All the other teachers often point something out about the students in my class: that when they speak, they constantly interrupt themselves by saying, "How you say in English..." and then they speak in Spanish. Sometimes, they even start their sentence by saying "how you say in English..." and then they actually speak in English, which is even more hilarious. For example, today one of my students asked me, "How you say in English, 'uncle?'" Whenever this happens, I just look at them for a second until they figure it out, or laugh and tell them, 'good job, that IS English!' It's cute.
Anyway, lista means ready, and that's what I am. I'm ready. I love so many things about Honduras. My experience here has been absolutely invaluable to me. When I came to this country, I was broken in more ways than one. I went through an incredible healing process here, and in the meantime I taught a grade, learned Spanish, met amazing people, grew spiritually...the list goes on. Honduras is so important to me. But as my time here begins to dwindle, I find myself getting more and more excited about what's next.
I am anxious to be home and enjoy America again. Going to the US a couple weeks ago was a bit of a shock for me. In the hotel, I kept thinking that bugs were on me, but in the USA...it's never bugs. It's always hair or a string or something, but not spiders or beetles. Everything was just efficient, and shiny, and...like home. The USA is where I grew up, and it's where my family is. It's not that the culture is better, but it's where I feel at home.
I have decided on a law school and so I know what I'm doing in the fall. I have plans to fly all over the USA this summer; I'm going to New York to visit one of my best friends, to Louisiana to visit Alex, to Chicago for a wedding (!) and to visit Jacki... I have a lot to look forward to.
So, I'm excited to go home. That being said, I cannot say enough wonderful things about Honduras. My experience here has been life-changing. I've grown so much. Not to mention I'm in love with 20 little children. When I think about that part of leaving- specifically, leaving them, I feel a little sick. I don't know how I'm going to do it. I absolutely adore every one of them. There are things I tell myself to comfort myself- like how I want to go to law school to be an immigration lawyer so that I can help people in hard situations, like many of my students are. But it doesn't make me feel any better about leaving them. In fact, there's a real element of guilt associated with leaving. Why do I have the freedom to leave? For me, this was just a year-long experience. My life is so me-based that I only think of myself... but for most of the people here, this is their life. It's what they've always known, and they'll never leave. That concept, as simple as it probably sounds, is hard for me to fathom.
But I'm not ready to talk about existentialism or embark upon self reflection and introspection quite yet. For now, I'm just focusing on the last five weeks of my school year in Honduras and trying to make the most of that time.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Alex and the USA
The last few weeks have been completely crazy! A lot has happened, but I'll keep this as brief as I can. April was just a very busy month. I only spent one full weekend in Villa Verde, I spent all the others traveling around. After my dad left, I had two weeks of just working regularly. During that time, I made some cool plans. I have been waitlisted at two excellent law schools, and many people told me that one of the best ways to get off of a waitlist is to actually visit the schools. So, I requested to have three days off of work to fly to the United States to visit one of those schools. My principal was extremely understanding and gave me the three days off. I decided to plan my trip for April 21, 22, and 23- which coincidentally allowed me to leave Honduras with my best friend, who came to visit me!
Yes, two weeks after my dad left, my best friend, Alex, flew down to Honduras to see me. If you're reading this blog, you probably know Alex (since I'm pretty sure the only people who look at this are old college friends, my family, or Alex's boyfriend- shout out to Justin!). Alex wasn't here for that long. She flew in on Saturday and stayed until Wednesday... way too short of a trip for my liking. But it was so amazing of her to take the time off work to come visit me. Alex and I have traveled together before- she was the co-author of our EuroFest 2009 blog (check it out, it's pretty awesome), when we bummed our way through Spain and Italy together last year.
Us in Spain:
And us in Honduras:
After our amazing and long-awaited reunion in the San Pedro airport, we headed straight off to Copan. That was my fourth time visiting Copan, but I really feel like it's a must-see for people who are visiting. I mean, I still haven't gotten sick of seeing the ruins, either. It's a really fun little town. Anyway, we only spent one night there, and then headed back to Gracias.
Alex endured the full experience of traveling in Honduras. For me, most of it felt somewhat typical- for her I'm sure it felt crazy! On our trip back to Gracias, we had to ride three different buses, all of which were absolutely packed. We counted that on our second bus (which was really more like a van), there was room for maybe 12 people, if you put three in front... but they shoved 23 people in there. On the third bus, we were harassed by some drunken men (typical) and then experienced some anti-American hatred (not typical). Actually, the anti-America incident threw me for a loop because it just didn't fit with any of my experiences here. But anyway, as this guy was getting off the bus he turned to us and cursed at us (in English) and said something to the effect of wanting us out of his country. I'm not going to write verbatim what he said... you can imagine. But in any case, it wasn't the most pleasant interaction.
But in the end, we made it safe and sound to Gracias and were able to spend a full day in Villa Verde because we didn't have school on Monday! We hiked up Celaque and went to town and hung out with some neighbors. On Tuesday, Alex came to school with me and it was so great having her there! My students loved her, of course, and she was able to help with a couple of my classes. It's nice when friends and family come down because I can actually show them what I do here. I really am a teacher... it's cool. Alex has a great camera, and she took some really nice shots of my students, and some with me too. :)
And then finally we headed out on Wednesday. I was so happy that I was able to leave the country with my best friend. I had a minor hiccup at the airport, when I found out that the school had let our visas expire. I had to find the immigration office and explain to them what happened and then figure out what I needed to do... talk about a test for my Spanish skills! But it all worked out in the end and I made it safely to the USA.
Alex and I had an amazing dinner at a Thai restaurant in the Miami airport before going our separate ways. It really was so incredible having her here. She was the only non-family person to come visit (although while she was here, she was my 'prima') and it meant the world to me that she came down. I also really love it when I can bring people like Alex into my experience; she is definitely someone that helps me put things into perspective and points important things out to me...and as I'm nearing the end of this particular experience and it's almost time for me to get nostalgic and introspective, it was very good timing to have her here.
It felt strange to be in the USA without going home. I was again struck by how awesome America is. America is really clean. There is hot water in all the bathrooms. I kept forgetting that I could flush the paper. There was a vending machine in the airport that sold iPods. And everyone looks different. Seriously, the diversity in America is something that we should be extremely proud of. Everyone looks different, everyone comes from different places; it's awesome. America is pretty cool.
Here's the iPod vending machine:
My law school visit was great too. I will say that I felt more culture shock coming home this time than I did over Christmas. I think being on a college campus kind of threw me for a loop; it was strange being around all those privileged young white people, most of whom probably don't know how lucky they are. But this is getting very long so I'll save those ponderings for another day.
The visit was great, I loved the school, and I hope it might have helped my chances of getting off the wait list. My dad also flew to the school to keep me company for the couple of days that I was in town, and that meant the world to me. Having someone there that I knew made the whole thing feel a lot less...daunting.
It was a very fast trip back to the USA! Now I'm back in Honduras, with seven weeks left in my experience here. Only seven weeks... that's surreal. I wasn't so excited about coming back. The trip was really short and I just wanted to stay with my dad and go home. Once in my house, I found this guy under my bed (I had to pick him up by the wings and throw him outside because I was too scared to crunch him):
And when I turned on the water in my bathroom, it looked like this:
I find myself in a situation where I recognize that seven weeks is next to nothing- it's almost over. I want to enjoy every second of that time, and mentally prepare myself to say goodbye to my students and close the door on this experience. It's difficult to balance that with my excitement about actually being home, being with my family, going to law school and getting started on my life post-Honduras. Honduras has changed me for the better, that's for sure. But again... I'll save that for another day.
Only seven weeks left of my year in Honduras... crazy.
Yes, two weeks after my dad left, my best friend, Alex, flew down to Honduras to see me. If you're reading this blog, you probably know Alex (since I'm pretty sure the only people who look at this are old college friends, my family, or Alex's boyfriend- shout out to Justin!). Alex wasn't here for that long. She flew in on Saturday and stayed until Wednesday... way too short of a trip for my liking. But it was so amazing of her to take the time off work to come visit me. Alex and I have traveled together before- she was the co-author of our EuroFest 2009 blog (check it out, it's pretty awesome), when we bummed our way through Spain and Italy together last year.
Us in Spain:
And us in Honduras:
After our amazing and long-awaited reunion in the San Pedro airport, we headed straight off to Copan. That was my fourth time visiting Copan, but I really feel like it's a must-see for people who are visiting. I mean, I still haven't gotten sick of seeing the ruins, either. It's a really fun little town. Anyway, we only spent one night there, and then headed back to Gracias.
Alex endured the full experience of traveling in Honduras. For me, most of it felt somewhat typical- for her I'm sure it felt crazy! On our trip back to Gracias, we had to ride three different buses, all of which were absolutely packed. We counted that on our second bus (which was really more like a van), there was room for maybe 12 people, if you put three in front... but they shoved 23 people in there. On the third bus, we were harassed by some drunken men (typical) and then experienced some anti-American hatred (not typical). Actually, the anti-America incident threw me for a loop because it just didn't fit with any of my experiences here. But anyway, as this guy was getting off the bus he turned to us and cursed at us (in English) and said something to the effect of wanting us out of his country. I'm not going to write verbatim what he said... you can imagine. But in any case, it wasn't the most pleasant interaction.
But in the end, we made it safe and sound to Gracias and were able to spend a full day in Villa Verde because we didn't have school on Monday! We hiked up Celaque and went to town and hung out with some neighbors. On Tuesday, Alex came to school with me and it was so great having her there! My students loved her, of course, and she was able to help with a couple of my classes. It's nice when friends and family come down because I can actually show them what I do here. I really am a teacher... it's cool. Alex has a great camera, and she took some really nice shots of my students, and some with me too. :)
And then finally we headed out on Wednesday. I was so happy that I was able to leave the country with my best friend. I had a minor hiccup at the airport, when I found out that the school had let our visas expire. I had to find the immigration office and explain to them what happened and then figure out what I needed to do... talk about a test for my Spanish skills! But it all worked out in the end and I made it safely to the USA.
Alex and I had an amazing dinner at a Thai restaurant in the Miami airport before going our separate ways. It really was so incredible having her here. She was the only non-family person to come visit (although while she was here, she was my 'prima') and it meant the world to me that she came down. I also really love it when I can bring people like Alex into my experience; she is definitely someone that helps me put things into perspective and points important things out to me...and as I'm nearing the end of this particular experience and it's almost time for me to get nostalgic and introspective, it was very good timing to have her here.
It felt strange to be in the USA without going home. I was again struck by how awesome America is. America is really clean. There is hot water in all the bathrooms. I kept forgetting that I could flush the paper. There was a vending machine in the airport that sold iPods. And everyone looks different. Seriously, the diversity in America is something that we should be extremely proud of. Everyone looks different, everyone comes from different places; it's awesome. America is pretty cool.
Here's the iPod vending machine:
My law school visit was great too. I will say that I felt more culture shock coming home this time than I did over Christmas. I think being on a college campus kind of threw me for a loop; it was strange being around all those privileged young white people, most of whom probably don't know how lucky they are. But this is getting very long so I'll save those ponderings for another day.
The visit was great, I loved the school, and I hope it might have helped my chances of getting off the wait list. My dad also flew to the school to keep me company for the couple of days that I was in town, and that meant the world to me. Having someone there that I knew made the whole thing feel a lot less...daunting.
It was a very fast trip back to the USA! Now I'm back in Honduras, with seven weeks left in my experience here. Only seven weeks... that's surreal. I wasn't so excited about coming back. The trip was really short and I just wanted to stay with my dad and go home. Once in my house, I found this guy under my bed (I had to pick him up by the wings and throw him outside because I was too scared to crunch him):
And when I turned on the water in my bathroom, it looked like this:
I find myself in a situation where I recognize that seven weeks is next to nothing- it's almost over. I want to enjoy every second of that time, and mentally prepare myself to say goodbye to my students and close the door on this experience. It's difficult to balance that with my excitement about actually being home, being with my family, going to law school and getting started on my life post-Honduras. Honduras has changed me for the better, that's for sure. But again... I'll save that for another day.
Only seven weeks left of my year in Honduras... crazy.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Semana Santa
Wow, sorry about the lack of posts. I really tend to lose track of time here. I wrote this on Easter but am only posting it now...
Well, my dad’s visit (and Semana Santa) is over. Easter week is definitely celebrated differently in Honduras than in the USA! It seemed like most people observed Good Friday as the holy day, and today things are back to business as usual. Coincidentally, my dad and I were in Gracias on Thursday and Friday when there was absolutely nothing open. The streets were empty and all of the stores were closed. But today, everything is hopping again. But I’ve gotten ahead of myself. This entry is about the adventures I had with my dad! So here we go…
He arrived in Honduras last Saturday night, and we headed to Lago de Yajoa on Sunday morning. Yajoa is the only lake in Honduras, and it is spectacularly beautiful. I had never been there before. I wasn’t exactly sure which bus to take to get there, so we had a bit of an adventure. We actually overshot our hotel by about half an hour, so when we finally got off the bus, we were in the middle of nowhere…although next to the huge lake! We stopped for some lunch at a restaurant on the lake. Here was our lunch:
I’m not sure if that looks good to you or not, but it actually tasted delicious. After we ate, we jumped on another bus and finally found our hotel… we stayed at the only brewery in Honduras, called D&D.
It was really small and modest, but it was great! The beer was absolutely delicious, and it was so nice to have a break from the normal local beers (don’t get me wrong- Barena and Port Royal are good, but it’s always refreshing to switch things up). So we hung out at D&D, drank some good beer and hung out with the eclectic owner, Bob. It was also great because Jacki and Chad were there at the same time, so dad had the chance to meet some of my friends we all had a grand old time. We went fishing on the incredibly beautiful lake, explored the town and dad bought a Honduras shirt. It was great.
Our next stop was Copan. This was my third time at Copan, but that’s fine…I really love it there every time I go. It’s nice, there’s good food there, and any visitor to Honduras must see the ruins! So it was really fun.
My dad put a little twist on the normal Copan tourism pictures… as a die-hard Evertonian, he didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to talk to some visitors about how much he hates Liverpool and take a “Red Shite” photo in front of the ruins.
Then we headed back to Gracias. As I said before, everything was totally silent so we just came up to Villa Verde, and dad was finally able to see my backyard!
We also had the chance to hang out and play football with a couple of my students in the park.
It was a relaxing time, we visited the river and took a little hike in Celaque and cooked with the minimal food that we had. Then yesterday we headed back to San Pedro.
It was awesome having my dad here. He pointed things out to me that I just don’t really notice anymore- like the guys with machine guns that guard the banks, grocery stores, and some pulperias. He loved the buses, especially the people trying to sell us stuff and the organized chaos of the schedules. The trip boosted my confidence a lot. My dad can’t speak Spanish at all, so I was responsible for planning and getting us everywhere, and it was a really good experience for me. I feel confident in my Spanish now. It took a while, but I finally feel good about it. Organizing big trips like that and calling just about all of the shots is also confidence-building- it made me feel like a competent traveler. I guess I hope I could consider myself a competent traveler by now! After several months in Europe and a year in Central America, I better have some wits about me.
Unfortunately, during the week I developed a bad cold, and now I’m here, back at home, being bummed about dad leaving and bummed about my head, which feels like a brick. I have one more big thing to look forward to, and that’s that my best friend, Alex, is coming in two weeks! And that is a really, really big thing for me to look forward to. Alex is my other half and knowing that she’s coming is definitely comforting to me.
It’s funny how much I stressed about leaving, because right now I feel anxious to go home. I am always careful not to wish experiences away. I usually go the other way- I get really, really nostalgic. But I’m kind of hoping to walk the line for this experience. I want to enjoy my last few months, and then when things are over, allow myself to be excited about what’s next.
Because what’s next is going to be amazing also.
This blog entry is like a novel. Thanks to those who got through it!
Well, my dad’s visit (and Semana Santa) is over. Easter week is definitely celebrated differently in Honduras than in the USA! It seemed like most people observed Good Friday as the holy day, and today things are back to business as usual. Coincidentally, my dad and I were in Gracias on Thursday and Friday when there was absolutely nothing open. The streets were empty and all of the stores were closed. But today, everything is hopping again. But I’ve gotten ahead of myself. This entry is about the adventures I had with my dad! So here we go…
He arrived in Honduras last Saturday night, and we headed to Lago de Yajoa on Sunday morning. Yajoa is the only lake in Honduras, and it is spectacularly beautiful. I had never been there before. I wasn’t exactly sure which bus to take to get there, so we had a bit of an adventure. We actually overshot our hotel by about half an hour, so when we finally got off the bus, we were in the middle of nowhere…although next to the huge lake! We stopped for some lunch at a restaurant on the lake. Here was our lunch:
I’m not sure if that looks good to you or not, but it actually tasted delicious. After we ate, we jumped on another bus and finally found our hotel… we stayed at the only brewery in Honduras, called D&D.
It was really small and modest, but it was great! The beer was absolutely delicious, and it was so nice to have a break from the normal local beers (don’t get me wrong- Barena and Port Royal are good, but it’s always refreshing to switch things up). So we hung out at D&D, drank some good beer and hung out with the eclectic owner, Bob. It was also great because Jacki and Chad were there at the same time, so dad had the chance to meet some of my friends we all had a grand old time. We went fishing on the incredibly beautiful lake, explored the town and dad bought a Honduras shirt. It was great.
Our next stop was Copan. This was my third time at Copan, but that’s fine…I really love it there every time I go. It’s nice, there’s good food there, and any visitor to Honduras must see the ruins! So it was really fun.
My dad put a little twist on the normal Copan tourism pictures… as a die-hard Evertonian, he didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to talk to some visitors about how much he hates Liverpool and take a “Red Shite” photo in front of the ruins.
Then we headed back to Gracias. As I said before, everything was totally silent so we just came up to Villa Verde, and dad was finally able to see my backyard!
We also had the chance to hang out and play football with a couple of my students in the park.
It was a relaxing time, we visited the river and took a little hike in Celaque and cooked with the minimal food that we had. Then yesterday we headed back to San Pedro.
It was awesome having my dad here. He pointed things out to me that I just don’t really notice anymore- like the guys with machine guns that guard the banks, grocery stores, and some pulperias. He loved the buses, especially the people trying to sell us stuff and the organized chaos of the schedules. The trip boosted my confidence a lot. My dad can’t speak Spanish at all, so I was responsible for planning and getting us everywhere, and it was a really good experience for me. I feel confident in my Spanish now. It took a while, but I finally feel good about it. Organizing big trips like that and calling just about all of the shots is also confidence-building- it made me feel like a competent traveler. I guess I hope I could consider myself a competent traveler by now! After several months in Europe and a year in Central America, I better have some wits about me.
Unfortunately, during the week I developed a bad cold, and now I’m here, back at home, being bummed about dad leaving and bummed about my head, which feels like a brick. I have one more big thing to look forward to, and that’s that my best friend, Alex, is coming in two weeks! And that is a really, really big thing for me to look forward to. Alex is my other half and knowing that she’s coming is definitely comforting to me.
It’s funny how much I stressed about leaving, because right now I feel anxious to go home. I am always careful not to wish experiences away. I usually go the other way- I get really, really nostalgic. But I’m kind of hoping to walk the line for this experience. I want to enjoy my last few months, and then when things are over, allow myself to be excited about what’s next.
Because what’s next is going to be amazing also.
This blog entry is like a novel. Thanks to those who got through it!
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