Monday, November 30, 2009

random photos

Ok, so I just got this photo, it is of a game called acid river that we did during training. I have the guy on my back, and we are trying to negotiate a 90 degree corner on 2X4s.
An old photo from the baseball tryouts.

A rather blurry picture of my host family. My host Mom is sitting down with her 4 children behind her. By the way, my host mom is a great-great grandmother!
A newer photo of S with some of the baseball kids.
A cool photo I took recently on a topo study.
Cofffee beans in the foreground and baby plants in teh background.





how's it going?

Hello folks, I have internet access today and with my own computer for nothing else! I am just sitting here wondering what to tell you.

Yesterday was the elections in Honduras. We have a president-elect. His name is Pepe Lobo. I am happy to report that nothing happened, there was a little bit of threats that something was going to go down, but nothing happened, or at least nothing was in the newspaper.

Until next time!

Friday, November 27, 2009

what´s up Jill?

Goodness, what have I been doing in the last few weeks? Hmm, not a whole lot. Here are some updates:

The puppy is fat. I was giving her too much food, so she is on a diet (who knows how much food to give a puppy?) She is well into her biting stage, which had better be short lived. T gave her a doll which is a baby in a rat suit (it looks as weird as it sounds) and Seca loves it. She tries to tear it to pieces. I also gave her a water bottle the other day. Not as big of a hit, but she isn’t to the point she can destroy that, so its yet another toy for her.

I taught the people at my work how to do a topo study with the abney level, and we went out and did a practice one. That was a hard hike getting up there. It was 1.5 hours of what felt like straight up, it looked like a waterfall was going down my face, it was such a hot and humid day.

The next week I did a full day on how to design potable water systems. Now, Seca was good all morning, but in the afternoon decided she no longer wanted to behave. While I was talking in front of everyone she wanted to play, and was biting me. Thankfully T showed up to play with her, so I was able to shut her out. Oh, one note about my office; there is a front door and a back door. Before T showed up I tossed Seca out the door and a minute later she was back at my feet. She’s not stupid, she ran around out back!

Other things: It looks like one of the trainings for the next group of trainees will be in my site. My boss came to talk to me and then someone came to try and find host families for the newbies.

Then came THANKSGIVING, otherwise known as I am never doing this alone again. I made a whole lot of food, and it took me a full day of shopping to get everything, mostly because I kept forgetting things. I made chicken instead of turkey- easier to find. I then made corn (one thing that came in a can), baked green beans (no frunions for green bean casserole, mashed potatoes (from real potatoes), stuffing- no stovetop here, vegetable gravy, crescents, and three pies. Why three pies? I had intended two because I was cooking for 10 people minimum, and then had too many apples for two pies, so I improvised a third. That was a lot considering I made them all today, because I got too lazy last night to bake.

At one point I got a little nuts because people were like “I’m hungry!” And I wanted to tell them where… ok, almost lost my PG rating there. Anywho, I got a little annoyed. The food was really good though. I ate with my host family at 2:30pm (a little off from the 1pm time I wanted to have it done), and then reheated everything at 5pm to give it to my coworkers.

So, it’s the next day and my dog almost got me killed. We went and walked a new route and this one “perro bravo” –aggressive dog, comes out barking and charging. I get to her to stay back and as soon as I get this done I hear more barks from behind me. I look and there are three dogs barking like crazy. By the grace of God they were behind a fence. But by the time that I turn back around, two more dogs have appeared and their fangs are awfully large. They stayed a few feet away, but still scared me. Now, at this point there are several people just doing their normal everyday thing. No one stops to even look at these six vicious dogs. Eventually I call out for help and am all but crying on the street. In seconds the dogs go away when someone takes 5 seconds out of their life to make sure I don’t get mauled to death by these dogs. If you have a vicious dog, keep it off the street people!

If you think there are too many puppy stories, I will point out that I could be telling adventures of Jill´s stomach stories, which aren´t nearly as happy.

lets start with pics

There she is, my little girl, who destroyed a posterboard yesterday,

Me working, yes I do work. I was teaching other people how to design water systems. My coworkers were at the computers following along in the instructions.
Ok, not sure how I put two in one place, but here we go. The one on the left is me and Olimpia, our housekeeper. I kept thinking, don´t stand up straight, don´t stand up straight for the picture. She is a typical sized Honduran and sometimes I feel like a giant. The other pic is me and Olimpia´s son, Omar. He is 9 and was excited to help me out. He also likes to help with the puppy.
The food, minus the pies and chicken.
Ok, wine makes everything better. In the grocery store I had debated spending the extra money on wine but it was very much needed after cooking dinner.
My host Mom and I after eating a traditional thanksgiving meal.

Friday, November 20, 2009

puppy updates

Well, this week has had ups and downs withe the puppy. At first I was putting the puppy in a room in my office at night. She cried all night for a few days, than one day she didn't. It turns out she got herself out of the room, and pooped everywhere. Later I shut her in a lockable bathroom. She started to cry less and less, which was good.

For a while there, it was rough. I almost got rid of her.

She is weird, she doesn't like to leave the office. So one day i left her roaming around outside. She did well so I made the decision to let her spend the night outside (there are a lot of protected places for her outside). Then I spent the night worrying what she chew. She did fine.

The funny thing is that she stays with me all the time. So when i am working outside (there is a desk on the patio) she plays by herself, and she steps off the patio and onto the grass to go to the bathroom. But when I work inside (wind plays havoc on loose papers) she sleeps by my feet and goes to the bathroom in the corner. I got to get her better trained on that one.

She is getting good at playing with her toy. She is a puppy and eating everything, or at least trying to eat my pants while I am wearing them.

She is still really shy with people. It is funny, I take her on at least two walks per day. For a little while I did one of the walks without the leash because she really stays that close to me, but she got adventurous this morning , and almost got run over, so now she has to be on a leash. She really doesn't like to leave the office though. I have to carry her out of the door.

Other things in my life: Work is busy, I am helping a friend write a manual on how to train water boards, in every aspect, administration and environmental education, etc. I have some ideas on other projects, which should be starting soon. Life is pretty nice.

Oh, so I calculated it today. I get paid $309 a month. That wont pay rent anywhere in the states. I am considered rich here, for that much, although I think people think I am paid a normal states wage, or something more than $3700 a year. For that little, you don't even have to pay taxes. During my site visit my volunteer told me she made more money in the month of january than the rest of the year combined. I can see how that might be possible.

Take care,

Jill

Monday, November 16, 2009

What have I been up to lately

Ok, in case you haven't looked in for a few days, this is the sixth entry in three days. I have been busy. Here it goes:

The big news is that I bought a dog! I have been wanting one for a while, but had some really bad luck finding a dog, but the other night we were walking down the street, and the house next to a pulperia (corner store) had a mom dog and puppies, so I asked about them. The next morning I went over and bought Seca, my little girl.

Since then I have realized that a dog, especially a puppy, is good practice for kids. You have to clean up poop, and vomit, and listen to them cry. Seca lives in my office because my host mom does not like dogs in the house. Dogs here are not exercised, and thus very frequently take out their extra energy on household items. Anyways, since I live next door to the office I can hear her cry when I leave her. Luckily she is taking less and less time to cry.

This past weekend we all went to a nearby town for a welcome party for the new volunteers in the department. It was a good time. S and I felt bad because we got there Saturday afternoon (we had to wait until practice was over first, since the kids hadn't had practice in three weeks) while everyone else got there Friday afternoon. The new people are really nice. It was a different atmosphere than most PC get-togethers, we spent most of the night playing games.

I did bring my puppy, because I didn't want her locked up all weekend long. She did really well on the buses, she just slept. That night I slept on a thin mattress on the floor, and Seca wanted to play all night long. Most puppies have a lot of energy, or so it seems, maybe its just that she is so young she still needs to sleep all the time. She is two months old by the way, and a german shepard mix.

Until next time my loyal readers!

what have i been up to lately- in pictures

The waterfall (or one of them) at the welcome party.
Me underneath the waterfall, man was that water cold. You can tell that I never wear shorts here, look at those white legs!
My puppy! Her name is Seca. She is adorable if a little bit of a pain in the butt.
Another look at that puppy face. I love it. I definitely did not realize how much work a puppy was though. If a puppy is that much work, how do people have kids?

more pictures

Group at the ruins.
Birds eye view of the ruins
This is a main stair case, each block has a symbol, and it is one of the most wel studied pieces of writing most studied by archeologists.
THis is actually kind of cool, the strip of grass is a sport field, but the "ball" had to stay on the diagonal slabs. There were even dressing rooms for the games.

more pictures

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

more pictures

sitemates do copan ruinas

sitemates do halloween (quailman- from the nickelodeon cartoon Doug, firecracker, zebra)


Kalin and I checking out day of the dead festivites



abbreviated vacation

What a trip. It’s a bit of an adventure, so buckle up and get ready!

Well, I got up at 3:55am to catch a bus to Teguc and get ready. T, S and I were travelling together, and we got ourselves up and out in order to take the 5am bus. We ended up taking a bus that left at 4:30am, it was driving around town looking for passengers, so we took that instead of walking all the way to the bus terminal. The buses got in at about the right time. Now, here is the thing, T and S needed to go get money, but the ATM at the bus terminal in Teguc was not working, so Sara went in search of one. There is a grocery store next to the bus stop, so she went off, and disappeared. She didn’t bring her phone, and T and I are thinking where did she go? Well, that ATM didn’t work as well, so she kept walking, and the bank was not open! There she kept walking. Finally she reached a ATM that worked and came back.

Now, the thing about Tegucigalpa is that there is no one bus terminal. Every bus has its own terminal, which means you have to travel around the city to find the terminal you want. We ended up finding a cheap bus to take to San Pedro Sula (largest City in Honduras as well as its industrial center). While waiting in the terminal (bus didn’t leave for an hour and a half), two more volunteers showed up. We talked to them a bit. Catch this, one of them is from Wayne, Maine, which is not too far from the parents.

Anways, this is where the disaster begins. I get nauseas, and try to sleep to ignore it for a while, but my stomach would not be ignored. I will spare you the details, but those were not the finest 5 hours of my life.

The bus pulls into the station in San Pedro (which is a very convenient one station has it- buses, all type of place). Now, I get off the bus happy to be not moving anymore. I get off with the other volunteers, and once I see that my sitemates have gotten off the bus, I start walking with the guys. Now, this was so hard to walk. I was so out of it, in pain and nauseas and not wanting to walk. At the clear other end of the terminal I feel my purse vibrating. It’s S, and I walked off without getting my bag from the bus. Yep, I walked off without my bag. Good going Jill! Luckily T and S took care of this for me, because I am not sure I could have walked back there. We could have gotten right on another bus, but everyone was nice enough to wait an hour with me in the station before getting on the next bus. This was a disaster. I just wanted to sleep and not be sick. T carried my bag and her bag all the time because it was all I could do just to walk, never mind carry a bag packed for a week and a half.

The hour did me no good. It felt as though someone was wringing my intestines out like squeezing all of the water out of a soaking we shirt. Not cool. I get on the bus and immediately, oh I said you didn’t need to hear all the details. So, that was another awful 4 hour drive. After what felt like a million stops, we get to town. With luck the hotel owner was at the bus station to give us a ride the few blocks to the hotel. We get there and one of the first things we notice is that there is no hot water. Well, T and S really wanted to go out and party, so they took cold showers and left. I stumbled my way downstairs to tell the owners that there was no hot water. Well, I got permission to use another shower. Eventually I fall asleep for the night. The bar everyone at was across the street so I did get to hear most of the music for the night. Oh, so we also discovered the tv didn’t work, as well as the AC, and the fan was the most broke-#$%^ thing you have ever seen.

The next morning things seemed to be better, I could keep water down (always a good thing). We left to get breakfast, and nearly fainted over the prices. In my town I can get lunch for L15, but it was L70 for breakfast. We met up with a bunch of other volunteers and made plans to visit the Mayan Ruins, for which the town is famous.

The Ruins are awesome, I took every chance possible to sit and rest since I was weak and still a little dizzy from not eating (or at least digesting) anything the day before. We were with a group, so we paid for a guide which could explain everything to us. I have a lot of cool pictures, which I will eventually put up. We learned a lot about the Mayans. For instance, the complex we saw had a rain water drainage system. There were human sacrifices and the rich lived separately from the poor.

Later that afternoon I just chilled out getting my bearings again. This was the night of the fabled Halloween party. Now, I had been looking forward to this since before I left for Honduras (which should have been warning enough, since nothing lives up to its reputation here). I had made my own costume; I was going as a firecracker. I went out to dinner with a bunch of friends, a group of whom were dressed as the teenage mutant ninja turtles.

Now, I feel the need to explain one thing here before the rest of the night can make sense. I hate Honduran men. Not all of them, but the vast majority, yes. We have this thing here, which we call piropos. They are essentially catcalls, and are the most annorying thing. Seriously, if I don’t finish my two years here, it will be because I couldn’t take all of the piropos. You have to ignore every sound on the street. You can walk right past your friend, but if it is a male, you just ignore every sound coming out of his mouth and don’t hear him because he is a male. Now, every female volunteer says it will be hard not to ignore all men on the street when they return to the states. They are loud, obnoxious and sometimes very vulgar. They are also every day, many, many times a day. You shouldn’t have to feel ashamed of being a woman, but you get so much crap, you do.

Anyways, Honduran men literally lined the road to the bar to piropo all the gringas. Then what I thought was going to be a Peace Corps party was invaded by Hondurans (see note later). They are just #$%^&*ing annoying. They don’t understand you would rather chop off your damn ears than listen to their #$%^. As you may be able to tell, I am having a problem with the piropos right now. I have reached the limit of what I can take. So, when my fun party was overtaken by teenagers (there were teenagers plus Hondurans tend to look younger than they are) trying to deliberately ruin my night, and since I had been sick, I was not drinking, well, I had an awful night. The second place we went two had awful music, a bad band topped with awful speakers, and then creepy Honduran men lining the walls of the dance floors. Finally at 2am, we left.

The third day I again had health problems, so I stayed in the room while my roommates went horseback riding. I don’t think sitting on top of a horse for three hours would have improved my dizziness. I was jealous. Most people had left this day, and the town was a lot quieter. We switched hotels to one that had less problems.

The next morning I was still dizzy and nauseas, so I went to the doctors (it was finally Monday, so I could do this). She told that it was better to rest than to go to Guatemala (my original plan was to take off for Guatemala afterwards). Well, after getting a shot in my behind, and a few pills, I felt fine and had no health problems during the ride. The ride itself though was interesting.

The first bus was empty until five minutes before we left, at which time it got packed with people. Seriously, each bus has what you call an ayudante, or helper which collects money and helps people on and off. This guy was making people squeeze together, putting five people where there are clearly only four seats. We get a little down the road enter a small town where most people get off. The bus then goes off the main road to go down the town and get more people. We don’t start up again until we are again jammed packed. From there it was relatively quiet until we reach the point where we need to change buses. The ayudante asked us where we were going, and thus we told him we needed a bus to the next town down a fork in the road. As the bus pulls out, he yells out, “THE GRINGAS ARE GOING TO SANTA ROSA.” This was so crazy. About a dozen guys come running up yelling, “Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa.” Then as they lower our bags (T and I are travelling together) the bags start going in different directions. Now, one of the things our safety and security guy always told us in training is that you need to follow your bag in these situations. So, T and I are trying to get our bags and make a decision on which mode of transportation we are going to take.

She needed to use the restroom, so we needed one that wasn’t leaving right away. And dang did we pick the wrong one. We ended up in a busito, which picture a van that has been stripped and a few benches put in it. It was packed with people. The guys behind us were talking about us not realizing we are fluent in Spanish (not that they would have cared, them thinking we didn’t speak Spanish only meant they didn’t try to start a conversation), the thing is literally falling apart, has far too many people in it, and I wasn’t convinced the driver was sober. It was a very scary situation to be in. The driver was nice in a way though, when we hit the desvio (fork in the road) where we needed to take another bus, we asked if we needed to get off there, he told us that he would bring us to the bus terminal to take a bus, but since the bus was passing, he flagged the bus and they pulled over to let us switch rides. The last leg was thankfully uneventful in a bus that appeared to be fully working and well within its capacity levels.

Then we get to town, and since I had been there, we went straight to our friend’s house and she was near the bus terminal waiting for us. Once we met up, we went to walk around the town, and then went to the cemetery actually. It was day of the dead. Well, here there are two days of the dead. The first of November is for children, the second is for adults. Basically from what I have heard and seen they are days to remember loved ones who have died. A lot of people will go to the cemetery to clean up graves, maybe do a little maintenance. It’s a family affair, and not at all sad. The amount of effort that people put in to make the graves look nice is touching. They really care about their loved ones. Kind of picture a New Orleans cemetery though, not just headstones.

For dinner I had some good alfredo chicken pasta. Now, Hondurans normally cook Honduran food well, but that doesn’t translate to other types of food. I was nervous, I’m not going to lie, but it turned out well. Not even well for Honduras, but well for a Mom and Pop restaurant in the states.

The next day (I have no idea what day of the week it was), T and I went to a local village that is famous for its red Lencan pottery. We started walking there hoping to catch a ride in the back of a pick-up. Eventually we did get one, but got to ride in the cab since there was a backseat. This is how most people get around in the aldeas, and is considered a safe form of transportation in most of Honduras.

The village was not what I had expected. There wasn’t a whole lot to do or see in town if you didn’t have someone who knew the place to show you the good stuff. It was pretty. We walked around for a bit, talked to one lady who does a lot of pottery, ate lunch and visited the museum there. One the way back we got another ride in the back of a pick up truck, I got a few videos of how pretty it was, so maybe one day if I get fast enough internet, I can post it.

That night was the first night I have spent alone in Honduras. It was kind of overwhelming and freeing at the same time. I am always here with somebody since I have a host family. To have a place all to myself was like, whoa. I have a lot of advantages because I live with a family, but I realized how much I liked living alone too.

Following morning I was out the door a little after 5am. I wanted to catch the first bus out. The bus ride was uneventful, I couldn’t even attempt to sleep. I literally got in as the bus to Teguc was leaving. No time to stop and eat. The ride to Teguc has two portions, to the main highway and then to Teguc. They are reconstructing the main highway and what was once a 2 hour drive is now 3. I had to flag down a bus in teguc and I realized that my attitude about taxis had changed.

When I first arrived, I was like “There are driving laws!” as we rolled down the road. This time, there was a long line of cars and buses waiting to merge onto another road, and my taxi driver went around them all. That is when I knew I got a good taxi. Rules and traffic laws are now second to how fast I can get from point A to point B.

I get to my bus terminal, and it was 12:30pm, so I was excited, since the buses normally leave on the hour, I could go get me some Burger King before we left. No such luck. The bus leaves when full. We left in 10 minutes. No Burger King for me.

Arriving back in town I just wanted to relax. So, I ate the leftover Halloween candy I had for dinner. Eventually I did wander over to the grocery store. That day I got a piropo that really just made me want to leave. My vacation was supposed to recharge me, but it ended kind of a disaster, so I was more high strung than when I arrived. Enough time has elapsed that I think I am better now. I am still bummed my vacation didn’t quite go as planned, but oh well, things happen. I think I am going to go to the doctor’s a week before my next vacation and be like “check everything out, I want no problems this time.”

long overdue update

Visiting Tegucigalpa

Now, I tend to try and stay out of the capitol, I am a country girl, not a city person. I occasionally have to go in or pass through though, which usually does not make me happy. Yesterday was one such day. Now, through some kind of luck, I found out a missionary friend in the next town was going to Teguc (short for Tegucigalpa) and about at the same time I wanted to leave (T had to go in as well). So, although my town has a ton of buses coming in and out, the buses leaving aren’t really on a schedule, its just about every 20 minutes, but you can never know when one will pass by, just that if you wait, another one will pass. So, although the next town is 18km away, I got to the bus station at 6:15am to make sure I was in the next town by 7am. Well, bus didn’t show up until 6:30am. Problem: The buses make a lot of stops. Even at that early hour there were people going to work and to school. I called the woman to let her know we would be a touch late. Now, with a Honduran, I wouldn’t have done so, which is not to be rude, but the Honduran would have left 30 to 60 minutes late anyhow. It was fine with her though, she understands how the buses work. The ride to Teguc was relaxed, with a bunch of talking in the car.

We get a ride to near where we are going, and get out and get a cab. Now, in this area there are a lot of streets blocked off because it is near the Brazilian Embassy and that is where the ex-President is still hanging out, so we didn’t know if it would be a problem getting around this area or not. Turns out it was fine.

I do what I need to in the office. The fun comes when it is time to leave. I left rather early because I didn’t have anything to do in the office. I got my med appointment done (routine stuff, no health problems) and then talked and cruised the internet. Now, a year ago I could spend an hour online, no problem, but I have accustomed myself to getting on and off fast to pay less (NOTE: this is not said to exclude emails, I don’t mind spending a tiny bit of money to read emails- if its long, I can save it and read later at home). I go outside and catch a cab to my bus. Now, I explained to the guy when negotiating a price (cabs are not paid by the distance or time here, it’s a negotiation process before you actually get in the cab) and tell him the market where most of the buses are. Well, once I agreed on the price, I got in, and then explain I actually want to get out on the other side of the street, because that is where my bus is. He is like the market (where most of the buses leave) and I say the other side of the street: that is where my bus leaves from. Well, we are cruising along, and pass my bus. At this point I figure I am getting dropped off on the side where the market is, and I guess right. The guy was like here: and I answered no, the other side. Then he told me I didn’t tell him that. Apparently he wasn’t listening the three times I said across the street from the market. Then I have to cross this major street filled with crazy Honduran drivers (think Boston drivers on a particularly aggressive day). A ton of cabs slow down thinking me standing on the side of the road means I need a cab. Traffic was just not dying down or creating a small hole for me to run to the median. There was another woman in the median trying to get to my side of the street. Then, these two women just go for it, and I quickly join them thinking that was probably my only chance to cross. Drivers were not so happy to see the three of us jumping into the road while they were trying to speed by.

Well, I go in and buy my ticket from the nice ladies at the bus ticket place. I have a habit of just forking over my ID when asked for my name; it’s just easier that way. My mother clearly didn’t get a good psychic reading saying I needed a latina name before I was born! I try to get on the bus (think very large van more than bus- I travel first class- chicken buses take WAY too long) and these women are just blocking the stairs. Clearly I am trying to get on the bus, but they don’t move their oversized bottoms to get out of my way. Then, once they move out of my way (more because they want to go off and buy something than are being courteous) another woman in their party refuses to let me pass her in the aisle. She told me the seats by her were saved and pointed to a seat with one guy already there. I then pointed out there were empty rows behind her and I preferred those. That got her to move.

Anyways, I ended up getting the shaft on the seat anyways. I wanted a row that had only one seat, and the only one of those left was one that had the wheel hump. Well, I thought, that is not too bad I can just stick my feet in the aisle. NOT. But for some reason a kid (15-20 year old male) decides that instead of taking the remaining seat in the back, he will put down the middle seat in my row which folds down over the aisle, meaning my legs get cramped up on the wheel hump. I therefore start a battle over the arm rest (battle is only in my head). I am now cramped because this kid made a bad decision, so I at least get the arm rest. Eventually I accidently move my arm away from the rest and the kid has fallen asleep with his arm on the rest! At first I am like, whatever. Then he starts sliding in his sleep and his elbow is now an inch or two over the rest. Imagine my long legs up to my chin because of the wheel hump, my bag which has several books in it also taking up what little precious space I have, and now this kid has his elbow in my space. Now, I really did try to be nice. I knew he had just fallen asleep, there were no cruel intentions. But I take up more than 2 cubic feet! I start my battle for the arm rest. After a little shove, the kids elbow moves and he readjusts and I quickly move in to recover the stolen prize. We only had 25 minutes left, and after 5 he moved to a seat that had become available because someone had gotten off. I really did try to be nice.

And, it turns out that my family had papusas (food of the Gods) while I was away. They knew I was going to be away, and had told me the day before that they would instead make them for dinner since I would be gone during the day. They lied. I had to reheat two, which A is not enough, and B is not even close to the goodness of fresh papusas.

That was my day. This is why traveling to the capitol just isn’t a pleasant experience. And I got a ride on the way there which eliminated half of the battle.