Semana Santa and a Reflection After 10 Months in Honduras

Semana Santa (Holy Week) is a big to do all over the country- no one works, no one goes to school, basically Honduras shuts down and people go to the beach, go visit their families, or stay in town and go to church. By the end of the week, public transportation even shuts down! I went and spent the week in the city of Comayagua with 14 other of the 17 youthies from my training group. I was there all week. One group rotated out while another group rotated in before the busses stopped running. It was a lovely week, and included a trip to a gorgeous waterfall, a day lounging at a pool, an interesting trip to a Honduran “waterpark”, the biggest baleada in the Central America, a night of dancing, and some pretty crazy religious processions throughout the city.

Comayagua is known for its impressive display of “alfombras” (“rugs” made out of sawdust) that people make all through the night before Good Friday. Then, the religious procession walks right over them, essentially destroying any remaining evidence of the hard work people put into creating such awesome works of art. It was quite the event!

My friend and I also got our hair braided at a Garifuna salon! I got beads in all of my braids! That was quite the event too, as my friend is part African-American, she fit in pretty well, but yours truly was the whitest person in that room, but I think the ladies doing hair enjoyed our company very much- they let me pick out all the beads to put in my hair! Having a head full of braids was fun…. But I finally took them out so I could wash my hair after a close call lice incident at work. The day after I took them out I was walking down the street and a woman I’ve never seen comes out of her house and says “Y las trensitas???” (And the little braids????)…. I guess I really do stand out of people I don’t know keep themselves up to date on my latest hairstyles. Even “big” towns here are smaller than you can imagine.

Needless to say, it was a perfect week, and I am so grateful for all the wonderful friendships I've made among the volunteer community- they are my support system in country, and I couldn't have asked for more awesome companer@s.

Next week I’ve got an E-Zone coordinators meeting! What is E-Zone? Emergency Zone. Whenever there is an emergency (weather related, strike/protest/civil unrest related, safety related) all volunteers are separated into different “E-Zone’s” depending on their geographic location. My site mate who finished her service a few months ago was the E-Zone coordinator out in my area, and I am taking over for her! I will be the first one to get important safety and security information, and will be responsible for relaying the information to volunteers nearby. Wooo!

As far as work in Gracias goes, we are halfway through our Yo Merezco/Yo Tambien Merezco classes and will be looking into finding other groups to work with and implement the same program. We’ve been painting the recreation area at IHNFA all week, where we are also continuing with Colgate and Story Hour. The kids are still fascinated by the whole “brushing your teeth” phenomenon.

I am giving the English class for teachers another try; I had an introduction/sign up session planned in March, but no one showed up because it was the same day they went on their 5 week strike. We’ll see who shows up this Tuesday! I also know the counterpart that came with me to the math/business workshop is eager to start something, but we’ll see if I can find time.

It might not seem like I have a lot on my plate, but when you add in preparation time, working with Honduran counterparts (everything seems to take twice as long), still trying to focus at least a little bit on community integration (I go hang out with a little boy and his grandmother 3-4 afternoons a week to help him with his homework), trying to coordinate my exercise schedule around the cat-call schedule, AND the fact that I am in a country where you really should return home before dark for your own safety… well… It’s a lot! But I’m glad to keep busy. It puts missing life back in the states (where miraculously there is always running water, and for the most part giant gross bugs stay where they belong OUTSIDE) on the back burner, and forces you to focus on the here and now.

I’m only here for 2 years (only?!) I’d hate to finish my service feeling like I’ve wasted my time. Sometimes projects won’t work out or won’t be sustainable, but giving them a shot goes a long way, even if all you do is remind host country nationals that not all US citizens are power-hungry capitalists who love war and hate immigrants (just some of the many stereotypes we’ve been given). That’s 33.3% of this job.

I’ve been in Honduras just over 10 months now. Sometimes it feels like I just got here, and I still am taken aback by the cat calls, shocked by the state that people’s teeth are in, and constantly tripping on the same streets I walk down everyday. Other times I feel like I’ve been here forever, that the kids I work with are like my own, of course there’s no water to shower with, and that its normal to carry a whistle with me whenever I travel.

I can’t wait to see how the next 16 months go…. But to sum up the past ten months, I will say that now I truly understand the Peace Corps slogan (“The toughest job you’ll ever love.”)

Hope those who celebrate had a nice Easter, and to three of my dearest friends, Sarah, Stef and Jen, I hope you had amazing 23rd birthdays!

I love and miss you all MUCHISIMO!

Un Abrazo Fuerte,

Lisa

The One With the Screaming Goat

The strike ended!!!! But then it started back up, but ended again… And now it’s Semana Santa (Holy Week), which means we won’t know for another week whether or not classes have started back up, or if they will continue to be on hiatus until the government and the teachers can reach some sort of agreement.

Though it certainly has it’s challenges, these are the times when I am thankful to have a bigger site, as I was able to start both Yo Merezco and Yo Tambien Merezco with one of the private schools. These are the two programs that I went to trainings for with members from my community (courses for 10-12 year olds about abstinence, self-esteem, making good decisions, and other topics of similar nature). Both of the counterparts that came to the trainings with me have (so far) followed through with the implementation. I am coordinating the program, both the girls class and the boys class, supervising my counterparts, and also co-facilitating the girls class with my female counterpart. We have combined the fifth and sixth graders from the school to make one class with 18 girls (Yo Merezco) and one class with 10 boys (Yo Tambien Merezco). It’s much more difficult to work with private schools than public schools because they are more stingy with the amount of class time they want to give up (naturally), so we also condensed/combined some topics and are doing the program in half the sessions that the class normally takes. I also had to send home quite a detailed letter to all the parents explaining what exactly we would be talking about…the school has a religious affiliation, so we anticipated some concerns about the nature of the course (abstinence, reproduction, puberty, etc), but so far no complaints!

Colgate continues, although I have some doubts that when I’m not there, no one on staff is held accountable for making sure the kids brush (oddly enough, there is no Spanish translation for the word accountable). I understand that its chaotic to get a group of rowdy preschoolers together to brush their teeth every day (BELIEVE ME I KNOW!), but that’s what you have to do to form the habit. I know my counterparts there had explained to me how they do it when I’m not there, they stay inside and give each kid their brush and wait for them to come back and return them, which is great! Yeah, not ideal supervision, but it’s something, and if it works for them, I am happy. When I’m there I like to do it in a big circle and sing and dance. It’s ok if they don’t want to sing and dance (I usually make a bigger deal out of it because when I brush with them in coincides with a lesson)…I’m not offended. I just hope that these past two weeks, as I have been out of site at a training and with medical appointments, that the poor little toothbrushes weren’t forgotten. OH! and the last class before I left for the training, we had a special guest interrupt us... A SCREAMING GOAT! Only in Honduras...


The training we had was our 3rd of 5 Youth Development In-Service Trainings, for Business Fundamentals and Improving Math Methodology. Needless to say, I was not thrilled with the topic…. BUT my counterpart was super excited about everything, and I think he is ready to start planning the program in Gracias after Semana Santa. The program is for 5-7th graders, and talks about saving money and how to form your own business (as simple as selling popsicles). The math methodology was separate from the business program, and we learned lots of different ways to MAKE MATH FUN! That part was actually really useful for me- hopefully I will be able to make use of it in site, but if not, definitely back in the states.

We had the training at this gorgeous university campus called Zamorano- it’s a hands on agricultural college with lots of land, friendly people and an Espresso Americano. I always love getting to spend all week with the other youthies… it’s a nice reminder than we’re not in this alone. As integrated as one can be in their Peace Corps community, there is something to be said about empathy, and how far it goes. Your community members can sympathize with the challenges that come along with leaving your home/family/friends/culture/language for two years, but it’s other volunteers who truly understand. I also had an unexpected extended stay in Teguz for some medical appointments (which ended up taking the entire week)… since I live so far away, I am hardly ever in the office, so I was finally able to learn my way around. And while I was there, as horrifying as that city is, I definitely felt taken care of by the PC staff (the doctors, admn, my project team, etc). They were all so wonderful and genuinely cared- this is my first post-graduation full time work experience, so I don’t know if most jobs are like that, but it’s nice to know that other people have your back.

A quick side note about littering… I was on the bus on my way back, sitting by the window, clutching some garbage I had collected in one hand, and a book in the other, when two different people, one sitting next to me and the other in front of me, said “permiso” (excuse me), and reached across me to throw their trash out the window of the bus. This poor country is covered with chip bags, empty coke bottles, wrappers, etc. Of course, it’s hard to cultivate the mentality of putting your trash in the trash can when most of the time there are no trash cans, but still, something can be done. I almost wanted to say to these people, if they treat their country like a dump, it will ALWAYS be a dump. But then it all comes back to lack of education, which isn’t an excuse but certainly offers an explanation. Visiting Danli I saw “Demuestra su educacion, ponga la basura en su lugar” (Show your education, put the trash in it’s place) written on walls…. I am going to see if maybe we can make some sort of mural at the Youth Center with that same phrase.

That is all for now.... take care, love Lisa.