cheque leque ocotepeque
Yesterday my project manager came to visit my site with her new assistant, Ronaldo, who was actually the trainer for youth development before (who's absolutely fabulous). I was so nervous about the visit because I haven't done much in terms of work. But everything turned out fine. We first met with the health center where they seem to have big plans for me and then my PM got on their case about moving to the new center so I could move out of the cell and into my house. Supposedly, they are moving out tomorrow, which I doubt highly and believe that in Honduran time, tomorrow means about 2 weeks from now...let's hope that I'm wrong though. After the health center, my PM wanted to talk to the patronato (like representative) so we went up the mountain to search for him in his acres of farm. It was an adventure because locals kept telling us, you're almost there, just five more minutes, but five more minutes turned out to be a 30 minute hike up a muddy road. She talked to the patronato and he also said that my house would be ready and offered us a jalón back down the mountain.
Of course, he can't drive. He told us that one of the local kids would drive us down. My PM did not support that idea and insisted that Ronaldo drive the car down. Ronaldo drove and it was so slippery from all the mud. My PM was freaking out because she doesn't jalón (and why would she? PC provided her with a sweet Land Rover). It was funny to see her so nervous. When we finally got to the bottom, Ronaldo tells us that he found out the brakes weren't functioning properly, but didn't know that until he started driving. My PM just said, "Kathryn, mire, you're site is bonito, but I don't think I will jalón ever again." (She's big on spanglish.) After that, we looked for some other people, who we couldn't find (thank goodness it's not just me), then left San Ramón to visit my friend Connie in San Marcos, Ocotepeque.
When we got to San Marcos, we met Connie in front of a really good pupusa (chesse and bean filled tortillas) restaurant. Lucky for Connie and me, our PM paid for everything. After lunch, we went to play baseball with her team (San Ramón's arch rivals), which was organized chaos. We were able to play one inning, which took about 45 minutes. I also realized that I can't catch a baseball with a glove (I am going to run my team straight into the ground!). Later, our PM treated us to some ice cream (sooooo good) and dropped me off at Connie's for the night where we watched Family Guy and Sex and the City until 1 am. This morning, they picked me up and brought me back to San Ramón. Watching them leave was really sad. I can't really explain it but I felt like I had just gotten to site for the first time again.
But it was a good visit. My PM was really positive and realized that I have to deal with small town life, which means that sometimes I won't have much work to do.
The thing that made me realize that I'd been in Honduras for quite awhile? Being in a car. It was so strange not stopping along the way to Santa Rosa and getting to the main highway in about 30 minutes. And the roomyness (is this even a word?) of the backseat............it was excellent.
Of course, he can't drive. He told us that one of the local kids would drive us down. My PM did not support that idea and insisted that Ronaldo drive the car down. Ronaldo drove and it was so slippery from all the mud. My PM was freaking out because she doesn't jalón (and why would she? PC provided her with a sweet Land Rover). It was funny to see her so nervous. When we finally got to the bottom, Ronaldo tells us that he found out the brakes weren't functioning properly, but didn't know that until he started driving. My PM just said, "Kathryn, mire, you're site is bonito, but I don't think I will jalón ever again." (She's big on spanglish.) After that, we looked for some other people, who we couldn't find (thank goodness it's not just me), then left San Ramón to visit my friend Connie in San Marcos, Ocotepeque.
When we got to San Marcos, we met Connie in front of a really good pupusa (chesse and bean filled tortillas) restaurant. Lucky for Connie and me, our PM paid for everything. After lunch, we went to play baseball with her team (San Ramón's arch rivals), which was organized chaos. We were able to play one inning, which took about 45 minutes. I also realized that I can't catch a baseball with a glove (I am going to run my team straight into the ground!). Later, our PM treated us to some ice cream (sooooo good) and dropped me off at Connie's for the night where we watched Family Guy and Sex and the City until 1 am. This morning, they picked me up and brought me back to San Ramón. Watching them leave was really sad. I can't really explain it but I felt like I had just gotten to site for the first time again.
But it was a good visit. My PM was really positive and realized that I have to deal with small town life, which means that sometimes I won't have much work to do.
The thing that made me realize that I'd been in Honduras for quite awhile? Being in a car. It was so strange not stopping along the way to Santa Rosa and getting to the main highway in about 30 minutes. And the roomyness (is this even a word?) of the backseat............it was excellent.
posted by Kathryn @ 2:25 PM
1 Comments:
At 9:41 PM,
Anonymous said…
oh, her spanglish. i gave my friends an impersonation of her on the phone with me last night. it never fails to entertain.
"oh! oh no! oh, meli! que lastima! mire, i am going to call the duty officer y he is going to call you right back y we are going to figure this out."
i am sorry she scared you by telling you i was in the us. i can't wait to get back to you because today, at target, i bought you a bag of dove and a bag of ghiradelli dark chocolates. and you are going to eat them.
love you!
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