Here she be

I know that it has been a while since I have written but because of technology challenges and busyness this is the best I can do. I hope this does not become a pattern of making excuses for the lapses between posts at the beginning of each post. I’m guessing that it won’t be since pretty soon I’ll be in sight and this blog might be my only reliable English outlet and therefore I’ll be making excuses as of why I need to post so often instead.  Anyways hopefully you will forget about it and just enjoy all of the interesting tidbits I’m about to share with you.

Big news first I had my last interview with my bosses aka the youth development project heads where they finally gave everyone some hints about what they are going to be doing for the next two years. They basically just revealed to me who my counterparts will be aka the organizations that I will be working with. Other people found out more info about their host stay families or the weather of their site or if they have a site mate (another PC volunteer from another branch ej. Business, municipal development…) They told me that I have 2 counterparts, a school district where I will be working with them to give teacher trainings on things like classroom management and teaching methodologies and teaching TEAM which is a curriculum for teachers who teach English. My second counterpart is a NGO (non- governmental organization) that provides before, afterschool and vacational programs for students pre-k through ninth grade. So I get to do teacher training and work with kids which I am happy about. I find out tomorrow at 4 where my site actually is so all the details will come out then. Everyone in the group has been on pins and needles waiting and hypothesizing where everyone is going.  Next post everybody.

Now that’s out of the way other stuff that has been happening. I am still fighting lots of gross bugs and battling mold issues. Friday-Saturday was Día del niño/children’s day. Friday it was celebrated in schools which basically consisted of kids eating sugar all day. There was a formal presentation, then the moment every kid was waiting for sugar distribution. It begins with Piñatas which are pretty much the most dangerous thing I have ever seen, kids getting wacked in the head with a stick as they skin their knees diving for pieces of candy. Nooooo sense of order when it comes to piñatas here it’s a real free for all.  Then goodie bags of candy were passed out, they coke then cake, I really wasn’t exaggerating about the sugar. Then kids usually get candy from family members as well. Thank goodness I don’t live with any small children because talk about kids acting crazy via sugar infusions. The kids really seemed to be enjoying themselves though smiling all day with mouths full of sweets.

Other noteworthy happenings I taught a group of highschool boys how to put on a condom appropriately. On Monday we had an all day TOT (training of trainers) on HIV/Aids. AIDS is a huge issue in Honduras effecting a very large numbers of the population, so part of being a productive peace corps volunteers give workshops on awareness and prevention. So after the training on Tuesday we had to give a 4 hour HIV/Aids workshop in pairs to classes in a vocational high school. So 2 female volunteers were matched up with a classroom full of 15 to 18 years old boys studying woodworking to broach the topic of sex. I was a bit nervous to say the least. After the initial awkwardness it went smoothly, the boys were for the most part respectful and were very interested in the topic. I was able to demonstrate how to put a condom on a banana using all the appropriate steps, and monitor the group practicing. All in Spanish mind you which was quite a feat. I was observed and got a really good review, with the comment that I was a natural and it looked like I had given the presentation 100 times before, LOL.

Over the last several weeks we have been working on independent projects in small groups to get a feel for the kind of projects that we will be working on in site. Mine has been with 2 other volunteers at a local elementary school. We met with the teachers, the principal and the PTA and decided on doing an afterschool program to support students with learning delays, since it appears that students with special needs are pretty much ignored or not given any extra support. The plan was to do small group interventions, but it didn’t really turn out like that. We started with a list of students that teachers recommended and identified their problem but their attendance has been really sporadic like none showing up the second week, and other kids from the neighborhood kept showing up randomly. So it has morphed into Literacy support for students who show up. We broke into 2 groups K-3 and 4-6^th. I am team teaching the K-3 kids and it has been going pretty good. Doing a lot of early phonetics stuff in Spanish which has been fun, whipping out the songs and phonics chants, sight words etc. Also I am super lucky because my mom sent me a few books in Spanish from home that we have been able to do a read aloud everyday and incorporate an activity. It is really really really hard to find books here not to mention good literature Spanish books. So thanks mom you’re a life saver. I might be calling in a few favors and asking some teachers to use some scholastic points to get me some books for down here.

I had my first “ethnic” food since being in Honduras Wohooo. It was a version of fried rice from a Chinese restaurant in Teguz that a daughter brought my host mom. A rare treat even though it was not really like the fried rice that I’m used to at home it had a Honduran twist if that’s possible.  Ethnic food meaning anything not traditional Honduran is a rarity to come across. I miss Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, even Mexican (what they call tacos and enchiladas here are NOT the same). Not to mention go to American fare like mac and cheese or a burger. I would kill for some basic cheese Im not even talking the fancy stuff like gouda or brie I’m talking cheddar. Anyways I have to get off this food tirade before it takes over the entire post, I could go on and on.

I have my final Spanish leveling interview on Wednesday pray for me ahhhhh. I’m reading an interesting Honduran novel call prision verde currently for class, lots of good historical and political insights. Time to sign off, new post should be coming soon with the big site reveal……..