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.