Thurs, 6/28:
This morning I made French toast using bululos (kind of
like French bread) and got some powdered cinnamon, and it ended up much better.
Danny and Oscar hadn’t had maple syrup before, and thought it was like honey,
which I guess it kind of is.
After breakfast I worked on catching up on writing.
In the afternoon, we went to get lunch (fish, tajadas,
rice/beans, salad) at Mario’s and watch the first half of the Germany/Italy
game. When we were there, there were two guys that had lived in the US for
nearly 25 years, and knew Seattle – when I said I’m from Seattle, one said,
ohhh, a very clean city! and asked about what’s at the top of the Space Needle.
We had to leave before the second half started since I had to get back to PEP
in time for the 2pm class. We had a fun day today – Sara brought some balloons
and different colored sharpies, and the kids decorated them (and practiced
colors in English) and then realized they could fill them with water… so used
some as water balloons to throw out on the street. I was happy with how good
they were about cleaning up after them – most of the kids here are used to
throwing garbage on the ground, but I told them before we started that they
could throw them outside as long as they cleaned up the balloon bits, and most
of the time, all I had to do was say, heyyyy, did you forget something?? And
then they would come back and clean up the bits. For the last half hour of
class, we took the girls to the beach, which they loved (only girls showed up
today – we had less students, I’m sure because they didn’t have regular school
today).
After class, I went with Sara and Oscar to check out the
progress on the bathroom project. They were almost finished for the day when we
arrived, so we just helped them clean up. They made good progress today. It’s sad that
the new bathroom will be nicer than the family’s house, though – there are
parts where they are just holes in the wall since there are large spaces in
between the bits of wood and metal that are stuck together to make the walls.
They will use the extra cement from today, though, to put some cement flooring
in their little house. It was a little scary seeing Franklin, the kinder-aged
boy that lives there, walking around with a knife and then a machete, but the
other volunteers that were there said he regularly carries it around!
After a pineapple snack, I showered again and had peanut
butter and banana sandwiches for dinner, and watched “Extremely Loud and
Incredibly Close” – it was alright, but not nearly as good as the book.
I was also glad to see that the Affordable Care Act was
upheld today!
Fri, 6/29:
Had a good breakfast today – beans, eggs, bululos, and
avocado. In the morning, I caught up on writing, emails, news, etc. I also
registered for autumn quarter classes – 29 credits before electives….it’s
going to be busy!
Had fresh fried fish, rice, and boiled plantains for
lunch. In the evening, my stomach hurt really badly, and I think it may have
been from testing the rice and drinking some of the water it was cooking in,
before the water had heated up enough – I totally forgot I was using tap water.
I ended up sleeping from about 8:30 to 7:30 and it felt better in the morning.
In the evening, one of the trucks spraying insecticide
drove through town…definitely not pleasant to breathe in!
Sat, 6/30:
Made French toast this morning and also had a pound cake
muffin and coffee.
For lunch, we had chicken/beans/tortillas/chimol/pickled
onions – Alex’s campaign was selling them to raise money – very tasty!
After lunch, we went swimming since it is mostly cloudy
today so not bad sunburn weather…the only problem with that is, even though the
water isn’t cold, it’s cold getting out and I just want a hot shower, which is
impossible here!
Sun, 7/1:
Got up around 1am to catch the bus to Santa Bárbara – it
was supposed to come at 2, so I set my alarm for 1:25, and it came at 1:25, so
good thing we all got up early! There was a special bus from Porvenir that
picked up people in El Porvenir and La Unión and went straight to Santa
Bárbara. We arrived in Santa Bárbara around 7am and walked from where the buses
were up to the field. There were tons of vendors selling food, drinks, hats,
shirts, headbands, etc. We hung out in the field for a while and then had some
French fries and then found a spot in the shade to stand. After a few hours, we went to go find a bathroom and had to walk all the way back to where the buses were, and finally found a pulperia where the guy let me use his bathroom - I know bathrooms are harder to come by here, but I was still surprised that at an event for over 30,000 people, there was not one! When we walked back, we walked through the sides of the fields on the
way to the main field and stopped in the shade for a while. There were groups
set up everywhere, and more and more people just kept coming! We decided to
walk into the town and see if we could find a place where we could get food and
sit down, but when we finally found the only one in the area, it was super
full. Alex and Maria were there so we sat in the back of a guy’s truck for a
while (they had gotten hot dogs from him, so we were able to sit in his truck
for a while), and then waited for the rest of the group from Porvenir to come
back. While we waited, we went into the restaurant to get some water or pop,
but it was so busy that we left after a while of waiting, we gave up. Once a
bunch of people came, we went back to the bus, and waited there for probably
around an hour since there were a couple of people missing and it was so
crowded that we couldn’t get out anyway. While we were waiting, we saw the
motorcade with Xiomara, Mel, and others go by. The bus ride back seemed really
long – I kept falling asleep since I was so hot and thirsty (I had finished my
bottle of water around 10:30am and there was water on the bus, but we weren’t
sure that it was purified, so thought it was best for me to not drink it), and
finally at 5pm we stopped at Tío Dolmo’s (I learned the next day why they
always stop at Tío Dolmo’s instead of any other places – the bus driver gets
free food and gets paid a certain amount per person from his bus, since most
people end up buying something inside). I had chicken, rice, veggies, tortillas
and chimol, Sprite, water, and then afterwards, got a cup of the tasty hot rice drink (like rice pudding but this time it didn't have rice bits in it - don't remember the name). Then I
was stuffed, and much happier!
We got back around 7:30pm, and the lights were out in a
lot of town, but not in the Centro. Luckily it waited to go out in El Centro
til after I showered!
Mon, 7/2:
This morning I made beans, eggs, avocado, toasted
bululos, and coffee for breakfast – yum! After breakfast, I read part of La
Prensa, and then went to talk to Iris, the Honduran teacher that teaches the
morning class at PEP. After uploading some photos, I went over to talk to the
other PEP volunteers to get their opinions on how things are going at each
location and what can be done to improve the classes and their experience here.
I also worked on lesson plans for the adult classes (I’m covering Jim’s class
tonight and have my first night teaching my own adult class tomorrow evening)
and my classes.
For the kids’ classes, we combined the English and
Spanish since Jim wasn’t there, and Sara and I went over some verbs with them,
then turned them into the gerund form, and then also went over some vocab to go
with the verbs. Then the kids each wrote a sentence and drew an illustration
for it. We also played charades with the phrases and then played a game in the
campo.
I had adult class a couple hours later, which was fun.
Two of my students from last year were there, one I didn’t know, and one new
student who already knew quite a bit of English. It’s nice that the adult
classes have a workbook, so there is a curriculum to go off of.
Tues, 7/3:
I made crepes for breakfast, but instead of the usual
toppings, had pineapple jam and bananas. Later in the morning, I went with
Danny to his class at the university (CURLA) - it was interesting to go to a
class there. There are only 6 students in the class, so it was more of a
discussion instead of a lecture – it reminded me of small groups at my school.
We had lunch at the school (only L65, about $3.50, for
chicken, rice, tajadas, salad, and a bottle of Diet Coke) and then took a taxi
back to Porvenir. Sara was waiting for the bus to go to Ceiba when we arrived,
so she just took our taxi back to Ceiba. Since I was carrying a few things and
normally have my phone in my pocket, but had taken it out, I left it in the
taxi. It was so frustrating, because I realized it only a few minutes later,
and Danny called it and said it was the owner of the phone calling, and then
the guy hung up right away and never answered again. When I talked to Sara, she
said she had found it and given it to the taxi driver, but since I had her
number in my phone, I couldn’t call her to tell her it was mine.
For class, I introduced another list of spelling words,
and had them write stories using the words. One of the girls didn’t want to
write, so I took her aside and read with her – and then found that even though
she is in fifth grade or so, she has a really hard time reading – even “el” she
often read as “le.”
I had adult class a couple of hours later – it was really
good. We covered a lot of material, so will review it next week. They really
liked that we practiced pronunciation a lot, since they said they haven’t
gotten much practice with that in class yet, and that’s the hardest part for
them. It was good to get feedback from them so I can try to make the classes as
useful as possible for them!
Weds, 7/4:
Made beans, eggs, avocado, and tajadas for breakfast this
morning and then went to Ceiba to get a new phone. I bought one for just over
$20 – it is very basic! But I guess it will do the job for the next month.
While I was in Ceiba, I also looked around for new sandals (no luck), got a
smoothie, and then ran into Brittani and Jim in the grocery store. They told me
they were planning a 4th of July BBQ for this evening, so I got some
tortilla chips for that and also picked up some casabe since I love it!! I had
already bought some bread on the bus from a guy because I felt bad that no one
else bought any – one of the types reminded me of corn bread, and the other
type reminded me of a bigger, softer version of those teething biscuits you
give babies to gnaw on. For two huge pieces each, it was only $1 total. I
picked up some grapes at the terminal on my way back, and then Brittani and Jim
ended up being on the same bus as me. While we were sitting on the bus waiting
for it to leave, a girl was selling mamones, so I got some of those, too, and
then the same bread guy came by with empanadas filled with pineapple – it was
hard to resist getting some of those, but I figured I’d already bought enough
for one day!
Classes went pretty well today – in the 2pm class, we
reviewed the spelling words and then I had them each start a story, and they
passed them around every few minutes, and the next person continued from where
the last one had left off. They then each ended with their own and read it
aloud to the class.
For the 3pm class, we did the same thing, but they didn’t
last as long with the stories, so then we played bingo with some words they
came up with, and then musical chairs, and then “de colores” – where I call out
a color in English and they all have to run and touch something that’s that
color.
After class, I went and put some money on my phone and
bought a couple of cocoa topos (the frozen milk/chocolate in bags) and then
went online to check my emails and update incoming volunteers with my new
number. Then I was finally able to call Mom, and also got to talk to Derek for
a few minutes J
In the evening, we had a 4th of July BBQ at
VH1 – there were hamburgers, hot dogs, chips & guacamole, and watermelon. Jim
put on a mix of “American” songs – basically any song with the word “America”
in it, or other ones that seem really American – some of the ones that came on
were pretty funny! While we were eating, one of the mosquito trucks came by,
spraying pesticide again. After eating, we played spoons and did one firework –
one of the cohetes that basically just blows up and a bunch of newspaper bits
go flying everywhere. We played some more spoons and then called it a night. Also
while we were there, I dropped my phone in water and broke it – I was pretty
amazed – I’ve had a cell phone for ~10 years and never broken or lost one, and
then I lost/broke two within two days! Brittani gave me some rice to put it in
overnight to see if it would dry out enough to work again.
Thurs, 7/5:
I was going to go buy another new phone this morning, but
Carlos took mine apart and said he was going to try to fix it. I thought there
was no way it would start working again, but figured I’d let him try and then
go get a new phone tomorrow. So, I went to work on the bathroom construction
project with Jim and Brittani. We worked on making the frame for the wooden
part of the bathroom (above the cement blocks part). When we went to ask
Nolbin, the guy that lives there, where we could connect water for the shower,
we found out that the water had been shut off since they hadn’t paid. They said
it’s L45 (about $2.25) a month for water (unlimited amount since there’s no way
to measure it out there), so we thought maybe we could just pay this month’s
worth to get it turned back on so we could connect everything and see that it
works. But, when I asked how we were able to get water from the hose if the
water had been turned off, we found out that the water was actually turned off
over a year ago since that’s when they stopped paying, and they are currently getting
water from a hose that runs from the neighbor’s property. We were unsure of
what to do, since we thought there was no way he was going to pay over a year’s
worth of water and continue paying every month if he already had running water
from the hose, but we can’t connect the hose to the shower (need a pipe), and
it would be such a waste to have built a shower and then not have it used. It made
us wonder why he hadn’t said anything before, when we said we were going to
build a shower! So, we
went over to the water office with Nolbin and took Oscar with us, who was great
– worked out a payment schedule for Nolbin, and told him that he really needs
to pay, since if people come in the future and see that the shower doesn’t
work, they’re not going to want to build for other people, and it’s not fair
for him to ruin this for others, and that he is getting his neighbor in trouble
for letting him have water, too (it would be different if he truly couldn't afford the L45 a month, but if they can afford Pepsi every day, they can go without for one day and pay the month's water). I think he really will pay now since the water
office knows that he is running water from the neighbor, and are going to cut that,
so he’ll have to pay to get water.
After that, we grabbed some food quickly and then went to
class. When we stopped by Funez to get some food, Carlos showed me my phone –
and he had fixed it! (But then I realized later that I can’t hear anything, so not
sure if that is fixable, but thinking I will probably end up getting another
phone tomorrow.) We went to the campo to
play for class, and then went straight back to the construction site to get back
to work. After we’d been there only a few minutes, it started POURING and got
chilly – but since we were in the middle of the frame, we just kept working through
it. After we’d finished enough that it would stay up on its own, we took a
quick break for some pineapple and then got back to it. A couple of other girls
joined us, and we worked for a couple more hours and had a baleadas break. I stayed
til about 6:30, and the rest stayed a while longer. Tomorrow after we finish,
Rosy (the woman that lives there) is going to teach us how to make baleadas
(mostly just how to make tortillas from scratch, since all we have to do after
that is add beans and cheese).
Again this evening the pesticide truck came by spraying
pesticide mist everywhere – quite unpleasant!
Fri, 7/6:
This morning Brittani came over since her finger is still
bothering her (she pounded it with hammer yesterday morning). We decided to go
to the Centro de Salud. When we walked up to it, we didn’t really know where to
go, since there’s no front desk/window, and just a bunch of people sitting
around, looking like they’re waiting, but it was unclear who worked there. We
looked around a little, and then asked a woman who looked like she might work there,
and she said we could just wait for a minute and the doctor would see us. We waited
for a little, but were seen before any of the other people waiting – so I’m not
sure if they just had us cut in line, or if they were waiting for something different.
I think they may have all been pregnant women there for prenatal checks, so
maybe they were waiting for someone else. Anyway, the doctor took a look at it,
and we told her what happened and that Brittani really didn’t want the nail
removed if possible. She cleaned it up a bit, wrapped it in gauze and some tape,
and then said all she needs to do is buy something like Ibuprofen for the pain
(they don’t have any at the clinic). I verified with her that she doesn’t need
antibiotics, and she said no – which I agreed with, but was surprised by, since
the vast majority of people here are much more antibiotic-happy than we are –
they’re available at many pulperías and any pharmacy, without a prescription. When
Brittani asked who to pay, she said, nothing – it’s totally free. Brittani
asked if she could pay, and she said, well, if you want to… so Brittani gave
her some, since she also gave her some supplies to wrap it up again. I didn’t
realize that the Centro was free, but it’s completely free since it’s public! While
we were there, I also said I’m a medical student in the States and asked if I could
come sometime to watch, and she said, oh! Monday and 7am! You can take blood
pressure and other vital signs, that’s when we’re busiest. So I guess I will be
there at 7am on Monday!
After that, I went to the construction site to talk to
Jim and went around collecting money for Sunday Funday. We’re going to have a
BBQ/games/etc on the beach on Sunday, and are going to buy all the food for it
today.
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101332492221808.2990577.10735354&type=3&l=34f28cdb8e
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101297854281518.2984316.10735354&type=3&l=cad0e398ab
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