In Ruins…

Another disclaimer… this post is going to be long as well… but we kinda had a jam-packed weekend.

So, after being stood up by one of the teachers last week (he was going to take us to Gracias, and then never showed up), Thalia and I decided to take our life into our own hands this past weekend and travel to Las Ruinas de Copán (the Copán Ruins) by bus… figuring at the very least we would have an adventure.  We left on Friday morning (11:00 bus) with the plan of… well… very little.  We knew were the bus station was, that there was a bus that would take us directly to the Copán Ruins, we had the name of a hotel that had rooms available (and the names of a couple of other hotels that we weren’t sure about), and we had some activity ideas… going ziplining, going on a horseback riding tour, and traversing the ruins themselves… but absolutely nothing was set in stone. 

Thalia being sat on in our cramped
rapidito

We got to the bus station here in Santa Rosa, and after asking around a little bit, found the Rapidito (basically a van that was built to seat about 12) that was leaving at 11:00 for the Ruins.  I would upload the picture I took of the bus terminal… but it doesn’t do it any justice as to how crazy it actually is.  At first we thought that we were lucky… we were the first ones on the bus and had a significant amount of room; however, they just kept piling people in.  The first leg of the trip (to La Entrada) wasn’t bad… it only took an hour, which was expected, and there were only about 15 people in the Rapidito.  However, from La Entrada to the Copán Ruins, the driver kept on stopping to let more people on… so I’m pretty sure we had more than 20 people in the van at one time.  One guy kept on practically sitting on Thalia.  Anyway, we made it to the Ruins after about 4 and a half more hours (it should have only taken around 2 and a half!).

We then went in search of the hotel that we knew had open rooms and was rather inexpensive… after traversing the city, and asking another hotel (they had to call La Madrugada – the hotel we were looking for – to find out where they were located) and then a couple of people on the street, we finally found it… it was a nice hotel, but the hotel manager, after hearing what we wanted to do, recommended we go to Hacienda San Lucas because a lot of tours go out from there, and he told us that it would be similarly priced.  So, we took a moto-taxi to Hacienda San Lucas.  It was a really nice hotel, but slightly out of our price range as one night would only cost us a measly $150!  Needless to say, we found another hotel.  However, the taxi driver, Cesar, who  took us back into town to the hotel became our personal tour guide/chauffer.  He knew absolutely everyone and was willing to make reservations for us through his connections, so we were able to do absolutely everything that we wanted to do!

Thalia and I ziplining together

We left our hotel at 7:00 in the morning to go Ziplining.  It was a ton of fun!  Supposedly this zipline run is the longest in Central America with 16 different lines.  The two ziplining guides even let Thalia and I zipline together on one of the runs (it took a little convincing though)!  We were roped together with our harnesses and carabineers and I was in charge of braking us… Thalia literally put her life in my hands, the fact that anyone would willingly do that completely floors me! 

Chula doing what she does best:
stopping and eating

After our ziplining adventure, Cesar took us to a place that offered horseback riding tours.  Thalia and I rode two horses (Thalia’s horse was named Princesa and mine was Chula).  We rode to a little town that was near the ruins of Los Sapos (the Frogs) – there was a carving of a frog and a crocodile as well as the fertility god.  There, our tour guide told us some of the background of the Mayans and the ruins of Los Sapos.  Apparently, this was a woman’s hospital – where the woman of the town would give birth.  Every year, the last child born that year was sacrificed on the alter above the carvings.  After seeing the ruins, our guide took us to a small scarf-making shop in the town.  Some Japanese women had visited the town about 5 years ago to teach the Honduran women how to weave scarves and make dolls out of the corn husks that they could sell to tourists.  With the money that they earned, the small town was able to buy some solar panels so that they could have electricity.  Additionally, our guide told us about the two schools that are in the town, one is for the kids (originally, the children had to travel to another town to be schooled) and the other is for adults.  The kids have your normal math/language classes, but the adults learn their indigenous language in order to keep their Mayan heritage alive. 

The ruins! 

The crocodile 

Thalia and I then traveled to the big Archeological site (you know, the one that everyone who goes to the ruins goes to see).  The main archeological site is where the kings lived, so it was full of palaces and giant tombs.    It was really cool to see all of the temples, alters, and sculptures of gods that the Mayans built (and learn about the Mayans by listening in to some of the tour guides that we didn’t pay for!).  We then walked the two kilometers to the second site, which was where the nobles lived.  There was a Sun temple there and a bunch of what looked kinda like wood piles that one of the tour guides told us used to be houses. 

So, after our long day at the Ruins, Thalia and I caught the 2:00 bus back to La Entrada, where we waited at yet another bus station (really we were just waiting on the side of the street) for another bus back to Santa Rosa… needless to say we had absolutely no idea what we were doing.  Luckily (and I use the word VERY loosely) I am a Gringa, and very apperantly, so one of the guys who was announcing what  busses where which more or less helped us out when getting on the bus.  And we rode a converted school bus back to Santa Rosa. 

Needless to say, we had quite the adventure at the Ruins, but it was a ton of fun, and we were exhausted when we got back… we didn’t even have the energy to watch a movie like we had planned.

Loves to everyone at home!

Two months...

First of all, I want to write a little disclaimer: I feel as if I have been neglecting you.  I haven’t been posting as often as I did at the beginning of my trip.  This is for a couple of reasons: (1) things aren’t really new anymore, (2) I do pretty much the same thing every day, and (3) classes started this week (I will discuss this more later), so a lot of my what once was free-time is spent lesson planning for English class.  So, sorry for not posting as often, I will try to post something at least once a week, but am not making any promises.  That being said, this post is probably going to be a little long, sorry about that, too.

As of today, I have been in Honduras for two months!  Although I have often thought about going home, what I will do when I get there, what foods I miss from home, what my first meal will be (yes, I have started a list of foods!); I can’t believe that I’m two months in.  I’m going to be here for five and a half months… and before I got here, I really thought that it would feel like a really long time (and some days it does), but I have a feeling that the rest of the time I have here is going to fly by before I know it. 

I am finally becoming more confident speaking and listening to the Spanish language that is constantly around me.  And although I still frequently need to ask for clarifications on what people are saying to me, I now typically get it after the second time (or sometimes it takes three times) – instead of me just staring blankly at people or nodding because I think they are sick of trying to tell me the same thing.  I still haven’t dreamed in Spanish… but at the same time I don’t typically remember my dreams – and I still have three and a half months to accomplish that feat!  Additionally, I am finally finding a place with the girls.  They were always welcoming, but the language barrier definitely made it difficult to interact with them, usually I would just sit near them as they talked and occasionally would try to join in the conversation, but a majority of it went over my head.  Now, I can actually participate, and it has made a world of a difference as to how they interact with me! 

Okay, now for stories:

Classes have started!  Yes, classes started this week.  And although I was freaking out a little bit before they started, my English class is actually going really well – we are currently learning the present tense of the verb “to be” as well as how to change sentences into negatives and ask questions using “to be.”  The girl’s first quiz is going to be tomorrow, and I wrote it and the copies are currently sitting on my bed (I think it will be easy).  After class today, I was a little concerned about how they would do, but I was sitting with some of the girls during their free study time working with them on English.  One of the girls, Jossely, always seems to have trouble with her homework… whether it be English or math (as I mentioned previously I tend to help some of the Primer Bachi girls with their math)… didn’t understand how to change sentences such as My mother is tall into the negative My mother is not tall and into a question Is my mother tall.  However, after giving her formulas as to how to change the words around (where to put the subject/verb/and what follows the verb – and explaining to her what a subject and verb are) and doing a couple of examples with her, she finally started getting it.  While I never really had any desire to be a teacher, and still don’t want it to be my job when I get back to the states, I now completely understand the joy that teachers get when they successfully teach something… I understand why someone would want to become a teacher.  I actually almost started crying (almost…) when Jossely really GOT it, and realized that she got it… she was SO excited!  Some other girls came around too to ask for some help which then led to pronunciation practice (something we don’t get a whole lot of time to work on), and I’m pretty sure that at least the internas won’t fail my quiz – and in fact will do very well!

My trip to La Entrada!  On Sunday, Thalia and I were told that some psychologists (10 of them, and we still have no idea why they were here) were coming to stay at the school for a couple of days… and since our room was the biggest, we had to move to a smaller room for a couple of days.  So we packed everything up, and relocated (I actually really like the room that we moved to, and although it is smaller than my freshman year dorm room - and we don’t have the option of lofting our beds), I think I’m going to ask if I can permanently move rooms when Thalia leaves and it is only me.  Anyways, my trip to La Entrada… Profe Exor and I traveled to La Entrada to pick up four of the Psychologists… but the truck would not start.  After about 20 minutes we got it started, and I learned a new way to “jump” a dead battery… let me explain it to you:

1.       The truck wouldn’t start, so Profe Exor called over Profe Marvin.

2.       Profe Marvin instructed Profe Exor to get a group of girls to push the truck (while it was in neutral) up the driveway hill, and then move to the front of the truck to push it back down… he then tried to start the car as it was gaining momentum down the hill… it didn’t work.

3.       The girls once again pushed the car forward… this time on flat ground… and Profe Marvin slammed on the breaks and tried to start the car… to no avail.

4.       We continued to push the car around the courtyard about 5 more times until… IT ACTUALLY STARTED… apparently this method works!

However, now I am planning to drive to a town that is about two hours away with a car that I think is going to stall out at any moment… SCARY!  Needless to say, we made it to La Entrada and back – and the truck only stalled out once… and we were able to start it in two tries.  The funniest part of the trip; however, was: when we got to La Entrada, we found out that the Psychologists had already left for Santa Rosa… so the trip was for nothing… but Thalia and I now have a new teacher friend… who is willing to show us around Honduras when he has time!  (On a side note, during our trip, Exor asked me how old I am… and was astounded when I said 21… he thought I was only 16 or 18!!  Apparently I look VERY young for my age according to the people here.)

No hay luz!  The past two days we have not had power during the day… the city turns it off.  And while it is not difficult to live without power during the day (we often don’t have lights on because everything is at least partially outside anyway)… sometimes you have to be creative with how to get things done.  Generally, the power comes back on before it gets dark.  However, last night, the power didn’t come back on until 6:00 which is dusk… and then it went out again around 7:30… which meant that we got mood lighting with candles for dinner… and the girls who were eating in the cafeteria screamed for at least a minute when the lights went out until the sisters could get flashlights/flood lights to them.  Additionally, recess after dinner was completely dark, and we really only had one flood light to use… so there was a lot of sneaking up on people and scaring them.  Bedtime was facilitated by the phone lights of the sisters, and the light of my iPod.  Another interesting thing that I noticed… Thalia and I used the lights from our various electronic devices to light our way… the sisters used candles… and asked if we needed them, but we opted for no.  In case you were ever wondering… candles give off more light than iPods. 

Well, that’s all for now… I know it was a lot.  Thalia and I are traveling to the Copan Ruins this weekend!!!  Which is SUPER EXCITING!!!  As we are actually traveling which is something we have been talking about for a while and seeing the Ruins.  But also slightly daunting as it will be quite the adventure by bus… so prepared to see pictures and hear all about our adventure into the unknown in the next post!

RIP Rodger

This week, we finally ate the rooster that has been the house pet since I have been here… Mom - this is why I said we shouldn't name him.  I can’t remember eating rooster before, so I’m going to go with I haven’t – and I have to say that not all birds are alike – it did NOT taste like chicken.  But it was good. 

On another food note, I found a fruit that is absolutely amazing (however, this coming from me, the person who loves all kinds of fruit, may not mean a whole lot).  Sor Xiomara brought Sapote.  I’m not sure where you would buy it in the US, but I would STRONGLY encourage everyone to look it up and try some because it is DELICIOUS! 

As for other shenanigans that are going on… there is not a whole lot to report.  English classes start tomorrow, so I have been doing a decent amount of prep work for that… I’ll let you know how it goes in the next couple of days.  I am both extremely excited about the fact that they are starting and terrified out of my mind.  We will see how it goes…

Love to everyone at home!  

Laundry lessons

I’m sure you guys are probably sick of me talking about laundry (I think I said something similar in my last post, when, again, I was talking about laundry), but, believe it or not, laundry has taught me a couple of lessons.  It gives me a lot of time to think… 

Up until now, I have intentionally kept this blog very up-beat and filled with happy stories of my adventures so far (at least I have tried to, if I have failed at this, I am terribly sorry).  However, as I was doing laundry today, I realized that I chose VIDES for a couple of reasons:

1.  It was a larger and well established organization that had a home-base in the US (that was one of her criteria for allowing me to do this – Love you mom!).

2.  It allowed me to go somewhere in Central America for 6 months – a lot of the other programs were only for a couple of months or it required a year-long commitment.

3.  It was Christian, and more specifically, Catholic.

I realized early on in my planning of this volunteering experience that I wanted to not just expand my horizon and volunteer, but I wanted to strengthen my relationship with God.  And by omitting that part of my experience from this blog, as I was doing, I was not telling you at least half of my story… so be forewarned, this will be a deeper, more God-centered post.  And, so, we return to laundry, and the current lesson God is teaching me by being in a place where I hand-wash my clothes.

I tend to regard myself as a rather simple and not materialistic person.  I don’t need a lot of “things,” and I’m not one to spend a lot of money.  However, being here has made me realize that I put a lot of value in money (not more value that I place in family and friends, ect. but a lot of value none-the-less).  I think that it is something that we fall prey to as Americans.  Money is my security blanket, I am a poor college student, I am planning on going to grad school, I need to be able to pay for an apartment, food, school, all the things that a person needs… and therefore, I place value in money, in having money saved for the future.  I’m sure you are all wondering what this has to do with washing clothing…  Well, let me explain, when I started washing my clothing, I was concerned that hand washing the clothes and letting them dry outside would somehow ruin them, therefore, requiring me to buy new clothes when I got home (as if I don’t have enough), therefore, requiring me to spend money that I wouldn’t otherwise have to spend.  It’s not like I brought nice clothes here… as a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure I didn’t spend more than $10 on any one article of clothing that I brought with me.  Additionally, I like my clothes, and for some reason, they have value to me… I don’t want them ruined. 

While, no, I don’t need a lot of things and I don’t need expensive things, I’m not high-maintenance… I do place unwarranted value in the material things of this world.  And I am prone to worrying about the future.  As Jesus says in Matthew 6:25-34:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about what you will wear.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are not you more important than they?  Dan any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?  Why are you anxious about clothes?  Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.  They do not work or spin.  But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.  If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?  So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’  or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’  All these things the pagans seek.  Your heavenly father knows tha you need them all.  But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you besides.  Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will teak care for itself.  Sufficient for a day is its own evil.” 

My lesson from laundry is this: I need to let go.  I need not worry about my life, I need to give my life to God – completely.  Because He knows what I need, and he knows the best way to provide it to me.  There is a song by a singer, Audrey Assad (who I absolutely love and if you haven’t heard of her, you NEED to look her up), called Everything is Yours, in which the part of chorus goes “If everything is yours, I’m letting it go.  No, it was never mine to hold.”  I am beginning to realize that I really need to live this way.  Is this scary? Are you crazy, YES!  Can I change overnight?  Absolutely not!  Do I know exactly where this realization is going to leave me?  No.  But I do have another four months to figure it out…

Who would have ever thought that laundry could be this deep?  P.S.  There was a lot of laundry today…

Now, to end with a couple of fun stories:

We were without running water for 4 days this past week… This meant that I went from Monday morning until Thursday morning without a shower.   Wednesday night, Thalia and I decided another day without a shower was not a possibility (I brushed my hair and I looked like I could have been one of the guys from Greece with my hear completely slicked back).  Therefore, Wednesday night, we washed Thalia’s hair in the sink by pouring water from a bucket over her head instead of using the faucet – no running water, remember? (can you believe she has never washed her hair in the sink before?  I am proud to say that I have had the pleasure previously and if you haven’t ever done this, you are truly missing out!).  Anyway, Thursday morning I was able to take a full bucket shower (including washing my hair), and it was quite the experience.  Basically, I poured water over my hair to get it all wet using a smaller water dish, and then shampooed my hair, rinsed it out using the same pouring water method.  It kinda was a lean over to the side and pour water over my head without making the water hit my body as it was quite cold.  And then I conditioned my hair… I considered skipping that step, but then realized that my hair was so tangled after the shampoo, that I would not be able to get a brush through it.  The whole experience, really wasn’t all that bad.  And if you have the inclination, after you have decided that you like washing your hair in a sink, I would highly recommend trying a full-on bucket shower. 

Prayers and love for everyone at home! 

Padre Nuestro

Sor Mirna has a sign of this hanging in her office, and I fell in love.  So, I thought I would share... I'll try to do my best to translate as well:

No digas: PADRE

Si cada día no te comportas como hijo.

No digas: NUESTRO

Si vives aislado en tu egoísmo.

No digas: QUE ESTAS EN LOS CIELOS

Si solo piensas en las cosas terrenales.

No digas: SANTIFICADO SEA TU NOMBRE

Si no lo honras, ni lo alabas.

No digas: VENGA A NOSOTROS TU REINO

Si lo confundes con el éxito material.

No digas: HAGASE TU VOLUNTAD

Si no lo aceptas cuando es dolorosa.

No digas: DANOS HOY NUESTRO PAN DE CADA DÍA

Si no te preocupas por la gente que tiene hambre.

No digas: PERDONA NUESTRAS OFENSAS

Si guardas rencor a tu hermano.

No digas: NO NOS DEJES CAER EN LA TENTACION

Si tienes la intención de seguir pecando.

No digas: LIBRANOS DEL MAL

Si no tomas partido contra el mal.

No digas: AMEN

Si no has entendido o no has tomado en serio las palabras del padre nuestro.

Don’t say: FATHER

If you don’t behave like a son every day.

Don’t say: OUR

If you only live in your own selfishness.

Don’t say: WHO ART IN HEAVEN

If you only think about things of this earth.

Don’t say: HALLOWED BE THY NAME

If you neither honor nor praise Him.

Don’t say: THY KINGDOM COME

If you confuse it with material possessions.

Don’t say: THY WILL BE DONE

If you don’t accept that there will be painful times.

Don’t say: GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD

If you aren’t concerned about people who are hungry.

Don’t say: FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES

If you are angry with your brother.

Don’t say: LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION

If you intend to continue sinning.

Don’t say: DELIVER US FROM EVIL

If you don’t fight evil.

Don’t say: AMEN

If you don’t truly understand or take seriously the words of the Lord’s Prayer.

P.S.  It has been cold and rainy the past two days... I don't want snow anymore (I want snow... but not the cold that goes with it, so I guess I can do without the snow).  This morning I saw the blue sky through the clouds, which means that it will be sunny and therefore warm.  MADE MY DAY!!!!

How many Americans does it take to finish a word problem in Spanish?

So, it has been more than a week since I’ve last posted... which means I have quite a few of short stories that weren’t really worth their own post. 

First of all, for some reason I’ve become kind of the go-to person for explaining math to the Primer Bachi girls as well as the Segundo Curso girls.  While it makes sense that I’m explaining math to the Segundo Curso girls (I lead a study group for them in English and math), I’m not entirely sure why the Primer Bachi girls always ask me for help with their math.  Usually, I can look at their notes from math class and figure out what they are working on and how their professor taught them to do the problems.  However, this past week, they had to do word problems… Typically, this would not be a problem; however, word problems become significantly more difficult when one does not speak the language.  I could, for the most part figure out what was supposed to be happening in the problem… who was trying to do what; however, I could not be certain what numbers were supposed to go where in the formulas (I could make an educated guess, but I wasn't sure), and therefore couldn’t be certain in how to set up the fractions required for the problems.  I actually ended up calling Thalia over so that she could translate the problem for me, I would then try to explain how to do the math… and if the girls didn’t understand my explanation, Thalia would tell them with her much more comprehensive knowledge of the Spanish language.  That’s how we get math homework done here.  YAY!   

Additionally, the girls are learning how to play volleyball in gym class and have a quiz tomorrow.  And so, I had to brake out my middle school volleyball knowledge to try to teach the girls how to bump and set… it is interesting trying to teach someone how to play a sport when I don’t know any of the terminology… but that is my life here… trying to explain stuff without the correct vocabulary.  There is a lot of “no se como se dice.”  I’ve kinda resigned myself to that.

Another adventure I was able to participate in this week… The girls have a (supposedly) silent study period every night in their study room – it’s never actually silent.  However, before study time, they girls have a mandatory recess in which the study room is closed and locked.  There are two sets of keys, one that Sor Yolanda keeps at all times, and the other that kind of floats around for Sor Berta, Thalia, or myself to use.  On Thursday, Sor Yolanda took a nap about half way through recess and Sor Berta ended up going to 5:00 mass because she wasn’t able to go in the morning, but she accidentally took the keys with her.  We had no keys for the study room which meant that the girls couldn’t get to their homework…  Anyway, so all of the sisters who were here, Thalia, and I were trying to figure out how to get into the study room when I realized that everything here is open air.  When I say this, I mean that there are a bunch of walls that don’t actually reach the ceiling.  There happens to be one of these walls near the back of the study room that conveniently has windows (the window sills of which make awesome ledges to stand on).  Therefore, I did the logical thing, and climbed over the wall (the top of which was rather dusty) and opened the door from the inside.  Now, because of this, I don’t only have the name Nicolita (which Sor Vilma gave me when I first got here and has caught on with the sisters, and now some of the girls), but Sor Vilma has called me a monkey… I really hope that one doesn’t catch on.    

Another laundry story.  I realize you guys are probs getting sick of me talking about washing clothes, but I promise to keep this one short.  I did my laundry on Friday morning and it usually takes between a day and a day and a half for clothes to dry.  I was too lazy/busy yesterday to bring my clothes in off the line (1. it was my day off and Thalia and I went out to walk around Santa Rosa.  2.  We ended up taking the girls to a Day of Peace Celebration – I think that is more or less how to translate it.  And 3.  We took the girls who work in the kitchen out for dinner).  Therefore, when I woke up this morning I knew that I would have to find time today to bring in my clothes, it was just a matter of when.  The plan was to do it right after breakfast before I had to start watching the girls… however, for some reason their schedule changed without me being informed of it… so I didn’t have any time after breakfast.  I supervised their breakfast and then supervised/helped with their chores… however, it started getting very cloudy, and when clouds like that start rolling in, you know it is going to rain.  So, basically, I’m mopping the corridor, and it starts raining… not like drizzling, but RAINING.  I have had my clothes out in the rain before and I REALLY didn’t want that to happen again.  So, just like all of the internas who have their clothes drying, I drop my mop and go running to the clothes line.  Luckily I got my clothes before they were drenched.  Oh the joys of laundry here never end!

Additionally, I’ve been seeing a ton of posts about snow at home… and while I realize that if I were at home I would be sick of the cold and snow by March and would want it to be spring already.  But being here, and only getting one real snowfall this winter, and it not being really cold when I was home is making me miss winter and snow a ton.  I know right, who would have ever thought I would say that?  Anyways, I decided that some time in the near future Thalia and I are going to decorate our room with snowflakes… maybe I’ll teach the girls how to make snowflakes too!  Also, yesterday when we were walking to dinner with the girls from the kitchen I was singing Frosty the Snowman… but I forgot half of the words and was messing up the verses… It’s been a while, don’t judge me.  I think they all thought I was crazy, but what can I say, I miss snow!

I feel like I’m missing a couple of stories… but I can’t think of them at the moment and this should give you enough of my life for now… 

Love to everyone at home!