I went to another town the past two days with people from ODECO (my organization) to 1) get out of the office 2) learn more and hear Spanish. During the charla I desperately wanted to write out a blog, but alas, I didn’t have my computer. Instead, I took notes of what I wanted to write about, but we’ll see if it transfers a couple hours later.
So, yesterday in all honestly was pretty boring, so I won’t tell you about that. We just went to a high school and the two guys I was with told them about ODECO and what ODECO was. It was meant to include information about the environment, but we were running TWO hours behind, it being a Honduran event and all.
Anyways, so today I went with Wilmer and Carlos (my counter-part) to a barrio (neighborhood) beyond Belen Gualcho.
OH, side-note, so Saturday I went with my host dad and host siblings (Lorbing and Merlin) to, honestly I dunno, some land they or their family owns. This is how the conversation went:
Lorbing: “Do you have anything to do today?”
Me: “No. Well, yes. I go to party at house of other Volunteer. Later.”
Lorbing: “Do you want to go to the finca (this I thought meant farm, here it usually pertains to a coffee farm. Apparently, it means a lot of things…) with us?
Me: “When we get back?”
Lorbing: “One. We’re walking.”
Me: “Yes.”
Anyways, so we crawl into the truck, the girls in the bed of the truck (naturally), and start driving up the mountain. Now, as I understood, we were going to a farm and I knew there were cows. So, I’m sitting in the back of the truck with Merlin, in silence, and my ONE lame attempt was, “So the guys come here every day to work?”
She looks at me like I’m crazy (natural for me), and says, “No.” Well with that, I’m done trying to strike up conversation. So I would estimate we drove for about one hour. Farther and farther north, until we reach a road, which clearly has been recently built. Want to know how I know? The men were STILL working on it as we drove to our final destination! Now, it continues to amaze me that there are communities here that only recently have received roads that can support a car.
Oh, and by this time I’ve noticed that there isn’t any coffee growing in this area, because we’re pretty high up. Now, forgetting that I often lose things in translations, I start to panic about what is really the mission for this jaunt into the mountains…
1) They’re selling me into the sex trade and we’re going to the obscure meeting spot
2) They’re going to kill me, because I haven’t paid them rent yet
3) They’re going to sell me into regular slavery, because they don’t like Americans
Well, we get to a point where it doesn’t appear that cars would be able to go much further. It’s a lot cooler, and just extremely beautiful. So, eventually the road does end, we hop out, and start climbing upwards. Well, apparently they have animals up here, and we’re checking on them. Where’s here? A national park. Turns out we were in Celaque National Park, which is an extensive park in this area, which I think includes a cloud forest, which is where the forest is in the clouds? I don’t know. I feel like a bad person, because apparently everyone else did a lot of research on Honduras before we got here, and one of the major attractions was the Bosque de Nubles (Cloud Forest). So I wandered around, KICKING MYSELF, for being so stupid and not understanding enough Spanish to understand we weren’t going to a coffee farm, but a national park. Granted, I don’t think I would have known anyways, because those details weren’t provided anyway, but I should learn to just bring my camera everywhere I go.
The point of that was to tell you, but also to note that I went back towards that are the past two days and I brought my camera. That was pointless….
Back to the original story…
They were going today to talk to community members about responsible farming techniques. They live in an area that has poor soil, and they need to optimize their techniques to ensure that they still have a living in a couple of years. This community is a community of Lencas, which are indigenous people of Honduras. As in most countries, these communities tend to be most stricken with poverty.
These people are mostly doing subsistence farming (only meeting their own, personal needs), and have very little opportunities to expand into the bigger markets in the area. Either way, ODECO is very environmentally conscious, and is present in Tejeras (the barrio) for many reasons.
This area was settled by the Spaniards in the 1600’s because it was rich with minerals, and there were a lot of successful mines. Now, the people are in a remote area of Honduras with poor soil that is prone to terrible landslides. Two years ago 28 families lost their homes to landslides that result from torrential rains (that happen every year). ODECO is helping 10 families rebuild their homes, now, two years later. The poverty here isn’t as severe as some places, but I hardly can imagine that these people would be able to recover financially after losing their homes. Most of the homes in this area were built with adobe (mud bricks), because the people can’t afford more stable materials. Therefore, you can imagine a) the vulnerability their homes had to torrential rain and mud slides b) the little resources they must have had to rebuild their homes afterwards.
But, this charla was attended by 50 people, both men and women, which I always find encouraging. They talked about contour farming, live fences, and other stuff that I didn’t quite catch. We ate THREE times throughout the course of the day (9 am – 3 pm). There is a tradition in Honduras that if you have a charla that is longer than 3 hours or goes past 12 noon, you have to provide food. So first, we had a merienda (snack), then lunch (which is the biggest meal here), and then at the end we had coffee. It was ridiculous, but now I don’t have to pay my host family to eat tonight! Hey, I’m in the Peace Corps…
Speaking of in the Peace Corps… here are some of the things that snapped me back to Honduras reality today…
1) I was made to stand-up and present myself to everyone, which isn’t a big deal, but I swear two people whipped out camera phones and video taped me.
2) People then proceeded to stare at me the entire day. OH, especially when Carlos said, “gringo.” Now, mind you, gringo can apply to American gringos, Russian gringos… in many cases the “gringo” applied to a German… why are you looking at me?
3) I went to the bathroom, which was virtually half a toilet on a flooded floor. One of my biggest fears is unknown water in places where there is a good chance it’s nasty water. For instance, liquid on the floor of a bathroom or liquid on the floor in a house where a dog resides… there’s nothing worse than walking through a house in bare feet and stepping in a puddle and thinking, “Good God, where did this come from?!”
Anyways, so I have never mastered the “hover” position, and doing that while trying to keep my pants from dipping in the mysterious liquid was quite a treat. I literally walked in and said to myself, “And I’m in the Peace Corps…”
4) I am camera shy. I have a glorious hunk of machinery, which is on of my most prized possessions, but it is a HUNK of machinery. A lot of people here don’t own cameras and never will. When they see them, they STARE. Now, I could have pretended I was taking pictures for ODECO, but Wilmer already had me taking pictures with their slick, pocket-sized camera. So, I couldn’t very well whip about my beauty to take more. At least, that’s what I think. I mean, even gringos comment on my camera…
“….OHHHH! You have the D70!” As they hold their D80…
“Yes, yes I do…My parents gave it to me.” For some reason I always have to qualify it was a gift for a major milestone in my life.
So, imagine if Americans are impressed by my camera, the Lencas are going to be mighty impressed. Somebody needs to invent a camera that you can put in your mind’s eye so that you can take a picture without people knowing. My limited artistic eye was twitching today, because there were so many great opportunities for great photos and I couldn’t get a single one!
What am I supposed to do? “Hey! You’re a cute, little old Lencan man, can I take a picture of you?!?” Yeah, you try that. Peace Corps already dances a fine line in some communities with acceptance of American aid, and imagine if the Peace Corps Volunteers were taking pictures of the people like they were tourism sites?
5) Things were spelled wrong on the boards of the elementary school. During one of the breaks Carlos pulled me aside and made me pick out the mistakes. I was 2 for 2! They were pretty basic, but it’s very sad. People spell things here LITERALLY like they sound, which makes for a lot of spelling errors when they even pronounce the words wrong.
6) It started raining so hard (on the metal roof) that Carlos had to stop talking. For like 45 minutes. Then, the water started coming in under the door. The school was flooding because of the rain. It rains like this for 5 months every year. They then proceeded to sweep the water out with a broom. It came back.
That’s about it. Interesting day. Besides just plain missing my friends, I also miss having people with me to share ridiculous experiences. Sometimes you just need someone to agree that what you just saw/experienced was indeed strange. Now I don’t have that, and I don’t have English, so I think I’m going to rely a lot more on my blogs to share those experiences I wish everyone was there for. After a day of Spanish even writing in English is a God-send (even if it’s poor grammar).
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Lost in Translation
So I slipped up yesterday. Now, my house is connected to two businesses: 1) the comedor (small, home-grown restaurant), and 2) the coffee business. The living room, where we sit all the time, is connected to the comedor, in which case you can hear everything going on in there.
Background: One day in Spanish class we went over “Taboo Subjects,” which ended up being the various names for private parts! This in fact did come in handy during the HIV/AIDS charla, but at the time we thought our Spanish teacher was just expressing her “unique” methods of teaching us Spanish.
So, I was sitting in the living room with my host mom and my host sister. From the other room I hear one guy say, “Mira! Pan de mujer!” Now, in my Spanish class (as far as I was concerned!), “pan de mujer” is a euphemism (write word?) for a woman’s private parts (my grand-parents read this!). So, me thinking that he was being a typical Honduran man and thinking that no one could hear… I snickered. I also was proud of myself for remembering too.
Well, my host mom notices the snicker, and starts to laugh. Well, I think she’s laughing for the same reason I snickered. No. She then asks me what “pan de mujer” means, at which point I turn bright red, because how do you explain that in Spanish to your host mom (the only meaning you’re aware of)? Adding to the situation, I stammer out, “the capital!”
The night before, my host sister and host sister-in-law were asking me the English equivalents to “bad words” in Spanish. Well, my sister-in-law said, “the capital!” when I said we called the nether-regions, “vagina.” Yes, that was not smooth. Well, they all dissolve into chuckles, and politely explain to me that “pan de mujer” is actually what you call the little buns we eat with coffee. The bread is made by a woman, opposed to the bread you buy, which is mass produced in a factory. Literally “bread of (made by) women.” I DIDN”T KNOW! I even have a dirty mind in Spanish.
I then proceeded to explain that we only learned the slang translation in Peace Corps… it was a lost effort.
Background: One day in Spanish class we went over “Taboo Subjects,” which ended up being the various names for private parts! This in fact did come in handy during the HIV/AIDS charla, but at the time we thought our Spanish teacher was just expressing her “unique” methods of teaching us Spanish.
So, I was sitting in the living room with my host mom and my host sister. From the other room I hear one guy say, “Mira! Pan de mujer!” Now, in my Spanish class (as far as I was concerned!), “pan de mujer” is a euphemism (write word?) for a woman’s private parts (my grand-parents read this!). So, me thinking that he was being a typical Honduran man and thinking that no one could hear… I snickered. I also was proud of myself for remembering too.
Well, my host mom notices the snicker, and starts to laugh. Well, I think she’s laughing for the same reason I snickered. No. She then asks me what “pan de mujer” means, at which point I turn bright red, because how do you explain that in Spanish to your host mom (the only meaning you’re aware of)? Adding to the situation, I stammer out, “the capital!”
The night before, my host sister and host sister-in-law were asking me the English equivalents to “bad words” in Spanish. Well, my sister-in-law said, “the capital!” when I said we called the nether-regions, “vagina.” Yes, that was not smooth. Well, they all dissolve into chuckles, and politely explain to me that “pan de mujer” is actually what you call the little buns we eat with coffee. The bread is made by a woman, opposed to the bread you buy, which is mass produced in a factory. Literally “bread of (made by) women.” I DIDN”T KNOW! I even have a dirty mind in Spanish.
I then proceeded to explain that we only learned the slang translation in Peace Corps… it was a lost effort.
Making Eye Contact
Now, I don’t know why, but I make eye contact a lot. I think it’s because I spend a lot of time observing people, and when you stare at them long enough they’re bound to catch you. I also seem to secretly befriend the crazy Hondurans; at least until yesterday.
In Pespire there were a couple of crazy guys that roamed the park. One would do yoga/tai chi type things in front of the church, usually while singing. If not, he was just in front of the church singing. The other guy would (I think), walk the entire town; whenever he passed by my house I would say, “buenas,” and he would keep walking. Harmless.
The other guy was my favorite. He was silent and would just sit in the park all the time. I kind of became enamored with him from the start, because he just looked like such a lost soul, but the day that my friend told me she saw him crying in the park was the day I really fell for him. I used to say, “buenas,” but he seemed unnerved by it, so I just gave a slight smile. In my mind, we were friends and had a secret understanding.
Well, there are a few crazy guys in Corquin too. One is younger, and walks around in the same clothes with a broom handle. He’s probably about my age. Now, he seems a bit more “with it” than the Pespire crazies, so I wasn’t giving him a slight smile, but you know, noticed him/I might have made eye-contact. Well, yesterday I went to the gym in the evening, and as I was walking back I passed the young crazy guy. He stopped, and just stared at me with an intensity that only crazy people can manage. GREAT! That’s all I need, a crazy person noticing me, because once they’ve noticed you you’ve entered their world and you don’t want to be a part of their world.
Also, during the charla today (and I think that blog will be after this one), I got caught in eye contact with a couple of the guys in the audience. Well then, after the initial meeting of eyes, I want to see if they’re still looking, so I look again and we meet eyes again. And the thing is, people STARE here, and that is considered normal, but you don’t make eye-contact. For all I know in Tejeras I’m known as the gringa who was making sexual advances on all the men. That’s an exaggeration, but I need to check myself. These are the things that you do as an American, that as a Honduran you can’t do.
These are my little thoughts today after I lost the ability to listen in Spanish. There comes a point in the day (no matter the saturation of Spanish), that your brain just can’t handle it anymore. You stop being able to process the words. You stop caring in all honesty. So, these are the things that I think about when I can’t think in Spanish.
The other day my friend sent me the following text…
“Ever want to have time to be alone with your thoughts and then gotten it? I think that’s when you realize that you thoughts are boring…”
In Pespire there were a couple of crazy guys that roamed the park. One would do yoga/tai chi type things in front of the church, usually while singing. If not, he was just in front of the church singing. The other guy would (I think), walk the entire town; whenever he passed by my house I would say, “buenas,” and he would keep walking. Harmless.
The other guy was my favorite. He was silent and would just sit in the park all the time. I kind of became enamored with him from the start, because he just looked like such a lost soul, but the day that my friend told me she saw him crying in the park was the day I really fell for him. I used to say, “buenas,” but he seemed unnerved by it, so I just gave a slight smile. In my mind, we were friends and had a secret understanding.
Well, there are a few crazy guys in Corquin too. One is younger, and walks around in the same clothes with a broom handle. He’s probably about my age. Now, he seems a bit more “with it” than the Pespire crazies, so I wasn’t giving him a slight smile, but you know, noticed him/I might have made eye-contact. Well, yesterday I went to the gym in the evening, and as I was walking back I passed the young crazy guy. He stopped, and just stared at me with an intensity that only crazy people can manage. GREAT! That’s all I need, a crazy person noticing me, because once they’ve noticed you you’ve entered their world and you don’t want to be a part of their world.
Also, during the charla today (and I think that blog will be after this one), I got caught in eye contact with a couple of the guys in the audience. Well then, after the initial meeting of eyes, I want to see if they’re still looking, so I look again and we meet eyes again. And the thing is, people STARE here, and that is considered normal, but you don’t make eye-contact. For all I know in Tejeras I’m known as the gringa who was making sexual advances on all the men. That’s an exaggeration, but I need to check myself. These are the things that you do as an American, that as a Honduran you can’t do.
These are my little thoughts today after I lost the ability to listen in Spanish. There comes a point in the day (no matter the saturation of Spanish), that your brain just can’t handle it anymore. You stop being able to process the words. You stop caring in all honesty. So, these are the things that I think about when I can’t think in Spanish.
The other day my friend sent me the following text…
“Ever want to have time to be alone with your thoughts and then gotten it? I think that’s when you realize that you thoughts are boring…”
Monday, May 25, 2009
Evil Bathroom
Disclaimer: This post contains references to the private goings-on in bathrooms. If you’re at all shy about it (because I’m not anymore) beware; it’s not graphic though.
I’ve been fighting with the bathroom of my new house since the very first day I got here. The first night, I go to brush my teeth, and can’t get the damn water to turn off! It felt like eternity, but was probably only a minute, that I stood there, panicked that I would never figure out how to turn the water off! What if it didn’t turn off?? Do I walk away, because they will know it was me! Do I ask for help? You know those moments, when you are so distressed by the situation time seems to slow down as if to reinforce the torturous awkwardness you are already experiencing.
Well, I finally figured out how to turn the water off after twisting the knob back and forth for a minute. The thing about living with host families is when you have a problem, you hesitate to ask for help … at least I do. That night I stood at the sink, panicking, thinking, “How do I say in Spanish ‘I need help turning off the sink.’” You think of all the various combinations you could say that one phrase, knowing very well that there’s some obscure cultural saying that you don’t know, and when you ask the family in your own special “gringo Spanish,” they won’t understand and look at you as if you have three heads. So, you just don’t ask, and you panic through the situation, all the while cursing the forces that be for putting you there.
ANYWAYS, up until this house, I have had to use a bucket to flush the toilet. You go, and fill up a bucket with three gallons of water, and take it in with you. Then, instead of using the flusher (which are still there!), you pour in the bucket of water.
1) I think the flushers remain on the toilets to tease ignorant gringos, who just might happen to forget where they are, and try to flush normally. Having used these toilets for 3 months now, I still forget the bucket, and I still try to use the flusher. You push down the flusher, and nothing happens, and you brain is confused for .5 seconds, and then you remember you’re in Honduras, and you just kind of go, “Oh … yeah.”
2) Why we ever progressed beyond the bucket flush is beyond me. It’s so efficient (maybe not in water usage)! I know that much of my audience has indeed clogged a toilet before in their lives, and I ensure you that bucket flushes eliminate such problems! With the bucket flush, if you don’t have enough water you just go and refill the bucket! You don’t have to wait for the toilet to stop running, hoping that it will in time for you to try another flush before you have to abandon your shame, and pretend like it worked.
So, this toilet has a weak flush by all standards, and is conveniently located on the opposite side of the house from the pila, where Hondurans hold all their water. So, in order to get a more efficient flush I would have to abandon the toilet, walk across the house, ask for a bucket, walk back through the house with said bucket, and flush the toilet! Yeah, no.
ALSO, the bathroom has CONVIENENTLY been out of toilet paper for about 4 days!! In all my awkward, infinite wisdom, I just avoided going to the bathroom in my house. It got to the point I considered stealing toilet paper from my office to serve as a private stash in my house.
Now, you ask, “Hannah, why wouldn’t you just ask for toilet paper?”
Well it isn’t that easy! See, the housing situation here is different, so I have to pay rent out of my own pocket, and I don’t know if that includes soap, toilet paper, etc. (this was a problem before!) Therefore, what if I was to ask for toilet paper, and my host mom said, “You’re supposed to supply your own! And stop using my soap!” Now, I know she wouldn’t do that, but I have a lot of time to think about the worst-possible-scenario. I’m so pathetic.
But, HALLELUJAH there was toilet paper this morning!
So, I first fought with the sink, then I fought with the toilet, and then I had a fight with the shower this morning.
Now, luckily I didn’t go to the gym this morning (yes, there’s a gym in my town, and I have wireless internet in my office. I’m in Posh Corps!), so I wasn’t sweating when I got into the shower. Now, turn on the water, and a slow, steady dribble comes out. Greeeaaat. Well, I decide to abandon washing my face for the sink, which has a steadier water flow. Unfortunately, I’m a bit too big to fit in the sink to wash the rest of my body, so I lather up my shower puff, and starting soaping up. Now, what I was thinking in this moment, I still can’t figure out. When there is a steady dribble of water in Honduras you can pretty much count on there being no water by the time you need it. That’s just how it works here.
So, left the water on, because there wasn’t too much coming out that I would drain their tank, so kept soaping up, and turns out slowly watching the water STOP. Yes, by the time I had soap covering my body, the water decided to turn off. Yup, just inexplicably no running water at this moment.
Turn the knob left. Turn the knob right. Jiggle, jiggle. Turn the knob farther to the left. Farther to the right. Nothing.
DAMMIT! Well I stood there, staring at the shower, praying that enough water would come out to allow me to get at least the majority of soap off. Nope, didn’t come. So I just toweled off the soap and left. Just abandoned all hope of running water. What was I going to do, wrap the towel around my soapy body, walk into the kitchen and ask the women there for a bucket to continue washing myself? Maybe some of you would have done that, but I am not one of those people. Spare the shame of my host family knowing the EXTENT of my awkwardness, only to put it on the internet, where the rest of the world can read it!
So I’m not itchy yet, which makes me pretty happy, because that was my number one concern this morning. Also, the mango/lime scent that is my soap is a little stronger, so I have a nice natural perfume today.
To add insult to injury, I was walking out of the house today to go to work, and saw under the counter in the restaurant a 24-pack of toilet paper. WTF?!?
Bathroom 3 – Hannah 0
I thought people would appreciate this little mini-war with the bathroom. I sure don’t, but at least it provides some humor for somebody’s day.
I’ve been fighting with the bathroom of my new house since the very first day I got here. The first night, I go to brush my teeth, and can’t get the damn water to turn off! It felt like eternity, but was probably only a minute, that I stood there, panicked that I would never figure out how to turn the water off! What if it didn’t turn off?? Do I walk away, because they will know it was me! Do I ask for help? You know those moments, when you are so distressed by the situation time seems to slow down as if to reinforce the torturous awkwardness you are already experiencing.
Well, I finally figured out how to turn the water off after twisting the knob back and forth for a minute. The thing about living with host families is when you have a problem, you hesitate to ask for help … at least I do. That night I stood at the sink, panicking, thinking, “How do I say in Spanish ‘I need help turning off the sink.’” You think of all the various combinations you could say that one phrase, knowing very well that there’s some obscure cultural saying that you don’t know, and when you ask the family in your own special “gringo Spanish,” they won’t understand and look at you as if you have three heads. So, you just don’t ask, and you panic through the situation, all the while cursing the forces that be for putting you there.
ANYWAYS, up until this house, I have had to use a bucket to flush the toilet. You go, and fill up a bucket with three gallons of water, and take it in with you. Then, instead of using the flusher (which are still there!), you pour in the bucket of water.
1) I think the flushers remain on the toilets to tease ignorant gringos, who just might happen to forget where they are, and try to flush normally. Having used these toilets for 3 months now, I still forget the bucket, and I still try to use the flusher. You push down the flusher, and nothing happens, and you brain is confused for .5 seconds, and then you remember you’re in Honduras, and you just kind of go, “Oh … yeah.”
2) Why we ever progressed beyond the bucket flush is beyond me. It’s so efficient (maybe not in water usage)! I know that much of my audience has indeed clogged a toilet before in their lives, and I ensure you that bucket flushes eliminate such problems! With the bucket flush, if you don’t have enough water you just go and refill the bucket! You don’t have to wait for the toilet to stop running, hoping that it will in time for you to try another flush before you have to abandon your shame, and pretend like it worked.
So, this toilet has a weak flush by all standards, and is conveniently located on the opposite side of the house from the pila, where Hondurans hold all their water. So, in order to get a more efficient flush I would have to abandon the toilet, walk across the house, ask for a bucket, walk back through the house with said bucket, and flush the toilet! Yeah, no.
ALSO, the bathroom has CONVIENENTLY been out of toilet paper for about 4 days!! In all my awkward, infinite wisdom, I just avoided going to the bathroom in my house. It got to the point I considered stealing toilet paper from my office to serve as a private stash in my house.
Now, you ask, “Hannah, why wouldn’t you just ask for toilet paper?”
Well it isn’t that easy! See, the housing situation here is different, so I have to pay rent out of my own pocket, and I don’t know if that includes soap, toilet paper, etc. (this was a problem before!) Therefore, what if I was to ask for toilet paper, and my host mom said, “You’re supposed to supply your own! And stop using my soap!” Now, I know she wouldn’t do that, but I have a lot of time to think about the worst-possible-scenario. I’m so pathetic.
But, HALLELUJAH there was toilet paper this morning!
So, I first fought with the sink, then I fought with the toilet, and then I had a fight with the shower this morning.
Now, luckily I didn’t go to the gym this morning (yes, there’s a gym in my town, and I have wireless internet in my office. I’m in Posh Corps!), so I wasn’t sweating when I got into the shower. Now, turn on the water, and a slow, steady dribble comes out. Greeeaaat. Well, I decide to abandon washing my face for the sink, which has a steadier water flow. Unfortunately, I’m a bit too big to fit in the sink to wash the rest of my body, so I lather up my shower puff, and starting soaping up. Now, what I was thinking in this moment, I still can’t figure out. When there is a steady dribble of water in Honduras you can pretty much count on there being no water by the time you need it. That’s just how it works here.
So, left the water on, because there wasn’t too much coming out that I would drain their tank, so kept soaping up, and turns out slowly watching the water STOP. Yes, by the time I had soap covering my body, the water decided to turn off. Yup, just inexplicably no running water at this moment.
Turn the knob left. Turn the knob right. Jiggle, jiggle. Turn the knob farther to the left. Farther to the right. Nothing.
DAMMIT! Well I stood there, staring at the shower, praying that enough water would come out to allow me to get at least the majority of soap off. Nope, didn’t come. So I just toweled off the soap and left. Just abandoned all hope of running water. What was I going to do, wrap the towel around my soapy body, walk into the kitchen and ask the women there for a bucket to continue washing myself? Maybe some of you would have done that, but I am not one of those people. Spare the shame of my host family knowing the EXTENT of my awkwardness, only to put it on the internet, where the rest of the world can read it!
So I’m not itchy yet, which makes me pretty happy, because that was my number one concern this morning. Also, the mango/lime scent that is my soap is a little stronger, so I have a nice natural perfume today.
To add insult to injury, I was walking out of the house today to go to work, and saw under the counter in the restaurant a 24-pack of toilet paper. WTF?!?
Bathroom 3 – Hannah 0
I thought people would appreciate this little mini-war with the bathroom. I sure don’t, but at least it provides some humor for somebody’s day.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
SO COOL!
So I'm sitting here in my office, ODECO, tooling around, trying to find the motivation to study, learn about topographic studies, not be on Facebook, and this guy walks up and says, "I heard there is a Volunteer here from Wat/San." Well, I perk up, naturally. Of course, my counter-part is there, but he just walks away. I had a minor panic attack, but not as big of an attack as I thought. So, he sits down and starts explaining that he is the president of a water board nearby that needs to expand its water system, because it was built a while ago, and they've extended beyond the capacity of the existing water system.
Now, we're entering winter here, which means it's going to rain a lot. The first rule about designing a water system is to measure the "speed" of the water. Well, you want to design the system on the basis that they will have enough water in the dry season, so you can't take a foro (measurement) of the water in the winter/rainy season.
Well, I was glad I remembered this fact in my frenzied, "CRAP! He's talking to me!! Will I understand??" So I got that out, all comfortable in my ability to handle myself in a Wat/San fashion, and he goes, "Well, the streams are at the same level as they would be in the summer, so that's not a problem." SHOT DOWN! Oh well, that didn't get me down, I'm new.
So he's like, "I don't know if you have time, but if you do, we have to get on the foro immediately." He introduced himself, and left.
HOW EXCITING! In training they always tell us that people will randomly approach us and ask for help, but I didn't think it would happen my first week! Apparently people were expecting me, and that's pretty cool! I want to go do it, because it would be easier to work with an existing system (maybe). And I could do the foro, but not do the project for various reasons. Either way, I'm stoked!!
Sitting here does pay off!
Now, we're entering winter here, which means it's going to rain a lot. The first rule about designing a water system is to measure the "speed" of the water. Well, you want to design the system on the basis that they will have enough water in the dry season, so you can't take a foro (measurement) of the water in the winter/rainy season.
Well, I was glad I remembered this fact in my frenzied, "CRAP! He's talking to me!! Will I understand??" So I got that out, all comfortable in my ability to handle myself in a Wat/San fashion, and he goes, "Well, the streams are at the same level as they would be in the summer, so that's not a problem." SHOT DOWN! Oh well, that didn't get me down, I'm new.
So he's like, "I don't know if you have time, but if you do, we have to get on the foro immediately." He introduced himself, and left.
HOW EXCITING! In training they always tell us that people will randomly approach us and ask for help, but I didn't think it would happen my first week! Apparently people were expecting me, and that's pretty cool! I want to go do it, because it would be easier to work with an existing system (maybe). And I could do the foro, but not do the project for various reasons. Either way, I'm stoked!!
Sitting here does pay off!
Monday, May 18, 2009
So Much to Say...
Well I'm in my site! I have to admit I don't quite feel like writing a blog, so this one might be a little boring, but I felt like I had to check in.
A couple of weeks ago we found out our sites, and I am now in Corqui, Copan. Copan is a department of Honduras on the border of Guatemala. I'm about 3 hours away from Copan Ruinas, which are the Mayan ruins here in Honduras. My engineer is one of my very good friends Kathryn, and she lives in Santa Rosa de Copan, which is about 1 hour away.
Let's see. I work with a local non-governmental organization (NGO), which is great because I think it will be good experience for work after Peace Corps. ODECO is committed to the development of Corquin, but has now also expanded to include municipalities surrounding Corquin. My main work here will actually be repairing water systems in the area. Last year, tropical storm 16 went through and destroyed a lot of the communities here, including their water systems. Now, they have a Wat/San Volunteer here to not only design new systems, but also help educate the communities on trash and health so that they start as successful, sustainable communities.
My counter-part is a great little old man named Carlos. He already treats me like his daughter and has offered me anything if I should ever need it. Carlos, although he is my parents age (he looks older), reminds me of both my grandfathers. He knows everyone in town, always starts random conversations with random people, and if full of random knowledge. It comforts me a little bit trying to pick the similarities out between Carlos, Pap-Pap and Grandpa. Actually, he's very religious and is pioneering a new farming method here! The similarities are abundant.
So I feel very at home with Carlos, and am working on inserting myself into the office life. There doesn't seem to be too much going on right now, because they're in between funding. I've basically been on the internet all day, but that's ok with me. Hopefully, in the next couple of days, people will start opening up more and maybe even throw work my way.
Oh, I have a sitemate also. She's pretty cool and seems very busy. She's from business. She's trying to pass a couple of English classes off to me, so I might have a weekly job in a couple of days as well. I like having a sitemate, because it makes the loneliness of being in site a little less acute.
I'm living with a family in town for 2 months. My host mom owns a small restaurant and also produces her own brand of coffee. We have great coffee here in Corquin. She's really busy, but the house is comfortable and as always the family is very hospitable. There's always a lot going on, with people working and moving about. I have two host siblings, but they go to school away from Corquin for the week, so I'm glad to have other people around.
It's hard living in site. When we had to say good-bye, me and all the girls were crying. In Peace Corps you make such close friends, and then you are ripped away when you go to site. Carlos was crying too (Carlos the guy who trained us), which made me cry harder and even sadder to leave. It's hard not having that immediate support system from your friends.
Needless to say, I have my ups and downs each day. It's hard speaking Spanish all the time, and by 4 pm I pretty much have verbal diarrhea consistently. Nobody can understand me, and I just feel awkward. Anyways, as a whole I really like my site and am trying to get out and explore. I think Carlos will help me integrate, and I'm looking forward to getting a little bit more going on.
I put up pictures and I think they will express a lot more than I can write now with my lack of motivation. http://picasaweb.google.com/hannah.b.ferguson
Signing off for now. Love you all!
A couple of weeks ago we found out our sites, and I am now in Corqui, Copan. Copan is a department of Honduras on the border of Guatemala. I'm about 3 hours away from Copan Ruinas, which are the Mayan ruins here in Honduras. My engineer is one of my very good friends Kathryn, and she lives in Santa Rosa de Copan, which is about 1 hour away.
Let's see. I work with a local non-governmental organization (NGO), which is great because I think it will be good experience for work after Peace Corps. ODECO is committed to the development of Corquin, but has now also expanded to include municipalities surrounding Corquin. My main work here will actually be repairing water systems in the area. Last year, tropical storm 16 went through and destroyed a lot of the communities here, including their water systems. Now, they have a Wat/San Volunteer here to not only design new systems, but also help educate the communities on trash and health so that they start as successful, sustainable communities.
My counter-part is a great little old man named Carlos. He already treats me like his daughter and has offered me anything if I should ever need it. Carlos, although he is my parents age (he looks older), reminds me of both my grandfathers. He knows everyone in town, always starts random conversations with random people, and if full of random knowledge. It comforts me a little bit trying to pick the similarities out between Carlos, Pap-Pap and Grandpa. Actually, he's very religious and is pioneering a new farming method here! The similarities are abundant.
So I feel very at home with Carlos, and am working on inserting myself into the office life. There doesn't seem to be too much going on right now, because they're in between funding. I've basically been on the internet all day, but that's ok with me. Hopefully, in the next couple of days, people will start opening up more and maybe even throw work my way.
Oh, I have a sitemate also. She's pretty cool and seems very busy. She's from business. She's trying to pass a couple of English classes off to me, so I might have a weekly job in a couple of days as well. I like having a sitemate, because it makes the loneliness of being in site a little less acute.
I'm living with a family in town for 2 months. My host mom owns a small restaurant and also produces her own brand of coffee. We have great coffee here in Corquin. She's really busy, but the house is comfortable and as always the family is very hospitable. There's always a lot going on, with people working and moving about. I have two host siblings, but they go to school away from Corquin for the week, so I'm glad to have other people around.
It's hard living in site. When we had to say good-bye, me and all the girls were crying. In Peace Corps you make such close friends, and then you are ripped away when you go to site. Carlos was crying too (Carlos the guy who trained us), which made me cry harder and even sadder to leave. It's hard not having that immediate support system from your friends.
Needless to say, I have my ups and downs each day. It's hard speaking Spanish all the time, and by 4 pm I pretty much have verbal diarrhea consistently. Nobody can understand me, and I just feel awkward. Anyways, as a whole I really like my site and am trying to get out and explore. I think Carlos will help me integrate, and I'm looking forward to getting a little bit more going on.
I put up pictures and I think they will express a lot more than I can write now with my lack of motivation. http://picasaweb.google.com/hannah.b.ferguson
Signing off for now. Love you all!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Blog "En Vivo" or Written Live
Hey guys-
So I'm actually sitting in ADEPES writing this blog in person as opposed to writing it ahead of time and pasting it in. Knowing luck in Honduras, the internet will cut out soon, but I'm getting to the point where I will be ok with that.
So yesterday we went to the river. It was hands down the best day of my life. We met up at 8:00 am, which meant I could sleep in, and made food in groups to take to the river. My group made guacamole. At around 10, we headed to this farm, where if you walk down a ways you get to this awesome part of the river! It was actually clean, cool, and had a really deep part where you could jump off a rock and not hit the bottom. We were like little, happy fish!
Everyone spent the entire time in the water and we just splashed around and had a great time! We were so happy to be swimming and cool again. It was great not to be in Spanish class and just be able to relax. We are all so burnt out from Spanish, training and not sleeping. Out of the 10 hours a night I TRY to sleep, I probably achieve REM 4 - 5 hours each night. Only one week left! I'm sad and happy about that.
So, the river was awesome. Great food and great friends. We were having a blast tooling around in the water. There were a lot of jokes and stories, but I can barely remember them, and I don't know if they would translate well. Peace Corps Honduras humor is the epitome of "you had to be there". For the first time our conversation strayed of the following topics:
1) Who pissed you off today in Spanish class/technical training.
2) What food/ beverages you miss.
3) What about Honduras is completely backwards.
We seem to be really negative, but when you only have a few people to talk to and a lot of things that are frustrating, you tend to just bitch. Everyone is really happy though, and our little sessions of negativity are necessary to relieve a lot of stress. We always have a blast together though.
But, yesterday was perfect. I had a blast and cannot begin to explain how awesome it was to be in cool water for about 4 hours. I'm burned to hell on my back, but that's ok. Such a great group of people we have here, because we all have so much fun together. I'm pretty bummed to be leaving them soon, but hopefully we'll all keep in touch and get together for parties/holidays.
So, Monday is the big site announcement day! I'm going to try to get on the internet some time this week to put up a little blurb about my post. Saturday we're moving back to Sarabanda, and then have a week there before we go to our sites! I don't know when I'll get internet next, so FYI.
Other than that life is good. I can't believe I'm moving on to the next stage of my service! Crazy that time has passed so quickly.
New pictures posted! Take care everyone!
So I'm actually sitting in ADEPES writing this blog in person as opposed to writing it ahead of time and pasting it in. Knowing luck in Honduras, the internet will cut out soon, but I'm getting to the point where I will be ok with that.
So yesterday we went to the river. It was hands down the best day of my life. We met up at 8:00 am, which meant I could sleep in, and made food in groups to take to the river. My group made guacamole. At around 10, we headed to this farm, where if you walk down a ways you get to this awesome part of the river! It was actually clean, cool, and had a really deep part where you could jump off a rock and not hit the bottom. We were like little, happy fish!
Everyone spent the entire time in the water and we just splashed around and had a great time! We were so happy to be swimming and cool again. It was great not to be in Spanish class and just be able to relax. We are all so burnt out from Spanish, training and not sleeping. Out of the 10 hours a night I TRY to sleep, I probably achieve REM 4 - 5 hours each night. Only one week left! I'm sad and happy about that.
So, the river was awesome. Great food and great friends. We were having a blast tooling around in the water. There were a lot of jokes and stories, but I can barely remember them, and I don't know if they would translate well. Peace Corps Honduras humor is the epitome of "you had to be there". For the first time our conversation strayed of the following topics:
1) Who pissed you off today in Spanish class/technical training.
2) What food/ beverages you miss.
3) What about Honduras is completely backwards.
We seem to be really negative, but when you only have a few people to talk to and a lot of things that are frustrating, you tend to just bitch. Everyone is really happy though, and our little sessions of negativity are necessary to relieve a lot of stress. We always have a blast together though.
But, yesterday was perfect. I had a blast and cannot begin to explain how awesome it was to be in cool water for about 4 hours. I'm burned to hell on my back, but that's ok. Such a great group of people we have here, because we all have so much fun together. I'm pretty bummed to be leaving them soon, but hopefully we'll all keep in touch and get together for parties/holidays.
So, Monday is the big site announcement day! I'm going to try to get on the internet some time this week to put up a little blurb about my post. Saturday we're moving back to Sarabanda, and then have a week there before we go to our sites! I don't know when I'll get internet next, so FYI.
Other than that life is good. I can't believe I'm moving on to the next stage of my service! Crazy that time has passed so quickly.
New pictures posted! Take care everyone!
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