Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Thursday, July 23, 2009
"A different language is a different vision of life" -Federico Fellini
Today I was mobbed! Thankfully my attackers were about two feet tall and were more interested in hugging me and sitting on my lap than anything else. I have spent every morning this week playing teacher with ten 2-4 year olds for about three hours. I'm learning all sorts of new things like Spanish words for different animals and singing Barney songs in Spanish. The kids I work with are absolutely adorable and I am going to miss them terribly! I have been teaching them words in English at the same time and their pronunciations are so incredibly cute, I think I'm in love.
Today another group of volunteers also came to play. It was 5 Spaniards from Madrid. Just as I was getting a handle on the Honduran accent they introduced a lovely lisp spoken really quickly. By the end of the morning my head was spinning. After all the accents I've been introduced to, my Spanish is quite eclectic (read: slight disaster).
Last Saturday I spent the day at a Red Cross sponsored soccer tournament taking pictures and filming. I met one of the players for the Honduran national team who was from Tela and was there to support the Red Cross. All the little kids were running up to him and getting him to sign their t-shirts and hats while we were filming an interview with him. I took about 300 pictures during the day and probably walked away with a solid five that actually looked decent. Sports photography is hard!
It's interesting how people I meet in Latin America usually end up telling me their life story. Like my distant host cousin in Argentina one evening told me all about how she got paid in US dollars before the economy crashed and didn't put it in a bank so she became really wealthy when the depression hit in 2001. Then she told me all about my host relatives and her children and how she was set for life but worked because she enjoyed it.
Yesterday the woman I'm the "teacher's aid" for told me all about office politics. How long she had worked for IHNFA, her job, who worked a lot, who didn't, how the people in the office always asked for help but never gave her any. Then she told me that her sister really wanted her to live in Spain with her but she really enjoyed living alone. And her favorite family members were the poor ones because she could be herself around them.
Another woman in IHNFA told me all about the little boy she adopted and where her brothers worked in the US (people here are very honest about whether or not their relatives have papers. In the US it is usually spoken about with such disdain and has such a negative connotation. Here it is mentioned in passing as if it was just a minor detail like their occupation or location. For example "Yeah my brother that lives in Miami doesn't have papers but the other one in New York does). She told about her quest to get her US visa renewed and problems IHNFA suffered.
Another guy I met in a store talked to me for at least twenty minutes about how he went to Tegus a couple off weeks ago to participate in the protests and how he wanted to work in the US because there was no work in Tela. He also told me that he learned English from watching movies - his favorite being Dirty Dancing,
I haven't decided if these people open up to me because of their culture or because I understand Spanish a lot better than speaking it. It's easy to tell me long stories because I usually just nod my head and follow along. Either way it has helped me become a much better listener.
In other news Zelaya (the ousted president) is trying to return tomorrow, maybe. Everyone I ask seems to have no idea what is going on. I know it must be a disaster in the government but the people (and the press) have continued on with their life and take little notice.
Finally the other day I read that the minimum wage here is roughly $3.15 A DAY. Although it is true that living here is much cheaper than the US I have no idea how the majority of people survive with such little earnings.
In exactly two weeks I'll be back in the States. The past four weeks have gone by so quickly. One day just kind of melts into the next. I'm already thinking about how I can make it back here (oh goodness). I think my best bet would be to learn how to fit into a suitcase and just have people check me in as their luggage on their flight (it's only three-ish hours from Atlanta).
Today another group of volunteers also came to play. It was 5 Spaniards from Madrid. Just as I was getting a handle on the Honduran accent they introduced a lovely lisp spoken really quickly. By the end of the morning my head was spinning. After all the accents I've been introduced to, my Spanish is quite eclectic (read: slight disaster).
Last Saturday I spent the day at a Red Cross sponsored soccer tournament taking pictures and filming. I met one of the players for the Honduran national team who was from Tela and was there to support the Red Cross. All the little kids were running up to him and getting him to sign their t-shirts and hats while we were filming an interview with him. I took about 300 pictures during the day and probably walked away with a solid five that actually looked decent. Sports photography is hard!
It's interesting how people I meet in Latin America usually end up telling me their life story. Like my distant host cousin in Argentina one evening told me all about how she got paid in US dollars before the economy crashed and didn't put it in a bank so she became really wealthy when the depression hit in 2001. Then she told me all about my host relatives and her children and how she was set for life but worked because she enjoyed it.
Yesterday the woman I'm the "teacher's aid" for told me all about office politics. How long she had worked for IHNFA, her job, who worked a lot, who didn't, how the people in the office always asked for help but never gave her any. Then she told me that her sister really wanted her to live in Spain with her but she really enjoyed living alone. And her favorite family members were the poor ones because she could be herself around them.
Another woman in IHNFA told me all about the little boy she adopted and where her brothers worked in the US (people here are very honest about whether or not their relatives have papers. In the US it is usually spoken about with such disdain and has such a negative connotation. Here it is mentioned in passing as if it was just a minor detail like their occupation or location. For example "Yeah my brother that lives in Miami doesn't have papers but the other one in New York does). She told about her quest to get her US visa renewed and problems IHNFA suffered.
Another guy I met in a store talked to me for at least twenty minutes about how he went to Tegus a couple off weeks ago to participate in the protests and how he wanted to work in the US because there was no work in Tela. He also told me that he learned English from watching movies - his favorite being Dirty Dancing,
I haven't decided if these people open up to me because of their culture or because I understand Spanish a lot better than speaking it. It's easy to tell me long stories because I usually just nod my head and follow along. Either way it has helped me become a much better listener.
In other news Zelaya (the ousted president) is trying to return tomorrow, maybe. Everyone I ask seems to have no idea what is going on. I know it must be a disaster in the government but the people (and the press) have continued on with their life and take little notice.
Finally the other day I read that the minimum wage here is roughly $3.15 A DAY. Although it is true that living here is much cheaper than the US I have no idea how the majority of people survive with such little earnings.
In exactly two weeks I'll be back in the States. The past four weeks have gone by so quickly. One day just kind of melts into the next. I'm already thinking about how I can make it back here (oh goodness). I think my best bet would be to learn how to fit into a suitcase and just have people check me in as their luggage on their flight (it's only three-ish hours from Atlanta).
Sunday, July 12, 2009
If this whole engineering thing doesn't work out I've got some back up plans. Thank you Honduras. The jobs I have lined up so far:
Selling fruit on the street corner
Security guard (note although it is true that I have yet to see a female security guard, I like to think I'm pretty intimidating)
professional power point presentation maker
selling newspapers on the street corner
shoe shiner
In the meantime I am enjoying my honeymoon quite a bit. Wait, what?! I can't even tell you how many people have asked Matt or I if we are on our honeymoon. Even when we are in the most unlikely places, like the social work office. When we tell them no they become very puzzled. I try to explain that we are friends from school but the doubt remains in their eyes. They just really can't fathom that we aren't dating. I'm not sure how it wouldn't be blatantly obvious from our body language but I have noticed that I meet a lot more people when Matt isn't around.
For instance last night on the pier/train tracks some boy just sat down about two feet away from me and would ask me random questions about every two minutes. Then a gringo sat down and talked to me for about 30 minutes. He had started traveling in Panama in March and just made it to Tela about a week ago. It was really interesting to talk to him because he had no agenda or future plans. After talking with him I realized that I don't think I could ever travel without a purpose.
Story two. The Red Cross asked me to make a slide show for them to show to their donors and others at the end of the year. I eagerly agreed and on Friday was given the material to make the video. When I told them I would do it I didn't realize they would give me over 3,000 photos to work with. Good news I have until August. Bad news that's only 25 days away.
If anyone has little kid games that can be played with zero supplies (or really simple things that I can find) that are appropriate for ages 3-8 I would love to hear them! If they are in Spanish, it's even better! I'm volunteering every morning for about two hours playing with kids at a day care and my legs and arms are tired from see-sawing and swinging for the whole time! I've got duck duck goose and ring around the rosie but I would love to have more ideas.
Selling fruit on the street corner
Security guard (note although it is true that I have yet to see a female security guard, I like to think I'm pretty intimidating)
professional power point presentation maker
selling newspapers on the street corner
shoe shiner
In the meantime I am enjoying my honeymoon quite a bit. Wait, what?! I can't even tell you how many people have asked Matt or I if we are on our honeymoon. Even when we are in the most unlikely places, like the social work office. When we tell them no they become very puzzled. I try to explain that we are friends from school but the doubt remains in their eyes. They just really can't fathom that we aren't dating. I'm not sure how it wouldn't be blatantly obvious from our body language but I have noticed that I meet a lot more people when Matt isn't around.
For instance last night on the pier/train tracks some boy just sat down about two feet away from me and would ask me random questions about every two minutes. Then a gringo sat down and talked to me for about 30 minutes. He had started traveling in Panama in March and just made it to Tela about a week ago. It was really interesting to talk to him because he had no agenda or future plans. After talking with him I realized that I don't think I could ever travel without a purpose.
Story two. The Red Cross asked me to make a slide show for them to show to their donors and others at the end of the year. I eagerly agreed and on Friday was given the material to make the video. When I told them I would do it I didn't realize they would give me over 3,000 photos to work with. Good news I have until August. Bad news that's only 25 days away.
If anyone has little kid games that can be played with zero supplies (or really simple things that I can find) that are appropriate for ages 3-8 I would love to hear them! If they are in Spanish, it's even better! I'm volunteering every morning for about two hours playing with kids at a day care and my legs and arms are tired from see-sawing and swinging for the whole time! I've got duck duck goose and ring around the rosie but I would love to have more ideas.
Friday, July 10, 2009
“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.” - Paul Theroux
Wednesday was a little disappointing. We went to four different locations to try and volunteer or do interviews and the people weren't there or wanted us to come back the next day. Miguel hadn't talked to us in 6 days which was starting to worry us a little because he usually talked to us at least once a day. By the time we realized nothing in Tela was going to pan out it was too late to go the town next to us to try and interview people there and too late to go the beach.
Tuesday was fantastic. Matt and I interviewed people off the street about what they thought about what was happening with the government and the it was incredible to see them talk with such passion. I still can't believe I am witnessing history being made. I hope this resolves itself soon because the people here deserve so much more. Honduras has had such an unfortunate history and over 70% of the people live in poverty. They just want peace for their country. Because of what's happening many countries are pulling or freezing their aid which will absolutely devastate this country. If this isn't resolved soon it could take years for Hondurans to recover.
Today made up for yesterday. In the morning I went in played with kids from 2 to 10 years old that are in a day care run by the organization I am doing the powerpoint for. I see-sawed and swung and ran around. I was hugged by 6 kids at one time, they all tried to sit on my lap at the same time, if i bent down to talk to them I stood up with at least two kids still hanging on me. Shouts of tia come here, and tia look at this. I fell in love. I want to take all of these kids home. On of the workers told me that she had never seen one of the little boys run around before.
In the afternoon we traveled to a barrio (neighborhood) to talk with the people that lived there. We interviewed residents that had lived there for over 60 years in the same house. The roads were all made of dirt and they had been raising money for a church for 17 years. This year they were finally able to start building. They invited us back on Wednesday to celebrate mass with them in an old woman's house where they have been gathering since the town was built.
Matt found peanut butter in a little store which makes me even more certain I could live here for a long time. This weekend we think we'll go to La Ceiba to see what's going on there.
Tuesday was fantastic. Matt and I interviewed people off the street about what they thought about what was happening with the government and the it was incredible to see them talk with such passion. I still can't believe I am witnessing history being made. I hope this resolves itself soon because the people here deserve so much more. Honduras has had such an unfortunate history and over 70% of the people live in poverty. They just want peace for their country. Because of what's happening many countries are pulling or freezing their aid which will absolutely devastate this country. If this isn't resolved soon it could take years for Hondurans to recover.
Today made up for yesterday. In the morning I went in played with kids from 2 to 10 years old that are in a day care run by the organization I am doing the powerpoint for. I see-sawed and swung and ran around. I was hugged by 6 kids at one time, they all tried to sit on my lap at the same time, if i bent down to talk to them I stood up with at least two kids still hanging on me. Shouts of tia come here, and tia look at this. I fell in love. I want to take all of these kids home. On of the workers told me that she had never seen one of the little boys run around before.
In the afternoon we traveled to a barrio (neighborhood) to talk with the people that lived there. We interviewed residents that had lived there for over 60 years in the same house. The roads were all made of dirt and they had been raising money for a church for 17 years. This year they were finally able to start building. They invited us back on Wednesday to celebrate mass with them in an old woman's house where they have been gathering since the town was built.
Matt found peanut butter in a little store which makes me even more certain I could live here for a long time. This weekend we think we'll go to La Ceiba to see what's going on there.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Today I was talking with Matt and he asked me to explain exactly why I love Latin America so much. Amidst all of it's ridiculous-ness (not a real word, I know) I find that regardless of where I am or how well I know the people I am with I feel at home.
The culture here immediately accepts me. The people I talk with are so welcoming and excited to share their lives with me. The little kids I play with at IHNFA called me tia (aunt) and couldn't stop hugging me. I had just met them for the first time. People I've talked with for maybe five minutes call me nena and mi amor. A little girl in Mexico told me oye, te kiero (listen, i love you) at least 10 times. The students we taught told the principal "thank you so much teacher for bringing us happiness". While in Argentina families introduced me as their adopted daughter and worried about me and loved me as if I was a true member of their family.
In the U.S. if you can't speak conversational English, forget about making friends, most people won't give you the time of day. Here everyone talks Matt's ears off ignoring the fact that he understands about three words. Most people tell me how good my Spanish is and are so excited that I am trying to learn their language. The two people at IHNFA just laugh when I make mistakes and tell me it's okay that they want to help me learn more.
They want to share their life with me. Everyone is very interested in why we are here and wants to share a part of their life. I feel an instant connection with the people I meet. When they talk to me they touch my arm or shoulder and look me in the eye. When I say good bye they hug me and sincerely wish me well.
In the U.S. I feel like I am always chasing after time. It's always a race against the clock. No matter how much I got done that day, I feel like I should have done more. In Latin America time does not exist. There is always a tomorrow to finish what didn't get done today. There is no need to stress over what you cannot control.
No matter where I travel in Latin America (All over Argentina, Mexico and now Honduras) I feel like I fit in (if I ignore all the stares and forget that I'm the only blonde hair, green eyed, giant around). I rarely feel like a traveler passing through observing from the outside. I feel like an integral part of a community regardless of whether or not I truly fit in.
The culture here immediately accepts me. The people I talk with are so welcoming and excited to share their lives with me. The little kids I play with at IHNFA called me tia (aunt) and couldn't stop hugging me. I had just met them for the first time. People I've talked with for maybe five minutes call me nena and mi amor. A little girl in Mexico told me oye, te kiero (listen, i love you) at least 10 times. The students we taught told the principal "thank you so much teacher for bringing us happiness". While in Argentina families introduced me as their adopted daughter and worried about me and loved me as if I was a true member of their family.
In the U.S. if you can't speak conversational English, forget about making friends, most people won't give you the time of day. Here everyone talks Matt's ears off ignoring the fact that he understands about three words. Most people tell me how good my Spanish is and are so excited that I am trying to learn their language. The two people at IHNFA just laugh when I make mistakes and tell me it's okay that they want to help me learn more.
They want to share their life with me. Everyone is very interested in why we are here and wants to share a part of their life. I feel an instant connection with the people I meet. When they talk to me they touch my arm or shoulder and look me in the eye. When I say good bye they hug me and sincerely wish me well.
In the U.S. I feel like I am always chasing after time. It's always a race against the clock. No matter how much I got done that day, I feel like I should have done more. In Latin America time does not exist. There is always a tomorrow to finish what didn't get done today. There is no need to stress over what you cannot control.
No matter where I travel in Latin America (All over Argentina, Mexico and now Honduras) I feel like I fit in (if I ignore all the stares and forget that I'm the only blonde hair, green eyed, giant around). I rarely feel like a traveler passing through observing from the outside. I feel like an integral part of a community regardless of whether or not I truly fit in.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Just when I thought I might be able to speak Spanish
All it takes is one old man to get fired up about politics for me to realize that I do not speak Spanish. I talked with this man, rather he talked to me and I shook my head and smiled, for at least 10 minutes and the only part of the conversation I understood was when he told me we were not here to judge, only God can judge. All I wanted to know was who he wanted in power.
The other old man I talked to was as sweet as could be and helped us walk around the plaza telling people to let us interview them.
Conclusion: Many people don't understand my accent and talk about whatever they want to regardless of the question. I think I like it here.
The other old man I talked to was as sweet as could be and helped us walk around the plaza telling people to let us interview them.
Conclusion: Many people don't understand my accent and talk about whatever they want to regardless of the question. I think I like it here.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Why I love Latin America
Yesterday was a fantastic day. There was a rally in the town center (check out pictures and the article that appeared in the national newspaper La Prensa http://www.laprensa.hn/Pa%C3%ADs/Ediciones/2009/07/04/Noticias/Tela-marcha-y-ora-por-la-paz-y-la-democracia). Several people talked about peace and justice, shouted "VIVA HONDURAS" and they sang the national anthem several times. During this there was a man who was handing out free bags of water. I didn't want one because I already had a bottle of water but when I said no thanks in English he told me "free take, it's free".
Miguel called us a little after the rally and asked us if we could meet him to take some pictures. When we met him a meeting was just ending and they wanted us to take pictures of the group. They were called ORMA and were similar to the PTA in the States. At the end people were milling about and Miguel was explaining that he had just been appointed a new position in this organization a few days ago and then a few minutes ago was told it was because the guy who had the job died and no one told him. As he was telling us the lady in charge was telling everyone to stand up so we could have a moment of silence for the man who passed away. She then asked me to time a minute exactly with my watch. I thought maybe I just had the uncanny ability of never knowing what as going on and usually being unprepared in Latin America but Miguel made me hopeful that I'm not a complete disaster.
Then while we were doing interviews the woman in charge of everything would not stop talking over our interviewees. Another woman wanted to know if Matt and I were siblings or if we were dating and another one told me I had excellent spanish (but I'm pretty sure all I told her was that the tamales she gave us were good).
Another reason I love Honduras when I went to the beach the other day the guards asked us if we were from the US and when we said yes they proceeded to tell us that the US was going to save Honduras. And today these two girls ran after us in the town center and where like hey hey are you tourists? Then they asked us these questions about hotels and what they should include (resturant,view of the beach, offer tours etc) and how much a night should cost. When we asked us what it was for they told they were doing a project for university but one of the girls had already graduated and the other was studying architecture.
This weekend we may try to go the Mayan ruins in the city of Copan but we'll have to see if it's safe enough due to Zelaya maybe trying to come back to Honduras.
Happy 4th of July!!!
Miguel called us a little after the rally and asked us if we could meet him to take some pictures. When we met him a meeting was just ending and they wanted us to take pictures of the group. They were called ORMA and were similar to the PTA in the States. At the end people were milling about and Miguel was explaining that he had just been appointed a new position in this organization a few days ago and then a few minutes ago was told it was because the guy who had the job died and no one told him. As he was telling us the lady in charge was telling everyone to stand up so we could have a moment of silence for the man who passed away. She then asked me to time a minute exactly with my watch. I thought maybe I just had the uncanny ability of never knowing what as going on and usually being unprepared in Latin America but Miguel made me hopeful that I'm not a complete disaster.
Then while we were doing interviews the woman in charge of everything would not stop talking over our interviewees. Another woman wanted to know if Matt and I were siblings or if we were dating and another one told me I had excellent spanish (but I'm pretty sure all I told her was that the tamales she gave us were good).
Another reason I love Honduras when I went to the beach the other day the guards asked us if we were from the US and when we said yes they proceeded to tell us that the US was going to save Honduras. And today these two girls ran after us in the town center and where like hey hey are you tourists? Then they asked us these questions about hotels and what they should include (resturant,view of the beach, offer tours etc) and how much a night should cost. When we asked us what it was for they told they were doing a project for university but one of the girls had already graduated and the other was studying architecture.
This weekend we may try to go the Mayan ruins in the city of Copan but we'll have to see if it's safe enough due to Zelaya maybe trying to come back to Honduras.
Happy 4th of July!!!
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