excuse to talk about deforestation and littering. In addition, I will give an HIV/AIDS workshop at the colegio around the same time. I am anxious to get these programs started and establish a routine. My schedule is pleasant in its freedom but frustrating an unmotivating at the moment. I need structure in my life. Poor Bello doesn’t know what’s going on or when I will come home. He is still growing ridiculously fast spends the hours either running tirelessly or sleeping. There is no middle ground. I spend significantly more on food for him than for myself. Good thing he is worth it. Maybe it’s my “sanity” that is worth it although “sanity” is relative. I consider running with my dog on a leash as I talk to him (and he responds) normal but most Hondurans probably think I am on something. (Don’t worry Mom, I am not on anything.)
Speaking of sanity… during training, several of us decided that by a year into service, every volunteer seemed to be a little off, many of them admit it. Whether the cause is experiencing a new level of boredom, frustration, loneliness and entertainment or a culmination of all the changes we go through, I don’t know but I think I have tipped the scale. Hopefully I can claw my way back to “normal” someday.

Photos, Honduran sunset and beach, School kids joining with the community to protest illegal logging (I don't think you can see the police in full riot gear), and Escuela Juan Lindo kids celebrating Dia del Padre

Back in the Swing

Sorry it has been a few weeks, again. Leaving my phone in the taxi from dropping Mom and Dad off at the airport turned out to start off a rough week. I bought a new phone the following Monday, it sucked to have to spend the 500 Lempiras but I got over it. Wednesday afternoon the new phone was stolen. Yes, less than 48 hours later, I was out a phone, again. It's been an unneccessarily long and complicated process obtaining another phone. Don't ask, but finally I have a phone and a way to communicate again! Trying to find transportation for my baseball team without a phone was difficult. Although I have a Honduran counterpart coach, I asked him to take care of the transportation while I was on vacation. Of course, I came back to the answer "no hay transporte". Luckily, after several trips to the mayor's office, many phone calls (the few days I had a phone) and more than one rejection, Friday afternoon, we found transportation big enough to take the baseball team and coaches to the Regional game on Saturday morning. I have no idea how my Dad coached my teams all those years. Coaching is stressful! Game day didn't start off as smoothly as I would have liked. We left late, forgot the uniforms, my two best players failed to tell me (or even know themselves) that they had turned 13 and were unable to play. In a way, it was a blessing because my Honduran coach saw the consequences. No, kids who are 13 or 14 cannot play! It is the rules, we have discussed this! No, the other team will not have any 13 year olds, I promise. We squeaked out a win against the newly developed but tough team from Juticalpa. They took the early lead but when 10-12 year olds playing baseball, the game can change at any moment. I was relieved when the game and the week were over.

This past week was much better. Back to school and organizing the projects I plan to start after Semana Santa (Holy Week). Although it takes 2 days to get a list of teachers and the number of kids in each class, things seem to be coming together and I should have a few regularly scheduled projects each week. Somewhat of a "regular" schedule, will be nice. I have a break from the school next week for Semana Santa but after that I hope to get up and running with all my projects. We'll see. Until next time... Here are few more photots from Mom and Dad's trip. And yes, Dad and I are at the top of the temple (Tikal). [First 3: Antigua, Tela in Chichicastenango, Tikal]

Guate and back

In a nutshell, I survived 2 and a half weeks with Mom and Dad, they survived Honduras, Guatemala and a little hitchhiking (out of necessity, of course). Bello's worms appear to be gone, he's gaining weight and growing rapidly and has plenty of new toys (thanks Mom and Traci)!

The first few days my parents were here were hectic due to work related activities. Yes, sometimes, I really do work. After one night with Mom and Dad, I had to leave them alone in Talanga for 2 nights while I ventured south for a program training. It was supposed to be one night but we didn't get back to Tegus in time to catch the last bus back to Talanga. Therefore, I caught the San Luis, Comayagua bus at 6:00 am and my baseball team joined me as we passed the school. We easily won our first game against Charlie's team but I have to give him credit for pulling his team together himself and rounding up more than enough kids during coffee-picking season to field a team. We realized just how quickly a one hour game goes. We played a little longer and still only completed 2 innings and a few at bats. I was very proud of my kids. Only one person was hit with a pitch and my girls rocked (including a solid double, not bad for a first at bat)! After the baseball game, we met Emily and Kyler for lunch in Santa Rosa de Copán before heading to the Mayan Ruins.

We eventually made it to Antigua, Guatemala, then to Flores and Tikal (more Mayan ruins). Guatemala was beautiful but significantly more expensive than Honduras. Granted, we spent our time in rather touristy areas, that never helps prices. It was interesting seeing the Mayan ruins in Copán and Tikal so close together. The Tikal ruins are massive structures hidden by jungle while the Copán ruins have been more thoroughly cleared but you can see significantly more detail in the carvings and hieroglyphics. We woke at 4:00am for a day-break hike in Tikal. It sounds better than it turned out. You are only permitted in the park before 8:00am if you have a guide. We were told the group would be 10-15 people, in reality it was closer to 50. Also unfortunate, the cloud cover was so thick that it prevented any visible sunrise. From our perch at the top of Temple 4 you could see the tops of other temples rising above the jungle. We also saw macaws in Copán, toucans and other birds as well as both spider and howler monkeys in Tikal. We eventually made it back to Talanga to visit the cloud forest of La Tigra and Valle de Angeles. We got plenty of exercise walking and hiking to balance out the long bus rides. I am sure my parents are home resting from their vacation before resuming work on the house.

Sorry for the lack of details but I thought you would all prefer pictures. Here are a few... [Talanga; Carla vs. San Luis; Copán Ruina (4); Macaws at Copán Ruinas; Chichicastanengo, Guatemala; Snow cone cart in Flores, Guate; Tikal Ruins (3); Mom and I in La Tigra]