some blocks of text

wow, it’s been a while since i’ve written anything of substance. let’s break it down, because such long blocks of text are hard to read. oh and trust me, it’s going to be long. here we go:

TAKE IT SLOW – in the Olancho district of Honduras, there is a small rural community called Guanabano that we have been visiting. last weekend we stayed for two nights, and the weekend before that we stayed in a nearby town and met our families for the first time over lunch. during the last weekend stay, well, it was interesting. we stayed with families in pairs. krissy and i stayed with a youngish couple, who had one 7 yr. old girl. the girl was incredibly shy at first, but she soon warmed up to us, and then asked to sleep in our bed, even though she had cold/flu. we weren’t sure how to say no, especially because they gave us a full-sized bed and the couple and daughter were going to share a twin. between a sick girl, strong afternoon coffee, and roosters who were clearly confused about the time, it was a pretty sleepless night. the next day was nice though. we asked a ton of questions about country life. our family had chickens (some hatched when were there!), pigs, a parrot, a dog, and some subsistence crops. the taught us how to make tortillas on a clay stove and we taught them how to play Uno. in the afternoon we all went to a nearby river to swim. a baby chick died. not much more happened. it’s a slow and simple life there. i decided to do my anthropology field practicum in that community when we return in april, when we’ll be staying for about a week.

A GORDIAN KNOT – spanish class and our Honduran context class are now over. spanish is beginning to be a struggle now that i am not speaking and learning it for those first 3 hours each day. i have to be much more self-disciplined in learning vocabulary and intentionally speaking with Hondurans, especially having 3 hours of reading each night. to help, i have been reading (yes, quite slowly) a novel in spanish. i put the new words on tiny flashcards in order to memorize them. our next class is about development theory and poverty. this first week has been so intense. hearing the problems of the world laid out all at once really overwhelmed me; im not strong enough to hear them and remain calm. well im not freaking out, but maybe just a little depressed. and bewildered. it’s hard to know what i should do about it, but i guess that’s why im studying. still, what can any one person do to reverse the trends that plague this planet and its societies? i think we need more unity in the “development” community, and so have more focus. and effectiveness. that is my theory. but then, the unified development community would need have the right strategy, and what should that be? i am feeling more and more that “development” is an enormous Gordian knot.

MY PARTNER IN CRIME – i think i mentioned karah in my amapala entry, but i will expound. she is my closest friend here, and one of the fastest friends i’ve ever made. besides her respectable taste in music, lust for adventure, poetic manner of self-expression, and profound generosity, she is just a really great person. i wish you could all meet her. the first time she introduced herself to me, she offered me some clothes, since my bags were lost, and she was the only one who thought of that. and that was how we became friends. we live about 2 walking minutes away from each other, and so we do a lot of things together: walking to and from school (along with an average of 3 other people), running at a little stadium near my house, going to the internet café, reading on my roof, etc. a friendship like this was very unexpected and very welcome. earlier this week she went with me to have dinner with ryan mcgladdery, a friend from Lodi who is teaching here in the city, and some of his roommates. it was a great night, and so nice to hang out with people not in the calvin program but still fluent in english.

TO SHARE – today (i am writing this on friday night) was a bit unusual. we had a three day weekend, but i decided not to travel because a) i really need some rest and b) see the next section!!! so i asked my mamá if i could go to work with her and learn about the development organization she works for, Compartir, an organization that i am investigating for class. Compartir is spanish for To Share. i went to the administrative office for half an hour in the morning, where she works, but then went with some medical students out to Nueva Suyapa to see what actually goes on. oh i should mention, because i’ve referenced N.S. before, that it is a large community on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa, still considered part of the city. it’s one of the poorest communities in Tegucigalpa, and it is also where my professors have chosen to live. Compartir facilitates the sponsorship of children by people in France, mainly. i went around with a Honduran volunteer (a mormon named david) to various houses where sponsored children lived. he would ask questions about how the child or children were doing, what their school grades were, if they’ve been sick, etc. i would ask random questions too. they were pretty laid back visits. david had only been volunteering for 6 months, but he knew a lot of people in the community, and he liked to talk. in one house i saw a guitar hanging on the wall, and i asked who played. the father did, and he proudly took down the instrument and favored us with a rambling little tune. he also instructed us in the chords that composed the melody, and referred to them as Do, Re, Mi, and So on. ha. ok, you’re right mr. washington, it’s “Sol.” aren’t those from Latin? that would make sense. well anyway, it was really fun visiting the people in this way. one family had 5 day old kittens, which were, yeah i’ll admit it, a bit ugly. but im going to go back sometime and they’re going to be cute.

ON THE ROAD – on monday, we are all leaving Tegucigalpa on an extended field trip. for a week we will be in the other large city of Honduras, San Pedro Sula. we are staying with another family, this time in “gangs” of 3 – 5 people. we’ll be visiting maquilas (clothing factories), banana plantations, coffee farms, people trying to illegally immigrate (!!!!), etc. on the weekend we’ll visit Copan (ancient Mayan ruins, the gemstone of Honduran tourism), and the following week, spring break! i am keeping my plans a secret, so i can surprise you, but trust me, it’s going to be great. the week after that we are returning to San Pedro for another week of study and visits. so three weeks away from “home.” oh and then we are in Teguc for a few days, giving our final group presentations on our topic of choice and then....holy week! catholicism is grand, isn’t it? i want to go to Antigua, Guatemala for the celebration, because they say it’s the best in the world. and what is better than the best in the world? so basically, for the next month i am going to be in Unconventional Mode, which i am quite excited about. im getting too accustomed to things anyway.