Okay...that's not a change due to Honduras, more a thank you California. But over the last few months I have thought about how much I've grown and changed in the past 1-1.5 years. I went from being in a relationship to where I thought I'd be having kids by this time to really taking some time to rediscover myself and some of the things that I possibly want in life. Though I still don't know about either of those sometimes. California definitely helped to shape me and make me a stronger more secure person. It still kind of amazes me when I think about how I've grown since graduating 3 years ago. I look forward to the transformations that Honduras will have on me.
I often think and wonder if I'll ever figure it all out. But do we ever? It seems like everytime I feel like I have my footing the rug gets pulled out from under me. Admittedly...its usually my own doing. I can't seem to stay in one place for too long, but maybe b/c I just haven't found the right place. Or maybe its not just the right time yet.
I have had a few small "Oh my god...what am I doing?!?" freak outs. Minor. 27 months is a long commitment. 4 down...23 to go! Sometimes I get caught up thinking about all the things that I'm missing or will be missing. Basketball, concerts, nice long hikes, The Food Network! Then I started thinking how in a month I'll be living completely alone, which I've never done. I shared a room up until halfway through my sophomore year of college for pete's sake! I've always had somebody else in the house...so it will be a little different completely on my own. I think I may sleep with the lights on the first night or two...haha. I've had a couple of people offer to keep me company that first night and reassure me that I'll get used to it, which I'm sure I will...
Its still a lot of changes and adapting. I feel like I've been in this constant mode of transition for a couple years now...as soon as I do start to settle everything changes. I'm doing good though. Sometimes a little sad...often kinda bored. Just part of readjusting to life in a small town. I'd forgotten what it was like when everyone not only knows your business but will definitely be talking about it too!
If you feel like sending any packages they are more than welcomed! I can always use crafty type supplies like markers, stickers, glitter, beads, etc. American candy is always appreciated...haha. That and a cute card to decorate my walls with or even better is a hand-drawn picture telling me how much you love and miss me! Haha...that's it for the pensive post...see below for a little more of an actual update!
Monday, October 27, 2008
I got the Blue Screen of Death on my laptop today...I'm hoping that it doesn't cause too many problems. Though before this, something happened with my drives. I can only access my external hard drive through the auto play, and my C drive...when I try to open it, it asks which program I'd like to use...so I can't get to it. I haven't spent much time trying to figure out what happened. I might just transfer a few files and roll it all back. But now...I can't access Word. It asks if I want to open it in Safe Mode then fails. And then asks to Detect and Repair...and fails again. I don't know...grrr.
I am alive and surviving my first rainy season in Honduras. I didn't realize how long it had been since I'd done laundry until I realized I had 20 pair of underwear hanging on the line. Who even has that many? And I wasn't completely out either! Besides that things have been good. Slowly getting busier, but classes end the 15th of November, so it might slow down again. Starting to make a few friends and have a couple of people to talk to in town, but still few...and some are teachers who don't live here during the break!
I had to jalon for the first time. As much as people would think that soccer is the national pastime, I strongly argue that jaloning is. A jalon is a hitchhike...normally in the back of a pickup truck (since thats what 98% of the population out in the campo drive). It can be planned or it can happen unexpectedly. There may be as few as 2-3 people or as many as 20. Babies and young children are not discriminated against...the more the merrier! Most of the time its free, but sometimes you may get charged a small amount. It could be for a few miles...or a few hours.
So I went to town last Tuesday to go to the bank and the post office and pick up more (powdered) soy milk from the grocery store. Traveling can be a little annoying here. There are 3 times that buses pass to go into town. 5:15am, 6:30am and 7:15am. After 7...no more buses. If you want to go you need to find someone with a car that is going. So I got on the last bus into town and another guy from town that I had seen once or twice got on and sat next to me, so we were able to talk the whole way. He was nice enough to pay my fare (which was about $2)...its nice to make friends! The post office ended up costing me 1/4 of my monthly pay...argh! But it was worth it. I sent a small package to my sister and bought a stamp which cost $25 and spent another $25 to rent a PO Box for a year. Just having my mail closer to me will be a benefit...instead of waiting for the Peace Corps office to forward it once a month...and once it is forwarded I don't exactly have mail service in my town. There's a guy that goes once every 15 days to pick up mail. My host dad goes to Marcala once a week so I can always send the key along with him and have him pick up my stuff.
So I got done what I needed to do and ate some lunch before getting on the bus back to Florida. The 12:00 bus didn't show up...but there was another bus going past my town for the border that normally leaves at 11:30...so I went over there; it was waiting around longer b/c of the other bus not showing up. So we take off about 12:30 and about 20 mins outside of town is where we turn to start climbing up the mountain. The bus couldn't make it...so we all got off and started climbing then got back into the bus. As we started taking off again there was a horrible noise...the tire broke (I think something with the axel) and we were told that we'd have to wait for the next bus...which doesn't pass for 4 hours!
The first truck that passed by everyone ran for...there was about 20 people in the bed...so I decided it was safer to wait. I ended up being on the side of the road with one other high school boy from town for almost an hour before somebody finally passed by. Luckily, it was a man from town. I hopped in front with them and we took off. It took almost as long as the bus between picking up people and the driver stopping to chat along the way. But he didn't charge me...and I scored a free bag of organic coffee that is produced by a woman's cooperative in town!
I can't seem to travel anywhere w/o something happening...buses breaking, my bags leaving on the bus w/o me, national police officer losing his gun, etc. Excited to find out what else could happen...waiting for a flock of chickens to crazily fly through the bus....haha.
I am alive and surviving my first rainy season in Honduras. I didn't realize how long it had been since I'd done laundry until I realized I had 20 pair of underwear hanging on the line. Who even has that many? And I wasn't completely out either! Besides that things have been good. Slowly getting busier, but classes end the 15th of November, so it might slow down again. Starting to make a few friends and have a couple of people to talk to in town, but still few...and some are teachers who don't live here during the break!
I had to jalon for the first time. As much as people would think that soccer is the national pastime, I strongly argue that jaloning is. A jalon is a hitchhike...normally in the back of a pickup truck (since thats what 98% of the population out in the campo drive). It can be planned or it can happen unexpectedly. There may be as few as 2-3 people or as many as 20. Babies and young children are not discriminated against...the more the merrier! Most of the time its free, but sometimes you may get charged a small amount. It could be for a few miles...or a few hours.
So I went to town last Tuesday to go to the bank and the post office and pick up more (powdered) soy milk from the grocery store. Traveling can be a little annoying here. There are 3 times that buses pass to go into town. 5:15am, 6:30am and 7:15am. After 7...no more buses. If you want to go you need to find someone with a car that is going. So I got on the last bus into town and another guy from town that I had seen once or twice got on and sat next to me, so we were able to talk the whole way. He was nice enough to pay my fare (which was about $2)...its nice to make friends! The post office ended up costing me 1/4 of my monthly pay...argh! But it was worth it. I sent a small package to my sister and bought a stamp which cost $25 and spent another $25 to rent a PO Box for a year. Just having my mail closer to me will be a benefit...instead of waiting for the Peace Corps office to forward it once a month...and once it is forwarded I don't exactly have mail service in my town. There's a guy that goes once every 15 days to pick up mail. My host dad goes to Marcala once a week so I can always send the key along with him and have him pick up my stuff.
So I got done what I needed to do and ate some lunch before getting on the bus back to Florida. The 12:00 bus didn't show up...but there was another bus going past my town for the border that normally leaves at 11:30...so I went over there; it was waiting around longer b/c of the other bus not showing up. So we take off about 12:30 and about 20 mins outside of town is where we turn to start climbing up the mountain. The bus couldn't make it...so we all got off and started climbing then got back into the bus. As we started taking off again there was a horrible noise...the tire broke (I think something with the axel) and we were told that we'd have to wait for the next bus...which doesn't pass for 4 hours!
The first truck that passed by everyone ran for...there was about 20 people in the bed...so I decided it was safer to wait. I ended up being on the side of the road with one other high school boy from town for almost an hour before somebody finally passed by. Luckily, it was a man from town. I hopped in front with them and we took off. It took almost as long as the bus between picking up people and the driver stopping to chat along the way. But he didn't charge me...and I scored a free bag of organic coffee that is produced by a woman's cooperative in town!
I can't seem to travel anywhere w/o something happening...buses breaking, my bags leaving on the bus w/o me, national police officer losing his gun, etc. Excited to find out what else could happen...waiting for a flock of chickens to crazily fly through the bus....haha.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
I Live Where the Mountains Touch the Clouds
Well, its been a month and a lot has been going on. Since I last updated we finished Field Based Training in Talanga and I returned to Las Cañadas for the final two weeks. And an interesting two weeks it was. It started with leaving for a site visit to my new home for 3 days (which I am at now), followed by wrapping up spanish classes and training. I got bit by my family's dog my last week of training...and a nice bruise to show for it. 
It was quite sore...and still is around the puncture wound...and its been 10 days. But classes finally finished...thank god! They published an article about our swearing in ceremony: ARTICLE. The only thing is that they said we were in training for 11 months instead of weeks! The first pic is of our Youth Development group...the second is the 2 of the 3 teachers I spent most of my time with. These were the two who were with me during the 5+ weeks of Field Based Training so we were able to get pretty close.
So now I'm in my site and its kinda slow this week. I haven't yet been able to meet with all my counterparts to figure out a schedule. The high school is on strike...and soon a lot of people will be away because the coffee harvest is about to start. So I've just been hanging out at the library...here's the website which has some cool pictures of my town! Its hard to get settled in and find my place. I definitely need to find a few friends or else I'm going to get really depressed really fast! I love my site though...its very cute and quaint. And like my subject says, I'm tucked away up in the mountains and its absolutely amazing!
But enough about that...I don't really have anything thoughtful or inspiring to say....just wanted to show off my killer bruise ;o)
More updates to come....
It was quite sore...and still is around the puncture wound...and its been 10 days. But classes finally finished...thank god! They published an article about our swearing in ceremony: ARTICLE. The only thing is that they said we were in training for 11 months instead of weeks! The first pic is of our Youth Development group...the second is the 2 of the 3 teachers I spent most of my time with. These were the two who were with me during the 5+ weeks of Field Based Training so we were able to get pretty close.
So now I'm in my site and its kinda slow this week. I haven't yet been able to meet with all my counterparts to figure out a schedule. The high school is on strike...and soon a lot of people will be away because the coffee harvest is about to start. So I've just been hanging out at the library...here's the website which has some cool pictures of my town! Its hard to get settled in and find my place. I definitely need to find a few friends or else I'm going to get really depressed really fast! I love my site though...its very cute and quaint. And like my subject says, I'm tucked away up in the mountains and its absolutely amazing!
But enough about that...I don't really have anything thoughtful or inspiring to say....just wanted to show off my killer bruise ;o)
More updates to come....
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