Adios mi querido Honduras

June 30 – exactly 367 days ago I arrived in Cofradia ready to embark on a new adventure.  Now it’s hard to believe that it’s time to say good bye.  I will be leaving Cofradia tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.  I’ve spent the better part of the last month saying my good byes – here, in Tegucigalpa and (yes I did make it) in Olancho.  One thing that has surprised me this go around is that I am not the crier that I once was.  Maybe I’ve said good bye so many times in my life and know that change is inevitable that I’m more understanding.  Or maybe I’ll be in a fit of tears tomorrow as I leave.  I can say that I have learned so much this year and probably never gotten so many good hugs.  Kids have a way of entering your heart and making themselves at home there.  I hope to always carry them there with me.  I have developed great relationships with many of the students’ parents.  They have opened their homes and their hearts to us and for that I will always be grateful.  These last few days I have been savoring my walks around town hearing Miss Andrea (when ever will I be Miss Andrea again?) being shouted at me from houses and kids playing.  They have made Cofradia feel like home.

I’ll miss my walks with two brothers (the only two brave enough to walk for an hour with me several times).  Their conversations made me smile and I will miss them.  It makes me feel good to know that they will continue to be in good hands at San Jeronimo and just like they blossomed this year they will blossom again next year and the next time I see them their English will be even more amazing.

I’ll miss the two kids who basically live at school since their moms clean the school.  They have two of the biggest smiles you’ve ever seen and never fail to look at each day as an opportunity for greatness.

I’ll miss the kinder and prepa kids who from day one stole my heart.  Innocence and forgiveness at that age is something that I cherish and wish we as adults could partake in.  Kids love with all their heart and aren’t afraid to show it.  I will try to implement that into my life from here on out.

I’ll miss all things plantain, baleadas, fresh fruit grown in your backyard and kisses on the cheek when greeting friends.  I may even miss a cat call or two (definitely not three).  I won’t miss sweating 24/7 or the smell that goes with that.  I can do without loudspeakers announcing store specials and roosters outside my bedroom window. I will miss speaking Spanish and being told I speak Spanish like a German or Russian.

Anyway even though there were many hard times this year and even a few times where I doubted the decision I had made, I am glad to have spent this year here.  I have grown a lot, made many new friends and feel proud to be part of the BECA family.  San Jeronimo is changing students’ lives and it is nice to know that I’ve had a small part in that change.  I look forward to seeing what SJBS will grow to be in the next few years and I also look forward to hearing what great things our graduates are doing.

Now that I’ve got the nostalgic part out of the way I will fill you in on the last few weeks:

On June 18^th we had kindergarten, 6^th grade and 9^th grade graduation.  It was so cute to see our students in their caps and gowns.  I was honored to sit at the head table and help hand out diplomas; I was also surprised when called to the microphone to give my graduation speech.  No one had told me that I had to talk at graduation so I flubbed my way through an impromptu speech.  All things considered I don’t think it went too bad.  The school recognized each of the BECA volunteers with an SJBS polo shirt.  In the end Mother Nature got the best of us as a large storm moved in and the electricity went out twice while handing out diplomas.  Fortunately, the electricity came back relatively quickly each time. 

The day after graduation the teachers started to leave.  It was sad saying goodbye to those who I spent the year living and working with.  As the last two headed to the airport I boarded a bus and went to visit friends I had made while I was in the Peace Corps.  I was excited to be heading back to Olancho (where my whole Honduran adventure actually began) as I hadn’t been there in at least 4-5 years.  It was like going back home.  I was greeted as soon as I got off the bus.  People opened up their houses and homes to me.  I met new people and saw friends I hadn’t seen in over 11 years.  It was a quick trip but a much needed one for me.  I miss that town dearly.  It looked good and my friends were all doing well and I ate incredibly.  From there I ventured back to Teguc and spent the rest of my time with the usual crew – Mando, Luz’s family and Hector.  My friend Ana helped me shop in Valle de Angeles for gifts for friends.  I had to wear long sleeves in Teguc as it was probably 10 degrees cooler there than in San Pedro.  How will I survive Syracuse?  Good question and stay tuned to see if I do.

So as I head to bed on my last night here, I am happy, overwhelmed, sad and confused.  I spent the evening saying goodbyes and having dinner with the newly arrived summer camp counselors.  BECA does a great job of recruiting quality volunteers and it has been great to see their enthusiasm and work ethic.   I know they will do great things this summer.  Wishing them the best of luck….and hoping that the 2010-2011 teachers are doing well wherever they might be....

End of School Year

Friday, June 3rd was the last day of school at SJBS.  I can't believe that the year is over.  Work is still to be done but I wanted to take some time and recap the month of May....

SJBS had its annual Libros y Familia activity to promote literacy and encourge parents to read with their kids and talk about what they are learning.  Turn out was good.  We had about 30 families attend the event, where we split up the parents and kids.  Parents were in a structured discussion around the book Juan Verdades The Man Who Couldn't Lie.  Kids were in an art class making puppets to go along with the book we were reading.This event was later followed by end of the year performances by each grade, combined with great chicken pastelitos, fruit salad and Jamaica juice.  A great success!

Jamaica Juice!

The women who made the delicious pastelitos

7th graders before their performance

Pre-kinder class right before hitting the stage

Miss Glenda's awesome bulletin board skills.

Carlos from the group Montuca and his SJBS band....they are really good!

In May, I also finished my 62 home visits.  To celebrate and to say thank you to the Becado Reps we had an afternoon of pizza making.  Many wanted to learn how to make pizzas and I love eating pizza so we had some fun.  This also happened to fall on my birthday so began the cake eating train we've been on since then.

Pizza looks pretty good!

Hondurans love to cover your face in frosting

May 20th was middle school science fair.  The judging team took their jobs seriously.

The science fair was very successful as students had to present their projects to three judges and tell us about their hypothesis, the procedures they followed, the results of their data and their conclusions.  Some projects were very simple but others took a lot of time and preparation. 

I then ventured to Teguc to celebrate by bday with two of my best Honduran friends.  More cake and great times!

After my return from Teguc it was crunch time with the beca scholarship applications.  This process was definitely one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do in my life.  I enjoyed visiting all of the families, learning more about their lives, etc. but when it came to the decision making process I definitely lost sleep.  There was a bright spot at the end of the week my cousin Joel came to visit.  We slow bussed it to Ceiba and spent a nice weekend on the beach, catching up and eating great food.  The view from our hotel wasn't too bad either.

He's tall right?  I also found out during those days that I have a job when I return to the states.  I will be moving to Syracuse, New York and working at the study abroad office at Syracuse.  It looks like trips to Spain and Chile may be in my near future.

Last week was exam week and filled with good bye parties and dinners.  Its hard to believe that I will be back in the states in less than one month.  In many ways time here has flown by and in other ways it had dragged on.  I am very happy with the decision that I made to take a year off and come back to Honduras.  Honduras is a beautiful country, has very warm and caring people and is my second home.  I will miss it dearly (especially while experiencing the Syracuse winters!)  The next few weeks will be busy in and of themselves.  We start entrance exams and recuperation exams this week.  Graduation (kindergarten, 6th and 9th grades) will be on June 18th.  I plan to visit Teguc again and venture all the way to Olancho (finally after a 5 year absence).  Then summer camp counselors will be here and I depart.  I hope to post a bit more on here but if not I hope you've enjoyed seeing a bit of what the past year has been like for me in Cofradia.

SJBS Jungle Book presentation

On May 6th and 7th the SJBS Drama Club presented the Jungle Book.  Please take some time to check out their performance (this video is way better than any photos I took).  It was a great show and the first time that many of them have performed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eur8TXMRXYw

April

It’s been a long time since I last posted. I hope this will update you on the latest in this crazy yearlong adventure of mine.

Where I last left off I was down to one good leg and taking a lot of ibuprofen. Things have changed for the better. Two days after I injured myself we went to Belize to renew our visas. This is a trip that we had all looked forward to and was a light at the end of a tunnel (fun after several weeks of school with no break). Well needless to say it wasn’t all that for me and for a few others. I was basically a hermit. I had to get a piggyback ride to our hotel. Then again to dinner. Got home from dinner day one and got a stomach bug that had me out of commission for two days. Which meant no bacon for the entire time I was in Belize. Such a disappointment. I was 200 feet from the beach and never set foot on it. Had V8 and meals delivered to me. And took off the temporary cast that I’d gotten the day before we left. But luckily the rest of April was looking up! I got back to school and began working on projects (costume designing for the Jungle Book production, labeling books for the library, etc.) Anything that meant that I didn’t need to move. I also had to bum rides to school.

The weekend after Belize my friend from childhood Tara came to visit. Her first time outside the US and she picked Honduras. Her trip started off rough with getting into Honduras a day later than planned but other than that things went perfectly. We headed straight to Copan and spent two days there catching up, seeing the ruins and enjoying happy hour. Neither of us are very good with the cameras so we only have a couple of photos together (all oddly enough in the back of a mototaxi) and I was so prepared that my batteries died on about photo 10 at the ruins so I couldn’t document anything).

Here we are – don’t mind the beans in my teeth (left over from a great breakfast) or the uber large sunglasses I have on ($3 at the San Pedro bus terminal – can’t beat that!)

Copan is known for its intricate carving detail. It was great to go back after not visiting for 10 years. This was the first time I visited in the dry season, my memories of Copan were all green but as you can see the ruins mix into the scenery.

Before semana santa (holy week) we had an assembly to celebrate Dia de las Americas, Earth Day and Day of Spanish language. Here are some photos from those events:

Semana Santa allowed me to check off the last “to see” place in Honduras that was on my list. I’ve previously had two trips scheduled there and they were subsequently canceled. So third time was a charm. This was a fantastic, relaxing, beautiful trip. My photos won’t do it justice. First the most important thing to know about the Mosquitia is that it is remote. You can only access it by boat or by plane. We started our journey Friday after school and took a bus to Ceiba. The wonderful tour company we used Ecoadventuras la Moskitia gave us a free night of lodging before we took off at 4:30 a.m. in a 4X4 truck. This truck took us to Iriona where we crossed a river like this:

We then proceeded to drive on the beach for the next 1.5 hours. Here’s the view from my seat in the truck cabin:

From there we reached Pueblo Nuevo, where we started our first of many boat rides.

The spray was pretty bad so those behind me had to take cover. After 1.5 more hours on a motorized boat we arrived to Raista, our home for the 1st night.

We were seconds away from the Laguna de Ibans and a 2 minute walk away from the Caribbean. It was peaceful and magical. We left early the next morning for a 4.5 hour motorized pipante ride down the Rio Platano. Here are some photos of the scenery, houses, and river (people’s lives revolve around this river – its their only mode of transport (no cars), their bathtub and laundry mat, they eat fish from there, etc.)

Our second home for 2 nights:

The view from our balcony.

Las Marias.

The start of day three. A 45 minute walk. A 2.5 hour boat ride. 2 hour hike. Petrogliphs. A 2.5 hour boat ride. Crocodile tour. Was nervous as my ankle was still weak but I survived….more than I can say for my camera.

View from our hike.

How we made our way up river.

Going through rapids.

Petrogliphs.

Crossing the river to get to the next set of petroglyphs my camera fell into the river and I had to dive to get it. So no pictures of the famous petroglyph , the crocodile tour or our time after la Mosquitia until Trujillo. Here is what picture quality looked like:

After returning from the day on the river, we rested and then after dinner (around 7:30 p.m.) we went for a crocodile tour. 8 of us got into a large dugout canoe and we began to go down river. We were all armed with our flashlights. Soon the boat stopped and we were told to flash our lights around. Soon we began to see red dots along the water. A guide jumped out and stuck his hand into the water close to the red dots and came up with a small crocodile. He proceeded to tie it to our boat for photos then let it loose to chase us around a bit. Scary but cool.

We then did the same return trip to Raista the next day. And the following day we left for Iriona (by the rope pulled bridge. We left the tour to spend the day with an SJBS family. This was the best home visit ever. Two current students and their sister who graduated last year along with their mom, grandma and plethora of cousins welcomed us into their Garifuna village. We learned how to make Casave (from ground yucca – a great chip), ate machuca and fish, and spent the day at the beach, playing volleyball, hair braiding (I just watched) and a late night (8:30) dance party. The time in Mosquitia showed us that Honduras has a varied culture. We heard Moskito and Garifuna language. Saw their traditions. I learned so much new about the country I’ve come to call my 2nd home. From there we headed to Trujillo. A beach town I frequented a lot as a Peace Corps Volunteer. My how it has changed. When I went there were about 10 tourists. Semana Santa produced about 5,000 visitors. The beaches were packed but a fun, relaxing time was still had.

Only had drinks here but beautiful view.

After Trujillo we headed home and started back to work. The week back I did 20 home visits (10 in one day). I’m down to only 15 visits left. I’ll write more about last weekends fun at the feria de San Marcos later.

What I learned yesterday

1.  Walking and Texting don't mix.  Here is the needed proof of that:

Right leg after it hit the pavement hard

Left ankle after it buckled in a hole

As those who knew me prior to this year in Honduras I never texted in the States.  Didn't even know how.  Wish I still didn't.  It's a hazard of my job as its cheaper than calling someone.  Well here goes the back story to the two grotesque pictures.  It was a little after 5 pm and I was headed to my last meeting of the day (had just finished four home visits).  I decided to walk off the three chicken tacos I had at one of the home stay houses.  I was about 1/2 to school when my phone rang.  Answered it and it was an SJBS beca mom who is on the junta and wanted to walk together to the meeting.  Great I said.  I'll turn around and meet you and we'll walk together.  I hung up and turned around.  Then I got a text from the Director saying she could give me a ride.  I immediately started to write back...no worries I"m walking with...and next thing I knew I was on the ground.  The pavement sloped off and I obviously didn't see that and my left ankle buckled and I hit the ground hard.

2.  People are very generous.
So as I lay there on the side of the road, traffic stopped.  Two mototaxi drivers came to my rescue.  Another truck stopped.  Between the two mototaxi drivers they were able to put me in the front of the truck and drive me back to town where we found the woman I was turning around to meet.  She also got in the truck and they drove me to the nearest health clinic (next to the fire station).  A fireman carried me into the clinic and a doctor attended to me quickly.  Assessment a badly sprained ankle.  Soon in through the door came four of my fellow teachers.  Word travels fast.  The driver of the truck is the uncle of a student at SJBS who just happened to be at our apartments receiving tutoring when his uncle called to tell him about my fall.  Then came Mabel (founder of the school and landlady) and Gonzalo (president of the junta).  They wrapped my ankle, prescribed a couple of days of bed rest and ice and the teachers and Mabel helped me home.  Doctor didn't even charge me. I've been confined to my bed for over 15 hours and I'm going crazy.....but at least I have TV shows on DVD and the internet.  Don't know how Mrs. Harmon did bed rest for 5 weeks without a computer or TV....

We leave for Belize in two days...hopefully I can find crutches and be mobile while there.

Super appreciative of all the help from the people that I know and don't know.  Makes the Cof feel like home.

Photos to go with my last post

Since I have nothing better to do while recuperating here in my bed (more about this in my next post) here are photos that go with my  last post (birthday parties)

Birthday girl with her pinata in the back of the truck on our way up the mountain.

Location of the birthday party.

At the river by the pool



Other teachers at the party



Crazy cake

Typical pinata action s

It's Honduran tradition to push faces into birthday cakes

















Birthday party #2

Pinata and the birthday girl

Another SJBS student and the birthday girl

Ya queremos pastel!

 





Cake in the face again!