Keeping Kennedy´s Promise

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Hanging out at a fun coffeeshop spending our hard earned dough

Today we received our income information for the next two years. Since being in PST (training) we have been receiving “walk around” money at the level of $3 a day; this didn’t cover food since we were mainly eating with our families, but was for anything else we needed like toothpaste, newspapers, Coca-Cola, etc. Now that we are being sworn in as volunteers, we will be getting “paid” somewhat, but not really b/c technically we are volunteers. However, in order to help us live the Peace Corps has come up with four different tiers of payment. Depending on your city site, you are assigned a tier, the lowest level being four. No surprise, out in Orocuina I am on level four. What does this mean? It means that for the next two years I will be making L4,300 a month, or the equivalent of $226, or $7.54 per day. To put it a little more in perspective for you, the minimum wage here is LARGE URBAN cities like the capital of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula is L5,500 per month and in rural sites a little smaller than where I will be living most people make $2 per day to work out in the “campo,” or country, in the mango/plantain/banana/coffee fields all day long.

I know that a lot of my friends/family think I am crazy for being here. But, it is at times like this that it is so important for me to share with you why I am here. The morning of March 16, 2008 is one that constantly replays in my mind. After spending the night in Copan, Honduras, I rose early and decided to eat at the marketplace for breakfast. The colors of fruit and vegetables were radiant, although I was first greeted at the door by a man with a machete chopping off any type of meat I could ever imagine. Taking a seat on a small, plastic blue stool, I ordered scrambled eggs and black beans with a side of tortillas. I accompanied my meal with a Pepsi; Pepsi was everywhere in Honduras and I thought Jeff Gordon could be an ambassador to Central America. All of this cost me less than $2. Across the table from me sat the mother of the cook. Throughout breakfast I made conversation with her, and she shared with me her life story. Living an hour-and-a-half away, her profession was the town midwife. In the last five years she had delivered sixty-five babies. During the day she also worked in the coffee fields for less than $2/US per day. Astonishment took over, and I found myself doing the math for every $4 mocha I threw down for at a corner coffee shop. Over tortillas and beans, she told me that she was hoping to save enough money to purchase a passport and move to Guatemala where the wages were higher. I was amazed; while so many people were crossing the border to the United States illegally, all this woman wanted was to move to Guatemala, a country almost as poor as Honduras, and one for which most Americans would never see. It was at that moment that I knew I would return to Latin America and fight for equality among all its citizens.

March 1, 2011 marks the 50th anniversary since President Kennedy established the Peace Corps as a new agency within the Department of State. The same day, he sent a message to congress remarking

“Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy. There will be no salary and allowances will be at a level sufficient only to maintain health and meet basic needs. Men and women will be expected to work and live alongside the nationals of the country in which they are stationed—doing the same work, eating the same food, talking the same language.


But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps—who works in a foreign land---will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace.”
Just as President Kennedy said, life here is not easy. In fact, many days it plain right sucks. And, I haven’t even made it to my site yet. FBT was one of the most difficult times I have ever had to deal with, but that is over and I tomorrow I get sworn in as a PCV. I am ecstatic to head to my new site and work and live alongside the people of Honduras and talk the same language. I am not so excited to keep eating the same food, but there are some things I love (avocadoes, beans, mangoes). Being in a developing country is an entirely different experience, visiting is one thing, living here is entirely different. People keep asking me questions that I haven’t had time to address, so I will answer a few now.
Electricity-No, I don’t have electricity all the time. It goes in and out and when I was living farther from the capital it went out a lot, usually more on the weekend for long hours at a time. Sometimes it flickers off and on real quick, sometimes it goes out in the morning/sometimes it goes out at night. It is more common for it to go out at night; however, there is never enough power here for people to use their TV’s or other high powered appliances in the morning. Most people use battery powered radios for the morning time.
Note: I have since arrived at my site and the first day I arrived we didn’t have electricity. For 14 hours; I spent the first night reading a book by flashlight. I read the whole book, b/c when I woke up we still didn’t have electricity.

Internet-No, I don’t have Internet all the time. There are three different Internet providers in Honduras and they all work differently throughout the country. Also, you have to pre-pay for the Internet here and you can pay by the day/week/month (it gets cheaper the more you buy). However, it is all dial up and the more people using their cell phones then the busier the lines. Also, the more stuff being downloaded the slower your reception is. No, SKYPE doesn’t always work and when it does usually I can only chat. SKYPE does work in the bigger sites where the Internet is faster, but I am not near those places.

My site-I am going to a site of about 17,000 people spread all over. I will have to walk, a lot. That is cool, b/c I like to walk. There are about 4-8,00 people in my town (I can’t remember right now), but again they are spread out all over. This is big for Honduras. Some other volunteers live in towns of 300 people and have no water or electricity. I am lucky. Note: I went to get an Internet modem the other day, but you can read about it below.

News/Movies/Music-I check Google News and CNN when I get online; when I have the monthly Internet this is everyday. I haven’t been to the movies since I saw “Sex and the City 2” two weeks before I left, but I have a lot of movies on my computer, so last night I watched “Date Night.” Once I get to site I can go to the movie theater. My internet speed is too slow to download on iTunes, but my awesome friends from the States send me new and hot hits!

Vacation Time-I get 24 vacation days a year and I get paid $24 a month towards my vacation time. So, no, I don’t plan on coming back to the States with all the riches I am accumulating. I plan on visiting all the cool places in Honduras/Belize/El Salvador/Nicaragua/Costa Rica and more. I would love for you to come, too. What are you waiting for? We have the Bay Islands (best diving in the world), Copan Ruins, La Mosquito/Gracias Adios, Isla del Tigre/Southern Coast (right near me!), and more! If you want to come visit here is what I suggest… look for cheap flights into San Pedro Sula (I hear they can be as low as $200) b/c SPS is the closest to the Bay Islands and then you can hop a puddle jumper over, fly into Tegucigalpa and we can puddle jump up to the Bay Islands for as low as $23 + visit the Southern area where I live or go West into Copan, fly into Managua and we can visit Nicaragua together, fly into El Salvador and we can visit El Salvador together, fly into Roatan and I’ll take the boat out to meet you. I am really far from the Bay Islands, b/c I am living on the southern part of the country, closer to the southern beaches and El Salvador/Nicaragua, so please don’t take a cruise to Honduras and expect me to meet you out there for one day. Not. Gonna. Happen.

Mail-THANK YOU FOR THE MAIL, I LOVE YOU!!! I know it is very expensive to send packages down here, so I really appreciate them! If you would like to send me mail, it only costs 98 cents to send a card or letter. If you would like to send me a package, please send it in a large padded envelope through the USPS. It gets here quicker and I pay less taxes on it once it arrives. (Another PCV just had to spend a day in the capital trying to get out of a million Lempira tax incident b/c it was sent FedEx and insured like crazy, so just a heads up). Normally, I pay like twenty Lempiras with a padded envelope. Also, with a padded envelope people (customs/random postal workers) are less likely to go through it. Please, please, please don’t write anything on the outside like “electronics,” or “money.” I will never see it. If you write religious sayings in Spanish real big it can also help deter criminals. Note: I am going to leave my address in Teguz because mail gets there quicker, BUT MY TITLE HAS CHANGED from PCT to PCV. Thank you!

Friday, September 10, 2010

Me and my counterpart Samuel

Time to get sworn in as a PCV! When I packed my long, white skirt 12 weeks ago, it seemed like an awesome idea, but now that I walk down a muddy road everyday, it seems really impractical. Too late now. After getting up early and getting as pretty as possible in Honduras, I spent 30 minutes ironing my skirt and had balleadas with Rosa and Gustavo for one last time before carrying my skirt down the road. At the PCT site, we all met our counterparts at 7:30 AM. My counterpart is the mayor of Orocuina, a nice young man, in his thirties or so, who was excited to meet me. After making small talk and getting to know each other, we broke off into the Municipal Development group where everyone was invited to stand up and introduce themselves. We were also given fun refreshments before the counterparts and aspirantes were asked to write down expectations and “what we can offer” in our new sites. Safety was right up there as I think all of us are slightly nervous about heading off to a new pueblo where we are no longer surrounded by 56 other trainees everyday. Next, we had to make up a four week plan with our counterparts and when I pulled out my plan, I found that Samuel (my counterpart) had already mapped out the first two weeks. Wow, did I actually get paired up with another planner? My life can not be that lucky! Finally, lunchtime came when the PC treated us all to a delicious buffet of salad, chicken, and yummy potatoes…but, when I asked my counterpart if he liked it he said there was too much lettuce for him. Ha ha

Getting sworn in at the embassy

Me and my Spanish instructor Delia

In the afternoon, we were all led to the US Embassy and after a long security session let through for our quick hour and a half ceremony. Although you could hear loud booming thunder throughout, it didn’t crash down rain until after we were sworn in as new volunteers, which went something like this “I Jenifer Bubenik do solemnly swear to protect and defend the country…” I felt pretty important as the ambassador read those words, looked at the American flag, sang the national anthem, and had tears in my eyes. I am so proud to be an American, proud to serve in Honduras as a PCV and that moment was very emotional for me. I will never forget it. Many thanks to the ambassador for taking time after the ceremony to say hello to each one of us and for taking photos with all of us. It was a great ending to the last twelve weeks.


As a final celebration, the majority of the 57 of us went out for dinner and a few beers to celebrate. After not having a beer or drink of any kind for 12 weeks, it was a sweet moment when I raised the glass to celebrate all the Spanish classes (which I thought I might not pass, but made it through!) and all the tortillas and beans that I can now take a break from! Congrats to everyone for making it through…and I mean everyone! We didn’t lose a single person during training, a record! Best of luck to everyone at their new sites and see you soon!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

5:00 AM, I am awake and tired…thanks to the major lack of sleep after swearing in. But, my counterpart wants to leave at 5:00 AM, so I am awake and waiting. But, he is not here so I crawl back into my bed and fall asleep. 5:47 AM, my phone rings. He is here. So, I head outside and see his Toyota; so thankful that his pickup truck is newer and running. We load up and take off; I am half asleep and thankful we met yesterday so we don’t need to small talk this morning. After making it past Tegucigalpa he asks if I drink café and I shout “Yes!” so he responds that soon we will stop for desayuno and when we pass Sabanagrande (where I went for my volunteer visit and famous for the rosquillas) we stop at a roadside comida and I spot Evan and his counterpart. Evan looks more tired than me and once inside the large coffees start flowing. There are also macaws, goldfish and a large cobra nearby. It is like a zoo up in here. Our counterparts get to know us a little more and after the coffee I am a totally new person; with all the coffee in this country I don’t know why there aren’t more drive-thru coffee shops. Back on the road Samuel notices that the truck is making a noise and decides that we should stop at the Toyota dealer down in Choluteca; but we are still about two hours away. I take the time to appreciate the Southern part of Honduras, which is filled with green mountains. And heat. And police roadblocks. We go through one and he doesn’t have his drivers license, but shows his mayor’s card. Normally, this would probably work, but today he has a gringo in the truck and the police are a little suspicious…along with my six bags. Yeah…… Finally, they decide he is for real and I really am Cuerpo de Paz and let us go. Onward to the Toyota dealership where we wait for three hours (really, all I need is a nap!) while they fix the rattling on the truck and then we head north to Orocuina. Once in town Samuel begins to honk at everyone and they wave back; he is the mayor, after all, he knows everyone. Soon, I will know them all, too. He points out the Centro de Salud, Bomberos, and Policia. The main road from Choluteca is just now finishing a major pavement project, and after making a sharp left we have no more paved roads at our disposal. That is the first thing I notice in town. But, he tells me it’s not the major project in town. Finishing the park is the major project, followed by a water and sanitation project that I will be working on. Then, the roads (I think, from what I have gathered). The town is small, but has great potential from what I can see. Once the park is built and the roads are paved, the access to other places is far and more people can come into the park on the weekends for concerts and fiestas. There are already venders filling the park today and Samuel says they are there all the time. What could happen if they actually had a real place to hang out? On Monday I am heading to the alcadea (city hall) to begin meeting people and getting a feel for all the offices and projects/needs, etc. The next few weeks will be busy getting a lay of the land and I’m looking forward to getting to know my new home.


Sunday, September 12-Wednesday, September 15, 2010

My First Days in Orocuina, Honduras

All my crap in my room

I have been in Orocuina for four days now.



It’s hot here. That’s all you need to know. It’s 100 degrees everyday and there’s no air conditioning. I am sweating before I even get out of the shower. I take three showers a day just to wash all of the sweat off of me. So, if you are thinking of sending me something, how about some AC? I walk everywhere and am sweating before I get one block; I carry makeup removers to wash all the sweat off my face, even though I don’t have any makeup on…just sunblock. I walk with a big umbrella to keep out the sun.


There are more fruits and vegetables here than I have seen in the entire 12 weeks I’ve lived in Honduras, so I am looking forward to living in this town. There are a ton of projects here that I can see myself helping with, but that is only if I don’t melt. There is a park that definitely needs some love, and none of the streets are paved…just a mess of dirt and pebbles. On Tuesday the colegio (high school) asked me to help them get Internet into their computer lab. I told them I would teach them to write the grant and teach them to search for grants so that when I leave they know how to keep searching and applying for future grants. The lady at the oficina de ninos says the largest problem is not having a library in town, but claims that the kids need computers in the library…so again, a computer problem. On Monday when I went to the alcadea to meet with my counterpart the Mayor I only talked to him for five minutes because he was so busy. So, I took myself around and introduced myself to everyone in town. On Tuesday, Michael, the current volunteer who leaves in two weeks, took me to the schools and introduced me to people. (He is a youth development volunteer). I explained to them that I am not an English teacher, but think they have high hopes of me coming in and teaching English. One of my fears after following a youth volunteer in the schools is that they are going to expect me to teach and that is not my strength…or my project. So, I keep trying to explain that I have other projects that can help with the school, like Project Citizen, where students learn about student government, civics, etc. I haven’t made it to any other aldeas yet, but hope to visit the campo (country) and other barrios within the next week.

Things that are in Orocuina:

1 colegio (high school)

1 escuela (first through 6th grade)

1 kinder (kindergarten)

A bunch of health centers (places they weigh babies and check normal health problems)

A bunch of dental centers

A bunch of fruit and veggie vendors (there is a small indoor market, but also a lot of guys just selling from their trucks in the park)

A bunch of guys selling shoes, t-shirts, bras, and jeans from their trucks in the park

A billiards place where drunks and bad guys hang out

Several “super” markets (by supermarket I mean large pulperia)

Really bad roads, nothing is paved and when it rains they turn into rivers

Absolutely no shade

A large football field

World Food Program (dispensed at the alcadea)

Random cows walking down my street

Electrical blackouts

No internet access

A Cooperative, but not a bank

A small post office, which is a sign hanging on a guy’s house

Dia de la Independencia

The geckoes and worms keep me company on my adobe walls. My host mom calls me her “hija” (or daughter), she talks to me while she goes to the bathroom and I have seen her boobs…so I’m pretty sure I am her daughter. I have a hammock in my room and for breakfast I ate bananas in milk. I also found a recipe book on my resource DVD put together by previous volunteers using all Honduran ingredients so I am really excited! I have been cooking for myself…breakfast and lunch, so that is very exciting! On Monday a package arrived for me that I sent to myself way back in June. It took three months to find me, but arrived in Honduras on June 14. It had been sitting in the PC office since then. Everyday I went to the PC office and asked “do you have a package for me” and they said no. But, sure enough, there it was. Yeah! Full of yummy oatmeal, fruit snacks, Crystal Light packets and hot sauce. I am so happy. Let’s hope the rat doesn’t get to it. Oh’, yes, there is a rat in my house. I was sitting in the kitchen (not exactly connected to the house) last night, talking to my mom as she made me dinner, and this rat (yeah, he was BIG), ran out from under the sink and over ONTO my mom’s foot, then under the stove. I screamed and she laughed…then she tried to tell me that it was a rabbit. I told her “No, that was a raton.” She told me no, it was a rabbit and made little hopping motions and told me it came in at night to eat all the vegetable portions she left on the floor. I said “Um, no, it was café colored” and she said “ratons have a long tail” to which I promptly replied “Yes, this had a long tail.” Then, the color of her face changed and she yelled to her son “Marcelo! There is a raton in here.” But, since he spends all day in the hammock, he didn’t come and I spent the rest of the night fearing a rat would kill me. While I sat there a frog hopped on into the kitchen and hopped all around the room. My mom laughed at this, too, but never stopped making dinner throughout. Even though the raton was under the stove squeaking. I may die.

Viva Honduras!

When I need supplies, or major items, I have to head into Choluteca. It is the major city about an hour away. On Tuesday after work, Michael and I headed down there to take care of some errands. Like, finding me Internet and sorting out my bank account. Once in Choluteca, Michael showed me all around, including an awesome coffee shop, with WI-FI/pizza/and iced coffee (holy cow!), a place to fix computers, and all the places I will need to buy stuff for my apartment in a few months. He is awesome enough to leave me some stuff, like a hammock and a bike, but I will need to buy a new bed, refrigerator, stove, curtains, tables, chairs, bookshelf, dishes, everything else I will ever need (and only with $250 from PC as my “moving in fund.”) Then, we went to Claro to buy me a new Internet modem, since Tigo is not exactly the fastest up in Orocuina. Once I walked in it was no surprise why Claro is taking over Honduras. I felt like I was in an American store. Professional people, background checks if you want to purchase an item, security guards. When I purchased my Tigo modem, all the lady did was write my name down and take my money. Here, I had to show my residency card, a letter from PC stating how much money I (don’t) make, how long I’ll be living in country, proof of current address, and set up a payment plan with my bank card. Whoa! Then, I didn’t even get to take my modem home today b/c my residency card didn’t process through. Apparently, I am still very new in the system. So, I have to come back next week. Which means another week living up in Orocuina away from the world. I am supposed to have Internet at the alcadea, but I don’t, so I’ll be paying for it myself. It cost $25 + tax a month, equaling $31, or more than 10% of my salary. I think it’s a little crazy that Internet here costs as much as the USA and works half as well. Next stop was the bank, where I needed my online username fixed (a little ironic, since I have no internet to access my account). When I got there, there were at least 400 people in line, wrapped around the building, but I walked in and to customer service. The lady told me I would have to go to Tegucigalpa (4 hours away) to get help there and I told her that wasn’t gonna happen since it had taken me 12 weeks to get here. So, after some magical work, she suddenly logged on to my account and fixed my username and password. Then, I asked if I could change my pin number on my debit card and she said no, it wasn’t possible. I said “of course it’s possible.” Then, she said “well, why would you want to change it” and I said “b/c these numbers are hard for me to remember.” I have about fifty passwords to remember lady! Then she told me “yeah, well, you can’t change it, sorry.” Customer service in Honduras at its finest.

Dancing away Independence Day

In my first few days I have also been looking for a Spanish tutor. Since I am still intermediate-mid level, PC has offered to pay for three hours of tutoring each week, for 12 weeks, so I can keep learning this language. On Monday night my host mom took me over to her friend’s house, where the lady is a teacher at the colegio. Her name is Iris and after talking for about 20 minutes she said she was interested in the position. I trusted Mercedes opinion, so on Tuesday I went back with all the information from PC, including my Spanish tutoring manual and letter saying I am in dire need of more Spanish help, plus the promise she will get paid. She decided that was good enough for her, but wanted a couple days to look through the manual, plus my old manual that I have been working in. I think this will be a good partnership, and hopefully I can learn my future tense!

Hanging out in front with the Corporacion Municipal

Wednesday (today) was Independence Day here in Honduras. In order to celebrate, there were big parades, fireworks and singing all over the place. In the larger cities they had marches to commemorate the independence, but here we just had fun. The mayor invited me up to sit with all the important men in town…a major sign of respect here. So I joined him, the police chief and two other guys I did not know while we watched the dancers and performers after the parade. Major kudos after I have only been here for four days. Happy Independence Day Honduras!