Settling In

So we are adjusting to life here fairly well, and we are learning the flow of work with relative ease. We have been in country now for 3 months, so that is the longest we have been out of the country. Alice's studies abroad may have been a little longer, but since we don't know exact dates, we've decided this definitely feels like the longest we've been out of the country. It is interesting the differences between the two experiences. In Spain we had just enough time to adjust before we were ready to go home. This time we are adjusting to the culture just in time to start working on our real reason for being here.

And start working we have! Now some volunteers arrive in site and spend the first 3 months making contacts, and not really getting a whole lot done. Others get to site and get pummeled with work. We have a fine mix between the two. We have definitely started working on something, but we are looking for other opportunities as well.

I've started meeting members of the local Caja Rurales that I have been assigned to strengthen, and Alice has started meeting members of patronatos. This week I will be attending my first two meetings in different villages to find out what I can do to help out. Alice is going to one on Sunday. Finding work won't really be a problem it seems, but rather deciding what work we want to do and where we can be most effective is going to be the hardest part.

We've also met with 2 directors from local high schools and we are probably going to lead civic education classes in both of them. We have one more high school to introduce ourselves in, and we'll be doing that sometime in the future, but I don't really know when we will be doing that.

So a friend here in site (the other volunteer) told me the other day about a great way to get news. Podcasts. It hadn't ocured to me I could do that, so I have started searching podcasts for good ones to gets news and entertain myself. Right now I am listening to Democracy now!, wait! wait! don't tell me, Car talk, fresh air, Diane Rehms, SModcast, and talk of the nation. Please let me know any suggestions if there is a radio program worth listening to that does a podcast version. I am also occasionally getting videos of the daily show off comedy central, which is nice, because the fake news seems to be a lot more fun than the real stuff. Please, let us know. We don't have a lot to do at night, so we watch a lot of movies and listen to lots podcasts.

So I hadn't planned ahead today with a specific story with pictures and detail, and I am kinda feeling a bit silly now, like I should have been leading up to somthing, but I am not. I suppose for now this wil have to do, but we are working on pictures of our house and pictures of where we live, and I will start thinking of stories I can tell.

It has been a while

Well, I am working on the worst computer known to man, and I am paying for it, but besides that things are going well. Very well actually despite a bad day. You see over the last 48 hours I have been developing 40 or 50 little spots, that would seem like bug bites if I hadn't been using my bug spray like a shower. So, today I decided (rather my wife and counter-part decided, but they were right) to call the doctor, and since telling someone you have red spots all over your arms, torso, and legs doesn't mean much over the phone I got to go to the hospital today. Awesome! Well if ever there were a cultural experience this was it. Very it. I was shocked first because it was empty. One would think a hospital here would have at least one other patient, but the entire time I was there, I only saw a few staff members, and as we were leaving, I saw 2 other people at the pharmacy. It was also spotless. American hospitals have nothing on this place. People were cleaning rooms that I don't think had been used for a couple of days. It was comforting. So I did my best to explain my problem in Spanish, and everyone seemed okay with how things went, and I left with a script for a pill, a cream, and a huge shot. Now I was hoping that the big shot was going to be a little shot in my arm, but it wasn't. It was a huge shot in the butt. And it hurt. A whole whole bunch. And I passed out. In the lobby of the hospital. This was my own fault, but I like to think the peace corps has thier part to play as well. You see, I know I pass out after shots. I am usually very careful, but since I have had almost 12 shots over the last month, and not passed out once I was semi-confident I was going to be fine. I was too, until I stood up and walked out the door. Thats when it started, the good news I remained awake long enough to see my way to a bench and lay down. I think they were confused until they noticed I was out like a light. I warned them though, I really had. So I decided to take the afternoon off. The first such afternoon where I have had some time off, and so I want you all to know, thats what I went through to be here today. Don't worry I am just fine, just some red spots that came from who knows where. They all tried to ask if I had eaten anything new lately, and the problem was I have eaten SO many new things, the question was impossible to answer. In the last 4 days I have eaten 2 new varieties of orange, a seafood soup that was great, but who knows what was in it, at least 2 new fruits I can't even identify, plus a variety of foods they serve at restaurants where they may use a hundred varieties of anything. So for now, I am on a limited diet and some alergy pills.


And all that was this morning after I went out to an aldea met some people, saw a project where they are installing solar panels, and saw a beautiful view. This is why telling the story of my being here is so hard. I do something new pretty much every day.

So I suppose I will do my best to hit the high points of what I have done over the last 2 or 3 weeks, but I am sure I will miss something interesting. Here is the summary. We moved to Santa lucia. We met our counter-part. We went to visit site. We came back. We swore in. We moved to our site. We started work. The above story happened.

My counterpart is excellent. He has lots of work, and I am already trying to get into it. I am not exactly prepared to do the projects he wants, but I am working on it. I've never ran a caja rural before, and we had a day of training in it, but it was more to identify it than to learn how to run it. Thats what I am doing now, reading alot, making contacts, but I am getting ahead of myself, more on my job later. So here is how Valle is. There is an urban area that is fairly developed and very touristy, and 29 aldeas that ack some organization or utility (like telephone, water, electricty, or social organizations, which are really the back bone of getting things done here). So the good part is we have all sorts of stuff available to us, including cable TV in some areas. This is nice because it means on Monday nights I can ask to watch Monday night football, and they usually have the Sunday night game on ESPN too. Life is very different and conditions are still different than home, but overall, I do have it pretty good. Going out to the aldeas is interesting, because it is the same city as the urban area, but it is like walking into the past. 2 hours from me are places without running water or electricity. Most of my work is out there. My counter part is a published engineer, and he wants me to write articles for publication once I have more experience becuase he says not alot of people write on the effect a rural bank has on local water sources. It is a thought, but it is hard to say how that will go. When the Peace Corps tells you things are an exchange, what they really mean is you have alot to learn. I am pretty happy about that though, I came here to learn.

Swearing in was alot of fun, though due to bad behavior and budget cutbacks, groups no longer get to stay the night in a hotel. Apearantly people were too rowdy and about the same time peace corps was trimming the budget, so it was done away with. No big deal though, I actually had a very good time back in Santa Lucia. So swearing in was apearantly quite the production here. We were on national news, and some of us were interviewed (not me). There was even a picture in the paper. They invited the directorfrom the ministry of education, the head of a university, the ambassador (so he swears us in, he has to be there, but it makes it sound more important), and our country director. It was nice and short, and after wards we got mexican tacos, and that was awesome.






























So those are pictures of our boss, our group, my close friends and fellow trouble-makers, and my Spanish class.

Thats all for now, I could talk all day about my site, but I am nicer than that, and I have two years to tell every detail.

A quick little update

If you've been on the edge of your seat trying to figure out where we were going, you can relax. I know. Alice and I have been placed in Valle de Angeles. It is a little town about 20 minutes from Santa Lucia, the training site. It is bery nice, with all the things that we need, interent, electricity, water, and all sorts of restaurants and markets. So far we have met our counterpart, and I am in the midst of my site vist, which has definately not been boring.

More to come, just wanted to let you all know.

A long overdue update.

Sorry it took so long to me to get to this. I know all of you check this hourly, anticipating my experiences. Anyways, I appreciate all of your comments and support, lately it has been a big help toward keeping me sane. Things are coming to a halt here in training, and we find out out site Monday. I also am tutoring some people in English Monday night, so you may or may not hear from me that day. I would cancel, but we leave the next day, and that hardly seems fair to them.

Training is a very busy time, as pretty much any of the trainees will tell you, and the last 2 weeks have been no exception. I think I'll leave some things out this time, and I am still betting on having a lot of information. First, I want to say hello to my boss, who has been reading this, and tell let her now I really think that her and Jorge have really developed the best training program. Self-directed projects were probably the closest we could get to a real volunteer experience during training. I've talked to people from both of the other groups, youth and protected area management, and both have said their training lacked them having to organize things, and they have felt like they haven't gotten to finish a lot of the projects they start since they usually only have a day to work on things. Self-directed projects were a great solution to both of these problems with training. Bravo!

As I said before we went to visit a cigar factory, which was awesome. I have a video that sums up pretty much everything, as it is a woman rolling a cigar, but the internet is too slow here to upload it. I am going to try again in a few days when we are back in Santa Lucia. I hope it works, as it is super awesome.

So as I said previously we finished up our projects, and the last 3 days were a good mix of success and learning experiences, that I feel more prepared to do my job. Wednesday we finished a very difficult analysis of a community-based-organization. It was especially hard since, we didn't get the intended one group, but rather 3, and had to change the activity entirely that last time we were there. So this time, things started off a lot smoother, until we got the "so what are you going to do for us" question. It was a hard question, because we didn't really have a lot of opportunities left to offer any time, and we don't give anything else. Fortunately our training manager was there, and helped us out of a hard, awkward situation. Our goal in Peace Corps is complicated. We don't get money to do our projects, we're expected to use our resources, so most people start to wonder why we're here. Well, we're here because a lot of times just because a community has the resources to do something, they need a motivated person to help get things started. That is what he explained to them, and he gave them some names of local volunteers who would be willing to help them if they had a project in mind they would like to work on. It was a good experience to have, because that may (will) come up again, and I will know what to do. The people we're not aggressive at all, and they were endlessly polite, but understandably, they were confused why we were there giving them a training, but probably not coming back.

Thursday and friday We did work with people who were equivalent to high school seniors. Thursday we had planned a HIV AIDS charla, but we learned they were probably a bit old to get it. They had all had the lecture before, so they really didn't want to listen, but they played along. After that experience we decided we needed a different tactic. They needed something that fit thier age and maturity better. It isn't strange at all to find people ranging from age 16 to 24 in high school classes, so we had the good idea of using some team-building exercises we had done a few weeks earlier. It worked perfect. They had never done anything like these excercises before, and they all loved it. This time, instead of leaving early, all the students were asking if we had anything else they could do. We did acid river, where they have to work out a bridge with wood over an area without touching the ground, the human knot, and activity where they are all holding hands in an odd arrangement, and have get into a circle, feather tube, where they can all use one finger, and they have to put the tube down at the same time, A game where they have to fit all thier feet in a circle, then in a smaller circle (the cmaller circle is supposed to be impossible, so it is alot of fun to watch, and finally a game where they have to hold a string with one finger each and make a shape, with thier eyes closed.

The picture on the left is from day 1. They wanted to answer a question so badly, they often pushed people over to get into a spot during this game. They actually seemed to enjoy it, but not for the right reasons. After watching this, I started to think maybe American football should be bigget here. The picture on the right was right before they finished feather tube. It took them nearly 10 minutes to set down the tube, which is honestly about normal.

These 2 pictures are from the circle on the ground game, where every person has to either get thier feet in the center of the circle or not have it off the ground. They didn't believe me it was invented to be impossible when we talked about it, and tried for another 10 minutes before they accepted I really made them try something impossible. I think they actually got alot out of this activity, and if they didn't, I sure did.

Last weekend was unpleasant, due to digestive issues. That is all I have to say about that. But if your reading this as a potential volunteer and your concerned about your health, don't be. The Peace Corps doctor literally made a pharmacy open on a Sunday to sell me something to clog up the pipes. I was happy to not have to wait.

Monday was Cultural day. It isn't a real holiday, but the Spanish teacher organize it, and it is lovely. We do demonstrations of American culture, and they do local to do Honduran demonstrations. One group taught the hokey pokey. It was so much fun, I am posting a picture of someone that isn't me. Usually I don't do this, since I always find discovering pictures of myself a little creepy, so I extend that to others, but I have to make an exception for this. First, because we found pictures of ourselves on his wife's blog, and second, because the world deserves to see this. This man is the definition of a good participant. He doesn't care how silly something may be, he just does it, and he always seems to enjoy himself. Kudos to him. We followed all this up with some traditional honduran food we prepared with our families. So much good food, and fun. I really love being here.

Well things were soon to get even better, and it is so nice that I can say that. So often things like that are followed up with something disappointing or boring, but Tuesday and Wednesday were awesome. We did a rural tourism demonstration in a local village, to understand a learn a few things, and have a great time. Basically we did the "tour" and we learned the business side of things at the same time. We started with a sugar cane demonstration where we cut some cane with a machete, then ground it into juice and drank it. It was tasty with lemon, and less sweet than I expected, but it was still very sweet. Heres a picture of me with a deadly weapon, and one of Alice using the juicer.

Later that day we went horseback riding, and after lunch we made our own fishing poles and went fishing. Both of those activites were as much fun as they sounded, but about what one would expect, so I won't elaborate.

Wednesday we did alot of exploring in mountains. It was alot of fun. We even got to see the Nicaraguan border, but we didn't get to go.

Friday, we did our presentations to our boss over our experiences, and they started doing Independence day parades. Actually, they just started the last parade 10 minutes ago, so I am going to have to cut out early. Thanks for following along. Monday will be the day I finally know where I will be living for 2 years. I am excited.

A little bit of catch-up

I really wanted to do an update this weekend, because we are just non stop, but I had to cancel my usual ciber-sunday, due to digestive problems. This is Honduras, and I have been lucky to have not had problems earlier. So far I am just happy to not have had any major problems, but these too will come. The bad news is I am unprepared today. Usually I prep everything before I come, especially the pictures I plan to use, and today I have nothing but boring stories, so i will be brief in hopes that pictures will bring some of these stories to life.

Off the top of my head, Last week was interesting for alot of reasons, most specifically, field trips. We went with our Spanish classes to a Tabacalera, or a cigar factory, and to the house of a woman who makes coffee wine. Both were unique experiences, and a whole lot of fun. I have a ton of pictures of the cigar factory, because I have never seen anything like it before. There were mountains of tobacco, and hundreds of people hand rolling cigars. The coffee wine was unique as well, though was well described as "like kahlua, only not as sweet and creamy" The reviews were mixed, but Alice and I decide it was ok, but improved with some cream.

We also did a trip to see some productive projects, mostly agriculture based, which was good information. I hope to work with a project similar to one of the ones we saw, since basically they are government funded ag projects, that are supposed to earn money after the initial investment and that money is usually appropriated to help schools of libraries update materials. I like it because it sustains itself, and the benefits are long term. It may or may not work out, but I liked it.

Thursday and friday were the last days of self directed projects, and I can honestly say I will miss my training site. It was awesome. Thursday we went back and finished a very stresful analysis of a community based orginization, but I loved the project, since it was so challenging. I hadn't expected something so simple to be so hard, so the first day I didn't do so well speaking or even thinking, but this time I was ready, and got alot better results. Friday was another one of my famous lessons. This time we were talking about leadership, communication, and team-building. All worthy things to talk about, but it was mostly hilarious, fun, intereactive activities. We did get our point across too, which is nice. The best part was I really seemed to communicate well during the last couple activities. My Spanish went from survivable to workable. That is a good feeling.

I will expand on all of this with photos, I just didn't want to send the message I was forgetting about the blog.

Hurrican´t

Since people have expressed concern over our safety, today´s update is just to let you all know, there is nothing of interest to tell. Our experience with Felix was rather lame. We had a training class scheduled for 3 pm that got cancelled because they closed the building where we usually have class, and it rained lightly for about 8 hours. That was the only effect it had on us. The Peace Corps reacted in a totally appropriate manner, some volunteers had to go to a rally point, but that was it. The rest of us just couldn´t leave site. Security is priority number one during emergencies, and they take every precaution, and then spare no expense to take care of any problems. If something had gone wrong they literally call in the army, and they send out the blackhawks to find us.

I will do my usualy weekly update this weekend, I just wanted to let you all know Alice and I are just fine.

Another week

So we are still in training, but it is going really fast. It won't be long before we are real volunteers. This week went unusually fast, mostly due to the fact we hardly have a minute to ourselves, and we have been spending more time with other trainees, and less time at home. It just seems to make time pass a bit more rapidly. Monday we were supposed to be doing field based work, which means I was supposed to be in Jacaleapa, but there was a major strike, and the highway was blocked where we needed to go, so we did not. This is nothing to be concerned about, it just happens from time to time. The Peace Corp security officer issues a travel warning, and no one ever gets hurt, because everyone here knows better than to intentionally put themselves in harms way. So Monday was a lost day, except I found the cleanest bathroom in Honduras. It was a Porshe of bathrooms, and it was just in a regular looking Comeador (place to eat). Tuesday we did an analysis for a community based organization, which didn't work out great, but it was no one's fault. We just had a failure of communication with the person, who was nice enough to organize the meeting for us. We were only prepared to analyze one group, but 3 showed up (she though we wanted every group in town) , and we just did the best we could to change the activity. They were all very nice, and very cooperative. They even took us to see their water well, which is actually very interesting concept wise, since very very few villages have water sources like that, but to tell the truth, it just kinda looked like a water spout, since the pump is under ground. The area we were in was positively beautiful, as demonstrated by the picture, and the people we were with were world-class hosts. A lot of municipal development volunteers will go to the small villages when they get frustrated, because typically, they don't see a lot of Americans, and they are gracious and polite.

Wednesday was a pretty normal day. Spanish class for 4 hours, followed by 4 hours of project design. It was a long day, and very demanding since tech sessions are now in Spanish too.

Thursday and Friday were A very nice surprise. For 2 solid days we took part in Aids training, which sounded long, and awful, but was not at all. Thursday morning we were participants in the Charla, and Thursday afternoon we put it together. Friday morning we gave the charla, and Friday afternoon we talked about it, and did a couple of follow-up exercises. Thursday was boring, but the trainers we had were good, so they kept me awake. After 7ish weeks of training, I give that a lot of credit. Friday morning was hilarious. It is hard to describe why, as no one knows what kati flauti is, who hasn't had to do it, but it is hilarious to watch middle school students forced to do it. Trust me. My favorite part however is an activity known as "white blood cells", where we make 9 people put sign around there neck (with pictures) representing the human body, 3 white blood cells, aids, HIV, diarrhea, parasites, and a cold. The the white blood cells lock at the elbow around the human body figure to show that they protect it. Then we tell diarrhea, parasites, and a cold, to attack the human body. The point is that they can't because the white blood cells are protecting it. But if you ever tell 3 middle school students to attack another, be prepared. They do with all the force they can manage, and it is hilarious. I wish I had recorded it. The world would be a better place with a recording of this, but sadly, no luck. I will have to do this charla again, and be better prepared to capture how awesome it is. We finish off the activity, by having HIV break up the white blood cells and the the infections get in, and then HIV and AIDS switch. They are supposed to understand from this the difference between HIV and AIDS, and they do, but I know that I would do this activity just to watch them try and kill each other.

And now for pictures.

I kinda look like I am talking about important things in this part, but the truth is, I was setting up a really bad joke they say helps set the mood, and it did. The activity is called wash the plantain, you can figure it out from there.

Alice always takes pictures with her whole class, which is smart. She gave 4 charlas this week. This picture is of number 4 after her group gave out certificates. She also gave one on self-esteem, and 2 on business fundamentals.

This lovely picture is Alice actually teaching. Unlike me, she usually maintains a far more professional manner while teaching kids. It is not that I am unprofessional. It is more that I am not really good at connecting with kids unless we are having fun, so I try to make a lot of jokes and have fun. She does a much better job teaching.