Far Away From Home

Monday, October 18, 2010

People ask me all the time what I miss most about not living in the States. I miss having a cell plan in which I know my minutes will never run out. The reason for this is because I must pre-pay for my minutes down here in Honduras, which often leads to me not having any “saldo” as they call it and losing a call in the middle of conversation. Also, because none of the cell phone carriers offer any plan to suit all of my needs, I must buy several different chips. This means that anytime I want to call the USA, I have to take out one chip and battery, put in the other chip and battery, and wait for my phone to power on up again. Then, just when I’m in the middle of an important call, the line goes dead. Because I have no more minutes left. You would think you would get a message when you have like 20 minutes left or something, but no, that’s not the way it happens. Depending on the last digit of your phone, you get “triple” minutes on certain days…this means if I “recharge” my pre-paid minutes on Wednesday I get triple seconds depending on how much money I put towards my pre-payment. However, if I don’t use all my seconds by the following Saturday (a week and a half away), then they are gone. It’s totally bogus. Also, let’s say you have some sort of promotion, which I often pay into…mostly on my chip for the States. Like buy 180 minutes for L75, if your 180 minutes are up then your phone goes dead. Even if you still have 500 minutes on your phone, it doesn’t automatically flip over. You have to re-dial the number and start all over again. Again, bogus. If you ever want to feel really poor, I suggest you go to your closest cell phone store and get a pre-paid cell phone for a week. You have to think everytime you pick up your phone, want to text, or don’t have triple “saldo.” Plus, if you run out at night when you can’t go buy extra minutes then you are totally up a creek and home alone with no one to talk to. This happened to me tonight when I was in the middle of a business call and it was pouring rain outside. Muchas gracias, Tigo. You win again.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The best money I have spent so far has been the L40 I put into the local economy today for Rosa to wash my clothes. As much as I would (not) love to hand wash my clothes in the pila everyday for the next two years, I simply don’t have that much patience and am not about to pretend I do. I don’t like to wash my clothes in the States, where I have access to a machine, so why would I want to do it here where I have to scrub them by hand for hours at a time? I would much rather give someone a job that needs it and call it a day. So, much love and thanks to her for taking my big ol’ garbage bag yesterday and returning it to me today all folded and clean. Best L40 I have spent to date; she is hired for two years.



Mountains on the way to Santa Anita

 I would have told her so in person, except that this morning I was whisked off from my office to Santa Anita, a small aldea two hours away from my town far up in the mountains. WAAAAAAY up in the mountains, where the road turns from gravel to mud, back to gravel, and then simply to tire tracks, there are hills the color of green and covered with a thick, healthy natural growth of tall grass, filled in with fields of purple flowers. Cows cut through them on their way to a lazy afternoon nap, or another day’s milking session, followed by young boy’s leading donkey’s through the mud and women waiting under umbrellas (children thrown up on their hips). Bump after bump I watch the hills grow taller and see spaces in the forest from where trees have been cut down to make firewood for some family’s fogona (cook stove), and as we turn a corner I see piles of firewood stacked high and chimney smoke rise into the blue sky. Near the ‘Tigo’ and ‘Claro’ signs that also read ‘Pulperia’ I notice that the houses are nothing more than thin sticks and children dressed in only underwear and thin t-shirts wave at me as I pass by. This is the ‘campo’ as the locals call it, gringos call it ‘the country.’ Hours away from my town, which is considered rural, this is where poverty lives and breathes in Honduras.



Two hour long ride down this road

 During the car ride my bladder feels like it’s going to explode. Bumpity, bump, bump goes the car, along with my urgent need to pee. I’m not sure how long this ride is, but I know when I get out my first question is going to be ‘Puedo usar el bano por favor?’ Approximately two hours after we started, we pull up to the aldea of Santa Anita and after being introduced to everyone, I kindly ask if I can use their bathroom, only to find out that there is no bathroom, not even an outhouse. I thank them and sit down. I am not above going outside, and weigh this option and the meeting goes on for over an hour. The meeting is so I can discuss an upcoming conference in December, where they’ll have the opportunity to sell their hammocks to a holiday-hungry crowd, consisting of PC/US Embassy/USAID employees in Tegucigalpa, as well as place their photos and descriptions in a catalog to be sent back to the states. What an awesome opportunity for them! As I describe it and offer them a trip to Teguz, they can not decide who will go and are in fact worried for someone to go. I can not see why someone doesn’t jump at the chance to go to the capital and stay in a hotel for the night, until I realize that most of them have never left their small village before and one finally says “We don’t know anything about the city, we have never been there before.” They are scared to go, so I reassure them that I’ll be there with them, when in fact I think that a gringa PCV leading them through Teguz is probably way scarier than anything they could imagine! I tell them to take a few days and think about who they want to go and represent them. After taking photos for the catalog, we call the meeting to a close and they ask if there are any more questions. I ask if anyone has a bathroom I can use and they all say no; they say they only have buckets and I say that will do, but they look at me suspiciously, like a gringa can’t go in a bucket. I really want to share with them that I’ve gone to the bathroom in some pretty weird places in my life (NASCAR races, football games, late nights in college on the way home, but I don’t share those stories) and instead, the other representative from the NGO, and I, scoot around the corner of the house and pop a squat near the trees and the pigs. I think I surprised the locals, but maybe I gained their respect, too? I’m not an uptight prissy gringa…just another volunteer down here hacking it with them.



Waiting our turn to use the road



Field of wildflowers

 Wednesday, October 20, 2010



Working hard in my office; note the big holes in the wall

 This week I have spent most of my time in my office working on my projects. Here is an update of what I’ve been up to:

Cook Stoves: There’s a group here in Honduras called Proyecto Mirador. www.proyectormirador.org I am trying to work with them to teach the women in my town about building fuel efficient cookstoves. There is a group in the states called Global Alliance for Cook Stoves, but it seems the initial money is going to research and other things, not to the building of the stoves. I am working with two different women’s groups here who are interested in building these stoves. This week one of the groups sent me their proposal, which includes replanting trees that have been destroyed due to the major destruction of forests, b/c of burning trees to light up the stoves. After our proposals are ready we can send them to Proyecto Mirador and see if they can help us.

Recycling: In November I have another volunteer who knows everything about recycling in Honduras coming to talk to the schools here about how to get started on recycling in our town. My schools are really excited about the project, so now we just have to find out more information. This needs to happen, b/c people just throw their trash everywhere and anywhere they want.

Library-A lot of people in town have approached me about a new library here, so this week I talked to the people in the municipality about it. I was trying to find out through the CATASTRO office (or property tax type) what buildings are empty, for sale, for rent, etc. They sent me to another NGO in town and told me to talk to the boss there. I tried to explain to them that as a municipal development volunteer in PC I could work with them on the library and they said that I needed the support of an NGO. Proof to me that they don’t know how to use me or what my job entails. I will continue to power forward on this project, b/c a lot of people are interested; plus the NGO is out of town at a conference.



Working on hammocks in the mountains


Conferences-I have a couple of PC conferences coming up. Planning for these have kept me busy, especially the artesano conference. The artesans have to solicit the funding for their trip, plus take pictures and plan their outline for the catalog, so I had to go up in the mountains and take pictures. I also went with the group to the municipality and another NGO to help solicit the funds. Next week I’ll be out of town for another conference, so I’ve been busy getting ready to move into my new house since when I return it will be time to move! I am very excited to have my own place where I can invite my local friends over and learn more Spanish from them and teach them about American things as well.

As far as other stuff goes, I have been watching the MLB playoffs courtesy of Gamecast. Even though it doesn’t have sound, it is still nice to be a “part” of the playoffs. Go Rangers! The workout routine has been paying off and the tortilla weight is coming off. Another reason I’m looking forward to moving into my own place, so I’ll have more room to work out. I have started running again, now that I am more immersed in my community and people know who I am. Everywhere I go I hear my name yelled out by someone, even people I don’t know. Last night I came out of my Spanish tutoring to find someone waiting for me, asking “You are Cuerpo de Paz, si?” I didn’t even know people knew I was in Spanish tutoring, or where I took it, but they found me! On my morning runs now I see the same little old men herding their cattle and little kids waiting for school. I run to a little pulperia and buy a bag of water, then stroll back, taking in the mountains. It is my favorite time of day; sometimes Amanda joins me. The bus drivers wave and honk as they go by. It feels nice to be part of a community where “everybody knows your name.”

How to Wash Your Hands & Then Get Scabies

Friday, October 15, 2010

Global Handwashing Day! A day to be celebrated by all around the world and bring attention to the importance of washing your hands for many different reasons. In order to promote the importance of this, I partnered up with the Centro de Salud here in town; heading to them last week with the information provided to me by the Global Handwashing Folks. I also made a poster for the kids, which they promptly trashed and came up with their own PowerPoint, little three-fold handout, two awesome bulletin board standups, and some videos from Discovery Kids and Nickelodeon in Spanish. I do like to think I had some role in this, since I walked them through the Global Handwashing Day website and went through the steps of what needed to be done, a whole Training of Trainers (TOT) thing from PC…however, I can only imagine what they thought of my lame poster that I prepared for them after seeing the awesomeness they came up with. Let me put it this way, they looked like Picasso and I looked like a kindergarten project. But, my strengths are in leading people, not being an artist, so moving forward.

Today started with the main doctor of the center and I heading to the local radio station (I know, we have a radio station here!). It is really just one room with our resident DJ, Freddy, but still cool. So, Doctora Carolina and I went there at 8:00 this morning and she gave him all the information on GHD before he started the interview. About halfway in, Freddy pushed the microphone over to me and I started talking about how PC supports GHD and the WWSP (World Wise School Program), which is why we will be heading over to the kinder later to give a charla to the kids. Since I am working with my mom’s class in the states and a class here to promote cross-cultural exchange, both classes are celebrating the day. Then, I invited everyone in the community to come see me in my office whenever they need something. I was sweating so hard when I talked, so nervous. I don’t normally get nervous when I give TV/radio interviews, but doing it in Spanish is totally different! I could feel the sweat beads pouring down my forehead.

Doctora Carolina teaches kids about washing their hands

Afterwards, Doctora Carolina and I headed to the escuela where we set up for another TOT type charla. She was going to present the importance of Global Handwashing Day to the teachers, so they in turn could go teach it to their students. Although we arrived at 8:40 and the charla was supposed to start at 9:00, the teachers didn’t arrive until 9:20, leaving Doctora Carolina only about 25 minutes to present so that we could be at the kinder at 10:00 am. Thank goodness the teachers didn’t have a whole lot of questions, and right after the PowerPoint, we packed up super quick and took off. Once we arrived at the kinder the kids were all waiting for us and yelled “Buenas Dias Profesora Jenifer!” I don’t know where they got the idea that I am a “profesora” but it is cute to hear them say that and I will keep rolling with it. They were finishing their morning snack, so Doctora Carolina and I set up as they helped us move their chairs and tables. The boys like to show how strong they are by picking up the chairs really high, but actually they just knock other people in the head a lot. Finally, everyone was situated and another class joined us, leaving us with 50 little five year olds eager to hear what we had to say.

Doctora Carolina started up a PowerPoint that included a little boy going about his day playing with his dog, riding the bus, going to the bathroom, etc…all without washing his hands. It showed a germ following him around and other people catching his germ (the germ was a big green scary man) that the kids liked. Then, she shared a couple videos from Discovery Kids and Nickelodeon Spanish which had songs in them for the kids to play along with…just as they were learning the electricity went out in the middle of the presentation. This meant the projector didn’t work for the PowerPoint and the kids were left snuggled around the laptop singing the song at the top of their lungs. When all was said and done we handed out hands on popsicle sticks to kids who could tell us what they had just learned, then headed outside with my other doctor friend, Blanca. All the kids gathered around in a circle and we passed out water from buckets, spoonfuls of soap and paper towels. The doctors showed the kids how to properly wash their hands inside and out before heading back into the class and doing it with hand gel. Overall, Global Handwashing Day was a huge success and I was super lucky to have the doctors from the Centro de Salud help me! They were awesome counterparts today and I can’t wait to work with them again in the future! Back home in North Carolina the local newspaper came to my mom’s school and covered the event locally. They spoke to her about the WWSP and more, so I will let you guys know when that article comes out as well.


Me and my WWSP class after a day of washing our hands




Scabies on me; utterly gross

 In the afternoon I headed down into Choluteca to the hospital pharmacy. This past week my rash from last month re-appeared. This time around I took some photos and sent them into the PCMO; who promptly got back to me with this quote “it looks like the scabies bug.” Soooo…. Isn’t that what I thought I had a month ago and the doctor told me it was an allergic reaction to mosquito repellent? Now that we are sure it’s scabies, I take off straight to Cholu and walk the 20 minutes to the pharmacy where I meet up with the pharmacist who knows me really well by now. After getting our formalities out of the way, she hands me my lotion and goes over exactly what to do. Then, she wishes me good luck and I take off to get rid of the itching. Here are the steps I must follow strictly:



All my crap in trash bags, loaded up so the scabies go away



All the stuff that must be bagged up or washed



The mattress and sheets that must go outside (and hammock)

1. Strip all my linens and clothing from my room. Wash it in hot water. Since I don’t have hot water, or three days to wash everything I own, I choose to put it all in large garbage bags and set it out in the blazing hot sun of Southern Honduras for 48 hours. I have been told it will have the same effect.

2. Go search for large garbage bags. In a country that likes to burn their trash, this poses a difficult “hide and seek” effect. I head to the supermercado full of gringos and began to pace up and down the aisles. Eventually I find what I’m looking for and buy the biggest bags I can find. I have a lot of clothes and don’t want to have to worry about running out of space. Cost=L42

3. After placing everything I own in large garbage bags, I take a long shower and scrub my body. Since the only towel I own likely is full of scabies, I simply throw it away. (Since I have had it since college and it cost $5 in 1996, I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten my money out of that. Although, it still looks almost brand new, and after making it through 4 years at App and 10 years in Cali, I was sad to see it go. Oh’, well, Adios.) This means, I shower off with a washcloth.

4. Immediately after showering off, I later myself in this white lotion “heche in Honduras” (made in Honduras) all over my body, in between my toes and anywhere from my neck down.

5. Then, I sleep in a bathing suit bottom and the only tank top I might not have touched within the last seven days. I sleep in a sleeping bag that the old PCV gave me, since mine is in a garbage bag.

6. Repeat for three days.




The scabies lotion "Heche in Honduras"



Do you think I used too much? I don't want them coming back!!!

 Saturday, October 16, 2010 and Sunday, October 17, 2010

This weekend found me taking care of my scabies most of the time. After waking up, I had to wash off the scabies lotion, and hopefully all the little scabies with it. It feels utterly gross to have this all over my skin, especially since I like to consider myself a clean person. But, apparently, this is common here in Honduras and you can get it just about anywhere. So, what am I to work out in since all my clothing is in a garbage bag? My bathing suit of course! Complete with tennis shoes. I am a site to behold, but since no one can see me, I get my cardio on in my room with my bathing suit and tennis shoes, and then finish up with P90X ab ripper and leg burner. Hot stuff.



Fun, loving care package from my Phi Mu sis Becca!

 On Saturday, I met up with some other volunteers to receive some information about my stove project and have lunch. While seeking out a Mexican food restaurant we heard about, Kari and I walked for what felt like an hour, but was more like 30 minutes, until we saw the funeral parlor and took a left. Then, we walked two cuadros (blocks) until we saw nothing else, so we kept going. Finally, we saw a lady cooking on her stove on the side of the street with a big sign that said “Restaurante Mexicana” so we sat down and called it a wash. After ordering alambres and tacos, I added a lemonade and the day was all good.  Then, I headed to the post office where I found LOVE waiting for me in the form of a big box with my name on it and inside so much yummy gummy candy and trail mix to last me through a bunch of movie nights~!  Yeah!  Love and thanks to my Phi Mu



The trail mix is already gone!  That only took three days!

The rest of the weekend finds me picking up my bike from the shop after another needed tune up, visiting with people around the community and some other PCV’s. I spent all day Sunday sitting in the park watching people, reading my book, watching people some more, visiting with the new vendors who have suddenly popped up in the park, and seeking guidance in the church for some of the rocky roads I have been having with my host family. For some reason I thought I would find solitude in this, but after all these years, I think I am simply just more of a mediation and yoga girl and left after about five minutes. Back out in the park I joined the kids in their futbol (soccer) game until the policia drove by and asked me if I wanted to ride along. Of course I said yes, because I like to keep on the good side of the policia, plus it is just fun to see where they might go on a ride along. 


 As soon as I hopped in the back seat, I asked “A donde va” meaning “To where are we going” and they replied “just riding on out to Tamarindo and Apacialagua.” Cool, just another way for me to say hello to the locals I don’t get to see that often. No more than ten minutes later we roll on up in front of a house, where they hop on outside and I continue to snap photos of the beautiful mountains, when suddenly out comes a guy in handcuffs! They are arresting a guy and brought me along! I calmly sit in the backseat as they have the guy handcuffed to one of the policia and sit him in the back of the truck, while the other officer hops in the front and we start driving back into town. And here I thought my weekends were tranquillo.



The arrest I didn't know anything about

 Back in town I thank the officers for the “ride” and go for a stroll in the market. I’ve decided it’s about time I start making my own beans in Honduras, so I head to the same lady I bought my rubber boots from and tell her I’d like one libre (pound) of beans, please. She cups them into a small plastic bag for me and I pay her L16 (L20=$1) and say “Gracias!” Then, I turn back towards home and read through my PC recipe book for the “rapido” way to cook these babies. It has been over five years since I’ve cooked beans, so I want to double check. After picking through the beans for any rocks that might be there, I discover a lot of little bugs at the bottom and toss those out, too. Then, I rinse them off and cover them in hot water and baking powder, along with a little salt. After boiling them for about 10 minutes, I cool them down and cook them for about two hours until they are delightfully yummy! Topped off with the crazy stuff they call cheese here, I have myself a meal, which I share while SKYPING with my parents. Overall, a busy, but productive weekend.


The snow cone man in my park; he shaves the block of ice with his muscles and a blade



I haven't had these yet, but they look good



My bean supplier



My bus ride home, full of people



Little kids playing with tops (instead of Wii or Playstation)

 

How to Use 288 Condoms in Rural Honduras

Sunday, October 10, 2010


This past week has been very stressful. I was moved out of my host family’s house for security reasons and have been living with a friend. To say that I am looking forward to getting my own place is an understatement. I mean, thanks for the memories PC, but I am a little tired of living with single moms who cry all day, take a lot of prescription meds, and have kids that don’t mind. Two houses now where I have had moms who constantly cry, tell me “duele in mi cabeza” which in short means “I hurt in my head” but they use that term very loosely here. It really makes me miss my first host family even more. They were so awesome, inviting me into their home, speaking Spanish with me 24/7, sharing all of their life with me, teaching me different recipes in the kitchen, telling me all about the history of Honduras. In the meantime, here in Orocuina, I have made some awesome new friends to lead me through the last few weeks. Today I spent time with a few of them and Benicia taught me how to pluck and fully clean a chicken.



My friend Benicia plucking the chicken




Benicia showing me how to properly clean it




The insides; I think this is the liver




Yuck!!!



It didn't FEEL like chicken! But it was FUN!

 Now, I’m not exactly when I’ll be needing this little technique in the future…maybe when I decide to kill the roosters that keep waking me up at all hours of the night, but it was so much fun watching Benicia take to that thing in a matter of minutes! I missed her killing it, but she plucked it within ten minutes with her BARE HANDS! Every single feather…just like in the old West! The whole time the cat circled underneath just waiting to pounce on something; then Benicia lit a small fire and held the chicken over it. I don’t know why she did this, maybe to burn off any extra feathers, maybe to burn off germs. I’m not exactly sure. But, next, she began washing it in the pila, inside and out, before taking a big knife to it and chopping off the legs and head and tossing it down to the cat. (He knew what he was doing!) Then, she reached inside and pulled out all the intestines and anything else that was waiting (the heart) and soaped it all off, b/c she used some of it in the soup later (sorry, but I didn’t taste that). Finally, it was all clean and ready to go in the pot! And, that is how you clean and pluck a chicken. As much fun as it was, I think I’ll stick to the frozen section at the grocery store.

Later today my friend Amanda and I had some people over to teach them how to make homemade pizza and banana bread. The pizza was Amanda’s idea and I decided to make banana bread b/c we have WAY TOO EASY access to bananas in this country and I wanted to make something special for all the people in Orocuina who have helped me out this first month. So, to begin, I got a recipe from the PC recipe book and mashed up the bananas, along with some honey, flour and eggs, and got some help from my friend Lorena who asked a bunch of questions about the recipe. Then, we poured it into a large skillet and placed a top onto it. I planned on making two batches, and after the first batch came out a little too cakey for me, I added a little less mantequilla the second time around. That is their version of butter here, which is like butter and sour cream mixed together. I hate it, they love it. They put it on everything. They put it on pancakes; I eat them with syrup. Do you get it? Next, Amanda began preparing the pizzas. She made homemade dough, which I have no idea how to do, but I am going to learn for the next time around. Then, she chopped up all the ingredients of onions, tomatoes, peppers (which they call chiles here), and she made the sauce. Then, Lorena and Alyandro assisted in the preparation of the awesomeness that is American food. They had such a great time and joked about opening up a restaurant called “Lorenas Pizza!” While we waited for the food to cook, we all sat around and talked in Spanish. It’s these times that I enjoy the most here in Honduras, b/c it gives me time to get to know my new friends and practice my Spanish. As Alyandro was sharing why he doesn’t go to church and why the Catholic priest believes Halloween in the USA is evil (my heart broke), a bee stung Lorena and the stinger got stuck in her arm! It swelled up real big and we tried to control it with a bag of water. Finally, I realized that those bags of water might be good for something! When things had calmed down a bit, the four of us cut into the pizza and enjoyed our meal, along with the traditional Honduran PEPSI, and I sent them home with some banana bread for their morning café. What a great night with new friends!



Honduran friends enjoying American food!

 Monday, October 11, 2010

Friday is Global Handwashing Day. It’s a day celebrated all around the world to bring more attention to why you should wash your hands after going to the bathroom or before eating. This might sound logical, but in a lot of countries IT’S NOT! So, I am presenting a charla on Friday to the kindergarten class, along with two doctors from the Centro de Salud; this meant that today I had to prepare. Why? Because I actually found two people in Honduras that prepare for something. Excuse me if I find this out of the ordinary; but I do. This is because a lot of times I end up sitting around and waiting on people for hours, so last week when one of the doctors asked me to come to the Centro de Salud today and prepare for Friday I was like “What???” So, this morning I worked at my desk on a fun, purple posterboard, where I traced my hand and wrote out instructions about why you should wash your hands. In Spanish. While I did this, another woman who works at the Municipality was drawing a large poster for tomorrow…tomorrow is Dia de Orocuina or the Day of Orocuina. I’ll cut to the chase; her poster was BEAUTIFUL! She could get a scholarship to some college in the States or Europe. I am sitting at my desk having to glue stick some paper my mom emailed me from the States b/c of my lack of artistical talent. Where is my sister when I need her? I am so embarrassed at my poster. Then, all the other women show up from the Oficina de Mujeres and Oficina de Ninos and they start cutting out banners of crepe paper for tomorrow and now everyone can see what a failure I am at drawing. Fabulous. Thank goodness I have games for these kids to play. And my strength is in soliciting free stuff from the local folks, so tomorrow I’ll be going around and asking for free bars of soap. Because that is what every kid wants in life. Free soap to wash their hands…right before they eat the churros (chips) they wish that I had brought.

After my poster making skills, I headed over to the Centro de Salud to show off my work and pass out more banana bread. I talked with one of the doctors and we spoke about our Friday plan, as well as plans to talk on the radio that morning to promote Global Handwashing Day. I really love the doctors there. They are so smart and on the ball. I hope we have lots more projects in the future. Next, I headed into Choluteca with none other than the priest who hates Halloween. Since we were both headed there for meetings, he offered me a ride, which I gladly took since it cuts out 30 minutes of my bus ride. Along the way he talked about everything but the day I love so much, including all the places he likes in the States (Miami, Virginia, Texas).

Insert: I would like to take this opportunity to mention that 1 out of 3 people in Honduras know someone that lives in the following places: Miami, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia/Maryland/North or South Carolina/Georgia/or anywhere else related to the Southeast. About 1 in 25 people have actually been to one of these places. Since you are from the USA you must know exactly where they lived, or their family lives.



The Maxi Bodega, like Wal-Mart, where I buy stuff




Statue of Francisco Morazan in Choluteca, but I think he looks like Abe Lincoln




Famous Catedral in Choluteca (not where my Padre is)




Main park in Choluteca, closest big city to me

 Okay, back to the priest. He tells me that he has a bunch of projects for me and expects to see me in the church real soon. I’m not sure how soon “real soon” is, but I’m pretty sure that I’ll be using Honduran time on this one. Once in Choluteca I headed off to meet with an NGO based in Orocuina. They are interested in an artisan fair that PC is having, in conjunction with the US Embassy, in December and want me to present the idea to them. After hopping in a taxi, the driver tells me that he just got back from living three years in Arizona. What is this? Find an American day and tell them all about it?!? Unfortunately, he is not as good at finding the office I need to go to and goes around in circles until a little old lady tells him he needs to backtrack six blocks. So, down the bumpy, unpaved road we go, where he takes another wrong turn. I ask him how long he’s been driving and he says only one month. The exact same time I’ve been living in this area. We have found the office together. I give him L20 instead of the standard L15 and hope he has more luck being a taxi driver. Then, I head into the office and meet with the women, who I’ve already fallen in love with. I met them last week at their conference in Orocuina. They are a dedicated and driven group who know “what’s up” in Honduras. After a big round of hugs and “Buenas Dias Jen” we all sit around the table and I present the conferencia to them. It is a great opportunity for their artisan group…one day in Teguz in December where they can come show their merchandise to a “holiday hungry” crowd at the Embassy, receive business training from a business volunteer, put their photos and profile into a holiday catalog which will be shown to employees of PC/Embassy/USAID. They really like the idea, only problem is funding the trip. Their group has to find a way to pay for it; in the past groups have asked other NGO’s or Municipality’s for the funding, so they are going to work on that. They have to pay for one of their group members and me to take them. It’s about $50 a person, but here it is like L1,000. So, on Thursday we are all going to another NGO and the municipality in town to see if they are interested in working together. Soliciting money is my strength, so hopefully it goes well!

Tonight we had our second walking group meeting. Again, no one showed up. But, I have begun walking anyway; dusk is my favorite time in Orocuina. The air turns cool and the sky turns purple. People begin walking home from a long day at work and kids are out in the yard (or street) playing soccer or other games. As I stroll past the houses I yell “Buenas” or “Adios” and they shout back “Que le vaya bien” which loosely translates into “Safe travels.” After I exit town, past the Centro de Salud, the gas station, and the houses, the sidewalk ends and the “highway” takes over. The mountains are calm with dark green shadows as the purple sky turns orange with the sun settling down behind the hills. There are no roosters out here and the occasional cow walks past me; he may have scooted away from his master for a moment. I turn around at the new yellow sign, paid for by the US Government, that warns you a corner is near, and I begin my walk back. Within minutes I am near the houses again and often times cars slow down saying “Hola Jen! Ud exercisio? Es un grupo de caminar?” They know why I am walking. One of these days they will join me; I just have to keep going on my own until they show up.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

This morning I woke up and did my yoga. My body hurts everyday now. I mapped out a calendar, just like at my old gym Rex Wellness, so I will keep myself on schedule more. It includes A LOT of working out…lots of cardio, sports conditioning, body sculpting, and more. You might ask why, but let me tell you, people in Honduras have no shame. I mean, I have always loved to work out. But, getting these 15 pounds of weight off that I gained at my last host family’s house has been difficult. Granted, it’s only been five weeks since I’ve been gone, but here are a few quotes from the Orocuina community:

“Oh’, ud esta gordita.” Oh’, you are a little chubby/fat…sometimes this is meant as a compliment, b/c you have enough to eat…sometimes not. Cheque?

“Oh’, ud tiene un estomogo.” Oh, you have a stomach. Self explanatory.

Then, today I went to the costuera to get my pants and shirt that she had been tailoring and she touched my stomach and said “Ud no esta mas gordita ahorra.” This means (more or less) “You are not that fat now.” So thanks??? b/c maybe the working out is helping?

Whatever, thanks Honduras for the self-esteem boost. It is super hard to be fit here when all the recipes begin with 3 cups of shortening and a side of mantequilla. I have found a triathlon in Roatan next year, so sign me up. And, keep the P90X and cardio videos from Ron coming. Those things are heaven.  Also, it is super hard to have self-esteem in general here.  Not only have I gained this weight, but my hair is 10 inches shorter than it used to be and I feel like a boy.  Plus, I can never wear make up b/c it's 100 degrees everyday.  So, sweat and dirty is my look for the next two years. 

Note: I have lost about half the tortilla weight.



The library in Choluteca (doing research to get ideas for a new library)

 Since today was Dia de Orocuina, nothing was open. The Municipalidad was closed, all the schools, Centro de Salud, everything was closed down. I took this opportunity to work on my stove and library project all day, beginning to find my way around PowerPoint again, after so many years. I haven’t really used PowerPoint since college (when it first came out), but they use it for all presentations here, so I am becoming a Master once more! Although, it did take me ten minutes to figure out how to change the photos and I still don’t know how to put the pictures and words directly right next to each other. My library information is 132 pages, so I am working through that.



Conducting research for a library in Orocuina (Obviously needs to be bigger)




The bus ran out of gas right in front of the gas station




He is selling ice cream on the bus out of his blue cooler




Those little blue bags are the ice cream



Merry Christmas to the Centro de Salud!

 And, just to make my day A LITTLE more interesting, I received 288 condoms from another PCV, John, today. Since he is a health volunteer he gets these things free all the time and what better way to get rid of them then to give them to other PCV’s?!? Soooooo…..what is a Muni D volunteer to do? Tomorrow I think I will take them to the Centro de Salud and donate them, since there is no reason to let them all go to waste and there are only so many HIV/AIDS charlas a girl can present. (I mean, it’s not like this is banana bread and I can pass it out at all the desks in the Municipality) Plus, if the Padre thinks Halloween is a sin, I can only imagine what he would think if I stood in the middle of Orocuina promoting safe sex. So, I’ll give them to my doctor friends. Kind of like a “thank you doctor for teaching the kindergarteners how to wash their hands after peeing and pooping, now how about you pass out these condoms to the older girls and boys and promote safe sex?” All in a days work of a PCV.