March 30
This past weekend I was in San Pedro Sula for a night to get some errands done and also to swing Tek by the vet and give him a pre-flight checkup. This guy is such a stud traveling—you put him on a bus and he doesn’t whine or squirm, doesn’t threaten or attack fellow passengers, doesn’t do any business—he just chills. I was singing his praises to the vet once I brought him in, and her response was “yea but he’s kind of a scaredy cat.” He kept meekly pulling his arms away from her as she tried to get a blood sample. He eventually relented, taking the needle like a champ, and I am happy to announce that he is a healthy dog. I am actually flying out of Tegucigalpa, so in three weeks or so I’ll go down there with him and do this all over again.
Nothing else to report about this trip except the ride back. I get up at the crack of dawn to get a cab and then a little rapidito bus the twenty minute ride to the vet’s office so I can get Tek before the 6:30am bus heading from San Pedro back to Victoria passes. Mission accomplished, Tek and I are waiting at the bus stop before our Victoria ride gets there. Unfortunately this day happens to be a Saturday morning, the Saturday before Semana Santa begins. Weekend buses are always more packed, and this weekend more than most, but there was no time during the week to go and the trip to the vet needed to happen now. But my fears came to realization when the bus owner, Tomás, stepped off the bus, looked at Tek and said, “Amigo, there’s no room.” He took me to the back of the bus and opened the door to show me—boxes and bags stacked four feet high, taking up the back area and the final two rows of seats. I pleaded with him and after a couple of minutes he relented. So the whole ride back I was standing and Tek was resting on top of a child’s bicycle...on top of this pile of boxes.
In World Cup qualification news, on Saturday night Honduras was about 115 seconds from getting it’s first win and the three points that go with it, and then allowed Trinidad & Tobago to score, resulting in a tie (only one point). As for the USA, down 2-0 in San Salvador, our boys scored twice in the last fifteen minutes to tie and salvage a point! On Wednesday is the big one for Honduras—Mexico comes to town! Team USA plays at home vs. T & T, which should be a win, but nothing’s for sure.
April 11
We’re winding down Semana Santa right now, and I am here in Victoria. Earlier I had planned to go with a family to Copán for the week, but a miscommunication with the volunteer with whom I share the theodolite meant that I did not get said equipment when I wanted it and was forced to finish off my last topo study during this holiest of weeks. More on this later, but before I forget, another World Cup qualification update.
On the first of the month there was another round of games. Mexico came to Honduras and had their ass handed to them, 3-1. It was the first victory for Honduras in this round of qualifying and was an impressive one at that. The States won their game, 3-0, at home against Trinidad & Tobago. The next game for Honduras is an away game against USA, so everyone is talking trash, super confident based on the easy win against Mexico. Unfortunately by the time the two teams play each other I will no longer be in Honduras and I have a sinking feeling I won’t be able to find the game on TV in the States, whereas here it will be on every channel!
So besides that final topo study and system design, the major part of my remaining work involves preparing villages that I was not able to do studies in to have their ducks in a row for the next volunteer. The hottest and driest months here are March, April, and in to May, and for villages that want water systems, these are the months that one has to go to measure the flow of their chosen water source. If the water flow during these dry months is enough to support the population of the village, then things are good and you can move on to planning the topo study and then design and budget estimation, etc. Generally in the middle to later part of May the rainy season begins, June at the latest, and once that happens there is plenty of water everywhere—brooks and streams and rivers fill, there is water coming out of the ground all over—it’s ridiculous. But I have been to villages where the system was designed and built based on the measurement of a source during the rainy season, and so these people (who have faucets and sinks and showers in their homes) do not have water in March and April.
I leave here in the first week in May and the next wat/san volunteer will get here two weeks later. In the event that the rains have already begun by the time he arrives, I want to have water sources measured in at least two or three villages so he does not have to wait an entire year until the next dry season hits to start the process. On Friday of last week I got two done in the same day! It will likely be the most productive day I have for the rest of my time here, work-related at least, because I only have one other date scheduled to do an aforo (literally, “measurement”). In the early morning a bus took me part of the way and then I got off and walked with community members into the hills to the source. This first one I did on Friday was the same one I visited with the “aspirante” volunteer-to-be that came in the middle of March—that was the first time I had seen that fuente, and this time I was back to measure it. Things went well, there was plenty of water.
I walked back to Victoria afterward, ate lunch, and then in the early afternoon met up with one of my host brothers-in-law (he works with Salud and is married to a daughter of my host “parents”) and we hiked about an hour up from Victoria to a tiny village of 12 houses that I had never visited. In total distance from Victoria it’s probably not too far, but it is only up, up, and up so it took us some time. And we went in the hottest part of the day (one of the NY-based Jehovah’s Witnesses who has been walking around town recently told me the temp got to 104 degrees F), so that didn’t add to our pace! By the time we got to the village each of us had finished off our respective water bottles but we were given orange soda in one house and then coffee in another. Coffee. It sounds crazy to me, but coffee is such a staple of the diet here that the weather does not exist that will dissuade one from drinking (or offering) coffee. But I guess coffee drinkers the world over drink it no matter what. I am not a coffee drinker, but I was glad to be offered something to drink, and the sugar in it helped me re-energize as well.
The water source for this village is tiny, significantly smaller than the one I had seen in the morning, but because the village is so small it was sufficient. And because we took the measurements during the hottest and driest month, I am fairly certain that there will be sufficient water year round. And that was the day—two water sources measured, two villages ready for the next guy to begin work with as soon as he gets here! The hike back down to Victoria was cake because it was not as hot out, it was all downhill, and we knew there was all manner of refrigerated drinks waiting for us!
The next day, Saturday, was excellent because the pool just outside of town opened up. I cleaned the heck out of my house during the morning and in the afternoon went with Sara and another friend down to the pool. How excellent are afternoon’s spent in and around a pool? It was nice to be in the water and out of the heat for awhile.
And then there was Semana Santa. Last year I spent it with a group of friends in the department of Olancho, hiking the third highest mountain in the country. But this year, due to a lack of time remaining and a miscommunication with another volunteer, I was doing my last topo study during the first part of the week, and then hanging out in Victoria working on the design for the rest of it. The study was good, no real issues and I was out of there after two days. On Wednesday night I got back to town and was ready for whatever “Holy Week” in Victoria was going to throw at me. It did not throw anything. The town had become packed with strange (to me) cars and people--relatives coming back to their hometown from all over the country. But as opposed to during the feria, when everyone descends on Victoria, this time every single person was in their parent’s house or down at the río. I went out on Thursday afternoon to get some rice and salt, an errand that would normally take me five minutes or less. But on that particular day it was impossible. Nothing was open. Not a single one of the dozen or so pulperías around my house had an open door. Walking around town it felt like I was in a Stephen King novel and everyone but me had evacuated the area or died. In the two years I have been here I had never seen Victoria like that.
Things returned to normal on Friday. My landlady even gave me some of the traditional sopa de pescado and as she prepared it her family grilled me about girls and Honduras’ chance of beating the USA in July. That was a pleasant and unexpected surprise. And on Sunday I was involved in more Honduran family events because my host family had extended family from Tegucigalpa and Puerto Cortés come to town to celebrate not only La Pascua but little Isabela’s baptism. Here are some pics of the family...
This past weekend I was in San Pedro Sula for a night to get some errands done and also to swing Tek by the vet and give him a pre-flight checkup. This guy is such a stud traveling—you put him on a bus and he doesn’t whine or squirm, doesn’t threaten or attack fellow passengers, doesn’t do any business—he just chills. I was singing his praises to the vet once I brought him in, and her response was “yea but he’s kind of a scaredy cat.” He kept meekly pulling his arms away from her as she tried to get a blood sample. He eventually relented, taking the needle like a champ, and I am happy to announce that he is a healthy dog. I am actually flying out of Tegucigalpa, so in three weeks or so I’ll go down there with him and do this all over again.
Nothing else to report about this trip except the ride back. I get up at the crack of dawn to get a cab and then a little rapidito bus the twenty minute ride to the vet’s office so I can get Tek before the 6:30am bus heading from San Pedro back to Victoria passes. Mission accomplished, Tek and I are waiting at the bus stop before our Victoria ride gets there. Unfortunately this day happens to be a Saturday morning, the Saturday before Semana Santa begins. Weekend buses are always more packed, and this weekend more than most, but there was no time during the week to go and the trip to the vet needed to happen now. But my fears came to realization when the bus owner, Tomás, stepped off the bus, looked at Tek and said, “Amigo, there’s no room.” He took me to the back of the bus and opened the door to show me—boxes and bags stacked four feet high, taking up the back area and the final two rows of seats. I pleaded with him and after a couple of minutes he relented. So the whole ride back I was standing and Tek was resting on top of a child’s bicycle...on top of this pile of boxes.
In World Cup qualification news, on Saturday night Honduras was about 115 seconds from getting it’s first win and the three points that go with it, and then allowed Trinidad & Tobago to score, resulting in a tie (only one point). As for the USA, down 2-0 in San Salvador, our boys scored twice in the last fifteen minutes to tie and salvage a point! On Wednesday is the big one for Honduras—Mexico comes to town! Team USA plays at home vs. T & T, which should be a win, but nothing’s for sure.
April 11
We’re winding down Semana Santa right now, and I am here in Victoria. Earlier I had planned to go with a family to Copán for the week, but a miscommunication with the volunteer with whom I share the theodolite meant that I did not get said equipment when I wanted it and was forced to finish off my last topo study during this holiest of weeks. More on this later, but before I forget, another World Cup qualification update.
On the first of the month there was another round of games. Mexico came to Honduras and had their ass handed to them, 3-1. It was the first victory for Honduras in this round of qualifying and was an impressive one at that. The States won their game, 3-0, at home against Trinidad & Tobago. The next game for Honduras is an away game against USA, so everyone is talking trash, super confident based on the easy win against Mexico. Unfortunately by the time the two teams play each other I will no longer be in Honduras and I have a sinking feeling I won’t be able to find the game on TV in the States, whereas here it will be on every channel!
So besides that final topo study and system design, the major part of my remaining work involves preparing villages that I was not able to do studies in to have their ducks in a row for the next volunteer. The hottest and driest months here are March, April, and in to May, and for villages that want water systems, these are the months that one has to go to measure the flow of their chosen water source. If the water flow during these dry months is enough to support the population of the village, then things are good and you can move on to planning the topo study and then design and budget estimation, etc. Generally in the middle to later part of May the rainy season begins, June at the latest, and once that happens there is plenty of water everywhere—brooks and streams and rivers fill, there is water coming out of the ground all over—it’s ridiculous. But I have been to villages where the system was designed and built based on the measurement of a source during the rainy season, and so these people (who have faucets and sinks and showers in their homes) do not have water in March and April.
I leave here in the first week in May and the next wat/san volunteer will get here two weeks later. In the event that the rains have already begun by the time he arrives, I want to have water sources measured in at least two or three villages so he does not have to wait an entire year until the next dry season hits to start the process. On Friday of last week I got two done in the same day! It will likely be the most productive day I have for the rest of my time here, work-related at least, because I only have one other date scheduled to do an aforo (literally, “measurement”). In the early morning a bus took me part of the way and then I got off and walked with community members into the hills to the source. This first one I did on Friday was the same one I visited with the “aspirante” volunteer-to-be that came in the middle of March—that was the first time I had seen that fuente, and this time I was back to measure it. Things went well, there was plenty of water.
I walked back to Victoria afterward, ate lunch, and then in the early afternoon met up with one of my host brothers-in-law (he works with Salud and is married to a daughter of my host “parents”) and we hiked about an hour up from Victoria to a tiny village of 12 houses that I had never visited. In total distance from Victoria it’s probably not too far, but it is only up, up, and up so it took us some time. And we went in the hottest part of the day (one of the NY-based Jehovah’s Witnesses who has been walking around town recently told me the temp got to 104 degrees F), so that didn’t add to our pace! By the time we got to the village each of us had finished off our respective water bottles but we were given orange soda in one house and then coffee in another. Coffee. It sounds crazy to me, but coffee is such a staple of the diet here that the weather does not exist that will dissuade one from drinking (or offering) coffee. But I guess coffee drinkers the world over drink it no matter what. I am not a coffee drinker, but I was glad to be offered something to drink, and the sugar in it helped me re-energize as well.
The water source for this village is tiny, significantly smaller than the one I had seen in the morning, but because the village is so small it was sufficient. And because we took the measurements during the hottest and driest month, I am fairly certain that there will be sufficient water year round. And that was the day—two water sources measured, two villages ready for the next guy to begin work with as soon as he gets here! The hike back down to Victoria was cake because it was not as hot out, it was all downhill, and we knew there was all manner of refrigerated drinks waiting for us!
The next day, Saturday, was excellent because the pool just outside of town opened up. I cleaned the heck out of my house during the morning and in the afternoon went with Sara and another friend down to the pool. How excellent are afternoon’s spent in and around a pool? It was nice to be in the water and out of the heat for awhile.
And then there was Semana Santa. Last year I spent it with a group of friends in the department of Olancho, hiking the third highest mountain in the country. But this year, due to a lack of time remaining and a miscommunication with another volunteer, I was doing my last topo study during the first part of the week, and then hanging out in Victoria working on the design for the rest of it. The study was good, no real issues and I was out of there after two days. On Wednesday night I got back to town and was ready for whatever “Holy Week” in Victoria was going to throw at me. It did not throw anything. The town had become packed with strange (to me) cars and people--relatives coming back to their hometown from all over the country. But as opposed to during the feria, when everyone descends on Victoria, this time every single person was in their parent’s house or down at the río. I went out on Thursday afternoon to get some rice and salt, an errand that would normally take me five minutes or less. But on that particular day it was impossible. Nothing was open. Not a single one of the dozen or so pulperías around my house had an open door. Walking around town it felt like I was in a Stephen King novel and everyone but me had evacuated the area or died. In the two years I have been here I had never seen Victoria like that.
Things returned to normal on Friday. My landlady even gave me some of the traditional sopa de pescado and as she prepared it her family grilled me about girls and Honduras’ chance of beating the USA in July. That was a pleasant and unexpected surprise. And on Sunday I was involved in more Honduran family events because my host family had extended family from Tegucigalpa and Puerto Cortés come to town to celebrate not only La Pascua but little Isabela’s baptism. Here are some pics of the family...
Hope everyone is well. Much love, Joe
