Matthew?!

Sept. 24^th – 26^th, 2010

As you may or may not know, Honduras was one of the countries where Hurricane Matthew passed over. Those of us in the North Coast were consolidated to a point away from the potential danger. This meant that all PCVs of that region met up at a hotel and stayed there for a couple nights. It was nice to meet other people that I probably never would have met if it hadn't been for the storm. I made friends with my roommate, who did her service in the Dominican Republic first and then extended another year here. She turned out to be a great resource and I plan on visiting her within the next month to observe her English classes, because I also have to teach English to teachers who have volunteered their time to learn and teach students here.


During our brief "vacation" from our sites, a group of us went to a Mennonite community that specialized in dairy products. We probably walked a total of two or three hours there and back, with a short little bus ride too. We went because one PCV has been and said the ice-cream was amazing, and they sold other things cheese (they actually had cheddar!), yogurt, and banana bread. We all got ice-cream - I got chocolate/coffee, and then raspberry for the trip back, and a loaf of banana bread for my host family. The community was located on a fenced compound which housed living quarters, a school, a large common/kitchen area, and probably a church. The women inside were dressed conservatively and most were American who had learned Spanish. I spoke with one of them about what the community is exactly and she said that they are all Christian and follow the Bible literally. There are church groups organized in the states and whoever is interested in living overseas in such a community can do so for however long they wish. The adults on the compound were mostly American, but there were several Honduran children as well. I was happy to see a large trampoline out back, and the woman inside told me it gets used a lot :).

I went shopping at a large department store called Carrion (dead animal carcass anyone?) and bought a pair of genuine Havaianas flip-flops for about $8, and some nice sunglasses as well. It was super nice to be in a store like that but the enormous shoe department made me feel overwhelmed so I left that area for a minute then returned.

Yeah, I'm weird, but seriously…when you are just not used to seeing something for months, upon seeing it the mind kind of freaks out. I really wonder if it's true what a Returned PCV said about his return to the states after his service. I went to an RPCV forum at the Huntington Library/Gardens in San Marino, CA before I came here and one guy said that after he got done in Ghana, when he first stepped into an American grocery store, he felt so overwhelmed by the selection of cereal that I think he had to leave. At that moment I thought that could never happen to me, but it's only been 4 months and already I'm feeling that way!

One night while there, I thought I had lost my luggage keys at the restaurant we ate dinner at. I had locked my bag that I left at the hotel so no one would break into it, and thought I put them in my pants pocket. Brad and I walked back to the restaurant, and the guy who had been piropo'ing him earlier called out again so Brad went over to talk to him. The first time, the guy called out, "Hey Eminem, what you doing in Honduras!" and we just ignored it, but that had to be the funniest piropo I've heard. I didn't even get it at first. I was thinking M&M's >_<. That's what being away from American pop culture does to you! Turns out the guy lived in the states for a long time and is Muslim and actually speaks English fairly well. Anyway, my keys weren't at the restaurant so my roommate Janet helped me open my bag without destroying the lock or the zipper, and lo and behold my keys were inside! Silly absent-minded me. We fixed my bag up exactly as it had been and I made sure I was pendiente as to where my keys were the rest of the trip.

All in all it was a fun trip, but I was sick the entire time so I ended up going to bed earlier than I wanted and probably was made even more sick by the traveling, but oh well. Oh yeah! I ordered pancakes for breakfast and look how they came! I was very pleasantly surprised by the bananas and maple syrup instead of honey (although honey isn't too bad)!

 

What I Like About My Site

• When I take a stroll around the soccer field at night, the fireflies light it up with red, yellow, and green lights. It's magical. Sometimes they even light up my room too.
• We have two dogs that stay at the house and bark like crazy at night whenever a stranger comes by, effectively preventing any sort of break-in.
  
  
  
• It's only an hour away from a large city with a mall, movie theater, American fast food restaurants, street vendors of every imaginable item, and very large superstores that have everything a house would need, for cheap prices.
  
• It's about two hours away from the beach.
  
• There's an airport nearby so whenever anyone wants to visit, we won't have to travel too far!
  
• Right now, the weather is insanely fresco. It's actually quite strange because when I first got here, it was so hot I had to sleep with a fan on at night and would still sweat. Now my bed has a sheet AND a comforter, and I wear socks and long pajama pants and I sleep very, very well.
  
• It's near the third largest mountain in Honduras.
  
  
  
• I know I complained that we don't have paletas, but we DO have these things called topogigos (known as charramuscas in other parts). They're just plastic bags filled with some sort of liquid and frozen. Like banana and milk smoothie, nance juice, whatever.
  
• My host family has all sorts of animals – hens, roosters, chickens, chicks, ducks, ducklings, dogs, cats. Well, cat. Unfortunately this adorable little kitten died one morning all of a sudden :(. 
• I really love seeing how caring the animals are of their babies. The hen follows its chicks around all day and at night fits herself into the kitchen corner with her three babies under her wing. Whenever there's food given out, she always makes sure they eat first before she gets her share. The duck follows its ducklings around, even when they duck under the fence (duck, get it? Haha, terrible pun, I know =P) to feed elsewhere and she can't follow because she has this rope tied perpetually around one of her legs so she doesn't run away. It's sad. It's also quite amusing to see chickens and hens and roosters in trees, and even sometimes on the roof! I've got to get a picture, it really makes my day seeing that.
  
  
  
• There's a lady that sells "cocteles", or frozen fruit cocktails made with real cut up fruit. They're delicious! But at 20 Lempiras each, kind of too expensive for me to afford everyday (that's a little over $1). I've only ever tried it once and it's definitely a savory treat for a hot day.
  
• Roads around the urban center are paved, or empedrada'd. I'm not sure how to translate that – they have stones instead of pavement. But nice flat stones.
  
• The municipality building seems to be, for the most part, in order. They have computers with internet, database programs, and personnel that know how to use the programs and who actually work. This means I can do more than just teach people how to use a computer and the programs on it. Yay!
  
• Hammocks are abundant and everywhere. Very comfortable to rest in and read a book. Probably one of the reasons I've already finished almost 3 books in 3 weeks.
  
• Karate class – Hi-Ya! Ok other than me being a dork, this is awesome because now I can maybe work with the instructor in creating my own self-defense/Tae Kwon Do classes.
  
• Internet works!