Kathryn's Peace Corps Adventure

the toughest job you'll ever love.

2008-02-08T20:57:00.001-06:00

Well, I've been back for about 2 months now and have found readjustment to be quite tough. I miss Honduras, I miss my kids, I miss living alone, quiet time, not worrying about the next step, etc. But that is part of the PC experience as well.

It's been an amazing journey and hopefully, it's not over. There will be another adventure in the works, another challenge to face, and many more faces to see. But thanks for reading my adventures the past 2 1/2 years. In retrospect, it really did fly.

a litle bit of mexico

2007-12-06T13:43:00.000-06:00

Nighttime in Mérida.
The thousand pillars at Chichén Itzá. Sunrise at Tulum. (This view is right outside my cabaña!)

At the ruins in Palenque. McFly, McFly....at Sumidero Canyon.

brrrrr! (yes, again)

2007-11-29T15:06:00.001-06:00

I'm currently in San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas. It's cold!! I slept with 3 blankets last night and still woke up from the cold. It's about 6000 ft. above sea level, so you can imagine that it's chilly. The good thing though is that I allow myself to drink as many Mexican hot chocolates as I please, which not only warm me up, but fulfill every chocolate dream I've had.

Anyhow, I spent yesterday exploring the town, taking pictures of the architecture, wandering the artisan market and attending a salsa class. (Oh, salsa dancing, how I've missed you. Unfortunately, it is not like riding a bike. I felt clumsy and off beat.) Today I went to Cañon del Sumidero, a massive canyon with a hydroelectic dam built at the end of the river. I went out on a tour boat, which was enjoyable but tiring because people wanted to take pictures of everything. I understand....but how many crocodile pictures does one need to show to friends back home?

It's decision time for me now. I have to decide if I'm going to head to Merida or Playa del Carmen tomorrow. Both bus rides will be over 12 hours...I have such a desire to get in some beach time since I was cheated at Roatan.

tikal to mexico

2007-11-27T08:14:00.000-06:00

I'm in Chiapas, Mexico!!!

Tikal was gorgeous. Before going there, I read that it was in the middle of the jungle but that didn't make much sense to me until I experienced it. It really is in the middle of nowhere. From the main entrance to the main plaza is about a 20 minute walk through a created path. The stuctures were amazing and climbing pyramids was thrilling (and frightening) but the coolest part for me was all the animals. I saw so many monkeys, turkeys, toucans and a handful of other birds that I don't know the names of...I was foolish though and did not have a good breakfast and was burned out by midday. I wish that I had stayed an extra day to go again because there is just so much to see there that I don't think a day visit did it justice. But Tikal is expensive ($20), though well worth the money. Besides, I had already purchased my ticket to Mexico by then.

The trip to Mexico was quite the adventure. As I said, Tikal is in the middle of nowhere, Guatemala so the minibus that I took rode horrible dirt roads for about 2 hours. And it was just farmland everywhere. No houses, no people, just land. The road ends at a river and from there, I took a speedboat to get to the Mexican border. It was fun. From there, another minibus but on a paved road (thank goodness!).

So I arrived to Palenque yesterday and am staying in the town of El Panchán, which is about 4 km out of town. It's a cool village with cabins set up throughout the jungle and am staying in a cute cabin that is costing me $8/night. Later today (after a good meal), I will head out to the ruins, spend one more night here and head to the Zapatista capital, San Cristóbal de las Casas, tomorrow morning.

crusin'

2007-11-23T14:00:00.000-06:00

I only spent an evening in Punta Gorda (PG) but I had a fabulous time. As I was walking around the town market, I was approached by a local and was asked if I wanted a bicycle tour of the town. Of course! We rode all around PG and on some back roads too which was difficult because those roads weren't paved and pretty muddy so I was caught up in some mud for a bit. It was beautiful weather, dusk, not too hot or chilly and the bike I was on was a cruiser! I haven't been on a cruiser for a l-o-n-g time...it was fun and took some adjusting to get used to because there were no handbrakes, just backpedal braking. After the ride, he invited me to join him and some friends for dinner and we ate delicious fresh fish and had a tea that tasted similar to black licorice.

I left the next morning at 8 to get to San Ignacio, which is in the western part of the country, which took awhile. I got in around 3 that afternoon. The ride was pretty and much flatter than Honduras. Miles and miles of orange groves and banana plantations covered the southern part of Belize.

San Ignacio is a larger town with a lot of travelers passing through on their way to or from Tikal. It's still has a local feel to it though and isn't catered only to tourists. Most people here speak three languages: English, Spanish and Creole which throws me off because I'm used to asking for food and hotel rooms in Spanish and I feel almost foolish speaking English....almost as if I don't know how to maneuver the language, which is ridiculous because my English will always overrule my Spanish.

Anyhow, I just came back from touring the ruins of Xunantunich (soo-nan-too-neech), which were chill. They let you climb the highest structure, the castle, which is about 130 ft high. What a view. I took pictures but foolishly forgot to bring my camera cord with me so I can't load the pics up until I get home. I sat up there for about an hour just reading and enjoying the warm sunshine. The coolest part though was the 2 minute ferry that you have to take to get across the river because it is connected by wire cables on each side and operated by hand crank.

I'm headed to Tikal tomorrow and in the meanwhile, I'm going to kick back and enjoy the national beer, Belikin, as their stout is que rica.

wipe out

2007-11-21T15:18:00.000-06:00

I am no longer a PCV! My service ended on the 16th. And now begins the travel portion of this blog....

After visiting my friends Crystal & Simon on the 17th, I was on the bus to San Pedro Sula with the intention of going to Belize that day but looked at the clear blue sky and decided, "I'm going to Roatan" (one of the Bay Islands off the north coast of Honduras). I get to Roatan at 6 pm and it's pouring rain. Sigh.

The next day the sun was not making an appearance so I decided to rent a scooter to ride around the island. Keep in mind that I've never driven a scooter let alone ridden on one but I was in 'vacation mode' and wouldn't let that stop me. After learning how to start the engine (hooray!), I head east and keep riding for 15 miles. It was so much fun!

...until I see the turn off for this town, French Harbor, and decide that I must go there. As I turn right, I hit a pothole and go flying! People run out of their cabs to make sure I'm alright, help me up, help me with the scooter and were just overall wonderful. I'm scratched up but more than anything I was embarassed. I start riding back to West End (where I was staying) and decided that I would cut my adventure short for the sake of my health and for other people on the road.

As I write this, I am currently in southern Belize. Tomorrow I'm headed to San Ignacio, in the west and this weekend, I should be in Tikal, Guatemala. But I don't have any true plans as I've decided to travel wherever the wind takes me. Or knocks me over.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

almost...

2007-11-14T14:28:00.000-06:00

It's almost here. I'm in Tegucigapla getting medical stuff done (and probed in all sorts of ways!) and finishing up some final paperwork. My final day as a PCV will be this Friday. This Friday!!!! How surreal is that?!

tacuasín = honduran for aiiieeee!

2007-11-03T10:14:00.000-06:00

Last night I was reading in bed and heard something rummaging through my trash can in the kitchen. I thought that the rat that has been haunting me for the past 6 or so months had returned. With one week left in San Ramon, it was time for a showdown. I put on closed toe shoes (don't need to get rabies my last week in San Ram), grabbed the broom and built up the courage the face the rat. I open the door to the dining area and see trash spread all over the floor. I enter the room and find myself face to face with a fat, gray possum.

I throw the broom on the floor, scream, run to my bedroom, lock the door and jump in my bed.

Possum 1, Kathryn 0

brrrrrrr!

2007-10-26T08:26:00.000-06:00

As I type this, I am wearing 2 shirts and a puffy coat (yes, with a fake fur collar) and a knit cap. A cold front has hit Honduras and it is chilly! The days are overcast with intermittent rains and when I leave my house in the morning to buy eggs, I can see my breath. Now I know, it’s nothing compared to what I’ll be facing when I get into Chicago in December, however, my parents’ house doesn’t have a 3 inch gap between the wall and the ceiling and their back door is an actual door, not an iron gate. Whine, whine, whine! I’ll miss it one day… in the meanwhile, for anyone who thought, ‘well, she’s in Central America’, so it must be nice & hot’, think again!

siempre está quejandose catita

2007-10-19T10:28:00.000-06:00

A friend, for confidentiality's sake, let's call him Chris M., no, no, that's too easy, C. Matza, has complained that my blogs have become quite sentimental and has written to me, "if I wanted happy thoughts, I'd watch Sesame Street.

With the good, there's bad...that's the way life always balances out. So this one is for you Chris, the list of things I most certaintly won't miss about Honduras:

-Checking my bed nightly for mosquitos and brushing off at least 5 dead ones off my it daily.
-When the water goes out and I have no boiled water ready for drinking.
-Spiders. Everywhere.
-Not having a back door, or wall for that matter, just an iron gate. (Hello, Mr. Snake, thanks for gracing me with your presence today!)
-Burning my trash. I'm sorry Mother Earth.
-Never quite having clean clothes because I'm not an expert hand washer
-Boiling water in order to drink it.
-"Hey gringa. Marry me. You are sexy. I love your body! Teach me English!" etc.
-Not being able to send an email when I want, especially if it's time sensitive.

I could contiune but I don't want to be too negative. Sorry Chris, this is Sesame Street.

riding high

2007-10-19T10:24:00.000-06:00

A major storm came through on monday and destroyed one part of my road and because of that, all my buses have gone on strike until the gov't decides to fix the road. But how is she sending this blog, you wonder...I didn't know about the strike until I got down to the caseta and heard the story from some campesinos. I was about to go back to my house and curse myself for waking up at 530 but along came a jalon and though I was hesitant, I got in. So did about 10 others. In the end, there were 21 people in the back of the truck. I was sitting on the back praying that 1. the door wouldn't fly open when we hit a bump and 2. that I wouldn't fall off. Going uphill sucked because all that weight went back and I could only hold on to the back with one arm since there was no room to move. But it was an adventure. The gov't will work fast on this one, I'm sure, because getting to santa rosa is a necessary part of life for campesinos.

not the sharpest tool

2007-10-19T10:23:00.000-06:00

I had an overripe mango in my fridge. Normally, I just throw fruit right into my back yard. The mango was a fatty though and wouldn't fit through the back gate and since I was too lazy to get the key to open the back gate, I decided to throw it out the bathroom window. Yeah. So I missed and hit the bar that guards my window and the mango falls in the toilet. I'm an idiot.

class photo

2007-10-11T18:48:00.000-06:00

So this is my youth development group. The people I've spent the past 2 years getting to know. I have mad senior syndrome right now. September went by so slow but now October is flying and it feels as though I have more things to do in the next 5 weeks than I have in the past 2 years. But that's the way it always is...

don't fret

2007-09-29T09:00:00.000-06:00

Doña Amalia: I appreciate that Pugi (your dang dog) waited until 4 am to start barking incessantly Thursday morning. It was like the alarm to my alarm. And I'm sure that I'm the only one who woke up because of it.

dia del maestro

2007-09-22T10:07:00.000-06:00

I made sushi for the teachers. It was their first time trying it. I kept it simple, but I could tell that they didn't like it. It's cool. It took me awhile to like it too.
My darling 6th graders look so well behaved here. Too bad they can't always be this way!
The teachers are playing musical chairs. Why am I not there? My sorry self was knocked out right away. Pathetic.
The kids wanted to show off their punta moves to everyone. Then they wanted the gringita to show off her moves (not photographed!).

Monday the 17th was Teacher's Day but it was celebrated on the 18th at the grade school. The 6th graders and I planned a surprise party for the teachers after school. It was a good time. A little bitterswet because I knew that my time is coming to an end.

take note...

2007-09-21T15:33:00.000-06:00

Doña Amalia...Please don't worry. Only I noticed that your dog was barking from 2-230 in the morning without much pause. No, it didn't wake me up. Riiiigghhtttt.....

time after time

2007-09-16T10:04:00.000-06:00

My time is winding down. I’m not exactly sure of my departure date yet but with the school year ending at the beginning of November, the majority of my work will end. Remember what it felt like to be a senior in high school? The excitement of high school coming to an end, the thrill of the future, and the fear that you felt because you were leaving something that had become familiar? That’s how I’m feeling right now. I am excited for the next step and the new challenges that will come but I am also sad because I know that I will have to say goodbye to some really great people here. Not only great people but a great life. I know that I have complained at times about the difficulties I’ve faced here, but I am extremely satisfied here. Going to the U.S. really helped me realize how nice my life is here. I am scared to go back to the U.S. and falling right back into the grind but am trying to prepare myself for it a little while I am here. In the meanwhile, here are the things that I am going to miss about Honduras:

-Eating ripe mangoes until I’m sick to my stomach and never regretting it.
-Whole pineapples for 25 cents.
-Saying hello to everyone on the street.
-Not living my life by a schedule.
-Having kids scream my name on the street.
-Not constantly worrying about money.
-Saying (and hearing) “Eat well!” when I see someone eating (or am eating).
-The novelty of finding Cheerios in the supermarket.
-Dedicated teachers that are so talented despite having few resources.
-The novelty of sandwiches.
-My wonderful, funny and intelligent 6th graders.
-Crazy dances, festivals for the sake of celebration, and the necessity of having a Queen for every event.
-Walking out of my house and seeing gorgeous mountains, banana trees, charming colorful houses with Spanish tiles, and butterflies everywhere.
-Letting email and text messaging be a novelty rather than a necessity.
-Talking to complete strangers about anything.
-Being able to let my guard down. I hope I can take that one home with me.

independence day

2007-09-16T09:51:00.000-06:00

It’s the 186th anniversary of Honduras’ independence. What does that mean? It means we need to elect a Ms. Independence, naturally! It also means that there are a few parades, cultural nights, and a dance…big events for a small town. I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Brayan is just too cute in his flag bearer outfit. Too cute.

Sitting with some of my 6th graders waiting for the cultural events to begin. I'm going to miss them!
The night of the 14th. The grade school & colegio march up the main road at night with homemade torches screaming "Viva Honduras!" (or Viva Cati!, when they passed my house)
Of course, a parade wouldn't be complete without some interference from livestock.

The grade school marched on the morning 14th.
Pomponeras: Cheerleaders
The colegio marched on the 15th. It was supposed to start at 8 am. That means it began at 10.
Who's cuter? The cheerleaders or the poms? It's high school all over again.
The band from the grade school...they were pretty good!

recap: la usa (ooh-sa)

2007-09-08T08:44:00.000-06:00

My trip to the U.S. was pretty fabulous. The main reason is because I realized why I joined Peace Corps back in 2005. I missed Chicago so much while I was gone but there were tons of things that I didn’t miss while I was there. Time management, always rushing, the stress of living with my wonderful parents after living on my own for 2 years, materialism, the necessity to plan everything out, always feeling inadequate because I don’t have the newest (insert here), etc. But gosh, I missed my friends. I also missed: the thrill of going to Wrigley, seeing Chicago through a tourist’s eyes, Lou Malnati’s pizza, Flying Chicken green sauce, 312 Urban Wheat Ale, Blue Moon, chocolate cake, internet for 5 minutes or 25 minutes, iced coffee, new music, magazines, newspapers, calling Emily, Mario’s with Greg, being teased incessantly by J, knowing the LHR was a drive away rather than a plane ride away, mini golf at Novelty Golf (Course 2) and phone tag with Tony Akins.

My first week home was laid back, lunch with friends, dinner with the girls, phone calls to people I haven’t spoken to in awhile. I went to Las Vegas for 3 days to see my high school friend (and cynical soulmate) Jon get married and enjoy Vegas now that I’m over 21. After a scary flight back (I’m sorry, but it is scary when the pilot requests flight attendants to sit down), my second week was spent showing a friend around Chicago. Cubs game (they won!), bar crawl afterward, bike ride along Lake Michigan, jibarito sandwiches, Giordano’s Pizza, Goose Island Brewery…fun times.

I’m back in Honduras now and the U.S., once again, seems like a dream. Was I ever really there? I thought about that as I argued with a cab driver to not rip me off at the airport.

in the house

2007-08-17T08:41:00.000-06:00

After a delayed flight in Miami and what felt like the longest flight due to my anxiety, I arrived into Chicago at a little past midnight. Getting into Chicago was (is?) surreal. It really hasn't hit me that I'm actually in the U.S. I was exhausted last night when I got in because the airport at Miami stressed me out with the rush at customs, the delayed flight and having my alcohol confiscated at check in. But none of that matters now because I'm here. I'm actually here.

bzzzzz....

2007-08-13T10:59:00.000-06:00

Busy as a bee. I’m trying to tie up loose ends before I go on my long awaited vacation to Chicago and it has been busy for me. It’s a good kind of busy though, it helps keep my mind off going home and my countdown. There was a two day teachers strike during the first two days of August, which messed up my schedule because my project manager was planning on coming out to observe my English classes and instead she got to come out and see nothing because all the teachers had to attend a mandatory meeting in the capital of my department.

But as soon as classes were back in session, so was I. I can’t believe how quickly the school year has slipped through my fingers. I am trying to plan out the rest of the year and realize that I only have about 7 weeks of class time left.

This month has been the start of some really cool things. To start out the month, my Peace Corps group, Honduras 7, received our invitation to our close of service (COS) conference. I know that it’s just an invitation, but it represents that our time is almost up and soon we’ll be moving on to other things that don’t involve Honduras and Peace Corps. It is also the start of form season for me, which means endless government paperwork and nights filled typing out documents proving that I did actually do something the past 2 years. But I won’t complain because it means that my service is almost over come November or December! Of course the big news would be that I am going home for a sweet 2 weeks starting August 16th and that brings such a smile to my face. And there are the little things that have made me happy lately, like hugs from Brayan, boston cream pie at Weekend’s in Santa Rosa, calls to the U.S. only costing 1.95 lempiras from my cell phone, bananas 8 for 1 lempira and free rides into Santa Rosa.

So I’m spreading that happiness to you in hopes that it is contagious!

a glimpse into the future

2007-07-30T11:41:00.000-06:00

I spent Saturday afternoon packing for my upcoming trip to Chicago. While I won’t be home for another few weeks, I wanted to pack my bag because my project manager is coming to visit this week and I would like to take advantage of the fact that she has a car and will ideally take me (and my massive exploding bag) to Santa Rosa. I can leave my bag there until mid-August, when I leave for Chicago. It was hard deciding what clothes I would bring back and which ones I would keep in San Ramon and wear for my last (!) 3 months. Even harder was taking down postcards, letters, photos, and artwork off my walls that made my house a home. It made me realize that my time is almost up and this house will be occupied by a local soon and I will be a distant memory. I have been so caught up with the idea of my 2 years finally being up and being able to go to the U.S., that I haven’t given much thought to what’s next. I have fantasized the hot showers, customer service, produce section of Whole Foods, draft beers, games at Wrigley and jibarito sandwiches, but I have no idea what I am going to do in terms of a job or a living situation. Putting 2 years of my life into Ziploc bags actually started to freak me out. In some ways, I am more scared about coming home (in December) than I was about leaving for Honduras 2 years ago. I think it’s because I knew that my time in Honduras was limited. In my head, I thought, “Alright, Peace Corps is 2 years and then I’ll have it figured out.” Now 2 years have passed and I have more questions rather than answers. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but as I was looking at my now blank walls Saturday night, it really blew my mind to think how quickly the 2 years have passed.

in deep

2007-07-22T09:25:00.000-06:00

I went to visit my friends Crystal and Simon last week and they took us on a morning trip to Pulhapanzak, a waterfall in Honduras. You can tour the waterfall with a guide but the guy was asking us for $5 a person (about 100 lempira). Five dollars isn’t much when you think about it but…

1. He asked for $5, not lempira.
2. Crystal and Simon paid 50 lempira the last time they were there.
3. There was a huge group of missionaries from the U.S. there and they were going to pay the $5.
4. A local would pay 50 lempira and since I am paid as a local, theoretically I should be charged as one as well.

We argued with him for about 5 minutes and I got pretty sassy with him asking why he was charging us more if people have paid less and why were there no other guides that day. Eventually, we got him down to 50 lempira and went on the tour. It was pretty cool. We went under the waterfall and into caves that were behind it. I was pretty nervous, especially considering that if I slipped on one of the rocks, the guide probably wouldn’t save me because I got so sassy with him, but more so because I have a fear of deep water and am not a strong swimmer (I need to sign up for swimming lessons as soon as I get back, I am excited to have my swimming skills be compared to that of a 7 year old). But I survived the tour and it was great. Exhilarating actually…having thousands of gallons of water rush down on you every second and being almost blinded by the water pressure really got the adrenaline running. I have to agree when people say “You feel more alive when you are aware of death” because while I was frightened, I felt so alive and energized after.

adventures of the clumsy muchacha

2007-07-03T14:17:00.000-06:00

I don’t think I come off as a klutz when you first meet me but if you hang out with me for a decent amount of time, you’ll begin to see that I can definitely be klutzy. This past week was a slow one because school is having its summer vacation week and the health center doesn’t have work for me at the end of the month, so I was in my house watching DVDs, reading and trying not to look at the clock too much. With little to do, I decided to clean, which really means just gathering all my trash to burn and mopping the floor, but factor in my klutzy ways and well, you’ve got a sitcom in the making.

After sweeping my floors and putting all my trash in a pile, I lit some newspapers and threw them into the pile; something that I’ve done for about a year and a half now and have developed my own method for it that I felt was effective. Or so I thought.

My host family came over to my house about 2 weeks ago to cut my grass and clean out my back yard; they also told me that I should start burning my trash under a banana tree so that the ashes could serve as fertilizer (?). I didn’t question it because I was grateful that they came over in the first place to do that work for me without me even asking for it.

Anyhow, I was back in my house, filling the pila up with water so I could mop the floors. I turned around to grab the mop from outside and saw that half the tree was in flames! (Note to self, moron: dried banana leaves burn really, REALLY well). I grabbed some dishes that I use to scoop up water, filled them up and threw water at the tree. The fire went out quickly but not fast enough because my neighbor was looking over the fence and laughing at me. “Were you planning on burning the whole back yard or just the one tree?”, he asked. I looked at him and couldn’t think of anything witty to say in Spanish so I just shrugged and laughed.

Later I mopped the floors in the house and was watching some audio commentary of the Simpsons (yes, I’ve reached that point in my DVDs; I’ve watched them all various times and now will watch all the commentaries). I got out of bed, put on my sandals to get some water from the kitchen, and not thinking clearly, took a step, slipped on the wet floor, grabbed onto my mosquito net for balance and managed to pull the net off the wall. With no leverage, I fell and slid a little forward. I stayed on the floor for another minute just thinking about what a clumsy girl I can be and laughed it off, because really, what else could I do?

pics from utila

2007-06-28T09:22:00.000-06:00

The dock outside our hostel. Perfect for early morning swims and fun nighttime adventures. Joe and Emily cutting a rug and looking as cute as ever.
Dusk...too chill.
Fooling around with Joe and Connie. Honestly though, westside (Honduras) is the best side.
Fire dancer at the wedding. Super cool.

utila wedding

2007-06-26T09:46:00.000-06:00

I spent most of last week on Utila, one of the Bay Islands off the North Coast of Honduras for the wedding of my friends Joe and Emily. I had never been to the Bay Islands, let alone the North Coast, so needless to say, I was stoked about this trip. The wedding was held on Thursday the 21st but my friend Connie and I got out there on Monday to chill with other PCVs, several who have already finished their service but came back to Honduras for the wedding.

We stayed at this pretty chill hostel called Rubi’s which had a fabulous view of the Caribbean and a private dock, which we took advantage of for day swims, night swims and stargazing. I have never participated in a vacation wedding before but I really enjoyed this experience. We got to talk to a lot of people from Joe and Emily’s families about life as a PCV, they got to talk about how cheap things were for them in Honduras (and were extremely generous in buying us meals!) and most activities were done as a group so that by the time the wedding rolled around, I actually felt as though I knew a lot of the people at the ceremony. We still did traditional things, bachelorette party, rehearsal dinner and helping the bride get ready, but is was just so laid back and chill. Connie married the two of them in such a sweet ceremony (of course I cried) and dinner was an excellent red snapper.

Besides the wedding stuff, most of my days were spent at the beach getting dark (well, dark for me) and catching up with people that I hadn’t seen in awhile. If I were in high school, I would say that it was similar to the last few weeks of high school, everyone being friendly with one another, some people from last year’s senior class showing up and handing their wise advice to the departing seniors and juniors, and the wedding being like prom.

It was a great wedding. Really great.

the power of patience

2007-06-26T09:42:00.000-06:00

I was in Guatemala about 2 weeks ago for a short girls’ trip with my friends Connie and Emily. What a cool trip it was….

I left San Ramon early on Sunday to get to Santa Rosa to get to Copan Ruinas to get catch a shuttle (read: mini van) to get to Antigua, Guatemala. We made great time only to get to the office to hear “Well, we have 2 spots available on the shuttle”. Two spots?! Really? You can’t cram in one more person? You never seem to have problems when I happen to catch one of the shuttles that has about 25 people pouring out the side doors… we decide to wait it out to make sure everyone shows up and as luck had it, someone didn’t show up and we made the shuttle! Hooray! After a LONG ride (sitting on the jump seat for 6 hours isn’t always the most comfortable thing), we get to Antigua right before dusk. Antigua is a beautiful colonial town with a volcano backdrop. We spent the next hour looking for a hostel, find this really cool spot called El Hostel and begin our search for some dinner. Antigua can be expensive for a budget traveler (read: Peace Corps Volunteer) and most of the restaurants we found were out of our price range. After 40 minutes or so, we find this woman selling food in a small park. Awesome, awesome street food….so good, that we come back the following two nights. The best thing we ate was this ‘bean filled donut’, which was refried sweet plantains formed into a ball and filled with mashed black beans sweetened with vanilla, cinnamon and sugar. It sounds odd, but it was fabulous!

After a day of shopping in the artisan market in Antigua (overwhelming but sooooo worth the sensory overload), we took another shuttle to Lago de Atitlán. I cannot begin to describe how beautiful it was. A crystal blue lake with mountains and 3 volcanoes in the backdrop. Too gorgeous. We took a boat out to some of the towns along the lake, shopped some more, ate some typical Guatemalan food (lovers of the black bean are always friends of mine), and enjoyed the scenery. I would have liked to have spent more time out there, but like I said, our trip was short and we took a shuttle back to Antigua that night and left early that morning for Honduras.

super rat

2007-06-04T09:12:00.000-06:00

It seems as though my darling rat that came soaring out of the ceiling in March has made himself (or herself) a home. I can hear it running on my roof or squeaking late at night. I don’t know what scares me more: the squeaking at night or the fact that I’m getting used to it. I woke up one night to hear it squeaking and running around on the roof and went right back to bed. Luis came over to crawl in the space between my ceiling a roof (it’s a little hard to explain) and he came down the ladder and said, “Yeah. It’s a huge rat. I mean huge. I scared it out for the time being.” I ran out of my house to see if it was on my roof (my house is on a decline) and there it was…14 inches of pure nastiness (that’s with tail). This rat was freaking huge! Luis came out with me and began to throw rocks at it and it ran into my yard.

The next few nights were quiet. I thought that meant it had moved on, found a new person to bother, someone else’s pasta to eat. But then on Tuesday night, I heard the squeaking again. My friend brought me a bag of rat poison to put out for it. I put it on my kitchen floor, hoping that it would eat the poison, run out the back gate, and die in the yard, rather than in between my walls. I woke up Thursday morning to see that half the bag of poison had been eaten and fell asleep that night to the sound of it running along my ceiling. It is a super rat for sure. Now I just need to name it.

porn? potato!

2007-05-20T19:04:00.000-06:00

I called my friend (and fantastic comic book artist) Tony Akins about a week ago to say hey and hear about life in Chicago. (Oh, Chicago Cubs, when will you stop breaking my heart?) And he simply stated, “Your Spanish must be excellent at this point.” Sorry doll, I have to disagree with you there. I can order food, talk about going to the states, even explain my ethnicity with no problem, but there are times when I make a small mistake and boom! start from scratch.

Case in point: Thursday afternoon, a handful of kids from my 6th grade class knock on the door. I open the door and see them sitting outside on the ground and they are silent and looking awkward.

K: Hi…?
6th: Hey….do you have…one of those things?
K: What?
6th: You know, one of those things that a person needs.
K: [Confused look on face]
6th: The thing that you use…
K (thinking): Is this happening? Am I listening correctly?
6th: We heard…(laughing)
K: What do you guys need?
Brayan: (pulling out wallet) This! This is what we need (opens up wallet and shows me an unused condom).
K (thought process/freak out in head): Dude, you are 12 years old. You don’t have a girlfriend. Are you just carrying that around as some sort of status symbol? Still, you’re freaking me out. How am I ever going to be able to give you sex ed charlas without feeling like a parent? Or worse, a whore because I ‘have the information’? And why are you coming to me asking for condoms? Do I have some sort of rep as the condom girl? Or maybe it’s a good thing that you’re coming to me, because you feel as though you are comfortable enough with me to ask questions. I should be helping you, right? Dang Brayan, you are 12!

Brayan: We need one of these.
K: For what? No way!

The aforementioned statement in Spanish is ‘Por? No, papa!’…but I said it in a way that sounded more like ‘porno papa’ (porn potato) and the kids called me on it. They started asking, “What’s porn?”

That’s when I told them that if they want some condoms, they could go to the health center and get them because they are cheap and available. I have to get cracking on those sex ed charlas soon. As for the explanation of porn, I didn’t even get to that. They booked as soon as I told them that the health center had condoms.

So there you go Tony Akins, again with the potatoes.

dance dance revolution

2007-05-20T19:03:00.000-06:00

Feria time again in San Ramón! I didn’t attend all the events (like church or the first presentation of the candidates for queen) but I tried to attend the more important ones. I did miss the cultural night at the colegio, which made me sad, but I wasn’t feeling well and since it was raining, I didn’t want to risk getting sicker and missing out on the disco. I taught English the next day and a few of my students came up to me and said, “You missed out on cultural night! You were brought up at rey feo!”

Rey Feo, ‘Ugly King’, is kind of a mock election that towns generally hold during their ferias. The guy candidates dress up as females but in the tackiest outfits they can find and an ugly king is crowned. But the big thing about rey feo is that people in town get roasted. For example, “Prof. Jhonny has been drafted by the Lakers because they need some tall players!” (He’s 5’3”). Mine was, “Catita, who’s your boyfriend of the month? Prof. Jhonny? No, that’s old news. Prof. Oscar? Yeah, they’re the ideal couple. No, he has 5 girlfriends. Where’s that curly head guy that visited you? Maybe he’s the new one.” I’m actually glad I wasn’t there for that because that’s pretty embarrassing.

Friday the 4th was the election of the queen. It wasn’t as exciting as last year because they didn’t do it in rounds. Instead, the candidates were presented and then people had an hour to cast votes (aka put money into an envelope) for the girl they wanted to be queen. The fun part was that during that hour, the coordinator cleared the stage and turned off the lights for a mini disco. For the first few minutes, it was similar to a 7th grade dance with people on either side of the room staring at each other. One of the kids from my class came up to me and pulled me to the stage. It was embarrassing at first, but a lot of people started screaming my name which made it really fun. Plus, the DJ said, “And here we have our North American cutie dancing with someone that isn’t Prof. Oscar! Watch out Oscar!” Soon after, people started coming to the dance floor and it was a good time. After the hour was up, the director of the colegio announced the queen and that was it. No drama of opening up each envelope and pulling out 2000 lempiras for their candidate.

Tuesday the 8th was the actual feria with the crowning of the queen and the real disco. The crowning was held on the main road and wasn’t that big of a deal, except to those who participated in it. I took a few pics but mainly chatted with people about the soon to be disco.

The disco was held in the ‘town hall’, like last year, except it was held in the outdoor part of the town hall. It was much better because it was cooler outside, there was a projection screen playing videos and it was professional looking. After all the candidates danced their traditional waltz, Luis grabs my hand and we start dancing. I danced with him and Brayan for the majority of the night. At one point during the night, a drunken guy grabbed my arm and kept asking me to dance with him (even though I was dancing with Luis). Luis moves me to the other side of the dance floor and the drunk guy follows us, stares at us for a minute then yells ‘Bitch!’ and throws his can of beer at Luis and I and leaves. Whatever. I dance until my legs are burned out (4 puntas in a row? Are you crazy?!) and I leave at 1 am. Much earlier than the year before but I didn’t have to deal with any idiots…always a good thing. My last feria… a little bittersweet. A little.

letting go

2007-05-13T16:42:00.000-06:00

I’ve had a bit of mini drama the past year with the colegio:

-The library not functioning the way it is supposed to…while it is in the correct spot now teachers’ desks are still crowding the space because there is no other space for them.

-The overall corruption of the director and sub-director. They push and push the teachers to work while they sit around and drink coffee. They really don’t get why PC was upset that the library was moved to the smaller room last year. It seems perfectly normal in their eyes.

-I am seen as a substitute teacher to the director. When a teacher doesn’t show up, he expects me to make up a charla on the spot. If I could b.s. in Spanish like I can in English, then it would be no problem. But I need time.

-Oscar, Juvini, Jhoni, etc. “Who’s the flavor of the month?” No thanks. I am not interested in any of them.

-There are only so many cat calls I can take from the students. Do you think you impress me with “I want to suck you”? No dice.

-The colegio functions well without me.

With that being said, I am weaning myself off colegio and focusing more on the grade school and the health center. I feel less stressed out now that I haven’t been there for about 6 weeks. It’s not that I hate them, I still say hello to the teachers and students when I see them on the main road, help any student that comes to my house with their homework and will still attend social functions. But I have no intention on showing up everyday like last year to sit around.

I plan on giving self-esteem charlas to my 6th graders in addition to the English classes. Eventually I am hoping that I will get them comfortable enough with me to give them sex ed charlas (!) (with approval of the teachers). Even if I don’t get that to that point, I think it will be enjoyable to work on self-esteem with them. And if you read my last blog, you know that I’m also trying to form a mini library for the grade school.

At the health center, I plan to continue with going to other communities and weigh babies and give charlas to pregnant girls. In March, I gave a charla about what happens the first 3 months of pregnancy and several women actually seemed interested. Great success!

This was a hard decision for me to come to …but is it fair for me to be unhappy during my last months? Is it fair that I stay at colegio with them while being unhappy? I just think that my unhappiness would be contagious and show. This is not to say that I’m done DONE with colegio but I am trying my best to cut them out and do work that is interesting to me and work that I feel actually makes a difference.

interested in helping?

2007-04-30T16:26:00.000-06:00

I've gotten a few email asking "How can I help you in Honduras?"

Here's a copy of the email that I've sent out...

My name is Kathryn Fahey and I am a Peace Corps Volunteer working in San Ramón, Lempira, Honduras. My project is youth development and I work at the grade school. I am looking to start a collection of books in Spanish for the students at the grade school before I leave in November 2007.

San Ramon, Lempira is a town of 550 in western Honduras. Most families earn their living through the cultivation of coffee, corn and beans. Escuela Lempira has a student population just under 200 but is growing each year. Students from nearby towns come to Escuela Lempira because of the experience of the teachers. While these students do not have much in terms of learning resources, they still have a strong desire to learn. I feel that by bringing books to this school will help the students improve their reading skills and supplement their learning. The teachers can use the books for a story hour and use them in their classes.

The ages of the students range from 6-14. I am looking for all types of books:

-picture
-short story
-novel
-series (especially Harry Potter in Spanish)
-subject (math, science, history)
-dictionaries and thesauruses in Spanish

Please note that these kids have little exposure to English so that is why I am asking for only books in Spanish. Even one book will make a difference in helping create a new library for these kids.

Where to send the book(s):

Kathryn Fahey
Apartado Postal 1822
Santa Rosa de Copán
Honduras

Thank you for your time!

Like always, I am not begging for stuff. This is just if you want to help out and have a little extra money to send a book my way. Cheque.

think you're better off alone?

2007-04-23T10:31:00.000-06:00

I love and hate being alone. There are times when I feel so alone in my house that minutes last for hours. On those days, I try to break down a day into blocks of time (á la About a Boy) rather than seeing it as one full day. For example, this past Saturday:

Morning block: Make breakfast…and since I have more time, I can make a complex breakfast that will take several steps. I make a grilled onion and tomato omelet with pancakes. From prep to clean up and eating time, almost 2 hours.

Late morning block: Shower and coat self in sunblock because I’m going to go to the river to chill. Leave for river knowing that the walk will take almost an hour.

Early afternoon block: At river, lay out in sun, ignore catcalls and read magazines. Later, splash around in the water like a 6 year old when annoying catcallers aren’t there.

Late afternoon block: Make late lunch…again, since there’s more time, I make pizza from scratch. Take 2nd shower and read more magazines.

Early evening block: Watch Mexican soccer on TV because there is nothing else of interest on. Give up and watch Bend it Like Beckham again.

Late evening block: Send text messages to other PCVs and read more magazines until I feel it is acceptably late enough to go to sleep (9 pm).

It is hard at times because I am reaching that point in my service where all I can think about is how it’s going to end. I can’t countdown quite yet but it’s looming.

Then there are those times when I absolutely love said days where no one is knocking on my door, asking me for food, to take their picture or just want to watch TV. When I can read 6 magazines in one sitting and I look at the clock once during the day to see that it’s already time for bed. Those are the days I am going to miss the most once I get back to life in the U.S. Like I said, I love and hate being alone.

fab night

2007-04-05T22:25:00.001-06:00

After spending the day at Nicaragua's cleanest body of water (Laguna de Apoyo), we decided to go out and treat ourselves to a special dinner. We went to this spot called Jimmy's Three Fingers BBQ (the owner really does have three fingers in the 'shocker' way) and everything sounded appetizing. Rosemary Garlic Chicken, Pork Tenderloin, Baby Back Ribs....yum. I ordered a Grilled Red Snapper which came with a house salad, which by itself was spectacular (I do miss veggies). The fish filets were huge and delicious. It was pricy for a PCV but in the U.S., I would never pay $5.50 for the fab fish that I ate. After dinner, we went and had gelato and sat at the shore of Lake Nicaragua and just chilled. It was a cool night and fabulous outside. Sitting at the shore on the rocks made me think of home and how much I missed it, even though I didn't feel too homesick. It was a nice balance to a great night.

even more pictures

2007-04-04T15:04:00.000-06:00

Having high speed internet is a wonderful thing...so I need to take advantage of it to show off more of my life as a PCV. How will I be able to return to a life without a mountain backdrop?

Cool looking tree that was impossible to catch in one frame.

more pictures

2007-04-04T14:28:00.000-06:00

I have to thank my friend Crystal for taking these pictures when she came up to visit me. It's really cool when other people visit because they get to appreciate the things that you've taken for granted. You also get to see your town through their eyes...which is cheque leque.My neighbors are drying out their coffee cherries in front of their house.
I think San Ramon is a really cute town.
I took Crystal and Simon down to the river by San Ramon but it's a bit of a walk. This is the main road that takes you to Santa Rosa, the town where I purchase 90 % of my groceries.

what's that fuss? everybody move to the back of the bus

2007-04-01T15:30:00.000-06:00

I'm spending the week in Nicaragua with friends Crystal, Simon and Delfo. We arrived late in the afternoon yesterday and it has already been interesting. First, we ask a cab in Tegucigalpa how much it would cost to take us to the bus station for the buses headed south and the cabbie simply replies, "I don't want to drive there." Alright then. A minute later, we do find a cab driver that will take us there, and after a quick stop to use the bathroom at McDonalds's, we get to the bus stop and see a mass of people trying to get on one of the buses headed south. It's insane. The bus was already packed but more people kept trying to board the bus and squeeze their way on. People that were on the bus were holding seats for their family and the people that were outside were passing their kids through the bus windows to make sure they got on. After about 2 minutes of pushing, we realized that we weren't going to get on the bus, so we walked over to another bus that was headed south but didn't really stop for anyone. A guy tried to get on while it was slowly moving but was thrown off by the assistant.

After about 5 minutes, another bus enters the parking lot and this one was empty and headed south. We start following the bus and try to position ourselves with 50 other Hondurans and chaos follows. The bus stops, the door opens and everyone starts pushing forward....

"Make a line! Make a line!" Yeah right, lines don't exist here.

More shoving to try and get on the bus. Crystal was the closest to the front, so she does her best to position herself to get on the bus, but it is difficult because so many people are just shoving their way on. I'm right behind her and we're both getting pushed and grabbed but neither of us really care because our main focus is to get on that bus. Crystal was at the stairs of the bus and this guy shoves his kids under her arm to get them on the bus. Not just 2 kids, but 5. Then he pushes in front of her to get on too.

"Excuse me." Now you try to be polite after shoving your kids past us?

Finally Crystal gets on and I'm right behind her, though I'm pretty sure I flashed a few people with the top that I was wearing just because I kept getting shoved. We get to the back of the bus and save seats for Simon and Delfo. Simon gets on without a problem but the driver didn't want to let Delfo on because the bus was already full....after Simon pleaded with the driver by telling him that Delfo didn't speak any Spanish and was scared (lies), the driver agreed to let Delfo on and we were on our way. A stressful way to leave Honduras.

looking in

2007-03-30T09:00:00.000-06:00

The entrance to San Ramon.

Looking at San Ramon from the next town over.
One of the best views in San Ramon. This was taken above the court at the colegio.

5 apples for 20 lempiras. A house outside of San Pedro Sula. Many familes move the larger cities in hopes of better jobs but many end up living like this.

drunken ice cream

2007-03-16T09:14:00.000-06:00

My friends Crystal & Simon came up Thursday to help out with my English classes, see what San Ramon is all about and meet the locos. After a pretty great English class (my kids were well behaved because there were 3 of us hounding them on their pronunciation) and a visit to the colegio (let's not get started), we went for a walk to a river about 45 minutes out of San Ramon. When you are walking down the main road out of San Ramon, it starts to get really rural--no houses, just farm land--so it's quiet and you don't see too many cars. Needless to say, it was surprising to us to see a parked ice cream van parked along the side of the road. It was warm and we had been walking for quite some time so ice cream sounded perfect. Here's how that interaction proceeded:

K: Hello? Hi!
Crystal: Is anyone there?
Simon: Hello? (He looks behind the curtain of the van) To us: Yeah, there's a guy in there.
Guy stumbles out of the car, drunk, messing with his Razr phone (fancy phone for an aldea man) and looks at us.

'Yeah? What do you want?'

K: Do you have ice cream today?

Now this may seem like an idiotic question considering it is an ice cream van, but you just never know in this country.

'Yeah. We have ice cream bars only.'

Crystal: Can we see them?

Again, may seem like a silly question--but again, you never know how ghetto this ice cream may actually be. If it's ice cream at all.

He stumbles into the van, pulls out the ice cream after much searching and it was real ice cream. We each get a bar, pay the guy and he stumbles back into the van. We continue walking and laugh about how this can only happen here and that while retelling the story may be funny, it just won't compare to having experienced it.

rats!

2007-03-04T17:37:00.000-06:00

I don’t really like spiders, but I’ve learned to tolerate them. But rats? I’m sorry but they just gross me out. I remember back when I was living my parents throwing out the trash and screaming and running down the block when I’d see a rat in the alley.

Friday night I was at my house and getting a glass of water in the kitchen and I hear this strange scratching noise. At first, I thought that it was the locos trying on my roof trying to scare me. I look at the ceiling and the noise starts to get louder. A few seconds later, a rat comes flying out of the corner (from the ceiling!), lands and runs toward me. Naturally I start screaming and run into my living room still screaming because it was nasty (and flying!). I stand in my living room with the door to the other half of my house closed (where the rat is) and stay there for a few minutes hoping that the rat may run out of the house through the back gate. Eventually, I head into the kitchen with a broom and a chair. I throw the chair into the kitchen thinking that maybe the noise will scare the rat out…nothing. I run into the kitchen with the broom, pick the chair up and stand on the chair. I decide to start hitting the refrigerator with the broom because that is probably the only place where the rat would hide. Nothing. I finally get the courage to get on the floor and see if the rat in under the fridge or under the table. I didn’t see anything so I am guessing that the rat left. But that didn’t prevent me from shutting all the doors and freak out every time I heard a scratching sound.

wake up call

2007-03-04T17:31:00.000-06:00

Friday night (the 23rd) I was feeling a little homesick and called a friend in Chicago (we used to work at Starbucks together). I used my best material to get him laughing, talking about only buying eggs in San Ramon when my neighbor’s chicken lays enough eggs, the locos trying to tell me about a dirty movie they saw at the internet station (earmuffs!), and seeing that damn dog in Lajitas that ate my birthday cake. After a good laugh, he asked me the question that has become popular lately….

“What are you going to do after Peace Corps?”

…a year ago, this question wasn’t a problem simply because I’d say that I still had 21 months left. Now that I had 9 months left, I am starting to get nervous about what will be coming next. My planned end of service date will be towards the end of November or early December. A year and a half ago, I was planning to travel through Central America. But December 2007? I think I want to go home for Christmas this year. Then I began to think about money…should I try to come home before Thanksgiving and apply for a seasonal job (read: retail) to make some spending money? I’ll have to live with my parents again, which won’t be bad, but will be strange in the beginning just because I won’t be able to…

-listen to music at deafening levels & have solo dance parties
-take 3 pm siestas without being asked why
-come home late without worrying about waking them up
-not feel guilty about living with them as I will be approaching 27

Another problem is that I don’t know if I want to travel after the holidays because of money. But at the same time, I don’t think I’m ready to deal with cold Chicago weather yet. Plus, many people have told me that this may be the only chance I have to travel with no ties so I should take advantage while I have the chance. They’re right. But traveling is like the carrot on the stick (or dark chocolate bar in my case)…always dangling in front of me but I can never grab it. There will always be more places to visit, more places to discover, more adventures to be had. I will never feel as though I’ve traveled enough. But is that necessarily a bad thing?

Later my friend told me that he’s planning on going to grad school in 2008 and has applied for a store manager position at Starbucks to fill the time and make good money until fall ’08. I said,

“Are you crazy?! We made a promise that we’d never work there again!”

Then…

“If you’re store manager, can I have a job when I come back?”

Reality check.

fatter than ever!

2007-03-01T18:41:00.000-06:00

That's what Luis said to me when I saw him. Was he being a jerk or for real? Who knows? All I know is that I am ready to come home where people will never say things like that to my face but rather behind my back.

one more time

2007-02-15T09:42:00.000-06:00

School ‘started’ Monday with some of the same old tricks. For the first time in a long, long time, I arrived early to colegio only to see all the students hanging outside the school. As I get closer to the colegio, I notice that the gate to enter is locked and the director is nowhere to be found. Class normally starts at 725 am…the sub director arrives around 830 and ‘classes’ begin at 900, which is to say that the students spent the morning cleaning their classrooms and bringing in desks, while the teachers were busy registering students for the school year. At the ‘end of the day’ (1130), the sub director announces that there won’t be classes officially until Thursday so that students can register, make up exams from last year and the teachers can get organized.

Tuesday, the director shows up and when I arrive, he tells me to start clearing out the library because it is moving back to its’ original spot…!!!!! Really?!

Sort of. We move to the original building but end up splitting the room…half library/half teachers lounge. Basically, we have the same amount of space but we’re in the original room built for the library. Why? So the director/sub director can move their desks into what was the old library and have their own space. Also, if my project manager were to say something about the situation, the director could counter with ‘Well, it’s in its’ original spot, right?’ (He has a point, I suppose.) I’m not complaining though because now the library is with all the teachers that I get along with which means making faces at Oscar & Juvini all day (real mature, I know).

To keep it on a positive note, it is one step closer to being how it once was and it only took a year to get there. Maybe by next year, the whole building will be the library that it was originally planned to be…

hace dos años

2007-02-03T08:59:00.001-06:00

Two years ago this journey began, more or less. I interviewed and was nominated for a position in non-Spanish speaking South America. This time two years ago, I was in Chicago, working at Starbucks, waiting to find out where I was going to be sent. Peace Corps at the time was only a figment of my imagination. Now I’m here in Honduras living a dream that I only pictured in my head. I still have a good 10 months of this journey but I do think that some things have changed from two years ago.

…two years ago, the Bears were eliminated by the Eagles even though they had home field advantage. And now they will be playing in the Super bowl tomorrow…how bittersweet is that?! I’m stoked that they’re in and sad that I’m 3000 miles away. Regardless, I will be cheering them on here as I watch them on ESPN in Spanish, texting friends (and my dad) constantly for their perspective/analysis and positive thoughts (I don’t even want to talk about the line!). I hope that they so I can celebrate like no other…

mic check one two

2007-02-03T08:59:00.000-06:00

On the 26th, I was in Tegucigalpa with a few other PCVs to record an English vocabulary CD for English manuals that were created by former PCVs.

In a short description, Honduran teachers of 4th-6th grade are required to start teaching English, though most of them are not qualified to teach English. Because of this, some former PCVs created manuals to teach teachers about English and how to teach it in their classrooms. One PCV, Blair, came up with the idea that we should make a supplemental CD to go along with the manual so that the teachers could practice English outside of the classroom. We are supposed to teach teachers in our sites using these manuals, but I used them to teach my 5th and 6th grade classes, though this year I am planning to teach the teachers at the grade school.

We recorded at the national radio station, which was semi-ghetto fabulous. It was along a dirt road in a small building with a sign hanging out in front; no different than a Coca-Cola sign that would hang out of a small market.

Recording a vocabulary CD is tough stuff. For me, the tough part was that I really had to concentrate while I read my script. Example:

-azul…blue…blue

I had to try my best to space the words evenly. Since they’re words that I know, I subconsciously read the words faster because it was common knowledge to me, but I know that it’s not to the teachers that will be using the CD.

Halfway through the recording, the coordinator starts fussing with the computer and says, “I think I lost all the files”. Come again? We had already been working for almost 2 hours at that point and the thought of starting over made me sick. After some more fussing and the magic of auto recovery, he found the files and we were re-energized to finish up and get some lunch.

It was a really cool experience to learn about the making of a CD and to see the national radio station too.

trambompoline!

2007-02-03T08:58:00.000-06:00

From the 22nd to the 27th, I was in Santa Lucia and Tegucigalpa attending a workshop for youth development. It was great to see people from my training group that I hadn’t seen in 7 months. PC put us up in this sweet hotel in Santa Lucia that wasn’t there during our training. It was huge and I lucked out by getting a single room, only because I was the last person to check in. The single room was just so nice, though semi-awkward because there was an 8 ft x 5 ft mirror on one of the walls next to bed (wonder why???). The coolest thing was that there was a trampoline in the backyard that the owner told us we were welcome to use at any time.

The workshop was alright, just intense. After being a PCV for over a year, it is hard to do a schedule of 9 hours straight (I should shut up now right?), when I am used to a schedule of 5 hours during the school year or a schedule of basically nothing now that school is out. We did get to play baseball for a bit and I hope that I may be able to actually throw a baseball without looking like a total idiot by years end. (maybe)

The first night was super rad though because my friends Crystal and Simon read my blog about the dog eating my bday cake and surprised me with a plate full of cupcakes for my bday! How cool is that?! After chilling at the hotel and going to the bar in Santa Lucia for a bit, we all came back to the hotel and played on the trampoline. It was scary and fun at the same time. Some volunteers had trampolines as kids and were really good at making people fly on them. Me, being clumsy as ever, kept my balance for about a minute before falling in the center. Luckily, I wasn’t the only one and by night’s end, a handful of us were in the center huddled up on each other while everyone else bounced around to get us flying up. It was fun cuddling and screaming at the same time.

The second night was spent playing Taboo, old youth development (us) vs. new youth development. It was amusing watching people play under the influence because they would shout out answers that made no sense or give clues that provided no help. (‘Come on K, you know this one. You know it!’…um, that provides no help if I don’t have a clue.) Then again, I was not drinking and I still sucked at Taboo.

It was a little bittersweet too because I know that I won’t see some of these people again until our close of service conference (yes, there is an end, and it is closer than I thought!!!) in September. All I could do was enjoy the moment while it lasted.

squirrels in my stomach

2007-02-03T08:56:00.000-06:00

From the 14th to the 19th, I worked as an interpreter for a medical brigade in Cololaca, Lempira, a town about 3 hours from San Ramón. I worked with several other PCVs and team of doctors that came down from Arkansas to provide free medical care for a week.

It was a really rewarding experience. I worked in triage the week with a sassy nurse named Renessa. She was fun to work with because she was a ‘take no crap’ kind of person. While she did vital signs, I would ask the person what was wrong with them and then tell Renessa what they told me. In the beginning, I would ask a lot of questions but learned that I should ask as little as possible. Here is why:

K: Tell me why you’re here today.
-Well, I have headaches and body aches. And a shooting pain throughout my arm.
K: A pain in your arm or numbness?
-Yes. (Yes to the pain or to the numbness?)
K: Both?
-And pain in my stomach too.
K: Like a burning?
-Yeah, that too.

Basically, they would agree to anything I suggested because they wanted as many free pain medications as they could get. Renessa knew that and would write on their triage sheet in capital letters, in English, ‘DO NOT GIVE MORE THAN ONE BAG OF IBUPROFIN’ which made me laugh.

Throughout the week, I heard interesting descriptions of their symptoms and there were times when I really had to think for a bit about how those descriptions translate to English.

“I feel as though chicken wire is in my body” = “I have pain throughout my body”
“I have squirrels in my stomach” = “I’m suffering from stomach pains”

It was cool because there were many people who came that really needed help. A girl came in with penny sized holes in her feet, a boy came in with botflies in his leg, several women came in with cysts that needed to be drained…and all these services were done for free.

The coolest person I talked to was on the last day though. She told me all her symptoms and I asked if there was anything else. She hesitated for a few seconds then poured out,

“I am having problems having an orgasm with my husband. Everyone seems to enjoying it except for me. Is it my fault or my husband’s?”

Wow. I give this woman credit because that is something hard to talk about in any culture, but especially in one where talking about sex is still taboo. I also had to control my desire to laugh because she caught me off guard. I just told her that she can talk to the doctor about it more in depth. Now that I look back on it, I wish I had talked to her more because it would have been an interesting conversation.

blue monday

2007-01-13T11:05:00.000-06:00

The doctor advised that I stay in Santa Rosa in case my fever went up again. I spent the weekend at the PC house and left Monday morning. I wanted to get back to San Ramón early because I was waiting for a box to arrive from my parents and the company called me and told me that it was going to arrive Monday. After a semi-late start (there is no other kind in Honduras), I got in a jalón that was headed towards the road to San Ramón (my buses don’t leave Santa Rosa until 11 am). Keep in mind that I just came from a hospital stay and was carrying a lot of stuff with me. And since I had time in Santa Rosa, I baked my birthday cake early to bring it back and freeze it until the 10th. I got in another jalón on the road to San Ramón and start chatting with the woman who’s riding with me. She brought up how horrible the road up the mountain is and I said, “I know. Thank goodness it’s not raining.”

Less than 5 minutes later it began to pour.

I was still in this jalón, covering my head the best I could and trying to stand over the cake so it doesn’t get ruined. The rain lets up after a few minutes and a few minutes later, the driver parked his car at his house in Pinabetal (a town about 25 minutes by car from San Ramón). I grabbed my stuff and started walking. I checked in on the cake and it was all good. Another jalón came by, picked me up and dropped me off in Lajitas (20 min). I sat on this log bench waiting for another jalón and it started to rain hard again. I took all my stuff and put it under the bench and I got a text message. As I was writing a message back, I had failed to notice the dog that passed by. When I turned around, I see the dog’s head under the bench eating my cake! Since it was a lost cause by then I just watched this dog eat the whole thing thinking how hilarious life can be at times.

“Good stuff, huh?”, I say to the dog.

I waited and waited but no jalón ever came through and while the distance is walk able, it is not walk able in the rain. The bus came around 1230 and got on. I saw someone from my town and he asked where I had been the past several days. I told him that I was in the hospital and he said,

“Well that’s good.”

That was not a lost in translation moment. It was a simple question he asked and I just said that I was in the hospital. So I just kind of shrugged my shoulders and didn’t say anything else.

Finally, finally I got to San Ramón. And you know what? The box didn’t end up coming.

Hilarious!

hospital visit

2007-01-07T09:50:00.000-06:00

After a great New Year's with my friend Connie, I started to have pain in my lower back but didn't give it much thought because I had been riding on a crowded chicken bus. When I got back to San Ramón, I started to get these freaky chills that would last for 15 minutes. It's scary shivering for that long and not being able to stop. After the chills, my fever shot up to 104, so the next morning I went to the hospital in Santa Rosa to get checked out. It turned out that I had a serious kidney infection and they wanted to check me in to watch my fevers.

It wasn't that bad being in the hospital because the staff was so nice to me. The stupid thing was telling my mom that I was sick in the first place. She's a worrier (what mom isn't) and kept calling me and asking me what medication I was on and how could I have gotten a kidney infection (I don't know! geez!)

The funny thing was when I had a fever or a headache they would give me an injection instead of a pill (they're big on injections here). And they would give it through the needle in my hand (which, by the way, took them 4 tries to get...you have such weak veins!, they'd say) and it felt gross because the medicine would be all cold and in my hand. Yuck.

I stayed for two nights and still feel like all my energy has been sucked out of me. But the one benefit to being sick (the only benefit) was that I lost a few pounds mainly because I couldn't keep eating refried beans for every meal. How is a person supposed to get better eating fried food?!

pump it up, a little more...get your body goin' on the dance floor

2006-12-27T09:42:00.000-06:00

I spent Christmas in San Ramón with my host family. They threw a party that, in my opinion, was much more enjoyable than last year’s party. This is most likely due to me knowing more people in San Ramón and now that I have a better control of the language (no, I am nowhere near fluent) I am better at saying, “No, I don’t want to dance with you because you are too drunk to stand on your own” or “No, I don’t want to be your girlfriend because, well, we’ve just met and I bet you don’t know my first name…and ‘gringa’ is not it.”

But really, it was just so much fun. My host sister, Rosa, had some great music and everyone just wanted to dance. Surprisingly, she had a CD filled with early 90s music. (I need to pay a visit to my bootlegger in Santa Rosa pronto!) When ‘Pump up the Jam’ came up, ghetto k made her appearance and danced like a crazy girl. And suddenly I was in 5th grade again at my first dance. Cognitive dissonance. Fo’sho…

And I didn’t have to dance with any drunks (or Evers) because the locos wanted to dance with me. It’s fun dancing with kids because you can make an ass out of yourself, but because people just think that you are trying to get the kids involved and have fun with them. Not a bad thing for a youth development volunteer.

Their party ended at midnight and Rosa invited me to come with her to another party which sounded like a great idea at the time because I was so high from the 90s music and still wanted to dance. But the walk to the party killed me. It was pitch black and we had to walk though a coffee field uphill to get to the house. Because I’m a semi-shortie, I rocked some platform sandals, which were fine for dancing, but for walking in a muddy, rocky coffee field…not so much. My feet were killing by the time we got to the other party. I danced to three punta songs (with success, hooray!) and when the romántica started, I booked. (No straight up hug dancing for me, especially since I was super sweaty from dancing…gross.) I found the locos and asked them to take me home. If going uphill was difficult, going downhill was a nightmare. I was tempted to take off my shoes but walking barefoot sounded like an invitation for ringworm (no thanks). Luis helped me down the hill and piggy backed me for some parts (he’s a team player like that). We got back to my house around 2. My feet were in excruciating pain. The price I pay to be taller.

ours is a stormy kind of love

2006-12-23T08:45:00.000-06:00

My friend Adam came to visit me about 2 weeks ago in San Ramón. I was super excited because he was the first person outside of my boss to come and see where I live…but then again, I just started formally inviting people up to come and visit me. We arrived at my house around 2 pm. Adam was looking at my photo wall when someone knocked.

“Is he here?!”
“Yeah, come in.”

Two of the boys, Heltón and Ramón came running in to see Adam said hello and immediately ran out of my house. A minute later the knocking returned and there were Williams and Brayan.

“So he’s here right…?”

Again with the introductions. Again with the running out of the house.

They all came back as a group a few minutes later and the cold war started. Adam watched TV while they would stare at him, then me, then come over to me and whisper nonsense in my ear…basically everyday conversation that could have been said out loud but wasn’t because they were shy or overly protective of me. Adam did try to talk to them but all they did was give him dirty looks or say something under their breath in Spanish, which was ridiculous because Adam is a bilingual teacher in Honduras so he understood exactly what they were saying.

Later, I gave Adam the grand tour of San Ramón…the church, the grade school, the colegio, the ‘social center’ and the health center (all of which took 15 minutes), then we went back to my house to chill because it was too rainy and muddy to stay out for long.

The boys come by again, this time yelling at me and saying, “Out with the old. In with the new, huh? Once you have new friends, you forget all about us. You don’t love us anymore. We’re not coming over anymore so you can have all the gringos you want come over.”

That fight went on for quite awhile with them (mostly Williams) saying pretty horrible things to me. “You’ll probably sleep in the same bed with him tonight because that’s what all American sluts do.”, topped the list of mean statements.

Jeez guys, I just wanted my friend to visit. Calm down. Seriously.

It really wasn’t worth fighting over because I knew how hard headed they could be and there would be no convincing them otherwise. Besides, do I need to defend myself to 13 year olds?

A few hours pass and they come by again, apologizing and start talking to Adam. (How quickly teenage emotions change at times…) He wrestles and jokes around with them. They all enjoy play fighting with him and he was really great with them. When they left, they kept saying, “He’s so cool. Way cooler than you Cati.” (naturally they’d think that…)

The next day though Adam wasn’t feeling well so I told the kids that they couldn’t come over because all he wanted to do was rest. Then the fighting started all over again. Williams was the most vocal. “I’m never coming back here. You only care about yourself and don’t care about me anymore.” Again it was a fight that wasn’t worth putting my energy into. I sat out on my front porch with them listening to them speak poorly of me while Adam rested and I stayed outside with them until they left, just to try to prove to them that even though I may have other friends besides them doesn’t mean that I’ll love them any less.

It’s a hard concept to explain in any language.

It’s alright now though I am worried to bring other friends over because I don’t want to fight with them every time someone comes to visit nor do I want to put my friends in an awkward position.

I give credit to single parents out there…it must be so difficult putting your personal happiness aside for the happiness of your children. Or it could be that I’m too selfish to understand that kind of unconditional love.

just kickin' it

2006-12-14T09:36:00.000-06:00

My house has been more of a drop off point the past month than an actual home. I’ve been traveling among San Ramón, Santa Rosa, San Marcos, San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa. There were times when I came to San Ramón for an afternoon simply to do laundry, burn trash, say hello to my locos and leave the next morning. Needless to say, my house was a mess. Papers and manuals everywhere and just a general disorganization.

This week has been good because there is no school, coffee season is in full force and the holidays are here, so there is little work right now. I’ve spent my days doing tons of laundry, reorganizing the house, visiting neighbors, listening to music, chillin’ with my kids and just relaxing. It’s nice.

It’s funny because there were times during the school year when I felt as though I wasn’t doing much work, but now that it is out, I really know what light work feels like. It is different than last year though because time is moving quickly. Most of January is filled with plans and school will start again late in February. I remember this time last year I was making clothesline with dental floss and re-reading the same Newsweeks to pass the time…now I have a list of books and magazines that I would like read, classes to plan for next year, Christmas parties to attend…it’s nice to know that things can change in a year and it’s nice to feel positive about it.

williams

2006-12-14T09:32:00.000-06:00

He is the most challenging puzzle I’ve ever met. He’s hilarious, intelligent, energetic, and frustrating. His father denies paternity, though Williams still refers to him as his dad. His sisters deny it too, like he was a mistake that was never meant to occur. His mom left for San Pedro Sula 5 weeks ago to work and he doesn’t know when (or if she’s coming back). The rest of his family is in San Pedro also, working in factories there. He now lives with a guardian who was nice enough to take him. He makes me so crazy sometimes that I wonder if I am being a total pushover when it comes to him but then I think… life is not supposed to be this difficult for someone who is only 13 years old.

nothing left for me to do but dance

2006-12-03T16:49:00.000-06:00

“That is the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard”, said my friend (and PCV) Joe, after I told him that not only was I throwing a party for my 6th graders, but that I was the one who suggested it in the first place.

I talked to some of the girls about 2 weeks ago and casually mentioned having a dance party at my house one afternoon before they graduated and the immediately agreed. But school was out by then and I hadn’t seen them much because of Thanksgiving and seeing the doctor and since no one mentioned it, I thought that I wasn’t going to have it until….

“Cati, is it true that you are having a huge party at your house on the 1st?” Williams actually called me while I was in San Pedro Sula to ask if the rumor was true.

When I came back to San Ramón, kids kept coming by my house confirming the date and the time for the party. I freaked out a little because by then it was the 30th and I had tossed the idea of throwing the party away. Friday morning I went to Santa Rosa to buy balloons, white lights (useful for my Christmas decorating as well), candy and chips (the staples of the 12 year old diet), made it back to my house to clean up and hide all the stuff I didn’t want destroyed and made a few CDs for the party.

I said, “Come by at 4 pm” that way, we could dance for about 2 hours and then everyone would leave around 6 pm because it would be dark and no one wants to walk back in the dark.

4 pm comes along and the only people that are there are my locos. 530 pm, we’re watching “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation” (just like a year ago…funny how things haven’t changed). 630 pm, knock knock. 25 kids pour into my house at once and suddenly we’re dancing, taking pictures, and having a decent time in a chaotic (but controlled) manner. Most of them leave by 730 simply because it is dark and parents have come by looking for their kids (hooray for responsibility!).

The locos stay and we dance until 1030.

town meeting

2006-12-01T08:18:00.000-06:00

I spent yesterday afternoon hanging up Christmas lights around my living room and trying to figure out how to hang 9 ft of fake pine. The locos came over and were listening to music while I was hanging up the lights. My stomach began to hurt so I went to my bed for a short time to lie down. I went back to hanging up my lights and then all of them storm out of the house and slam the door.

Huh?

I decide not to sweat over it, maybe they were fighting with each other and left to take care of it outside. I continue to work on the lights and they come back. As I’m on the ladder, I see them carrying all the chairs in my house and placing them in a circle around my “couch” (it’s hard to explain). They ask me to sit down. I sit.

-Cati, you have changed since coming back from the U.S. in August.
-How?!
-You used to play with us, you used to talk to us and now it’s different.
-How?!
-You’re more stand-offish.
-Funny, because I feel like we have more trust now than before.
-That’s true…but we still feel like you don’t like as much anymore. Has anyone said anything to you?
-People always say things to me about you guys but those things never really mattered to me.
-Is that why you’re different?

This goes on for another minute or two.

-Have you guys thought about the big things that have changed since I came back from the states?
-Like what?
-Well, the Playstation is here now, I got cable, I brought back a computer. You guys would come here and play those things, so you can’t say to me that I have changed because you have too.

Silence.

-She’s right, Williams says.

Then Williams goes on this rant to Brayan about how all he does is sit and stare in front of the television, which made me laugh because Williams’ Spanish is pretty hilarious when he’s mad.

I was so satisfied that I finally outsmarted them that I continued ranting about the things that made me crazy. I went into them stealing my food, going through my stuff, making calls on my phone…it was just so great to get it all out in the open and let them know that I am going to be less of a pushover this following year.

In the end, we “hugged it out” like Jermey Piven’s character on Entourage would say.

hey, joey-joe-joe!

2006-12-01T08:17:00.000-06:00

The past week has been busy in a social sense. Last Thursday was Thanksgiving, which was a fun celebration in the Santa Rosa house involving 2 20 lb. turkeys and lots of “American-style” side dishes. Friday night was a salsa party as one of the volunteers was celebrating his birthday and Sunday was spent doing tons of laundry on the pila (what a downer).

Monday I left for San Pedro Sula to receive my one year medical checkup with 8 other volunteers from my group. I thought the checkup would be a little more extensive than,

-Hi.
-What diseases have you had in the past year?
-Ok, now get on the scale, good.
-Have you received a flu shot?
-No, the one from last year isn’t good anymore so we’re going to give you another one.”
-Do you need any medications? Any condoms?

Then we went to the dentist where it was the same procedure. The dentist was fast and got through all of us in about 4 hours. Later, I was told by one of the volunteers that he saw a cockroach on the cleaning equipment.

After, we received our results and it was kind of exciting when someone would come out any say, “I have giardia!” or “I have ringworm!” because they felt perfectly normal while a bacteria with fangs was dancing around in their intestines the entire time. Since I just got over parasites, I came out clean.

But we had 3-ish free days in San Pedro, which has the largest mall in Central America which we fully enjoyed. I ate way too much food and spent an inordinate amount of my living allowance just to indulge in rocky road ice cream, sandwiches, and cinnabon.

The best part though was being able to chill with the volunteers and talk about the past year, our successes and failures, plans for the next year, complain about Honduras, complain about the U.S. (easy for me when news from the U.S. was shown on cable), quote the Simpsons like crazy with my friend Simon, and being able to speak sweet, sweet English.

My travels won’t stop for the time being as I have to go to Tegucigalpa next week for a seminar and I will get to enjoy more sandwiches and rice krispy treats. Yum.

desks on the grass!

2006-11-18T08:39:00.000-06:00

So passed my one year site visit. It was interesting for sure. My project manager, Sandra, and I met with the director and sub-director of the colegio and the two teachers that I work with at the grade school.

It was a LONG meeting mainly because it came back to the same thing—the library and the fact that is not where it should be. Here is a sampling of the conversation:

Sandra: “Why isn’t the library in its’ proper place?”
Director: “Well, we need space….we have to be somewhere otherwise our desks would be out on the grass and we have these brand new desks from PLAN” (a NGO in Honduras that works in development)
Sandra: “Well, if you wanted a teacher’s lounge, you should have requested a building that would be used as a teacher’s lounge rather than asking for a library because what you’re doing is not right.”
Director: “But we don’t have a place for the teachers right now because we have more students. Our desks would be out on the grass if we weren’t in here!”
Sandra: “You should have thought of that ahead of time before you signed papers requesting a library.”
Director: “Do you want our desks to be out on the grass? These new desks? Out there?!” (motions to the outside for emphasis)
Sandra: But do you see the problem here? You asked for a library and you’re using it for something else.”
Director: “The library works where it’s at, doesn’t it?”

It went on like that for about 10 minutes. Sickening. (Naturally, I couldn’t stop saying ‘desks on the grass’ for the rest of the afternoon when I was spending the afternoon in San Marcos with my friends Connie and Desi.) I think the director is a good person but as a director, he is horrible and corrupt. When we left the colegio, I just felt less motivated to work there because of the acceptance of the way things are and the fact that they feel as though nothing is wrong…but I’ll stick it out a little longer and if it doesn’t work out…well, I’ll cross that bridge when (or if) I get to it.

After that meeting, the 5th grade teacher apologized to me. “I am so sorry that that meeting went so poorly. Please don’t think we feel this way about you. We know what they’re doing is incorrect.”

Sandra then visited my 5th grade English class and they were absolutely perfect. She asked they questions in English, played hangman and another game that I can’t explain because we don’t have it in the U.S. They were enthusiastic and lovely. (especially my doll face Brayan). They were crazy about her and they said really sweet things about me. (“Cati is friendly, she is fun, she is intelligent…”) It was the perfect way to end the day.

Positive news was that my 5th graders appeared to be very interested in learning baseball. They are the perfect age and I’ve hit my head against the wall for not thinking about it earlier…but then again, the colegio during the meeting claimed the baseball equipment (and yes, it is just so useful sitting in a locked cabinet)…if they get their dirty claws off the equipment, it should be good times.

Sandra was positive and really relaxed considering the situation at the colegio. What makes me sad is that we are both unsure if the situation will change in the next year.

pensativa

2006-11-11T09:00:00.000-06:00

My one year visit is coming this week from my project manager and I am nervous. I am nervous because so many of the problems at the colegio have yet to be resolved. The library has yet to move to its’ original building, the director doesn’t want anyone checking out books, the computers have been put back in their boxes and my baseball team is not practicing enough, nor have I recruited any girls to play on the team.

I’ve spent the first half of this week writing out my one year report in English and Spanish trying to prove to PC Washington, my project manager, my counterparts, myself that I’ve done something useful in the 11 months that I’ve been in San Ramón. Writing out the report was a flashback to college when I would put off my Spanish papers to the absolute last minute (3 am the night/morning it was due). My stomach felt the same kind of dread and I chose to play spider solitare instead of writing the report.

My biggest fear is that the director of the colegio will blame my failures with the colegio on me. I know that many of the problems are partially due to my passiveness and shyness because I didn’t (or don’t) have the language skills to talk about these things, but I am not willing to take full blame for the situation in San Ramón. My second fear is that my project manager will tell me to move out of San Ramón because there is work in Santa Rosa de Copán if I want it.

Now I know I’ve written about the craziness of los locos and how at times I want throw myself into my burning pile of trash to escape their insane pranks, but I have a life here now; I have connections here, I have friends here and the idea of starting over with a year left isn’t appealing as it once was. It makes sense why Peace Corps is a two year commitment because a year has almost passed and I am just beginning to feel like I have enough trust with my other counterparts, with people in San Ramón to be able to work on projects without fear of failure. It’s an insane amount of time when you think about it in the long term, especially when you hear news about friends back home getting married or moving into a new tax bracket and you begin to wonder…are the two years I am delaying my life really worth it? Should I see it as a delay or as a time for personal growth?

The positive news though is that the grade school seems to like me. They know about my situation at the colegio (though I told none of them about it—you have to love gossipy kids at times) and really want me to work with them, which is great. They want me to ask the director to let them use the computers that were used in the library…which I will talk to my project manager about when she comes to visit. I think it’s a great idea but the director of the colegio is pretty territorial, which he has a right to be except that it’s not being used, so why should it matter?

I do enjoy the colegio. I really like the students and I get along really well with most of the teachers and it saddens me that I may not see them as much if I move my work to the grade school. It’s not that different from the U.S. when you think about how one boss can ruin your job regardless of how well you get along with your co-workers, clients, customers (Starbucks comes to mind here…)
I have to believe that everything works out in the end. It’s just difficult when I have to prove myself to someone because that’s when I feel useless, though it’s hardly the case when I think about my crazy boys.

halloween

2006-11-04T08:33:00.000-06:00

I’ve been my best to be a good girl and stay in San Ramon…but along came Halloween. Some of the volunteers in Copan Ruinas (about 3 hours by bus) organized a full weekend of fun for Halloween. The costume party was Saturday night and I have to say that I saw some really great costumes…considering we’re in Honduras, where the holiday is not celebrated (well, minus ex-pats and fresas) people really showed their creative streak.

Here is a short list of costumes:
-Britney Spears and Kevin Federline
-A bottle of Coca-Cola
-Steve Irwin, complete with stuffed crocodile
-J-Lo in the famous Versace dress
-A pila
-Campesina woman, smoking and breastfeeding child
-Napoleon Dynamite, complete with Vote for Pedro t-shirt
-Heidi from Tool Time, from Home Improvement
-Luke Skywalker
-Braveheart
-A guy wearing a helmet with tampons and pantyliners all over his shirt (menstrual cyclist)
-Flava Flav with clock around neck

I was unoriginal and was a cat…though later on in the evening I was telling people that I was Hobbes (thank you Crystal) or quoting “Wedding Crashers”, “call me kitty cat”. But I just rocked cat ears and my friend drew whiskers on my face. Lots of guys were rocking skirts at the party (so sexy!) and it was just a great time. We were out dancing most of the night (a live band played “Paseme la botella”, a song that I never could imagine live). It was nice to forget about the problems I have in San Ramon, talk to my friends, speak English, and just chill.

Such a great party…I’ll sum it up simply by quoting one of my favorite shows, Entourage, “Great night. Great fucking night.”

dancing punta in my stomach

2006-10-30T10:47:00.000-06:00

That’s how I’ve described my parasites to people in town. Foolishly (and lazily) I didn’t boil the water for my coffee long enough on Sunday and have been paying for it all week with a fun batch of parasites. I’m pretty sure that’s what caused it. I normally boil my water for 4 minutes but I wasn’t really paying attention so I just thought, “Who cares? It’s boiling. It’s probably been boiling for awhile.” Idiot! Sunday night was spent with a fever. Monday was total exhaustion and stomach pains that reminded me why I am so scared about giving birth, considering these are just parasites and not a human being. Tuesday and Wednesday, still tired with little appetite.

Growing up as a chubby-ish girl, I always dreamed of a magical diet that would cause me to lose a few pounds without doing anything. Who knew that that diet was only consisted of drinking untreated water?!

I was stuck in my house for 4 days straight and was starting to go crazy. One of the few benefits was that I didn’t have to answer the door if someone knocked because I put a sign out politely asking that no one knock on my door because I’m sick.

…well, until Williams banged on the door for 10 straight minutes.

“Can’t you read?!”, I say groggily.
“Good, you’re not dead.”, as he barges his way in with Luis, who is holding a bunch of leaves.
“Um…I’m sick and I look like crap.”
“We’re here to make you feel better. We’re going to make you a drink that will kill the parasites.”
“No, really, you don’t….” Too late. The blender is already being filled with the leaves and water (purified this time).

I drink this concoction of what seems to be spearmint and water. They leave. 20 minutes later I’m throwing up.

You can’t say they didn’t try.

the san ramón cineplex

2006-10-19T08:47:00.000-06:00

Yesterday the grade school held a movie fundraiser. Pay 2 lempiras and watch a movie at the school during the afternoon. The movie was supposed to start at 3 pm, but like most things in Honduras, it started much later. Part of the lateness was due to the DVD player not reading the bootleg DVDs and then the other part was that no one could decide on a movie. They ended up showing “Chavo del 8”, which is like a comedy show, with lots of skits. I didn’t watch most of the skits mainly because there was so much yelling going on.

“Juan, move your big fat melon head”
“There’s your ugly girlfriend, Regino”
“Stop sticking tape on me!”
“Would you all just shut up!”
“Look, Regino is holding Yuri’s hand, ooohhhh…..”

In other news, there is another nationwide teacher’s strike going and has been said to be indefinite. School is supposed to end in 3 weeks and I am hoping that the strike will end by Monday. The director of the high school told all the teachers (and me) that if anyone of us teaches any kind of class, we will be fined 500 lempiras ($25), money which goes to the municipality (or so he says). But students aren’t showing up either, so I guess it doesn’t matter if I were to teach a class anyway.

With school ending soon and coffee cutting season starting, I am getting a little worried that time will go by slowly. I am hopeful that I will be able to keep busy and not go too crazy if kids visit me everyday. Maybe I should stop being such a doormat and set some real ground rules.

Who am I kidding? It’s too late for that now!

aproveche

2006-10-19T08:46:00.000-06:00

A month ago, I was having dinner with my friend Connie (also a PCV and my personal lifesaver). We were talking about how life felt after one year and we both felt as though we hadn't accomplished much in PC terms. When a bunch of PCVs are put together, things tend to get a little negative. It's difficult because we are looking at the small scale rather than the big picture, only because our day to day life gives us so much free time that sometimes we have nothing to do but think and ignore the big picture. The statement I remember best from that dinner was when she said, "Maybe we're building character right now even though we feel as though we're doing nothing".

Flash forward to Friday the 13th. There were no classes at the grade school and some of the 6th graders asked me to go to the river with them. (From what I can tell, the river has no name, it is just always referred to as "the river".) There were classes at the colegio but since most of the teachers weren't there and classes were going to end at 11 am....

Williams was supposed to be in classes but he came too. I said my requisite, "Shouldn't you be in school?" But none of his teachers were there anyway, so he'd just be sitting around until 11 am. (have I justified his deliquincey yet? and my acceptance of it?) "How did you get out of colegio?", I ask him. "I'm all that." (that's how I'll translate the phrase, "Soy completo compai")

At the river there is a huge rock that's about 8 ft high and Williams and some of the girls were jumping off the rock into the river. The spot they were jumping into was about 6 feet deep but they were carried to a more shallow part of the river by the current. I wanted to jump was really scared.

Scared of what? The unknown? That I might get hurt? That I may drown? The height?

The unknown? A year ago, Honduras was the unknown, yet I had no problem jumping then. For me, the unknown is the most exciting part. (which is why I am all about the chase but have no idea what to do if I actually get the guy!)

That I might get hurt? For the time being, no amount of physical pain will ever compare to how I felt after Nikolai left me.

That I may drown? A little bit.

The height? Tambien.

Uno, dos, tres....ya!

Williams said after, "See? You need to trust me."

Not a big deal when I look back on it but all the fears that ran through my mind, the terror, the adrenlaine...that made the first one really good. There's nothing like the first time. For everything. That jump was so amazing.

I think I built a little character on that jump too. And if not, it was fun.

say what?

2006-10-19T08:45:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday, I gave an HIV/AIDS lecture to some of the 10th grade students. My part was only about 20 minutes but I collaborated with the 11th graders on the lecture to create a 3 hour workshop. Not as bad as it sounds. There's tons to talk about with HIV/AIDS and the time flew.

Like most parents in the states, parents here do not want to talk to their kids about sexuality, HIV, or even puberty. Most kids learn about sex from their friends or media. Reminds me of when I was about 14 and I was given "the talk", which consisted of my parents in the car, turning down the radio on the corner of Ashland and Balmoral and my mom asking, "do you know about sex?" and turning the radio back up after I said "yeah". Awkward.

This led to interesting questions from the 10th graders. Most of them have received HIV/AIDS lectures in the past and definitely have an idea of sexuality, but that didn't prevent them from having lots of questions.

The most interesting question that was asked was, "What's oral sex?"

Even more interesting was the answer. One of the 11th graders said, "Sex represents male or female. Oral means talking."

Wow. I was sitting there thinking, alright, I need to clarify this but my vocabulary is limited on this topic and I was trying to cojugate the verb "to suck" in my head. Luckily, Professor McGuapo was there to explain everything to them. Thank goodness.

a day in the life

2006-10-07T12:50:00.000-06:00

7 am: Watch morning news program based in Mexico City as you eat corn flakes with granola and have coffee with chocolate soy milk.

715 am: Dance to Young MC's "Bust a move" as you get dressed.

730 am: Arrive at colegio to be attacked by students in primer curso who "desperately" need one of the 8 Spanish/English dictionaries.

733 am: Offend several parents with your short skirt (as you forget that there was a meeting with the "PTA") but receive several whistles from the students.

810 am: Let students use the computers because the director won’t say anything due to the PTA meeting. Students use 4 computers and all 4 students use paint and all 4 make cars.

900 am: Wave to Oscar while he's giving class. When he waves back, you give him the finger to make him laugh. (it works)

940 am: Go to the grade school to give English classes. Get attacked by kids asking you about your camera, your computer, your playstation, your toaster oven (weird one).

1050 am: Let the 5th graders put fancy girly gloss on your lips.

1051 am: Embarrass Brayan by kissing him on the cheek in front of said girls with mouth full of sticky girly gloss.

1052 am: He retaliates and bites your face.

1115 am: 6th grade English. You give an exam. Well, you try to give an exam. You know they're going to cheat anyway. It's a battle you've chosen to stop fighting over.

200 pm: You correct those tests. More kids should have cheated. The average is 45 %.

225 pm: Instead of giving classes to the afternoon students, the director decides to hold a teacher's meeting instead. Your cue to get the hell out of there.

340 pm: Put all your garbage in a cardboard box to burn. Put all burnt trash in same box. Put all trash ashes in same box. Burn box.

420 pm: Only about 1/2 of that box actually burned. Now you have more trash than before.

500 pm: Watch Simpsons on DVD with Brayan and Luis. Laugh at all the jokes that you remember in English from the episode "Lisa on Ice", even though you watch the episode in Spanish.

525 pm: Luis combs through your curly head to find a super long lock of hair. You say, "How strange" and he teases you about your accent for the rest of the afternoon.

600 pm: Switch between "La fea mas bella" and "Que dice la gente?"

715 pm: Dance like a maniac to try to burn some calories from those refried beans.

805 pm: Watch "Pasiones Prohibidas" with Williams and make fun of the people. (Yet, you realize that you have become addicted to a terrible novela.)

1020 pm: After spending 10 minutes preparing your English lesson for the next day, try to sleep as you listen to your neighbor's dog bark at a horse.

buen provecho

2006-10-07T12:44:00.000-06:00

For those who don't know, I am a cereal fanatic. I could easily eat cereal for breakfast and dinner. I always scanned the aisles for new cereals that came out and was one of those crazies that was excited when Cereality came to Chicago. Unfortunately, the milk here in Honduras, while it is pasturized and homogenized, still carries a funky aftertaste that I can't handle any longer. However, many of the markets/pulperias in Honduras have started carrying this powdered soy milk, Delisoya, which is just about the most amazing thing I've had since coming here. When I was in the states, I drank so much soy milk to make up for what I had missed over the past year. But now soy milk has come here and is available in regular, chocolate, and strawberry.

The other day I was making a licuado (shake) with the chocolate soy milk, bananas and peanut butter. Williams was watching me make it and said, "You add peanut butter to your licuado? That is really disgusting." Peanut butter and chocolate? Seems pretty natural to me. But I grew up in a world of Reese's and dark chocolate mini bars dipped right into the jar, so I guess it may seem gross to him. So to counter him, I listed several foods that I have tried that are flat out gross:

*Chop suey sandwich. The chop suey is just the noodles with a chicken bullion cube added and about 7 pounds of pataste (a vegetable that is a mix of no flavor and starchiness). Put that on bread, add mayo (yuck!), and it's lunch time.

*Rice with tomato sauce and peanut butter. Williams swears to me that is it awesome.

*Fried queso seco. Queso seco is this white salty cheese that is easily found here. Again, Williams idea. It was fried in vegetable oil. Not even close to saganaki.

*Jugo de nance. Travel books describe nance as "cherry's evil twin". It kind of looks like a small, orange cherry but tastes nothing like the wonderful cherry. The smell just reminds me of bathrooms at bus stations.

Is your mouth watering yet?

true love

2006-09-30T09:13:00.000-06:00

It's 4:30 pm. That knock on the door means that my locos are here to drive me crazy in the most lovable way. As they enter, they tell me, some of the girls from 6th grade are going to come over too, which is fine. The girls enter, sit down on the "couch" and Williams and Luis leave the room to go out back. The girls tell me, "Let's go play soccer at the court", I'm reluctant at first but soon agree to go with them. The girls look for Williams and Luis, can't find them and I just say, "Let's go", thinking that they don't want to go and are hiding from all the girls and chaos.

The girls and I play soccer for a bit until the sky gets dark with storm clouds and I say that I don't want to walk home in a wet skirt. We get back to my house and Luis and Williams are acting strange. They shut themselves in my bedroom, I enter and ask, "What's up?" They don't say anything. I leave, teach the girls how to play dominoes, Williams and Luis come out of my room, slam the door and run into the kitchen. Brayan asks me, "What's wrong with them?" "How am I supposed to know?", I say.

I enter my bedroom, lie on the bed in the dark. I tap the wall which connects to the kitchen and Luis taps back (we used to do that a lot when I lived with his family). Williams and Luis enter my room and lie down next to me. "You're bad", they both say. "Why?" "You know why." I wasn't in the mood for the games of 14 year olds. "I don't know what you're talking about, why don't you just tell me?"

Silence.

"What's going on?", I yell.

They both storm out of my room and my house.

I don't want to fight with them. I can't afford to lose them. I start crying. By that time everyone except Brayan has left my house. Brayan comes in, "What happened? What did they say to you?"

"I don't know.", in a crying mess.

Brayan brushes the hair out of my face. "Don't cry Cati, please don't cry." Can 11 year olds be this caring? "Let's play Super Mario to get your mind off them." (ahh, there's the 11 year old)

Knock, knock.

"Are you mad at us?", Williams asks as he and Luis stand at my doorway.

Am I?

"No, I just want to know why you're mad at me, why you stormed out of my house and why I'm bad."

"Were you crying?" "Yes."

Williams says, "We were upset with you because you left to play with the girls without telling us. It was rude and not like you at all. We thought you were different. You love them more than us. You're going to forget about us." He starts crying. "You're our best friend here."

And that's it. Even my cynical self can't fight that. I say, "It was a misunderstanding. I didn't mean to leave you, I just thought that you didn't want to play soccer."

"But do you love them more?"

"Do you know that you guys are my world? That if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here? I have so many problems with my work at the colegio, at the school but my days are always wonderful because of you. I would go home to the states if I didn't have you guys come by to make my days better. Nothing will change that, not Oscar, not the girls, nothing."

Williams and Luis throw their arms around me and start crying harder. I start crying again. "We can't lose you. We still want to be able to visit you everyday."

"And you can still do that."

And just like that, my heart is wide open.

crazy like a fox!

2006-09-30T09:11:00.000-06:00

No shoes, tiptoes, slow movement, even better crawling on the floor, make sure there are no shadows, is my bracelet hitting the cement floor and making that sound? I hope my cell phone doesn't ring right now....

This is what pathetic sounds like. School ended early on Friday and I was just enjoying some alone time before the locos came over to make my life wonderful/challenging/crazy all at once. But some other kids came over to my house early wanting to play. Not now. Please not now. I just want to eat my spaghetti, look at photos, listen to English music without explaining the lyrics in Spanish and read a magazine in peace. I heard their footsteps coming. I turned off my music immediately, threw my magazine behind me and dropped to the floor.

Pathetic, no?

I heard, "Cati? Cati? Are you there?" I just kept thinking, "Invisible, invisible, you're invisible". It's a game I used to play in college. I used to think that if I believed hard enough that I was invisible, I could almost be invisible. To quote Seinfeld, "It's not a lie if you believe it." I did it a lot in my Spanish literature classes because my Spanish was horrible then and I wouldn't be able to express myself or what was happening in Borges' poetry. (Not too different that my current situation.) They kept knocking and started hitting the gate. I ran to a corner, stayed there until the voices faded while believing I was invisible. After, I ran to my room and closed the door knowing that I would be safe, at least for a little while.

I'm being selfish, I know. But I am not a free babysitter. I do want some time to myself before I breakup fights over who is the strongest, which movie is the best, who gets to drink the last of my Zuko strawberry punch, and preventing kids from looking under my bed and stealing my stash of Eclipse gum. I can't help but laugh at myself as I think about crawling on the floor in a skirt with no shoes trying to be as silent as possible. It's all part of the adventure.

a year later

2006-09-25T10:15:00.000-06:00

DON´T THROW TOILET PAPER IN THE TOILET!

Well, alright then.

A little over a year ago, 35 of us arrived to Toncontin airport in Tegucigalpa to "change the world" (aka avoid the real world for the time being). And that phrase was one of the first phrases shouted at us when we boarded a school bus with our PB&J sandwiches (or Ham and Cheese, sorry Simon) to live with our host families in Santa Lucia.

I laugh as I think about how I'd never get along with the people in my group. They were too different, they were too driven, they were not my friends from Chicago. Now I wonder how my life will be 13-ish months from now when we will be separated.

I laugh harder when I think about how I thought my life would be back then. I never thought I'd be playing GTA most days, having the most important people in San Ramon be under the age of 15, and my biggest concerns being how to master the art of being invisible.

I still don't know why I really signed up for PC. I know that I wanted to learn Spanish and live somewhere different. But did I think that I was going to make a difference? Not in PC terms. To be honest, what I am doing is not sustainable development. But I do feel like I am making a difference in the lives of my Honduran friends here. Again I wonder if we will still be friends after I leave or if it's one of those friendships that will be wonderful now but won't work when I'm gone, like so many high school friendships.

So one year down, about 13 months to go. I have to say that it has gone by so fast. Let's hope the pace continues this way.

boys!

2006-09-11T14:26:00.000-06:00

Oscar is a math teacher at the colegio. He's 22 years old and working on getting his degree in teaching of math. He is as big of a sports fanatic as I am. Up until recently, I had a crush on him.

Before I left for the United States, we were kind of talking over text messages, nothing more than "how was your day?" or "don't meetings with the director suck?". The day before I left he sent me this message, "Have a great trip. Enjoy your time with your parents and your friends. I'll be thinking of you while you're gone and I'll be waiting for you when you get back." I was feeling pretty wonderful and thinking that maybe there would be a chance that we could actually date. The problem is that he wasn't waiting for me. In the 2 weeks that I was gone he managed to get a girlfriend. I was a little sad but it wasn't a huge deal because it was a crush and things like this happen to me quite often.

The main problem was that I never deleted those text messages from my phone. Williams and Luis were at my house while I was holding dance class in my living room with some of the girls from my 6th grade class. They read the messages from him, became convinced that he was in love with me, and proceeded to send him text messages under my name. "I love you Oscar" "You are the only one for me" "We should be together".

Naturally, I didn't find this out until later when they came to me and said, "We need your help".

It turns out that along with the messages, they called Oscar, posing as my boyfriend, Fernando, and asked Oscar to stay away from me. Oscar figured out that it was Williams making the calls from my phone and told him that suspension may be in order. That's why they wanted my help. Williams asked me to make up some sort of story for him, saying that some other guy used my phone and not him and that I didn't even see Williams this past weekend. Both he and Luis were thinking up these elaborate lies that I could tell to Oscar and to the director to get them out of possible trouble. I told them that I wasn't responsible for cleaning up their mess, especially because they used my phone without my permission, using up my prepaid minutes, called my friends and put me in a complicated situation. I was pretty mad at them (but especailly with Williams)...and asked Williams why he would do such a stupid thing.

He tried to make it seem as though it were my fault. He tells me that I shouldn't be talking to Oscar at all, that I have enough people that want to date me that I shouldn't waste my time with Oscar, that I need to focus on my work and not on Oscar, that Oscar is a jerk, a player, a moron...and it finally ends with the truth.

"I don't want to lose you, Cati. If you started dating Oscar, you would spend all of your time with him, never be here on the weekends and forget all about me, Brayan and Luis."

I want to tell him not to worry, that they will always be a part of my life, that they are so important to my happiness in San Ramon, but I say nothing. I'm furious that he pulled this prank and will most likely make things really awkward between Oscar and me. Regardless of the crush fading, he was becoming a good friend of mine and am worried that their pendejadas may have messed everything up.

mr. brightside

2006-09-05T09:46:00.000-06:00

I was reprimanded by the director of the colgeio on Friday because I didn't stand outside of the library during the national anthem--this is understandable. It's a respect thing. Later on in the day I was reprimanded by him again because I let the students use the computers in the library. They were practicing with paint and playing cards. I don't think it's a bad idea that they have the opportunity to be creative and get familar with the computers but he said that they are not allowed to use them unless they are for official business. (And the kids weren't missing class either. They just didn't have class and didn't want to be bored.) After that happened, I had a bad hour of "I'm going to request for a transfer, I'm moving to Santa Rosa, this colegio is garbage and I'm wasting my time." I was pretty mad for awhile the thought of selling all my stuff and just quitting crossed my mind, as it does from time to time but this time felt a little more serious.

What cheered me up? First was getting out of the colegio. I just went home because it was too much. Who was waiting for me when I got home? The cable guy. Only 3 months late but I finally have some cable. (Naturally, it was raining pretty heavily which meant no signal....but still CABLE!) Second thing that cheered me up was Williams saying I looked pretty, which made me forget about the fatty comment from before. The third thing was that Luis and Brayan came over and we just chilled. We played Vice City for awhile, watched The Simpsons (they can't believe that Maggie was the one who shot Mr. Burns), Brayan beat me in Simpsons Road Rage (I need to get that win back), Luis tried to convice me that Oscar is crazy about me (which I don't believe at all), and Williams kept bringing up his "plan" (his hope that I'll stay in San Ramon and marry Luis when he's legal....not going to happen!). It was just nice to talk with them and remember that not everything is about the actual work that I do. I have been feeling this way lately because I have to do this 6 month report for PC, trying to show my project manager (and the U.S. government) that I'm doing productive stuff in my sites. I wish their was a section "Number of visa conversations you've held", "How many people have asked you about Pres. Bush?", or "How many kids to you hang out with to help the time go by more quickly?". That's where I'd have some real numbers to put up. But honestly, I don't know how I would make it here without the kids that I have here. In one afternoon I went from "Get me out of here!" to "I could never leave here!"

I've seen better days

2006-08-31T09:34:00.000-06:00

Things have been kind of sucky since coming back to San Ramon. It's a combination of things rather than just one thing that is making me crazy.
1. Last night I took a shower in brownish water. It's the only thing coming out of my pipes. If I didn't play volleyball, I probably could have held off until the end of the week in Santa Rosa. Maybe.
2. The director of the colegio doesn't want any students checking out any books from the library. But there's no room for them to come in and do their research. And isn't that the point of a library, to take books home to read and return later? He also doesn't want anyone using the donated computers in the library. Look dude, they're from 1995, no minds will be warped or any hackers created. They don't even have Microsoft Word on them.
3. 13 days of almost pure English is bad luck. I'm having problems expressing myself in Spanish and not sounding like a moron. But that happens in English too.
4. I have become addicted to Grand Theft Auto Vice City all over again. Brayan and I are trying to beat this mission where we help the Cubans even the score in Little Haiti. 6 days on that dang mission and no success.
5. I've run out of Chocolate Avalance PayDay candy bars already.
6. I gave my neighbors some Sour Punch Candy Straws and now they want more. I don't have anymore. I gave them a pack each. They don't believe me. And yes, throwing rocks at my house will really make me want to give you more (if I had more).
7. I miss sandwiches.

But I put myself in this situation. I didn't have to go home but I did anyway. If I make it the 2 years, I'll let you know if it was worth it.

fun with rumors

2006-08-27T09:28:00.000-06:00

I find it amusing the way rumors spread about me and how quickly they can get out of control. You're told during training that as a volunteer, especailly in a small town you will become the subject of many conversations simply because you're something different to talk about. I'd like to think that I've handled it well for the most part but it can be really frustrating and embarassing at times.

At the end of July, the soccer team for the colegio (different than the one my ex-future husband plays for) had a game. Oscar came over to the library to ask me if I was going to watch the game, which I had no idea about at the time, and we walked over to the field together. So what right? He just walked with me or I just walked with him. We sat next to each other and lots of people started turning around and staring at us. Luis looked at me and made kissy faces at Oscar and me. At half time, several students asked me, "So are you and Oscar dating now? What's going to happen with Prof. Johnny?" I just sat next to him!!! That's it! I teased him about him liking the Yankees and the Lakers (because he probably only likes them because they're popular) but that translates to, "You we're talking to him and smiling at him. You must like him, right?" The idea of guys and girls being just friends
is impossible to comprehend here. And for the record, we aren't dating. We are just friends.

This past week I went to the feria in my municipality, Taluga. I went simply so I could go to the dance party after the crowning of the queen. I had a pretty good time, especially because it wasn't in my town, which at the time seemed like a great opportunity to dance with whomever I wanted, and yet so many people knew about me the next day. Teachers at the colegio said, "We heard you danced like crazy at the feria." Luis came over to my house and the first thing he said was, "So who's the guy in the white sweater that you danced with?" Are there secret spies out watching me? I recognized only a few people at that party! But so many people knew about my adventures the following day. It's crazy how quickly those rumors spread. Right now the "white sweater" guy is my "new boyfriend" and it's going to make Oscar "really jealous" if he finds out about him. Or so the rumor spreads....

trying times

2006-08-27T09:23:00.000-06:00

I missed my flight from Guatemala City to San Pedro Sula. Let's just sum it up by saying that I'm an idiot and leave it at that. I ended up spending the day (and night) in Guatemala City (which was really great...highly recommended if you happen to be an idiot like me) and left early the next morning for Honduras.

Being back has been strange. When I was in the states, it felt like Honduras was a long dream. I went to sleep on September 19, 2005 and woke up August 3, 2006. But now that I'm back in Honduras, it feels like the U.S. was the dream, with all its' luxuries that I took for granted for 24 years and really learned to apprecitate while I was visiting. If I wanted to bake a cake, I didn't have to go to the main town to use the rest house to do it. If I wanted to drink water, I could turn on the faucet and put a glass underneath instead of boiling it. I had more food options. If I wanted to buy a book, I rode my bike down to the bookstore, not get on a bus for 4 hours and worry about my money supply for the rest of the month because I spent too much money enjoying sandwiches in San Pedro Sula. It was those little things that made me appreciate the United States.

Of course with the good came the bad, too many options (especially with candy bars), everything at a fast pace, always worrying about other people's schedules, answering the "so what's next after PC" questions (and no, I don't know what's next yet). The worst being that I wasn't able to see everyone I had hoped to see, which I still feel horrible about. 12 days was just enough to get irritated with the U.S. and remember why I wanted to work abroad in the first place, but it was not enough time to really catch up with everyone and just enjoy Chicago. I had a lot of personal errands to run and got little sleep.

My friend Juvini gave me some money to purchase a digital camera for him while I was in Chicago, which I did and led to problems. All the teachers at the colegio said, "Well, I wanted a camera too and a laptop, why didn't you tell me you were going to the states?"
Sorry guys, I'm not a courier service and I did tell you that I was going but you tend to have selective listening when it comes to me. They are all asking when I'm going back or when my parents are coming down so they could bring "gifts" for them. It's a tough situation. I want to get them stuff, but getting them stuff leads to them thinking that I have money, which leads to them asking me to lend them money or buy them stuff. I guess if I said no to Juvini in the first place, I wouldn't be having these problems.

************************************************************************************
The Thursday after I came back, I played a volleyball game with the teachers from the colegio versus the 9th graders. I am just learning how to play volleyball and I sucked. It was really embarassing how much I sucked and I was so upset about how poorly I played in front of everyone. I went home and tried to workout my anger away but that didn't really work because kids were knocking on my door all afternoon asking for glasses of water and candy. I had just arrived so I didn't have much clean water and didn't really want to share because there was no water that day from the pipe so I said no and Williams said, "You know what? You are just really selfish." That statement combined with my anger about the volleyball led me to snap. "Don't you dare call me selfish when I share my food with you, buy you juice once in awhile and always let you into my house. You can drink water from the
tap, I can't." Williams says, "Well we're doing you a favor by eating your food because you're so chubby anyway."

Well. There you go. What do you think happened next? I slammed the door and broke down. It was embarassing and I shouldn't have cried over it, especially considering he's just a kid. And it doesn't look good for me to cry and get angry in front of kids.

Later, when I had calmed down a bit, Brayan and Luis came over to talk to me. Luis, being the more sensitive one simply said, "He's an idiot. Forget about it."

I'm trying, I'm trying.

take me out to the ball game

2006-08-06T16:31:00.000-05:00

368 ivy* gentlemen, kindly remove your hats* America the beautiful* hey, hey* #23 Sandburg flag flying high* grilled dog on a poppy seed bun (no ketchup, naturally)* yes, the pitcher bats here* Old Style, Cold Style ($5.75 a pop!)* "throw it over the plate, it's the Pirates for God's sake!"* let's go Cubbies, let's go!* "throw it back!"* Crackerjack, superrope* Rich Hill, 9 strikeouts, 2 of them on the backwards K* "Fundamental base running guys, learn how to do it!"* Cubs scored in the 4th=free coffee!* hand operated scoreboard* frozen chocolate malts* salted peanuts* 7th inning stretch* "get off your cell phone, yuppie!"* 40,007* on your feet for the final out* Cubs Win

home

2006-08-03T15:12:00.000-05:00

After an insane day of travel, I am in Chicago. I arrived this morning around 2 am. Waited in line at customs for another half hour, met my friend Michael at the gate, screamed for joy to be home.

Getting to my parents' house was so strange because I have been gone for awhile. Everything old was new again. I saw shirts in my closet that I had forgotten about, their dog looked different, my room felt different. It was almost like I wasn't living the experience but someone who looked like me. Doorknobs felt different, carpeting and wood flooring definitely felt different. My stuff was still my stuff but it didn't feel like mine anymore because I had been gone.

What have I enjoyed up to this point?

*Water straight from the tap
*Sam's Club
*Banana Beligum Waffle
*A hot shower with pressure
*Paved roads
*Cars
*Best Buy
*My bed
*Perfume

dengue merengue

2006-07-31T15:24:00.000-05:00

This past week has been hard for me simply because I was knocked out with dengue fever. It is just like the flu except exotic, I guess. I was sleeping 19 hour days and had high fevers. It was not a fun time. I am glad that it didn't hit me while I was in the states otherwise I would have been really upset. I missed a party in Santa Rosa because of it and missed some school this week too, not that it matters because starting tomorrow there will be a nation wide strike and no one knows when classes will resume. I was able to teach an English class today and after class a group of students came to my house being extra cute saying, "We'll miss you! 12 days is a long time!" Not that long guys. But it was sweet and gives me something to look forward to coming back to while in Chicago.

I don't recommend dengue fever for anyone by the way...in case you were wondering!

it was bound to happen

2006-07-28T15:45:00.000-05:00

Sunday afternoon I was at my front door in San Ramón, searching through my backpack to realize that yes, I did leave my keys in Santa Rosa. Idiot! There are no afternoon buses to Santa Rosa so I was kind of screwed. After standing at my front door thinking about what I was going to do (and what was going to happen to my pepper jack cheese)for about 10 minutes, I went down to my landlord's house (home of los locos) to ask if they had an extra copy of the key to the house. They didn't.

Los locos came up to the house with me and we entered through the backyard. Luis climbed through my bathroom window, which is about 8 feet off the ground and measures about 14 inches by 7 inches (he's skinny). He broke my padlock on my back door using rocks. Problem solved? I wish. My house has a second door that was locked from the inside so after I tried to break the door by kicking it (stupid, stupid idea), Luis cut a hole into the door using a kitchen knife so that Ramón could squeeze through the hole and open the door for us on the other side. Brayan didn't provide much help with him saying, "Are you going to start crying now? How about now?", and maybe I would have started crying. But I was alright. Ramón opened the door and I was super happy.

And my pepper jack survived.

love zidane

2006-07-10T10:29:00.001-05:00

I went salsa dancing Saturday night in Santa Rosa and it was excellent. I miss Chicago so much. I can't wait to come home for a visit. Let's hope ticket prices will finally go down. Yeah right.

I lost 2 Snickers bars in a bet with Oscar because I picked France to win the world cup. 2 Snickers...dang!

I am also half way to 26 today. Time is moving too fast.

surprises & frustrations

2006-07-07T09:31:00.000-05:00

Aaaaaaiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

That's the sound of me screaming and running down the street in Gracias as I saw my friend Emily in Honduras again. (She left in January). She came down to spend 3 weeks here with her boyfriend and celebrate the 4th of July here.

The 4th of July was pretty great. A volunteer who lives in Gracias, Jamie, planned a 2 day fiesta. I got a sweet jalon from San Ramon to Gracias (cutting almost 2 hours of travel time) Monday evening. He invited PC Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua...crazy stuff. We got to spend a fun evening at the hot springs right outside of Gracias, where I have never been even though I am pretty close. (Defintely need to return.)

The 4th was spent at a pool, eating hot dogs (no ketchup naturally), watching world cup, and spending time with some volunteers from my group that came a long way to chill in the city of thanks. It was a really chill party and I think that most people had a good time. I definitely felt a pang of homesickness as I thought of roman candles, saturn missles, Chicago cops, yuppie neighbors complaining about noise and my dad yelling at them, BBQ's and M-80s, but this was a good replacement.

*************************************************************************************

I am facing some frustrations in my site right now, the biggest being the intermittent school schedule. I went to the colegio on Monday and classes ended at 9 am with no school on Tuesday. Yesterday several teachers didn't show up and some refused to teach because they haven't been paid yet. Teachers only get paid twice a year and since they were supposed to be paid at the end of June and have yet to receive that check, there are rumors floating around of a strike. Because of that, there are no classes today either. I understand that it is hard to work almost 6 months without a paycheck but it is irritating to see teachers show up and not teach or not show up at all, especially when they make a really good salary for Honduras. The subdirector of the school makes 4 times what I make per month and I have yet to see her teach a single class. I know I shouldn't be so critical considering I don't do much work as a volunteer but....

the most frustrating thing about it is that the kids want to go to school. Some of the seniors want their classes so they are ready for the university. Kids at the grade school want to go to class too. I don't remember liking school that much as a kid but then again, I never experienced a strike during my time in school. Last year, there were 3 separate strikes, one of them lasting over 17 days.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy my site and the people in my site but this school schedule has become a big hassle and something that I have been worrying about a lot. When they're not in school all the kids watch TV, play video games, eat junk food and it's just sad and so unhealthy. I hope that they don't strike and this is just a temporary thing.

you give me fever

2006-06-30T13:20:00.000-05:00

4 years ago I was living in Spain and my roommate Darcy and I woke up one Saturday morning to watch South Korea beat Spain in the quarterfinals in penalty kicks. We were screaming in a bar at 8 am and on the news as some of the "fanáticos" that watched the game.

Now I'm here in Honduras and my life has been taken over by the World Cup. I am traveling throughout San Ramón with my radio to make sure I don't miss a game. (Yes, it's a boombox, no it is not playing "Fight the Power" like in Do the Right Thing) During the preliminary rounds, the games were on 8, 11, and 2 so those filled my days for 2 weeks. I have huge charts of the schedule in my house, I talk about the games with the teachers at the colegio, I try to read the papers as much as possible.

It's getting close to the finals and I have to see every game now. I have a TV but just like the U.S., cable takes forever to be installed. I have been waiting for 3 weeks now and am super frustrated.

Classes were ended early last week so people could go home and watch games. The Germany/Argentina game just ended and as they went to penalty kicks, the streets were empty in Gracias, Lempira as I'm sure that most people were watching that.

I think since I don't have the Cubs to cheer for (or get angry about), all my tomboyish energy has gone into watching these games.

again with the tarp!

2006-06-26T09:25:00.000-05:00

I was on a jalon to Santa Rosa with the soccer team to watch them play. Due to lovely rainy season, it rains most of the time now and there was no exception for my travels on Saturday. To try and keep dry someone brought a tarp with them to cover the back of the pick up (a blue one at that), which was a good idea theoretically. (spelling?)

The problem was that there were 12 of us in the back, a bumpy, curvy road and a small tarp. Water was everywhere. I could barely keep my balance and it was hot under that tarp. Coming back was even worse, imagine those conditions and add 10 guys who have just finished playing soccer, it smelled like a gym locker and Fritos (but Fritos also smell like a gym locker).

San Ramon lost 8-4 and I learned a new idomatic phrase, "andar tatascanos", which basically means that they got drunk before the game on Tatascán, the drink choice of Honduran campesinos, and were playing drunk. I'm surprised they were able to score 4 goals. But my future husband didn't play either, so there's a reason...

tired yet fatty?

2006-06-22T16:20:00.000-05:00

I've been jogging in the afternoons and have a pack of kids that follow me during my jog. Basically, I'm just jogging circles on the soccer field for about 20 minutes, no big deal.

The kids make me laugh though when they say, "Aren't you tired yet fatty? You can't jog this long." I tell them that 20 minutes is nothing compared to the half marathons my friend Greg in Chicago runs.

The fatty comment? Females come in two sizes, flaca or gorda. Since I'm not skinny, I naturally fall into the fat category. It's semi-refreshing to hear people be honest with you rather than hear "No, you don't look fat in that dress..." as they whisper about you looking like a stuffed sausage to their friends. But it's something that I'm not quite used to hearing from total strangers yet. If I beat them in a race though, that generally shuts them up. I'm becoming a real jerk, right?

sure hope my potatoes come to visit

2006-06-17T10:03:00.000-05:00

papas vs. papás....that accent mark is the difference between my title and "sure hope my parents come to visit". My 6th graders laughed at me but I caught the mistake right away. Is that a sign of improvement or just another thing to add to my "Jackass actions in the Peace Corps" list?

no, máteme

2006-06-10T09:56:00.001-05:00

Luis and Brayan received a sweet computer from the states two weeks ago and they asked me to come over to install it for them. After I hooked it up, they asked me to help them with some games that came with the computer. We were playing this game where you are a POW in a Nazi camp in 1944 and trying to escape. It's fun and you get to blow up lots of stuff along the way (how I miss Grand Theft Auto) but it's in English and I was asked to do a lot of interpreting along the way.

Some of the stuff was absolutely impossible like a letter that said, "Kaiser, Let the guards know that they cannot steal any of the fkdsnkngj, skngskgnskdf, ksfnskdfnsd (All words in German) or they will be executed". I just looked at Luis and told him not to steal and he looked at me like I was nuts.

The thing that made them laugh though was this German nanny that was running from room to room screaming, please don't kill me. The fun part about Spanish are all the little rules and how direct translation never truly works.

"Please don't kill me" correctly translated would be, no me mates. I said, no máteme, which translates to no, kill me. Luis and Brayan were laughing at me the rest of the afternoon and when I left the house they shouted, "Kill me please!". I wanted to smack them both.

In other news, there is no school all of next week because it is student week which means I get to watch a whole lot of World Cup. The colegio had a futbolito tournament which was really fun to watch. I foolishly sat in the sun for about 3 hours and I have nasty sunburn on my shoulders. The colegio set up a speaker system so that they could announce the games in true Spanish form complete with "Gooooooooooaaaaaalllllllllll!". During a halftime though, some of the students started saying what's up to all their friends and William grabbed the mic and yelled, "Prof. Jhonny loves Cati!", which embarassed the hell out of me, made everyone laugh, and caused me to give William the finger in front of a lot of people. Lucky for me, everyone thought it was cute (what William said and my giving of the finger)and it ended up just fine. That's the way it goes. Everything always seem to work out in the end.

hotter than the milk lady

2006-06-03T19:25:00.000-05:00

Honduras 6 celebrated their one year anniversary in country by having a Las Vegas casino themed party. Since some of us from Hondu 7 are friendly with them, we were invited to the party..but I was also there to help my friends Crystal and Simon with a baseball tryout, which wasn't really me helping but rather them helping me. How can I have a baseball team and not know how to throw a ball? I can explain what a fielder's choice is and why the Cubs haven't won a World Series in almost a century, but the little things? I'm a lost cause.

The party was held in a really sweet boarding house that was rented out for the night. It was a chill party with some Texas Hold'Em and watching the Heat beat the Pistons. Some people had a little too much mango beer and when I was helping Simon walk a friend of ours back, they jumped on my back and said that I was hotter than the milk lady...whatever that means.

But it was a quick visit because I needed to get back to San Ramon. The kids and town have been missing me. Kids wrote in chalk on my house that they miss me and I ran into Juvini who thought that I was mad at the colegio and went mojada to the US. I just told him that I was traveling and added 5 mini kisses to prove to him that I couldn't leave.

Mini kisses as in those fake kisses hello, of course because like all the good ones, he naturally has a girlfriend.

I should tell him that I'm hotter than the milk lady, then maybe he'll marry me...

bus adventures & schoolgirl crushes

2006-06-03T18:51:00.000-05:00

This is what traveling is all about, va?
601 am: Alarm goes off. Hit snooze.
606 am: Again. Try to hit snooze, get tangled up in mosquito net, fall off bed, feel like an idiot (what else is new?) and decide to get up.
625 am: Throwing random stuff into bag in a rush to catch the first bus to Santa Rosa with one shoe on, hair in a crazy mess and toothbrush in mouth.
631 am: Running down the hill hoping not to miss said bus.
636 am: Get on the bus, see Julio (soccer player/future husband), blush, run fingers through mess of hair, say hi, smile like an idiot, then hope to become invisible (doesn't happen).
805 am: Approx. 10 minutes from Santa Rosa, bus gets a flat tire.
810 am: Bus runs on flat tire at the rate of 1 km/hour.
825 am: Reach bus station, out of patience, pay the 10 lemps to take a taxi down to the other bus station.
835 am: Get in line to buy a ticket to San Pedro Sula (SPS) for the 900 am bus only to watch two empty direct buses pass by the station. (Idiot!)
930 am: The 900 am has arrived.
935 am: Bolo on the bus screaming nonsense (or Spanish, I can't tell). His arms are flying all over the place and causing quite a scene on the crowded bus.
937 am: He passes out in the aisle. Am I watching the Simpsons or is this actually happening?
945 am: The ayudante, being the cool guy that he is, gives me his seat at the front of the bus and I think, "This is going to be an awesome ride to SPS with this great view".
1000 am: The back of the bus starts to smoke and breaks down.
1025 am: The next bus passes by, takes only the passengers going to SPS, not to Teguc and it is crowded again.
1027 am: Nice guy passes me a plastic stool and I sit in the middle of the aisle.
1045 am: Seat is available and I knock out within minutes.
1200 pm: Arrival to SPS, land of the gorgeous guys (sometimes)
1210 pm: Taxi to another bus station, I talk to the driver and he only charges me 30 lemps for the ride. Sweet!
1230 pm: Bus leaves for Las Vegas and I am convinced to purchase mangoes.
215 pm: Close to Vegas, a car has driven into a ravine. Bus stops and everyone exits to stare and share their opinion on what has happened.
245 pm: On the "strip", accident #2 involving a pickup truck, a post and a bolo. You gotta love the bolos.
300 pm: Finally, finally in Vegas ready for the Hondu 6 one year party.

ghettolicious

2006-05-29T11:37:00.000-05:00

Here's a short summary of my week in Tegucigalpa:
-10 lempira piña coladas
-6 layer carrot cake
-X-Men 3
-Met the ambassador at a cocktail party
-Eating Swedish meatballs at said party
-Subway sandwiches
-Lots of English (which isn't so sweet anymore)
-Too much Peace Corps gossip
-Eaten alive by mosquitos at the Guat 2 (the "lovely" hotel in Teguc)
-A 3 1/2 hour true directo to San Pedro from Teguc (nothing short of a miracle)
-Getting ripped off by the Embassy for my "per diem"...yes, I'm a volunteer but Tegucigalpa is expensive
-The search for Shakira's CD in English (a failure)
-Almost switching a TV at the Guat 2 with my friend Delfo (Johnny Depp) to get channel 98
That's all I've got. I'm in Santa Rosa wired on too much coffee and ready to go back home.

pirish power

2006-05-25T18:02:00.000-05:00

I'm in Teguc enjoying fancy pants coffee drinks, Subway, Quizno's, being anonymous, and speaking English (sort of). This is a warning to anyone who got that email from me saying that I've created a new webpage...don't open it up. It's a lie. I don't know how that message was sent to everyone but it was. So please DON'T open it up.

In other news, I met a PCV named Patrick whose father is Irish and mom is Filipina. No joke! He didn't have crazy, curly, kinky, frizzy hair like me though (disappointment). But it was still interesting. Who would have thought that I'd meet another Pirish person in peace corps Honduras of all places???? (But no, he doesn't get confused for being Mexican like me.)

barco de sueños

2006-05-22T09:36:00.000-05:00

Well part of one of the traveling experience is over and done. The last bus that left Teguc to Santa Rosa ended up leaving 2 hours before the scheduled time so I spent the night in San Pedro Sula and went to the lovely City Mall and imagined what my life was like when I had money. I did get to eat Quizno's for dinner that serves real chicken, not whatchamachicken like so many people had thought.
I got back home yesterday to find a couple of newts living in my kitchen but I chased them out with a broom. My plan was to wash my clothes, teach English today, head to Santa Rosa tomorrow and leave for Teguc early Wednesday morning. You would think that by now I would have learned that making plans is a foolish idea but no, I still do it. Of course, of course there are no classes today (why? I don't know...maybe to relax from the tough weekend), so I am in Santa Rosa today, I'll teach tomorrow, then go to Teguc on Wednesday which means I will be on a bus from 7 am until about 5 pm, which should be interesting to say the least.
The best part of Teguc? Going to the training center in Santa Lucia and seeing Carlos, my former Spanish teacher, my barco de sueños in his absolute dreaminess. It also marked the return of Sam...which was...well, Sam in true form but we got along just fine because it was only 2 1/2 days.
That's about it. I am on a search for the Shakira song "Hips Don't Lie", which is all over the radio here but not available for sale. That's the way it works.

one and done

2006-05-14T11:04:00.000-05:00

We had a welcome party Saturday for the new group of volunteers with a pretty good turnout. It was fun for the most part until some people started getting sick which is an absolute party killer. The game "one and done" really took a lot of people out. I fooled that dollface Jamo, volunteer wild guy, into doing a one and done with me while my glass was just filled with Pepsi. I'm sneaky like that.

I ended up sleeping on a colchon in the outdoorish area of the Santa Rosa house and got eaten alive by mosquitoes. I think bites on my fingers are the worst because they always itch and it hurts to scratch them. I also didn't sleep very well because my mind was full of so many thoughts that my mind never stopped. I won't bore you with the details but let's just say that no matter how far away you think you are from home, your past can still come back and surprise you.

Anyway, these next two weeks begins my nightmare traveling schedule. I will be going to Santa Lucia for a project workshop this week, get back on the bus to go to San Ramon for 2 days and then go BACK to Tegucigalpa for a teaching seminar. It's just that 8 hour bus ride that kills me and having to do it almost back to back is what sucks the most. Though I am happy to take a small break from my site and see my training group again.

Honduras has gone through a time change and we advanced the clocks one hour last week. The problem with this system is that only some follow the time change, so when I ask the time, people reply, "3 pm, the new hour or 2pm the old hour" Ugh! Nothing runs on the proper hour. The most irritating part of it all is at the colegio because school starts at the same time but ends an hour later. What?!

I guess one hour longer with....
Kidding. I'm kidding.

cast of characters

2006-05-11T11:27:00.000-05:00

I don't want to keep typing out "my host brother x" or "my neighbor y" everytime I blog but I don't want to just type their names out without people knowing who they are either. With that being said, here is the San Ramón cast of Kathryn's peace corps adventure:

-Luis, 12 years old, my former host brother who tries to make sure I don't dance with any idiots and gives me the middle finger any chance he gets.
-Brayan, 10 years old, my former host brother who could easily become the next great actor out of Honduras and makes me laugh harder than anyone here.
-Ramón (or Munchie), 8 years old, my former host brother that insists on leaving with me when I go back to the U.S.

Collectively, the three of them togehter are referred to as "Los Locos" because I am always calling them crazy when they're at the house.

-Johnny, Juvini, Oscar, teachers at the colegio. When a rumor is circulating about me, usually their names are involved.
-Sandra, my next door neighbor who is back in San Ramón after living 10 years in the U.S.
-Bessy, my closest friend, a senior at the colegio.
-William, 12 years old, a student at the colegio, friend of los locos, and is at my house almost daily asking how I can bring him to the U.S.
-La Fresa, director's son who teaches in a nearby aldea and drives me nuts from time to time with his bragging.

That's all I can really think of but I hope this clears up any confusion.

tidbits

2006-05-11T11:11:00.000-05:00

Here's another list of little things that I can't really theme into a full blog:

-"Summer Splash" scented Off not only works as bug repellent but doubles as ghetto fabulous perfume.
-There is a bat living in my kitchen which has helped me learn the Spanish for vampire, Dracula, to suck blood, and bat.
-Professor McGuapo got married two weeks ago--I went to the wedding and wept as another one bit the dust. j/k
-High school is high school whether you're in a town of 550 or a city of 3 million. Teens still pass notes, talk crap, roll their eyes, cry in class, and start rumors.
-The more people get to know me, the more rumors circulate about me. "La Cati drove the bus to Santa Rosa" "La Cati is dating 3 teachers" "La Cati is taking me to the U.S. mojado"
-Since people know I have a digital camera they have been bringing their babies to the house so I can photograph them, they pay for the pictures of course, but I am no Michael Vázquez, super talented photographer, but I do the best that I can.
-"How do you say my name in English?" is a favorite game for kids under 10.
-Running late is one of the worst habits I am picking up.
-My latest Aralen dreams involve me standing in line at Starbucks...not as exciting as they used to be.
-Being sick in a foreign country is horrible because all I want is to curl up in my bed at home while my mom makes me pre-packaged chicken soup. No matter how hard I try, it never tastes as good as when she makes it. Plus, the mind does crazy things when you're alone with a fever.

wasting my time in the waiting line

2006-05-11T10:49:00.000-05:00

Cultural night was pretty horrible. It was just a combination of:
1. Lip-synching. It's alright if you're going to dance along but slow Spanish ballads are the worst to sit through.
2. Drunken idiots. The people behing me were making catcalls (not at me), yelling, and throwing bottles.
3. With the exception of Brayan's danza, the rest of the performaces were disorganized.
4. I was having one of those "Peace Corps Moments" in which I felt absolutely alone. From time to time, I experience them. I think of them like migrane headaches--you never know when they'll hit, when they do there's no stopping them and they hurt like hell. I think it was because I wasn't sitting next to anyone I knew.

Sunday was better. I went to my host family's house, helped make a piñata for Ramon's birthday the next day and chilled with los locos. Later on I went down to the church with my neighbor Sandra to see the feria, which was 3 booths set up in front of the church--they did have an actual roulette wheel where you could bet but I wasn't feeling lucky.

Monday was the actual feria. It was also Ramon's 8th birthday. He came to my house after lunch and told me to come to the house for his party at 4 pm. I asked, "4pm for real or 4 pm Honduran time?" He said 4 pm for real. I left my house at 420 pm to realize that the party wouldn't start for another hour so I went down to the "town hall" to see how the set up was coming along for the crowning later that night and talked to some teachers for awhile. At 520, a messenger was sent to me informing me that I had to go back to my host family's house because the party was about to begin. At 6, the party began with the piñata that no one could break so Luis just ripped it open and the mad rush for the candy began. We ate, a video was made for Ramon's mom in the U.S. and while I was told that there would be cake, I did not see one present (big disappointment). I left the party at 7 to shower and change for the crowning/dance. I left with Sandra at 815 for a celebration that was supposed to begin at 7, but didn't start until 930 (there was no crown, there were no flower girls, the kid attendees to the queen were fighting, etc). Yajaira the First was crowned (she really was referred to as "The First") and after the town hall became a discotech, which was really cool. Since there's no discotech in San Ramón, almost everyone came out to dance. Professor McGuapo told me, "In parties like these, you will enter dancing and leave dancing", which wasn't far from the truth. I danced with one teacher that supposedly has a crush on me (though I don't believe it) and that started a whole mess of rumors the next day. It was so much fun though and Sandra and I didn't leave until 3 am and even at that time, it was still pretty crowded.

Foolishy, there were classes held the following day and about half the students didn't show up because they were worn out. Everyone that did show up were walking around exhausted.

¡feliz cinco de ocho!

2006-05-06T09:30:00.000-06:00

(Thanks to Chris Matza for reminding me of my favorite Simpson holiday!)

It's feria time in San Ramon which means several days of events, reasons for people to get drunk and more catcalls in the streets (I love you forever!)

As with most Honduran ceremonies, there has to be a queen elected. Wednesday night was the presentation of the candiates for queen-in their best sporting outfits (I totally could rock that portion of the competition), casual wear, and evening gown-of course. To be queen of the feria you have to have a certain organiztion represent you, such as the colegio or a local NGO and then if people support the idea of you being queen, they will buy your votes. (Hey at least everyone knows that votes are being purchased from the get go and not in secret.) The person with the most money collected will be the queen.

Last night was the suspenseful "Who will be the queen of San Ramon?" There were 3 rounds to determine the winner. All the money that was collected before the event began was placed into envelopes with the box for the first round. Each envelope is opened and the amount is given. For example, "Bessy Guevara, 125 lps." The totals are read and for the 2nd and 3rd rounds people from the crowd can put money into an envelope and put it in the box in support of their candidate.

After the first two rounds, it was pretty close between two girls, Yesenia and Yajaira, each of them having connections to the municipality. The third round was exciting because the money just kept coming for both of them.
Here were the announcements:
Yesenia "875 lempiras"
Yajaira "1000 lempiras"
Yesenia "1300 lempiras"
Yajaira "1700 lempiras"
And it went on like that for a little while longer. While the exchange rate is very favorable, when you're talking in the 1000s of lempiras, that's some serious cash just to wear a sash for a day. In the end, Yajaira, connected to the mayor (naturally) won the title with a grand total of 8700 lempiras (almost $500!). The money goes to the school and the municipality. Her coronation takes place Monday. Tonight is cultural night at the grade school and people in San Ramon can participate in singing or dancing. I'm trying to convince one of the cute teachers to sing a Juanes song for me (with little success). After the crowning, there will be a dance held in the San Ramon equivalent of a town hall (someone's garage-ish place).

To be continued...

scary stories

2006-04-30T08:57:00.000-06:00

Thursday night I had dinner with my host family. It was nice and family like. After dinner some of the girls at the house wanted to put my hair in braids for fun, so as they did that I watched cartoons with my brothers and acted as an interpreter for Tom and Jerry. After the cartoons and a head full of tiny braids we all sat around and they asked me,"Have you heard about all the people who have been killed in San Ramón"?

It went downhill from there.

I listened to guys who were shot or killed by machete and how their spirts are still in San Ramón out for revenge. I was told a story about how the devil came walking through and his footprints are imprinted in the dirt here (not so sure about that one). Then Brayan busts out with, "Did you know that someone died in your house 10 years ago Cati?"

Why? Why do you tell me these things???

Apparently, a man was killed for having an affair with the patronato's (town representative) wife. It was a hit, or at least that's what could understand. The assasin just entered the house and shot him. That was it. Is it true? Who knows? One thing though is that is scared the hell out of me at 9 pm. I told my brothers that I was not walking home alone (even though it's only 3 "blocks" and safe). They walked me home and said, "We're too scared to go home now", pulled my guest bed into my room and slept at my house. As I was falling asleep, they kept making noises after a good amount of silence, which made me scream and had them laughing. They woke up the next morning at 515 am, normal for them and left to get ready for school at their own house.

I am such a fraidy cat.

lost in translation

2006-04-22T08:50:00.000-06:00

That wonderful Kristofer Bayona surprised me with a phone call yesterday. He is the first successful person to call and not get my voicemail. My brothers were over and here is how the conversation with Kris went:

Me: Kris?! I can't believe you called me.
Kris: How are you Kathryn?
Me: Good. How are you?
Brayan (in the background): Hello! Hello! Cat , Dog!
Kris: I'm good. I finally found a phone card that works. But I only have 5 minutes.
Brayan: Yes. Yes. I espeak English. (saying it in my face while I'm on the phone)
Me (to Brayan): Stop! I'm on the phone! (in English though)
Brayan and Kris: What?
Me (to Brayan): Dude I'm on the phone. Stop making me laugh. (In Spanish though)
Kris: Hello?
Me: (laughing) I'm sorry Kris. I'm just so confused.
William: Hello my name is William.
Luis: Son of a bitch! Hello! What?
Brayan: Chicken! Oh no!

And it continues on like that for the 5 minutes. I was so happy to talk to Kris except I didn't really get to talk to him because los locos (the boys) wanted to hear me speak English and kept shouting out words in English. Telling them to be quiet in Spanish, talking to Kris, and laughing was a disasterous combination. My mind was so busy trying to process all this information at once in both languages. It was funny though.

And Baby B-you're a sweetheart. I really appreciated the phone call.

the mystery of faith

2006-04-15T10:36:00.000-06:00

Good Friday is the big day in Honduras, with all bus service coming to a halt and most stores (even pulperias) closing. My neighbor Sandra, who is becoming a good friend, invited me to attend the procession with her. I agreed thinking that I'd be walking around San Ramón with people singing or praying, kind of like Our Lady of Lourdes did on Good Friday (just minus the van with the loudspeaker). How wrong I was! It first meant going to church, which I haven't done in a long time. I have been to church for weddings and baptisms but actual mass?
Here's the lowdown:
1. Luckily, I did not burst into flames the moment I walked in through the door, considering what a sinner I am.
2. In San Ramón, they stand up for all the readings, not just the gospel. Seven readings. I don't mind standing but when you know there's a seat, well, you want to sit but the microphone just kept getting passed back and forth and in my head all I thought was, "This will be the last reading. No? Ok, THIS one will be the last one, right?"
3. Church is church no matter where you are in the world. There will always be kids screaming at the top of their lungs.
4. Church is also a fashion show as most people wore their best clubbing outfits to mass. Denim mini skirts, high heel shoes, halter tops, tube tops. I was waiting for the lights to go out and for the reggatón to start blasting out the speakers.
5. Some things never change. English or Spanish, people mindlessly recite prayers outloud while looking around and not aware of what they're really saying. It reminded me of when I was in 7th grade and we would say the rosary after recess and then the teacher would call on someone asking for the "4th sorrowful mystery" and everyone would draw a blank.
6. I still have the same habits in church that I did when I was younger. I look around and count how many people had banana clips in their hair, I counted how many dogs entered the church, I watched other people have their independent conversations, I made a mental list of what else I was planning to do during the day.
7. The priest invited everyone to come up and kiss Jesus's feet and I was overcome with fear that I would have to go up there, just like in grade school. I hated doing it in grade school and not much has changed in 11 years. I looked at Sandra and she said, "I'm not going up. Are you?" Saved!

After mass, some of the town people took Jesus off the cross, folded his arms down and placed him in a clear coffin covered with fake flowers. We all left the church and began the march around San Ramón, which took about 90 minutes because we walked so slow. Every 10 minutes or so we would stop and the guys carrying the coffin would place it on a table of flowers to rest. A group of people would circle the table, not to look at Jesus, but to grab the flowers the moment the coffin was lifted again. Women were walking around with boquets of flowers that would make funeral homes envious. It was ridiculous. After the procession, Sandra and I walked back and she told me that there will be three soccer games on Sunday and I have to go. (San Ramón won on Wednesday, 2-1, both goals scored by "my future husband". I also managed to fall down a rocky hill in front of the whole crowd. Some things never change.)

chillin'

2006-04-12T08:36:00.000-06:00

Since it's holy week, most of San Ramón has shut down. No classes, no health center, no cute teachers in town. I came to Santa Rosa Monday morning on my best jalón to date. My friend Juvini, a teacher at the colegio, saw me walking down the street and told me to not take the bus and ride in a jalón with him and his friends. Juvini and I were in the flatbed which had a mattress in the back! We got to lie down and watch the sun rise on the way to Santa Rosa. It was excellent.
In Santa Rosa, I haven't done much except bake cakes for my friends Connie and Blair, who are both celebrating birthdays this week. Some other people from our group passed through Santa Rosa on their way to Guatemala and it was nice to see them in the wild west. I was planning to travel with Connie, Blair, and our friend Desirae, who lives in La Ceiba, to El Salvador but there are no buses running to El Salvador on Thursday or Friday. So I will have to travel to San Salvador, with it's famous salsa nights, another time.
I am headed back to San Ramón today because I promised to attend San Ramón's last soccer game of the season. Luis has told me that there is a player on the San Ramón team who is perfect for me, who I should marry so I can stay in Honduras forever, though I highly doubt it. I attended a game on Sunday which was actually pretty exciting. San Ramón was down 2-0 and tied it up in the second half. When the second goal was scored, the drunks pulled out their guns and started firing into the air in celebration. Me, being the nervous gringa that I am, got really worried that they would misfire because they were drunk and careless. Obviously, nothing happened but it was one of those cases where I was thinking, "Does anyone else think this is strange besides me?" No, it was just me. The game ended in a tie and I left before a drunken fight broke out.
This means the rest of the week, I will be at home just chillin' and trying to sleep in, which means not waking up at 5:45 every morning. I know I shouldn't be so excited about having time off considering my first two months in San Ramón were nothing but a vacation!

la suerte de mi vida

2006-04-07T14:47:00.000-06:00

Monday night the host brothers came by with their friend William, who is a student at the colegio and is aboslutely adorable. They were telling me stories about how the previous volunteer let them try guaro (Honduran for "one whiff of this and you will be drunk") and they asked, "So when are you going to drink with us Cati?" That's a question for another time, like 2 years from now....After, they raided my fridge and would say stuff like, "Never in my life have I eaten a pear/pancakes/peanut butter!" Now how could I deny them the wonderful world of peanut butter? But they said, "Because you gave us all this food, we will dance for you." I put on some punta and they tried to teach me how to dance but I don't know if I will ever be able to learn how to move my butt independly from the rest of my body. Then I put on a merengue CD and they performed this song "Nueva York" by Los Hermanos Rosario. One of the lines translates to "This is the luck of my life in New York..." and all I could think was how lucky I felt at that moment to have such great kids in my site.
This morning I attended a civic pride program at the grade school where I teach English. It was first taste of what it would be like to be a parent. Brayan danced in a danza, a traditional Honduran dance with brightly colored costumes and it was just so cute. I almost started crying because all I could think was, "He's so cute! I was there when he first started learning the danza and helped him practice!" I felt so proud of him, even though we are not related in anyway and I am the crazy gringa that lived with his family for 11 weeks. Like an idiot, I forgot to bring my camera so I have to rely on my memory for that moment. During the danza, I began to think, if I feel like crying now, who knows how bad it will be when I actually leave forever? Obviously there are things about San Ramón that make me crazy but when I think about Brayan's cute smile I get a little sad knowing that it's only for a short time.

here chicky chicky

2006-03-28T15:39:00.000-06:00

Lucy's last day went out with a bang. I was at my new kitchen table (finally) and reading a Glamour magazine in peace (yes, that exists in the developing world) when I heard Lucy barking like a maniac. I go out into the yard and see that 2 of my neighbor's baby chicks have entered my yard (not unusual) and she is chasing them down the hill (my yard is on an incline). I don't think too much of it at the time until the barking gets crazier and I hear a lot of chirping. I go down and see Lucy's fur all wet and a chick hiding underneath a rock. I was freaking out because I didn't see the head of this chick or its feet so all I could think was, "How am I going to explain to Simon and Crystal that I let their dog kill a chick?" But the chirping started up again and I grabbed Lucy and kept her in the house until my neighbor came over and got the chick out of the mess. I was glad because the last thing I needed to see was a dead baby chick in my lawn and a puppy covered in blood. It would be right out of an aralen dream.
Lucy and I traveled to Santa Rosa to meet up with Crystal and Simon. We ate pizza, we went to a good grocery store, and we ate cake (a must when I meet up with them). I loved having Lucy for the past 10 days but was glad to give her back to them. It is tough training a puppy and I give them credit for having the patience to put up with it.
In other news, there was a nasty car crash in a town close to mine, Mercedes that involved 4 students that attend the colegio. One of the girls in the car is a girl that my brother Luis has a crush on and he was crushed to find out that she was in the accident. All the students should be alright but one of them is still in intensive care and classes were cancelled today so that the teachers could go to Gracias, Lempira (the capital of my department) to visit them. When I heard the news, it was one of those stories that really hit me because I was just taking pictures of these kids on Thursday at that talent show and now they are in the hospital. But thank goodness that all of them should recover just fine.