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