preparations part 2

I went with 3 of my friends to a theater production of the Christmas story this past weekend. I wasn't sure what to expect and since it was a theater performance, i fully expected some kind of secular presentation of Christmas-y themes.

But it was pleasantly suprising!

They used the text of the biblical story and mashed it up with choreography, song and dance to give it a new twist. While the presentation definitely had a Honduran flavor, noted in the choreographed dance moves and subtle hints of Honduran humor, it was very engaging and very well done. I could hardly believe how the cast of 8 was in constant motion for almost 2 hours. Impressive!

The idea of a dramatic interpretation is to bring a story to life. To help you see it through a new lens.  I appreciated the way it helped me reflect on certain parts of the Christmas story that i simply skim over when I read through it in the bible. There were two specific parts:

The first was when the angel came to Zechariah to tell him his wife, who was barren, will be given a son. The angel in the play chose to deliver his message through a very creative rap, which was definitely entertaining, but there was something else that stuck with me--the idea that Zechariah was silenced until after his son was born. I thought about how crazy that that must have been, his family and friends mocking him, in disbelief, or thinking he had gone mad! Not to mention that he probably had to use some creative charades to explain that a heavenly being had paid him a personal visit. I was struck again by the ways in which God has worked through "ordinary" people to accomplish his purpose, yet they are imperfect vessels. Zechariah's faith brought about his Son's birth, but his disbelief in the power of God to move in such a way silenced him for 9 months.

The second part was when Mary and Joseph flee with their infant son to Egypt in fear of their lives. They become immigrants in a strange land, undocumented and living "under the radar." It made me ache for others who have made a similar journey--to protect their families, to find a better life, to flee persecution--though they may even lose their lives trying. Aptly titled "la huida de los mojados" or "the fleeing of the undocumented," the scene left me unsettled with this song playing in the background:

Caminos Verdes
Music and lyrics: Rubén Blades

I’m arriving to the border

Eeeeeeeae

And may God’s will prevail

Eeeeeeeae

I’m arriving to the border

Eeeeeeeae

And may God’s will prevail

Eeeeeeeae

As advent brings light to the dark places, I also pray that God's will prevails.

gchat liiiife

she's the one that helps me make it through the day. she gets me. she is my other half.
to her i dedicate this post!

E:  I'm putting on my big girl pants and working now
Just thought you should know

me:  haha havent you been doing that all day?

E:  its just been a trouble-shooting day

so I have done nothing on my list

me:  yeah, thats like...every morning from 8-11:15 for me

E:  so now I feel drained

me:  word

E:  which is why i'm being an adult now

me:  ok. im deciding adult life kinda sucks 85% of the time

E:  oh yeah, definitely

and we don't even get lots of the benefits

like having money to buy nice shoes

and cheese 

me:  haha i love that shoes and cheese are on the same level

why is cheese so delicious and so expensive??

E:  its a daily question for me

 ***

E: its so nice when people understand me

...or tumblrs understand me

me: haha i know

its hilarious

and helps your realize...im not the only one!

tumblrs= building solidarity

E: solidaridad

maybe mcc can fund some tumblrs

***

E:

just talking about the merits of different chaleco anti-balas (bullet proof vests)

my liiife

me: "things you will never hear discussed in the mcc office"

 ***

E:

carlos (boss) quote in real time "oigame, si se ha engordado" (listen to me, you have gotten fat)

to one of my coworkers

me: lol

"things you would never hear a boss say in N. America"

i like this game i just invented ;)

we should start a tumblr!

 ***

gchat: where our best ideas are born, and important topics are always up for discussion.

beach break

After a hectic September, I was really excited to have some vacation time. Last Saturday we celebrated the wedding of two great friends, Allison and Franklin, in Tegucigalpa. Allison became a very close friend when I lived in Nueva Suyapa. Not only did she show me the ropes of living in Teguc but we helped each other through many ups and downs and she really made my first year in Honduras so wonderful. Franklin was a co-worker in the bank program who also became a close friend. He loved to spend time talking about all sorts of intellectual things, and was always a positive encouragement. It was so fun to support these 2 great friends in the next step in their relationship.

helping the groom keep it together

Elise and I were asked to be "coordinators" which meant keeping track of the schedule, making sure everyone was where the need to be, and that all the wrinkles were ironed out. This is a tall order in a North American context...you can only imagine the chaos of this in Honduras where weddings are notorious for never starting on time (think hours different from what the invite says!). It was tiring, but we got it done! The things we do for our friends, right??

coordinating is serious, just ask elise

The day after the wedding some friends had convinced me that I really needed some vacation and I should join them for a beach get away in Roatan. Roatan is one of Honduras' 3 bay islands in the carribean. I have heard so much about it but never really took the plunge. It is very touristy and can be rather expensive, but Groupon and off-season make for a winning combo :) Here are a few pics of our tropical paradise.

where to next?

I haven't been much for bucket lists, but I do make lists! My longest list is "where to next?" or places I want to travel. This list includes many global destinations, but since coming to Honduras, there have been many in-country spots added to the list. It can be a challenge to try new things and stick within the budget, but since the beginning of the year, I have been priveleged to go several places that have been on my Honduras list:

January: Cayos Cochinos (tropical keys off the coast), Sambo Creek
March: PANACAM mountain lodge, near the lake
April: Celaque National Park, Gracias, Lempira (tallest mountain in Honduras)

This past weekend, Henry and I went with our friends Daniela and Humberto to hike part of Celaque and camp for one night (Celaque means "box of waters" in Lenca indigenous language, for all its rivers) . We made some lists to prepare (of course, the Hondurans thought our lists were crazy but were happy when we had LOTS of food!) and left Saturday morning from Santa Rosa. The trip was about 2 hours in car to get to the park, and then a few hours of hiking up to the campsite.

making good time, so we stop for a sweaty picture

The guide told us the hike is usually 2 hours to the campsite, most foreigners take at least 3, and some even more. We are proud to say we made it in 2.5 hours...the guide was even impressed with the gringas and how serious we were (ha!).

It was a strenuous hike, and carrying pound of supplies (tents, mangoes, cucumbers, hot dogs, liters of water, just to name a few...) only made it tougher.

Looking back at the climb, I think the altitude change affected us a lot more than we planned! To give you an idea:

• Santa Rosa is approximately 1,150 meters (3,773 ft) above sea level. One of the highest cities in Honduras (yes, even higher than Teguc)!
• The elevation of Gracias (town nearest Celaque) is at 800m (2600 ft) elevation. 
• I can't be sure what point we started at, but the trail was 2.8 km, ever upward, and we camped at 1,940 meters (6,364 ft).

So, even if we didn't start at zero...we started lower than where Santa Rosa is and ended 800m higher than where we live. I just read on Wikipedia that "Celaque’s terrain is very rugged, two-thirds of the area has a slope greater than 60 degrees." It was an incredible climb, but we didn't even go all the way to the top! Even so, we had a good time and were happy to make it to our campsite on Saturday afternoon. We enjoyed a rain shower, building and rebuilding fire, eating lots of hot dogs, making smores with peeps and enjoying the fresh air together. 

happy to be at the campsite!

hot dogs!

So this is part one of "where to next?" Stay tuned for a Part II coming soon.

new year

Hello blog-reading friends and family! Happy New Year!
It's been awhile since I have posted, but not for lack of things to share...there was a lot going on at the end of December with holidays and I haven't had much time to post.

A few days before Christmas I got some kind of bug and was pretty bed-ridden for a few days with fever. Thankfully it passed by Christmas but I was still weak and worn-out around the holiday. I was able to spend the 24th with Henry and his family (the traditional celebration for Hondurans is on the evening of the 24, not the 25) but fell asleep before midnight (even with all the fireworks and commotion!!)




I was able to skype with my family on the 25th and share in their time together in Ohio. It was hard to be away from them, but a blessing to be in touch. Then I went to Tegucigalpa for a few days to see my Honduran host family and spend time there--another great blessing in my life. It was relaxing to be in a familiar place with people who know me well.



For New Year's holiday I went to the North Coast with 2 really good friends (fellow MCCers) and we had a great time at the beach, doing some snorkeling and catching up. We topped off the trip with a New Year's celebration- Pirate style!! You just never know who you are going to meet in these parts...

All in all it was a busy vacation time but a much needed break from work and some much needed time to connect with friends and family. I am grateful to have such wonderful friends here in Honduras and the ability to travel to such beautiful places.

Now I am in the middle of a busy January schedule. We just finished our MCC team retreat and tomorrow my parents arrive in San Pedro Sula. I am very excited to take them with me to Santa Rosa and show them my life there. I will update when I can with more about their visit that is sure to be anything but boring ;)

feliz 2012

Happy New Year friends and family...or as we say here, feliz año nuevo!

I just got back from a nice loooong break and "vacation" in Tegucigalpa. I decided since I couldn't make it home to the states to be with my real family, the next best thing was being in Teguc with my Honduran family, and my MCC family :)

So, after a long 8 hours on a bus, I left the safe cocoon of Santa Rosa for a 10 day big city adventure. I took advantage of all the shopping the capital has to offer, not to mention restaurant and transportation options :)

My week included:
catching up with the host family on all the current events...going to the mall...eating the most delicious baleadas in honduras...traveling to choluteca for a day of tourism...learning to make christmas torrejas...playing dutch blitz with the brothers...watching tv...sleeping in a lot...taking rapiditos all over town....jumping at the sound of firecrackers at all hours of the day and nite...eating frozen yogurt!...going to the movie theatre where you can choose which movie you want to see...eating lots of beans...attending a friend's wedding...drinking lots of coffee...sharing holiday meals with good gringo friends...buying a fleece jacket for an upcoming trip to Guatemala...being heckled by men on the corner...heckling taxi drivers for being difficult...kind of learning how to dance bachata...wrapping presents for the bank program c-mas party...laughing and joking with the host family about everything and anything...laughing at people stepping in puppy pee around the house...taking bucket showers again...eating at the best pupusa restaurant in Teguc...

there might have been some more stuff, but this gives you a good idea. Generally I loved being back at "home" and catching up with a lot of great people.

Hope you all had a great holiday season and rang in the new year with good friends and family.
Excited to see what 2012 has in store :)

host bro showing off the new shirt

out to eat with the fam...the usual chaos ensued...

loved spending lots of time with this girl

favorite friends who live in Suyapa (minus one!)

good friends...old and new

quarter century update

A lot has happened since my last blog post, including the fact that I celebrated a quarter century of life! CraZy! Not only was my last post rather intense and so requires a more light-hearted follow up, but I also have lots of visitors who deserve a shout-out :)

So, the 7th of November was the big birthday...but the day seemed to drag by in its typical-ity (english check, please?). My coworker didn't think I needed to work, so I had the day to myself. I slept in, video chatted with my big sis and favorite niece, took some time to bake, and went to the gym. I did receive lots of b-day wishes on Facebook, via email and on my phone. Finally, around 7 pm my birthday visitors showed up in Santa Rosa and took me out for a delicious dinner and a piece of b-day cake :)

Virgil & Kathy (MCCers from Teguc) were on their way home from Guatemala and took a day to get to know my life in Santa Rosa. It was so great to have them here, to have them go along for a community visit, and try out some good local restaurants.

Then, on Friday of last week, my 2 best friends from Teguc also came to visit me. It was so fun to have Elise and Allison here, to show them around town and have them hang out with my friends. We got to shop, eat some good food, and visit the hot springs in Gracias. Oh, and they even got in on my longest church service yet--3 hours!

While of course it is fun to visit with my good friends from Teguc and catch up on life, there was another element of their visits that was really good for my own self-esteem. First of all, it was great to share my struggles with them and hear their advice and perspective on things. This is definitely something I miss dearly now that we are not living in the same neighborhood!

Secondly, having the opportunity to show them around town and introduce them to my community here was a great way for me to see how far I really have come in these 2 short (LLLLOOOOONNNG) months. I can get around town, and I do know some stuff, and I really do have friends who like hanging out with me. It was super fun to hang out with the youth from church, really feeling like part of the group, and to have them interested in getting to know my other friends. It's a good step forward in my social life.

Don't have pics from the girls (yet) but here are a few others:

look~ i teach about hygiene and health!

this is where i get to work :)

loved having them visit!

3 gringas with the boys of the church youth group... watch out.

ode to Honduras

As you might remember from previous posting, I love lists!

On one of our "nights on the town," Elise, Allison and I found ourselves sitting on the patio of a Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin Robbins (note: this is after stuffing ourselves with expensive delicious sushi, a rare splurge! The ice cream may seem superfluous, but to us, a necessity :)
We always love to laugh and talk about crazy Honduran experiences, but we also reflect a lot about things that are such a "normal" part of life here that have required adjustment over time.

And so, in preparation for my pending departure from Nueva Suyapa, I would like to share with you not only a taste of our "You know you've lived in Honduras too long when..." list, but also our "You know you've been in Suyapa too long when..."

You’ve been in Honduras too long when…

You can sing along with more songs on the Latin Music awards than you can on the American Grammys.

You work hard to match your shirt, nail polish, eye shadow, shoes, belt, bracelet & hair accessories.

You’re not appalled by scrunchies.

You’ve started to wonder if your clothes are tight enough.

You can’t even feel comfortable wearing gym wear or a logo t-shirt in public.

You’ve had a meal completely made of carbs: rice, plantains, tortillas & potatoes.

You no longer ask for a knife to eat your hunk of meat.

You can eat soup with your hands.

You always work at having change and never assume anyone has change.

You don’t bat an eye at a bike helmet being used as a moto helmet or at seeing 4 people on a moto.

You no longer think the police are your friends (or you’re actually just afraid of the policia).

You know to monitor the gas station attendant to make sure he’s not robbing you of gas.

You expect the 2^nd question of a taxi driver to be “soltera o casada?” (single or married).

You guard your charger/cable/USB with your life.

You no longer refer to someone by their real name, only by physical characteristics i.e. big teeth, skinny one

You no longer differentiate between b’s & v’s and s’s and c’s.

You pride yourself in all the colectivo routes you know.

You walk into a store and don’t bat an eye when security guards have big guns.

You call people 7 times consecutively because they don’t pick up.

You wait for people to call you so you don’t have to spend your own saldo (phone minutes).

You know the best way to deal with customer service is to be rude & persistent.

You are much more rude to people than you ever were before. Mostly men between the age of 10 & 60.

Your tastebuds are dulled to the sensation of sweetness and saltiness.

Your conversation strategy revolves around family, food and relationship status.

The hardest words to pronounce are actually English words that require a Spanish accent: snickers, Gatorade

You give directions based on minor landmarks or buildings that no longer exist.

You’ve become fearless in asking questions.

You have no shame cutting in line…or you just get angry.

You know you've lived in Suyapa too long when...

You look both ways before you leave a house, not just when crossing the street.

You not only hide your phone/camera in a sock, but you also take out the chip and hide it in your bra.

You don’t even carry a purse because your bra has become multi-functional.

You interrogate the taxi driver if he really will take you to your house. The whole way. Really.

You have an urge to lie down in any green patch of grass.

You blame any illness on polvo (dust) or cambio de clima (change in weather).

You plan your errands around possible jalons (free ride).

You now think ambulance sirens and flashing lights are overkill because in Suyapa the police/medics just don’t show up.

You know to put arms and legs inside the vehicle when passing a wet spot so you don’t get sprayed by sewage water.

You’re content with dirty water in your bucket bath.

You have favorite buses & cobradors and you have more than 5 taxi contacts in your phone.

You base friendships/interactions on whether or not people have a car.

weekend win

Lest you be worried that I was moping around all weekend and wallowing in my homesickness, I want to reassure you that I found some good ways to fill my time. Here is a rundown of my typical a-typical weekend pastimes in Honduras. I assure you no two weekends look alike :)

Friday evening: My gringa friends' host father (also my coworker's father) was in the hospital for an accident that occurred at work on Thursday. His fingers were cut pretty bad, but they were able to reattach them after a 3 hours surgery. So, I was invited to go visit Arturo in the hospital. I was really glad I went for several reasons. One, it was a good way to see the public hospital, and a good way to know I never want to be admitted there! Two, it was fun to cheer Arturo up and see the reaction of other patients to the gaggle of gringas he had visiting him. Apparently he was quite popular among the patients after we left :)

So after that excursion, I hung out with Elise and Allison at their house and had a fun time chatting and eating and generally forgetting why I was bummed about not being in Virginia on Friday.


Saturday: I made plans to run some errands and go to the mall with Elise and Johanna. We had coffee together  and caught up on life, then wandered around the mall, shopping for random things that each of us wanted. Then, on a whim we decided to catch an afternoon movie at the cinema in the mall. It was fun to just relax and enjoy a movie--something I rarely splurge on here. The movie was in English (with subtitles) and for a moment you can almost forget you're not watching in the U.S.

 
So we did a bit more shopping and then headed back to Suyapa before the daylight went away. When I got back to my street, my host mom, my aunt and our two neighbor ladies who run the pulperia were making pupusas and selling them on the corner. This was part of a project from the church...we were all given a talent of 100 Lempiras (about $5) and within 10 days we have to invest it and bring back more than 100. Our group decided to pool our money and sell food together. Since they had started without me, I figured it was only fair to join in and help with the marketing and selling. It was really fun hanging out with these ladies on the corner, an activity usually only enjoyed by Honduran men...and it was nice to have some fun with them. I personally sold 11 pupusas, and they were extremely impressed. One man only bought 5 because I was part of the group...the other 6 I sold to my gringo friends, Virgil and Kathy.

Sunday morning: I went to church with the family. It was communion Sunday so I helped Lucia with the cups and soda and bread and then joined the service. Of course, it always goes long when communion is involved. Then the church ladies were selling pupusas at the chuch (to raise money for the new building) so I had to support the cause (again!). Delicious.

After church I took a nap, ate lunch with the fam, and retired to my room to do some reading. Around 2:30 Elise called and invited me to the Via Olympica (outdoor sports facility) to exercise with her and Allison. It was blazing hot, but I went any way. We walked around the track for awhile and sweat enough, so we didn't feel the need to run :)

When I got back from the Via, our "talent" group was selling tacos to further increase our return on investment. I was given a hard time for skipping out, but sales turned out fine without me. I took a quick cold shower to refresh before the family birthday party at 6. We went to Aunt Lila's house to celebrate Uncle Telmo's birthday. The usual chaos ensued...women cooking up a storm, children running wild, older men watching futbol on TV and generally being in the way ;) We had a delicious dinner of pincho (grilled steak), chismole (fresh salsa), beans, rice, cheese and tortillas. yum.

Everyone left kind of early, which is rare for this side of the family. My household was the last ones hanging around, helping to clean up. This was about the time their uncle pulled out his bb-gun rifle and challenged me and my host brother to a best-shot contest. I am proud to tell you I shot a Coke bottle across the street 3 out of 3 times! Axel was shocked. As was his uncle! I knew I would not live it down if I missed it...and now I have full on bragging rights! I think Axel was like 1 for 4. hehehe. awesome.

So...with all that random-ness, it was suddenly Sunday evening and then my alarm was going off for work on Monday morning.

I am thankful for a good host family who keeps me entertained and their extended family who always welcome me with open arms. It is also great to have some close friends who invite me over just when I need a break from moping around in my homesickness. Love you girls!

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?