ONE YEAR in Honduras!

Congratulations, H17! (*What does H-17 mean? Honduras 17, the name of our training group).We've made it one entire year in Honduras.

We all met on June 22nd of last year in Houston, Texas for staging- I remember wondering who would become my friends, who would make it through training, who is going to cause the most drama.... One year later, and these strangers have become my Peace Corps family. So many thanks to all of you for your unconditional support and understanding.

All 57 of us made it through training, and in the past 9/10 months in site, we've lost a some volunteers for various reasons (mostly medical), but we're still going strong! It will be interesting to see how the numbers go as our one year "in site" mark approaches.

On June 23rd, 2010, we left our hotel in Texas and the developed world around 4 or 5am, and started the journey "down south." Landing in the capital city was absolutely horrifying, as the airport is completely surrounded by mountains (only pilots with special training can land in Teguz).

And that was the start of the most bizarre, rewarding, challenging experience of a lifetime. Congratulations everyone, for making it this far! And good luck to ALL volunteers, not just in Honduras- I hope everyone is able to safely complete their service and feel like they've accomplished something (no matter how big or small).

The one with Productivity and Hope!

It has been a really positive week- one of those where you know you’re in the right place, doing the right thing and you actually feel like maybe you’re making a difference. Peace Corps service has its ups and downs, and they say usually optimism and pessimism come in waves. This past week I have been really hopeful about some of my projects, and have felt like I was/am a productive volunteer. Can I get a “yay!” from back home?

My TEAM class (English teaching with teachers) is going really well… those who come are so motivated, and so ready to start teaching to their own classes (they start this coming week). There is an average of 12 who have continued coming, but there is a base of about 8 of them that I can see are truly dedicated, and genuinely excited to learn, and impart what they’re learning on to their students. Who knew before Peace Corps that I would love teaching English, never mind love working with adults! I have a comment box for each class and was reiterating to them that I really appreciate feedback so I can improve the class and one said to me “The best teacher couldn’t teach better than you.” How sweet, though incorrect, but can you believe the confidence she had in me to say that? Anyways, here are a few that made me smile:

“Muchas gracias por todo… Me gusta la manera en que imparte la clase…y la alegria y creatvidad en que lo hace…See you later Miss! Thank You!” (thank you very much for everything.. I like how you give the class… the joy and creativity in how you do it…)

“Lisa, Gracias por su paciencia, eres bondadosa amable y comprensiva.. gracias por tu ensenanza, eres una persona muy especial. Gracias por compartir su saber con nosotros.” (Lisa, thank you for your patience, you are kind, friendly and understanding, thank you for your teaching, you are a very special person. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.)

“Le felicito por su material muy bonito.. Su dinamismo esta excelente.. Me encantan sus clases… Thank you!” (I congratulate you for your beautiful materials… your energy is excellent.. I love your classes)

“Excelente la clase de Ingles, muy motivada… Le felicito! Dios la bendiga!” (Excellent English class, very motivating.. congratulations! God bless you!)

Last week was “receso academico” (academic recess) so there were no classes. When the public schools don’t have classes, for strikes or vacations, that means that the IHNFA kids are there all day (when normally they’d be in their kinder for about 3 hours in the morning). My counterpart, the “nanny”, and I co-taught pre-school together all week- IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! When I say “co-teach” I mean she was there for disciplinary reasons, and assisted me when it was time for the activities… and did the morning prayer to God of course! It was a wonderful week, especially since the numbers were low (we had 10-12/day, when we usually have 20-50)…. We could actually have a class without ripping our hair out.

My site mate, a health volunteer, and I finally started our girls group that we’ve been trying to get off the ground for quite a bit now. 11 girls showed up to our first meeting, and they were sweet as pie… So excited for all the ideas we talked about! The end goal of the group is to do Yo Merezco (the abstinence class), but we are starting with a mix of confidence building/self-esteem fostering activities and community service…. along with fun stuff like games, cooking classes, crafts, the world map project, etc. They seem like great girls, smart too! I have high hopes! When I mentioned the traveling library Peace Corps loaned me and reading stories to the kids at IHNFA some of them got so excited they squealed! Anyways, next week we will vote on a group name... one girl has already proposed "Mujeres en Accion" ("Women in Action") which I LOVE.

Next week I am starting 3 more colgate classes with the teachers who work at the pre-school at IHNFA… and they are going to try and round up the parents so I can have a little chat with them about proper teeth brushing. In a few weeks I am going to more or less start teaching the same TEAM class, but with a group of adolescents at the Youth Center. I am already preparing all of the materials so it will be easy to replicated the classes, and I am including a community service aspect, where instead of teaching once a week with their classes (since they are youth), they will have to do a few “practicas” at IHNFA…. If you didn’t notice, I am trying to get people excited about serving their community! Oh! I also have a training planned for next weekend with a church youth group on job orientation and skills for the workplace. And I am trying to round up the 4th, 5th and 6th grade teachers from one of the schools so we can do a spelling bee! Volunteers around the country and doing local spelling bee’s and the idea is that in a few months they will hold a “national” spelling bee in which each community will send the winner as a representative…. The volunteers are soliciting funds right now so hopefully they will be successful and there will be a national spelling bee in Honduras, a country that desperately needs a reminder of the professionalism and importance of writing well! If the national bee doesn’t work out, if the teachers at this one school want to, I will organize the same process at other schools and we can have our own “Gracias” spelling bee with a representative from each school.

Last weekend, one of my dearest friends from training came to visit! She made the 16 hour journey from her side of the country to mine, and we had a delightful time mosey’ing around Gracias, going to the hot springs, celebrating almost one year in Honduras with our own party complete with sombreros, and just relaxing and watching some FRIENDS dvds. It was the ideal break that I needed from my everyday life. Now it’s time for me to figure out when I will return the favor and make the juggernaut of a trip to her site (juggernaut was my favorite vocab word from high school and I haven’t used it in SO long!)

So needless to say, I’m keeping busy…. I feel pretty good about my service thus far, despite a lot of other challenges (the current safety situation, the HEAT, piropos, emotional stresses, missing my sister’s wedding shower and wedding planning, missing my baby cousin being a baby, etc…). ….I can’t believe I have almost been here a year! Crazy! It’s been quite the ride, and i'm not ready for it to be over, but I am SO ready for my trip home in August (7 weeks!)! Wooo!!!!

Old ladies ROCK!

How a day can turn around.....

Earlier this afternoon, I was walking from one job to another, and nearly got run over by a gross man in a pick up truck. I assume he got so close to me so he could catch a better look, not that I was dressed particularly well nor was I having a good hair day (I’ve stopped trying- good hair days in a tropical climate just don’t exist!). Anyways, crude male attention is NOT something I am use to getting at home, though I am sure it happens, maybe in cities, or to women with minimal clothing, or what have you. And here it’s something that happens several times a day, every day, no matter where I am, what I am wearing, if I’ve showered or not…. But somehow I have not grown accustomed to it (and I don’t think I should, it’s unnecessary and immature). Anyways, needless to say, after my “near death” experience, I was not in a good mood.

But then, at the end of the day, I was leaving the house where I tutor a little boy, and I see my ‘host grandmother’ (one of my counterpart’s mothers) strolling down the street with her friend. She greets me with a big smile, calls me her “amorcita preciosa” (note men, it is ONLY cute when old ladies say it!), and we stroll together, with our arms around each other’s shoulders, all the way to my street.

Such a simple little gesture… but it was all I needed to snap me out of bitterville, and remember again WHY I am here. I am not here to change a culture of cat-calls and disrespect towards women; I am here to give just a little bit of hope for a better future to those who genuinely want to believe in something more.

This picture is of her and I dancing at her granddaughter's birthday party. Sorry to disappoint but I don't have any photos of piropos in action.