Trek to Teguc

I went and picked up my internet modem last week and so now I have the internet consistently and  I felt you deserved rapid fire blogs this week.

Last week I was released into the wild, and allowed to travel to Tegucigalpa for the first time since arriving in my site because of a meeting at the office. I first had to take a 6am bus for 10 hours to get back to the capital. This was not as awful as it might sound because after my first 5 hours I met up with my friend and fellow H16er Kyla. The next 5 hours passed much quicker because I actually had someone to talk to, it was great to catch up on everything that has happened in her site.

Since we both live so far away we came in the day before and had a free night. We decided to try and find the cultural hotspots in Tegucigalpa- quite the challenge. For dinner we found a great café called Café Paradiso that was only about a 10 minute walk from the office. There was this great beatnik feel when you walked in. With eccentrically painted walls, bistro tables, jazz music, and portraits of literary masterminds- I felt like I was in some small European town. We ate their version of baguettes with cheese and some sort of cake (we never could quite figure out the flavor). Full of conversation and non-tortilla carbs we turned in for a very early night... I am talking 8:30pm.

On the day of the meeting we had the morning to explore, so we set off to unknown destinations. I felt that the mall would have been a great place to walk around and get some creature comforts from home. But Kyla was a bit more motivated and convinced me to do a bit of wandering in our host country's capital. At first I was a little nervous about just walking wherever in a city our Security Officer had just spent 3 months scaring us about, but she is a very convincing lady. 

We walked towards the city center and stumbled upon a great bookstore. At first we thought that it was a Catholic store but soon found books on evolution, philosophy, poetry, and art. I have been in search of a map of Honduras and was able to find a great detailed map at this gem of a bookstore. After my purchase we decided to walk towards the peach colored church spires we saw in the distance.  We found St. Michael Archangel, a gorgeous and well kept colonial church right near the central square. Our time inside was spent sitting in the pews, looking at the alters and paintings. 

Down in this part of town there are beautiful old buildings that house parliament and the Art Museum.  Kyla and I were super excited about the latter and had to go inside. We paid the L. 30 entrance fee (equivalent to about $1.66) to experience the Honduran artistic voice. The museum held about 10 rooms, filled with modern paintings, sculptures, and artifacts. It took about 45 minutes to tour the whole museum and a definite must see in the city.

As our afternoon was winding down the Brazil v. North Korea game was about to start, so we were searching for a comfortable place to watch. As we got closer and closer to the PC office we spotted a lujo (luxurious) hotel and thought that their bar would definitely be playing the game. After sitting in leather lounge chairs for a few hours and watching Brazil’s first World Cup win, we set off for the meeting.

The meeting was uneventful but interesting to get insight into other project groups current dilemmas. It also let us meet up with experienced Teguc travelers and make plans for our evening. Kyla and I were both craving anything but frijoles and queso, and made sure to find volunteers going to an exotic restaurant. Kat and Liz fit the bill with their plans to go to sushi (!!!). I know what you are thinking- sushi in Central America??- but it was actually a very delicious un-Honduran dinner. I was in heaven sipping saki, eating some tuna and having great conversation. We had a few more drinks and a late night baleada mission, and finally went back to our hotel.

The next morning Kyla, Kat, and I woke up at 5am to watch Honduras play in their first game and to pack for the trip home. At 7:40am we made it to our bus station for our 8am bus, but stilled needed to procure some baleadas for breakfast. We checked in with our bus driver and went with the attendant to buy food a half block away. Feeling very content about getting food before our bus ride, we started walking back to the bus stop. As I was looking up the street I realized there was no longer a bus parked there, but it was driving up the hill and away from us. We immediately set-off running to try and get onto our bus (which had left 15 minutes early) but couldn’t catch it. So we jumped in a cab, with the attendant still with us, and told the driver to catch up to the bus. Because of traffic, construction, and awful Honduran driving we were pushed further and further away from our ride home. At this point I am trying to stay calm, Kyla is nervously laughing, and Kat is more than a little upset with the attendant who is no help. Kat called every office she could trying to get a hold of the driver, but no one seemed to care that we are not on the bus. About 15 minutes outside of Teguc we were 3 cars back from the bus, waving our arms and honking to get the bus to pull over, but were invisible to the driver. Eventually other drivers help us to pull the bus over. We ran up to the bus and finally got on.  Just then the bus the driver turns and says, “So you got your baleadas?” I almost lost it.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful but ended up taking 12 hours. The only good thing about that final ordeal is that it left me pretty content to stay in and/or close to my site for the time being.

"Its never to late too late to be who you might have been." -George Eliot


Every time I worry about what I should be doing in the US I like to think about this quote.


*Thanks night falls and towns become circuit boards

Baile

If you know me well (ok even if you have even met me once for 2 minutes) you know that I love dance. I love to watch it, talk about it, and most of all to learn it. Dance was one of the reasons I was so excited to be placed in a Latin American country. In the US dance is a well respected art form, but is meant for the studio, stage and left to the professionals. I had a weekly plea that my friends to go dancing with me, they occasionally appeased me, especially after a few drinks. But dancing in sweaty bars to 80's music always left me wanting more (do not get me wrong, I do enjoy Journey fist pumping sessions). The techno or pop "bouncing" in nightclubs (you know where you just kind of hop up and down to the beat of the music... don't pretend you don't do that) were fun but always felt so controlled and after a while boring. But, to venture outside of that understood dance would attract stares, circles around you, and creepy people approaching you. 

So when I came down to Honduras I went on a mission to learn all the different dances popular in the country, and my host sister in La Paz was a huge help in this. At nights we would practice Bachata, Merengue, Reggaeton, Salsa, and of course Punta. At first I was quite uptight to shake my hips as fast as I could in front of my host mom, that was until she got up and joined me. It is TOTALLY acceptable for a 4 year old to shimmy and "get low" in front of everyone- actually encouraged. It is literally a 180 from how dancing is beheld in the US and extremely refreshing. Social dancing here is getting into  to the music while moving your whole body to the rhythm. Men and women have grown up dance all the different rhythms and have no shame in trying to imitate their favorite Daddy Yankee music video. I jumped on the band wagon as fast as I could, and am right along side them trying to do a back bend while shaking my hips (it is as difficult as it sounds). To say that I am using my degree in dance would be a bit of an overstatement, but knowing how to move my body has definitely left me more comfortable in social situations with Honduran friends.  

The only problem is now I want to go dancing all of the time- with my family, out at night with my friends, and definitely alone in my room. Thank goodness I have about 2 years to dance my little heart out. 

Note to any future visitors: pack your dancing shoes. 

Life Update

Now that I have had more than 15 minutes to rest in one place I have decided to give you all a recap of my past 100+ days here in Honduras.


Zarabanda- First Phase of Training

This was the first phase of training when we first got in country with all 54 of H16 (my training class). These first few days were very stressful and filled to the brim with information. The normal schedule was daily from 7:30am to 4:30pm, and consisted of language class, CORE classes and some technical training. The CORE sessions were an introduction to rules, regulations, and norms here in Honduras. This time really gives volunteers an advantage that most people traveling into the country do not have, because we learned cultural differences that are not apparent on the surface. For example in Honduras you do not throw anything at people- keys, a ball, a pen- I did try to play 4-Square before I understood this difference, it proved to be a little difficult.

I think that these days were so stressful because you are not only adjusting to life in another country, but also meeting 50 other Americans who are thrown together, trying to develop friendships.

Highlights

1. Cultural Day- One Saturday the facilitators planed a mini tour thorough the cultures of Hondu. It was a chance to sample great food and learn about the different ethnic groups in the country.

2. “Socio Dramas”- a.k.a. when the facilitators would act out ridiculous scenes trying to make dry topics more entertaining.

3. Volunteer Visit- Where all of us lowly trainee’s were released into the wild for four days to shadow the life of a real life volunteer. I went to visit a wonderful health volunteer in La Esperanza, Intibucá and learned more about the life of a volunteer than I could have possible imagined.


La Paz- Field Based Training

Field Based Training is when we divided up into our respective projects- Health, Water and Sanitation, and Business. So the 18 of us health volunteers went to one of the hottest places in the country (only after the South) for 7 weeks. I was very nervous about learning about all the Health Projects, moving in with a new family, being with the same 17 people day in and day out. After all of my fears I actually had a great time in La Paz. My family there was amazing- my sister taught me all of the Honduran dances, my mom got me hooked on a telenovela, and my dad gave me all the free popsicles I could stomach. Along with just being wonderful people they took a great interest in helping me with my Spanish and would force me to practice every night with them. The community there was also very welcoming for how large (relatively) the city is and made it easier to start conversations with people on the street.

Highlights:

1. Going to thermal pools for Semana Santa with all of my aunts and watching Santa Fe perform Maté Gusano. (Side Note- Santa Fe is a very popular band in Honduras whose current hit Maté Gusano -- Kill the Worm -- started the dance with the same name and it is the raunchiest dance I have ever seen… but everyone does it including my 4 years old niece in La Paz).


2. Working on Saturday’s in the Orphanage- Right now there is a wonderful Health Volunteer in La Paz who is doing amazing work with the Hospital and Orphanage- among other places- who extended the opportunity to work with the orphans. Work consisted of carrying roof tiles/ children from an open field to a smaller room. It was far more enjoyable then that sounds!

3. Learning how to dance like a Honduran with my sister. One night out on our front porch, in front of all of the neighbors, my sister grabbed my hips and told me that is where Hondurans dance. We stayed out later than I had been up in 2 months- 11pm- listening to music and practicing all of the rhythms. PS- youtube a dance called the Punta it will illuminate this story for you.

4. Having a party for the orphans. In my language class we decided that we wanted to do a project during our time in class that would allow us to practice speaking as well. So we decided to fundraise to buy the orphans basic hygienic products: toothbrush and paste, shampoo, combs etc. and to give it to them during a party, and because it was a party in Honduras we HAD to make piñatas. Anyway the party was a great time for all of the volunteers and orphans because we also bought plenty of candy and cookies to keep everyone happy.

5. Site Announcements. May 5th was the day that all of the trainees had been looking forward to since first arriving in country. To say that our APCD (basically my boss) liked to build anticipation is an understatement. Every opportunity he had he liked to drop hints but would not respond to follow up questions. So finally at 4pm when we all knew where we were going there was this amazing sense of excitement and relief.

Nueva Ocotepeque-Service

So now I am in my site where I will live for 2 years, until May 2012. It is a really great city, with a population of about 25,000 and is very close to the borders of Guatemala and El Salvador. I also have 2 great site mates who I am very excited about knowing better over these coming months. It has far more amenities than I imagined I would have- like a place to buy peanut butter and a market for super fresh veggies. But with all of those benefits there obviously are some problems, first and foremost when you turn on the tap it looks more like chocolate milk then water you want anywhere near your body. I also (obviously) am still without consistent or reliable internet, which might maybe possibly be remedied soon if I buy a modem in Santa Rosa de Copan.


So, that has been my life in a nutshell while here in Honduras. Now I have to get to the hard stuff… real work.