hello again!

Life in Honduras as so far has been well, different. A couple of days ago we went to one of the small villages (aldeas) we will be serving. We went house to house, meeting people, and enjoying a cup of coffee at each stop (this is a custom for families to offer visitors a refreshment). After several stops, and a belly full of coffee, it was time to have lunch at one of the local’s houses. Lunch was rice and tortillas, which I have been told to get used to.

Then it rained. It poured. For a half hour. This normally wouldn’t have been an issue, at home. To get into this aldea, you have to cross over what is normally a stream. Until it pours, and becomes a small river, which needless to say, we were unable to cross. Apparently since the area is so mountainous, there are seven rivers that all drain into the one river that was swollen and raging in front of us. So, we waited. And waited, and several hours later, the water subsided, and we were able to leave. Only in Honduras!

We also have been going around to all of the schools in the town to meet teachers and kids, and find our placements for the year. I will be placed at Duarte, the school that is furthest away, in a fourth grade classroom. For the first several months we will be part of the class, learning, doing the lessons, taking in the Spanish and interacting with the kids. After we are more comfortable with our Spanish and interacting with the kids in the schools, we can start to teach lessons and fulfill needs that the schools have. I think it will be a great place to understand the culture more as well. Kids are the most overt about a lot of the cultural tendencies and behavior, and also the easiest to relate to, making them a great place to start in a culture unknown to me.

We also went to watch one of the outgoing volunteers give a talk along side the peace corps volunteer in our village about hiv/aids. Apparently Honduras has one of the highest rates of hiv in the hemisphere, and being health related, this is of interest to me. Because we represent the catholic church, we can only preach certain practices, but the peace corps volunteer, who has a lot of the information prepared for her by the peace corps, is able to represent their views and practices, creating a much more comprehensive presentation. I am very interested in pursuing this further and think it would be a great place for me to start into public health here. I’m sure as the days go on I will have my interest peaked towards other avenues, but I definitely think this one is something worth while.