Once again, no rolling update—sorry about that. That is the best way to update this thing but I just didn’t get around to it. And for those of you who wrote me emails AGES ago, I apologize—you have something waiting in your “inbox” now. Hopefully. So there is not a lot of news news over here. When I was in a major city last to update the blog, Obama inauguration timeframe, I was there because my group of peace corps volunteers was gathered for our Close of Service conference. Its where PC gives us the laundry list of reports that need to be finished, forms that need to be filled out, medical appointments scheduled, yada yada. Since then I have been in Victoria the entire time, occasionally returning to villages to finish up work on a study and design and, in a few cases, visiting them for the first time to get to know the water situation.
The new development is that I am definitely at the point in my service where the information I collect now about villages is something I will pass down to the new volunteer who follows me here in Victoria. In the past couple of weeks, for example, I have gone to three places I had never been to before and each one is starting from nothing. But since the season for measuring the output of each water source is not until (normally) late March through early May, I will be fortunate to be able to take those measurements before I leave. And all that must happen before the topo study and design. So a portion of my work at the moment is just organizing information for the next volunteer.
One thing that is unique to what I have done here to this point is that the first week in February I started hosting a (very) brief segment during the evening news hour on Victoria’s own radio station—in case that news had not quite reached your various states yet, its 90.5 FM (www.rsvictoria.com)! My segment is ten minutes normally, once a week, and it deals with environmental and basic sanitation issues. I do a mock interview with the same fictional campesino, and each week he is defending his unsanitary or environmentally destructive actions because of complaints lodged against him by his neighbors. Hilarity ensues and we eventually do learn something each and every week. This project is largely based off the work a former volunteer did a couple of years ago, but I have a friend here who is helping me tailor it to the area.
That brings up an intriguing truth about Victoria—not too long ago the town began it’s very own radio station (complete with a satellite internet hookup), and yet electricity here is not a constant. There are families here, who have sons and cousins and uncles in the States, who live in two story mansion-looking homes, and there are families living in shacks that are pieced together with whatever materials people could find. The casco urbano, or Victoria proper (where the mayor’s office is), does not have many of those shacks, but there are some and they stand in stark contrast to the expansive homes not far away. There are only two places that have internet in the entire muncipality—the new, privately owned radio station; and at the office of the Spanish NGO in town. Not in the high school, not in the mayor’s office, nowhere else.
Victoria is one of the largest municipalities in the department of Yoro and is the poorest. The casco urbano is located at one of the extreme ends of its own municipality, right on the border of another department, Comayagua. To give an example of how oddly placed the town is within its own municipio, check this out: when I go on runs, one of the paths I take goes south and from the mayor’s office, following that path, I can be in another department (Comayagua) inside of five minutes; yet, there are some towns and villages to the north and west that are part of Victoria that are three and four hours away by bus. Very odd. It should not be hard to imagine that many of the people in these far-away villages spend much more of their time going to nearby cities (that have supermarkets, paved roads, internet, etc.) to do errands than they do going to Victoria. But none of these other, bigger cities (Santa Rita, El Negrito, Morazán) has any kind of jurisdiction over them and can not help them for water, health, or property issues, etc.
The work I do is mostly (if not entirely) in these villages far away from Victoria proper. Some of these villages are the kind where it takes a three hour bus ride and then a two hour hike to get to—completely isolated, away from everything. You can imagine what kind of assistance people in towns like this can expect from their local government, especially considering the corruption and poverty that wracks this country. Victoria has a pretty awesome mayor, an engineer who worked with an NGO in Victoria and nearby municipios for decades before running for office. There are always political factions and party loyalty issues, but nearly everyone admits the current mayor has done more in the past three years for Victoria than were done in the twenty years previous. But he can only do so much—forget about how much money he does not have to do all the projects that need doing, the mayor’s office does not have transportation. Neither the mayor nor anyone who works for him has a car or truck to go visit these villages. People who work in the office use their own motos for transport, if they have one, but a good portion of the towns pertaining to the municipio are often inaccesible to moto given the time of year and weather conditions.
So there you go, thats probably enough Victoria for one blog entry, no?! Here’s one last quick fact for use at parties/inaugural balls: there are 168 towns and villages in the municipio of Victoria and only five of them have electricity. But that is two more than had electricity before the current mayor took power. More to come, I hope everyone is well.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Am I in...two thirds of a hospital room?
Hello everyone, happy new year! Its 2009 and, I think its official, the United States of America has a new President. What else needs to be said?
The new year is going well so far here in Victoria. But let me back up a bit to the end of December. The last part of my last entry was about La Posada, and how people gather in the town park every night in December and walk through the streets to a different house each time, singing Christmas carols and re-enacting María and José looking for a room. When all is said and done that will be one of my favorite memories here—its so unique and intimate and fun. I did that every night I was in Victoria in December but on the 23rd I left because my parents had flown to Costa Rica to do a working vacation or a volunteer vacation with a group called Global Volunteers over Christmas! They worked on a coffee farm for a week! Really!
I will not subject you all to every detail, but it was an excellent trip. We met in the mountainous region of Monteverde, spent some time there (where they had been for the coffee work), and then went to the capital, San José. By the time I arrived my folks had roughed it enough and eaten their fill of gallo pinto (a mixture of rice and beans), so they were eager to indulge in some of the luxuries of being a tourist—hot showers, meals without rice and beans, etc. I gave them a hard time, but ultimately relented. For their benefit. Here is a picture of the three of us at a nice San José restaurant their last night in town.
The new year is going well so far here in Victoria. But let me back up a bit to the end of December. The last part of my last entry was about La Posada, and how people gather in the town park every night in December and walk through the streets to a different house each time, singing Christmas carols and re-enacting María and José looking for a room. When all is said and done that will be one of my favorite memories here—its so unique and intimate and fun. I did that every night I was in Victoria in December but on the 23rd I left because my parents had flown to Costa Rica to do a working vacation or a volunteer vacation with a group called Global Volunteers over Christmas! They worked on a coffee farm for a week! Really!
I will not subject you all to every detail, but it was an excellent trip. We met in the mountainous region of Monteverde, spent some time there (where they had been for the coffee work), and then went to the capital, San José. By the time I arrived my folks had roughed it enough and eaten their fill of gallo pinto (a mixture of rice and beans), so they were eager to indulge in some of the luxuries of being a tourist—hot showers, meals without rice and beans, etc. I gave them a hard time, but ultimately relented. For their benefit. Here is a picture of the three of us at a nice San José restaurant their last night in town.
After they left I returned to the life of the solitary backpacker and found a hostel for a couple of nights. I figured a new year’s spent in the unknown of Costa Rica would top what I knew of Honduras. But no, I am doomed to forever experience lame New Years Eve’s. Sure hostels are a great place to meet people; unfortunately for me the only people to be met at the particular hostel where i was were middle aged German men. Ok, there was an attractive family from Puerto Rico there, too, but even then the closest girl to my age was fifteen. So I think at the exact moment that Costa Rica slipped into 2009, I was sitting in an arm chair in the living room of the hostel, watching The Notebook with said middle aged German man and adolescent Puerto Rican girl. Awesome.
But Victoria has had, and normally does have, an exciting first couple of weeks of the new year. The town’s feria just finished and EVERYONE from town comes back for this thing! Family members re-unite not for Christmas here but for the feria a few weeks later. And they’re not just coming from Tegucigalpa and San Pedro but Houston and New York, as well. Its no joke. Anyway, it is two weeks of almost non-stop events and the town is not the same for the rest of the calendar year. The church is never as filled as during the day of the patron saint, on January 15; the Salón de Actos Culturales is never as packed as later that night when a band is brought in to play live music for the fiesta!
I know I wrote about this last year but I think the only picture I had to contribute was what I referred to as an “artsy” picture—a blurred image of some lights and people. Here are some pics from this year’s event:
People leaving the church on the 15th...
...the welcome banner at one of town's entrances...
...from the side of the town's mini bull ring at a rodeo show...
...from backstage at the "Miss Victoria" competition...
Ok, and I was wrong about which dance is the most crowded. I was under the impression that it was the dance on the 15th—not so. Two nights later they have a dance for the “Viejos”; anyone 70 yrs and up gets in for free. Couples of any age pay a discounted fare and single people pay an outrageous fare. I went this year because many people had told me how popular it is and how many people go just to watch the older couples dance. But I would not have believed it if I had not seen it…amazing. Older people, sweet old ladies and men, the ones you only see go to and from church once a week, were out on the dance floor kicking up a storm! I left at 2am and they were still going!!
PS—Happy Inauguration Day! Go USA!
PS—Happy Inauguration Day! Go USA!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Soy LOCO por las cornballs!
November 28
Thanksgiving Day was yesterday and I spent it in Victoria. My sitemate, a friend of hers from a site about an hour and a half away, and I all cooked together throughout the day and then enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving meal. It was actually a lot of fun, staggering the different dishes we were cooking, hanging out with Sara’s host family and explaining the tradition to them. And it somehow managed to take all day—there were cookies (oatmeal peanut butter!) in the morning until Elizabeth, Sara’s friend, arrived and then we moved on to the pumpkin pie and simultaneously the chicken dish (it was a non-traditional meal). By the time it was over there were also deviled eggs (I don’t think I’m a huge fan), stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, dinner rolls. And of course tonight we’re going to eat leftovers…excellent!
December 3
It’s Wednesday now and I’m in the middle of a new water project. This week I am spending in another municipio checking out the water situation in four aldeas because Engineers Without Borders is interested in the area. I am the closest wat/san volunteer so they have a gringo down here acting as a link between the organization and PCVs, among other things, so I’m checking out the deal. This is not at all unlike what I have been doing for about eighteen or so months here in Victoria, only now it is in a new location. I go visit the pueblo, talk to the local leaders, take an elevation point or two near the highest houses, and then walk to the location of the water source they want to use for the proposed system to check it out. First village we did on Monday and it was a breeze. But then yesterday was village number two and I have to say that of the fifteen or so aldeas I have before, yesterday was the most difficult. Without question. Part of it is that I still have not fully recovered from the bronchitis I have had since I came back from the States. But aside from that the mountain we were hiking on was a complete nightmare—it was only mud, mud, and more mud. And mud can be fun, I’ll admit that. But not this mud. This is the mud that’s making your hike so much more difficult when you are descending several hundred meters, making you slip like you’re wearing rollerblades…the mud that never lets you relax and just walk normally because you have to stare intently at every spot on the ground. But then there are the patches of mud like a bog, where there is nowhere else to put your foot, and trying to get your boot to come out of the mud still on your foot is an act that requires serious concentration.
The only time we were not putting our feet in mud was when we were crossing the river on little sticks people had set up between rocks. Normally this is a river one can just walk across but we’re still in the rainy season so it is way too strong to do that now. This scene was made all the worse by the fact that we were in a rain cloud the entire day. There was no sun, only rain. After we had hiked down (a generous profe gave us a ride in his truck UP the mountain on a road) for three hours, we found out that our plan to continue hiking down and thus out of the mountain would be impossible because the path further down had been washed out. So we then had no choice but to retrace our steps and hike back up three hours to where the truck had dropped us off. I returned to Victoria that night well after nightfall, completely covered in mud, still wet and very cold. I know it’s a boo-hoo story, but it was brutal.
December 6
Saturday now, the weekend is just beginning! Last night was a pretty cool event—the high school, or colegio, was having its graduation ceremony and dance. Last year at this time I had not done any work anywhere in the village proper of Victoria and did not have strong ties to many people here and knew nothing about town events. As a result, I do not think I even knew when or where the high school graduation happened last year. This year not so…I was an invited guest! It was a low key affair but the hall where they held the ceremony was packed and the local TV cameraman was there filming everything; it was pretty fun. I went with a friend’s family, took pictures of the students graduating, sat through some long speeches, and generally had a good time. Afterwards there was a dance for the new grads and it was funny because a lot of the parents were there as well—perhaps to make sure everyone behaved! Anyway, a unique event and definitely fun.
December 9
Last night the town began La Posada again! I think I mentioned it last year, but I didn’t catch on until the 20th or so of December. Beginning early in the month, every night everyone is welcome to gather in the town park at a certain hour. From there we all walk as a group through the town, singing Christmas carols and with a boy and girl out in front, going to a different house each night. Once we arrive at the house we re-enact María and José looking for a room at the inn. There’s a little back and forth song, first the people outside then the people inside responding in song. It is a great Christmas tradition!
Thanksgiving Day was yesterday and I spent it in Victoria. My sitemate, a friend of hers from a site about an hour and a half away, and I all cooked together throughout the day and then enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving meal. It was actually a lot of fun, staggering the different dishes we were cooking, hanging out with Sara’s host family and explaining the tradition to them. And it somehow managed to take all day—there were cookies (oatmeal peanut butter!) in the morning until Elizabeth, Sara’s friend, arrived and then we moved on to the pumpkin pie and simultaneously the chicken dish (it was a non-traditional meal). By the time it was over there were also deviled eggs (I don’t think I’m a huge fan), stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, dinner rolls. And of course tonight we’re going to eat leftovers…excellent!
December 3
It’s Wednesday now and I’m in the middle of a new water project. This week I am spending in another municipio checking out the water situation in four aldeas because Engineers Without Borders is interested in the area. I am the closest wat/san volunteer so they have a gringo down here acting as a link between the organization and PCVs, among other things, so I’m checking out the deal. This is not at all unlike what I have been doing for about eighteen or so months here in Victoria, only now it is in a new location. I go visit the pueblo, talk to the local leaders, take an elevation point or two near the highest houses, and then walk to the location of the water source they want to use for the proposed system to check it out. First village we did on Monday and it was a breeze. But then yesterday was village number two and I have to say that of the fifteen or so aldeas I have before, yesterday was the most difficult. Without question. Part of it is that I still have not fully recovered from the bronchitis I have had since I came back from the States. But aside from that the mountain we were hiking on was a complete nightmare—it was only mud, mud, and more mud. And mud can be fun, I’ll admit that. But not this mud. This is the mud that’s making your hike so much more difficult when you are descending several hundred meters, making you slip like you’re wearing rollerblades…the mud that never lets you relax and just walk normally because you have to stare intently at every spot on the ground. But then there are the patches of mud like a bog, where there is nowhere else to put your foot, and trying to get your boot to come out of the mud still on your foot is an act that requires serious concentration.
The only time we were not putting our feet in mud was when we were crossing the river on little sticks people had set up between rocks. Normally this is a river one can just walk across but we’re still in the rainy season so it is way too strong to do that now. This scene was made all the worse by the fact that we were in a rain cloud the entire day. There was no sun, only rain. After we had hiked down (a generous profe gave us a ride in his truck UP the mountain on a road) for three hours, we found out that our plan to continue hiking down and thus out of the mountain would be impossible because the path further down had been washed out. So we then had no choice but to retrace our steps and hike back up three hours to where the truck had dropped us off. I returned to Victoria that night well after nightfall, completely covered in mud, still wet and very cold. I know it’s a boo-hoo story, but it was brutal.
December 6
Saturday now, the weekend is just beginning! Last night was a pretty cool event—the high school, or colegio, was having its graduation ceremony and dance. Last year at this time I had not done any work anywhere in the village proper of Victoria and did not have strong ties to many people here and knew nothing about town events. As a result, I do not think I even knew when or where the high school graduation happened last year. This year not so…I was an invited guest! It was a low key affair but the hall where they held the ceremony was packed and the local TV cameraman was there filming everything; it was pretty fun. I went with a friend’s family, took pictures of the students graduating, sat through some long speeches, and generally had a good time. Afterwards there was a dance for the new grads and it was funny because a lot of the parents were there as well—perhaps to make sure everyone behaved! Anyway, a unique event and definitely fun.
December 9
Last night the town began La Posada again! I think I mentioned it last year, but I didn’t catch on until the 20th or so of December. Beginning early in the month, every night everyone is welcome to gather in the town park at a certain hour. From there we all walk as a group through the town, singing Christmas carols and with a boy and girl out in front, going to a different house each night. Once we arrive at the house we re-enact María and José looking for a room at the inn. There’s a little back and forth song, first the people outside then the people inside responding in song. It is a great Christmas tradition!
Monday, November 24, 2008
You just made a fool out of yourself in front of T-bone…
No rolling update this time, sorry. In the past month there have been a few major events. First off was the trip back to the United States of America to see family and friends. The New Mexico portion of the trip was excellent, just like coming home. My parents did way too much cooking (but it was soooo good), my sister drove out, and I got to see a lot of family friends as well. I managed to renew my driver’s license and voted early as well, so it wasn’t all r&r! The Minnesota portion of the trip was also excellent, if eye-opening. My good friend Michael Reif was married and I got to see some of my closest friends in the world. The reunion was not the smoothest but it was an important one, and since the attendees at the wedding constitute 92% of El Amor Prohibido’s readership, you know what I’m talking about. Needless to say, I love you all—friends, family, everyone I saw on this trip.
I returned less than a month ago and ever since I have struggled to regain my form, mostly due to bronchitis. There were torrential rains in Honduras while I was gone, twenty or so people died in mud slides or raging rivers, and when I returned people were comparing it to Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Mitch is the hurricane that utterly destroyed the country and from which there has not yet been a full recovery. Not even close. Anyway, when I returned people told me the Rio Sulaco, which passes just south of Victoria, had risen to Mitch heights and that buses had stopped running for a week in the region because the roads were so bad. I got bronchitis from a mold covered blanket that I put on my bed and was sleeping under for a week. Come to think of it, all the clothes in my house were covered in mold when I came back, so why I thought this blanket would be any different is a good question.
The next big thing was November 4th, of course. My sitemate Sara and I ditched Victoria for a fellow pcv’s house many many hours away in a site where there is cable tv. There we had an election party complete with hand made Obama signs, balloons, and among other things, rice krispy treats with American flag toothpicks sticking out of them. And we watched CNN. All afternoon and night. What an amazing night it was. I’ll leave it at that.
Much of the rest of the month has been struggling with bronchitis, finishing a design and planning what the next few months of work will look like, reading, and watching The Wire. Sara and I also had our baseball tryout two weekends ago and it was very successful. For a traveling team that can be no more than 15 players we had 52 kids show. I guess we can judge it “successful” only if a large portion of them continue to show each week, but it was a good first step. School is done here now (vacation is December and January) and the Primary Elections are coming up at the end of the month. Within just one party there are three mayoral candidates here in Victoria: the current mayor running for re-election, the current vice mayor, and a former mayor. That’s to say nothing of the other major party, which has a couple candidates as well.
That’s a little dry, I know, but that’s about it for now. Give me a break, I’ve been back from the States for less than a month and have had a debilitating cough for nearly 100% of that time. Tek is going crazy because I haven’t been running so he’s not getting out as much. More to come soon…
I returned less than a month ago and ever since I have struggled to regain my form, mostly due to bronchitis. There were torrential rains in Honduras while I was gone, twenty or so people died in mud slides or raging rivers, and when I returned people were comparing it to Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Mitch is the hurricane that utterly destroyed the country and from which there has not yet been a full recovery. Not even close. Anyway, when I returned people told me the Rio Sulaco, which passes just south of Victoria, had risen to Mitch heights and that buses had stopped running for a week in the region because the roads were so bad. I got bronchitis from a mold covered blanket that I put on my bed and was sleeping under for a week. Come to think of it, all the clothes in my house were covered in mold when I came back, so why I thought this blanket would be any different is a good question.
The next big thing was November 4th, of course. My sitemate Sara and I ditched Victoria for a fellow pcv’s house many many hours away in a site where there is cable tv. There we had an election party complete with hand made Obama signs, balloons, and among other things, rice krispy treats with American flag toothpicks sticking out of them. And we watched CNN. All afternoon and night. What an amazing night it was. I’ll leave it at that.
Much of the rest of the month has been struggling with bronchitis, finishing a design and planning what the next few months of work will look like, reading, and watching The Wire. Sara and I also had our baseball tryout two weekends ago and it was very successful. For a traveling team that can be no more than 15 players we had 52 kids show. I guess we can judge it “successful” only if a large portion of them continue to show each week, but it was a good first step. School is done here now (vacation is December and January) and the Primary Elections are coming up at the end of the month. Within just one party there are three mayoral candidates here in Victoria: the current mayor running for re-election, the current vice mayor, and a former mayor. That’s to say nothing of the other major party, which has a couple candidates as well.
That’s a little dry, I know, but that’s about it for now. Give me a break, I’ve been back from the States for less than a month and have had a debilitating cough for nearly 100% of that time. Tek is going crazy because I haven’t been running so he’s not getting out as much. More to come soon…
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
An historic day...
Congratulations to President-elect Obama! Congratulations to the United States of America!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Now I’ve got to make this place smell like chocolate chip cookies…
October 13, 2008
We’re back with a quick entry to get the ball rolling. The last entry ended with Gen leaving Honduras and me leaving Victoria for a solid block of time. Before I get to all that let me just say that I am no longer the only volunteer here in Victoria. The newbie arrived and her name is Sara and all is right with the world. Get this: she is a baseball stud, and by that I mean she not only played as a child but in college as well…at a Division I school. So our little youth baseball team project might actually have a chance of doing something productive this year. Neither Gen or I had much idea what we were doing and practices consisted mainly of throwing the baseballs as high in the air as we could and running around, giggling like idiots. At the time I was pretty proud of the effort. But no, now I see that it was inadequate!
So, the reason I ditched Victoria the same day as Gen left for good was that I had two buddies fly in. One is a red-headed lawyer from Minnesota, valedictorian of his Boston College class; the other is a gray-haired New Yorker currently getting his PhD in mathematics. So I have to walk on eggshells around these guys and try and not make them feel stupid…it’s rough. Who am I kidding? The five of you who read this know Reif and Cutrone, so let’s just leave it at that. Ok, the trip was excellent and I am still kind of in disbelief they actually made the trip. Especially that red-haired one, what with his getting married later this month (I’m sending a couple seed bracelets your way, buddy!).
I will not go through the entire itinerary with the rest of you, but we did see Mayan ruins at Copán and some hot spots in Guatemala. It was actually cold in Guatemala which I could not get over given how brutally hot it was (and still is) in neighboring Honduras. The trip was excellent, as I said before, but it was rushed due only to my lack of free time because of an impending volunteer workshop that was a mandatory attendance deal. Nearly every morning the three of us were getting up at ridiculously early hours to catch shuttles to the next destination but somehow we always made it. We saw some truly remarkable things, for sure, but the best part was sitting in various bars and restaurants, drinking the local brew, and just talking. Good talks, bad jokes, and just generally not making the United States look good to those around us. But good talks.
October 14
I spent a day in Victoria once Reif and Cutrone left, gathering my things for the Peace Corps mandated training workshop. That ended up only being about two days long but took up nearly a week including travel time. Not much to talk about there—it was great seeing friends because I go months and months without seeing any other volunteers, normally, and there were some good presentations and information exchanged about projects, etc. Forced reunions are never anyone’s first choice but this one turned out to be pretty worthwhile.
Two days later a high school friend and one of the most upstanding citizens I know, we’ll call him Sarat, came to visit. He is a doctor starting his residency in orthopedic surgery (is that right, dude?!) in Miami—but back off, ladies, he has a girlfriend. Sarat took a year off med school and lived and worked in India for six months and then Guatemala for six months. So not only his he world traveled but the Spanish language is one he has already mastered.
Anyway, we took a different route with his time here. It could have been Guatemala on the one hand, the Bay Islands (and scuba diving) on the other, but there was a super secret option three: go back to Victoria, stay for the Independence Day celebrations (parade, pool party, dance), and then head north and do adventure stuff outside of La Ceiba. We opted for super secret option three. The downside, as we said at the beginning, was travel (the bus rides can be brutal) and time lost traveling. But the upside was seeing small town Victoria in all its celebratory best AND doing some touristy stuff later on.
So we hung out in my town for a day and a half first. Meeting some of my friends and seeing a massive parade came first—let me correct that, Sarat ended up meeting half of the town—and in the afternoon we took a walk to the big pool just on the outskirts of town. At an event like this theres generally three distinct crowds: the first is the older guys (38 yrs+) who go just to hang out and drink beer; the second group is the cool kids from the colegio (ages 16-19) who are there to see and be seen; the third group are the kids age 12 and below who just want to swim and play. We hung with that last crowd and now know a few things: Sarat is much faster than me at swim sprints; I am much faster than 10 yr olds at swim sprints; I can hold my breath longer than Sarat; 10 yr olds can hold their breath longer than me.
After we said goodbye to Victoria we headed to the north coast. Outside of La Ceiba we found a “lodge” on the river and stayed there for a couple of days doing beer drinking, reading, white water rafting, rock climbing and cliff jumping, and canopy tours. It was a great mix of high adrenaline adventure activities (!!) during the day and good food, on-the-river relaxing atmosphere in the evening. And before you know it that trip was complete as well—it just seemed like seven days is not enough time. But I was grateful for all three guys coming down and had a blast and a much needed break from all things pcv.
Now I am here in Victoria and have been here since the last week in September. The last three weeks have been a great chance to get back into things after nearly a month away. I have gotten back into the running routine, have been teaching every week at the elementary school, and been finishing some designs that needed work. On top of that there is a new volunteer here to get to know, so Sara and I are beginning that process whenever time allows, and with her enthusiasm being the key ingredient we started baseball practice with the youth team a couple of weeks ago!
October 15
This isn’t really an entry, but I had to share this. I am at the elementary school today, have just begun a class with sixth graders, and the power goes out—surprise!! Ok, so all the kids run out of class and commence memorizing something in a pamphlet. I sit outside and watch them and before long a couple come over to talk. I ask them what they are doing and they show me. They have to memorize the explanations for every line in their national anthem—and their anthem is ridiculously long. At public events they sing what amounts to a fifth of the entire thing. And of course every line has significance, and these children have to memorize the meaning of everything.
Before long they are asking me about the “himno nacional” for my country. They want it in Spanish and I say I only know it in English. Then they want me to sing it and I say I’ll cant sing but I’ll say it to them, but only a bit because they have to get back to memorizing (I didn’t want poor grades for anyone based on me singing or talking). So I began saying it, and all was going well. And as I approached the end of the first stanza I decided not to keep going. So I stopped and told them to get back to work, but I was feeling uneasy about the words—as if I couldn’t remember everything. But I knew that was ridiculous because EVERYONE in the United States of America knows the national anthem. Its not like some know it and some don’t. No. EVERYONE knows it.
So I began writing it down, line by line. Soon there was a crowd of fifth and sixth graders huddled around me, curious about what I seemed so intent to write. Some started saying, “You don’t know it, do you?” and I brushed them off with a “Por favor, chicos!” and then demanded space. I was waivering, slowly but surely losing my balance on this metaphoric tight wire, and there was nothing I could do about it. It was shocking to me but there was no avoiding it. After twenty minutes of solid concentration, this is what I had:
Oh say can you see
By the dawns early light
What so proudly we hailed
At the twilights last gleaming
Whose broad stripes and bright stars
Through the perilous fight
Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still standing
O say does that banner
(something something) still wave
O’er the land of the free
And the home of the brave
Don’t worry, I got it before much longer and completely on my own. Yes, all of it...in the correct order. And that last point is a very important one. All on my own. At some point this may be used against me for a very public shaming, I am sure. But I felt I should share…
We’re back with a quick entry to get the ball rolling. The last entry ended with Gen leaving Honduras and me leaving Victoria for a solid block of time. Before I get to all that let me just say that I am no longer the only volunteer here in Victoria. The newbie arrived and her name is Sara and all is right with the world. Get this: she is a baseball stud, and by that I mean she not only played as a child but in college as well…at a Division I school. So our little youth baseball team project might actually have a chance of doing something productive this year. Neither Gen or I had much idea what we were doing and practices consisted mainly of throwing the baseballs as high in the air as we could and running around, giggling like idiots. At the time I was pretty proud of the effort. But no, now I see that it was inadequate!
So, the reason I ditched Victoria the same day as Gen left for good was that I had two buddies fly in. One is a red-headed lawyer from Minnesota, valedictorian of his Boston College class; the other is a gray-haired New Yorker currently getting his PhD in mathematics. So I have to walk on eggshells around these guys and try and not make them feel stupid…it’s rough. Who am I kidding? The five of you who read this know Reif and Cutrone, so let’s just leave it at that. Ok, the trip was excellent and I am still kind of in disbelief they actually made the trip. Especially that red-haired one, what with his getting married later this month (I’m sending a couple seed bracelets your way, buddy!).
I will not go through the entire itinerary with the rest of you, but we did see Mayan ruins at Copán and some hot spots in Guatemala. It was actually cold in Guatemala which I could not get over given how brutally hot it was (and still is) in neighboring Honduras. The trip was excellent, as I said before, but it was rushed due only to my lack of free time because of an impending volunteer workshop that was a mandatory attendance deal. Nearly every morning the three of us were getting up at ridiculously early hours to catch shuttles to the next destination but somehow we always made it. We saw some truly remarkable things, for sure, but the best part was sitting in various bars and restaurants, drinking the local brew, and just talking. Good talks, bad jokes, and just generally not making the United States look good to those around us. But good talks.
October 14
I spent a day in Victoria once Reif and Cutrone left, gathering my things for the Peace Corps mandated training workshop. That ended up only being about two days long but took up nearly a week including travel time. Not much to talk about there—it was great seeing friends because I go months and months without seeing any other volunteers, normally, and there were some good presentations and information exchanged about projects, etc. Forced reunions are never anyone’s first choice but this one turned out to be pretty worthwhile.
Two days later a high school friend and one of the most upstanding citizens I know, we’ll call him Sarat, came to visit. He is a doctor starting his residency in orthopedic surgery (is that right, dude?!) in Miami—but back off, ladies, he has a girlfriend. Sarat took a year off med school and lived and worked in India for six months and then Guatemala for six months. So not only his he world traveled but the Spanish language is one he has already mastered.
Anyway, we took a different route with his time here. It could have been Guatemala on the one hand, the Bay Islands (and scuba diving) on the other, but there was a super secret option three: go back to Victoria, stay for the Independence Day celebrations (parade, pool party, dance), and then head north and do adventure stuff outside of La Ceiba. We opted for super secret option three. The downside, as we said at the beginning, was travel (the bus rides can be brutal) and time lost traveling. But the upside was seeing small town Victoria in all its celebratory best AND doing some touristy stuff later on.
So we hung out in my town for a day and a half first. Meeting some of my friends and seeing a massive parade came first—let me correct that, Sarat ended up meeting half of the town—and in the afternoon we took a walk to the big pool just on the outskirts of town. At an event like this theres generally three distinct crowds: the first is the older guys (38 yrs+) who go just to hang out and drink beer; the second group is the cool kids from the colegio (ages 16-19) who are there to see and be seen; the third group are the kids age 12 and below who just want to swim and play. We hung with that last crowd and now know a few things: Sarat is much faster than me at swim sprints; I am much faster than 10 yr olds at swim sprints; I can hold my breath longer than Sarat; 10 yr olds can hold their breath longer than me.
After we said goodbye to Victoria we headed to the north coast. Outside of La Ceiba we found a “lodge” on the river and stayed there for a couple of days doing beer drinking, reading, white water rafting, rock climbing and cliff jumping, and canopy tours. It was a great mix of high adrenaline adventure activities (!!) during the day and good food, on-the-river relaxing atmosphere in the evening. And before you know it that trip was complete as well—it just seemed like seven days is not enough time. But I was grateful for all three guys coming down and had a blast and a much needed break from all things pcv.
Now I am here in Victoria and have been here since the last week in September. The last three weeks have been a great chance to get back into things after nearly a month away. I have gotten back into the running routine, have been teaching every week at the elementary school, and been finishing some designs that needed work. On top of that there is a new volunteer here to get to know, so Sara and I are beginning that process whenever time allows, and with her enthusiasm being the key ingredient we started baseball practice with the youth team a couple of weeks ago!
October 15
This isn’t really an entry, but I had to share this. I am at the elementary school today, have just begun a class with sixth graders, and the power goes out—surprise!! Ok, so all the kids run out of class and commence memorizing something in a pamphlet. I sit outside and watch them and before long a couple come over to talk. I ask them what they are doing and they show me. They have to memorize the explanations for every line in their national anthem—and their anthem is ridiculously long. At public events they sing what amounts to a fifth of the entire thing. And of course every line has significance, and these children have to memorize the meaning of everything.
Before long they are asking me about the “himno nacional” for my country. They want it in Spanish and I say I only know it in English. Then they want me to sing it and I say I’ll cant sing but I’ll say it to them, but only a bit because they have to get back to memorizing (I didn’t want poor grades for anyone based on me singing or talking). So I began saying it, and all was going well. And as I approached the end of the first stanza I decided not to keep going. So I stopped and told them to get back to work, but I was feeling uneasy about the words—as if I couldn’t remember everything. But I knew that was ridiculous because EVERYONE in the United States of America knows the national anthem. Its not like some know it and some don’t. No. EVERYONE knows it.
So I began writing it down, line by line. Soon there was a crowd of fifth and sixth graders huddled around me, curious about what I seemed so intent to write. Some started saying, “You don’t know it, do you?” and I brushed them off with a “Por favor, chicos!” and then demanded space. I was waivering, slowly but surely losing my balance on this metaphoric tight wire, and there was nothing I could do about it. It was shocking to me but there was no avoiding it. After twenty minutes of solid concentration, this is what I had:
Oh say can you see
By the dawns early light
What so proudly we hailed
At the twilights last gleaming
Whose broad stripes and bright stars
Through the perilous fight
Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still standing
O say does that banner
(something something) still wave
O’er the land of the free
And the home of the brave
Don’t worry, I got it before much longer and completely on my own. Yes, all of it...in the correct order. And that last point is a very important one. All on my own. At some point this may be used against me for a very public shaming, I am sure. But I felt I should share…
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