December, 20 was a sad day. I received an email from my country director stating that the Peace Corps program in Honduras was being put on hold, and possibly canceled all together. The volunteers were told we were no longer allowed to leave our sites and that sometime in January we would all be sent home. Confusing right? That is how I felt. With time we received more information. It turns out after reviewing the security situation in Honduras they decided it wasn’t safe enough at this point to have volunteers in the country. Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world. Although most of it revolves around drugs, gangs, and corruption. However, the danger was still leaking out to the volunteers and many had been robbed at gunpoint, raped, and one had even been shot in the leg when gunfire broke out during a bus robbery. Peace Corps decided the incidents were to occurring to often to consider Honduras a safe enough country for Peace Corps. Peace Corps said they needed to close down for a month to run a more in depth security analysis of the country and possibly try and make changes to see if they could still keep it open in the future. So they rounded everyone up on January 12 and we had a 3 day Close of Service conference, just like we would normally have had if we had finished our 2 years of service. They told us at the conference, in all likelihood no one will come back right away, because they need time to make all the adjustments to Peace Corps, but if anyone came back it would be very very few and in very safe areas. They also told us some very scary statistics. Now I may not remember the exact numbers but they are close so you get an idea. Central America is about the size of Spain. In 2007 in Spain 300 people were murdered. In Central America it was 14,300. We always hear about the war on drugs in Colombia. In Colombia the homicide rate is 33 per 100,000. In Honduras it is 86 per 100,000. In the US it is 6 per 100,000.Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world for a country not at war. Honduras is in a very sad state right now. The people constantly have to live in a state of fear not to upset someone or mix with things they shouldn’t so they don’t end up dead on the side of the road somewhere. You also know not to go to certain areas, and never to carry a lot of money on you. The really sad thing is that all of the gangs is related to the drug trafficking. Honduras is a hot point now to bring drugs in from South America to send by land to the states. OUR DRUG PROBLEM IS KILLING HONDURAS. For every bad person, there are 10 good ones, all of those good people have to live in a state of fear, and now Peace Corps is pulling out and leaving them to fend for themselves. I am American when things get to scary I can just pack up and go home. Unfortunately all of the good people that I have come to love in Honduras cannot escape. They are forced to live in this violent state that our drug addiction problem has created. It was very hard to say goodbye to Peace Corps, and to Honduras, and it was even harder to say goodbye to all my friends. When they were there looking guilty, apologizing for living in such a dangerous country, when it was not their fault. They were born in Honduras. I was born privileged. I can always come back to the states and live in a safe environment, with food, and electricity, water, and a good government. I can truly say after my Peace Corps experience GOD BLESS AMERICA. I will never again take for granted a hot shower, running water to flush the toilet with, paved roads, US police men, a non corrupt government, electricity, butterfingers lol, and so much more. Although it was such a sad, fast ending Peace Corps was truly the best experience of my life. I learned so much about the world, and experienced firsthand the hell other countries live in, I learned so much about myself I now truly understand my greatest strengths and my greatest weaknesses. I met so many people that truly touched my soul, and did work that made me feel fulfilled. I come back to the states now feeling like an old woman. I have such knowledge and experience, and such a different way of viewing the world, which most people couldn’t wish to ever understand in a lifetime. I can say with all honesty that “Peace Corps is the toughest job that you’ll ever love”
In addition: I am going back to Honduras. I am engaged to Tilo and will be getting married May 26,2012. I am applying for an internship at USAID in the US embassy. If I don’t get it Tilo and I will be coming back to the states to look for a job and then grad school. So keep your fingers crossed for me!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Recapping everything you missed
So I pretty much stopped blogging, but I wanted to finish out my Peace Corps blog since my Peace Corps experience is finished. So I will give a basic idea of what happened in all that time. I finally did my stove project. I trained like 15 people to build the stoves, and gave a lecture on the environment to the people receiving the stoves. Then I built 76 improved stoves. It took quite a bit of time considering it was only me and the volunteers who learned how to make the stoves, constructing them. It was a good project, and I felt well afterward. The people were happy receiving the stoves and bettering their health and I was happy to help.
I also did a municipal spelling bee. The people had never had spelling bees in my municipality, and spelling is one of the worst parts of their education. Not even the teachers spell well! And they hate to teach it. So a spelling bee was a great way to get kids motivated to study spelling. We held school spelling bees and the top two winners from each school were then invited to the municipal center to attend the municipal spelling bee. It went really well and everyone was happy. The top three places were all from small villages, and every said it was nice that the villages got to win for once, because they almost never win against the kids in the town center.
I also have been giving computer courses. I gave three different computer courses. One was to high school students, another was to more high school students, and the third was a village without electricity. A NGO donated a solar panel and a computer lab with computers so the people could learn computers. It was hard teaching people that had never really used any type of technology.
In addition, I have been giving lectures on HIV, hand washing, and GPS. But at different times of course lol!
My last big project was working with the women’s office. The women’s office got a new head, and she is energetic, and willing to work and learn. So we started right off organizing women in every village and creating women’s groups. I then created what I call the 12 step plan, because it is 12 different speeches and trainings on how to become an independent self loving woman. They different trainings included gender and sex, and equality and inequality, self esteem, women’s rights, good communication skills, basic business, and more. At the end we got loans for each group to start their own small business. Unfortunately, I was unable to finish the project because Peace Corps was evacuated from Honduras(see last blog) but I left the head of the women’s office with all the knowledge and training to finish it herself.
Other than work I was mostly hanging out with my boyfriend and dog. We have gone on lots of hikes to waterfalls, and just around my municipality. We have gone on two vacations, one was to the big lake in Honduras where we stayed for a weekend with Peace Corps friends, and we went and saw a big waterfall and were actually allowed to walk underneath it with a tour guide. It was very intense there was so much water coming down on your head and with such force you couldn’t see and could barely breath, but it was a great experience, very empowering. Tilo , Dulce,and I also went and stayed on one of the southern islands for a weekend. It is a volcanic island with all black sand beaches. It was a very nice relaxing vacation with beautiful scenery, but you couldn’t swim in the water. There were millions of jellyfish in the water! Tilo and I took a kayak out and just stayed at the edge of the water and saw hundreds of them. We were so afraid to tip especially because it was a really cheap unstable kayak and we had dulce on board too, who kept running from side to side. We tried to leave her on the beach, but she came swimming after the kayak! So I have been having lots of fun along with all the work I have been doing.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Work and Play
Well a blog is WAY overdue I imagine I have lost all my listeners out there, but I never was good at keeping a consistent blog. It’s been three months since my last blog and I have a lot of ground to cover!
March:
I get better and arrive back home in Honduras. Both my boyfriend and dog missed me a lot, and my dog is huge! She still isn’t fully grown but when she stands on two feet her paws almost reach my shoulder. Some of the people in the village joke that they think they are looking at a tiger when they see her because she is so big and she has orange and black stripes. Although I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say she looks like a tiger but I should have named her tigress for her fierceness. She is named Dulce for sweet or Candy, but she is rarely ever sweet like Candy. Especially with strangers, she barks and them and scares them because she is so big. I know she wouldn’t bite them, but she just wants to show them that she is fierce. She is still very playful too. She loves running around the house crazy chasing after flies and jumping and trying to catch them with her mouth.
Anyways, it was nice to be back. The whole village welcomed me back, and within a week began our town’s festival. It is a yearly festival in honor of the patron saint. It has many fun events, great food, fun things to buy, and good drinks. I myself went to many of the events. I went to the running of the tape. Where the men mount their horses and one by one race them to a cable that is raised in the air, on this cable there is a series of ribbons with a key ring at the bottom, and each ribbon has a girl’s name on it. The man then has to race his horse to the ribbons, and using only a pencil must loop through the key ring and pull the ribbon off. The girl with the name on the ribbon then gives the rider a kiss. This even was a lot of fun and lots of people came out to watch it. I also saw every single one of the bull fights. Although I really shouldn’t say bull fight because they aren’t like the bull fights in Spain more like bull dance and ridding. They release the bull with a rider, and we see how long he can stay on, but there is one man with the red cape that is constantly teasing the bull and dancing with him during the rider and after. It was interesting to watch the men try to ride the bulls, much better than in Spain where they kill them. During the first night of bull riding there was an accident. The man was alone in the corral dancing with the bull with his back to the door, when all the sudden this other bull gets loose and comes charging through the door and spears the guy in the back with his horns. The dancer was injured and they raced him to the hospital (a mere 3 hours away) I never did find out how he fared. Needless to say they didn’t have the next bull fight as scheduled, but the following weekend they found another bull fighter and the show went on without further problems. Another of my favorite events was the horse trick competition and parade. First there was a parade with horse riders from all around, and the giant dolls which are popular in Honduras. After the parade the horse riders all came to one spot where they showed the crowds all the tricks they could do. Many could dance to beats and turn in circles, walk backwards and some could be even told to lie down. The horses were all well groomed and well taken care of which is difficult for the majority of the people in Honduras. Some of the other events were dances, comedy shows, old people dance, traditional dance an dress, and much more. Also Tilo and I were constant customers of the food tents right at the bottom of my street. The lady there had excellent pupusas and grilled meat. Yum Yum. Also there was always lots of popcorn and fries for sale cheap, things I don’t get much here so they were a real treat. The feria was a blast.
After the festival it was back to work for a few weeks and then Semana Santa!
April: Semana Santa is holy week during Easter, but it seems in Honduras to have turned into a Spring break for everyone! Litterally everyone takes to the nearest river or beach or hot springs such as in my case. A week before all the vendors showed up at the hot springs and set up their booths to make and sell food and beer, and then the people came, and they came in ridiculous numbers. The hotprings were packed disgustingly so. In the three giant pools there was almost no room to move, and they were so full the water was overflowing. Needless to say I only got in the first day when there was a bit less people. It was still fun tho. Everyone was there and it was nice to go and eat good food and talk to people, and I even convinced the mayor to get the bad out there playing music the first day. There were also dances in the center of town but I was tired one day and sick the other so unfortunately tilo and I didn’t go. But we did go hiking a lot. I had been dying to see the Mayan carvings we have in our site, and a news reporter came to site and needed someone from the mayors office to take them to the local tourist attractions or what someday may be tourist attractions, and my boyfriend knowing I wanted to go volunteered us as guides and we went with them along with the head of the environmental office. First we went to another sight of hot springs that have not been developed. It was a long hike in the heat, and when we got there it was wonderful to bathe in the river. At this site the hot springs are at the side of the river and they are so hot they are boiling. My poor puppy not knowing ran ahead of us and stepped in one of the hot springs and started crying, but she was fine just a bit of a shock. The springs then run into the giant river and heat the side of the river. Also I think the spring must run right below the river as well because the sand in the one side is hot! It is soo refreshing to swim there. Its truly one of my favorite spots. Also along that same hike there are two spots of myth and rock with symbols which they call the devils symbol, myth being that the devil walked that path, and another right by is is a naturally made bowl in a rock which they call the mules bowl, and they say it always has water. Further down the hike we also passed an old abandoned village, which they say is from the early 1700s and now is not much more than stone foundations. Also along the hike there were beautiful views of the melon farms and the river. It was a long hike but a beautiful one. After that hike we drove to another spot in the municipality and began walking in the riverbed. After walking a while we came across the Mayan carvings. They are a thing of wonder. They are carved on a giant perfectly flat cliff rock in the river bed, and there are so many different symbols and pictures. I just wish I could understand what they mean. It is also amazing that they are in such good condition because every year during the rain when the river rises it must erode it a little bit at least, but you can make out all the pictures perfectly. Finally after that hike we went to another place where there was a very old aqueduct that is carved into the mountain. It is about a 15 min hike to hike the entire aqueduct and it is all carved into stone! It must have take then Indians or the Spaniards years to carve that much stone it’s a wonder. Water still runs into it from the river, however unfortunately it is dirty and doesn’t go the whole way down the aqueduct, will a little bit of care I bet it could work again. Tilo and I had such a great time at the hikes that we went again the next day with his sister’s family who were visiting from the capital. It was a fun Semana Santa. The rest of the month it was back to work. Until the last weekend when I had the going away party for the department of El Paraiso in my site. All the 8 volunteers from the department came, and we had a little party and a piñata. Then I got my Honduran friend to drive us to the hot springs where we grilled meat and had some drinks and swam. It was a really nice time. The next day we went to the neighboring municipality of Guinope to celebrate there. Along the way we traveled through my mountain villages there, and many of the volunteers were impressed with their beauty. Especially at my favorite spot where we stopped to eat lunch. It is right on top of these enormous rocks raised out of the ground which are overlooking this mountainside. There is always a lot of wind coming up the mountainside and its very refreshing, and you can see nothing but pine tree mountains for miles. Its very beautiful. In guinope we bought very good strawberries which are impossible to find in other parts of Honduras, and I tasted the local wine which they are known for. Like the majority of the volunteers I did not like the Orange wine which is their most popular, but I did like the wine they made out of a fruit called nanci. I actually don’t like the fruit itself but I like the drinks and wine they make out of it. We then went to this beautiful pool and lake area for tourists and we swam in the pool. Unfortunately living in a valle I am not used to the cold anymore. Guinope is a mountain municipality and is much colder and so is the water! It was freezing but we still had a good time.
May:
I went for a weekend with my boyfriend and his friend to one of the municipalities further north. We went to where he grew up to see his family for a day and then pick his mom up and take her to where she lives now, because she had been visiting family. It was a nice little trip with some beautiful scenery. Honduras is very beautiful! Although I did see a huge area of pine trees that had been burnt in a fire, which made me angry because it was probably a deliberate fire by someone. The last few months have been very dry and there have been horrible problems with people slashing and burning their properties and forest fires. There has been so much burning and so little rain that Honduras was literally covered in clouds and smog which were produced from the smoke. Its terrible and I have heard many say so themselves but they do nothing to change it. Well luckily in May the rains are starting. The dry season is ending so everything will turn from desert like to jungle and the animals will grow fat with food again. However the rainy season also brings lots of dampness and bugs o so many bugs and the diseases they bring! Also there are the problems that the rains bring to my projects. The rains make the rivers rise and destroy the roads, and in a municipality basically without bridges this makes travel to many of the villages impossible by car. At the end of May I also went to the capital for the weekend with my boyfriend of spending. I desperately needed new clothes and I bought clothes and shoes, and a cell phone. Plus I got to go see the new Pirates of the Caribbean!
Work:
Work the last few months seems to have been scheduled around the weeklong celebrations. But that is how things are in Honduras. The week before the celebration none of my counterparts want to do anything because they are doing a little to set up. Then the week of celebrations of course no work gets done. Then the week after hardly any work gets done either! However I have been successful in some areas around these times. I have been working with the women’s office still and we are expanding and creating women’s help groups in the little villages. With these groups we are going to give different speeches to help them, and create small businesses, and its also so the women have more of a voice in their local government. I also finally finished the grant proposal for my stove project I had been waiting for one piece for information for months, but my counterpart on this project was truly very busy trying to put out forest fires. Hopefully the money will get approved and come through in a couple months. Also I have given a couple guest appearances at the elementary school for English class. The kids are always so excited to have the white girl as their teacher! They are shout yay and are so proud of the few words they know in English. It’s very cute. The teacher also does a very good job at keeping the class in order a problem I admit I have with children, so it makes teaching very easy. I have also been helping the municipal department of education. We are taught an old program that was enacted years ago with the Japanese and we are having the schools all redo it. Basically the schools, the students and the parents all survey the community their problems and strengths and that of the school. The look at the past present and future situation of the school and its problems. Then they design ways to fix those problems and make it a goal to act on them within 5 years. It is important because the parents are involved, a serious problem they have here in Honduras, and also because the goals are put there in place for them to see so its much easier to achieve them. The last time they did this they actually brought electricity to one of the schools, and got an ambulance donated to the municipality which we still use. I also agreed to start two computer classes which I will be starting shortly. For one I have to go to one of our furthest villages. It is without electricity but an NGO donated a solar panel and computers to the school. I will teach about 15 adults from the village how to turn the computer on then off all the way to using excel and internet. These adults will then teach the children in school how to use them. It is wonderful a village that was once cute off with communication to the world now will have all the worlds knowledge at their fingertips and the farmers will be able to use excel for budgeting and crops!
But yes that is my life so far in Honduras. Until next time
March:
I get better and arrive back home in Honduras. Both my boyfriend and dog missed me a lot, and my dog is huge! She still isn’t fully grown but when she stands on two feet her paws almost reach my shoulder. Some of the people in the village joke that they think they are looking at a tiger when they see her because she is so big and she has orange and black stripes. Although I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say she looks like a tiger but I should have named her tigress for her fierceness. She is named Dulce for sweet or Candy, but she is rarely ever sweet like Candy. Especially with strangers, she barks and them and scares them because she is so big. I know she wouldn’t bite them, but she just wants to show them that she is fierce. She is still very playful too. She loves running around the house crazy chasing after flies and jumping and trying to catch them with her mouth.
Anyways, it was nice to be back. The whole village welcomed me back, and within a week began our town’s festival. It is a yearly festival in honor of the patron saint. It has many fun events, great food, fun things to buy, and good drinks. I myself went to many of the events. I went to the running of the tape. Where the men mount their horses and one by one race them to a cable that is raised in the air, on this cable there is a series of ribbons with a key ring at the bottom, and each ribbon has a girl’s name on it. The man then has to race his horse to the ribbons, and using only a pencil must loop through the key ring and pull the ribbon off. The girl with the name on the ribbon then gives the rider a kiss. This even was a lot of fun and lots of people came out to watch it. I also saw every single one of the bull fights. Although I really shouldn’t say bull fight because they aren’t like the bull fights in Spain more like bull dance and ridding. They release the bull with a rider, and we see how long he can stay on, but there is one man with the red cape that is constantly teasing the bull and dancing with him during the rider and after. It was interesting to watch the men try to ride the bulls, much better than in Spain where they kill them. During the first night of bull riding there was an accident. The man was alone in the corral dancing with the bull with his back to the door, when all the sudden this other bull gets loose and comes charging through the door and spears the guy in the back with his horns. The dancer was injured and they raced him to the hospital (a mere 3 hours away) I never did find out how he fared. Needless to say they didn’t have the next bull fight as scheduled, but the following weekend they found another bull fighter and the show went on without further problems. Another of my favorite events was the horse trick competition and parade. First there was a parade with horse riders from all around, and the giant dolls which are popular in Honduras. After the parade the horse riders all came to one spot where they showed the crowds all the tricks they could do. Many could dance to beats and turn in circles, walk backwards and some could be even told to lie down. The horses were all well groomed and well taken care of which is difficult for the majority of the people in Honduras. Some of the other events were dances, comedy shows, old people dance, traditional dance an dress, and much more. Also Tilo and I were constant customers of the food tents right at the bottom of my street. The lady there had excellent pupusas and grilled meat. Yum Yum. Also there was always lots of popcorn and fries for sale cheap, things I don’t get much here so they were a real treat. The feria was a blast.
After the festival it was back to work for a few weeks and then Semana Santa!
April: Semana Santa is holy week during Easter, but it seems in Honduras to have turned into a Spring break for everyone! Litterally everyone takes to the nearest river or beach or hot springs such as in my case. A week before all the vendors showed up at the hot springs and set up their booths to make and sell food and beer, and then the people came, and they came in ridiculous numbers. The hotprings were packed disgustingly so. In the three giant pools there was almost no room to move, and they were so full the water was overflowing. Needless to say I only got in the first day when there was a bit less people. It was still fun tho. Everyone was there and it was nice to go and eat good food and talk to people, and I even convinced the mayor to get the bad out there playing music the first day. There were also dances in the center of town but I was tired one day and sick the other so unfortunately tilo and I didn’t go. But we did go hiking a lot. I had been dying to see the Mayan carvings we have in our site, and a news reporter came to site and needed someone from the mayors office to take them to the local tourist attractions or what someday may be tourist attractions, and my boyfriend knowing I wanted to go volunteered us as guides and we went with them along with the head of the environmental office. First we went to another sight of hot springs that have not been developed. It was a long hike in the heat, and when we got there it was wonderful to bathe in the river. At this site the hot springs are at the side of the river and they are so hot they are boiling. My poor puppy not knowing ran ahead of us and stepped in one of the hot springs and started crying, but she was fine just a bit of a shock. The springs then run into the giant river and heat the side of the river. Also I think the spring must run right below the river as well because the sand in the one side is hot! It is soo refreshing to swim there. Its truly one of my favorite spots. Also along that same hike there are two spots of myth and rock with symbols which they call the devils symbol, myth being that the devil walked that path, and another right by is is a naturally made bowl in a rock which they call the mules bowl, and they say it always has water. Further down the hike we also passed an old abandoned village, which they say is from the early 1700s and now is not much more than stone foundations. Also along the hike there were beautiful views of the melon farms and the river. It was a long hike but a beautiful one. After that hike we drove to another spot in the municipality and began walking in the riverbed. After walking a while we came across the Mayan carvings. They are a thing of wonder. They are carved on a giant perfectly flat cliff rock in the river bed, and there are so many different symbols and pictures. I just wish I could understand what they mean. It is also amazing that they are in such good condition because every year during the rain when the river rises it must erode it a little bit at least, but you can make out all the pictures perfectly. Finally after that hike we went to another place where there was a very old aqueduct that is carved into the mountain. It is about a 15 min hike to hike the entire aqueduct and it is all carved into stone! It must have take then Indians or the Spaniards years to carve that much stone it’s a wonder. Water still runs into it from the river, however unfortunately it is dirty and doesn’t go the whole way down the aqueduct, will a little bit of care I bet it could work again. Tilo and I had such a great time at the hikes that we went again the next day with his sister’s family who were visiting from the capital. It was a fun Semana Santa. The rest of the month it was back to work. Until the last weekend when I had the going away party for the department of El Paraiso in my site. All the 8 volunteers from the department came, and we had a little party and a piñata. Then I got my Honduran friend to drive us to the hot springs where we grilled meat and had some drinks and swam. It was a really nice time. The next day we went to the neighboring municipality of Guinope to celebrate there. Along the way we traveled through my mountain villages there, and many of the volunteers were impressed with their beauty. Especially at my favorite spot where we stopped to eat lunch. It is right on top of these enormous rocks raised out of the ground which are overlooking this mountainside. There is always a lot of wind coming up the mountainside and its very refreshing, and you can see nothing but pine tree mountains for miles. Its very beautiful. In guinope we bought very good strawberries which are impossible to find in other parts of Honduras, and I tasted the local wine which they are known for. Like the majority of the volunteers I did not like the Orange wine which is their most popular, but I did like the wine they made out of a fruit called nanci. I actually don’t like the fruit itself but I like the drinks and wine they make out of it. We then went to this beautiful pool and lake area for tourists and we swam in the pool. Unfortunately living in a valle I am not used to the cold anymore. Guinope is a mountain municipality and is much colder and so is the water! It was freezing but we still had a good time.
May:
I went for a weekend with my boyfriend and his friend to one of the municipalities further north. We went to where he grew up to see his family for a day and then pick his mom up and take her to where she lives now, because she had been visiting family. It was a nice little trip with some beautiful scenery. Honduras is very beautiful! Although I did see a huge area of pine trees that had been burnt in a fire, which made me angry because it was probably a deliberate fire by someone. The last few months have been very dry and there have been horrible problems with people slashing and burning their properties and forest fires. There has been so much burning and so little rain that Honduras was literally covered in clouds and smog which were produced from the smoke. Its terrible and I have heard many say so themselves but they do nothing to change it. Well luckily in May the rains are starting. The dry season is ending so everything will turn from desert like to jungle and the animals will grow fat with food again. However the rainy season also brings lots of dampness and bugs o so many bugs and the diseases they bring! Also there are the problems that the rains bring to my projects. The rains make the rivers rise and destroy the roads, and in a municipality basically without bridges this makes travel to many of the villages impossible by car. At the end of May I also went to the capital for the weekend with my boyfriend of spending. I desperately needed new clothes and I bought clothes and shoes, and a cell phone. Plus I got to go see the new Pirates of the Caribbean!
Work:
Work the last few months seems to have been scheduled around the weeklong celebrations. But that is how things are in Honduras. The week before the celebration none of my counterparts want to do anything because they are doing a little to set up. Then the week of celebrations of course no work gets done. Then the week after hardly any work gets done either! However I have been successful in some areas around these times. I have been working with the women’s office still and we are expanding and creating women’s help groups in the little villages. With these groups we are going to give different speeches to help them, and create small businesses, and its also so the women have more of a voice in their local government. I also finally finished the grant proposal for my stove project I had been waiting for one piece for information for months, but my counterpart on this project was truly very busy trying to put out forest fires. Hopefully the money will get approved and come through in a couple months. Also I have given a couple guest appearances at the elementary school for English class. The kids are always so excited to have the white girl as their teacher! They are shout yay and are so proud of the few words they know in English. It’s very cute. The teacher also does a very good job at keeping the class in order a problem I admit I have with children, so it makes teaching very easy. I have also been helping the municipal department of education. We are taught an old program that was enacted years ago with the Japanese and we are having the schools all redo it. Basically the schools, the students and the parents all survey the community their problems and strengths and that of the school. The look at the past present and future situation of the school and its problems. Then they design ways to fix those problems and make it a goal to act on them within 5 years. It is important because the parents are involved, a serious problem they have here in Honduras, and also because the goals are put there in place for them to see so its much easier to achieve them. The last time they did this they actually brought electricity to one of the schools, and got an ambulance donated to the municipality which we still use. I also agreed to start two computer classes which I will be starting shortly. For one I have to go to one of our furthest villages. It is without electricity but an NGO donated a solar panel and computers to the school. I will teach about 15 adults from the village how to turn the computer on then off all the way to using excel and internet. These adults will then teach the children in school how to use them. It is wonderful a village that was once cute off with communication to the world now will have all the worlds knowledge at their fingertips and the farmers will be able to use excel for budgeting and crops!
But yes that is my life so far in Honduras. Until next time
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
New Beginnings, Illness, and a Night of Magic
As usual I have been slacking in my blogging duties. I just love keeping all of you followers out there hanging in suspense. January seems sooo long ago! I will try to do my best to report everything important that has happened. Well where to begin
January: Like all new years I suppose, January was a month of beginnings. I began to form new friendships in my site. I finally after four months of being in site met the Japanese volunteer that was also living in my site. In a city of only 1,000 people it seems impossible to only have met her briefly once before, but that was the case. She worked over in the medical clinic and I worked in the mayor’s office, and other than being with her Honduran family, whom I didn’t know and working she never left the house, and we just never crossed paths. However, one day in January she came by the mayor’s office and we introduced ourselves. She told me the nurse that I had been running with for a while had told her that we were running. She was looking for a running partner, and I had been longing to go running again since I stopped running with the nurse for safety concerns. So we made plans and started running, unfortunately because we were both so busy we were only unable to go running a few times before she finished her two years of service and returned to Japan. Sadly after their many years of service in my town of Oropolí, JAIKA the Japanese development agency will not be sending anymore volunteers to the town. As with many nations around the world Japan is cutting budgets and JAIKA is greatly decreasing their number of volunteers in Honduras. Also unlike many municipalities in Honduras there are no NGOs in Oropolí. Now that the Japanese volunteer is gone I am the only source of foreign help my community has. I see this as a good thing. My community definitely has the resources and the possibilities for agricultural wealth; it is time they learn to stand on their own two feet without foreign sources supporting them. It is my hope that I will be able to guide them to learn to help themselves, to make their own wealth, tax properly, and use that money responsibly to sustain and improve their municipality and their living quality. This is my Peace Corps Dream. (Along with learning how to protect their natural resources and environment, and treating women as equals!)These are my own personal goals that I have decided to strive to achieve during my two years in service. I have already begun working on helping women’s equality by strengthening the women’s office. In which we are going to be giving speeches all around the municipality on equality, rights of women, domestic abuse prevention, and self esteem for women. Changing traditions is a very hard task, however, I feel it is a very little one and I hope that little by little we can start to change the way women are viewed.
Another new beginning that occurred in January is the start of two new projects!! I had already discussed with my counterpart about our interest in starting an improved stove project, and in January we began the process. We did the entire project design and began to write the grant proposal. Because my project manager knew I was beginning a project in renewable energy I was invited to an international renewable energy conference in Zamorano, a highly esteemed university in Honduras that is working on renewable energy. While at the conference we discussed the types of renewable energy that we were using in our municipalities and our future desires for renewable energy. While at the conference I showed interest in the use of solar panels to power some of our very isolated villages. We already have one solar panel that was donated that powers a school in one of our eight villages without electricity. I have always believed that solar panels were the best way to bring electricity because they use renewable energy and in the long run you save money. In addition, some of our villages are so far away from the electrical lines it would be fifty years before we would be able to bring electricity to these villages. Therefore these villages are perfect candidates for solar panels. Anyways, at this conference I expressed interest, and I met a man that worked for a company that had solar panels and improved stoves, and he told me he knew of a NGO for a funding source. Hence, my second project was born. I was so excited this was the big project I was waiting for. If I could bring electricity to just a couple villages I would be making a huge impact on these peoples lives. However, unfortunately like usual in Honduras our funding source fell through and now I am back at 0. If anyone knows of anyway to raise this money of some company willing to donate the solar panels themselves I would love to hear it!
Also is January I built up my bond with my puppy Dulce. She is now my baby girl. She is a terror! She is constantly puppy biting, and chewing on things. Also she loves to carry everything outside! If I can’t find shoes or clothing I just have to go look in my backyard and she has almost always carried them outside. Although she is a little rascal she makes me laugh constantly and the things she does. Also my boyfriend and I like to take walks in the riverbed looking for giant lizards and we like to take Dulce , and she loves it! At first she was a little terrified of constantly having to cross the river, but now she jumps right in an paddles her little heart out to cross not wanting to be left behind it is so cute!
February:
If January was a month of new beginning February would have to be the month of illness. At the beginning of the month I went back to the University of Zamorano this time for my weeklong reconnect training session with the municipal development project of Peace Corps. The first day was just my training group and our counterparts learning more about renewable energy and recycling. The day was a success although I do not think my counterpart or I learned anything new already having interest in the area of renewable energy. However, that evening my counterpart left for Tegucigalpa and the other counterparts invited us volunteers to a bar. Not having my counterpart present was nice then I didn’t feel I had to hide that I drink to not lose his respect. So I went with about 10 other volunteers and had a few drinks. It was fun, and coincidentally the mayor of the next municipality over, San Lucas just happened to stop at the bar as well on his way back home. He gave the volunteer in his site and me a few drinks. It was a good time, and the counterparts all got very drunk and wild. When we got back to the hotel the volunteers all went to bed while the counterparts stayed up being drunk and crazy. It was actually quite funny. The rest of the week the counterparts left and the prior municipal development group joined us for training. It was a sad training. On the second day the country director and director of security met with us to discuss the high number of rapes and violent incidents. In the last 3 months there have been 3 rapes and 2 violent attacks. We talked about how we can make sure we are being extra safe. Then after that depressing speech we received another blow. Do to budget cuts Peace Corps has to clean up all over the world. Unfortunately for Honduras that means we have to cut two projects and lower our number of trainees from100 to 80. They automatically decided to cut Municipal development because our project includes a bit of every other project because we work in all areas of the mayors office including youth, environmental protection, ect. Although it is still disappointing that they are cutting municipal development because many of us believe that development on a local governmental level is very important. With a weak and unfunctional local government development in other areas won’t improve the quality of live for the village, such as roads electricity parks, all important things the government must learn to manage.
Then after training I got sick from something I ate or drank at the University and got a bacterial infection and parasites. As you can imagine that was not to much fun.
A couple weeks after I was medevacd to Washington DC. I am still there currently and am recuperating well. It was nice that I got medecavd at the same time as another volunteer in Honduras and we traveled together and roomed together and have become friends and support each other during our medevac.
March 1 was the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps. All that week before my fellow medevac friends and I had been asking if there was anything going on with Peace Corps Washington for the anniversary because all over the world there was parties in Peace Corps countries. All week long everyone kept telling us that there was nothing going on. Then on the 1st we mosey on over to the National Peace Corps Association to try and find some free Peace Corps stickers (which they do not have). Although while we were there we asked the receptionist what was going on for the anniversary. She told us there were numerous house parties over 700 nationwide. Although the one she recommended was just a speech at nearby University. However, we then saw a flyer inviting people to go to capitol hill on Thursday the 3 to help support the Peace Corps and talk to their state representatives about the importance of Peace Corps so they don’t cut our budget. We were very interested in helping and while talking to the man in charge, the president of the National Peace Corps Association came into the office and asked us if we wanted to go to a party. He invited us to this very nice invite only party in Dupont circle. At the party other than the three of us medevacs there was two recently returned volunteers helping in the office, there were only people very high up in the Peace Corps totem pole. There were former country directors, ambassadors, congressmen, representatives, heads of international development organizations, and Harris Wofford one of the leaders who created the Peace Corps alongside Sargent Shriver and Kennedy. He is a huge role model. It was a great honor to be able to dine and talk with all of those great Peace Corps role models. The party was held by a married Peace Corps couple that was the first group to go back to Ghana in the 60s. Their house was a beautiful townhouse. I absolutely loved it. The party was catered with delicious hoardurvs, white wine and champagne. I was able to talk with many people that have done wonderful things for international development. Also Harris Wofford and Sam Farr gave speeches on the wonderful things Peace Corps has done but also its lost opportunities. Harris told us that when he originally was creating Peace Corps with Shriver and Kennedy they originally started out sending 16,000 volunteers that first year, and it was their goal to get to sending 100,000 volunteers each year. However, through lost opportunities the number of volunteers has actually decreased we now only send about 8,000 volunteers every year due to budget restrictions. This sadly is now a lost opportunity because of the economic struggle we definitely could not have more volunteers. Another lost opportunity that Harris proposed was based on that Afghanistan and Iran were among the first most important countries. Harries challenged us to contemplate whether or not we would be in those countries fighting right now, if we had reached that goal of 100,000 and had sent large amounts of volunteers into these countries 40 years ago teaching cultural understanding and providing a way for the people to obtain their basic human rights without resorting to terrorist organizations. In my opinion this is a lost opportunity for peace because we absolutely would not be there. That is the fundamental idea behind Peace Corps, and that is why in my opinion it is so much more important than defense spending. If we put even half of the money into Peace Corps that we put into defense spending, the world would be a much better place. When people have their basic human rights they are much less likely to be violent. It is when people are starving, cold, and uneducated that we see desperate people turning to violence. In addition, it is easy for people to hate cultures and people that they do not know or understand. Peace Corps bridges that gap. It teaches the people of the countries being served about the United States and its citizens and culture, while the volunteers learn about their host country culture. Peace Corps forges alliances, friendships, and a general respect and gratitude among the people helped, that they still talk about years later. These are not steps toward war like building big armies and guns, such as is done with 20 percent of our GDP for defense spending. They are steps towards long term alliances and peace. Are not the basic fundamental goals of Peace Corps the goals of everyone? Everyone wants a world without hunger and violence. Peace Corps take steps in the right direction. We should start taking steps in the right direction towards putting more funding towards peace rather than war. Back to the topic at hand, it really was a great night and made me feel a part of something very important and very large on a world scale. I would just like to personally thank the National Peace Corps Association for inviting me. They are a great organization, and when I finish serving I will definitely be joining them!
Well until next time followers!
January: Like all new years I suppose, January was a month of beginnings. I began to form new friendships in my site. I finally after four months of being in site met the Japanese volunteer that was also living in my site. In a city of only 1,000 people it seems impossible to only have met her briefly once before, but that was the case. She worked over in the medical clinic and I worked in the mayor’s office, and other than being with her Honduran family, whom I didn’t know and working she never left the house, and we just never crossed paths. However, one day in January she came by the mayor’s office and we introduced ourselves. She told me the nurse that I had been running with for a while had told her that we were running. She was looking for a running partner, and I had been longing to go running again since I stopped running with the nurse for safety concerns. So we made plans and started running, unfortunately because we were both so busy we were only unable to go running a few times before she finished her two years of service and returned to Japan. Sadly after their many years of service in my town of Oropolí, JAIKA the Japanese development agency will not be sending anymore volunteers to the town. As with many nations around the world Japan is cutting budgets and JAIKA is greatly decreasing their number of volunteers in Honduras. Also unlike many municipalities in Honduras there are no NGOs in Oropolí. Now that the Japanese volunteer is gone I am the only source of foreign help my community has. I see this as a good thing. My community definitely has the resources and the possibilities for agricultural wealth; it is time they learn to stand on their own two feet without foreign sources supporting them. It is my hope that I will be able to guide them to learn to help themselves, to make their own wealth, tax properly, and use that money responsibly to sustain and improve their municipality and their living quality. This is my Peace Corps Dream. (Along with learning how to protect their natural resources and environment, and treating women as equals!)These are my own personal goals that I have decided to strive to achieve during my two years in service. I have already begun working on helping women’s equality by strengthening the women’s office. In which we are going to be giving speeches all around the municipality on equality, rights of women, domestic abuse prevention, and self esteem for women. Changing traditions is a very hard task, however, I feel it is a very little one and I hope that little by little we can start to change the way women are viewed.
Another new beginning that occurred in January is the start of two new projects!! I had already discussed with my counterpart about our interest in starting an improved stove project, and in January we began the process. We did the entire project design and began to write the grant proposal. Because my project manager knew I was beginning a project in renewable energy I was invited to an international renewable energy conference in Zamorano, a highly esteemed university in Honduras that is working on renewable energy. While at the conference we discussed the types of renewable energy that we were using in our municipalities and our future desires for renewable energy. While at the conference I showed interest in the use of solar panels to power some of our very isolated villages. We already have one solar panel that was donated that powers a school in one of our eight villages without electricity. I have always believed that solar panels were the best way to bring electricity because they use renewable energy and in the long run you save money. In addition, some of our villages are so far away from the electrical lines it would be fifty years before we would be able to bring electricity to these villages. Therefore these villages are perfect candidates for solar panels. Anyways, at this conference I expressed interest, and I met a man that worked for a company that had solar panels and improved stoves, and he told me he knew of a NGO for a funding source. Hence, my second project was born. I was so excited this was the big project I was waiting for. If I could bring electricity to just a couple villages I would be making a huge impact on these peoples lives. However, unfortunately like usual in Honduras our funding source fell through and now I am back at 0. If anyone knows of anyway to raise this money of some company willing to donate the solar panels themselves I would love to hear it!
Also is January I built up my bond with my puppy Dulce. She is now my baby girl. She is a terror! She is constantly puppy biting, and chewing on things. Also she loves to carry everything outside! If I can’t find shoes or clothing I just have to go look in my backyard and she has almost always carried them outside. Although she is a little rascal she makes me laugh constantly and the things she does. Also my boyfriend and I like to take walks in the riverbed looking for giant lizards and we like to take Dulce , and she loves it! At first she was a little terrified of constantly having to cross the river, but now she jumps right in an paddles her little heart out to cross not wanting to be left behind it is so cute!
February:
If January was a month of new beginning February would have to be the month of illness. At the beginning of the month I went back to the University of Zamorano this time for my weeklong reconnect training session with the municipal development project of Peace Corps. The first day was just my training group and our counterparts learning more about renewable energy and recycling. The day was a success although I do not think my counterpart or I learned anything new already having interest in the area of renewable energy. However, that evening my counterpart left for Tegucigalpa and the other counterparts invited us volunteers to a bar. Not having my counterpart present was nice then I didn’t feel I had to hide that I drink to not lose his respect. So I went with about 10 other volunteers and had a few drinks. It was fun, and coincidentally the mayor of the next municipality over, San Lucas just happened to stop at the bar as well on his way back home. He gave the volunteer in his site and me a few drinks. It was a good time, and the counterparts all got very drunk and wild. When we got back to the hotel the volunteers all went to bed while the counterparts stayed up being drunk and crazy. It was actually quite funny. The rest of the week the counterparts left and the prior municipal development group joined us for training. It was a sad training. On the second day the country director and director of security met with us to discuss the high number of rapes and violent incidents. In the last 3 months there have been 3 rapes and 2 violent attacks. We talked about how we can make sure we are being extra safe. Then after that depressing speech we received another blow. Do to budget cuts Peace Corps has to clean up all over the world. Unfortunately for Honduras that means we have to cut two projects and lower our number of trainees from100 to 80. They automatically decided to cut Municipal development because our project includes a bit of every other project because we work in all areas of the mayors office including youth, environmental protection, ect. Although it is still disappointing that they are cutting municipal development because many of us believe that development on a local governmental level is very important. With a weak and unfunctional local government development in other areas won’t improve the quality of live for the village, such as roads electricity parks, all important things the government must learn to manage.
Then after training I got sick from something I ate or drank at the University and got a bacterial infection and parasites. As you can imagine that was not to much fun.
A couple weeks after I was medevacd to Washington DC. I am still there currently and am recuperating well. It was nice that I got medecavd at the same time as another volunteer in Honduras and we traveled together and roomed together and have become friends and support each other during our medevac.
March 1 was the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps. All that week before my fellow medevac friends and I had been asking if there was anything going on with Peace Corps Washington for the anniversary because all over the world there was parties in Peace Corps countries. All week long everyone kept telling us that there was nothing going on. Then on the 1st we mosey on over to the National Peace Corps Association to try and find some free Peace Corps stickers (which they do not have). Although while we were there we asked the receptionist what was going on for the anniversary. She told us there were numerous house parties over 700 nationwide. Although the one she recommended was just a speech at nearby University. However, we then saw a flyer inviting people to go to capitol hill on Thursday the 3 to help support the Peace Corps and talk to their state representatives about the importance of Peace Corps so they don’t cut our budget. We were very interested in helping and while talking to the man in charge, the president of the National Peace Corps Association came into the office and asked us if we wanted to go to a party. He invited us to this very nice invite only party in Dupont circle. At the party other than the three of us medevacs there was two recently returned volunteers helping in the office, there were only people very high up in the Peace Corps totem pole. There were former country directors, ambassadors, congressmen, representatives, heads of international development organizations, and Harris Wofford one of the leaders who created the Peace Corps alongside Sargent Shriver and Kennedy. He is a huge role model. It was a great honor to be able to dine and talk with all of those great Peace Corps role models. The party was held by a married Peace Corps couple that was the first group to go back to Ghana in the 60s. Their house was a beautiful townhouse. I absolutely loved it. The party was catered with delicious hoardurvs, white wine and champagne. I was able to talk with many people that have done wonderful things for international development. Also Harris Wofford and Sam Farr gave speeches on the wonderful things Peace Corps has done but also its lost opportunities. Harris told us that when he originally was creating Peace Corps with Shriver and Kennedy they originally started out sending 16,000 volunteers that first year, and it was their goal to get to sending 100,000 volunteers each year. However, through lost opportunities the number of volunteers has actually decreased we now only send about 8,000 volunteers every year due to budget restrictions. This sadly is now a lost opportunity because of the economic struggle we definitely could not have more volunteers. Another lost opportunity that Harris proposed was based on that Afghanistan and Iran were among the first most important countries. Harries challenged us to contemplate whether or not we would be in those countries fighting right now, if we had reached that goal of 100,000 and had sent large amounts of volunteers into these countries 40 years ago teaching cultural understanding and providing a way for the people to obtain their basic human rights without resorting to terrorist organizations. In my opinion this is a lost opportunity for peace because we absolutely would not be there. That is the fundamental idea behind Peace Corps, and that is why in my opinion it is so much more important than defense spending. If we put even half of the money into Peace Corps that we put into defense spending, the world would be a much better place. When people have their basic human rights they are much less likely to be violent. It is when people are starving, cold, and uneducated that we see desperate people turning to violence. In addition, it is easy for people to hate cultures and people that they do not know or understand. Peace Corps bridges that gap. It teaches the people of the countries being served about the United States and its citizens and culture, while the volunteers learn about their host country culture. Peace Corps forges alliances, friendships, and a general respect and gratitude among the people helped, that they still talk about years later. These are not steps toward war like building big armies and guns, such as is done with 20 percent of our GDP for defense spending. They are steps towards long term alliances and peace. Are not the basic fundamental goals of Peace Corps the goals of everyone? Everyone wants a world without hunger and violence. Peace Corps take steps in the right direction. We should start taking steps in the right direction towards putting more funding towards peace rather than war. Back to the topic at hand, it really was a great night and made me feel a part of something very important and very large on a world scale. I would just like to personally thank the National Peace Corps Association for inviting me. They are a great organization, and when I finish serving I will definitely be joining them!
Well until next time followers!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
AÑo Viejo
Hello followers! Sorry I have failed utterly at blogging the last few months. I am sure I have kept a few of you on the edge of your seats waiting to see how things go. So I am going to write a few months blogs at once to let you know what I have been up to.
November,
November I moved into my new house! It was perfect. It is located on the main street so there is a lot more people around constantly and a few of my neighbors and I are really close now. With November also comes Thanksgiving and my birthday! For Thanksgiving I cooked green bean casserole, garlic mashed potatoes, cranberries, and roasted chicken. It all turned out excellent. I invited over my girl friend, my boyfriend, his mother, and one of the neighbors and we all had a nice Thanksgiving dinner , and I taught them about Thanksgiving and why we celebrate it in the States. I always knew in the States I had a lot to be thankful for, but after living here it was even more strong in my my thanks to where I was born and all the things I was given in life. Just to always have a pair of shoes to wear is something I am thankful for. After thanksgiving, came the end of the school year here, and graduation time from the high school and primary schools. Just to graduate from the primary schools is a big feat for some, and many do not go on to finish high school, so there is a big celebration for those graduating from the elementary school too. The high school graduation was the night before my birthday, and a friend from Peace Corps came to visit me. We went to the graduation and then afterward we were invited to a big dinner and party to celebrate. The food was good and so was the company. After the dinner, my boyfriend, friend and I went to the dance to celebrate the graduations for a short while then we went to the hot springs. The next day for my birthday I went to the soccer field and watched my boyfriend’s soccer game like I do every Sunday. Lots of people from my village had found out it was my birthday and they all were wishing me happy birthday. Afterward we rushed home and started getting ready for the party. My boyfriend, and two friends did all the cooking for the party and the food was great! We had flame grilled meat, chismol which is chopped up tomatoes, onions, and peppers in lemons sauce soo good!, refried beans, and white bread. At my party were some of my friends, and the mayor and two of his friends. It was a good time. About a week after my birthday was the graduation of the primary school in one of the neighboring villages. I was asked to be the godmother for the graduation and my boyfriend the godfather. We bring gifts for the child and when he goes up to get his diploma all three of us sign as witnesses, and they graduates. Also as the godmother I danced with the boy for a song after they graduate. It was a nice, small celebration. There were only 6 children that graduated in this village. That pretty much sums up November. Work wise I will write it all together at the end because It all runs together.
December,
The beginning of December was pretty much a lot of the same. Went to the hot springs with friends a few times, went out to explore the villages, went to Tegucigalpa to visit my boyfriends family and go shopping, ect. I also started running with a friend during this month. We went about 2 or 3 miles out past the melon farms in my municipality. It was a beautiful run on our dirt road, with the farms and the mountains in the background. Unfortunately that road leads to the next municipality over and in that municipality the owner of a liquor company was kidnapped and ransomed, and we decided it probably wasn’t safe to be running there because they might see a gringa(white girl) running and automatically think I have money and want to kidnap me.. I also got a puppy in December, that was my boyfriends present to me because he knew I wanted one. When we were driving back from one of the villages he knew where one family had puppys for sale and he bought her for me. I named her Dulce. It means sweet. Work wise in November and December I was helping to set up the Women’s Office in the municipality. We set up a help group, and did a work plan for this year which is filled with lectures on women’s rights, self esteem, women in power, and domestic abuse prevention. We also plan to set up a safe house where women can go in cases of domestic abuse. I have also started on projects for building improved stoves and creating a tree farm I am just waiting on funding. In addition, I also helped the educational department in the municipality with their survey that will be given. Finally, I have started on trying to improve tourism in my site. The first step we have taken is creating a facebook, and we are beginning a webpage. After work comes play! I put my work on hold for the week of Christmas and went to the beautiful Island of Utila. It is one of the bay Islands, which are Honduras’ Carribean Islands. I went with my boyfriend, a friend from Peace Corps, a friend from a NGO here and his neice from the States. We were there for a week. While there I went on several hikes from coral cliffs, to the jungle, and the beautiful beach. Also I rented a kayak and went out snorkeling on the coral reef. The reef was so beautiful. It’s a completely different world under the sea with beautiful colored coral and fish. It was a wonderful vacation and we all had a blast. After returning to site it was back to helping others. I had been generously donated $300 dollars by family and friends to buy toys for the local kids. So I went to the market and got the best toys I could for their money. I got several large bag fulls of toys shipped from the States. We got at leat 36 sandals for girls, 50 water gunds, 30 mini cars, 30 mini action figures, 90 large stuffed animals 150 small stuffed animals, and many other large and small toys. To give them away my boyfriend and I first went to one of the small remote villages in my municipality. There are about 30 children living there and we gave them all beanie baby stuffed animals. The children there were so humble. I lined them up and told them to choose one toy that they liked, and they didn’t want to take it . I had to ask them ok which toy do you like, and they would point to it. Only after I say ok take it , it is yours would they take it. After all of the toys were given out it was getting dark and it would be extremely dangerous to try and walk out of the village and then drive on the narrow cliff path. You see to get to the village you have to drive on a narrow mountain path that was originally only made for donkeys, and several times along the path you come to where there has been a landslide and it doesn’t look like the car can make it through without falling off the cliff. However, my boyfriend has been driving for people for years here, and knows what he is doing and always manages to make it through. Eventually you come to the very outskirts of the town where the car can go no more. Then there is two paths to take to get to the village. There is the river path where you must walk on the slippery cliff rocks of the river, and risk getting wet. Or there is the other path where you literally must climb up a mountain on a narrow path only to go back down it before reaching the village. Anyways, in light of the dangerous paths we decided it was better to wait for day to head back home. So we stayed with one my boyfriends many sisters scattered around the municipality and her family. Staying the night was an eye opening experience in itself. This village is one of our villages without electricity or running water. It reminded me a lot of camping, except this is how they live. When it was dark the kerosene lanterns came out and everyone sat around talking or listening to the battery operated radio. I tried to be very conscious of my water usage, considering they have to lug the buckets up the mountain from the river below. I felt guilty just washing my hands when they brought me a bowl to wash with before dinner. O and the bathroom was another fun experience, it’s a good thing it was dark hah, there wasn’t even a latrine. There was a whole where they went. When I asked where the bathroom was to pee I was just told to go anywhere outside pretty much. However, iIt was actually a great time sitting by the lamplight, with good company, watching my puppy play with the kitten, and talking about random things. O and the stars! They were lovely! .. After that adventure we still had lots of toys left over. We let word loose in the poorest surrounding villages to come for toys on a certain date and time. About 200 women and children showed up. I completely cleared out my living room of everything including furniture and locked it al in my bedroom then I escorted them all to my backyard. Once in the backyard the children were all given coke and animal crackers. Afterwards with the help of my boyfriend, and two of my friends from the mayors office we got them all into lines and one by one brought a child in and gave them a gift. The greatest gift for me was that we were able to give 5 girls sandals that had no shoes at all. After we gave them their gift I told the to wait on the porch because we would watch movies afterwards. After everyone had their gift I brought them all into the backyard again. This time we had a projector and screen set that were borrowed from the mayor set up, and connected to my computer. We watched the little mermaid and The Lion King in Spanish, and passed around cookies and coke. Also during the movie we were able to do trivial games to give away some of the bigger and better toys that came in the bags to make it more fair for the children.
Incredibly after that night we still had toys left. I went to another smaller village and gave away 20 large stuffed animals to the children there.
To finish off the year I celebrated in our park with my friends and boyfriend. At midnight the houses with some money bring out their giant scarecrows stuffed with firecrackers, and blow them all up for like 10 minutes. It’s a lot of fun. Then afterward we all entered the dance and danced until early in the morning. It was a great time!
November,
November I moved into my new house! It was perfect. It is located on the main street so there is a lot more people around constantly and a few of my neighbors and I are really close now. With November also comes Thanksgiving and my birthday! For Thanksgiving I cooked green bean casserole, garlic mashed potatoes, cranberries, and roasted chicken. It all turned out excellent. I invited over my girl friend, my boyfriend, his mother, and one of the neighbors and we all had a nice Thanksgiving dinner , and I taught them about Thanksgiving and why we celebrate it in the States. I always knew in the States I had a lot to be thankful for, but after living here it was even more strong in my my thanks to where I was born and all the things I was given in life. Just to always have a pair of shoes to wear is something I am thankful for. After thanksgiving, came the end of the school year here, and graduation time from the high school and primary schools. Just to graduate from the primary schools is a big feat for some, and many do not go on to finish high school, so there is a big celebration for those graduating from the elementary school too. The high school graduation was the night before my birthday, and a friend from Peace Corps came to visit me. We went to the graduation and then afterward we were invited to a big dinner and party to celebrate. The food was good and so was the company. After the dinner, my boyfriend, friend and I went to the dance to celebrate the graduations for a short while then we went to the hot springs. The next day for my birthday I went to the soccer field and watched my boyfriend’s soccer game like I do every Sunday. Lots of people from my village had found out it was my birthday and they all were wishing me happy birthday. Afterward we rushed home and started getting ready for the party. My boyfriend, and two friends did all the cooking for the party and the food was great! We had flame grilled meat, chismol which is chopped up tomatoes, onions, and peppers in lemons sauce soo good!, refried beans, and white bread. At my party were some of my friends, and the mayor and two of his friends. It was a good time. About a week after my birthday was the graduation of the primary school in one of the neighboring villages. I was asked to be the godmother for the graduation and my boyfriend the godfather. We bring gifts for the child and when he goes up to get his diploma all three of us sign as witnesses, and they graduates. Also as the godmother I danced with the boy for a song after they graduate. It was a nice, small celebration. There were only 6 children that graduated in this village. That pretty much sums up November. Work wise I will write it all together at the end because It all runs together.
December,
The beginning of December was pretty much a lot of the same. Went to the hot springs with friends a few times, went out to explore the villages, went to Tegucigalpa to visit my boyfriends family and go shopping, ect. I also started running with a friend during this month. We went about 2 or 3 miles out past the melon farms in my municipality. It was a beautiful run on our dirt road, with the farms and the mountains in the background. Unfortunately that road leads to the next municipality over and in that municipality the owner of a liquor company was kidnapped and ransomed, and we decided it probably wasn’t safe to be running there because they might see a gringa(white girl) running and automatically think I have money and want to kidnap me.. I also got a puppy in December, that was my boyfriends present to me because he knew I wanted one. When we were driving back from one of the villages he knew where one family had puppys for sale and he bought her for me. I named her Dulce. It means sweet. Work wise in November and December I was helping to set up the Women’s Office in the municipality. We set up a help group, and did a work plan for this year which is filled with lectures on women’s rights, self esteem, women in power, and domestic abuse prevention. We also plan to set up a safe house where women can go in cases of domestic abuse. I have also started on projects for building improved stoves and creating a tree farm I am just waiting on funding. In addition, I also helped the educational department in the municipality with their survey that will be given. Finally, I have started on trying to improve tourism in my site. The first step we have taken is creating a facebook, and we are beginning a webpage. After work comes play! I put my work on hold for the week of Christmas and went to the beautiful Island of Utila. It is one of the bay Islands, which are Honduras’ Carribean Islands. I went with my boyfriend, a friend from Peace Corps, a friend from a NGO here and his neice from the States. We were there for a week. While there I went on several hikes from coral cliffs, to the jungle, and the beautiful beach. Also I rented a kayak and went out snorkeling on the coral reef. The reef was so beautiful. It’s a completely different world under the sea with beautiful colored coral and fish. It was a wonderful vacation and we all had a blast. After returning to site it was back to helping others. I had been generously donated $300 dollars by family and friends to buy toys for the local kids. So I went to the market and got the best toys I could for their money. I got several large bag fulls of toys shipped from the States. We got at leat 36 sandals for girls, 50 water gunds, 30 mini cars, 30 mini action figures, 90 large stuffed animals 150 small stuffed animals, and many other large and small toys. To give them away my boyfriend and I first went to one of the small remote villages in my municipality. There are about 30 children living there and we gave them all beanie baby stuffed animals. The children there were so humble. I lined them up and told them to choose one toy that they liked, and they didn’t want to take it . I had to ask them ok which toy do you like, and they would point to it. Only after I say ok take it , it is yours would they take it. After all of the toys were given out it was getting dark and it would be extremely dangerous to try and walk out of the village and then drive on the narrow cliff path. You see to get to the village you have to drive on a narrow mountain path that was originally only made for donkeys, and several times along the path you come to where there has been a landslide and it doesn’t look like the car can make it through without falling off the cliff. However, my boyfriend has been driving for people for years here, and knows what he is doing and always manages to make it through. Eventually you come to the very outskirts of the town where the car can go no more. Then there is two paths to take to get to the village. There is the river path where you must walk on the slippery cliff rocks of the river, and risk getting wet. Or there is the other path where you literally must climb up a mountain on a narrow path only to go back down it before reaching the village. Anyways, in light of the dangerous paths we decided it was better to wait for day to head back home. So we stayed with one my boyfriends many sisters scattered around the municipality and her family. Staying the night was an eye opening experience in itself. This village is one of our villages without electricity or running water. It reminded me a lot of camping, except this is how they live. When it was dark the kerosene lanterns came out and everyone sat around talking or listening to the battery operated radio. I tried to be very conscious of my water usage, considering they have to lug the buckets up the mountain from the river below. I felt guilty just washing my hands when they brought me a bowl to wash with before dinner. O and the bathroom was another fun experience, it’s a good thing it was dark hah, there wasn’t even a latrine. There was a whole where they went. When I asked where the bathroom was to pee I was just told to go anywhere outside pretty much. However, iIt was actually a great time sitting by the lamplight, with good company, watching my puppy play with the kitten, and talking about random things. O and the stars! They were lovely! .. After that adventure we still had lots of toys left over. We let word loose in the poorest surrounding villages to come for toys on a certain date and time. About 200 women and children showed up. I completely cleared out my living room of everything including furniture and locked it al in my bedroom then I escorted them all to my backyard. Once in the backyard the children were all given coke and animal crackers. Afterwards with the help of my boyfriend, and two of my friends from the mayors office we got them all into lines and one by one brought a child in and gave them a gift. The greatest gift for me was that we were able to give 5 girls sandals that had no shoes at all. After we gave them their gift I told the to wait on the porch because we would watch movies afterwards. After everyone had their gift I brought them all into the backyard again. This time we had a projector and screen set that were borrowed from the mayor set up, and connected to my computer. We watched the little mermaid and The Lion King in Spanish, and passed around cookies and coke. Also during the movie we were able to do trivial games to give away some of the bigger and better toys that came in the bags to make it more fair for the children.
Incredibly after that night we still had toys left. I went to another smaller village and gave away 20 large stuffed animals to the children there.
To finish off the year I celebrated in our park with my friends and boyfriend. At midnight the houses with some money bring out their giant scarecrows stuffed with firecrackers, and blow them all up for like 10 minutes. It’s a lot of fun. Then afterward we all entered the dance and danced until early in the morning. It was a great time!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Happy time in Oropoli
Wow I can’t believe I have been in my site for 2 months already! How time is flying before I know it my 2 years is going to be up and I am going to be very sad to leave. I have definitely fallen in love with my village. I love the mountains, and the sun. I love the people! I love going to the river and swimming with the children when it’s hot out. I love that every time I go walking in my village everyone always shouts hello or good day morgaine(well it’s more like morgay because they can’t pronounce my name lol.)I love that every time I pass the guy that sells oranges he tries to give me one for free, just because I am the Peace Corps volunteer. I love that people here are constantly telling me how beautiful I am( and It doesn’t even bother me anymore all the people trying to marry me off to their sons lol) I Love Love going to the outlying villages in the mountains. SOO BEAUTIFIL. I love that my friends come over to hang out or play cards. I love going to the hot springs with my friends late at night. I love that my friends invite me to eat corn on the cob and tamales when their corn is harvested. I love dancing with my friend’s baby girl and how she laughs when we play! I love going to the soccer games to watch my friends play. I love that people with so much less than me are constantly offering me things, just because they are so generous and so honored to have a Peace Corps volunteer in their village. I hope I can live up to their standards. I love the bus systems! I love that even without a car I can get on a public bus and go to the big city! I love that everyone always wants to paint my nails and do pretty designs for me.
Although there are still many cultural clashes and things that I don’t like. For one, FOOD POISONING. Yep that’s not fun. I got it for the first time in my life last week and I don’t remember being so sick to my stomach before. It was TERRIBLE! And I am having a really hard time eating Honduran food now. It’s like my stomach is rejecting it in fear that I am going to be sick again. It is a good thing that I am moving out of my host families house soon so that I can cook for myself and make sure that I don’t get sick again, and I can use a ton less oil to cook with. I am sure my stomach will appreciate that. Another thing I don’t like is the phrases later or another time. Always whenever I ask when we are going to do something the typical Honduran response is later or another time. This annoys me to no end because I like more structure I would like it if they said we will work on the project Monday at 5, not later or another day. This doesn’t tell me anything and I hate keep asking when we are going to do things but the answer is always later. It means I have to push a lot to get things accomplished.
Speaking of getting things accomplished to my shame I still haven’t done too much in my village. I know it takes time so I am trying not so freak out to much right now and am concentrating on networking. Through my networking I have come up with a few potential projects that I am very excited about. I have made friends with the nurse that works in the medical center way out in one of the poorest villages way up in the mountains. He said we can work together on giving charlas(educational lectures) to the people. Also he told me that an NGO is putting computers and internet in their village(not sure why most of them don’t even have electricity yet) However, they are going to need someone to come and teach them how to use the computers and internet and he invited me to come help with that when the project is finished. In addition I think Zamorano( University) is putting up their solar panels in that village for electricity, and I know they said I would be able to help with that when I talked with them before coming to my site. So I will be taking the 2 hour car ride up into the mountains a lot to help out this village. However the village is beautiful and the sights on the drive take your breath away. Another future project is in an outlying village Barro it is evenharder to get to because the road is so bad. Its near impossible to get to by car, but we are gonna try and do it. If not I need to learn to ride a horse, because unfortunately Peace Corps says that we are prohibited to ride motorcycles and dirt bikes which is the major way of getting to this village. My job in this village is going to be helping a Caja Rural( small farming cooperative) I am going to make sure that they are organized correctly and try and help them find funding. I also hope to help out the mayor’s office by helping out the man who works in cadastre (he does all the zoning and properties) Right now he takes measurements of properties and draws up sketches on microsoft word. I am going to teach him to use GPS and GIS so he can do it more accurately. Also the main project that I am really excited about is helping out the man who works in the Environmental Office. He wants to put a tree farm right by the towns hot springs. At the same time the town is trying to build up the hot springs more for tourism. So I am going to help him by going with him to the hot springs and taking exact measurements with the GPS where we want everything, the trees the kiosks, and everything else. Then we are going to digitally sketch up what we want it to look like. I am them going to help him to get a grant for this project and make pamphlets for tourism! I am so excited about the project. The increased tourism would help the area economically and in addition we are planting a lot of trees and helping the environment!!! Furthermore, I am also thinking about starting up two English classes, one for adults and one for children an hour a week or so. So many people have asked me about teaching them English so I am giving in I hope I can do it, I am no teacher! I already taught a few classes to some high school students to help them before their exam, and they well. It was ironic the teacher that teaches them English can’t speak English himself he just reads right out of the book without actually understanding most of it, and his pronunciation is horrible!
I move into my new house next week and I am soo excited it’s perfect! It has a little porch to sit on in the evening and I will have lots of neighbors to talk to plus my best friend is my neighbor, and it’s the main street so everyone is constantly walking by. So I won’t be bored. It has a nice large living room and 2 bedrooms. The kitchen is extremely small but I guess I will just have to put things in the living room if I need more room. The refrigerator and dining table is already in the living room. I have my own nice little yard where I can put a dog or plant some flowers. Its also very safe which is very important here. The yard is surrounded by a large wall and barbed wire and I have bars and mosquito screens on the windows and double locks on the doors! O I forgot to mention my house is coming furnished! The lady I am renting it from lives in the big city so all the furniture is going to stay within for me to use! There is 2 beds so I have an extra for when friends and family come to visit (HINT ;) have to things to hang clothes in and one thing to put my shoes in. I have two couches an entertainment stand (without tv) and an cabinets O an best of all I have an oven! This is very rare in Honduras usually there is only 2 or 3 people in the village with ovens and they don’t use them, and my house is one of them so I can actually cook food that’s not fried!! Lol
As far as adventures go I have been having so many here in Oropoli. I had been wanting to go swim in the hot springs really bad after they cleaned them because the river nearby overflows during the rainy season and all the dirt flows into the hotsprings. So one night my friends call me up and the four of us went and swam in the hot springs. They are so nice just like hot tub pools. I also go to the river a lot with my friends and swim and take pictures. I have gone to my friends house in an outlying village several times and had so much fun doing it. The one time the only car we could get to go was this old beater truck without windows and without a windshield, the door had to be held on by a clamp. We laughed the entire trip to the house driving in that crappy car on the terrible bumpy roads, and my friend was honking at everyone just to embarrass my other friend because of the car haha. I also love my trips out to the mountains with the workers going out there to bring supplies or pick up the nurse. They are always adventures stopping to take pictures on the giant rock table outlooking the mountains, or stopping to let the engine cooldown and exploring a bit. Also, I have been having a few adventures with my fellow peace corps friends. We had our regional welcome party the other weekend. I traveled 6 hours in 2 buses to go probably 50 miles. We had fun thought it was nice to speak English and be able to vent with people that understand. We had a cute little campfire and smores as well. In the morning it was hilarious because the electricity went out right after we cracked 14 eggs to eat. So we decided to make campfire eggs and it actually worked and they were delicious.
Well I hope everyone is enjoying reading my blog!
Although there are still many cultural clashes and things that I don’t like. For one, FOOD POISONING. Yep that’s not fun. I got it for the first time in my life last week and I don’t remember being so sick to my stomach before. It was TERRIBLE! And I am having a really hard time eating Honduran food now. It’s like my stomach is rejecting it in fear that I am going to be sick again. It is a good thing that I am moving out of my host families house soon so that I can cook for myself and make sure that I don’t get sick again, and I can use a ton less oil to cook with. I am sure my stomach will appreciate that. Another thing I don’t like is the phrases later or another time. Always whenever I ask when we are going to do something the typical Honduran response is later or another time. This annoys me to no end because I like more structure I would like it if they said we will work on the project Monday at 5, not later or another day. This doesn’t tell me anything and I hate keep asking when we are going to do things but the answer is always later. It means I have to push a lot to get things accomplished.
Speaking of getting things accomplished to my shame I still haven’t done too much in my village. I know it takes time so I am trying not so freak out to much right now and am concentrating on networking. Through my networking I have come up with a few potential projects that I am very excited about. I have made friends with the nurse that works in the medical center way out in one of the poorest villages way up in the mountains. He said we can work together on giving charlas(educational lectures) to the people. Also he told me that an NGO is putting computers and internet in their village(not sure why most of them don’t even have electricity yet) However, they are going to need someone to come and teach them how to use the computers and internet and he invited me to come help with that when the project is finished. In addition I think Zamorano( University) is putting up their solar panels in that village for electricity, and I know they said I would be able to help with that when I talked with them before coming to my site. So I will be taking the 2 hour car ride up into the mountains a lot to help out this village. However the village is beautiful and the sights on the drive take your breath away. Another future project is in an outlying village Barro it is evenharder to get to because the road is so bad. Its near impossible to get to by car, but we are gonna try and do it. If not I need to learn to ride a horse, because unfortunately Peace Corps says that we are prohibited to ride motorcycles and dirt bikes which is the major way of getting to this village. My job in this village is going to be helping a Caja Rural( small farming cooperative) I am going to make sure that they are organized correctly and try and help them find funding. I also hope to help out the mayor’s office by helping out the man who works in cadastre (he does all the zoning and properties) Right now he takes measurements of properties and draws up sketches on microsoft word. I am going to teach him to use GPS and GIS so he can do it more accurately. Also the main project that I am really excited about is helping out the man who works in the Environmental Office. He wants to put a tree farm right by the towns hot springs. At the same time the town is trying to build up the hot springs more for tourism. So I am going to help him by going with him to the hot springs and taking exact measurements with the GPS where we want everything, the trees the kiosks, and everything else. Then we are going to digitally sketch up what we want it to look like. I am them going to help him to get a grant for this project and make pamphlets for tourism! I am so excited about the project. The increased tourism would help the area economically and in addition we are planting a lot of trees and helping the environment!!! Furthermore, I am also thinking about starting up two English classes, one for adults and one for children an hour a week or so. So many people have asked me about teaching them English so I am giving in I hope I can do it, I am no teacher! I already taught a few classes to some high school students to help them before their exam, and they well. It was ironic the teacher that teaches them English can’t speak English himself he just reads right out of the book without actually understanding most of it, and his pronunciation is horrible!
I move into my new house next week and I am soo excited it’s perfect! It has a little porch to sit on in the evening and I will have lots of neighbors to talk to plus my best friend is my neighbor, and it’s the main street so everyone is constantly walking by. So I won’t be bored. It has a nice large living room and 2 bedrooms. The kitchen is extremely small but I guess I will just have to put things in the living room if I need more room. The refrigerator and dining table is already in the living room. I have my own nice little yard where I can put a dog or plant some flowers. Its also very safe which is very important here. The yard is surrounded by a large wall and barbed wire and I have bars and mosquito screens on the windows and double locks on the doors! O I forgot to mention my house is coming furnished! The lady I am renting it from lives in the big city so all the furniture is going to stay within for me to use! There is 2 beds so I have an extra for when friends and family come to visit (HINT ;) have to things to hang clothes in and one thing to put my shoes in. I have two couches an entertainment stand (without tv) and an cabinets O an best of all I have an oven! This is very rare in Honduras usually there is only 2 or 3 people in the village with ovens and they don’t use them, and my house is one of them so I can actually cook food that’s not fried!! Lol
As far as adventures go I have been having so many here in Oropoli. I had been wanting to go swim in the hot springs really bad after they cleaned them because the river nearby overflows during the rainy season and all the dirt flows into the hotsprings. So one night my friends call me up and the four of us went and swam in the hot springs. They are so nice just like hot tub pools. I also go to the river a lot with my friends and swim and take pictures. I have gone to my friends house in an outlying village several times and had so much fun doing it. The one time the only car we could get to go was this old beater truck without windows and without a windshield, the door had to be held on by a clamp. We laughed the entire trip to the house driving in that crappy car on the terrible bumpy roads, and my friend was honking at everyone just to embarrass my other friend because of the car haha. I also love my trips out to the mountains with the workers going out there to bring supplies or pick up the nurse. They are always adventures stopping to take pictures on the giant rock table outlooking the mountains, or stopping to let the engine cooldown and exploring a bit. Also, I have been having a few adventures with my fellow peace corps friends. We had our regional welcome party the other weekend. I traveled 6 hours in 2 buses to go probably 50 miles. We had fun thought it was nice to speak English and be able to vent with people that understand. We had a cute little campfire and smores as well. In the morning it was hilarious because the electricity went out right after we cracked 14 eggs to eat. So we decided to make campfire eggs and it actually worked and they were delicious.
Well I hope everyone is enjoying reading my blog!
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