Just some Pictures

Hello all! I will post again shortly, but I just wanted to get some pics up for all to see. Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

The gang on Christmas eve at Isabel´s!

The kiddos´performance.. they did a great job!


Practicing with Luis!


The kids of the women in our Domestic Violence Support group, practicing for their big performance!


Our Christmas tree

Baseball!

So this past week we were finally able to have our baseball scrimmage! The kids loved it, and we played a very long (about two hours long) three inning scrimmage. The kids did a great job, and we were really proud of them. We didn´t keep score, and I dont think it really mattered to anyone anyways. Below are some pics of the scrimmage! Enjoy!

Convivios

Hello all!
Things here have been wonderfully hectic. We have been going to a lot of convivios, and each one has been really special. The first ones we attended we really didn’t know what to expect. Although you are told what will happen, you are generally told in terms that you have never heard of before, or words just don’t translate. We were told that the first one was a mass and a convivio, so needless to say we weren’t really sure what was going to occur. We showed up to a place we had never been before, and were greeted by faces both familiar and new. The proceedings were a mass, then about an hour or so of eating, visiting, and listening to music. Each night after that proceeded about the same way. Although the routine has gotten a bit monotonous, we have really enjoyed all of them as of yet. They are a great way to meet people, and we have been trying to take advantage of the groups we encounter. They always welcome us into their homes (where the masses are held) and include us in their celebrations. Later they give us food and chat with us. It really feels nice to be so included in their holiday traditions, and it goes to show a lot about the culture. They are just happy to have people to share their time with, and I think this is an important lesson to take away from all of this. More than anything, its important to learn to be happy just enjoying someone’s company. No need for tv, radios, or anything you have to spend money on, just the art of conversation, about something important, or about nothing at all.
Padre Daniel, one of the priests at the church, always does the masses, and I think his presence there makes the people happy as well. He takes about three hours each night to do these masses, and the people absolutely love it. It’s above and beyond, but time very well spent. Although I didn’t like it at first, Padre also mentions us during each of the masses. I think its pretty unnecessary, because people could probably spot the 5 white people in the crowd from a mile away, but its just funny to me that out presence alone is noteworthy, in his and the people of Talanga’s eyes. I don’t think of my time as anything special. I do what I need to do, and hope to help someone somehow in the meantime. At home I could pass a whole winter day curled up in blankets watching movies and vegging out. It really didn’t dawn on me the significance of my time, either to me or to the people we work with here. They are very happy and grateful for us to pass our time with them. They always graciously and genuinely thank us for our time and celebrating with them, and welcome us back whenever we would like. I guess in some ways it’s a bit of an ego boost, but more than that it’s just a lesson about how valuable time is in general.
We also have a scrimmage today for our baseball teams, and Melissa is going to come along to take pics for us. This is the scrimmage I have been talking about for about a month or so now, but we are finally going to have it! I’m really excited, and so are the kiddos. Rare is the chance they get to get out of their aldea and come to town, so I’m just happy to be able to give them that chance, never mind to actually play a baseball game. We are also working on scheduling a tournament in Juticalapa, another town about an hour and a half away for the end of January. Although planning isn’t a strong suit here, we are hoping to make this work!
Other than that we are just prepping for our Christmas celebrations and our post Christmas vacation. We are going to have the internos of the AIDS hospice come over for a meal, we have a drama we are working on with the children of the women in our Domestic Violence group, we have our food drive, and lots of action on Noche Buena, Christmas Eve. I will keep you all posted about how things turn out!
Thanks again to everyone for all the support, and to everyone that has sent packages as well! Hope everyone is doing well and keeping warm this holiday season!

Hello all!
Sorry its been a while, but we have been a bit busy here. We had a great thanksgiving celebration. Amy, our boss, and Wilson, her husband, came over to join the volunteers and a couple of local peace corps volunteers for a modified feast. I made my first turkey, and luckily, no one got sick! Success! There were also an abundance of deserts (we kept the Mahler family tradition alive) and also enjoyed lots of veggies, home made gravy, and some nice rolls. Nothing like the thanksgiving of the past, but certainly something to be thankful for none the less. I think it definitely put a lot of things into perspective here, and I was happy to celebrate with other gringos that happened to also be very thankful for their time here. I also enjoyed bringing leftovers to some of the people we work with, giving them their first tastes of pumpkin pie, turkey, and the veggie casserole. Although people did not have the same sentiments attached, everyone agreed that the day was a worthwhile one, and shared with us some of the things they were thankful for as well.
I guess it just made me realize, more than ever, just how much we have. We were able to buy food and put together a great meal for everyone, we were able to share in our celebration. Although we weren’t at home with the people we would have all loved to have been with, we had each other, which is more than many people can say during the holiday season.
Saturday night we passed the time in Tegucigalpa, in preparation for our early departure to Nicaragua. Melissa, Joe, Sean and I then spent about five days around Nicaragua, and had a beautiful experience there. The first day we got into Managua, then promptly headed to Leon, a great colonial town that actually used to be the capital, and is now the second largest city. We walked around, found a hostel to stay at, and got some great grub. The next morning we toured the city’s parks, churches and some ruins, then caught a bus to Poneloya and Las Penitas, two beautiful beaches about an hour away. We found another hostel right on the beach, and remained there for two nights, soaking in the sun and sand, not to mention the peace and quiet we had all been in search of. A couple days later we took a bus to Grenada, another great colonial town a bit further south, and situated on a huge lake that takes up a large part of Nicaragua. We enjoyed the town, the food and the pool our hostel had to offer. The next day we stayed in Managua, so we could catch the 3:30 bus back to Tegucigalpa. It was a bit of a whirlwind experience, but it was lovely and refreshing. We all had a great time, and everyone came back refreshed for our busy Christmas season.
Upon our return we slept and unpacked, and found out about the events over the next couple weeks. There are eight different communities here within the City of Talanga, each one having a group for prayer and masses. For the weeks leading up to Christmas, they will each have a mass and a celebration, and our job is to help them. I think it will be a good chance to meet more people, and share in celebration with them, in the ways they choose to celebrate.
Also, as a group we will be doing a food drive at the church so we can bring what we receive to the poorer sections of town and into the aldeas. I think that there is enough financial diversity here that a lot of people, at least within town, will be able to give something, be it a pound of rice (about 50 cents) or a pound of beans (about 70 cents). It will definitely be interesting to see the fruits of our labors.
That’s all for now, but there are some pics attached I hope you enjoy. It was great to talk to a lot of my family on Thanksgiving, and it made the holiday that much richer to be able to hear the voices and the warm wishes of the people I care about. Thanks again for all the support!

Sunset at the beach!



The beach we stayed at two nights (polenoya and las pinitas)



The welcome to Nicaragua sign, cheesy, but I like it!



A cross in Grenada, near the big church and the town square



The main street in Grenada



Melissa and I one night in Grenada



Another church in Grenada at sunset



The church at the center of Grenada, next to the park

A picture Melissa took, while we were at Penelyoa (?sp) at sunset




In Leon, in the center park there were some rides that people were conviently drying their clothes on!




Another big beautiful church in Leon





A Huge church in the center of Leon

La expoventa y Terrero!

So over the past few days we have been pretty busy here. Ferria finished up, and we have been doing our regular visiting and practices as usual. Its been a great few days!
Thursday we had baseball practice, which was significantly less frustrating as usual. There were about 10 or so kids there, and many of them were usuals, so the continuity was encouraging. We didn’t do anything extrodinary, but the kids seemed to actually be making improvements, and the kids were pretty coachable, which isn’t always the norm here.
Friday morning we had a very encouraging meeting with our boss, Amy, and then Mike and I went to Terrero, our favorite aldea here. We drove up a bit later than usual, and went on a different day than usual, but the people there were receptive, nonetheless. We were welcomed into the first house, and there we ended up helping husk corn for a couple of hours. Nothing too challenging or remarkable, but a great way to pass some time with people and a good conversation starter. Here it is actually good to play dumb, it sparks much more conversation than if you were to always have the answers, and it’s a great way to bond when you let people teach you things. Of course they knew significantly more about husking corn than I had imagined there was to know, and I was happy to hear about the types of corn, where its grown, what they use it for, and the different techniques they use. And our reward, besides for the companionship, was Mondongo. Mondongo, if you are curious, is cow intestine soup, a delicacy here apparently. The soup, at first glance is just like any other concoction you might receive. However, upon further inspection, you see not only the usual vegetables (types of native squash, tomatoes, etc), but also rectangular chunks of rubbery tan colored intestine. Although it tasted pretty foul, that wasn’t the worst part. It’s the consistency that gets you! I will spare you the details of the ingestion of this unique culinary work, but it comes close to the time when we ate mountain cat soup.
After that we had a few more great visits with other people there, and headed back to Talanga. On the way into town we were driving past a young teen that was carrying mandarins and squash into town as well, so we offered him a ride, a frequent practice here. He was a nice kid, and we struck up conversations for a bit. We brought him to the park and told him we were going to our house, and asked if he wanted to get out there. He said yes, but then didn’t gesture to get out, and didn’t say anything else. We thought it must have been a language issue, and continued on to our house. He didn’t gesture to ask about getting out, so we drove to the corner we live on and told him this is where we lived and were going to park the car inside, insinuating he might want to get out. He said ok, but again didn’t gesture to get out. Mike took the initiative and walked around to the side of the car the kid was seated on, and opened the door for him, and offered to help him get the fruit and veggies down for him. The kid then hopped out, and grabbed his fruit, gave us some lemons and a squash for the ride, and thanked us, left the door open and walked back in the direction we had just come from. Mike and I both thought this to be a bit strange, then we realized, that may have been the first time he had ever ridden inside a car. Usual practice here is to always have people hop into the bed of the pickup truck. Mike and I thought we might as well have him come in the back seats of the cab, because it’s just more comfortable. I opened the door for him, just trying to be nice because he was carrying all the goods, and I never even thought he wouldn’t know how to get in if I hadn’t helped him. The things we take for granted!
Saturday we drove a couple people from town to another town to pick up Tilapia, and with 120 fish we drove them back to town, all in preparation for our big expoventa. Then we brought Sean to the airport, he was heading home for a med school interview. Later I spent about 4 or 5 hours preparing for what we were going to make for the expoventa, Pizzas. I grated 6 pounds of Mozzarella type cheese, cut veggies, make sauce, etc.
Because it was the last official night of Ferria, there was a carnival in the street Saturday night. Usually we don’t do much after dark, but Chico, who is a father type figure to us invited us to go with him and his family, so we thought we would oblidge and head down to the one paved road in town, where the street had been blocked off and there were a few stages set up. Vendors lined the road, selling French fries, beverages, cigarettes, fried yucca, and other types of foods, and streets were full of people of all ages, just dancing. It was an interesting mix, from grandparents to babies, people dancing to folk music, reggaton, punta, salsa, marimba, you name it. We actually ended up staying for a bit, and trying our luck with the various dances. Apparently when a gringo dances, the town knows about it. I think that to say we were watched would be an understatement, but rather we were scrutinized by the majority of the people in Talanga. They got over it, especially when they noticed Chico, a well respected Talangan dancing with us and teaching us the moves, but it certainly gave me a good idea what being a minority was all about. We did have a lot of fun and learned a lot, mostly that we should never dance in public in a country where 90% of the population is born with more moves then we have!
Sunday we got up and got to work. Melissa and I were to stay at the house and cook up Pizzas, and Mike and Joe would be the sales crew. After two hours of no success, Melissa and I relieved Joe and Mike of the duties in the park, and the boys came back to relax for a bit. At about noon with still no sales yet, we were a bit nervous about our recent purchase of 120 personal pizza crusts. We were certain we would be eating only pizza for the rest of the year! Mike and Joe decided to get more active, made some pizzas, and brought them to the park. We moved our table so it was more visible, and Joe and Mike decided to give out some samples. By the time Melissa and I got back to our house, just 3 blocks away from the park, Joe had already called to tell us to get working! For the next three hours I topped the pizzas and handed them over to Melissa, who was manning the oven. We recruited two of the kids that frequent our house to be runners, which they did gladly when told they would be rewarded with pizzas at the end of the day, and they were saviors! We bought 9 more pounds of cheese, more makings for sauce, and lots more veggies. At about 3:00, after a few oven burns and a lot of sauce on my clothes and arms, we made the last of the pizzas and brought them up to the park. Soon they were all gone, and after the final tally we made 2300 limpira, or about $115. We were certainly proud of ourselves, and we handed the money over to the church, glad we could do something to support the fundraising for the construction of the new church. It was a great, but exhausting day, and we were happy to help!

Ferria!

Ferria… where to begin?.. Well, ferria on a whole was a great experience. I had a lot of fun, and it was beautiful to see the community and its different parts come together to celebrate. However, the play by play is a little less picturesque than that!
I suppose it started with All souls day, on November 2nd. Although it isn’t actually part of ferria, it was a great day. This is a day where all of the families of the deceased in the cemetery here make the treck out to the cemetery and decorate the graves. I had never been to the cemetery here, never mind been to any cemetery where there were a sea of people with flowers and streamer-like decorations, so needless to say it was an experience. The sole purpose of the day is to visit the graves and decorate, to celebrate the lives of the deceased, and I suppose for the remaining family members to come together. Melissa and I walked over to the cemetery and ran into quite a few people there we knew, and had great conversations around the graves of their loved ones. We helped Isabel decorate her fathe’rs grave, and she and her daughter explained some details of the origins, or at least what I understood of them. Then we ventured around, looking at the beautiful decorations and the elaborate shrines that had been made. Later we ran into Melissa’s host family, and asked them if people from different religions were buried in different cemeteries. Melissa’s host dad then informed us that in fact everyone was buried at this one cemetery in town, because when you are dead it doesn’t matter what religion you are. The simplicity of it all! I returned a day later to take pictures, I just didn’t feel right playing photographer while people were mourning and celebrating.
As a group we actually missed the first day of ferria. It happened to fall on November 4th, and since it was a bit of a holiday in the states (or at least this is how we explained it), we decided to go into Tegucigalpa to watch the election. Not only do we not have a TV, but people with TVs here don’t generally have cable, and if they do they don’t get American stations, so we decided Teguc would be a better place for the unveiling of our new president elect. We ate pizza, took warm showers, and enjoyed ourselves as Obama spoke.
The next day, however, it was back to work. Somehow we were put on the schedule as working every day for ferria, and planning, assisting, and doing any leg work required any and every day. Fortunately or not we are some of the few people in town that have a car, and so we became the official errand-runners of this community wide celebration! We were glad to help, but after a few nights of knocks on the door at 9pm to go cut plants a half hour away for the following days events, we grew a bit wary. One day Sean and Joe got roped into driving around for 5 hours looking for bamboo.
The events themselves however were quite the celebration. Each day there was a 4 am rosary, then the decorating and preparation began. At 3pm there would be daily processions from various parts of Talanga, with different community groups or aldeas taking part in the march depending on the day. These processions (in pics posted earlier) had a lot of people from the different communities, banners, the ferria symbol, fireworks, a band, lots of decorated cars, and whoever felt like joining in. The symbol was a carried float type thing, with a giant hand to symbolize something and some idols to symbolize something else. The fireworks are in fact, so dangerous, that they are even outlawed in Honduras! Well, there are people, generally kids of about 10 or 12 years old that run ahead of the parade to announce the arrival. There is a band in town for that long week only, and they march and play in all the parades. Depending on the community, there are generally cars, borrowed or not, and a couple had access to big rig trucks to carry people and other things. It’s interesting to say the least. The parades process from a designated point for the day, usually close to the entrance to the aldea, or the closest part in town to the entrance to the community, and go, over the course of sometimes hours, to the place where the mass will be held that day. After the mass is a Novena, or a rosary type service, then there are food and drinks for everyone. Later often there are other parts to the celebration, depending on the day, but often we were too tired to partake!
Although each day was memorable for different reasons, there are a few that stand out more in my mind than others. One day we actually had our car decorated to represent a community where no one had a car to be in their parade. Crazy to think about an entire church community not having a member that had a car, but I guess that just goes to make a point about culture and life here. We went early one morning to wash our car in a nearby stream, as is custom here, with the help of some of the community members. Then we drove to someone’s house at about 9, and toiled at putting up cloth, streamers, flowers, paint, ribbon and who knows what else on our car over the next 4 or 5 hours. After a brief break we returned to pick up the car and get parading! It was fun to take part in these ventures, but exhausting.
Another day Melissa Amy and I just met the parade at the starting point, and walked with the community that was celebrating that day. After the procession (although we thought the band was great at first it gets old after an hour or so) we went to the designated mass spot for the day, a street that is near the park and the center of town. We were towards the end of the procession, so we didn’t initially have chairs, but usually we get the gringa treatment and people turn chairs over to us. I really don’t like this, but it allows us to then give them over to the elderly that may be standing, so it really does turn out well in the end. We were settling into the mass, and all of a sudden a bunch of cuetes, those darn fireworks, went off without warning into the crowd! Somehow only a couple people had minor burns, but we had thought the worst at first. These cuetes are just little bundles of explosives that are generally hand made, generally set off by untrained people, and that people set off at the most inopportune times possible. They go off during masses, at 4 in the morning, while people are milling about the streets. There are a couple types as well. One type is the typical firework type, where it is light, and propels itself upward, or whatever direction it happens to be pointed in, then explodes. The problem with these is that if they aren’t pointed up, the don’t go upward, and they don’t have a set amount of time before they go off, they just go off at their own leisure, meaning often they will only hake it yards before exploding. The second type is a type that is put in a metal tube with an open end pointing upwards, then the men light them, and run as they make ridiculously scary noises and hope to not get hurt. The last type is when a string/ fuse type apparatus attaches a series of ten or so with just centimeters separating the small groups of explosives. These are really only dangerous to people within a 100 yard radius, but when all of Talanga is out celebrating for ferria, that means a lot of people.
Included in Farria is also the patron Saint’s feast day, or St. Diego day. There are lots of masses, school is cancelled, and people come to town from all areas to celebrate. The mass at 10am includes a procession of the various groups and the mayor and vice mayor are in attendance. There is a mass at 7pm that has people pouring out of the doors, followed my a lot of cuetes, and then some actual fireworks, as we would consider them in the state. Although there were about 7 of them, it was a nice show and the people really liked them. Everyone oohed and aahed, as we would on the 4th of July.
Ferria isn’t technically over until the 23rd of November, where there is a big expoventa, or fair type day out in the park. Every church group makes something, be it soup, baked goods, tshirts or other trinkets, and sells them. All proceeds then go to the church. We are making Pizza. It was the only American associated food we could figure out how to mass produce here.
Well that’s all for now. I will try and be better about posting. If I don’t get anything up before Thursday, happy thanksgiving to all!

Pictures!

Here are some pics from around town.


Crazy guy that sings and plays in town lately during ferria

a cutie pie in town

Road to terrero

Me and bessie!

Futbolito... the nights games we ahve at the center of town

the way meat is delivered to the market... needless toi say we don´t buy meat in town

Typical traffic on the road

Playing in the runoff...no wonder why the kiddos are always sick

The talanga version of dump trucks

One of the masses for ferria

Another mass on a different day

A parade for ferria

Two small children setting off cuetes.. the most dangerous for of fireworks i ahve ever encountered... they are even illegal in Honduras!

The next few are from all souls day in the cemetery









the altar for ferria

Melissa and one of the cuties in town trying on her glasses



Thats all the time i ahve for now, but I will post again soon and tell you all about the wonderful week that just passed. Hope everyone is well!

Pictures!

Hope everyone enjoys some pics from life here. they are a bit scattered, and for some reason i can´t type above there, but heres the low down..
1) Chico´s mom and grandmother in matching dresses after a mass for ferria.. I couldn´t resist!
2)The big mass on the saints day here. Sorry its dark, but I wanted to show just how many people there were!
3) My roommate came into our room to find the cat snuggles up to my face one night while I was sleeping...
4,5,6) Piuctures from various parades during ferria
7) A mass during ferria where chico was the master of ceremonies
8)Mike driving our decorated car during one of the parades
9) Me really excited about our chore of sorting beans.. happens about three times a week
10)a great sunset in our town