August 27, 2013, 27-8-13

Hello friends.  I found out last week that my main job here is to be a teacher of “educatodos bilingue.”  This is a class of nine kids who have shown great potential to learn in the past, but haven’t been given many opportunities.  They all really want to learn English.  There’s not really a curriculum so wish me luck!  We begin on Thursday.  I have a Honduran co-teacher who knows a lot of useful information that I don’t, like how to laminate posters by hand.  We spent the majority of two days cleaning and setting up the classroom.  I had to relearn how to set-up a classroom with minimal supplies and without being able to run the nearest Walmart.  Tomorrow, we’ll be planning our lessons.

I’ve started to settle in a little more, and the kids are continually the best part of this place.  I love hanging out with them, though my conversational skills are still limited.   Weekends here are like summer camp.  This past weekend, we played ultimate frisbee, capture the flag, kickball, soccer, and card games.  On Sunday, we had a couples dance competition.  One of my favorite kids (a tiny little guy about 7-years-old) claimed me for his partner as soon as it was announced.  It was great.  In the evenings, we watched movies.  One night the sound for the movie (Astroboy) didn’t work.  There was something faulty with the dubbing I think. The kids sat on hard wooden benches in the cafeteria and watched it for an hour without sound.  It’s a different world here.

A couple nights ago we got to have the oldest “kids” over to the volunteer house for dinner.  They all grew up here, and they’re all really cool.  The oldest is twenty-five, and he’s in charge of the agricultural department now, and the youngest is twenty and is still studying in high school.  We asked them for advice for our year here at Amigos, and they told us to respect the kids and the kids will respect us.  After dinner, we played games, including the card game, Pig or Spoons.  It was a pretty fierce competition and entertained all of us for about an hour.

Sorry, there aren’t pictures yet!  They’re coming!

August 16, 2013, 16-8-13

Hola!  I’m here!  It’s difficult to write an update because I’m in such a different place now than I was a week ago, both physically and mentally.  Copan was a vacation, but Amigos is amazing.  In all honesty, the first few days were very overwhelming.  The language barrier is still so tough, and there has been a ton of adjustment in such a short amount of time, but every day it’s getting better.  Today, I worked in agriculture, which was awesome.  I got to try about ten fruits that I’d never heard of before and chew on sugar cane fresh from the field.  I weeded part of the garden, tried to use a * (hoe), got a tour of the entire grounds, and chatted with the workers during our snack break of pepsi and chips.  All of the workers in agro are former or current children of Amigos.  

Later I got to hang out with the little girls for a while and they were kind enough to braid my hair.  And then the bell rang to summon all of us to the front gate and... Amigos welcomed three new children today!  It brought tears to my eyes to watch the entire Amigos family welcome these children home.  One of the new little guys is just so excited that there are pants and shoes here.  

Even though I can’t speak too much with the kids, I am able to see their excitement, openess, and resilience.  Already, a few of them have stolen my heart.  The entire hogar is simply beautiful.  The kids live in dormitories divided by gender and age.  There is an entire Honduran staff that cares for the children along with a good number of gringo volunteers and workers.  The whole thing is a really smooth operation, though there are so many needs still.  

Currently, I’m in the midst of orientation, which lasts until next Friday.  Sometime next week I’ll have a semi-official job here at the hogar.  Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and emails.  I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to send individual emails or phone calls.  My internet access is kind of limited right now, but I’m hoping to have more access in the future.  

One final thought.  As I alluded to above, the first few days were pretty tough for me here.  Sharing a house with ten semi-strangers, not speaking the language, meeting over one hundred new people, seeing the intense needs of the hogar... it’s just a lot to process.  So of course I did what most people from stable families do, I called home and cried on the phone to my mom.  She listened and gave me exactly the words of encouragement I needed to hear.  The juxtapostion of it really hit me after I hung up though.  Here I am falling back on the support system that I’ve had for my entire life, and these kids don’t have that.   They arrive at Amigos de Jesus after surviving incredibly traumatic events usually with nothing more but the clothes on their backs.  They have to adjust to this strange place without a familiar face or voice anywhere.  What strength!  I’m not sure how to resolve or justify this juxtaposition in my own mind, except to realize that I am SO fortunate.  We live in a broken world, and life just isn’t fair.

August 5, 2013/ 5-8-13

This is my final week of Spanish classes in Copan, and I’m so excited to be heading back to Amigos de Jesus soon!  I leave Saturday, and there is supposed to be some sort of singing competition/festival with the kids and staff when we arrive back at the hogar (home).  It sounds like a great welcome.

Last weekend, I visited an inactive volcano in Guatemala.  The other volunteers and I went with an awesome Honduran family with lots of random relatives packed into an “autobus” or 13-passenger van.  The hike was tough, but the views made it worthwhile, and there was a beautiful lake in the crater of the volcano.

Ipala Lake Inside the Crater

The water was cold, but it felt great!

This weekend I went kayaking in the Rio de Copan.  Very beautiful and a whole different perspective of the culture.  Men and boys were fishing, and women and girls were washing clothing against the rocks of the river.  All of the people were wearing little clothing, and stared pretty incredulously at the gringas in the the mini plastic boats who were disturbing their laundry/fishing waters.

Later, we visited a pretty awesome bird park.  The second photo is more indicative of my feelings with those three aves on my person.

The bird on the left was so pretty

And as if that wasn’t enough for one weekend, I was invited along with a group of people to dinner at a finca (small farm) about a mile outside of town.  This finca is owned by a retired couple who formerly lived in Canada and decided they wanted a change of pace.  They have open air structures, including an outdoor kitchen, many lemon trees, two horses, four dogs, chickens, three Honduran workers, and all the time in the world.  It was fascinating to observe their life and imagine what it would be like to drink fresh-squeezed lemonade all of time and interact very little with the outside world.

Gigantic lemon from the finca

Next time you hear from me, I’ll be at the hogar of Amigos de Jesus- God Willing!

July 20, 2013/ 20-7-13

Another week of Spanish classes, another week in Copan.  I’m about at the halfway point of my classes now, and I’m starting to get a little antsy to return to Amigos de Jesus.  I definitely haven’t mastered Spanish, and life in Copan is nice, but it’s a bit sleepy at times.  I’m staying busy with studying and doing fun things on the weekends.  It’s also been great to get to know three of the other volunteers this week.  

The crew so far- Pat, Ali, Me, & Emily

Last Sunday afternoon, I went with two friends to agua caliente (natural hot springs).  Unfortunately, I couldn’t take my camera, but they were beautiful!  We soaked in small natural pools complete with miniature waterfalls in the middle of a rain forest.

Today, I went ziplining on a canopy tour with my new friend and co-volunteer, Emily, (another one!).  It was incredible.  We were really nervous, especially after we signed our lives away on waivers and then received about a whole two minutes of instructions in broken English.  Next thing we knew, the guides were attaching us to the first line and saying, “Lista?” (Ready?)  I definitely said “no” at one point, but we still went!  It was so much fun and a great adrendaline rush as we soared over valleys in between the mountains.  The pictures are good, but they don’t do the views justice.

Gearing up- couldn't get the picture to rotate.  :(

Ahhhh

Thanks for reading and for the continued thoughts, prayers, emails, messages, etc.  They mean so much to me.  I’ll update again with some new adventures soon.  Adios!

July 13, 2013 (13-7-13 in Spanish)

Hola!  I think I’ve made some progress with my Spanish, but it’s difficult to tell.  The complexity of the language is pretty amazing.  I just keep thinking how people say that Spanish is an easy language to learn!  I’m not seeing it yet.  A couple days ago I inadvertently told my host brother and mom that I was a hot babe.  I was trying to tell them that I was hot (as in my body temperature) from running.  They kind of looked at me funny when I said “Yo estoy caliente/I am hot.”  My teacher told me the next day that food or other things can be caliente,  but humans have calor... unless you’re referring to your level of attractiveness.  Noted.

Speaking of temperature though, the climate here is so different.  The temperature is not actually that high (somewhere between 70-80 degrees), but the humidity is almost 100%.  It’s intense.  It makes my hair poofy and my skin oily, and it takes forever for anything to dry.  I now pretty much know my way all around Copan.  I’ve scouted out the best internet cafes (including the only one with AC), and I’ve found some people who speak English other than me.  Life with my host family is good.  Their maid, Hilda, used to work in restaurants so she is a really good cook!  Most days for lunch, I have some type of meat with rice or other pasta, corn tortillas, vegetables, and fresh-squeezed juice.  I’m getting spoiled here not having to do any cooking or chores.  They don’t eat chocolate very much at all though.  :(

Last weekend, I got the explore the Mayan Ruins near Copan with my friend Julie.  It was pretty amazing to see the complexity of the structures of the ancient culture.  Archaeologists speculate that the Mayans used to play a game using an 8-lb. ball that was kind of like a combination of volleyball, basketball, and dodgeball.  They had to get the ball to hit the eyes of macaw statues on the perimeter of the court.  After the game, the captain of the winning team received gifts of jade, and the captain of the losing team was sacrificed to the gods.

Game Court without a gruesome game occurring

Dancing Jaguar at Ruinas

Bird's Eye View of Ruinas

Julie and Me

I’m looking forward to other volunteers coming to Copan to begin language school.  The first wave of them come this weekend.  Hasta luego!

July 5, 2013

This was actually supposed to be posted yesterday, but the wi-fi at my host family's house has mysteriously disappeared. :(

Happy Independence Day to all of you in or from the USA!  This has definitely been the most unique 4th of July I’ve ever experienced.  My gringo friends and I went to an open-air cafe and enjoyed some good company, food, and drink.  I’ve adjusted a little bit, and it’s not as overwhelming as it was at first.  My luggage arrived yesterday evening- phew!  The language barrier is still pretty trying, but I’m getting a little better each day.  Today, my teacher just kept giving me new vocabulary... for four hours.  My brain turned to mush I think.  I made her laugh when I tried to explain to her in broken Spanish and sign language that I was concerned that I had caused a power outage last night with my hairdryer.  She assured me that both power outages  and use of hair dryers occur frequently in this country and they are unrelated.  Oh well, live and learn, haha.  We took a little break in the middle of my classes and walked to a market to learn fruits and vegetables.  At the market, there was everything from athletic shoes to handwoven baskets to perfumes to avocados chaotically arranged in an open-air, 2-story building.  It was pretty amazing.

My School

Yesterday evening, my friend Tiffany and I hiked/took a mototaxi (3-wheeled taxi) up to Hacienda San Lucas, a hotel up in the mountains.  It was breathtaking.  The mountains are so beautiful here.  

Tonight I went to Mass at the local church.  I was the only gringa, and I understood very little, but it was awesome because I could follow right along as the Mass was structured just like Mass in Estados Unidos.  The beauty of the universal Church worldwide really struck me.

I am so grateful for this opportunity, and I’ve really started to enjoy life in Copan!  All of you in the US are constantly in my thoughts.  Wish I could ship each one of you here for a day so you could experience all of this for yourselves!

July 2, 2013- Copan, Honduras

So much has happened before I had a chance to access Wi-fi so here’s a further update.  I got to go to Amigos last night!  The kids are adorable, and the hogar (home) is rustic, but beautiful.  The kids greeted me and another Amigos worker with signs, hugs, and cheers.  It was overwhelming.  My entire first 24-hours in Honduras have been very overwhelming.  I am frustrated by the language barrier and it turn motivated by it because I want to understand what’s going on around me.

I had the best mango for breakfast this morning.  I got to explore the hogar this morning, and then I left for language school in Copan.  My host family is really nice, and they have a teenage son who speaks English very well.  I’ll have my first dinner with them tonight.  :) Right now, there's some great Honduran music playing, and my host mom is cooking dinner.

Though I made my connecting flight, my luggage did not.  It’s supposed to be delivered today.  I sure hope so... my clothing options are limited to say the least.

July 1, 2013- somewhere between Georgia and Honduras

I’m off!  After a tearful goodbye with my family,  I made it onboard my first flight to Atlanta just in the nick of time or so I thought.  Just as I set off on my journey, I was waylaid by inclement weather. We sat on the runway at the Raleigh-Durham airport for about an hour, which put me behind in my itinerary.  My layover in Atlanta was only an hour.  Oh boy, here we go.

This whole experience so far has been a giant leap of faith.  I just know that God’s hand is in this, and He was going to get me to Honduras one way or another.  I preferred for it to be on the flights that I had scheduled... but part of leaping is releasing creative control.

Upon arriving in Atlanta, I speed walked (olympic style) to the other end of the concourse in the Atlanta airport.  They were calling for final boarding.  I made it!

And now, I really am Honduras-bound, and this is beginning to feel real.  This flight is officially bilingual.  Hopefully on my return flight for my vacation in April, I’ll understand both sets of safety guidelines.

The most important part of this blog post is this ending part.  THANK YOU to all of you for your support.  Though I’m super scared, I feel so good about this!  I have the best people in the world rooting for me.  I am just overwhelmed by your financial donations, encouragement, gifts, and prayers.  You are all such a part of this now.  I received a fundraising update last week, and I have exceeded my goal of $3,000 by $1,200 for a grand total of $4,210!  You all did that!  Gracias!  If you haven’t had a chance to donate yet or you would like to donate again, it’s not too late.  All donations benefit Amigos, and please consider sponsoring one of the kids if you can.  God bless!