dia de independencia

September 15 is Independence Day in Honduras...pretty much everything was shut down on Wednesday for the parades, and the students (at least in my house) don't have school til Monday. Since I have been here in Nueva Suyapa, various high school 'marching bands' have been preparing for the festivities. It was not uncommon to hear the drum core practicing at 6am and continuing on and off until 5:30 or 6 pm! Lets just say I am glad that part is over :)

My job is part of MCM, which operates several different ministries in Nueva Suyapa. Our offices are housed in the Christian school that is run by MCM. On Tuesday, the school (El Verbo) had their own independence day parade down 'main street.' We were supposed to gather at 7am...of course, things did not get rolling til about 8:15...and the parade route, which I calculate to be about 1.5 miles uphill--took 2 hours and 30 minutes. It was pretty extensive. Thankfully, one of my coworkers (who I can barely understand) was driving a truck full of preschoolers in their costumes, so I tagged along in the cab :)

Since the office was closed Wednesday for the holiday, my host brother, Axel, offered to go with me to the big parade in Tegucigalpa. Everyone else in the family wanted to sleep in and watch on TV (I wasn't smart enough to know this was a good plan!). We left at 6:45 to get downtown...The parade was not over til 12:30!
It was a lot of walking and standing, but the general mayhem of the parade was entertaining.

The few pictures (above) are from the school parade in Nueva Suyapa...it isn't usually a good idea to go anywhere with valuables, so I left my camera at home for the big parade.

Later in the day, we went to a birthday party for my family's cousin. She was turning six, and all the cousins, from age 2 to 23 were pretty involved in the pinata.

This is a picture of me with with my host mom Lucia, and her youngest son, Axel.



That's about all from here. Have a good weekend, wherever you may be :)

the honduran bachelorette...

yes, apparently I was not aware of this at the time, but instead of signing up for the SALT program, I really was signed up for a reality TV show called "Soltera Catracha"...which basically means, the bachelorette of Honduras.

While often times in the US we are defined by our work, it is much different in Honduras. Your value and association comes from your family and your marital status....lucky for me--I'm single! This means there is an unending stream of willing matchmakers.

Take my first visit to church on Wednesday evening...
The pastor noticed there was a new visitor among the flock. So of course, she had to be introduced.

My host mom stood up and told everyone who I was and what I would be doing, and that I was staying for 10 months. The congregation gave me a round of applause. Then the pastor asked "does she speak Spanish?"..."of course!" answered my host mother, happily. I started sinking lower in my seat, hoping I would not be called upon to share a sermon. Then the pastor asks me directly "Soltera o casada?" ...which means single or married. So of course, I answer "soltera"...This also receives a slight round of applause. "well, do you have a boyfriend in the United States?" he asks. "No," I respond, turning a few shades of red. (This time, quite a rousing round of applause from the church).

"Well, there are many men in Honduras, in fact many right here in this church. Don't worry, we can have you married before you leave." Then--he called on special men or "hermanos" in the church to give me a "warm welcome"...I did not have to wonder if they were single.

This is only one of several matchmaking stories, though assuredly the most public. And this is only week 1!

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

copan ruinas

I am writing to you from the hot humid land of honduras. it rains every day, at least once, and rarely does that eliminate the heat or humidity. apparently they like to call this "invierno" or winter...i do not know any winter like this in my country. it really makes me feel like i might have descended from eskimos. oooohhh...a klondike bar sounds soo delicious right now!

anyway...back to the point. we are almost at the end of our language training. 2 more days of class to go!! My teacher, Iris is very cool, calm and collected, and very patient with my grammar. You would think after years of study that I would be whipping it out like nobody's business...too bad I dont even know what subjunctive is in English, so memorizing it in spanish is super annoying. But--we have fun times too.

My teacher invited me to her house on friday to make tortilla de espana together. We had read about it during one of our lessons, and i told her how much I loved it...so she wanted me to teach her how to make it. Another student and her teacher came along, and we had a great time cooking together. So much fun, in fact, she invited me over again this evening to have another dinner of spanish dishes. yum.

So...on Thursday we will head back to San Pedro Sula to travel with all the other MCCers to a weekend retreat. We are excited to get back to the city where the rest of our luggage is and be reunited with the few clothes we brought along (right now we are living out of our backpacks).

Next Monday at this time (Lord willing) I should be in Tegucigalpa!! I am getting excited and anxious to be with my new family there and get to know life in Nueva Suyapa (my neighborhood). It will also be a busy time as I get to know lots of people in my new job and learn what I will be doing.

I am thankful for this time I've had in Copan to get to know my other team members better and also have some good chunks of quiet time. I have been doing a lot of reading and journaling...rereading Blue Like Jazz and spending some time reflecting on other passages of scripture from orientation. It is good to get spiritually charged before the inundation of "newness" that is about to happen. or re-happen...well, basically, its just a continual process of adapting, learning and growing. so far so good :)

finalmente estoy in Honduras

Hey friends!
I am finally in Honduras...well, I have been for about 5 days, but this is the first chance I`ve had to blog.

August 12-19 I was in Akron for training with MCC and everyone else in the SALT, YAMEN & IVEP programs. We had a lot of fun getting to know each other and helping each other learn about new cultures. I had lots of opportunities to start using my spanish as the latin american group always hung out together. The only thing that was frustrating was that I had just said goodbye to all of my other friends, then spent 1 week trying to make new friends, only to leave all of them for a year too!

However, there are 5 of us that traveled together from Akron to Honduras. 3 of us will be in Tegucigalpa and the other 2 will be in different cities. Noel is from Bolivia, Johanna is from Colombia, Elise is from the US and Alison is from Canada. They are all wonderful friends and we are getting to know each other very well. They all enjoy Dutch Blitz A LOT so its a good thing I brought my cards along (Johanna says "blips" instead of "blitz" when she wins, cuz its a tricky word...so we are petitioning to change the name of the game!).

When our first plane took off from Harrisburg at 6am on Thursday, I was just glad to be in the air. I did not start to get nervous until we could see the city of San Pedro Sula about 10 hours later :) However, all went well, and Amy and Andres (MCC Honduras Reps) were waiting for us at the airport, with a beautiful welcome sign designed by their daughters. They have been taking good care of us, and we have enjoyed their leadership immensely.


After 1 day in San Pedro, we went to the countryside to the Finca Diakonia (a farm) where another MCC family lives. This is where we had most of our orientation meetings, as well as some recreational activities...like...climbing a tree with a harness and hanging in a hammock 60ish feet above ground...only a few scrapes and bruises to show for it too ;)


On Sunday we returned to San Pedro Sula for church, then took a bus to Copan Ruinas about 3 hours away. We are now here in Copan for about 10 days of language school. Each of us lives with a different host family, but we come to school every morning at 8 for 1 on 1 tutoring. It is intense, and makes me very tired, but I know its good for me. To get even more practice, I´m trying to read books in Spanish too...really tough ones, like Nancy Drew!
We are excited to do some touristy things here in Copan. Today is a museum and possible bird park excursion...tomorrow is hot springs...saturday is the Mayan ruins. Yep, we are working hard :)


Thanks for all the emails, fb posts and prayers. I wish I had time to write each one of you, but computer time is limited. Continue to pray for safety as we travel a lot, and because the bigger cities can be dangerous.
I am anxious to be in my new home so i can unpack a bit, but I also want to fully enjoy the time I have with my friends. Espero que todo vaya bien con ustedes. Hasta luego!

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