Tales from the site:
Things are going well. The celebration ends tomorrow. Later in the summer (that is summer for you, winter for me), we are having another celebration, a fair-like shindig, with rides and everything, or so is the rumor. I am happy about this because with fairs comes papusas (delicious food).
I am writing this while watching the US play Honduras in the world cup qualifying match. Right now they are tied at one a piece. I decided not to go out in the town and watch this game because I didn’t want all the jokes that would go with a gringa watching the game with Catrachos (Hondurans).
Well, a bunch of my friends have received requests on what they would like as care packages. So, being the caring person I am, I’ll provide you with that list without you asking. So, here we go: LETTERS, snickers, m&m’s (all varieties), cooking spices, Gatorade fruit punch drink mix, oyster crackers, q-tips, music cd’s, hand sanitizer, or anything that you think will make me happy. I truly can buy anything I want here, so these are just luxury items, most of which I can buy here. So far I have not had problems with wanting something that I can’t get here. Oh, hair conditioner, they only sell shampoo and conditioner together here, but I like them separate. I am sure I can find this in Teguc, but it’s the one thing I have been wanting and not seeing in my town.
How do you know you are starting to adapt to Honduras?
It’s 76 degrees in my room and I am cold. To be fair it is a very damp 76. I actually have sock on, I only wear socks when I have to wear my work boots.
Good news! My sitemates and I are going to start a baseball team here in town. In the future you will be receiving a lot more news about this. Also, I have made plans to start running here, although I have told them I will only run when I haven’t spent all day trekking around in the mountains. These two activities will get me out more. Although I think I am doing well for being here less than a month.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Sustainable Development
Why am I here? A goal of mine is to be involved in the development of Honduras. Here is a little of what we have discussed as development, and more importantly, sustainable development.
Step 1: What is development?
Process that promotes the dignity of a people and their capacity to improve their own lives.
This joins into the fact that we are not here to do work for people. We are here to work with people, so that when we leave, our information and part of our skills stay here.
Step 2: What is sustainable?
When the community is able to continue on its own without outside support.
There is more to this, because we are working in a new place that may not trust American volunteers, women volunteers, or is rejecting the information for many reasons.
Culturally sustainable- This addresses whether or not this is an outside concept, or if the people can adapt this new method into their lives, their beliefs and traditions.
Politically sustainable- Will this be able to continue after you leave or will there be splits in the group which destroy the effort?
Economically sustainable- Easily understood, will there be enough money to pay for this afterwards, because if the people are forever in need of outside money, the project is not said to be sustainable.
Managerially sustainable- Can the people take charge after you leave? Do they have the knowledge and materials required?
Environmentally sustainable- Will the project destroy the local environment and/or can they continue with the project without using all of their resources?
Step 3: How does this apply to my work?
Unknown. Basically, I cannot pass down all my knowledge, but I will be participating in several trainings that will work to make this more sustainable. The agency I am working with seems to be pretty knowledgeable and is working in these areas.
The hardest area that I have seen so far is the culturally sustainable. People have their own way of doing things. This is true for people everywhere, you will have some people who are willing and want to try new things, and others who insist that their granddaddy’s method is just fine for them. Here we have a problem with deforestation. Don’t worry, eventually I will make a nice little page up with that information. Here, people just clear large tracks of land, and burn the brush. Some areas have a lot of cattle (how did that McDonald’s hamburger taste?) so a lot of land has been cleared for grazing land.
Step 4: How can you be sure this will last?
In general, I have no idea. There is a lot more I can go into here on the importance of community involvement. I wont do that though. My agency works with the juntas de agua, which are the community members, and offers trainings for them, which passes the information down the line.
Step 1: What is development?
Process that promotes the dignity of a people and their capacity to improve their own lives.
This joins into the fact that we are not here to do work for people. We are here to work with people, so that when we leave, our information and part of our skills stay here.
Step 2: What is sustainable?
When the community is able to continue on its own without outside support.
There is more to this, because we are working in a new place that may not trust American volunteers, women volunteers, or is rejecting the information for many reasons.
Culturally sustainable- This addresses whether or not this is an outside concept, or if the people can adapt this new method into their lives, their beliefs and traditions.
Politically sustainable- Will this be able to continue after you leave or will there be splits in the group which destroy the effort?
Economically sustainable- Easily understood, will there be enough money to pay for this afterwards, because if the people are forever in need of outside money, the project is not said to be sustainable.
Managerially sustainable- Can the people take charge after you leave? Do they have the knowledge and materials required?
Environmentally sustainable- Will the project destroy the local environment and/or can they continue with the project without using all of their resources?
Step 3: How does this apply to my work?
Unknown. Basically, I cannot pass down all my knowledge, but I will be participating in several trainings that will work to make this more sustainable. The agency I am working with seems to be pretty knowledgeable and is working in these areas.
The hardest area that I have seen so far is the culturally sustainable. People have their own way of doing things. This is true for people everywhere, you will have some people who are willing and want to try new things, and others who insist that their granddaddy’s method is just fine for them. Here we have a problem with deforestation. Don’t worry, eventually I will make a nice little page up with that information. Here, people just clear large tracks of land, and burn the brush. Some areas have a lot of cattle (how did that McDonald’s hamburger taste?) so a lot of land has been cleared for grazing land.
Step 4: How can you be sure this will last?
In general, I have no idea. There is a lot more I can go into here on the importance of community involvement. I wont do that though. My agency works with the juntas de agua, which are the community members, and offers trainings for them, which passes the information down the line.
two updates in one week!
Hello again folks.
Last night I went back to the 50th celebration. This was a little racier than in past nights. There were a lot of dancers who performed on the stage and it seemed that the requirements were: skirt may not cover all of your butt, tight tops, and most of the time little enthusiasm. At one point it was great though, it was like a Honduran Jerry Springer. The students had set up a talk show style performance where these five women (one was actually a boy in drag) who all were supposedly involved with this man. I think the point was to point out the problems with sleeping around, etc., but it was funny.
Ok, I am watching a tv program, and it is on the only maximum security prison in Alaska. Sorry Kelsey, but I guess I had never pictured Alaska as needing a max security prison, let alone a prison. I guess they have their problems like everyone else. It turns out they got some pretty crazy people up there in the frozen tundra.
Whoa, just had my first fun time in the bank. Apparently you have to carefully sign your checks here. I gave my Mom a check for the rent, and when she went to the bank, she had problems. My signature wasn’t the exact same as my paperwork for the bank. So, I go, wait in the line and the guy was just like the signature is bad. I was like, ok, I get that, but I really need that money since my Mom now wanted cash. But, he just said my signature was bad. So, I ask if I can write myself a check to get the cash, and I stared at the signature on the screen for a while to get the exact right one. It seemed like afterwards, the one thing I didn’t bring was my ATM card, which might have been a good thing there. Hopefully in the future my Mom will accept checks from me so I don’t have to carry around a lot of cash. It’s only a two minute walk from the bank to my house, but still, it’s the principle, a check would be a lot easier for me. Later I talked with her a little and its not a big deal to her. There was a lot of jokes about how picky the banks are here, and I let her know that I never had a problem in the states, so, situation resolved, its now just another learning experience.
So, apparently there was an article in the teguc paper about the swearing in ceremony and I even made to get my pic in the paper. So, if you have extra time in front of a computer, type in Honduras Peace Corps and something like Tegucigalpa or embassy, or the newspaper name is la tribuna. See if you can find a link. I haven’t seen a pic, but someone else in my group grabbed an extra paper the day after swearing in and told me about it, so hopefully I can get my hands on a copy.
Now, speaking of papers, I will take you through a typical Honduras newspaper. In front of me I have the paper for Wednesday June 3.
• Front page:
o Newspaper writer found God during his time as a hostage.
o Sports announcement, the Honduran soccer team will not show fear to the Americans in their upcoming game.
o In the OEA meeting (meeting in Honduras right now that Hilary Clinton attended for a day, meeting of a bunch of north, central and south American countries)
National section:
Money needed for fall elections, teachers not getting paid, 80% of the country prefers democracy of tyrannies and dictators, power is of in a part of the country, there is a major bill coming up for vote soon and so there is a lot about that, we have our first case of human rabies, some arrests were made, more arrests were made, some people wee killed, new cases of the swine flu in Honduras (just to let you know, there is a large system of people looking after the spread of this for us, I am in safe hands, the peace corps is not lying when they say our safety is their top priority). There is an article on reforestation, and how the kids in the city have been taking part in trying to grow more trees in the city. Big article on why the hospital in one town is one of the best in the country. President of Ecuador visited Honduras, there is an international agriculture school here and 200 students from Ecuador attend the school, so he came to say hi. Then several pages on the international conference here.
Entertainment
Announcement of who will represent Honduras in the miss universe competition, lots of crazy pics, announcement for a play
Sports
So, Saturday, Honduras is playing the US in world cup early action. So, there is a lot on this subject, many pages of full color. We take our soccer very seriously down here. Also, a good bit of European soccer league news. Seriously, if you are truly a fan of soccer, you need to learn Spanish, because their newspapers here have way more soccer news than any in the states that I have ever seen.
Society (that’s right, we have a society section)
There is a huge picture of the queen of Spain, with a story of how the Queen travels quite cheaply, like any other person. We have a Miley Cyrus article, small but cute. Little blurb describing an Anne Hathaway video on youtube. A little celeb gossip, even Guy Ritchie can’t escape the Honduran press. Then, lots of pics from around Honduras, wedding announcements, birthday stories complete with several pics, for example Karim Navarro celebrates four years old. Small story with five pics. Bapstism story of one little girl makes the paper too. Memorial announcements make it too, just like in the states.
Classified section (always a winner)
General government announcements, just like in the states. Then comes a section where you can find a house, land, a restaurant, a dog (anyone want a poodle?), jobs section, and then cars for sale.
Advertisements (my favorite part)
So, full page, full color ads are the most expensive in the states, but the papers here are full of them, so here are a few:
1. Appliance store is having a “MEGA” sale with 30, 40, and 50% off
2. Digicel is offering some of their deals (cell phone company)
3. Sears is selling computers, and a $500 laptop when you use your sears card
4. Tigo is offering their deals (another cell phone company)
5. New apartment complex is now renting (by the way, I am only on page 13 right now)
6. VISA/local bank are offering deal that gives you miles, and flying to Miami is only 12,500 points
7. Grocery store is showing off their prices
8. Citibank has credit card deal with miles going on
9. Other miles card plan
10. HSBS is saying they are a safe bank
11. Basking Robins offers a cone for only 19 lempiras (they are also proud to support the Honduras soccer team)
12. ValueCenter is having a tenth anniversary sale
13. Visit Roatan complete with prices for transport and hotel
14. Furniture store is having a sale
15. Tigo is offering a free blackberry for a month if you sign up for their plan
16. Construction company is hiring
17. Some company is advertising some kind of international network, not sure what they do
18. More Digicel
19. Bank is offering discount of credit cards (?)
20. Fast food joint is showing what they got for only 19 lempiras
21. Burger King has a similar add
22. More Digicel
23. Three companies combined to show their support for the Honduran team and to put their name in print
24. The company in the first add has another full page add
25. Another grocery store ad, but apparently there is aunt jemima syrup here, I gotta get me some of that!
26. Finished off with Tigo
Ok, apparently I should have cut myself off at some point. But, count how many full page color ads your Wednesday newspaper has.
Friday (sorry again Brit, but its more food stories)
My stomach right now is very happy. My family made me sandwiches for lunch. A few days ago I asked if I could live her for longer than the two months that are required, and my family asked that I tell them what I do and do not like to eat so that they can prepare things I liked. When they asked me what I ate a lot in the states, I said sandwiches because they are the greatest food on earth. So, we talked a little more about them, and for the last few days they have been very excited to tell me we were going to have sandwiches for lunch today. There was all kinds of worry as to whether we had enough tomatoes and onions. So, today we had them and they were pretty good, way too much sauce (think big mac special sauce) but other than that, not bad. My stomach is like, I recognize this taste, and my tongue is oh so happy right now. I have definitely been lucky to have three great host families during my time here in Honduras.
Last night I went back to the 50th celebration. This was a little racier than in past nights. There were a lot of dancers who performed on the stage and it seemed that the requirements were: skirt may not cover all of your butt, tight tops, and most of the time little enthusiasm. At one point it was great though, it was like a Honduran Jerry Springer. The students had set up a talk show style performance where these five women (one was actually a boy in drag) who all were supposedly involved with this man. I think the point was to point out the problems with sleeping around, etc., but it was funny.
Ok, I am watching a tv program, and it is on the only maximum security prison in Alaska. Sorry Kelsey, but I guess I had never pictured Alaska as needing a max security prison, let alone a prison. I guess they have their problems like everyone else. It turns out they got some pretty crazy people up there in the frozen tundra.
Whoa, just had my first fun time in the bank. Apparently you have to carefully sign your checks here. I gave my Mom a check for the rent, and when she went to the bank, she had problems. My signature wasn’t the exact same as my paperwork for the bank. So, I go, wait in the line and the guy was just like the signature is bad. I was like, ok, I get that, but I really need that money since my Mom now wanted cash. But, he just said my signature was bad. So, I ask if I can write myself a check to get the cash, and I stared at the signature on the screen for a while to get the exact right one. It seemed like afterwards, the one thing I didn’t bring was my ATM card, which might have been a good thing there. Hopefully in the future my Mom will accept checks from me so I don’t have to carry around a lot of cash. It’s only a two minute walk from the bank to my house, but still, it’s the principle, a check would be a lot easier for me. Later I talked with her a little and its not a big deal to her. There was a lot of jokes about how picky the banks are here, and I let her know that I never had a problem in the states, so, situation resolved, its now just another learning experience.
So, apparently there was an article in the teguc paper about the swearing in ceremony and I even made to get my pic in the paper. So, if you have extra time in front of a computer, type in Honduras Peace Corps and something like Tegucigalpa or embassy, or the newspaper name is la tribuna. See if you can find a link. I haven’t seen a pic, but someone else in my group grabbed an extra paper the day after swearing in and told me about it, so hopefully I can get my hands on a copy.
Now, speaking of papers, I will take you through a typical Honduras newspaper. In front of me I have the paper for Wednesday June 3.
• Front page:
o Newspaper writer found God during his time as a hostage.
o Sports announcement, the Honduran soccer team will not show fear to the Americans in their upcoming game.
o In the OEA meeting (meeting in Honduras right now that Hilary Clinton attended for a day, meeting of a bunch of north, central and south American countries)
National section:
Money needed for fall elections, teachers not getting paid, 80% of the country prefers democracy of tyrannies and dictators, power is of in a part of the country, there is a major bill coming up for vote soon and so there is a lot about that, we have our first case of human rabies, some arrests were made, more arrests were made, some people wee killed, new cases of the swine flu in Honduras (just to let you know, there is a large system of people looking after the spread of this for us, I am in safe hands, the peace corps is not lying when they say our safety is their top priority). There is an article on reforestation, and how the kids in the city have been taking part in trying to grow more trees in the city. Big article on why the hospital in one town is one of the best in the country. President of Ecuador visited Honduras, there is an international agriculture school here and 200 students from Ecuador attend the school, so he came to say hi. Then several pages on the international conference here.
Entertainment
Announcement of who will represent Honduras in the miss universe competition, lots of crazy pics, announcement for a play
Sports
So, Saturday, Honduras is playing the US in world cup early action. So, there is a lot on this subject, many pages of full color. We take our soccer very seriously down here. Also, a good bit of European soccer league news. Seriously, if you are truly a fan of soccer, you need to learn Spanish, because their newspapers here have way more soccer news than any in the states that I have ever seen.
Society (that’s right, we have a society section)
There is a huge picture of the queen of Spain, with a story of how the Queen travels quite cheaply, like any other person. We have a Miley Cyrus article, small but cute. Little blurb describing an Anne Hathaway video on youtube. A little celeb gossip, even Guy Ritchie can’t escape the Honduran press. Then, lots of pics from around Honduras, wedding announcements, birthday stories complete with several pics, for example Karim Navarro celebrates four years old. Small story with five pics. Bapstism story of one little girl makes the paper too. Memorial announcements make it too, just like in the states.
Classified section (always a winner)
General government announcements, just like in the states. Then comes a section where you can find a house, land, a restaurant, a dog (anyone want a poodle?), jobs section, and then cars for sale.
Advertisements (my favorite part)
So, full page, full color ads are the most expensive in the states, but the papers here are full of them, so here are a few:
1. Appliance store is having a “MEGA” sale with 30, 40, and 50% off
2. Digicel is offering some of their deals (cell phone company)
3. Sears is selling computers, and a $500 laptop when you use your sears card
4. Tigo is offering their deals (another cell phone company)
5. New apartment complex is now renting (by the way, I am only on page 13 right now)
6. VISA/local bank are offering deal that gives you miles, and flying to Miami is only 12,500 points
7. Grocery store is showing off their prices
8. Citibank has credit card deal with miles going on
9. Other miles card plan
10. HSBS is saying they are a safe bank
11. Basking Robins offers a cone for only 19 lempiras (they are also proud to support the Honduras soccer team)
12. ValueCenter is having a tenth anniversary sale
13. Visit Roatan complete with prices for transport and hotel
14. Furniture store is having a sale
15. Tigo is offering a free blackberry for a month if you sign up for their plan
16. Construction company is hiring
17. Some company is advertising some kind of international network, not sure what they do
18. More Digicel
19. Bank is offering discount of credit cards (?)
20. Fast food joint is showing what they got for only 19 lempiras
21. Burger King has a similar add
22. More Digicel
23. Three companies combined to show their support for the Honduran team and to put their name in print
24. The company in the first add has another full page add
25. Another grocery store ad, but apparently there is aunt jemima syrup here, I gotta get me some of that!
26. Finished off with Tigo
Ok, apparently I should have cut myself off at some point. But, count how many full page color ads your Wednesday newspaper has.
Friday (sorry again Brit, but its more food stories)
My stomach right now is very happy. My family made me sandwiches for lunch. A few days ago I asked if I could live her for longer than the two months that are required, and my family asked that I tell them what I do and do not like to eat so that they can prepare things I liked. When they asked me what I ate a lot in the states, I said sandwiches because they are the greatest food on earth. So, we talked a little more about them, and for the last few days they have been very excited to tell me we were going to have sandwiches for lunch today. There was all kinds of worry as to whether we had enough tomatoes and onions. So, today we had them and they were pretty good, way too much sauce (think big mac special sauce) but other than that, not bad. My stomach is like, I recognize this taste, and my tongue is oh so happy right now. I have definitely been lucky to have three great host families during my time here in Honduras.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
more pics
This is me in my new house, taken from the camera in my laptop. See the nice hammock, he nice greenery, be jealous.
This is me working on the abney level survey. I know, i look excited. The hat and glasss are a trademark by the way.obviously i found a way to add pics. i checked out a new internet cafe and its like magic
Ok, i recently got this one. this is everyone sleeping on the flight to honduras. 
This is me with my bag leaving pespire. not sure how it got so big, and i have a small duffel bag as well. its a lot of stuff.
This was taken at our despedida (good bye party) and is me with my mom and host brother
My host family in Pespire minus one sister
In the park, recoving after the long walk up the hill to get there, really I have no idea how i did Katahdin because this hike was hard.
Ok, look closely at the tree, you see my whiteness glowing, but my host brother olman is looking through the holes in the trunk. this is in a national forest near my first house.
The training center puppy, we all threatened to dognap this little guy at some point. funny story, at the end of training, all the dogs refused to eat tortillas too!
The head table at swearing in, from left to right, you have luis, the man in charge of training, a woman who represents an organization that is trying to increase small businesses in honduras, the ambassador, trudy the country director and you cannot see him but there is a guy who works with hiv education in honduras
Carlos and myself. Carlos was in charge of wat-san training in pespire.
the whole wat-san group, looking very clean and not sweaty for once
me and the honduran flag at the embassyin the last one there is a pic of a few of us being silly after swearing in
finally, i got the blog online
HOW HAPPY AM I?
Well, right now I am watching what not to wear! It’s in Spanish, so I am getting some new vocabulary. Also, I never realized how fast they talk on this show until I watched it in Spanish. Also, I went to the grocery store earlier, and they had huge bags on snickers minis, which I managed not to buy, but just seeing them made me happy.
My alarm clock and I have quite the battle going on, and I am not sure who is winning the war. The thing has a backlight, so you can see the numbers when there is no light. Well, it is very selective on when it will work. You have to touch it just right to get it to come on, but every time that I think I figure it out, it changes its mind on how it is going to work.
So, I went through the blog today and realized how long the entries look. But the options are write less or write less; which means you don’t get as much info. It’s not really that feasible right now to use the internet more often.
Someone want to do something fantastic for me? I know you do! I get ESPN, and therefore want to know when Roland Garros (French Open Tennis) and Wimbledon will be on ESPN latin America. Not exactly sure what the name is for my espn coverage, but I am sure you can figure it out. Bonus points for those that send me (via email is fine) the schedule for TCM (one of my favorite channels). In fact, email is better because by time I get mail two weeks after it is mailed, then the news and schedules will probably be very old. I could look this up myself but I don’t have a lot of time online. To give you a heads up, I am 90% certain we have dish tv.
School is over and I should be getting my world wise school information soon. World wise schools is a Peace Corps program that connects peace corps volunteers currently serving in their post with schools in the US. It is yet another way to incorporate Peace Corps third goal which is the sharing of other cultures with Americans. The school year in the states is just about over for everyone, but it means I have something to look forward to for the fall.
In case you were wondering, goal one is to provide developing country with trained personal to assist in the training of host country nationals. And number two is to share American culture with the host country, which we do every day by interacting with families, neighbors, etc.
Ok, interesting day. We had an earthquake here in the middle of the night. I woke up and really thought that someone was in my room shaking my bed. Then by time I realized that it might be an earthquake it was over. Only a little major damage done, and none in this area, just woke everyone up. The epicenter was a ways away from here, but apparently people from Mexico to Panama felt it. A 7.1 on the Richter scale, not bad.
This morning we left for the aldeas again. I didn’t sleep well again last night, so I was really tired walking around. Then in the afternoon we went to observe the trainings that some of the people in the NGO (non-governmental organization) are doing. The first one had a really bad attendance rate. The second one was in the middle of nowhere. I mean, whoa, this one had me worried with the conditions of the roads. Apparently I will be going to an aldea farther out than that, whoopee!
Oh, insight that I had and don’t think I’ve told you yet. To me its just weird that everyone knows all about their water systems here. No one in the states does. It’s definitely something to get used to. The people helping us though are the ones involved in the water boards, so that might be it too. Next week I start working for real doing the surveys, so that should be interesting. I had the thought today, you really sure you want me to do that? when someone told me they wanted my advice on where to put the conduction line.
Oh, man, I had so many ideas of what to write today, but yet again, I am at a loss for words. I need to carry around a notebook to write notes down in!
Friday:
It’s just easier for me to write out which day is which. Went back into the field today, I went to get to know a system that I will be reworking. They have a water source and tank, but still have a lot of problems. Friday night and I am watching twister on tv and looking a water system design that a volunteer who was here before me did, I know, I am living it up right. One thing is for sure though: I need to buy a fan, my room has very little air movement, and although it is winter here, its still warm. Very warm.
Weekend:
Saturday morning we went to the community where I will be doing my first topo study. Not really sure if it was worth it or while. I did get to play with a kitten though, which was fun for me and scary for the kitten. The animals here don’t get the lush life of the pets in the states. Most of them are skin and bones.
Sunday I got sick again! Yeah! Ok, that’s enough sarcasm. Stuff happens, and if you have read any of my friends blog, the subject of bowel movements is a common theme, I think I have spared you most of that.
Monday:
Still a little sick. Didn’t start the topo study, but at least now I have time to go do my errands around town (which hopefully include posting this blog).
I am watching the French open right now, it says live. Del Potro is beating Tsonga. Who would have thought that Nadal would be out of the French Open so fast?
No good revelations or thoughts lately, I thought about writing about deforestation and its affects but I am kind of lazy right now. So, you have that to look forward to in the future.
Tuesday:
So, my town is in the middle of its 50th year as a municipality celebration. What they were before that, I have no idea. Anyways, apparently every night there is some kind of celebration and really every school in the area has a night to perform. Last night was a high school in the area. The marching band was definitely the best part. This was not your average high school band. First, they only had drums and bells. Second, they were not nearly as dull as most high school bands. You know the drumline movie? Where they show the marching bands doing crazy stuff? That is the kind of training these kids have received. It was fun to watch. The rest of the night the entertainment was kind of iffy. There were a few lip-singing performances that were kind of awful. Sorry kids, but a little more enthusiasm is needed in your performance. I had to give them credit for trying, but after about 5, I had enough. There were also some kids from the school who performed traditional folk dances.
Food
On another note, my sitemate and I tried some of the local pizza, and that was the first and last experience for that place. It was pretty scetch. First, it was the weird Honduran 1000 island/mayonnaise type sauce, the cheese was really thick, and I think it was special Honduran cheese. Apparently there is someplace else to get pizza in town, so we will try it later. For now we are just happy we are not sick from the pizza.
I kind of feel sorry for you guys, I was reading the blog of a friend the other day and it is crazy funny. Mine just seems really, really dull compared to hers. She had this crazy typical day drawn out, but I just don’t seem to have a typical day, much less one that is funny. I either go to work, or I don’t. Today, I am watching the quarter-finals of Roland Garros. I have a feeling that eventually I will be getting a call asking where I am, but really, I will say I am studying Spanish grammar. This might sound bad, but consider this, it’s the French Open, and I have nothing to do in the office. I made the effort to go in yesterday and I got a “what are you doing here” look. I talked for a few minutes and then left again. Hopefully today is not the day they rescheduled me for the topo study, although they would have already have been here looking for me if that was the case. As another note, the pace of life here is a lot slower. Volunteers don’t do the 8 hour work days. We have a lot of free time, and there is talk about starting a baseball team with the kids in town, so that will become part of my job too. I was talking to a volunteer during training and she said that the day I was talking to her was a busy day for her because she took part of a class in the school in the morning and came to help with our training in the afternoon. I just want to let you know that I am not lazy, just maybe not using my time very efficiently.
For those of you following the World Cup, the US and Honduras play this Saturday. Oh, I also watched NCAA men’s lacrosse the other day. Duke vs Syracuse. Very interesting. Not the kind of thing you expect to be able to see while in the peace corps. And yes, this post is kind of in the posh corps, we all have cell phones, there are internet cafes in almost every town and cable tv is easy to get.
I don’t think I have introduced any Honduran words for a while. So, today we have cheque.
• Cheque- (check-ayh like you have a Minnesotan accent) adv.- cool, good, fine, ok.
When you feel really good you can say chequeleque. Let’s practice:
• How are you? Cheque.
• How are the preparations for the party? Todo cheque.
• So, I am going to pick you up tonight at 7pm for our date? Chequeleque.
To give you an idea of the importance of these words, we were told them the first or second day of training.
Food (sorry Bittany)
Ok, so I am going to give you a Honduran recipe as well.
Boleadas (aka great food)
Ingredients
Flour tortillas – now there is a special type of tortillas that makes boleadas go from good to great, that taste more like pizza crust than tortilla, but use your own judgement here, just make sure they are not too small, anything less than a six inch diameter wont do.
Refried beans, better with homemade, but I guess you can use a quality can type
Cheese, now this one might be hard to replicate, because the type of cheese used here is actually fairly salty, so you will have to be the judge on the type you use.
Optional- chismol and guacamole (always better fresh than in a can- recipes to follow)
Directions
Cook refried beans according to the directions (I suggest adding onion and garlic, but that’s just me). Shred the cheese while cooking.
Heat tortillas- in a griddle is the best method to get the desired consistency.
When both are done, put the beans on one half of the tortilla, sprinkle cheese, guacamole and chismol over the beans. Fold tortilla in half. Enjoy.
Chismol
Chop up onion, tomato, green bell pepper into tiny pieces and mix together. Now, we have what are called especias here (mix of spices) so you will have to decide if you want to add anything here. Garlic and spicy peppers can also be added. Touch of salt to finish it off.
Guacamole
Take an avocado, remove the fruit portion, mash it up, add chopped veggies that you want. (maybe a little salt too).
Now, a true boleada doesn’t have the chismol or guacamole, but I suggest them for those of you who haven’t gotten accustomed to beans every night.
Address:
Ok, the address has changed yet again. I went in to get a post office box with my sitemates. So, check with the parents or give me an email.
Well, right now I am watching what not to wear! It’s in Spanish, so I am getting some new vocabulary. Also, I never realized how fast they talk on this show until I watched it in Spanish. Also, I went to the grocery store earlier, and they had huge bags on snickers minis, which I managed not to buy, but just seeing them made me happy.
My alarm clock and I have quite the battle going on, and I am not sure who is winning the war. The thing has a backlight, so you can see the numbers when there is no light. Well, it is very selective on when it will work. You have to touch it just right to get it to come on, but every time that I think I figure it out, it changes its mind on how it is going to work.
So, I went through the blog today and realized how long the entries look. But the options are write less or write less; which means you don’t get as much info. It’s not really that feasible right now to use the internet more often.
Someone want to do something fantastic for me? I know you do! I get ESPN, and therefore want to know when Roland Garros (French Open Tennis) and Wimbledon will be on ESPN latin America. Not exactly sure what the name is for my espn coverage, but I am sure you can figure it out. Bonus points for those that send me (via email is fine) the schedule for TCM (one of my favorite channels). In fact, email is better because by time I get mail two weeks after it is mailed, then the news and schedules will probably be very old. I could look this up myself but I don’t have a lot of time online. To give you a heads up, I am 90% certain we have dish tv.
School is over and I should be getting my world wise school information soon. World wise schools is a Peace Corps program that connects peace corps volunteers currently serving in their post with schools in the US. It is yet another way to incorporate Peace Corps third goal which is the sharing of other cultures with Americans. The school year in the states is just about over for everyone, but it means I have something to look forward to for the fall.
In case you were wondering, goal one is to provide developing country with trained personal to assist in the training of host country nationals. And number two is to share American culture with the host country, which we do every day by interacting with families, neighbors, etc.
Ok, interesting day. We had an earthquake here in the middle of the night. I woke up and really thought that someone was in my room shaking my bed. Then by time I realized that it might be an earthquake it was over. Only a little major damage done, and none in this area, just woke everyone up. The epicenter was a ways away from here, but apparently people from Mexico to Panama felt it. A 7.1 on the Richter scale, not bad.
This morning we left for the aldeas again. I didn’t sleep well again last night, so I was really tired walking around. Then in the afternoon we went to observe the trainings that some of the people in the NGO (non-governmental organization) are doing. The first one had a really bad attendance rate. The second one was in the middle of nowhere. I mean, whoa, this one had me worried with the conditions of the roads. Apparently I will be going to an aldea farther out than that, whoopee!
Oh, insight that I had and don’t think I’ve told you yet. To me its just weird that everyone knows all about their water systems here. No one in the states does. It’s definitely something to get used to. The people helping us though are the ones involved in the water boards, so that might be it too. Next week I start working for real doing the surveys, so that should be interesting. I had the thought today, you really sure you want me to do that? when someone told me they wanted my advice on where to put the conduction line.
Oh, man, I had so many ideas of what to write today, but yet again, I am at a loss for words. I need to carry around a notebook to write notes down in!
Friday:
It’s just easier for me to write out which day is which. Went back into the field today, I went to get to know a system that I will be reworking. They have a water source and tank, but still have a lot of problems. Friday night and I am watching twister on tv and looking a water system design that a volunteer who was here before me did, I know, I am living it up right. One thing is for sure though: I need to buy a fan, my room has very little air movement, and although it is winter here, its still warm. Very warm.
Weekend:
Saturday morning we went to the community where I will be doing my first topo study. Not really sure if it was worth it or while. I did get to play with a kitten though, which was fun for me and scary for the kitten. The animals here don’t get the lush life of the pets in the states. Most of them are skin and bones.
Sunday I got sick again! Yeah! Ok, that’s enough sarcasm. Stuff happens, and if you have read any of my friends blog, the subject of bowel movements is a common theme, I think I have spared you most of that.
Monday:
Still a little sick. Didn’t start the topo study, but at least now I have time to go do my errands around town (which hopefully include posting this blog).
I am watching the French open right now, it says live. Del Potro is beating Tsonga. Who would have thought that Nadal would be out of the French Open so fast?
No good revelations or thoughts lately, I thought about writing about deforestation and its affects but I am kind of lazy right now. So, you have that to look forward to in the future.
Tuesday:
So, my town is in the middle of its 50th year as a municipality celebration. What they were before that, I have no idea. Anyways, apparently every night there is some kind of celebration and really every school in the area has a night to perform. Last night was a high school in the area. The marching band was definitely the best part. This was not your average high school band. First, they only had drums and bells. Second, they were not nearly as dull as most high school bands. You know the drumline movie? Where they show the marching bands doing crazy stuff? That is the kind of training these kids have received. It was fun to watch. The rest of the night the entertainment was kind of iffy. There were a few lip-singing performances that were kind of awful. Sorry kids, but a little more enthusiasm is needed in your performance. I had to give them credit for trying, but after about 5, I had enough. There were also some kids from the school who performed traditional folk dances.
Food
On another note, my sitemate and I tried some of the local pizza, and that was the first and last experience for that place. It was pretty scetch. First, it was the weird Honduran 1000 island/mayonnaise type sauce, the cheese was really thick, and I think it was special Honduran cheese. Apparently there is someplace else to get pizza in town, so we will try it later. For now we are just happy we are not sick from the pizza.
I kind of feel sorry for you guys, I was reading the blog of a friend the other day and it is crazy funny. Mine just seems really, really dull compared to hers. She had this crazy typical day drawn out, but I just don’t seem to have a typical day, much less one that is funny. I either go to work, or I don’t. Today, I am watching the quarter-finals of Roland Garros. I have a feeling that eventually I will be getting a call asking where I am, but really, I will say I am studying Spanish grammar. This might sound bad, but consider this, it’s the French Open, and I have nothing to do in the office. I made the effort to go in yesterday and I got a “what are you doing here” look. I talked for a few minutes and then left again. Hopefully today is not the day they rescheduled me for the topo study, although they would have already have been here looking for me if that was the case. As another note, the pace of life here is a lot slower. Volunteers don’t do the 8 hour work days. We have a lot of free time, and there is talk about starting a baseball team with the kids in town, so that will become part of my job too. I was talking to a volunteer during training and she said that the day I was talking to her was a busy day for her because she took part of a class in the school in the morning and came to help with our training in the afternoon. I just want to let you know that I am not lazy, just maybe not using my time very efficiently.
For those of you following the World Cup, the US and Honduras play this Saturday. Oh, I also watched NCAA men’s lacrosse the other day. Duke vs Syracuse. Very interesting. Not the kind of thing you expect to be able to see while in the peace corps. And yes, this post is kind of in the posh corps, we all have cell phones, there are internet cafes in almost every town and cable tv is easy to get.
I don’t think I have introduced any Honduran words for a while. So, today we have cheque.
• Cheque- (check-ayh like you have a Minnesotan accent) adv.- cool, good, fine, ok.
When you feel really good you can say chequeleque. Let’s practice:
• How are you? Cheque.
• How are the preparations for the party? Todo cheque.
• So, I am going to pick you up tonight at 7pm for our date? Chequeleque.
To give you an idea of the importance of these words, we were told them the first or second day of training.
Food (sorry Bittany)
Ok, so I am going to give you a Honduran recipe as well.
Boleadas (aka great food)
Ingredients
Flour tortillas – now there is a special type of tortillas that makes boleadas go from good to great, that taste more like pizza crust than tortilla, but use your own judgement here, just make sure they are not too small, anything less than a six inch diameter wont do.
Refried beans, better with homemade, but I guess you can use a quality can type
Cheese, now this one might be hard to replicate, because the type of cheese used here is actually fairly salty, so you will have to be the judge on the type you use.
Optional- chismol and guacamole (always better fresh than in a can- recipes to follow)
Directions
Cook refried beans according to the directions (I suggest adding onion and garlic, but that’s just me). Shred the cheese while cooking.
Heat tortillas- in a griddle is the best method to get the desired consistency.
When both are done, put the beans on one half of the tortilla, sprinkle cheese, guacamole and chismol over the beans. Fold tortilla in half. Enjoy.
Chismol
Chop up onion, tomato, green bell pepper into tiny pieces and mix together. Now, we have what are called especias here (mix of spices) so you will have to decide if you want to add anything here. Garlic and spicy peppers can also be added. Touch of salt to finish it off.
Guacamole
Take an avocado, remove the fruit portion, mash it up, add chopped veggies that you want. (maybe a little salt too).
Now, a true boleada doesn’t have the chismol or guacamole, but I suggest them for those of you who haven’t gotten accustomed to beans every night.
Address:
Ok, the address has changed yet again. I went in to get a post office box with my sitemates. So, check with the parents or give me an email.
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