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

a day in the life...

I think I've probably said something like this before...but it's nearly impossible to capture what a typical day is like for me. Some days are pretty dull, with nothing more exciting than buying chocolate ice cream at the corner store or taking a trip downtown to have coffee.

But some days, things are just completely ridiculous. And when it's happening, nothing in and of itself seems so crazy. It's only later, when you reflect on the day, that the sum of the parts amounts to something that you just think people not familiar with Honduras might not believe!

Yesterday was my host brother, Josue's birthday. Tradition (in my host family at least) means waking up early to sing to the birthday person before they even get out of bed. My host mom woke me up and we all tried singing outside Josue's door...let's just say, we were all half asleep and it was a pretty terrible rendition. No one was singing together, and half way thru my host mom forgot the words (in her defense, it's a longer song than the English version) and we all broke down laughing when she ended with a "cha cha cha." I think Josue just turned over to sleep again because it was pretty pathetic.

Monday mornings usually start out with a rousing office meeting of the Income Generation Program. At the beginning of my time here I understood maybe 40% of what was going on. Now that I am more accustomed to the terminology of the bank program, the speed at which Hondurans talk, and the joking nature of the men I work with, I think I understand 86-93% of what goes on :)

Today's meeting did not lack for drama. One coworker confronted the rest on their lack of respect for personal property. Mostly, this is not a very Honduran concept, but I was glad she spoke up. People do not respect anyone's desk or personal things and are continually fighting over lost items, whether it's calculators, staplers, printers, helmets, or keys to the moto. It gets a little out of control. And so did the discussion in the meeting!

After the meeting I did some more work til lunch. Lunch was pretty normal, at home, watching a family-favorite dating show while we eat. The show is out of control, as it's called "12 hearts" and tries to make matches of couples, loosely based on zodiac signs and physical preferences. Awesome.

In the afternoon I was quietly working in my office. Allison, my fellow gringa friend who works at the ministries calls me and says "are you bored? if so, come to my office, now." So, of course intrigued, I ran upstairs for a break. I found 2 children who we know from the school, plus their mom (a teacher) holding a mangy looking pigeon. The basic rundown was they pigeon fell from the ledge outside of Allison's window and they wanted to put it back on the ledge. Since I was the tallest (and by default must have the longest arms) I was elected to stand on the chair, reach out of the window with the pigeon in a dust pan, and deposit said pigeon on the window ledge. So I did. No big deal :) We watched him for awhile but he didn't do too much. You know, rescuing pigeons, all in a day's work.

pigeon in the dust pan, about to go out the window.

The evening was a typically Honduran birthday celebration. There wasn't ever a plan, and earlier in the day no one knew if we would actually have cake, but somehow, everyone in the family knew when and where to show up, my host mom made tacos for all, and we shared a cake for Josue's 24th birthday.

family chaos + cake

I have come to love family birthday parties with my host family, all of the craziness and awkwardness. Last night did not let me down :) Not only did we have 20 some people in the house, but we had our usual photo-taking frenzy. One of the cousins, who will remain nameless, is rather obsessed with taking photos of the gringa (yep, that's me). But not just when I know it's happening. Like also when I'm not looking, he's taking shots with his cell phone. Then he supposedly wanted a photo with the birthday boy, but at the last minute was like "no, with the gringa too!" So...I posed for about 15 photos with the cousin and my host brother. It was rather embarrassing. Then I was reassured by their uncle that I am more than welcome to take his son to the US...just as long as he gets some US dollars in return.

I still haven't figured out a good response to these innuendos. Thankfully there are some other cousins who look out for me and tell me not to pay attention to their crazy uncle. But I know the matchmaking is never over!

By the time all the pictures and cake and family stuff was done, we were pretty tired. We still had to watch the Honduras vs. Guatemala match on TV...and, though I didn't know it, I had to help a kid from church with 9 pages of English homework!! So...I did. It didn't take me too long, and I had a good time berating Axel for never practicing his English and talking with Lucia (my host mom) about everything under the sun and her childhood growing up in Olancho.

Overall, it was a good night of memories with the host family...just nothing that will ever be easy to capture in photos or words. But...here was my attempt!

next steps

It is hard to believe it, but as of today I only have 9 weeks left in my SALT assignment. While the first month did not go so quickly, the last 8 definitely have. I don't need to wonder if the next 2 will fly by as well.

As my host family begins to talk about my despedida (going away party) it only gets harder and harder to think about leaving. I have enjoyed living with them so much, even when they drive me a little nuts. I think it was highlighted even more this week in light of tragic events in the extended family (sudden death of a cousin, age 26). Although I felt uncomfortable dealing with the grief and not knowing what to say, the family never acted like I shouldn't be a part of things. In fact, they wanted me to be there, murmuring words of "you're such a apart of this family" as we hugged and cried together. It has been a difficult week, and I'm sure the healing process has barely begun, but I feel an even tighter connection with my family and their extended family and I am thankful they have been so warm and welcoming to me. Please pray for them as they grieve for the loss of their cousin, nephew and son, Eduardo.

*****

In other news, it has come time to share with you that I have finally made some plans beyond July 25 (end of SALT term). It was a slow process, but one I feel really good about and am excited to share with you.

I have been offered a 2 year position with MCC, continuing in Honduras, but with a new organization on the other side of the country, in Santa Rosa de Copan. The organization is called ACDIM (Associacion Cristiana de Desarollo Integral de la Mujer) roughly: Christian association for the holistic development of women.

Right now they do a lot of counseling and support for women in all walks of life, especially dealing with domestic violence. They are starting community groups in 4 rural towns around Santa Rosa, and want to begin trainings in various areas: self-esteem, health, raising children, family gardens, etc. Their goal for the next 2 years is to also implement savings and loan groups and begin training the women in money management and starting businesses to improve their economic situations. Of course, for me this is awesome :)

So, my job (as I know it now, but always subject to adjustments) will be working in the office to help with records, resources, grant-writing and possibly doing donor communication/promotion. I will likely assist with the community meetings and trainings, and in the future help start up a savings and/or loan program.

Reasons I'm EXCITED:

1. I really love Honduras, MCC Honduras, and am excited to stay longer and get to know even more of the country, people, language, etc.
2. The organization is small with 2 people running things right now. I really love the passion and faith of Ruth (director) and Oscar (assistant) and think I will have plenty of opportunities to explore my interests and use various gifts.
3. Getting to work with a grassroots organization and possibly starting a loan program is GREAT experience for the future.

Of course, there were reasons for hesitation in my decision:

• Leaving Tegucigalpa and moving to a new area means starting from scratch...having to learn a new area, build new relationships, etc. It also means leaving some great friends behind in Teguc.
• A 2 year commitment means I won't be seeing a lot of people in the states very often. Most importantly, my soon-to-arrive niece!
• Deciding if this is what the next step should be. Was this God opening a door or me trying to make my own way to stay in Honduras?

Thankfully, I had the opportunity to visit Santa Rosa in April and meet the director of ACDIM. We went to one of the communities where they are working and I helped with the meeting on my first day there. It was really great and I felt so excited and inspired by what they are doing there. Also, I love the town. Its so quaint and tranquil compared to where I live. Also, much safer, which is a great thing.

Since April I have felt very at peace about my interest and ultimately my decision in going to Santa Rosa. I am really looking forward to this opportunity to work and learn even longer in Honduras. The great thing is, a service worker for MCC, I don't need to raise more funds! Praise the Lord. I just ask each of you to go to your nearest MCC Relief Sale and eat lots of food (or buy a quilt!) to support the work that MCC is doing around the world.

I will still be returning to the States in July (25th I am free of responsibilities in Akron) and will be home til the first week of September! I hope with this amount of time I will be able to visit many of you (especially in Ohio and Pennsylvania) and catch up.

And...in case you were worried the blog was ending in July, there is good news! It may live on :)

mango loco

In the last week I have rekindled a love for mangoes. I thought for a long time that I did not love mangoes, and for the most part, I was right. If not eaten when perfectly ripe, they have a pretty nasty aftertaste, or even a fermented bite to them. The strings are always caught in your teeth, and there is no graceful way to polish off this beloved tropical fruit in front of other people. Of course, Hondurans do it all the time, but, lets just say it's not pretty.

There are several varieties of mangoes...the first ones of the season being small, green mangoes. These are peeled and often served with chile sauce (like hot sauce). Let's just say, I've been scared of these for a long time.

Then, later on come the larger, reddish, sweet mangoes. I was not too impressed with them...until my host mom went to visit family in Comayagua who have mango trees on their property. She brought back about 5 buckets full of the sweet, perfectly ripened tropical delicacy, right from the tree!

I ended up downing 2 in about 11 minutes. It was glorious. When a mango is perfectly ripe, there is pretty much no better fruit. I was dripping with juices and getting bits of peel over everything, but it was delightful.
The thing is, even though we live in a country rich in fruits, many are exported, and many others are kind of expensive for the average family...so I get surprisingly minimal variety of fruit in my diet. Sad for me.

My host mom was also giving out mangoes right and left to anyone and everyone who passed by the house. My siblings were freaking out that she would give them all away, but we had so many, they have to be eaten when they are ripe. Because of her generosity, and because she was seen eating a mango at all hours of the day, my older brother started calling Lucia "mango loco" which means "crazy mango" :)

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!

parties, paint y mas

I'm just going to warn you that there isn't much cohesion to my post today...I've been trying to come up with some fun little tidbit to blog about, but really, the last week and a half has just been kind of hectic.

For one thing, there were 5 birthdays within the extended family within 7 days of each other. It is fun to celebrate with people, and of course, who doesn't want to eat cake every other day?...but I have to say that week was exhausting. The socializing and 5 hour long parties can be a little draining, especially when you don't know everyone and you kind of run low on small-talk (hard to believe, i know).

Thrown into that socializing craziness was an overnight "campamento" or camp-out with staff and co-workers of the ministry (MCM). The church owns a camp a little outside of Teguc where we hung out and spent the night. I was really not looking forward to going, but it ended up being a pretty fun time. Of course, there were plenty of awkward moments, like Allison and I being asked to sing a song in English for the talent show at the last minute, a gift exchange we found out about 10 minutes before we left the office, and a variety of other things...but it turned out to be really good. There was LOTS of volleyball time, good food, and it gave me a chance to get to know other staff who I rarely interact with.

I would like to pause here and make a comment in reference to my measurements of time like "last minute" and such...really, there is no last minute here. They are all Honduran minutes. And no one is given advance notice for anything...you just roll with it as its happening. So, even though it is starting to drive me crazy (like the fact that Monday is a day out for our office Christmas party and at 11am on the Friday before no one knows anything about it)...I'm trying to learn to stop asking so many questions in 'advance', and be a little less American. But its a struggle.

Ok. So...after all these social events, I was hoping for some down time this week. But...that wasn't really possible. In my household, we have been finishing the ceiling in the kitchen & dining area (it was just the tin roof, but now its closed in w/ drywall-ish material like the rest of the house)...putting ceramic tile down, and painting this same area. Of course, my host sister picked the paint color and the house was divided (boys hated it, the girls were for it)...but after 2 days of discussion, debated and general mayhem, we started painting (see photos below). However, once the "recorte" was done (all the edges and corners) and one patch of said color--we decide its not good enough. We need to buy a different color. So...yesterday was day 1 of the new color, and today they should be finishing up the kitchen. Aside from my opinion, and my height, the only thing I really contributed was the idea of taping the edges after the ceiling was painted. They enjoyed this idea. Overall, it had been a stressful, but also a rather dramatic part of family life that I was glad to be a part of :)

I also threw in a trip to the mall because I needed an obligatory gift for the office gift exchange. Still need a present for the family gift exchange and the one with our church bible study group (yeah, its just as bad as being in the states! so many random people to buy things for). And last night I went to a Christmas concert/fundraiser at the American School of Tegucigalpa. So...really, never a dull moment.

Here are some photos of the fam working hard on the house to get it ready for Christmas. Enjoy!

The before (kitchen...)

dining room

See! I can help too :)

Josue hard at work on the white ceiling

The middle stage...everyone was up in arms

Axel hard at work on the yellow details. and hating it.

the after stage:

post drama--we have pink walls now. 

somehow, this is more calming than the yellow :) but everyone is happier!

al mercado

One of my favorite things to do when I visit other countries is check out the grocery store. This may seem weird, but I have a theory that you can learn a lot about a culture from their grocery store.
The second best thing (or maybe even better, haven't decided yet) is to visit a local market. I have had the chance to do this with my host mom on 2 different Saturdays and it has been a good adventure.

First, there is a big market on the other side of the river, in Comayaguela, where you can find pretty much anything cheap...from bike helmets and car parts to underwear, nail polish and fresh baked goods, it's the place to go. The downside is, its a pretty long bus ride and also it's not very safe. I was excited to go and check it out a few weeks ago with my host mom--it was just the 2 of us! She took good care of me, always grabbing my arm before we crossed the street and making sure I was following her quick pace. We were on a mission to find a scarf as a present for my coworker and we walked through the entire market, without success. However, it was fun for me to see the whole thing, and we did find some other treasures along the way.

The other big market in Teguc is known as the Mayorero (I think that's how you spell it). This market is mainly just for produce and basic household staples. We took our big canvas shopping bags and headed down there last Saturday. Of course, the 3 year old wanted to come along, so that added a new dimension. Now we had to make sure he didn't run off, and half the time he wanted to be carried too. I have minimal patience for this...
Anyway. First stop was the line up for bean, rice, sugar and other kitchen supplies. Apparently the price of beans has gone way up, but we were able to get them much cheaper here in the central market. The line was about 15 people long, and we waited for about 25 minutes. We bought 5lbs of bean, 10 lbs. of rice and 5 lbs. of sugar...plus cooking oil, coffee, seasonings, soap, and fruit juice. Ok, so, I thought at this point my bag was pretty heavy...

Then we head to the street of meat. How neat! Actually, it was pretty gross. I think I would rather not know how unsanitary the meat I consume really is...the butcher has it all laying out in the window, so you can size it up...then he cuts it up for you (without any kind of gloves)...puts it in a plastic bag...then takes your money (with the same hands that cut the meat) and sometimes will give you another bag (with some remnants still hanging on the outside). You then put this meat bag in your shopping bag to await refrigeration for about 2-3 hours. Nice!
Ok...now the bag is heavier, but we're probably on our way home, right?

Well next we went to buy cheese or queso. Honduran cheese is really different from what we typically eat in the states, but I really like it. We bought queso seco (dry cheese), quesillo (a milder, soft cheese) and mantequilla (kinda like sour cream...cheaper here in the market than in our neighborhood).
This is good. We have most of what we need, the 3 year old is screaming his head off...so we can go!

But not too fast...we still need veggies (since the gringa--me--said she loves vegetables!) All the vegetable stands offer pretty much the same variety, but you can't just stop at the first place you see. You have to touch all the produce first, ask how much it costs, mumble about how expensive it is, and then go to the next table where it will probably be the same price. We sized up some carrots, onions, pepino (cucumbers), patasta (still have not figured out what this vegetable is) and some cabbage. So...we add all this to the bags. They are pretty full at this point.

1 more stop, for some fresh fruit. My host mom makes really good fresh juice about 2 times a week. She usually buys tamarind, maracuya (passion fruit, i think) or nance. I enjoy all of the above, which most foreigners do not, so this makes her very happy. We add a few pounds of maracuya to the shopping bags.
Oh man...I think my bag is heavy, but Lucia is carrying her half of the take plus her grandson! I don't know how she does it!

We make one last stop to buy a beverage. I don't have any idea what this is, but its sweet and cold, so I take it willingly. Also...drinks on the go are served in plastic bags...like a sandwich bag with a straw, and then tied up at the top. Or sometimes, just tied, no straw, so you bite of the corner and drink it that way. Its rather fun, but takes some skill.

Thankfully, we are near the exit of the market and we have a jalon (free ride!) from my host brother. We are glad to get to the car and dump the heavy bags. The interesting thing is, Lucia usually comes by herself on Saturdays...I have no idea how she manages all the groceries by herself, but it's impressive. I think she wants me to go again, because she enjoys having the help :)

family foto fun

So last night we had a spontaneous family foto nite. They had a blast using my 'fresa camera' (which means cool).

So...here are some of my favorites :)

trying out his sister's new shoes...such a stud

this girl cracks me up.

we were all wearing purple, so i wanted a photo...

that started the whole photoshoot :)

the baby, yosua, who drives us all a little crazy

Josue wanted a new profile pic...

all the kids :) i love this photo!

me & kati

host mom and the dog

I just need you to know, this was ALL their idea. but it makes me laugh a lot.

wow. its october!

Some days it feels like I have been away from home for a really long time...then other days (like today) I stop to reflect and realize A) its already Oct. 7! and B) I have been 'away' for almost 8 weeks....that's crazy! 8 weeks ago I did not know anything about what my new home would look like, who I would meet at work, and how I would get around. It's crazy to think that 8 weeks ago there are so many cool people that weren't in my life :) Each day I am more and more thankful for the way God has been answering so many of my prayers, and the hundreds of prayers that so many other people have offered on my behalf. I am really at peace about living and working in this little spot God had in mind for me. Not everything is perfect...there is good and bad stuff...but I am really content with where I am at the moment--and for me, thats a rare, but cool feeling.

Some times I feel like I don't have anything to blog about because I haven't been doing anything majorly interesting, or gone on many adventures. But--most days I'm glad there is nothing too earth-shattering to report...that's just fine with me!

Over the weekend my family took me out for dinner, which is the first we've done that since I've been here. We went to Pupusas Miraflores which was fun and delicious. Pupusas are really from El Salvador, but Hondurans like them too. A little hard to describe, but they are kind of like round pita bread filled with cheesy goodness. You should all come and try them :)

Also in family life, my 13 year old brother does not like to study! (Shocking, I know!). They all give him a pretty rough time because he's always into sports and never wants to do homework. Now that I am here, they have given me the great privilege of being his English tutor. He really hates English...and really doesn't know much...so...its a struggle. Also--I do not feel called to be a teacher. Thankfully, I've had enough Spanish grammar training that I can kind of convert it into English lessons. So, last night I spent a couple hours with him, crafting fill in the blank sentences and examples for him to practice. [To all my Messiah education friends, I think you would be proud of me]. I have another friend who wants English help too, so I might just borrow Axel's notes and teach her the same stuff.
*By the way...who the heck uses the passive voice in English? I was always taught to avoid that like the plague when writing essays...apparently teenagers learning a 2nd language need to understand this unfortunate grammatical construction. Just in case you cared.


Here are some photos of the family:

me and my host sister, Kati 

Josue & Axel

The only other news that I have right now is Monday is Canadian Thanksgiving! Since there is one other gringo in my neighborhood who is from the Great White North, his wife is throwing us a little Canadian Thanksgiving party :) I think we might even have turkey. I'm pretty stoked.

Oh, and in parting...Today is October 7. One month away from November 7. This should be plenty of time for a package to make it to my hot little hands ;) If you don't know why November 7th is important...well... check facebook.

family fun...

So most of my weekend was spent at my house, hanging out with the family. We have a lot of fun together, as I make ridiculous mistakes in Spanish, then they try to learn English from movies on TV, and we all get frustrated with the 3 year old terror who rules the house.

For one thing, last week, some supermarket thought it would be a good idea to give live chicks to small children...probably in honor of "dia de los niños" or children's day. So, Joshua brought home 2 chicks to live in our house. Not only are they continually chirping and jumping out of their box, but one looks like its dying, and is whimpering in the corner. On day 2 of the chicken adventure, chicken little (with a gimpy foot) looked about dead, while chicken grande looked like his fuzz was starting to be shed for real feathers. By day 3, chicken little was running around like he'd been given a new lease on life. Much to our surprise, by day 4, chicken grande was found dead in the box! No one saw that coming...I suggested fried chicken for lunch, but no one made that happen.


So, we still have chicken little running around (Joshua wont name him...he just calls him pollito, which literally means little chicken). This thing chirps at 6am...all through the day...gets out of his box to join us in the living room when we are all watching TV...pecks your toes, crawls up my host mom's pant-leg...really, an endless bundle of joy and entertainment. I asked when they thought he would die...I guess they are catching on that I don't like that it wakes me up every morning with its pitiful cries for attention :)

Our other family fun was our weekend field trip to the mall multiplaza. I hadn't been there yet, and they were very excited for me to see their mall. It was rather impressive, and we had fun doing some shopping and eating Little Caesar's pizza together. Being that I live with 2 guys who can eat you out of house and home, one pizza was not sufficient. They also ordered Burger King combos and ice cream cones...but we had a good time getting out of the house and enjoying some time in the land of materialism together.

Sunday nights are a pretty big deal in my house too. Their favorite show, La Academia, is on and starting this week "Bailando por un sueño." The first is like Mexico's version of American Idol, except everyone is in a music school, so they dont go through the ridiculous audition process that Americans love to hate. The second show is Dancing with the Stars, Honduras-style. The catch is, La Academia only comes in clear on one tv in Kati's bedroom...so, we all pile in there on the bunk beds to watch together. All 6 of us, actually. Its quite cozy, and very entertaining to watch the boys sing along to all the songs, and decide which girls are the hottest and therefore deserve to stay another week ;)

In other news, the Colts were on ESPN for Sunday Night football...and being the great country that it is, the game is available in Honduras! It was pretty exciting. Especially cuz Peyton beat the pants off of his little brother, Eli. I am also trying to teach Josue, my host brother more about american football. He is a pretty big sports nut, so we frequently bond over our plates of bean and tortillas while watching ESPN. Oh, I should also mention hes a Yankees fan. I've tried to change his mind, but he likes them a lot.

There is so much more I could tell you about my time here...how much I'm learning about cultural differences and immigration issues and family dynamics...but maybe i'll save that for another more serious post ;) Oh, and I'll also try to get more photos of the family, too.

in Nueva Suyapa

I am finally in my home in Nueva Suyapa...my neighborhood or "colonia" of Tegucigalpa for the next year-ish.
After a great MCC Honduras retreat this past weekend, 7 of us made the journey to Teguc. 3 of us from the SALT and YAMEN programs will be in various parts of the city, living and working.

My host family was SO incredibly excited to meet me and have me come on Sunday. They have been waiting for awhile to know who I am...I can only hope that I don't disappoint them :) They have hosted some Americans before, and the 3 year old grandson likes to play with the feet of the the gringos. He was very shy at first, but they other evening he crept into my room while I was on the phone and started imitating everything I did and then was playing with my feet....I guess this means I have been accepted!!

Other family members are my host mom, Lucia; oldest son Josue (22), daughter Kati (19 who is quickly becoming a fun friend) and younger son Axel (13). With the grandson of 3 years thrown in the mix it makes for a lively household. They have all been so warm and welcoming. They even compliment me on my Spanish frequently...which is pretty nice, because my Spanish is pretty bad at times (early in the a.m. and late at night).

Work has been pretty good so far...a little (ok, a lot) overwhelming. Not only is there a lot to learn, but its all in spanish! Thankfully the girl who is leaving the position I'm taking is still around for the week to show me how things work. Rachel has been a lifesaver, for sure. So far i have sat in on the meeting with all the loan officers that work here at MCM and 3 community bank meetings...i think tomorrow we are going to go visit one or two clients and see their businesses. It is really interesting and exciting. The one loan officer who I will be sharing an office with uses this incredible spreadsheet to track each of her community banks, and then each individual client's repayment history...it is pretty amazing. She is the only female loan officer here, and has a very different style than the men....much more relational. i love it :)

so far, it seems like I will be helping with possible training for the loan officers (dont feel totally competent here, but oh well!)....and, my bosses really want to get a business training school going, so i will likely be working on that too. They want to offer classes for the women on how to improve their businesses, so i will be organizing curriculum, promoting it, possible teaching the teachers how to teach it (!!) and maybe working on some kind of certification process. So...i'm pretty stoked about that...but feel very inadequate! 

That's about all for now. I appreciate your continued prayers as I struggle through the akwardness of a new home and new job, and as I learn the ropes of living in this particular neighborhood of Teguc.

love to you all.

~c

the countdown!

The past few weeks have been a blur with lots of stuff happening as I prepare to leave the country for a year.

First, I took a crazy road trip with 2 great friends and saw the grand canyon, LA, the pacific ocean and Vegas. When I returned to PA, I hit the ground running trying to pack up, clean up and close up the apartment in New Cumberland. It was a lot of work but Tori and I managed to get everything out and have the carpets cleaned by Friday, July 30. Our reward was a trip to the beach with our favorite friends :)

From Jersey, to Pennsylvania, then Ohio--all in one day (Sunday, August 1st). Since then I have been organizing all my belongings in my parents basement (thanks mom and dad ;) and have been packing all that I can take into 1 suitcase + 1 carry-on for the year ahead. My dad already left the country for a few weeks, so the official goodbyes have begun. There are only a few more days left to soak up family time with my mom and sisters.

Through all of this I have tried to keep looking forward...the end of the to-do list is in sight, and in 12 days I will be flying south to start my year in Honduras :) Over the past few days I received several encouraging emails from future coworkers in Honduras that have made me very excited. One contained details about my host family--and I can't wait to meet them. They are only a block away from my office, very involved in the church, and they are excited to host me. My host mom has a son who is 22, a daughter who is 19, another son who is 13 and a grandson who is 3--and they all live with her. I am looking forward to meeting my family and joining their lively household!

Please keep praying for peace and safety as I head to training in Akron, PA this Thursday. Also pray that my dad is safe as he travels in Kenya for the next few weeks. Thanks <3