Written on July 28, 2013
Well it’s been two weeks. Guess that means I’ve got 50 more
to go ;)
Just kidding.
If you had asked me on Tuesday how many I wanted there to be left, I
might have said two. Yet I’m not
feeling that sentiment anymore. I
don’t know what it was that got me so down but I really did struggle this week.
I got all upset and wondered what
the hell I had gotten myself into.
Then Wednesday rolled around and I got a renewed sense of excitement,
passion, and energy.
If I could choose one thing that is the most different from
life at home, it would most certainly be the pace of things here. When talking about how productive a day
was, I typically tend to refer to the day as not productive, Honduran
productive, or American productive.
Meaning that my American definition of productive is definitely
different from the definition of productive that Hondurans use. Below I made a list of some of the
things I accomplished this week. While
my list may not seem substantial, it was indeed a good week.
1. Spoke a lot of Spanish. There were no other Americans
this week so I was on my own with the language component. And as nervous as I
was, it was really okay. I would have to say that speaking in another language
has certainly gotten easier but it’s still a work in progress. One thing that is nice is that I live
with a lot of young Honduran doctors who are all very smart and want to learn
English. Many of them can usually
interpret what I’m trying to say if I can’t remember or haven’t learned a word
in Spanish.
2. Ate some pretty decent food. I have to say that I thought I was going to be eating beans,
rice, and tortillas every day.
While it is true that beans and tortillas are staples in nearly every
meal, there is a good bit of variety.
We even had “cheeseburgers” on Wednesday. Though they were a little charred (I don’t think Hondurans
really like their meat anything but well-done, which is probably better for my
digestive tract’s sake!), they still reminded me of home and I appreciated
that. We even had as I call it,
“wrapper cheese” aka the American Kraft singles. Although I do have to say that I don’t think it was Kraft
singles because the cheese kind of flaked apart but it sure was a nice change
from the salty queso that we get on the plato typico.
3. Talked to
some people in Santa Lucia. Locating and setting up a meeting with people in
the community is difficult. The
concept of time is not as structured as at home. When you set a meeting,
there’s only 70-80% chance it will actually happen and getting a hold of
someone or going to their house to talk with them is easier said than
done. Twice, I had someone say to
me, O well we can chat next week, as
if next week was a set time and place. Yet despite the lack of ease, I managed
to speak with two teachers in the community about the idea for a club for
teens. One of the men, already had
a club going in Las Miras and the other was the head of the comité
(ie: the town hall committee sort of thing) who spoke about the importance of
microenterprise and the lack of it in the community.
4. Cleaned out the library. This was no small feat. The
clinic here has a beautiful library… that never gets used. There are a multitude of books in
English and Spanish as well as a huge closet full of craft supplies. I took one day this week to clean out
the entire craft closet. It was of course the hottest day this week and the
only day when the power was out (so the fans didn’t work)!
5. Went on a
few several mile walks/runs. This is something that I started doing this week
that I really enjoyed. To get some
exercise, I have been going out on walks with some of the Honduran doctors before
dinner every day. It is a great
time of day because it’s not too hot and the sun isn’t that strong. It’s also a
nice time to work on my Spanish and as well as to get to know the doctors better. We walk for about an hour and then shower right before
dinner. Exercising before showering is not only delightful, but almost
necessary because there is no hot water here. The cold water is bearable if I
can get myself all sweaty before hand.
Yet even after showering, I don’t feel that clean because I must
immediately reapply bug spray or feel the wrath of the sanculos
(mosquitoes).
The most important thing I learned this week was- have
something to look forward to. I
know that sounds silly but I think it really helps. When Tuesday was really tough, I just kept thinking about my
upcoming trip to La Esperanza. I
remembered that another American volunteer is coming down in just a few weeks
and that it is just 15 weeks until my birthday/ trek home for Lehigh Lafayette
Week! (Yep, see you all there!)
So everyone- that’s it for this week. I hope that you enjoyed it and got a
little glimpse of my life down here.
As I said last week, I’m missing you all terribly and hope that life is
going along splendidly for you all.
To those of you who I have spoken with, thanks for the encouragement and
support. It does mean a lot to me
to know that I have so many of you that believe in me! My piece of advice for
this week- say thanks to someone that really gives you strength in times of
need or has done so recently. I
know it’s been really helpful for me to have that reassurance from many of you.
Thanks for every little bit!
Have an awesome week :)
Becca
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