Work

Yup, I've finally started my job! This new chapter of life in Honduras started a week and a half ago when I arrived at my host parents' house on the evening of Sunday the 15th.

With my host mom Aurora; host dad Gustavo says hola from the hammock

I've really felt welcomed into the fold here. My new sister Valeria gives the best hugs, and I'm teaching niece Kari how to make scrubbies, at her request. I've had some wonderful conversations with the aunts Karla and Vilma, including during a trip to the walking boulevard, and of course with Aurora and Gustavo as well!

My mamita is an amazing cook (she let it slip that she went to culinary school!) so I'm definitely well-fed on a variety of dishes. Tonight I had sopilla de frijol which actually had more banana in it than beans, but it was tasty -- never expected banana in soup but it's pretty good! One of my favorite meals was on Saturday when I was served this delicious number: 

I'm definitely a fan of see-food... Aurora convinced me to try the eye 😱

(and how 'bout that, emojis can be italicized)

Monday the 16th wasn't a typical work day since Keyla, Kara, and I needed to open our local bank accounts. Rudi helped us with that process, which took about an hour for each one of us. K & K had to leave as I was opening my account to go catch their bus down to Tegus. I'm missing them, but we'll get to see each other during Morazánicas next week 😊

So Tuesday the 17th I finally started work! First order of business was to put together the Facebook captions in Spanish and English (link in the previous post) documenting the retreat. I've also made some good headway on our September newsletter and today finished the first draft of the CODESO story I promised. I'm hoping to submit it to the LACA blog in time to include it in the newsletter, but I'll definitely share the link here when it's published.

Something I'd been wondering about since my interview half a year ago was how my commute was going to be! Turns out, I'm super lucky -- it doesn't take long at all. I've learned the rapidito and biking routes and have completed both successfully. They take about the same amount of time, so for now I'm opting for the bike. For the time being, I'm borrowing Gustavo's, but I'm planning to find one of my own this weekend.

Church was lovely as well -- I sat next to Aurora; Cesar gave a compelling guest message; and afterwards, I was invited to lunch with Mary who Fernando (MSMC co-coordinator of interculturality) had connected me with. She had also invited her two nephews, niece Jasmín, and another young adult, Henry. It was lovely to connect with some of the other young people of the church.

Turns out dried yucca is delicious... also salad, but I knew that already

I'm surprised I haven't fallen asleep at my computer yet, but I'm getting to the point where I'm nodding off. The bilingual life really takes a toll on the mental energy levels! I don't notice it as much during the day, but I usually feel ready to crash at 8:30 or 9pm. So... goodnight!

Miniretiro

The rhythm of last week's school days ended up being much like the week before.

With Julia

Luckily, the events of Wednesday the 4th did not repeat themselves on the 11th! Instead, the school sponsored an outing for Kara and me to the mariposario, which also has a pool! That was a nice way to chill out, literally.

The one on the right is a Jade butterfly

Thursday evening, the rest of the MCC Honduras team joined us in Copán for a mini-retreat (I also added 5 photos to the CCM Honduras FB page documenting the retreat; there are a couple duplicates but the photo captions have more info if you're interested in reading more about this past weekend). We hung out at their Airbnb for a while before going out for dinner as a group. Kara and I had one last class session on Friday morning at a cafe overlooking the central plaza so we could observe the Independence Day parades. Pizza with the team, then we met at the school for some discussion of the lecturas we'd read, mainly about the golden age (200s-800s AD) and collapse of the Mayan civilization (800s). Late afternoon, we headed over to the Ruinas for a guided tour.

Temple on top of an artificial mountain made of other temples

Central plaza with ball court and UNESCO-recognized Heiroglyphic Stairway (protected from the elements)

Keyla and Eliette were kind enough to cook dinner for us that evening, so we got an encore of crema espinaca and also got to enjoy Nicaraguan potato cakes with cheese inside.

¡Súper rico!

The next morning, we had some team-building and business meetings before getting pupusas for lunch. A bit more business in the early afternoon; then we headed to The Tea and Chocolate Place again:

Lars, Rudi, Sarah, me, Kara, Keyla, Eliette

On Sunday, I said goodbye to my host family as they headed out to see the parades around 9. I snagged a tuk-tuk taxi down to the others' house. Sunday was Independence Day proper, so before our late-morning bus, I went to check out the parades for a bit and take some photos.

The pine needles were new on Sunday

I dug the stripes

We got back to SPS mid-afternoon and said goodbye to Sarah who had to catch another bus back to El Progreso. Keyla and Kara headed to Rudi's with her for the evening, and Lars took me to meet my host family. But I think that fits better with the theme of... first week on the job!

Hammocks

Many of you have already seen my crosspost on IG/FB (that got reposted by MCC) cataloging the glorious dawn that welcomed me to my first full day in Copán Ruinas:

Welp, here it is again, but from a slightly different angle

Mother nature wasn't the only one who offered me a warm welcome; my host family has been making sure I'm well fed and settling into daily life. Monday morning, my host mom, Sara, walked me to school in time for class to begin at 8. Since it's pretty tranquilo here in Copán, the rest of the days I've walked down by myself the half-a-kilometer or so and then usually walk back up with the other students in the afternoon. Well, I did catch up with Kara on the way down on Friday, so we walked the second half together.

Last week was the first time I've had something close to a daily routine! Language classes are one-on-one sessions from 8-noon. My teacher's name is Julia, and a typical class consists of talking for a while to practice conversation skills, going over homework, covering new material, recess at 10 (during which I lay in one of the school hammocks), and more practice or new material after recess. In the afternoons, I go home for lunch before lounging in the hammock outside of my bedroom. Late afternoons have been a little more fluxy; I may chat with my host family, play with my host nephew Andre, do my homework (more likely I'll wait until after dinner), or explore the town a bit.

Recess last Monday

Tuesday recess

Post-lunch siesta time

Wednesday was the only day that derailed my lovely horario. Seemed the new food had finally caught up with me. After waking up without much of an appetite, I tried to go to school but I was so pálida that Julia told me to go rest in the hammock. After an hour, I still wasn't feeling better... I won't gross you out with the details, but by mid-morning I was heading home in a taxi and was laid out for the rest of the day. (Bless Sara for her concern and care for me that afternoon!) Later in the afternoon I went to the clinic for a consult and got prescribed some meds to take for the next week. Fun! 🙄 I was also, doctor's orders, placed on a bland diet for several days.

The next day, I woke up notably improved stomach-wise (and better every day since), but the golpe to my immune system had let the cold going around the MCC team get ahold of me. (Today, I've been hacking my way through Day 5.) The bland diet that Kara and I were both on (she'd been to the clinic on Tuesday) meant that our cooking activity at school had to be cancelled. We were going to have made empanadas with our compañeras de clase Meredith and Christine, whose last week it was. Instead, they went to the mariposario with their teachers while Julia, Dunia, Kara, and I played Bananagrams.

Isn't this game is hard enough in English?

Thursday afternoon, I was feeling well enough to go explore the centro a bit. Kara and I walked down to the plaza and enjoyed the plantings and architecture.

Time in some green (and yellow, and red) space was probably good for me, too.

To start the weekend off right, Kara, Christine, and I went to The Tea & Chocolate Place for samples of the titular attractions on Friday afternoon. We also ordered some delicious noni kombucha which we savored alongside some lovely conversation. Other weekend highlights include catching up with friends and family over video chat, visiting the Parque de Aves with Kara, and eating canches and drinking horchata while watching the children of the church break not one--but four piñatas during their celebration for Día del Niño (which is actually tomorrow, when they'll celebrate it in the schools).

Getting to know the local fauna

Today it's back to the weekday schedule; after school I watched Zootopia in Spanish with Andre and my host sister Dulce. Then Kara and I hit up The T&C Place again to avail ourselves of their WiFi and download some readings we need to do before the MCC retreat this weekend.

The sunsets aren't half bad, either

Okay, I've procrastinated my homework long enough. I'll leave you with an image of the other end of a day in Copán. ¡Nos vemos!

Road Trip

Last Tuesday, we checked out of our SPS apartment and headed south to continue our whirlwind tour of MCC Honduras' partner organizations, our socios. We traveled to Siguatepeque, where we visited with PAG (Proyecto Aldea Global) and learned a bit more about what they do -- they have many projects, including community health, microcredit, and human rights education programs.

We stayed that evening in a retreat center on a hill overlooking the city. It is so much cooler up at elevation (the city sits at 1100m/3600ft above sea level), and walking outside in the morning reminded me of my family's stay up at the cabin above RMMC last summer.

Ahh, the smell of the pines in the crisp morning air...

We continued south and made it to the capital city of Tegucigalpa yet that morning. Got some baleadas for lunch (I'll have to do a post just about comida catracha) then visited AFE, the school where Kara will be teaching English. The coordinator at the school, Chris, has a fascinating backstory--she's the reason the school exists! As a young child, she happened to accompany her dad on a trip to the basurero where she saw children her age working to make a living by finding items that could be sold or recycled. She was shocked, and insisted they return and see what they could do to help. Through her persistence, her parents began teaching classes in the dump, and eventually, that effort evolved into the school AFE is today, offering primary and secondary school as well as adult education.

A few of AFE's buildings

The basurero is actually hidden behind that tree

We then got to meet Kara's host mom (who makes amazing iced fruit juice, with which she welcomed us all into her living room!) and see where she'll be living for these next months. She's got a pretty sweet commute--only about 5 minutes by rapidito!

On Thursday, we visited the MIN (Museo para la Identidad Nacional) before having lunch at Casa Quinchon, which I can only describe as a cross between Avanti F&B and a coworking space. In the afternoon, we visited ASJ, where Keyla will be working. This association works in the justice system, which too often favors the powerful, and uses the system to get justice for those who usually don't. For example, a family who has lost a loved one to a homicide is usually afraid to come forward and identify themselves in order to testify. ASJ provides a lawyer, a psychologist, and an investigator to help the individuals feel safe providing testimony, and also has a system of identity protection for the witnesses. Cases accompanied in this way are 2x more likely to result in a sentence.

That evening, we got to meet Keyla's host parents and three host siblings. The older two were already asking questions and getting to know her, and the youngest was excited to play and have a new sister (a SALTer stayed with them during the 18-19 term). I had fun drawing with her, too.

Lovely view they've got from their roof

Friday, we headed down to the southernmost department in Honduras, Choluteca. In the afternoon, we hiked with members of partner CODESO's team up to one of the water storage locations; this one provides drinking water and irrigation to about 300 people in the community. They also showed us the results of their reforestation efforts after Hurricane Mitch (13,000 trees!).

Pila de agua with filter

Joel, Carlos, Adolfo, Elmer, Pedro, Lars, Kara, and Keyla at the dam

The next morning, we met campesino-run community savings group and hiked up to one of the parcels they cultivate. I don't want to say too much here, since I'll probably do a story about this visit soon and I want y'all to read my journalism pieces. But here's a picture of the parcel, where you can see their two harvests per year: one ready for reaping soon, the other just planted.

Maiz and maicillo grow side by side as drought insurance

That afternoon, we drove back up through the rain to Tegucigalpa. We were glad to think of the crops getting watered!

Then, Sunday morning--early--Lars took Kara and me to the bus station and we started our journey to Copán... a 9 hour journey including a 1 hour layover in SPS. We were greeted in Copán by Dunia, one of our language teachers, who delivered us to our host families. I was happy to unpack and think about not moving my stuff around for the next two weeks!