1 month down, 26 to go!

Hola de Talanga! Last week we got to our Field Based Training sites, settled in with our new host families, and have been super busy with training ever since. Talanga is a pretty big site- there is a park in the center, lots of churches, Ropa Americana stores (where the old clothes you donate end up!), ‘restaurants’, little stores, a few internet places, and lots of schools/kinders (which is probably why Youth Development ended up here). There are cars and busses going down the streets, but just as often you see bulls pulling wagons, people on horses, and random pigs and roosters. As far as Honduran standards/Peace Corps standards, I would say this would be a medium-big sized site for volunteers… however none of us will be placed here… but its good to get an idea of the different community sizes.

So far so good with my host family. My mom is a first grade teacher at a local school, my dad has an agriculture business, my 13 year old host sister Meredel, and my 11 year old host brother Alejandro go to a private school in Teguz, and my 2 year old host sister Norella has finally warmed up to me. There is a woman who comes and watches the 2 year old during the day… I hang out with her when I come back for lunch during the day…. My family has some family in the states too! My host mom’s mom and several of her brothers live in New York, and I think my host dad has family in North Carolina. New York makes sense as a place for people to immigrate to, but I find it funny that SO MANY Hondurans have family in North Carolina…. Seriously, its either Miami, NY, or NC…NC just seems so random.

My host family is also very close with a family down the street (I don’t believe they are related, but my host mom is the God mother of the kids). So as a result I have 3 more host siblings, Anthony (9), Aandy (8) and Clarissa (12). They ALWAYS greet me with big hugs and kisses. My actual host siblings are cool too, they’re just more laid back in the sense that when I come home they great me with words instead of plowing me down with hugs. In this culture, the hug thing is pretty typical, so I was taken aback at first with my host siblings, but I’ve realized they still like me. They’re just more mellow.

We have two perros, Capitan and Preciosa, but they live in the garage L they aren’t welcomed inside the house. I had the same conversation with this host family as I did with my host family in Zarabana about how different a dog’s life is in the States verses here. My host mom said they only have the dogs to “protect the house” and bark if anyone trespasses. I try to sneak them some lovin’ every so often…

IT IS HOT HERE. And we found out the other day that most of the YD sites that we will be assigned to are either equally hot, or hotter. I am going to melt. This is what I get for growing up in New England ahaha. I will miss the seasons so much… especially the fall.

I have two upcoming projects to do over the next 6 weeks. The first one is an individual project (all by myself!) that I have to do as part of my Spanish class. I am going to try and contact a school in a rural aldea (campo), and talk to the teacher so see if I can do some sort of story hour/ puppet making project. My idea is to have a small group of kids, chose a theme with the teacher (health, respect, friendship, etc..), read stories about it, make puppets, and create a skit to present to the rest of the school (it will take place over about 5 weeks). The second project is in groups, as part of our Tech training. My group is assigned to a rural school in a community called El Rosario (where there are 2 teachers for the entire school, 6 grades). This coming week we are going to do a ‘needs assessment’ investigation, and with the teachers, we will figure out what kind of activities they want us to do.

The other, 2 other girls from my Spanish class had independent work time to figure out what we are doing for our projects, and in that time, we went to a kinder (kindergartens are separate from the other schools) to introduce ourselves, and one class was dancing so we jumped in and danced with them for 20 minutes.

There is definitely more of a community feel in this town than in the last one I was in. The other volunteers and I have been inviting our host families to the park to play soccer… the kids LOVE it….

We gave a presentation to the community last week where we presented all the different aspects of the Youth Development Project. We split up each topic (recreation, culture, leadership, healthy lifestyle, working with parents, working with organizations, and working with teachers ) and each presented something. I actually didn’t present a topic, but with Margarita and Stacie, we ran the DINAMICA! What’s a dinamica? It is a vital part of youth development… basically at the beginning of any talk or activity or project you do, you should do a dinamica…. It can be an ice breaker, or silly game, just to get people energized. It was a success… we asked preference questions, making people chose one or the other and go to the side of the room corresponding to their preference (dogs or cats, refried beans or regular beans, private school or public school…) We mixed it up with fun Qs and Qs related to working with youth… it might not sound that exciting but it is… and it was in Spanish… AND as part of it we had people make nametags as they came in! Not just regular nametags, but you had to pick your fav color, write your name (obvi), then your role in YD (desarrollo juvenil, teacher, parent, student), and then an adjective that describes you. They were a hit.

There is another group of Americans in Talanga right now… it’s a church missionary program, called Las Passionistas I believe. There are 5 of them that all live together in a house, and work with the churches here on various projects. I guess they’ve been coming here for a while…. A group comes to do one year of service, August to August. I met one of them today… walking down the street it is an automatic invitation to stop and talk to other Americans…She was super nice, and said two members of the group had just left a bit early so there are 3 of them staying until August.

I can’t believe I have been here one month already…. It’s gone by both fast and slow… the days are long, but the weeks fly. Life is so different, in good ways and bad. While the education system is a mess, people have such strong relationships with family and friends. There aren’t a lot of resources available, but as a result people are more resourceful. A few things do not have positive counterparts- Women are seen as promiscuous/easy/drunks if they drink, and its culturally acceptable for men to cat call and say creepy things to women. Though both of my host moms have had jobs and are strong women, the traditional family roles and the machismo of the culture make it so hard for women to make their own lives for themselves.

I miss liberal Massachusetts, not fighting for my right to opinions because of my sex, strong work ethics and ambition to better oneself, nutella and peanutbutter, and iced coffee. (I cant believe iced coffee doesn’t exist here, just as it didn’t in Spain! In Teguz there is a dunkins somewhere, so maybe one day I will get to go and find it… I just don’t get it.. its SO HOT here…. But allllll they drink is HOT coffee, its good don’t get me wrong, I am in no way complaining about Honduran coffee… I just can’t believe the concept of iced coffee is seemingly only a north American thing).

Thanks for sticking with me if you read all that, and even if you just skimmed I appreciate your interest J Sorry it was a bit lengthy. But I want to take advantage of being close to internet access to update you while I can… who knows where I will be shipped to in September! I hope everyone is doing well, and that you are keeping track of good movies that are coming out.

***THANK YOU AUNTIE RITA FOR YOUR LOVELY PACKAGES!!!! the peanut butter is wonderful, and the craft stuff will be perfect for when i get to my site! thanks! i really appreciate it :)

**** our favorite chant: "COMO ESTAN??" "MUY BIEN" (<--lift your arm to the sky!)

Time for Part 2 of Training!

Hola! Today is our last day of the first part of training. We move tomorrow, to a new town, a couple hours away, for field based training. Youth Development (me!) goes to one town, Municipal Development to another, and Protected Areas Management to another. We will be split up in our groups for 7 weeks, doing more hands on training, then we come back here, and hopefully, if we've met all the qualifications, we get sworn in as official Peace Corps Volunteers.

We got a sheet of paper with information about our new host families. My host mom supposedly is a teacher, i finally will have my first host dad (time to see what the machismo is all about), i have a 13 year old host sister, an 11 year old host brother, and a 2 year old host sister. We supposedly also have to dogs, Capitan and Preciosa. Wish me luck! My family here has been so wonderful... so i am hoping the next one is just as welcoming. (according to the sheet, i will have a real SHOWER!!)

Last week we went on volunteer visits. I went down south to a city called Choluteca, its the biggest site that YD volunteers get sent to, and the girl i visited is leaving in september and will be replaced. I wasnt crazy about how big her site was, but her counterparts were wonderful, and she does some pretty cool stuff. I sat in on her sex ed class with a group of 6th grade girls (i cant wait to do that!), and we did some dental health stuff with preschools. She also teaches teachers how to teach english to their classes. We met other volunteers who live outside of Choluteca for lunch (they were also hosting trainees).... guess where we went.... PIZZA HUT. but no. it was like a 5 star restaurant. there was a host who greeted us at the door, they sold alcohol, served you at your table, and it was the kind of place you dress up to go to! it was bizarre. i didnt tell the Hondurans that Pizza Hut in the states isn't so fancy...

Overall, it was a really good opportunity to get to see what life as a volunteer is like.. of course, everyone has a different experience... you can't really compare...but it answered a lot of my questions.
We have our next interviews with out project managers in a few weeks... they MIGHT ask us if we have a preference for site size or location, but the reality is we will be placed where our skills best fit the community's needs... although at this point, i think i would rather give up some amenities for a smaller site, where everyone will get to know me and help me shoo away any creepers or bolos (drunks).

Last weekend i went to Santa Lucia, a cute little town, with my host cousins. They were excellent tour guides... it was so cute, it reminded me of spain. There was a little library there, and my cousins told me it was the closet one to them ( they said there arent many libraries here), and you cant take out books (as they dont have a lot of them). So you have to go there and stay to read.


Here is one of my roomates, my little Gecko friend.
The first time we met, i freaked out and got my host mom. She laughed at me. I guess he eats the mosquitoes, so i let him stay.

I miss and love you all, thanks for following! I will let you know how the new family is, wish me luck :)
love, lisa

My tummy has realized where i am

4 de julio 2010

To celebrate the 4th of July in Honduras, I washed my clothes in the pila for the first time! It was quite a process, but I think I was successful… we will see how much soap residue is left on my polo shirts once they are all dry…. (UPDATE: FOR THE MOST PART, IT WAS A SUCCESS! but please, when you are using your washing machines, think of my tired arms that spent an hour scrubbing my shirts on a pila).I also took a fun paseo with some of my host aunts and their sister in laws and nieces and nephews… its hard to keep track of who everyone is, and how they are part of the family, but the bottom line is that they are all family. I am beginning to feel like I am as well… I can’t believe I will have to leave them in just 2 weeks! We played an intense game of soccer (with a small, plastic ball, like a wiffle ball but bigger- you use whatever you have here) last night, mujeres verses hombres, of course the women won! Not much thanks to me hahaha but my little chicas here are pretty good!

I am also beginning to understand the lapse in the education system here. As I mentioned before, part of the Youth Development work will be collaborating with host teachers to help find a way to better teach math… I have been helping one of my host cousins with her division homework almost every night… we will make some progress, but then she will go to school, come home, sit down to do her math homework, and be more confused than ever.

My new favorite desert, the chocobanano. Its exactly what it sounds like, a banana dipped in chocolate, frozen and on a stick! Its amazing, absolutely amazing. I am going to start that trend in the States when I come back!

Also, in this picture here is a pair of flower hair clips! One of my trainee, Margaret, has a crafty little host sister, and she makes and sells hair clips! She’s only 12 and has a business, so I bought a pair of pink flowers for 15 lempira!
Its quite common for people to sell things from their house as well… we have neighbors that sell little ice creams, others who sell tortillas, and others who sell distinctly-cooked corn on the cobs! They make a simple sign on paper, saying what they sell and for how much, and you just knock on their door!

Oh, some sad news, Rosita the parrot passed away a few days ago, may she rest in peace.

8 de julio 2010
so my stomach is starting to wonder where i am, finally. it took about 3 weeeks. everythings fine, i talked to the medical officers and everything. not a parasite. hopefully it will pass.

on sunday we leave for our ´volunteer visits´ where we go spend 3 days visiting another volunteer! im slightly skeptical about traveling (we have been getting some intense safety and security sessions), butttt im super excited to shadow a youth development volunteer. stay tuned for an update on that!
we are suppose to come back wendesday, and then wrap up the last week here in Zarabanda before we leave on sunday for Field Based Training for the next 7 weeks.

some project ideas we´ve been talking about for youth development are:

-Yo Merezco, a sex ed program (most host country teachers know it has to be taught but dont want to do it, hence why many volunteers end up implementing this program.. the PC has a manual and everything)
-A colgate dental hygene program
-story hour
-tutoring
-a world map mural project
There is a lot of flexibility within this sector. and we will be getting to site right as the school year is ending, so instead of teacher trainings, we will probably be starting off trying to launch our own projects within the community.

oh, if you think of any light weight, easy and not too expensive to send craft materials... that be awesome! not just yet though! i wont get to my site until september. and a few other things i may add to that wishlist... febreaze, and old navy flip flops for the bucket shower. i may be able to find suitable alternatives so dont buy anything just yet (this last paragraph is mostly for you mom! ;) ...)

Week Two: Not Sick Yet!

Saludos mis amores- todo esta bien en Honduras!

I’ve been spending my days at training, which consists of about 4 hours of Spanish, cultural and peace corps related topics (safety and security, health, regulations and policies…), and the technical component (for me, is Youth Development, but also within our training class we have Municipal Development and Protected Areas Management). We had language interviews last week, and based on that we were placed in small classes; I am “advanced-medium” (in the highest class) which shocked me, and is a bit intimidating but it will actually work out to my advantage because our class, instead of spending the time like a normal class, is going to do “mini projects” during Field Based Training. That means, basically, that we do a community project (like we will be doing as volunteers) which will be such good practice. Also. i have quite a bit of outside homework for right now (current event stuff, investigations, etc).

What is “field based training”? Well, after our three weeks in Zarabanda are over, we move to a different community, with a different host family, for 7 weeks. All the Youth Development Volunteers will be in one places, while MD in another, and PAM in another. We will be spending part of that time having language classes (preparing our projects), and the other part doing hands on work in the community related to our field. I am psyched! As I get more details about different areas of YD I will let you know… all I know right now is that there is a high need for volunteers in the education system- about 2 years ago Honduras changed its curriculum, and teachers have had a hard time adapting.

I have become a celebrity amongst the kids in my family here… They love to follow me, play games with me, and basically watch my every move. It’s a lot. But I feel important! Hahaha. Its amazing to me how creative these kids are. They have next to nothing, in regards to material possessions, but they find things to do all day long. We spent HOURS one night playing silly little games like Simon Dice (simon says) and guessing words (one would think of a word, tell everyone except one person, and we all try to describe the word to the person who does know so he/she can guess… perfect for me to practice Spanish!).

This weekend I painted various toe nails (not just the kids, a few of the women wanted it too!!), learned how to make tortillas, discovered that we not only have roosters and chickens and dogs here, but pigs and a PARROT! Sadly, Rosita the parrot is very old and no longer talks. In fact she hardly moves. My host mom is into herbal medicine, so one of the little girls and I helped her bag up some herbs (tea?) that she sells (its suppose to alleviate gas).

Fact for today: only 21% of the honduran population completes 12th grade.

I went to church tonight with my host grandma and one of the little girls, and i got a shout out from the pastor! ¨ah! tenemos una cara nueva! como se llama! bienvenida! que dios te bendiga para siempre!¨" hahaha it was fun!

we havent had running water for 2 days.

oh and about the pictures, i dont really know how to give them individul lables... but if you have questions, ask! if you click on them they get bigger i think.

I love and miss you all, hope all is well!

primeros dias en zarabanda

Hello All! Here is a brief recap of whats happening:

23 de Junio 2010

Saludos de mi primer casa en Honduras!

After we landed, our group was brought to the training center in Zarabanda (40 minutes outside the capital) in a yellow school bus that someone in the US must have given up on. We went over some basics, and were greeted by our first host families. At first I thought, based on the sheet I was given with information about my first family, that I would be living with a woman, and her sister in law, with a little bird, and electricity. I was pleasantly surprised about seeing electricity, so I looked past the part about no kids/no dogs. But as soon as I met my host sister-in-law and saw that she had a 5 year old daughter with her, I was at ease. As we began our journey walking to their home, we were picked up in a truck by another family heading the same way. Free ride in the back of a pick up truck… there must have been about 10 Hondurans piled in with us! We were let off the truck at this little cluster of about 4 homes, with a little store in part of one of them, dogs running everywhere, chickens in the back, and SO MANY LITTLE KIDS! I was exhausted, but made an effort to be social. In fact, the little girl that was there to get me from the training center hardly left my side until I went to bed! They are so excited to help me with my Spanish and teach my about their lives! My host sister in law will be cooking my dinner for part of the week while my host mom is at work (at a clinic in the capital that does cleans colons/intestines , if I understood that right). She, Lordes, is also taking classes to become a nurse. She was friendly and animated, and I loved her from the minute I met her. She is so easy to understand, and made me feel good about my Spanish haha. I already feel like its improved since talking to PC staff at the airport to now, and that’s just one day. Give it two years…!

First meal: fried bananas, an egg, interesting cheese, beans, and tortillas.

There is a real toilet.

And electricity.

I know I am spoiled in that respect, but tomorrow will be my first shower experience: either the water will be running and I can take a cold short semi-normal shower, or I will head out to the pila, get a bucket, heat it up, and clean myself somehow. I am meeting my host mom in the bathroom at 6am to learn how to do it!

I am exhausted. And I feel like I wont have as many amenities with my next host family so I am going to enjoy my bed.

24 de Junio 2010

The shower was, in fact, a bucket shower. It was fairly well. My first big success! Not sure how CLEAN I feel, but I’ll get better at it. And I will have to figure out how to rinse shampoo out of my hair using a bucket. Greasy McGreaser right here.

I guess no one has cold milk here… they always heat it up… the pasteurizing system isn’t like ours, so you can only find cold milk that isn’t bacteria ridden in the bigger cities. I had cornflakes with hot milk for breakfast today (everyone seems to eat cornflakes!).

Training is going to be intense, but they have free coffee, and it is absolutely delicioso. Molnday-Friday 7:30-4:30, and half days on Saturday.

The entire Peace Corps Training Staff is wonderful.And the training is excellent. It will be an extremely long 3 months but we will be well prepared when we are off to our sites.

25 de Junio 2010

Poco a poco, I’m getting use to the bucket showers… though again, not sure if I am actually clean. But that’s neither here nor there.

I’ve figured out a few things about life here through talking with my family. I was helping Dariella, one of the little girls, with her division homework, so I was asking her about school. It’s over after 6^th grade (12-13 years old), and when I asked what happened after that, she kind of shrugged. “Puede ir a la universidad pero es duro” (You can go to college, but it’s hard). Also, my ‘cunada’, or host sister-in-law, the one who looks out for me while Lordes is at work, is 25. Coli, her daughter, is 5, and she has a son who is ten. Her husband seems much older, but I cant tell. He works, building houses. He actually came in to help us figure out how to put up my mosquito net! And it seems that Lordes is the most well-off, in that her home has more amenities… Coli brought me into her house yesterday and it was a few rooms with concrete walls, some parts had a ceiling, others didn’t. I imagine the other few houses in our ‘compound’ (for lack of a better word) are similar.

Training is going to be tough, but I’m glad I have a base in Spanish, as that seems to be the most stressful part for a lot of trainees. Although on a positive note, a lot of them who haven’t had a lot of prior Spanish say they already feel like they’ve improved and it has only been a few days. They went over a lot of stuff about malaria (took my first dose of pills for that today) and dengue (another mosquito-ridden illness that is running ramped lately). Mosquito net, check. Bug spray, check. Ay que dios me bendiga! We also talked about other not so pleasant stuff (crime, safety and such) that is necessary to discuss, but certainly not fun to hear.

Today, thoughts from the internet cafe en Valle de las Angeles:

My host mom and i had a very extensive conversation about immigration over breakfast today.

Annnnd a group of us (most of the training class) came to this pueblo after this mornings training session (yes, half days on saturdays).

Todo esta bien. I am still exhausted, but luckily havent gotten sick yet

HASTA LUEGO!

HOLA! I arrived in Houston this morning and had an exhausting fun filled day of orientation... I am officially registered as a Peace Corps Trainee!!! We (training group of 57) ship out of the hotel bright and early (3:30) to being our journey to Teguz.... one thing to mention though, is that we found out that the town, Zarabanda, where the training center is, does not have internet, so you may not hear from me for 3 months! I dont know when i will have access to email nor when i will get my cell phone.. so please hold tight, dont worry, no news is good news, and i will send an update as soon as i can!

I think this is going to be a pretty awesome experience. Probably the hardest thing i will ever do (besides give birth?) but regardless of the not-so-great parts, it will definitely help strengthen my character.

We will move in with our first (of 3) host families tomorrow night, and being training the next day. Wish me luck! It will be INTENSE.

Please write letters if you can :) They will make me smile.

Funny side note: the name of the airport i landed in is George Bush Airport. Go figure.

Besos!
Lisa

Anticipation, Excitement, and Mariposas in my tummy

"Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy. There will be no salary and allowances will be at a level sufficient only to maintain health and meet basic needs. Men and women will be expected to work and live alongside the nationals of the country in which they are stationed—doing the same work, eating the same food, talking the same language.

But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps—who works in a foreign land—will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace." JFK