spelling bee

A few weeks ago my friend Elise and I were invited to be spelling bee judges for a bilingual school in Tegucigalpa. I must admit that I was pretty excited about this opportunity. Back in my middle school days, I was a member of the Leo Elementary and Jr/Sr High School Spellbowl Team.  And we even made it to the State Finals my 8^th grade year.

What is Spellbowl you ask? Basically, it is a modified, team version of the traditional spelling bee. Instead of standing in front of a crowd and spelling aloud, you sit at a desk and write 8 words with a proctor to check for accuracy. Your team does this for 7 or 8 rounds and then scores are tallied to determine the winning teams.

Being that I was quite a spelling nerd in my younger years, I was excited to participate as a judge. However, Elise and I were not prepared for the intensive competition that was the National Episcopal Bilingual School Spelling Bee of 2011. We thought we might be 2 of maybe 4 judges for the whole school, and there would be some parents on hand to snap photos.

Instead, we were ushered into a room with about 30 other judges (gringos of various ages and stages, along with a handful of bilingual Hondurans) and sat through 30 minutes of detailed instruction and explicit rules. This principal lady was no-nonsense. “Each room must follow the rules exactly as printed and must not stray from the rules. We have too many rooms of competition and to be fair to the students, the rules must be the same in each room.” She had lists of assignments, official folders, even walkie talkies…Wow, this is definitely being run by a gringa, I thought to myself.

I was assigned to 4^th grade, along with 3 other judges. One was the Reader, one was the Scribe, and I was 1 of 2 Judges, there to ensure accuracy, following of the rules, and offer dictionary definitions as needed. There were 5 kids competing in 4^th grade from all over Honduras and I think the whole competition lasted about 9 minutes.

It was single elimination, the first word was “know” and the first 2 spellers got it wrong. Stupid silent k…I felt so bad for them! So then we were down to 3 spellers. The next boy got “hydroelectricity,” which did not go over so well.

Down to 2 kids. 1 who was very confident he would win, 1 who was shy, but knew her stuff.

4th Graders

Mr. Confident thought his competitor was going to miss the last word, but she nailed it. He misspelled his next word, but the girl spelled it right. To ensure her victory, she had to correctly spell one more word right, and then became the 4^th grade champion.

I felt bad for the kids, as the whole point was to practice English, and based on the very strict single-elimination rules, they only practiced about 3 words. But, in true Honduran fashion, everyone got a certificate of participation at the closing ceremony.

Overall it was a fun morning and a good reason to go out for lunch with friends after our intensive work as spelling bee judges J

cultural-izing

Last week I sent an email asking friends and family for ideas about blog posts…mostly things they are curious about that I might be overlooking or neglecting to talk about. One friend asked how my own culturalization process is going, which has given me a lot to think about. My word processor is telling me that ‘culturalization’ is not a word…but I like it, so I’ll use it anyway. To me, it means, how am I adapting to the culture, what things have been a struggle, and what things are changing me as I learn more and more about how Hondurans live and think.

After 7 months in Honduras, I feel like I have pretty adequate expectations for how things will happen or what to expect. For example, I have become accustomed to the phrases “ya vengo,” “ya llego” and ahorita. All of these phrases, literally translated, communicate a sense of immediacy—‘I’m coming now,’ ‘I’m arriving now,’ and ‘right now.’ But over time, you learn that ‘right now’ can mean in the next 5 minutes, or next 55 minutes. This has definitely been an adjustment for me, a very punctual person; however, I’m learning that it’s not offensive to be late, as it is in my home culture. Hondurans are much more people oriented than time oriented, and I’m learning to love this mentality. I’m not late because I don’t care about you and your schedule…I’m late because someone else interrupted the plan and it would be rude to brush them off, so I gave them my full attention first. I appreciate the value placed on people, even when it does mean I spend 45 minutes at a bus stop waiting for my host brother to get around to picking me up!

I find it challenging to fully reflect on how I am adjusting and adapting to culture in Honduras because the longer I am here, the less “weird” certain things seem. The differences in culture are most highlighted for me when I have visitors from the states with me and they comment on all the things that I think are rather normal. This could range from my shower routine, use of water in the house, and food to home remedies when one is sick, church customs and even prejudices. All of these things are part of my host family’s culture and I have begun to learn how to adapt to all of these things, even though they may be 100% different from the way I live in the states.

mail from afar

Mail is not a simple process here in Honduras. No one really has an address (at least where I live) and there are only 2 places in the city where you can receive mail. I’m pretty certain you can only send packages or letters from 1 of those 2. The 1^st place is downtown in the center of the city. Only having been there once, it was a complicated process to find where you could retrieve your package.

The other place to pick up packages is the airport. And of course, it is neither a simple nor expedited process. But, last week at work I received a package slip that meant a box was waiting for me at the airport! (Another unsolved mystery is how these package slips arrive to your office). Of course, the package place is not open on the weekends (when one might be at the airport, say, dropping off their visiting friend…), so I bummed a ride from a friend who went to the airport on Wednesday.

First, you present your slip. Then they try and find your box in a crazy disarray of cardboarded-mayhem and postage paraphernalia. Then you must present ID to confirm you are the person on the slip. From the experience of my friend Allison, you can only pick up another person’s package with a hand-written  note of permission, signed in blood, completed with a DNA sample. (Just kidding about that last part. You don’t need a DNA sample). Then, they look up your name and package number in a hand-written notebook, of which there are several. I have no idea what kind of official process this is, but I don’t ask. Then you must sign your name in the notebook. Then sign another slip saying I received the package.

After all of this, you still must pay for your package (yeah, you’d think the postage should take care of that!)…so you must also sign the receipt and wait while the desk clerk runs around and asks every employee if they have change for you 100 lempira bill. I mean, people are paying for packages all day, but why would they have change? Silly me, no one in Honduras ever does!

But then…if you make it through all these hoops—you got to the airport (for free!), you had your ID (with DNA sample), you paid for the package (again!) and you signed your life away to the national post office—you are rewarded with the holy grail. The most coveted item as a foreigner living away from home. You have in your possession an 18 pound box of nothing but sugar, sugar and more sugar…and it is GOOD J

the finale

Last Thursday was the last class for the pilot course “Valores Empresariales” or “Business Values.” Each week, one of the loan officers in the Income Generation Program took turns teaching one of the 8 lessons. Each one included a devotional, some kind of activity or “dinamica,” and the main lesson, with a variety of teaching, discussion, and group work.

It has been rewarding  for me to see this project finally come to fruition. I have worked on the curriculum for awhile now, so helping my coworkers prepare for class was really good and often gave me even more ideas to add to the lesson.  Personally, it was a good way to connect with my coworkers and be more involved in the day-to-day activities of the office.

Yet the most exciting thing for me was to see the women of the bank program come out of their shells a little bit more every week. They were fully engaged in all of the material and seemed to enjoy a chance to have some fun together. Often consumed with the work of running their business and their household, it was cool to see them doing something for themselves and really soaking it all up.

The topic for the last class was “Boundaries of your Business.” The idea is that one’s business is a separate entity from themselves. The business does not have aunts, uncles and cousins asking for money. The business does not have children, nor does it get sick. Instead, the business owner must be careful to separate personal needs from the business needs; protecting the capital of the business and not diminishing the investment needed to grow.

This was a tough lesson because it directly negates what the women believe about running a business. Culturally, this idea does not make a lot of sense. If you own a business, and you have cash on hand, when your family asks for assistance, it is your duty to help. How could you turn away family in need? This idea created a lot of discussion among the women…I only wish we would have had more than an hour to discuss it with them! They were definitely considering the implications of this idea, and how it would affect them personally and in their business.

Freddy, my coworker did a really good job with the lesson. He was well prepared and did not even seem flustered when some of the women disputed the main idea of boundaries in your business. He also prepared some excellent visual aids for the lesson…complete with a bucket of little paper crabs to illustrate a story. I was so excited about his class!

So after the final lesson, we invited the women to return at 5 pm for a dinner and certificate for successful completion of the course. I was in charge of the certificates and the final verbal evaluation of the class at our closing ceremony. It was not without its glitches, and stress, but I think it turned out pretty well. Each woman was so excited to receive her certificate, and the responses from the discussion I led indicated they learned a lot to help them be better business owners. So…I think it was a success! In fact, I’ll even dare to say it was a great success…much learning and fun was had by all!

One feisty old lady who was never shy about sharing her thoughts stood up at the end and thanked everyone who helped prepare the lesson. It meant so much to her that these young guys (most of the loan officers) would take the time to prepare the lesson and show a real interest in teaching the women such important things. She was grateful for the way everything was rooted in biblical lessons and that it was good information for them personally and in their business life.  My heart was warmed by her kind words :)

 

It hasn’t always been clear what my role is here, but after this class I am feeling good about the small amount I can contribute in my time here at MCM. Maybe we won’t end up developing an official business school with 3 trimesters, offering 2 courses a month and 4 classes per week like my boss initially hoped (ambitious, I know :)…but we are at least starting small, and we were successful in offering 1 course, with a lot of important topics. I can’t even tell you how exciting it is to achieve something that seemed so difficult only 4 short months ago. It is also fun to see several of my coworkers who were afraid of teaching accomplish their task, and with great success. I keep asking if they are ready for the next time around…they claim they aren’t. But the difference now is I have full confidence in their ability to do it.

a visit from PA!

I was very honored this week to have a very special friend visit from PA! Also, her initials are PA, so the title works out nicely J I tried to give Paula a good mix of touristy activities while also showing her what my life is like here, and getting to know some of the various projects me and MCC colleagues are a part of.

Paula arrived on Sunday and we spent the day hanging out with my family, resting up after a long morning of travel, and generally adjusting to life in my house in Honduras.

On Monday we ventured out to Valle de Angeles, a touristy little town nestled in the mountains outside Tegucigalpa. It was a pretty quiet day, but we enjoyed some time to shop, catch up and have lunch together. In the evening we played Dutch Blitz with my host brothers (they have pretty much loved it from the day I taught them!) and were thrilled that team Honduras kept scoring “goals” on team USA. A bit embarrassing, since I taught Axel everything he knows :P

Tuesday morning we left early to head to Amor, Fe y Esperanza, the school where my MCC friend Johanna teaches. She gave us a great tour and overview of the ministry there. They work with children and families who live in the city trash dump…not easy work, but they have seen some tremendous change in the community there and are continually expanding their projects and programs. We had lunch at Johanna’s house and then went back downtown for the afternoon. We took in the National Identity museum (interesting, but completely in Spanish…and I got tired of translating!)…checked out the 2 main catholic churches (a requirement of any visit to Central American countries)…did a bit of shopping, and had dinner at a crepe restaurant. To wrap up the day of events, we met up with a bunch of foreigner friends and went to a free jazz concert at the National Theatre. It was a fun day, but we were pretty tired by the time we got home at 10.

Wednesday was Paula’s MCM orientation day. I let her sleep in a bit, then brought her to my office to meet my coworkers and show her the different components of MCM. After lunch, we sat in on a bank meeting (for our mutual microfinance interest :) and then Paula went to visit the after-school library program started by our Danish volunteers. Although she does not know much Spanish, she did not let that keep her from playing with the kids and even playing UNO for about an hour. In the evening we went to the Troyer’s house for a delicious dinner and good fellowship. We spent the night there and took regular showers in the a.m! (as opposed to the bucket showers Paula learned to master at my house :)

Thursday we visited ASJ (Assoc. for a more Just Society) where my MCC buddy Elise works. She did a great job sharing the work ASJ is a part of in Honduras, working to create more just systems and helping people who often have no voice with the government. We visited one of their community centers where they offer free legal advice and psychological counseling to the community. It was really inspiring and fun for both of us to learn more about what Elise does.

The afternoon of Thursday deserves its own post…so I will try to post about that soon. But, it was the last class of the 8 week training I have been working on for awhile, and then the “graduation” dinner or certificate ceremony in the evening. It was a great day, and I was so glad Paula could be here to share in it with me. I have to admit, this made her think I am very busy and always doing important things…I assured her (and now all of you) that this is not the case. I work for about 3 months without much to show for it, or at least much to keep me going, for 1 or 2 days where I feel like something is happening. I guess I’m just glad she got to witness the “something happening.” It was a really fun evening and even though Paula didn’t understand every word, she definitely could share in the general sentiment of joy and accomplishment that filled each one of the women who came Thursday evening.

Friday and Saturday did not go quite as we planned, but turned out well. We went to Picacho, the National Park across the city from where I live. We visited the zoo (a bit scary with monkeys roaming around outside their cage), checked out the view of the city, saw the large Jesus statue presiding over the mountain and had a good time together. On Saturday we spent more time with Virgil and Kathy and even made bagels from scratch! We were very proud of our efforts and enjoyed a relaxing day at the Troyer’s house.

Sunday was a bit crazy, as we went to church and then had to leave early to head to the airport. Although it was sad to say goodbye to Paula, I was ready to go home and take a nap J

I appreciate Paula’s willingness to come and visit me here in Teguc, even when her family told her it wasn’t a good idea. She was very flexible and willing to live just like I do for a week, and that meant a lot to me. It was so fun to catch up and share my experience with a great friend. I can’t thank her enough for coming!

enjoying baleadas, a Honduran essential.

making bagels! from scratch! won't my momma be so proud of me?