Home in the Casco Urbano

November 30, 2010




My awesome living room

 I have been in my house for a month now and living alone in Honduras has had it’s ups and downs. I mean, I have been living alone since I was 21, but living alone in HONDURAS is quite different. For starters, I have two front doors and they both have two locks on them, extra sturdy, durable. My back door has three locks, four if you count the padlock you can put on when you slide the extra one over. I have bars on the windows and mosquito wires inside of those. I sweep like three times a day to keep all the dust and bugs out of my house, but even this doesn’t help as last night I came home around 9:30 PM to find a BIG ASS scorpion chillin’ at the bottom of my armoire, right near my shoes. I have seen a lot of scorpions in my time, thanks to Girl Scout camp, backpacking trips, and life in the country, but this thing was at least four inches long and even after I beat him down with my hiking boot the tail was still wagging. It’s really hard to sleep well after that.



Where the tarantulas like to hang out

 Speaking of sleeping well, it’s hard to sleep well when you see tarantulas on your wall for five days and then they aren’t there. Where did they go? You know they are still in your house somewhere. I like to sleep with my earplugs in, but sometimes it gets too quiet for me and I have to take one out just to hear the noises creak around and the geckos cry. All the pillows here are of very low quality, so my left shoulder hurts constantly from my old college injury; therefore, I sleep with two crappy pillows and my curvy travel pillow. Sometimes, after a hard day, I fall asleep in my hammock. Those days are my fave.






My "ropero" and side table the carpinter made me



All of my furniture finally arrived. I had the carpenter in town make it, but for days I still didn’t have chairs. So, I rolled into Choluteca to the Maxi Bodega and bought two plastic chairs, then had the taxi bring them back to the bus stop so I could haul them back. Lucky for me, Amanda showed up with a truck and hauled both me, and the chairs, back to Orocuina before I had to climb on top of the bus with my latest purchase. It was time, though, I was tired of sitting on the floor. So, the house is coming together. I still need glasses, sheets, some more towels, and other things, but for now, it’s what I’m calling home.

Giving Thanks

Week of November 26, 2010




"The Stage" in town for the Feria

 This past week has consisted of two things I enjoy a lot in life; Thanksgiving and a feria. A feria is comparable to a town or county fair back home in the States. My town of Orocuina went big this year, with vendors setting up over the past month. The park was taken over by people selling everything from pupusas (yummy cheese filled delights) to plato tipicos full of carne, beans, and tortillas. Everywhere you looked there were beer tents and next door games varying from toss the ring on top of Coca-Cola bottles to shoot the little Army men off the towers. Daily you could hear the man ringing the bell bringing people’s attention to the ice cream and snow cone cart as he walked through town and the last few weeks saw the ferris wheel, merry-go-round and flying swings appear. Over the last week we were blessed with a rodeo, popular bands everyday, nightly dances, and crazy contests up on stage. I enjoyed every minute of it, except for the 4 am wake up calls accompanied by large fireworks and a truck blasting loud speakers announcing the feria’s daily activities. Really, 4 am? Is that necessary every, single day? Some days the town would not have electricity all day in order to conserve for the juegos de mecanicos (rides) later that evening…and those days were long, hot, and often boring. I have gotten quite accustomed to living in a town that has electricity on a regular basis, so to actually pull out a book and read instead of logging online was a new concept in this digital age (even in Honduras).




Mean bull ready to buck at the rodeo


For Thanksgiving I headed to San Marcos de Colon, a town about two hours East, near the Nicaraguan border. It is down in a mountain valley and is a lot cooler; it even has paved streets! Wow! My PCV friend Michelle lives there, and was kind enough to host Thanksgiving dinner for about 20 of us…I will tell you right off the bat. It was one of the best Thanksgiving’s I have ever had. Early in the day I was joined by several other volunteers to present a charla in my town on the cook stove project we are attempting to complete sometime in the next year…and after it started two-and-a-half hours late we were ready to go. (Insert note: Yes, I did work on Thanksgiving. No, I was not happy about it. Yes, I was on time. No, my counterpart was not. Yes, she made fun of me for being on time. No, I was not happy about it. Especially b/c this is an American holiday that I promised to work on and now she’s making fun of me. So is my life). Back to Thanksgiving… the night before I had made a corn casserole, old family recipe passed down from my Aunt Janell. The recipe called for corn starch, which was not available in my town. So, after a quick Google search (thank goodness for the Internet) we find that doubling the flour recipe can subside. Now, several other PCV and I are taking this big corn casserole and all our backpacks on the bus to San Marcos de Colon, where we finally arrive to Michelle’s house. We are greeted by spinach and artichoke dip, homemade hummus, homemade grilled bread and fresh veggies, along with brie cheese topped with cranberries. These are the appetizers.

After several bottles of wine we move on to preparing the rest. Michael, Alicia, and I cut up apples and salad until we have no more tin pans, then we all set the table with candles and tablecloths, where all 20 PCV’s join around and Michelle brings out the champagne basted turkey. It is glowing…literally. It is joined by green beans, homemade stuffing, the corn casserole, homemade mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberries, salad and more. After stuffing our pie holes, we all go around and say what we are grateful for until our plates are cleared and we are licking the tin pans. Then, four pies, one cheesecake and an apple cobbler magically appear. We are all completely stuffed and somehow find a football game on TV. It is truly Thanksgiving, even in Honduras. What a wonderful day. I am so grateful for my friends in the PC and for Honduras to have sold turkey at the Maxi grocery store.

The next morning we all wake up and decide to go get breakfast. There are no leftovers here; with 20 poor PCV there was not a spare bone to be had. So, Michael, Laura and I head to find some desayuno and café con leche. Afterwards, Michael and I walk through the streets of San Marcos de Colon until my camera magically disappears from my side, where it was hooked oh’ so carefully. Five seconds after he and I took a photo. After searching the area for about 10 minutes, people watching us offer to help us “locate” the camera for a reward. Michael and I then know for sure it is gone, so I head to the police station and file a report. This takes a good hour and a half, but is necessary for my insurance. Hence, why there are no photos of the awesome Thanksgiving that was. I am now in the process of filing my insurance claim, which requires me to “fax” something; therefore, I must search for a fax machine in this country that relies so heavily on pre-paid cellular minutes. We will see or vamos ha ver. Seriously, my luck must change soon.

Safety and Security 101

November 15-21, 2010

The only word to describe this past week has been stress. While the beginning of the week started off great, with my recycling team (students from the colegio) all meeting up and collecting recyclable materials in the streets of Orocuina. In only one and a half hours, they collected 25 bags of plastic bottles and aluminum cans! I was so proud of them; especially because it was hot and they were wearing jeans and their colegio uniforms. They were very excited and have set out a plan to meet every week from now until school starts up again in February. (You have to remember that it is “summer” break here now, so anything they do now is strictly volunteer.) They also have all these ideas about turning their recycling into a microempressa (small business) and going on the radio to talk to people every week. I hope their enthusiasm lasts.



People here burn their trash; a bottle that has attempted to be burned



My group with all their bags collected

 Later in the week I spoke with PC and my safety and security advisor about some things that had been going on in my site. I won’t get into too many details, but there was a man in my site who carried out some sexual advances to me that he shouldn’t have. Done, end of story. I probably waited a little too long to contact PC than I should have (five days), b/c I really wasn’t sure how to handle the situation. Finally, I sent a report to my safety and security officer and PC gave me all of the support that I ever needed. They are so awesome when it comes to things like that. After making some changes on my house for better safety and security, I feel so much better and can sleep through the night again. I am so grateful to be part of an organization like PC that steps up and offers support and guidance.



Isla de Amapala

 In the middle of all that, it was also time for our annual safety and security conference! (What a whirlwind week!) All of the southern region volunteers headed out to Amapala, a small island off the southwest coast of Honduras. We enjoyed two days there while our safety and security advisor reinforced the dangers that we can come across while being PCV’s in Honduras. Everywhere NOT TO GO in San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, what to do in case of an emergency (like hurricane, flooding, etc), and then made us take a quiz just to be sure we were listening. During this time we also got to meet our new Country Director, who is very supportive and open. She listened to all of our questions and concerns throughout the whole day and took the time to get to know us all. I haven’t had a boss like that in many, many years, so I am really looking forward to her being in Honduras. Amapala was really enjoyable and I got to see all my PC friends that live in the “South” but are still hours and hours away from me. It was a nice couple of days, even if it was to scare the bee-jeezus out of us so we don’t get robbed and assaulted.

Southern PCV's and our new Country Director



Isla de Amapala



Proyecto Reciclaje & Life 101

Week of November 14, 2010
This week has been extremely busy! As I was walking down the street the other day I realized that I have been working everyday for three weeks, haven’t had a single day off just to take a nap or listen to the chickens squawk. But then I thought, I am okay with that. After not having an “office job” for the last two years, I am totally re-energized and ready to take over the world again. Maybe everyone should have the opportunity to take off a few years and the world would be a much better productive workforce.
PROYECTO RECICLAJE



Orlin receives a large donation of sacos in the community

 First off, my recycling project has taken off like crazy. The energy has caught on like wildfire and people all over town are supporting it! I am so grateful that I have found a project in which both I enjoy and the people of the town enjoy. Since first showing the documentary put together by (Chad), another volunteer, two weeks ago, I have shown the documentary two more times. The students would follow me in the streets or shout at me through the calles (street) and say “Tomorrow is the pelicula, right Jen?” I was astonished that they were so excited. Each time I showed it, there were at least 30 students there. At times they seemed bored and texted on their phones, but they are high school students after all, and it doesn’t matter what country you are in, some students are all the same. So, after showing the documentary, the science teachers really jumped on board with the project as well. They asked students to volunteer for cleaning up the streets (tomorrow) this upcoming Monday, and begin the process of collecting the recyclable materials, as well as making Orocuina a cleaner and nicer place to live. Since school ended last Friday, I was amazed that any students said they would show up…I mean, it is “summer” break here and all. But, they are supposedly showing up tomorrow and we are beginning the process of cleaning the streets. Meanwhile, the student government was in charge of collecting the sacos (large white sacks that they also use to hold rice, beans, and other products here). This could be difficult since you are “fundraising” (especially in an already poor area). So, last Saturday (again, on a weekend), I set out with a couple of high school kids in the afternoon and went business to business to ask for donation of sacks, money to buy the sacks, or for them to begin holding their plastic bottles or aluminum cans for us. In one hour we collected 50 sacks! Wow! I was totally amazed, I am not going to lie. Then, three days later, the President of the Student Government showed up and handed me L50 to buy more sacks that another business had given him. This meant that we were up to 60 sacks. I must tell you that when we set out, (Orlin) the President held his head real low and could barely speak to the business owners. I told him he must stand up tall and present himself with confidence…it was difficult at first (not to mention he walks at a snails pace and what could have taken 30 minutes for me alone took 2 hours)…and three days later he is soliciting businesses by himself. I was very proud! This past week I also worked with another student, Carlos, to design a brochure that we will pass out door to door informing local residents of the benefits of recycling, as well as how our program works. Carlos and I spent an hour designing the logo, but I am a total moron when it comes to the computer and graphic design, so finally he said “Can you email it to me and I’ll fix it.” I mean, really…so sad when the colegio kid in Honduras knows more about graphic design than the PCV. However, it is their project anyway, and they are supposed to be taking the lead, I just oversee them. “Teach a man to fish…” you know…that way they will survive after I leave. Finally, this morning (Sunday) I got up bright and early at 5:40 am, after only five hours of sleep, to head to the radio station and discuss the whole recycling project. From 6-7 am I talked about the benefits and how everyone should join up tomorrow and how if I see them throwing their trash out of the bus one more time I am going to make the bus driver stop the bus and have them get out and go pick up their trash (this is a whole ‘nother part of the project, but the DJ seemed to like it and maybe we can implement it!). Tomorrow the TV station is supposed to come and cover our cleaning up of the streets, next week the Municipality and I are going to work on writing a letter to such business as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Yummies, etc and asking them to donate the recycling bins for the park and streets. I contacted Coca-Cola, but they referred me back to Coca-Cola Latin America, which hasn’t responded yet. I have a feeling that the recycling bin process is going to take a while.

STOVE PROJECT

The cook stove project is still going strong. Amanda just got back from an awesome conference in the USA where she made some contacts with universities there that are working on similar projects. On November 23 we are holding an “information” session for women’s groups here in our areas to see how many (and what kind) are interested in building the cook stoves. Two other PCV’s that live nearby are coming, and two NGO’s have been invited, as well as the Centro de Salud, to discuss the health benefits. Over the next few weeks I’ll be working on putting the PowerPoint presentation together. (Because that’s how we do here).

WWSP-JARDIN DE KINDER

So, on Friday it was the last day of school for my kinder here in Honduras. I spent the morning in class with them and Maestra Reina shared another project with me to send to my class at Vandora Springs Elementary in Garner, NC. In order to get some more cross-cultural experience out of the program, she shared the Honduras flag and national anthem (which I know the words to, thanks to having to learn them for our swearing in ceremony). The little kids learned how to draw the flag and the stars, learned what the colors are for (blue is for the water that flows through Honduras, in case you were wondering) and then they sang the first chorus of the anthem (which really, could stop there…it is SO long). I have now set up a YouTube account for all my PC adventures and you can click here to see the cuties singing. Afterwards everyone enjoyed awesome cupcakes, but not me, b/c I am back on my high protein, P90X diet plan!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_yFcsxIk6o
Here is the video of my WWSP kids singing the "Tu Bandera" National Anthem.NEW HOUSE



Have you joined my "Wall of the World?"

 I have been in my new house for about two weeks now. It is awesome and my quality of life has done a complete turn around. There are no crazy people yelling all the time, it is completely silent and I can practice yoga to find peace all I want. Which I need from all the critters that took up residence in my house during the previous PCV’s departure and my moving in. In the past two weeks I have swept away two dead rats, killed two tarantulas (with a third looming above my door each night…I see him, I think he’s the daddy), had maggots take over my trash (most likely my fault, but that WON’T happen again), had a bat fly way too close to my head while outside, an AMPLE amount of roaches that needed to die, Daddy Long Legs making one too many “casas” anywhere they please, lots of other little bugs I don’t know the names to (some with green eyes that light up at night, not to be confused with lightning bugs), fleas, and finally either rabbits or cats were seen darting across my yard last night and left me a little poopey surprise on my back patio. So, in order to COMBAT the other side of life, I did what any reasonable woman would do; I had my flip flop kill as many spiders/roaches/bugs as possible, then I busted out the broom and took out all the casas de aranas (spider webs) as possible before purchasing the biggest/baddest/most expensive can of bug spray that could be found in this country. Of course it wasn’t anywhere near my house, but the travel was worth it and once arriving back home, I put on my face mask (note, scarf wrapped up), then went to town and bug bombed my whole place. Since then, I have only seen one roach and he tried to climb up all the walls, only to be D-E-N-I-E-D and ran around in circles until I got tired of seeing him do that, so I killed him with my flip flop. Adios, sucker. Don’t come back to the Casa de Jen.



What I ended up buying; it is working so far





Just to be on the safe side I almost bought these too, until I learned you couldn't use them with the spray

 Slowly and surely, my house is also coming together. I will send more photos next week, when I have the rest of my furniture. The local carpenter is making furniture for me, b/c I figured if I was going to live here for two years, I might as well have nice stuff, and not just plastic crap that would fall apart as soon as someone set in it. So, for like $150 he is making me an armoire, a large dining table, a small nightstand, and two bookshelves. And, these are NICE things, too. I figured I could eat beans and oatmeal for a month, to have nice furniture, which I can sell when I leave, or give to a needy family/NGO. My “Map of the World” is coming along nicely. Many thanks to everyone who has sent in photos! On the other wall, I have put up all the cards and postcards people have sent and on another wall I am currently making a Christmas tree (out of traced hands and green paper). This week I also bought a nightlite, but not just any ordinary nightlite, I bought a Virgin Mary nightlite. Why? You ask. Because, that is the only nightlites they sell in this country. My house is so dark at night and with all the little critters that like to take up space in my vicinity, I want to be prepared when I wake up to go to the bathroom. But, I totally got ripped off b/c while you can buy one for only $1 at the Dollar Tree, here I had to pay a whopping $1.50 at the MaxiBodega (AKA Super-Walmart). She shines bright though and I haven’t seen any spiders since.



My armoire coming together



FOR FUN



Me &Amanda ready for a night out in Orocuina!

 Hmmmm….I haven’t really had time to have fun lately, b/c I have been so busy with work! But, the feria is coming to town! That is like the county fair back home and each town has one here. They have been setting up for over a month. Last night there was a big dance here in town to elect the new “reina” or queen. So, Amanda and I got all dressed up and headed over. We already stick out in town as the two gringas, but we really stick out when we go to a Honduran dance, which resembles a Junior High event, with all the boys on one side and the girls on the other (and a bar thrown up). We don’t drink b/c women who drink in public in Honduras are considered whores/sluts/worse, so we enter and immediately see everyone we know in town. After hugging and kissing on the cheek, we are ushered in front of the seven girls vying for reina this evening. Our friend tells us immediately to vote for #7, so that’s what we do. Sorry to the other girls, I didn’t even have a chance to see you. But, at least I did know #7. It wasn’t like I voted BLIND. You write your number on the back of a ticket and pop it in a box. By now it is 10:30 pm and they were supposed to start the crowning an hour ago. Amanda and I take a seat next to the wall (as to avoid being asked to dance by every man here). But, within five minutes I already have two dance proposals. Despues, despues, I say (later, later). Later turns out to be 10:35 pm and Amanda and I dance for an hour, until I see some guy getting a little too close to her, so I take her arm and we dance together. Then, we take a seat until the punta comes on and some guy pulls me back on the dance floor. If you’ve never seen the punta, it looks like this:

Insert video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZV14BUkFVs
REALLY GOOD GIRLS DANCING PUNTA

Even with all my M-A-D dance skills, I can not master the punta. I have been trying for five months and it ain’t working. Now it is midnight and I have to be on the radio in six hours, the music is going strong and the crowning of the reina is nowhere in site. Sorry, but I have to call it a night.



Casting my vote, but I don't know who won since I had to go home early for the radio the next day



All my local friends (2 of them own the Chinese restaurant)



We are probably dancing to Lady Gaga/Justin Bieber/Julio Iglesias

 HOW I ACCIDENTALLY WENT TO CHURCH INSTEAD OF A JUNTA DIRECTIVA MEETING

This is why I shouldn’t work on the weekends, I have decided. Yesterday, (Saturday), I was doing my duty as a PCV to investigate an aldea nearby and whether or not they should get a PCV to live in their town. They have been interested for some time in a business volunteer, so I have been meeting with them and giving them the papers to fill out. This has been a long process, b/c they cancel a lot of meetings (five to be exact) and what could take two days in the states has taken me five weeks. So, anyway, yesterday I was supposed to go meet with the junta directiva (or city council type people). I hop on the bus and go the 15 minutes to the next aldea, where I arrive at the supposed location 20 minutes early. I go into the building and only find one person so I ask him if the meeting is still in the salon. He tells me “Oh, no the meeting is over in the other salon, at the Centro de Salud.” I think there is something a little weird about this, but maybe I just wrote it down wrong. I go over to the Centro de Salud and meet up with a group of other people. They are sitting around waiting and at 3:00 pm a large group of people show up. I still don’t see the main person I am supposed to meet, so I call him and he tells me he’s not coming b/c he’s sick. (Of course he is! And, now I’m upset b/c 1. I didn’t want to work today b/c it’s Saturday and I’ve been working everyday 2. This project is taking up WAY too much of my time 3. He could have called to tell me he was sick before I came all the way up here) So, I ask him if his wife can bring me the information and he says yes. In the meantime I figure I’ll go to the meeting since I’m here. So, I go inside and take a seat where I can exit early (b/c this meeting could go for hours, let’s be serious). Next thing I know the lady in charge asks us to pray, then she starts the computer up with some music and people singing about God and how happy we should be for him. After the song she prays again, then more music then the word “Evangelical” comes across the screen and I realize I am at church, not a junta directive meeting. Now, I am outta here. Because as cool as it might seem that I would stay for a meeting where the guy I am supposed to meet isn’t even here, I am not staying for church. This is probably backfire for me buying the Virgin Mary nightlite when I’m not even Catholic.

I exit as swift as possible, don’t look back, go to the guy’s house and take the papers from him as fast as possible. Then, I walk the hour and a half back home.

EXERCISE AND LIFE IN GENERAL

I am really enjoying life in Honduras right now. With moving into my own place, I have found a much more peaceful and calming life, both professionally and personally. It is so enjoyable to cook for myself in a kitchen where people aren’t looking right over my shoulder telling me I’m not cooking it correctly (b/c there isn’t a pound of margarine or sugar inside). Seriously, Paula Dean would be SO popular in this country. My projects have started moving along and I have become a fixture in the community. I am welcomed into people’s home and when they see me on the street they know my name. It varies from “Jenn” to “Yen” to “Jenny” but for the most part they keep it straight. The weight I gained in FBT has begun to disappear; I work out everyday again b/c I have my own space in my house and a great back patio for practicing yoga and cardio. Between high-impact workouts/P90X/hot yoga, I am beginning to feel like my old self again. I have been trying out all kinds of new recipes with the local foods and recipes I pulled out of Women’s Health (like watermelon-cucumber salsa and baked bananas!). The mail and packages I get from you guy’s keeps my spirits super high! The lady’s at the post office say “We never seen anyone get so much mail!” I just laugh and say “I have some amazing friends back home!” I have been very blessed not to be sick recently and am just enjoying life and what the PC has brought my way. Hope you all are doing well, too!


Wonderful care package from my Phi Mu Sis Deanna; LOVE the loofah and Febreeze!!!



Home Sweet Home: Where the Bats Fly and the Rats Roam

November 1-5, 2010

Mail day; the cards/letters/packages make my whole week!

 This week has been nothing short of interesting! After landing back in Choluteca Monday morning from my whirlwind week, I jumped off the bus and walked to the post office where I found a great big packages waiting for me from my friends Fiona and Jason and my mom! Added to a couple of letters from my Meemaw and friends Kris, and D’Ann made my whole long trip worth it! Whenever you receive a package in Honduras, you must pay a fee, so I paid my L40 and thanked Ana, the nice lady that works at the post office. Then I took off with my package, and two backpacks into the central market area where my new bed was waiting. (Today is the day I am moving out of my host family’s house!) I walked in looking like a smelly backpacker, and the guys started laughing as they asked if I was ready for my “nueva cama.” I went to point out the one I had reserved, when they pointed out that the larger “matrimonial” (queen size) was L1,000 cheaper than the “soltero” I had reserved. I told them I would take it. This is how the conversation followed:

Them: But aren’t you soltero? (Which, first just sounds mean and makes anyone want to run off and find a willing partner get hitched in Vegas as fast as possible.)

Me: Yeah, but the matrimonial bed is cheaper.

Them: But, you are soltero. You don’t need the bigger bed.

Me: Just pack it up, okay?

Them: You need a companero?

Me: (Insert loud laughter) No, thanks. Just pack it up.





Small cochon for visitors, or right now my couch

 After sorting out why I don’t need to pay L1,000 more for a smaller bed, I also take a small cochon (mattress), for any guests I will be having and call it a day. I have now spent L3,000 of the L5,000 that PC gives me to furnish my place, and all I’ve bought is a bed and a floor mattress. I start looking around at fridges, to which I find none that are used and all the small, mini-bar one’s priced above L5,000. How am I supposed to afford this? PC frowns on you supplementing your income from the States, they want you to live like the locals. But, all the locals I know have a refrigerator. Finally, I pick one and ask if they have a credit plan. He says yes and after asking me three times what PC is, I finally convince him that I’m legit and am not going to run away to the USA with this refrigerator. I even show him my residency card and he still doesn’t believe that my only boss is in Tegucigalpa. After promising to come back on the first of every month for five months to pay off this fridge, he says yes and I sign a credit form, which I haven’t had to do since I was 21. If I only had money left to fill the fridge up with food…



Keeping up on my gossip and NEW LIP GLOSS! Thanks Jason & Fiona!

 Finally, the guys pack up the little pick-up truck with all my things and three of us fit in the front cab, along with my backpacks and postal mail. We take off for the hour ride up to Orocuina. Once we arrive, I see that my new house has all the security upgrades needed for PC, including an awesome bright red door and chicken wire type stuff outside of my windows, in between the bars. The only problem is I don’t have the keys to the new door. So, I take off running across town and find my friend who is in his pick up truck taking off…I run after the truck and he has to cut his string keychain to give me the keys. Keys go spilling all over. He starts laughing, so I do too, even though I feel bad that keys are all over. I say a quick goodbye and take off running again where I open the door and the guys bring in my three items of furniture. They are then kind enough the bring a stove over from my friend Wilmer’s house; he has GIVEN me his stove, which is a huge gift here! Most PCV’s cook on a little two burner stove, but I have a big real stove! I am so excited.

The stove in question

I continue to move my stuff back and forth from my host family’s house all day, which is difficult b/c they only live four houses down, so mainly I just lug what I can carry in my arms. When all is settled, I sit down to cook a meal and my stove doesn’t work. I am so tired, I eat a Cliff Bar and call it a night. When I wake up, it’s time to get busy b/c another PCV is visiting me today and working with me to present a recycling charla. He has done some great work here in Honduras to promote recycling through schools and I hope to continue the program in Orocuina. Once he gets here, I show him around town before we have lunch and head over to the colegio. After setting everything up, we are joined by about 20 students and two teachers, plus the President of the Padres de los Ninos, which is like the PTA here and a couple other people from local NGO’s. Chad shows his documentary on recycling in Honduras, passes out little pieces of plastic which used to be bottles and cans, and then we gauge the interest of the students. They tell me that they’d like to make it a competition with the schools nearby, and I think it’s a great idea! The more motivation, the better! After the presentation, three students come up to me and tell me they want to get started right away and would like to go around on Saturday to solicit sacks from local businesses. I am super excited that they are so enthused about the program. Here is a little bit about how the recycling program will work: the students will need to solicit large sacks, then they will go around town collecting the bottles/cans/plastic/cardboard from the streets, businesses, houses and place the items in their sacks. Next, we will sort them at the schools and find someone who goes to Choluteca a couple times a week so that we can sell the items to a recycling buyer. He will pay us a cut and the kids will get to use the money for school projects (they can decide what they want). In the meantime, I hope to apply for a grant so that the students/town have their own compactor in order to cut out that middle man buyer. If we compact our own stuff, then we only have to take the stuff to Teguz a couple times a week. We will need to seek out a local person who goes to Teguz a lot for this, too. I emailed several corporations this past week (Coca-Cola, Pepsi) to see if they are interested in donating the recycling bins, b/c they have a program to work with the bins, but I am not sure if it’s international. So, we will see. This is the beginning of the program.

Before Chad left, we were also able to meet with a man in Choluteca who builds the compactors. Using him would be ideal, since he is only 30 minutes from me. He seems to have a good business in building large machinery, so I think some other PCV who already have their grants underway are going to use him and if it works out, then I will too.



Why I need furniture-all my stuff sits on the floor

 Back at my house, I continued to try and get things situated. After two missed meetings with the carpenter, we were finally able to meet up one afternoon and they measured my house for new furniture. I could live with plastic tables and shelves for my clothes, but I figured if I was going to live here for two years, I might as well have stable tables and bookshelves. Plus, I can put some money back into the local economy. I can always sell it to the next PCV or give it to a local NGO when I leave. The electrician came to check out my stove, too, and found that it was working, but the electric lines weren’t! So, he ended up having to re-connect the whole electric lineage for my new stove. Finally, after an hour, he had it all figured out and I was able to cook, but not until I cleaned a dead mouse out of my stove. (Thanks, Wilmer for the free stove, but now I know why!)…





Dead rat #1



Remnants of Dead Rat #2

 Yes, Thursday my house was a little stinky. This was also the day that my safety and security advisor decided to come and visit. (In the middle of my busy week). He walked into my house and immediately said “You have a dead rat.” I said “I know! But, I don’t know where it is.” Well, it turned out that I had TWO dead rats, not just one! After moving the stove outside so it didn’t stink anymore, I woke up Friday morning to SMELL, SMELL, SMELL. I went outside and into my bathroom, where I closed the door and let out a blood curling scream. There was a dead rat waiting for me behind my door, right next to my toilet. I mean, THANK GOD that he was dead, b/c as brave as I am, I don’t think I could deal with a live rat. After composing myself I took the broom and swept him away, fearing the whole time he would revive himself and kill me. Later, when the electrician came, I made him take the stove apart to find the dead rat inside the stove. There were plenty of remnants of him…lots of free fur flying around at the bottom. After taking the stove apart, he didn’t find anything and then replied to me “But, he is dead anyway.” Yes, but I don’t want to cook in a stove with a dead rat up on the side! After cleaning out the whole stove and making sure there were no more critters in there, I took the Asistine (Lysol type stuff) and shined it up. Then, I began cooking all the healthy meals I have been waiting for since June. Just to make sure I was paying attention, as I cleaned up the house Friday night and walked in from the outside, a bat flew over my head and tried to come inside the door. Another screaming fest later, I slammed the door and decided not to go back outside after dark.



The beginning of my Map of the World

 I am really thankful this week has come to a close. Even though all my stuff is still lying on the floor in boxes or suitcases, it is so peaceful at my house. There are no crazy chickens or loud dogs; I can practice yoga outside on my patio and have really nice neighbors. I started building my “Map of the World” last night and have been including the photos that everyone sent me so far. It makes me feel so good to know I have so many friends and family all over the world who think of me often and love me enough to send a card/letter/package during their busy days. They always seem to come at the right moment. As the weather begins to change where you live, it is still summertime in my country. So, I would love to see you if you have the chance. Happy November!

Santa Rosa de Copan

Sunday, October 24, 2010-October 31, 2010




Playing a dinamica, similar to the Lifesaver/toothpick game

This past week I was fortunate enough to participate in a health conference in Santa Rosa de Copan. The conference was titled “Yo Tambien Merezco” and focused on creating self-esteem/communication skills, as well as HIV/AIDS and abstinence information to 10, 11, and 12 year old boys. I was really excited to get a chance to attend this conference after my time as a board member with Mama’s Kitchen in San Diego, www.mamaskitchen.org who focuses their attention on HIV/AIDS clients. HIV/AIDS is a huge issue is Honduras, and making youth aware is where it all starts. I also thought this would be a great opening for me into the schools and colegios for my upcoming Project Citizen classes, which will start sometime around April.

So, the first thing PC asked me to do was find a counterpart to attend the conference with me. This sounds so much easier then it is. Most people would jump at the chance for an all-expense paid trip to Santa Rosa de Copan, in a nice hotel, and a chance to network with other counterparts from around Honduras. But, not where I live. First, I went to the counterpart I work with in the colegio everyday, on my recycling project, the library we are trying to build, as well as Project Citizen. He wasn’t available to go on those days, but said he knew another teacher that was. So, the three of us sat down and discussed the program and Victor said he’d be really happy to go and what a great opportunity. That was two weeks ago. Two days before we were scheduled to leave for the conference he called me and said he couldn’t go. That was on a Sunday, when no one is out and about for me to bother and talk into coming with me. So, first thing Monday morning I went back to the colegio and my original counterpart and I sat in the director’s office for over an hour discussing the program and why it is so important for the students. She offered another teacher (note: I had to take a male counterpart to this event) and brought him in to the office. The four of us talked for over an hour about the program, its importance and he agreed to go. We sat a time to meet the next day at the bus and all shook hands/kissed cheeks/said goodbye.



Planning our charla from things we have learned

 The next morning, Tuesday: It is 5:00 am and I am on the bus all by myself. I call my counterpart eight times looking for him, but he never answers the phone. I keep going on the bus because I am supposed to meet up with my friend John’s counterpart down in Choluteca, plus it takes 13 hours to get to Santa Rosa de Copan, so we have to leave on time or we’ll never make it in one day. Once in Choluteca I tell the bus driver to let me out at the Blanquita Express terminal, but he says “No, the other bus is a directivo for Tegucigalpa.” I tell him I know, but my friend (John’s counterpart) is at the terminal. He keeps repeating “No, no, this bus is faster” until he takes me where he wants to go and leaves me at the main bus station, where I am standing and Lucy is not. It is then that I call John’s other counterpart and tell her, since I don’t have Lucy’s phone number. It is only 6 am and the two of us trying to figure out where I am and Lucy is and her being the middle-woman is difficult, not to mention I am standing out there with two backpacks while people shout at me “Tegucigalpa! Tegucigalpa!” Finally, I hop on the bus and call Lucy, since I now have her phone number, telling her to be outside of the terminal in two minutes. Once we swing by, the guy thinks that I am getting off of the bus and tries to take my backpack off, but I keep repeating “No, she is coming on!” (Why would I only take the bus three blocks with a large backpack?) Finally, Lucy appears, I am thankful and the two of us continue on to Teguz. About 30 minutes later I call my counterpart again, who finally answers the phone and tells me he decided not to come today. He decided to come tomorrow. I remind him that it is a 13 hour bus ride and he tells me he didn’t know that (even though the colegio director and I discussed this during our hour long meeting), so he tells me he will come the next day but miss part of the conference. I silence my phone and settle in for the three hour trip to Teguz.




Santa Rosa de Copan





Park in Santa Rosa de Copan



Once in Teguz Lucy and I don’t really know where to get off the bus. We have to connect to San Pedro Sula, and she has never been there before (and neither have I). So, I just continue on to the bus terminal, assuming all the buses will connect up. WRONG! We get to the bus terminal and it’s just me and Lucy left on the bus. The guy tells me we were supposed to get off 10 minutes ago, so he circles through the terminal and takes us back to our stop. Super nice of him! On the way he is speaking some kind of Spanish I don’t understand, with a really hard accent….I think maybe it’s just me until he tries to talk to Lucy and she looks at me and rolls her eyes and says “No entiendo.” So, I feel a lot better that native speakers don’t understand everyone either. At the bus terminal, we actually get dropped off a few blocks away and have to walk through the streets of Teguz, in an area I am not too familiar with, but we find the bus really quick. We give the guy our ID’s and grab some coffee while waiting. We are paying for the direct bus to San Pedro Sula, since our PC safety and security director keeps liking to scare me with stories of robbery and assaults on the bus. We are taking the bus that doesn’t stop, therefore, not having the opportunity to pick up any robbers and assaulters on the way, and they also send everyone through a metal detector and screening process before boarding. THIS IS THE BUS I WILL TAKE YOU GUYS ON WHEN YOU COME. Unless, of course you are just looking for a good chicken bus story. After we settle in, there is plenty of room, so we both take our own seat and take a nice long nap. The 4 am wake up call is catching up with us (although, actually I woke up at 4:40 after oversleeping and only had 10 minutes to get ready for the bus…the day started rough). After waking up, I look out the window and see places I have only read about, or know my other PCV friends live in, places like Comoyagua and Siguatepeque. There is even a real “shopping mall” plaza, with a real parking lot and drive through windows for places like Popeye’s Chicken. There are more palm trees the closer we get to SPS and lots of signs of municipal development (federal workers dressed in blue vests working on the roads or constructing new buildings and orange cones leading you from one side of the road to the other). Once in SPS, we get off the bus and grab our bags to connect to another bus for Santa Rosa de Copan. It takes four buses for us to get to our conference, and only one of them is direct. As we walk through the SPS bus terminal, it is very modern, with lots of American stores vying for our attention and dollars. We ask where the busses are for Santa Rosa and everyone keeps trying to sell us tix to Copan Ruinas. When we eventually walk through the right door, we get there five minutes before the bus leaves, so after buying tickets, we pay another L3 to use the bathroom and then take a seat on the bus. The sun is blaring through the windows and we are sweating up a storm. I am really nervous about taking this bus, b/c just last week another PCV was assaulted at knifepoint and all his valuables were stolen (another reason I will take you guys on the direct buses), but I don’t tell Lucy that story, and we just keep on going.

The roads out to Santa Rosa de Copan are in bad shape. There are potholes everywhere and they are super windy. The driver drives extra windy b/c he attempts to avoid every pothole in the road. I don’t know how long it takes to get to Santa Rosa from SPS, but the sun begins to set and headlights take over from where the hot sun once blared through. At times there are two buses side by side on the road, as one tries to pass the other, with another car or motorcycle coming head on towards on of the buses. The bus slows down and takes its original position until it’s clear for them to go again. When we finally pull into Santa Rosa, Lucy and I hop into a taxi where we are overcharged, b/c we have no idea how much it is supposed to cost, but the driver takes us directly to the hotel where our conference is.



Where I will take you when you come to visit

 After being in site for eight weeks, and training for 12 weeks before that, I feel like I have landed at the Hilton Waikiki Beach. The tile is so shiny and the receptionist greets us with a huge smile. The PC director in charge of the conference gives us our room keys and we head upstairs where I find a large suite, complete with microwave and sink (What’s a microwave? I have almost forgot!) and two large rooms. I jump into the shower where the water isn’t exactly hot, but it’s not a bucket, so I am not complaining! Then, Lucy and I head out to meet up with Bryan, another volunteer who lives nearby. We chat over kabobs and rice, with a combination of English and Spanish spliced in. It is really nice to meet other PCV’s from other parts of the country, and share stories and projects. Bryan has a podcast of us PCV’s down in Honduras if you guys want to check it out. I think it’s cool. Go here: http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/la-vida-hondurena/id344379527



First meal out of site; L150 or $7.50

 After dinner, we head back to the hotel, where I get to see my other friends in town for the conference, but I call it an early night after 13 hours of traveling. Crawling into bed, I am so thankful for a real comforter, not surrounded by a mosquito net or covered in scabies. In the middle of the night I wake up totally disoriented and walk into the wall. I have no clue where I am and after taking a few minutes to sit on the edge of the bed, I analyze the situation and remember I am in Santa Rosa for a conference…how fast I forget. On Wednesday morning I called my counterpart bright and early to see if he made it on the bus and needed any help with the directions. He informed me that he wasn’t coming b/c it was 13 hours and just too far to travel. So, here I am at a conference with no counterpart. I was really disappointed after I had worked so hard to find a male counterpart I thought could implement the program. So, after taking time to talk with the health volunteers, I learned that I could go back and implement it with Doctora Carolina from the Centro de Salud. She is so awesome whenever I ask for support, I believe she can be a great asset with this program. So, as the program got underway, I was joined by lots of other friends to learn about creating self-esteem/better communication and HIV/AIDS and abstinence programs for young boys. The health team of PC Honduras did an AMAZING job with the conference. I was blown away by the amount of information I learned and new skills I took away from my three days in Santa Rosa.



Teaching the boys about self-esteem

 The days were packed full of informative sessions, all in Spanish, in which we learned about good/bad forms of communication, why young boys in Honduras try to act with the “machismo” factor, and how 26.5 percent of men between 20-24 say they have had sex before age 15. The numbers are staggering. On Friday we visited a local school to present to the young male audience. My group was given communication, focusing on emotions, how gossip and bad communication can affect people’s feelings, and how good communication can build strong, lasting relationships. For my part, I led the telephone game with the boys giving them three difference sentences and adding more boys into the mix each time. Just like in the States, the sentences were skewed when all was said and done. I also had a part where I listed forms of good and bad communication on the wall and then they told me why they were good/bad. Some of the words from the manual were really hard for me to read, so I decided to have the boys read out of the manual. That way I could get them involved, and I wouldn’t have to read/speak in Spanish the whole time! Genius, right! I thought so, and apparently so did PC, b/c when they gave the evaluation feedback from our group, they said they really liked it when I brought the boys up in front of class and had them read, or put my arm around them and asked them to give me the answer or talk louder so everyone could here (they said it made the boys feel special). Let me just tell you, that was a little trick called “Jen letting the audience lead the charla for you.” If the audience leads the charla, they are actually doing your presentation for you without knowing it! And, they are speaking YOUR Spanish, and they are LEARNING how to implement the “Yo Merezco Tambien.” All in a good days work!

Throughout the conference we ate A LOT OF FOOD. More food then we ever needed to eat. Everywhere I looked there was cake or some pasta in cream sauce or pancakes in honey. It actually got to be too much; I have gained so much weight that it needs to stop. STOP HONDURAS!!! A general theme throughout the week among all us girls is how much weight we have put on during training and how much we don’t like our bodies right now. It made me feel good to know I am not the only one. Because, I really do not like myself right now. My self-esteem is very low when it comes to myself right now. I don’t like anything about my body and can’t fit in any of the clothes I brought to Honduras. I hate my hair, not b/c it is so short, but b/c it makes my face look even more round and plump. I can not wait to move into my house this upcoming week where I can cook for myself every single day and eat healthy and not have people judging my eating habits in my house. Where I can work out with lots of room b/c I will have a house, not a small little room. I have gotten so weak, I tried to do pushups the other day and I could only do five pushups on my knees! I used to be able to do 25 pushups normally! I don’t mean to keep focusing on my body image so much, it is just really depressing to not fit into any of your clothes and to have people call you “little gordita” which means “little fatty” (although it made me fell a lot better that they call my friends that too….sorry guys!) and to just have people shove Coca-Cola’s and fried tacos at you all day long. I didn’t even go to Wendy’s in the USA, but I go here, b/c it’s like I can be “at home” when I go…to know something of the USA. And the unhealthiness continues.




Want some cake?



How about some more?



We aren't done yet!



Still going!!!



Don't forget the MAIN course!

 


Using my "skills" to present to the boys

As the conference came to a close, the leaders put on some music and we danced around. Then, they handed us all diplomas and yes, gave us another big ol’ chocolate cake. I downloaded a “Modern Family” episode and we hooked it up to the projector, being able to watch it on the wall (like a movie) with the loud speakers. It was great, b/c all of us like that show and just for a while we felt like we were back in the States. As I packed up my “Yo Merezco Tambien” manual, I felt energized to go back to my site and work with the youth there. This is such an important message and although I couldn’t see myself talking about it in the States, here it must be implemented. I have already shared the information with Doctora Carolina and she seems excited. Although, it would really be nice to have a male counterpart for some of the tougher questions (we had a male volunteer discuss his role in the program and he said the boys ask questions like “What happens if blood gets on my pee pee?”) I am DEFINITELY not in a role to answer that one! So, thanks PC for the awesome opportunity to attend the conference, it was the bomb!

Enjoying our diplomas after graduating from Yo Merezco Tambien