Adventures into the Unknown

2011-06-15T03:43:00.000-07:00

"A different language is a different vision of life" -Federico Fellini

2009-07-23T19:05:00.000-07:00

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).

2009-07-12T19:54:00.000-07:00

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.

“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.” - Paul Theroux

2009-07-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-07-09T18:48:00.000-07:00

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.

Just when I thought I might be able to speak Spanish

2009-07-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

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.

Why I love Latin America

2009-07-04T10:40:00.000-07:00

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!!!

"... the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time" -Bill Bryson

2009-07-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

The past couple of days have been rather slow. Due to all the political unrest the presentation with the first lady was canceled, two of the non-profits we worked with had their funding frozen, World Camp sent its volunteers home and most people stopped working. This left Matt and I without much to do. One day we spent at the beach and the other walking around and re-discovering Tela. Here are some of my observations.

You can by water in bags here. Also when you buy a drink off the street they but it in plastic baggies then tie a knot around a straw.

The people here are very formal. They ony use the usted form when talking. I think they may also use vos (instead of tu) like in Argentina but I'm not 100% sure.

You can't flush toilet paper here. Also a lot of hotels/hostels don't offer hot water. In San Alejos I took a shower using a bucket of water.

There is a little old lady that sells fruit on the street corner. I watched her the other day while I sat in a coffee shop waiting for Miguel. She would cut up a mango and would eat half it and put the other half in a little bag to sell. It was so unripe (it was white) but with a little hot sauce I guess it was good.

There is only one place you can buy newspapers and they are all gone by 11am.

I think most of the problems in the US could be solved if instead of handshakes besos were used. Although I still can't figure out the proper way to introduce myself because every time it switches from a handshake to besos and I'm not sure if they are doing that because I'm American and they want to be considerate or if I just don't understand the social norm.

Oh the Spanish language. I butcher it a lot. IHNFA (social work office) is my new favorite place because the people we work with speak really slow spanish, explain things well and are really patient with me.

Baleadas are a typical Honduran food. They are grilled tortillas with beans, cheese and eggs. Liquados are also common (like a milkshake but without ice cream. just milk, ice, fruit and sugar blended) and so are juices made from fresh fruit.

In order to get anything done here you have to be persistent. All the organizations we met said they would be in contact with us last week. Yesterday we spent walking around and talking with them again. They didn't really plan on calling us. But once we offered our help they got really excited (again). This time we made concrete plans. Matt went to play soccer with the youth at IHNFA this morning and I'll get to help out in their day care any day I want.

The movie store rents out pirated movies. You can hear people coughing in the audience during the movie.

"One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” - Henry Mill

2009-06-29T17:18:00.000-07:00

Although the political unrest has not affected my town significantly (most people seem annoyed by all that's happening) and I spent my weekend in a small town called San Alejos riding dirt bikes to small communities for interviews, I have found that what I read online and what Hondurans say is going on is quite different.

I was shocked when I got on the internet for the first time in two days and was overwhelmed with the information from the U.S. supporting the ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

Saturday I read La Prensa (national newspaper) and saw an add (look left) which says: "don't stain your hands with an illegal mark". The ex-president was trying to hold a vote to see if the people wanted to make an official vote to determine if he could gain the rights to make changes to the constitution. The people feared that he was going to try and do what Hugo Chavez did and assume control of the country (his main motive was to amend the constitution so it allowed the president to run for a second term). Most of those who I have talked to believe that the president does enough damage in one term and would gain too much power if he were allowed to stay for 8 years.

Most of Honduras disliked the president. The only people who supported him were the poorest people but I was told that was only because he raised minimum wage a small amount. Other than that he had not been that great for the people. I watched as the news reported that the military had kidnapped the president, the ambassador of Cuba and Venezuela and took them to Cuba. I was staying in a small town about 30 minutes from Tela called San Alejos and the people were relieved he was taking out of power before he tried to become a dictator by Chavez. They were slightly worried though because Chavez and Fidel threatened military force if the 4 urno (the vote to change the constitution) were not passed. They weren't sure what the response would be once they found out their ambassadors had been kidnapped.

Last night the head of the Congress was appointed as the new president. Although he was not a favorite the Hondurans supported him over Zelaya. We were afraid we wouldn't be able to return to Tela the next day because there were rumors that the police were trying to shut down all the streets to prevent rioting and protests. A curfew of 9pm has also been enforced for all of Honduras. This morning watching the news with Miguel's aunt and family friend it was reported that all of Central America and USA were boycotting Honduran exports. This was very upsetting because many of the people depend on the exports to survive. The family I was with just wants everything to be resolved.

When I got back to Tela and checked the internet I was so surprised that the rest of the world was against the coup. I thought they would support it since the president was doing illegal things and he was removed with the support of the people. It was also surprising because the Hondurans were counting on the support of the US, which I thought for sure they would have because Chavez and Fidel supported the president (meaning the pres. had to be bad news for everyone) but then I read:

Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denounced Sunday's arrest of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya as a "coup d'etat" and alleged that the United States had a hand in his overthrow.

Speaking in Caracas, leftist leader Chavez urged US President Barack Obama to speak out about Zelaya's arrest just hours ahead of a controversial constitutional referendum, snapping that "the Yankee empire had a lot to do" with developments in Honduras.

"I call on the president of the United States to issue a statement as we have, rejecting this affront, which not only goes against Honduras but against all the peoples of Latin America," the Venezuelan leader declared, denouncing the action as a throwback to the past. "Troops were used to overthrow the government," Chavez said. "It's like so many coups that have taken place in Latin America over the past 100 years, against the wishes of the people and against a president who merely is trying to hold a popular vote," he told Venezuelan television.

Chavez also blamed Honduras's upper classes for the putsch, which he said "have turned Honduras into a 'banana republic', into a political, military and terror base for the North American empire." http://www.almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=92110&language=en

This is completely not true. I now understand that USA must condemn the actions otherwise it may create problems with other countries. However, I still believe the coup was warranted and I am hopeful that this will encourage a better government for the Hondurans.

Unfortunately, my friend I talked about before who was working for World Camp is being sent home. Her NGO doesn't want the new group that was to arrive this Thursday to come to Honduras. The group that was supposed to leave today is now stuck indefinitely in Honduras because the police shut down the road to San Pedro Sula. I of course think this is incredibly cool (I'm sure most people find it terribly inconvenient but how many people get to say they were trapped in another country?!)

For now I am quiet safe and loving Honduras more everyday. I ate fresh crab soup (I helped kill and clean the crabs, pick the limes coconut that were used to prepare it), traveled 30 min on a dirt road surrounded by huge palm trees to go swimming in the river, went to a church service where I was the guest of honor (the pastor happened to be a close family friend of the family we stayed with) and interviewed people in a community that didn't hve any running water or electricity.

**Things that only happen to me: Every time I walk through the town square there is a one legged man who is always sitting on a bench that shouts to me "Hey USA you wanna play basketball against me?"

“To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” - Freya Stark

2009-06-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

Our arrival to Honduras was quite uneventful. The customs agents did not really care why we were coming to their country nor that we did not have a real address. When we arrived in Tela Matt and I were sure we were in the wrong town. We were supposed to be at the beach but all we saw were mountains covered in green palm trees. We took a taxi into the town center (about a 5 min drive) and where shocked when only a couple of blocks away was the ocean. After finding a decent hostel we decided to explore. The town is quiet and slow. There are bright colors splashed on houses and stores. We found a resturant right near the beach that had the best peanut butter and banana sandwich I have ever had, which may have to do with the fact that the mountain is covered in banana trees (a pound of bananas is less than 25 cents)...

On Thursday Matt and I went apartment hunting which landed us in a beauty salon and talking to the owner of a cell phone/t-shit making/car speaker shop owner. Niether proved to be any help. We also met up with a friend from NC State who is working with an amazing program called World Camp (http://www.worldcampforkids.org/Index.htm) who set us up with this guy who is in his early 20's and is going to save honduras. She calls him Miguel Obama.

Friday morning we woke up around 7 am to go running on the beach. My favorite sites were the train tracks that went out about 100 yards into the ocean and then abprutly stopped (it was part of the tracks that were built for the Rail Road Company who use to export bananas to USA) and the coconut trees growing all over the beach. It was sad to see that the sand was littered with trash all over except for the part ownd by the expensive hotel which employs guards to watch that Hondurans don't come through the beach access points. Speaking of guards there are guards with guns everywhere. I was told they don't have real bullets, just rubber ones and most of them look terrifically bored.

At ten we met with Miguel. He is one of the most incredible people I have met. He grew up in the US illegally and just under two years ago was sent back to Honduras. He decided it was his job to save the youth of Tela. He started his own organzation called Pro Joven that targets youth in the area and teaches them about HIV/Aides, holds soccer tournaments, leadership training and encourages them to stay in school. Matt and I met him for coffee with the expectation that he would give us some names of different contacts he had and tell us a little about his organization. We were shocked when he went throw all the different audiences we wanted to cover here and talked about how he kew someone and started planning dates he would take us to meet them. The he told us that he was going to introduce us to some of his friends from other organizations.

Before we left to meet with 4 different non profit groups we told him we still needed to find an apartment and so he decided to help us. Before we knew it we had an amazing apartment with two beds, a huge bathrooom, a frigde, balcony, wireless internet and a water cooler. It's also about 3 blocks from the center of town and only $500 for six weeks.

Miguel the spent the rest of the afternoon taking us around Tela to talk with different directors (of and explained that we were writing a documentary and asked if they would be willing to particpate. These people could not have been more excited about us filming them. No one comes to Honduras just to learn about the people . Two of the organizations (Red Cross and a fosster center) asked us if we could make short powerpoints for them so they can send it to officials or grants. Tomorrow Matt and I will spend the afternoon making a presentation for the foster center that they will be showing the first lady of Honduras when she comes to visit next Wednesday.

Things could not be going any better. There is some talk of political unrest but here in Tela you would never guess. I already can tell leaving here is not going to be easy.

“There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it.” - Charles Dudley Warner

2009-06-22T12:27:00.000-07:00

Tonight I had real New York pizza. And although the city that never sleeps is in the oppostite direction from Honduras due to the most ridiculous plane ticket ever, I ended up New York city traffic listening to the Mets game on the radio . The more I travel the more I have come to realize that what I expect and what actually happens are usually not even remotely close.

I am so relieved that this trip has finally started. The planning involved for this trip has been an experience in itself. Of course my stomach was in knots earlier but now that I have begun traveling I can hardly wait to get to Tela. I have missed Latin America so much! I am ready to return to the place where time doesn't seem to exist and stress seems to melt away because everything can be done manana.