Home!

Happy Thanksgiving! I know I am a few days late, but that's how it goes. Yes, I did get to celebrate with some other volunteers. I went to La Paz, a town a little bigger than Talanga with many more resources. There are 2 PCVs there who share a huge house and were kind enough to host a Thanksgiving celebration. The social interaction was incredible. A food, wine, baseball, watching American football on TV. I also enjoyed getting to know some of the volunteers who have been here for awhile. Although we enjoyed turkey, mashed potatoes, bread and all kinds of other goodies, I missed cranberries, gravy and pecan pie! Even though we gave thanks and ate plenty, it didn't really feel like Thanksgiving without family and the bite of cold weather. It didn't even rain. It was a good time but I still cannot process that it is officially Christmas season. I refuse to accept the coming arrival of Christmas until after Thanksgiving. One holiday at a time please. Apparently, if you head to the mall in Tegus there is a huge tree and it is swimming in the Christmas spirit. I haven't been. I am not sure that I am ready. The whole weather not changing still weirds me out.

Other good news: I officially moved into my own house yesterday and spent my first night alone. It was a little scary. My house if very secure but snuggling up in my sleeping bag on my camping pad wasn't very homely. The house is COMPLETELY unfurnished. Here are pictures of the front door and my bedroom. The shelves built into the wall are the only furniture in the entire place. There are three rooms: a living room, bedroom and "kitchen". The kitchen could easily be the bedroom since there aren't countertops or appliances. Although my host family was very nice and I have to buy EVERYTHING for the house, the thought of my own space is almost too much to deal with. This new house has many luxuries that I am not guaranteed here or have been living with out. My favorite things about my house, besides my selfish desire for solitude (like I don't get enough surrounded by people I don't know): light in the bathroom, water tank giving me a flushing toilet, sink and shower (cold). I had none of these things in my last home. You flushed the toilet by dumping in a bucket of water, bathe with a bucket and do both in the dark. I also have a cozy little front porch and a place where I can hang a few clothes. The negatives are that I share the back "yard" area with my landlord and her family and it will take me awhile to furnish the three rooms, if I ever get around to it. Right now, but focus is on a bed, stovetop, toaster oven and maybe silverware and dishes to eat and cook with.

As far as work goes, this is a slow time of year. Schools are wrapping up (the system is different and it is a slow, drawn out process) so I'm not sure exactly what I will be doing during the next few months besides trying to integrate into my community and make friends.

To hell and back

Hands down, last week was my worst yet. After my wonderful visit with Emily and Kyler, I cam back reminded that I have no friends here. The first few days I felt lonely and depressed but don't worry, that didn't last long. I discovered I had head lice and was forced to focus my despair on my scalp! How did I avoid head lice as a kid and get it when I am 24! Oh, yeah, I am in a third world country. I don't know when or where exactly I picked up the lice, but I'm sure it came from some kid I was befriending! I called the PCMO (PC doctor) for medication and treated it the same day. That problem solved.
The next day, I had to call the PCMO again, new problem. I had a fever (101.8 and I think my temp runs a little low normally). The PCMO gave me the name of a local doctor so I visited him. After checking my BP, throat, temp, chest and back sounds, he handed me a piece of paper and told me to give it to the woman out front (the office is also a full service pharmacy). "Um, what do I have?" I had to ask. "Malaria." Shouldn't you do a blood test to check for that? I didn't ask out loud. When I finally reached the PCMO the next day, she had me go to the office in Tegus for a blood test. Turned out, I didn't have malaria. I expected as much but it is nice to know that my blood test was normal on all fronts. It may have been a mild case of Dengue (which is also carried and spread by mosquitoes) but my blood was normal so they don't really know what it was/is. I started getting better but woke up Sunday with cold-like symptoms: cough, stuffy nose, all the things I didn't have before. I am happy to report that I feel much better, both physically and mentall, but it was a rough week.
Of course I had to be sick and feel awful the week of my ferria too! There were actually things to do in my town. Although, as far as ferrias go, I don't think mine is that great, there are carnival like activities, boothes of jewelry and other useless trinkets to buy, a mini parade to the Catholic church each afternoon, things like that. When I say "mini" parade, generally there is one car decorated into a float. Each town has their own ferria to celebrate their patron saint. Ours is San Diego (I think!). Of course, I ventured out a few times to watch a little of the commotion, but I couldn't really appreciate it as much as I may normally. I spent a lot of time in bed. Thank goodness for my Ipod. It's probably my favorite thing right now. So yes, I feel much better, just need to kick the last of a scratchy throat and get my energy back.

Things Hondurans (in general, of course) LOVE:
firecrackers (you know, the ones that just go "BOOM"), especially at odd hours of the night/morning
lace
curtains over doorways (it's supposed to give privacy when the door is open)
extended cab pick-ups (and all the variations)
dinamicas (ice breakers and similar activities)
fried food
hard candy (especially suckers)
drinking out of bags

I have friends? I almost forgot!

This week I had a great opportunity to see a little more of Honduras and learn about Baseball. Yes, I know the basics but since I am supposed to be coaching a team and the last time I played softball was about 8th grade, I needed the refresher. Kyler and Emily are starting their own team in San Francisco del Valle, Ocotopeque (it's near the borders to El Salvador and Guatamala). Since most of these kids have never played or watched much baseball, they are clueless, even to the basic concepts. As an introduction and to feel out interest, Kyler put on a 3 day baseball camp. Expecting about 40-60 kids, he enlisted my help (also a great reason to visit friends). By day 3, 40-60 kids turned into almost 100 (that we counted). Granted, some of them were outside the 8-12 year old age range, but that is still a lot of kids to practice with.

The trip was great. They have a great site and it was wonderful spending time with friends. I had been feeling a little isolated from that the last month or so. I also visited Connie Head (yes, another person from Wenatchee serving in Peace Corps Honduras, although she finishes her service in December) so that was a good time.

This entire trip has been a little bit more of an adventure than I expected. I left my house in Talanga at 5:40am Sunday. About 10 minutes outside Talanga the bus broke down. Great start to a 10+ hour trip, that leaves a lot of time for more problems. Luckily, that wasn't the case. Another bus passed about 30 minutes later and we made it (quite crowded but safely) to Tegus. Of course the taxi driver tried to rip me off (and sort of exceeded but not too much) for the 3 min cab ride. Yes, I timed it. 3 minutes, is not far by any standards. The rest of the trip was long and slow but pleasantly uneventful. I did recieve a drawing from my last seat buddy, a 17 year old Honduran boy who just graduated from colegio. I'm going to need wall decorations when I move into my house and that's a start. hahaha. I arrived in San Francisco at about 5:30pm. Yes 12 hours and I only changed buses once with a 30 minutes wait. Hence my excitement about the possibility of a ride back with one of the PC doctors (PCMO) who was in the area.

I cut a few hours off my trip back to Tegus by going with the PCMO. Unfortunately, we left a little late in the afternoon for me to catch a bus from Tegus to Talanga. I tried to stay in one of the usual PC hotels but they were both booked for the night. I received clearance to try the Maya, the backup plan because it's more expensive (I think "Guad 1 and 2" run about 250 lempiras/night, the Maya is about triple that). The Maya was also almost full and could only put me in a L1000 room. For those of you trying to do the conversion, I think it's about $60. That's fine when we're earning a US salary but you forgot, I earn Lempiras and that's more than a week's pay. Luckily, I think PC will reimburse me for part of it but I am waiting to hear. Either way, my "free" ride probably turned out to be more expensive than the L184 bus ticket and an extra night in Tegus. There are positives though... I am taking advantage of free internet at the PC office and I got to pick up my packages! (Thanks Traci and Katie and Abbey and crew for the Halloween care! I love them both! Also served well for breakfast :) )

It's really hard for me to conceptualize the time of year and that Christmas is approaching to quickly because the weather hasn't changed since I arrived in July. I bought chocolate last week and when I realized it was Christmas wrapped, my initial reaction was "How old is this?!... Oh, it's October, it's for this year." For a second, I thought it was July. Time to run but I am doing well and still enjoying my experience here. Miss and love you all!

Hopefully this entry is a little less awkward than the last. This week was a little sad because it may have been the last time I will see some of my kids until next year. I leave tomorrow morning to help my fellow Washingtonians with a baseball camp. Since their site is about 10 hours from Tegus by bus, I´m going to make the trip worth it and stay a few days. The camp is 3 days anyway so I will get to spend Halloweed with them, even though it will likely be uneventful. It will be great to have friends for a few days.

On that note, I met the Catholic (Passionists) missionaries who live in Talanga. Thursday night, after a short church service, we watched fútbolito and I stayed out until 10:30 pm! I know, I'm crazy. Although I liked being able to tell the Hondurans when they ask if I am with the "other gringos" that I didn´t know any others in town, I did like feeling like I had friends and it is nice to know that if I need anything, they aren´t far away. It was also nice to speak at a normal pace for a change and not have to think so much about each sentence. Although my Spanish has improved dramatically, it isn´t quite natural yet. It´s funny because as my Spanish becomes more natural, random English words slip in more. Usually, other people don't seem to notice, or I catch it in time to translate for myself and switch back to Spanish but sometimes I can't help but laugh. Usually they are transition words like "but" or "and" and I find myself making the same mistakes in the opposite direction. When I am trying to speak Spanish, I throw in English words without realizing it. I guess that is a good sign and most of the time the other person doesn´t realize it because they probably do the same thing.

Lately I have been spending just about every afternoon in the parque central. Since I don't have much to do in the afternoons, I sit in the park and write in my journal. I've written so much lately, that it is becoming difficult to write more than a page or two each day. I try to spend as much time as I can in the park. Usually I meet at least a few new people and the same kid asks me for money every day. At first I felt a little guilty saying no but yesterday changed that. "Dime pisto," he mumbles. "Give me money." (In the command form, of course.) I always tell him no. Yesterday, about 6 other kids appeared out of nowhere and started asking me for money as well. As they sat there begging, with suckers in their mouths, it supported my hypothesis. I never gave the other boy money because I assumed he would likely spend it on candy and chips. I took the opportunity to ask the kids if they were going to brush their teeth after they ate their suckers. They said yes, which I take as a good sign. At least they know the should brush their teeth. Whether they do is another story. I ended up chatting with the kids for about half an hour. Most of them ran to another part of the park but one girl stayed a few more minutes. I was most intrigued by her. She was wearing a jacket with a clear pocket on the front. I bet you can't guess what was in the pouch... yep, money. I could see Lempiras in her pouch and a sucker in her mouth as she begged for more money. I ventured to ask her what she wanted to buy. "Pan" she told me, bread. "You had money, but you bought a sucker." "I want pan. Dime pisto." "You have money. And you had money but you spent it on a sucker." She didn't deny it. Maybe I will come up with a way that they can earn food or sandals for their bare feet but I refuse to give them money for junk food and to contribute to the deterioration of their teeth. Dental bills are a lot more expensive than bread.

Todays was a very exciting day. Yes, I am as easily amussed as always. I went to the colegio to help a few girls with their English. Year end exams are next week. The lack of effective teaching methods was quite apparent in their questions. In schools here, kids are told things, and they memorize and regurgitate it. They know that sometimes, when you add "ing" to the end of words in English, you either leave off a letter or add an extra one. They have no idea when, or why. They didn't even know the meaning of the "ing" ending (which translates almost directly to the "ando/iendo" ending in Spanish. I felt so bad for them trying to memorize each word and whether they had to drop the "e" or add an extra consonant. I tried to explain the rules but it's difficult for me to explain clearly in Spanish and for them to understand. Especially when it is related to pronunciation which they learn very little of. They learn to write English fairly well (eventually) but most of the teachers can barely pronounce most of the words. I worry that I am putting myself in a position in which I don't want to be by teaching English so much this early in my service. Granted, with the school year ending, I can't start much else but I really don't want to teach English for the next 2 years. There are so many other issues that are more important and I feel I could use my time more wisely on other subjects. I don't think I'm even very good at teaching English. There is definitely a reason I have never aspired to be a teacher. I kind of suck at it. hahaha!

Helping the girls was interesting and I enjoy that group of girls, but what I was really excited about today was completely selfish. I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies! All the cookies here are hard and the chocolate generally sucks. I had to go to Tegus to buy brown sugar and chocolate chips. My family seemed to like them and even though they weren't the best cookies I have made in my life, they did the trick and of course I ate more dough than I should have. I think Emily and Kyler (check out their blog http://emilyandkyler.blogspot.com/ I haven't actually had a chance to read it but I know some of the stuff that is in there and it's pretty funny. Yes, the thing about the dogs is true.) will be excited for cookies that aren't hard. (If you happen to read this before I get there, sorry I spoiled the surprise!)

After several tries (still having trouble the network keeps failing my uploads), here are a few pics of my baseball team in Rio Dulce.

Love and miss you all! If you want to see other blogs from PC Honduras, here's the link http://www.peacecorpsjournals.com/ho.html

Sorry guys, not that much interesting has happened this week. There are only a few weeks left of school before vacation so for now I continue to teach English and play soccer and baseball with the kids. Every town has an annual feria to honor a patron saint. Mine is the first week of November so street food vendors and circus games are popping up around the central park. Each night there are "futbolito" games int he park. Four on four (always guys of course) playing with a miniture ball on a cement cancha about the size or a basketball court. Unfortunately, I have only seen half of one game because they don't start until 7 or 8 and there is a slightly sketchy area in the 3 block walk between my house and the park. Essentially, it's safe to be at the park at night, and it's safe to be at my house, but it isn't as safe to travel between the two. I could go if I had an escort but so far, no luck with that. My family is really nice, very Catholic and very concerned about my safety. So for now, I don't leave the house after dinner. That is probably my biggest challenge right now, I miss having a social life.

I know I mentioned hair scrunchies last time, but this week, I have not been able to get over the presence of the 80's. Anyone who said the 80's are dead was wrong. They just moved to Central America. It's amazing. Not only hair scrunchies and banana clips but spandex, Michael Jackson and more. They LOVE 80's music. I think I saw 3 or 4 different ads during one TV show for 80's compilation CDs. I'm telling you, the 80's are alive and kicking.

Of course I am getting plenty of new cultural experiences both in town and in my house. This past week celebrated a saint (forgive me, I don't remember which saint). The living room in my host family's house was transformed into more of a shrine of articial flowers and the sofas were replaced by stacks of plastic chairs. I didn't fully realize the significance of all of this until I came home to about 15 woman praying in the living room. I think my house is sort of a worship center this week and judging by the materials my family has for this occasion, I think it is a yearly occurence (possibly more frequently but I haven't asked for details yet). Part of me wants to stay and watch but I don't feel comfortable intruding on their prayer time. I did go to church with my host mother and brother last Sunday and that was an interesting experience. It was a nice ceremony but I definitely felt like an observer and an outsider. Since they recite the prayers, repsonses and songs from memory, it was a little difficult to participate. I recognized a few of the tunes but when it came to joining, I was clueless. I don't know the lyrics to hymns in SPANISH! I'm sure if I go frequently enough, I will learn, but that will take time.

This turned out to be sort of a strange entry but so are my days. I'm chugging along trying to meet people and get to know my community. Next week I get to collaborate for a baseball camp in Ocotepeque. That means I get to visit friends. Yea!! Love and miss you all!

tried to upload pics but after 4 tries, I gave up. Sorry, next time.

Let them in!

What´s more important, hair... or education. Yeah, I was thinking education, but apparently not everyone agrees. Last week, I watched a few boys get locked out of school because their hair was too long. I´m not sure exactly what the rule is but I´m not sure the hair on these guys was even touching their collar. True, they know the rules and should have known to cut their hair before it got too long, but HONESTLY! It is enough of a struggle to keep kids in school past (or even until) 6th grade, is keeping them out really the best solution? It is a widely known fact that the education system in Honduras is struggling. Anything we can do to get these kids a little education (especially once they make it to high shcool) should be a priority. In the US, we have laws to force kids to go to school, that is definitely not the case here. Sadly, those boys probably only missed out on a chance to socialize from 7:30 to noon. It´s hard to watch kids do nothing while at school. In most of the schools I have seen, the kids don´t really do anything after about 11. I mean, they hang out in the school yard, play soccer, and chat. It´s basically recess from 11ish to when they go home. I take a school bus to the colegio. Supposedly, classes end at 12:30, the bus leaves at 12 (with +75% of the kids). It´s a difficult problem to solve from the bottom up. This one needs to come from the top down. Hondurans seem very aware that the education system is less than adequate but it´s such a systematic, structural problem that it´s going to take awhile to fix. Luckily, there are several groups, organizations and individuals trying to improve Honduran education little by little. That was my rant for the week.

I spend my mornings at either the colegio or escuelas getting to know the schools, education system, kids and communities. Here are a few of my kids. You want to know how bad (or good) you are with names? Go to a foreign country and try to learn the names of several hundred kids you only see once a week. I think I remember about 2 so far. Or I rememberthe names, and the faces, but not together.

When I first visited Talanga, the first question I received was "Are there pigs in the streets? Our host mom said there are pigs in the streets." Yes, there are pigs in the streets so Kyler, this pic is for you.

But no, I don´t get a donkey. I know, I´m pissed too! I don´t get a donkey, a horse OR a bike! I´m actually quite disappointed about it. My town is too big for Peace Corps to give me a horse or mule and we aren´t allowed to ride bikes on "main roads". Since the road between town and my schools is considered a main road, I can´t justify needed a bike for work. LAME huge town with resources! At least I have wheat bread!

Things I love right now: hair scrunchies (yes, they are everywhere), the same songs I have been hearing since I arrived, and the fat dog I saw shaped like a pig (98% of the dogs here look like they are about to die from starvation).

Where in the US will strangers join you on a run while everyone else thinks you are INSANE because you like to exercise?

Sorry, no pictures this time because the computer won´t read my camera. That´s just the way things go, you take what you can and try not to worry about the rest. I will try to continue posting pictures when possible.
The big news this week: I have friends. Don´t judge me since they are all between about 6 and 12 years old, like I said, I´ll take what I can get. The good thing about working in the schools as a foreigner, kids flock to you just to hold your hand and listen to you talk, probably because it sounds funny.
I took a leap of faith and went for a run by myself for first time in three months. Don´t worry Mom, I checked with my host family about where to go and if it was safe. As it turns out, the safest place to go is up the side of a mountain to ¨Cerito¨, a lookout over the entire valley. I was a little nervouse since I didn´t know the road above my house and we are hounded constantly about safety and security. My solo run lasted about 5 minutes. As I reached the top of the first hill, a boy of about 10 started running after me. Not in a threatening way, but chasing me as a puppy chases it´s owner on a bicycle, with a big grin. I offered for him to come and by the time I reached the next house (about minute later) three girls ran from their yard to join. The youngest, Stefany Michella, looks like a Honduran version of Stephanie Tanner (yes, I mean the little girl on Full House) when she was about 6 and missing her front teeth. The older two girls are probably 8 or 9, and only the boy wore shoes. I was a little embarrassed at how easily these kids kept up as we climbed the hills and they led me exactly where I wanted to go, to a beautiful view of the city just before dusk. As we scrambled over boulders, through mud and horse manure, down loose rock, I cautioned them, "Cuidado." I realized instantly that I was the one who needed to be careful. While I skidded down parts of the hills and nearly fell a time or two, the barefoot kids nimbly navigated the loose rock. When I ran the same route a few days later, 3 of the 4 kids joined me again, and again, kept up quite well. Although I still miss running by myself, it´s comforting to have people there with me. Kids are great running partners, they don´t expect you to talk to them, they will keep going as long as you continue to run and they always want to know when we can go again.

I am definitely learning to appreciate the little things. A side from making friends with elementary school kids, I love finding good English shows on TV. I watched about 3 episodes of Da Ali G Show yesterday and was Exstatic to catch the end of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, in English. Finding whole wheat bread and skim milk made my day. What can I say, some days are rough, but I´m learning how to truly appreciate what I can.