Copprome: Computer classes are going swimmingly. I'm mostly on to administrative (long-term) stuff there, like making sure that I have records made to chart all of my students' progress in the English class, student evaluations of activities/classes, scheduling activities for them now that they're on vacation, etc. It's unexpectedly relaxing.
Recent journeys: Over the weekend, somehow managed to go to Comayagua one day and Tela the next day. And learn to dance bachata with Lena. For the record, I still think bachata music stinks like rotten vegetables and burning plastic (that is to say, a bus ride - my context for bachata).
I also have a load of funny stories about being a minority to tell you when I get a chance. Just ask. For now I'll leave you with two moments of zen, which always works for me: http://youtube.com/watch?v=zs_rXxi0zhM
More photos are up on my Picasa. I reckon.
PS - Cheer up -> http://youtube.com/watch?v=-Zzh79J2fC0
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
El Lago Yojoa
Weekend adventure
Over the weekend, Lena and I went with our friend Alex to El Lago Yojoa to have adventures. These included jumping off small cliffs into water, climbing into a cave behind a waterfall with the water going in front of us. So schöen.
We stayed Saturday night at D and D brewery, a hostal/brewery run by a cool American guy who looks like the dad from Orange County Choppers. He was a brewmeister, an amateur archaeologist (found lots of Lenca artifacts while digging for pools and septic tanks), and a slide guitar player.
On Sunday we found a nice older gentleman in town who rented us a rowboat for the day and we went out on the Lago de Yojoa and then hiked through the Parque Ecológico. It was amazingly beautiful. I will revisit this place in my dreams for years. And only in my dreams, since I ran out of batteries and was only able to take mental photos. We hadn´t brought much money, and there were no banks out there, so we ended up stretching it out and being tacaño and arriving back in San Pedro with just enough money to arrive home with about 10 lempiras left between the 2 of us (Alex had run out of money on Saturday and we lended her money to get back to SPS).
Copprome Update
This week we´re starting up the computer classes with Patty and Luis from Diginet as the main instructors. I´m working on a pending ¨wish list¨ for donations for school supplies for Copprome. Those interested in donating school supplies or computer equipment, contact me or SHH.
Our administrative work is ongoing as we continue to get things ready for January. The high school girls are getting together their talent show acts and have requested a fairly specific remix for their dance routine. DJ Cosmo will make it on her compy.
And now that classes and exams are over, and recuperations are nearly over, Christmas preparations are beginning (there are Christmas lights up in some houses already, what with there being no Thanksgiving buffer zone for decorations).
I am to teach the kids a Christmas song in English. Any suggestions? They already know Jingle Bells. And no one here knows or cares what Chanukah is.
Oh man, a mosquito just bit me on the forehead and I can´t see it but it feels like a golfball.
Over the weekend, Lena and I went with our friend Alex to El Lago Yojoa to have adventures. These included jumping off small cliffs into water, climbing into a cave behind a waterfall with the water going in front of us. So schöen.
We stayed Saturday night at D and D brewery, a hostal/brewery run by a cool American guy who looks like the dad from Orange County Choppers. He was a brewmeister, an amateur archaeologist (found lots of Lenca artifacts while digging for pools and septic tanks), and a slide guitar player.
On Sunday we found a nice older gentleman in town who rented us a rowboat for the day and we went out on the Lago de Yojoa and then hiked through the Parque Ecológico. It was amazingly beautiful. I will revisit this place in my dreams for years. And only in my dreams, since I ran out of batteries and was only able to take mental photos. We hadn´t brought much money, and there were no banks out there, so we ended up stretching it out and being tacaño and arriving back in San Pedro with just enough money to arrive home with about 10 lempiras left between the 2 of us (Alex had run out of money on Saturday and we lended her money to get back to SPS).
Copprome Update
This week we´re starting up the computer classes with Patty and Luis from Diginet as the main instructors. I´m working on a pending ¨wish list¨ for donations for school supplies for Copprome. Those interested in donating school supplies or computer equipment, contact me or SHH.
Our administrative work is ongoing as we continue to get things ready for January. The high school girls are getting together their talent show acts and have requested a fairly specific remix for their dance routine. DJ Cosmo will make it on her compy.
And now that classes and exams are over, and recuperations are nearly over, Christmas preparations are beginning (there are Christmas lights up in some houses already, what with there being no Thanksgiving buffer zone for decorations).
I am to teach the kids a Christmas song in English. Any suggestions? They already know Jingle Bells. And no one here knows or cares what Chanukah is.
Oh man, a mosquito just bit me on the forehead and I can´t see it but it feels like a golfball.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Most excellent!
Things are going excellently!"!
We´re interviewing people to come to the job in January - so far we´ve found one American volunteer to teach English come January (possibly more, we have pending Skype interviews) and we are in the process of interviewing to hire a qualified Honduran educator. More on this later.
Also, Shin and Cosmo now have a car. It´s amazing how things have come together over the past few weeks -- In a few more weeks, once I´ve finished everything, I´ll be ready to fly away with my umbrella like Mary Poppins.
Oh, and it´s official. Fulbright is placing me in La Plata, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. More on this later also. For now, I have to close the COPPROME compy lab.
We´re interviewing people to come to the job in January - so far we´ve found one American volunteer to teach English come January (possibly more, we have pending Skype interviews) and we are in the process of interviewing to hire a qualified Honduran educator. More on this later.
Also, Shin and Cosmo now have a car. It´s amazing how things have come together over the past few weeks -- In a few more weeks, once I´ve finished everything, I´ll be ready to fly away with my umbrella like Mary Poppins.
Oh, and it´s official. Fulbright is placing me in La Plata, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. More on this later also. For now, I have to close the COPPROME compy lab.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Piratas del caribe parte dos - 3 countries in 2 days!
Hello friends!
I write to you on an uncharacteristically rainy and cold Progreso day after returning triumphantly from our epic journey to Belize with Shin and Cosmo to renew our 3-month visas and not be "illegal aliens" (outlawed extraterrestrials?) in Honduras.
Way early on Friday morning we hopped in a typical converted schoolbus with a giant Jesus slogan on the front (JEHOVAH ES MI REY with a sticker of Calvin peeing on an Olimpia soccer logo under it in this case). On the ride I met a really nice guy the same age as me who by now may or may not have made it across Mexico and into the US without documents to try to make money to support his parents and siblings by doing backbreaking work - thinking about the inequality of this situation is not a new thought process to me, but now I have another face, a face just like mine, to add to it.
We crossed over into Guatemala the same day and stopped in Puerto Barrios, where we actually didn't do work (weird for us) but rather walked around and ate the best frozen chocolate covered bananas I've tried yet. Also I saw an awesome family who had two pet monkeys named Panchita and Panchito who lived in their tree in a giant birdhouse like contraption - the monkeys came close enough to high five or throw poop at me but they didn't do either of the two. We took pictures.
The next day we took a boat to Belize and spent a total of about an hour and a half in country, where we at Garifuna food, marvelled at the novelty of people speaking beautiful Caribbean English in addition to Spanish, Garifuna and Quiche, and I shared the book "The End of Poverty" by Jeffrey Sachs with the nice guy in customs. He liked it a lot, as may you.
We took a boat back to Livingston, Honduras, a community founded by Garifunas (people of African descent who were marooned centuries ago on Saint Vincent, where they killed off/mixed with the Arawaks, then moved to the coastlines of central America - their language comes from English, French, African languages, and Arawak). It was a sweet coastal town with a cool collection of people. Mayans wearing colorful tejidos, a few people of Indian (i.e. from India, descent, including our awesome boat captain and soul guide, Jorge), loads of Garifuna people, and a healthy ebb of off-season tourists, including an awesome group of Slovakian guys who accompanied us when we went to jump off a waterfall like Tarzan at Siete Altares. We also toured the Rio Dulce in a boat - I asked if the river had carved out the amazing canyons on either side of us, and Eleo, our bilingual (quiche, Spanish) captain, told me that people there believe that it was made in a moment by the word of God. It was poetic - and, I think, consistent with my initial interpretation. It was carved with an artist's flair, with thick trees and vines growing horizontally out of the sheer 20 meter high rock face.
The next day we went to a beach and drank giant coconuts and saw a scarab beatle bigger than my hand. Then we took a long series of boats and buses to get back to work in Progreso.
I don't think I've had a more amazing week in my life.
Sweet home El Progreso,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Chelito
PS - Pictures pending, promise!
I write to you on an uncharacteristically rainy and cold Progreso day after returning triumphantly from our epic journey to Belize with Shin and Cosmo to renew our 3-month visas and not be "illegal aliens" (outlawed extraterrestrials?) in Honduras.
Way early on Friday morning we hopped in a typical converted schoolbus with a giant Jesus slogan on the front (JEHOVAH ES MI REY with a sticker of Calvin peeing on an Olimpia soccer logo under it in this case). On the ride I met a really nice guy the same age as me who by now may or may not have made it across Mexico and into the US without documents to try to make money to support his parents and siblings by doing backbreaking work - thinking about the inequality of this situation is not a new thought process to me, but now I have another face, a face just like mine, to add to it.
We crossed over into Guatemala the same day and stopped in Puerto Barrios, where we actually didn't do work (weird for us) but rather walked around and ate the best frozen chocolate covered bananas I've tried yet. Also I saw an awesome family who had two pet monkeys named Panchita and Panchito who lived in their tree in a giant birdhouse like contraption - the monkeys came close enough to high five or throw poop at me but they didn't do either of the two. We took pictures.
The next day we took a boat to Belize and spent a total of about an hour and a half in country, where we at Garifuna food, marvelled at the novelty of people speaking beautiful Caribbean English in addition to Spanish, Garifuna and Quiche, and I shared the book "The End of Poverty" by Jeffrey Sachs with the nice guy in customs. He liked it a lot, as may you.
We took a boat back to Livingston, Honduras, a community founded by Garifunas (people of African descent who were marooned centuries ago on Saint Vincent, where they killed off/mixed with the Arawaks, then moved to the coastlines of central America - their language comes from English, French, African languages, and Arawak). It was a sweet coastal town with a cool collection of people. Mayans wearing colorful tejidos, a few people of Indian (i.e. from India, descent, including our awesome boat captain and soul guide, Jorge), loads of Garifuna people, and a healthy ebb of off-season tourists, including an awesome group of Slovakian guys who accompanied us when we went to jump off a waterfall like Tarzan at Siete Altares. We also toured the Rio Dulce in a boat - I asked if the river had carved out the amazing canyons on either side of us, and Eleo, our bilingual (quiche, Spanish) captain, told me that people there believe that it was made in a moment by the word of God. It was poetic - and, I think, consistent with my initial interpretation. It was carved with an artist's flair, with thick trees and vines growing horizontally out of the sheer 20 meter high rock face.
The next day we went to a beach and drank giant coconuts and saw a scarab beatle bigger than my hand. Then we took a long series of boats and buses to get back to work in Progreso.
I don't think I've had a more amazing week in my life.
Sweet home El Progreso,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Chelito
PS - Pictures pending, promise!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
cómo vuela el tiempo, pero cómo vuela
I think the last time I wrote was from Copán. Here´s a month in review.
The conference was awesome and I made lots of new and awesome service-minded friends, among them some awesome Swiss and German friends from San Pedro. We´ve gone on some trips together since then, one weekend to an international (read as Honduras plus Guatemala) eating festival in Santa Bárbara where we, filling our duty as the only non-Hondurans, danced punta for everyone there. The week before last I spent a few long days translating for a medical brigade coming from the States. It was easier than I thought because basically everyone had diabetes, high blood pressure and rotten teeth. All I had to translate really was ¨The doctor recommends you don´t drink so much pepsi or eat so much fried chicken, ok?¨.
Last weekend we went to Tegucigalpa to hang with our friends from OYE and see some successful projects and also meet with an international group of totally courageous, totally knowledgeable non-profit lawyers who work with land rights and are going to help us, pro bono, with Siete de Abril. Tegucigalpa is an awesome city that goes all the way up the mountains. Shin says it reminds him of Rio in Brazil, favelas and all. We were able to stay with the ever-awesome Ahern family, of CARE International fame, and hang out with a cadre of knowledgable people who work with Honduran youth. Our area of work is a big deal - over half of Honduras´s population is under 18, many live without family, education, food, or shelter ... I was particularly awe-struck with the Mikah Project in Teguc, who like us work with land reform, housing, and transition homes for at-risk youth. They have a great model and they´re very effective. Some of the boys from their home formed a Christian-themed Reggaeton band that really rocks and has been featured on radio stations here alongside the usual misogynistic booty shakin music.
We had a defining moment at the end of last week when SHH bought a plot of land to relocate the community of Siete de Abril, after consulting with the town´s padrinato and with the board in the States. Construction will begin in December when the college groups arrive, with over 120 students in total coming between December and January.
At Copprome, work has become less overwhelming (downgraded to ¨whelming¨), and we´re in the process of interviewing people to replace me come December. We already have found a few different wonderful SHH colleagues who will begin working in May also. Seguimos dando pasitos para adelante. The internet is now completely up and running in COPPROME and the computing classes will begin soon. We have formalized the computer lab rules. The kids´ final exams start next week.
I´m in the process of pushing back my flight out by a few weeks in order to have time to finish everything before I go.
Last night we celebrated Halloween in COPPROME, haunted house and all. The kids loved it - I dressed up as a mad doctor and made them touch eyeballs (lichas inside of koolaid), fingers (sausages with ketchup) and Frankenstein brains (spaghetti). A few of the little kids were seriously scared until they ate the fingers and brains and eyeballs. The eyeballs were particularly popular. It was an amazing group collaboration between OYE, SHH, and our nutty friends. Always fun sharing our satanic (read as, frowned upon by la Iglesia but permitted nonetheless) North American traditions with the kiddos.
Today we´re off to Belize to step over the border and back before Cosmo´s 3 month visa runs out. After this I´ll be good to go until I leave.
Until next time,
Chelito
The conference was awesome and I made lots of new and awesome service-minded friends, among them some awesome Swiss and German friends from San Pedro. We´ve gone on some trips together since then, one weekend to an international (read as Honduras plus Guatemala) eating festival in Santa Bárbara where we, filling our duty as the only non-Hondurans, danced punta for everyone there. The week before last I spent a few long days translating for a medical brigade coming from the States. It was easier than I thought because basically everyone had diabetes, high blood pressure and rotten teeth. All I had to translate really was ¨The doctor recommends you don´t drink so much pepsi or eat so much fried chicken, ok?¨.
Last weekend we went to Tegucigalpa to hang with our friends from OYE and see some successful projects and also meet with an international group of totally courageous, totally knowledgeable non-profit lawyers who work with land rights and are going to help us, pro bono, with Siete de Abril. Tegucigalpa is an awesome city that goes all the way up the mountains. Shin says it reminds him of Rio in Brazil, favelas and all. We were able to stay with the ever-awesome Ahern family, of CARE International fame, and hang out with a cadre of knowledgable people who work with Honduran youth. Our area of work is a big deal - over half of Honduras´s population is under 18, many live without family, education, food, or shelter ... I was particularly awe-struck with the Mikah Project in Teguc, who like us work with land reform, housing, and transition homes for at-risk youth. They have a great model and they´re very effective. Some of the boys from their home formed a Christian-themed Reggaeton band that really rocks and has been featured on radio stations here alongside the usual misogynistic booty shakin music.
We had a defining moment at the end of last week when SHH bought a plot of land to relocate the community of Siete de Abril, after consulting with the town´s padrinato and with the board in the States. Construction will begin in December when the college groups arrive, with over 120 students in total coming between December and January.
At Copprome, work has become less overwhelming (downgraded to ¨whelming¨), and we´re in the process of interviewing people to replace me come December. We already have found a few different wonderful SHH colleagues who will begin working in May also. Seguimos dando pasitos para adelante. The internet is now completely up and running in COPPROME and the computing classes will begin soon. We have formalized the computer lab rules. The kids´ final exams start next week.
I´m in the process of pushing back my flight out by a few weeks in order to have time to finish everything before I go.
Last night we celebrated Halloween in COPPROME, haunted house and all. The kids loved it - I dressed up as a mad doctor and made them touch eyeballs (lichas inside of koolaid), fingers (sausages with ketchup) and Frankenstein brains (spaghetti). A few of the little kids were seriously scared until they ate the fingers and brains and eyeballs. The eyeballs were particularly popular. It was an amazing group collaboration between OYE, SHH, and our nutty friends. Always fun sharing our satanic (read as, frowned upon by la Iglesia but permitted nonetheless) North American traditions with the kiddos.
Today we´re off to Belize to step over the border and back before Cosmo´s 3 month visa runs out. After this I´ll be good to go until I leave.
Until next time,
Chelito
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