Some of the ways I entertain myself in Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara is situated in a valley with beautiful mountains all around it. On one such mountain are ruins of an old castle. I’m still not quite sure what the castle was originally used for, but it is cool nonetheless. It is only a 45 minute hike from town and has beautiful views.

View from castle

Me at ruins

Real Juventud is the Santa Barbara department football team who lives, trains and plays in Santa Barbara. Although they are a divison II football team they play against division I football team, apparently to get ready for their division II tournaments. This means that all the national divison I (big time) teams are now coming to my town to play! Yet, even though they are big time teams, their buses aren’t so big time. I went to see Motagua play and this weekend Olympia came. My host brother is the goalie for Real Juventud.
Real Juventud Motagua bus

Reall I spend most of my time hanging out upstairs with Katie and Chris. Chris bought a hammock in Tela and rigged it up outside his apartment. I can’t get over how freakin relaxing it is to lay in a hammock and listen to Chris play the guitar.
Conor in hammock, Chris playing the guitar

And then there is always karaoke…
Robert and Bernardo singing their hearts out to a favorite ranchero song

Customer Service

Customer service is a concept that hasn’t quite reached mainstream Honduras yet. As an American who comes from a country where ‘the customer is always right’, this is quite a shock for me. Once when I had the wonderful opportunity of going to a Pizza Hut (an American chain where you would think they would have some kind of training in customer service) they entered our order into the computer wrong and overcharged us. When we pointed it out to our waitress she sent over the manager who explained that they can’t change what has been entered into the computer. I then asked how she could solve the problem and she just looked at me with a blank face. Luckily I am usually hanging around people who are a little more understanding than I am so we decided to let it go. Basically the manager didn’t feel like it was her problem to fix because it was the computers fault and so we, the customer, would just have to overpay because it was the computers fault (not the fault of the waitress who put the order in wrong).
Agua Pura decided to get shirts made with the Agua Pura symbol to spruce up our look a little. So we went to the shirt factory and ordered them and they said that would be ready in one week. Wow, that is fast. Well, of course they weren’t ready in one week, nothing is ever ready when they say it will be ready. About three weeks later we got the shirts and all of them were correct except for one was the wrong color. I asked what type of compensation the company could give us for delivering their product two weeks late and not delivering what we asked for. Well, she did not like that and went into about a 5 minute lecture about how she was really doing us a favor by making these shirts for us and the color is not really the most important part so that shouldn’t matter and how it is not her fault that they were late (passing the blame seems to be a reoccurring theme here). Needless to say, we didn’t get a discount.
Making change is a tricky task when you have big bills. I once tried to pay for my 15 lempira internet bill with a 100 lempira note (~$5) and the attendant said she didn’t have change and just looked at me with a blank face. I said I had 14 and could bring the other 1 later. That didn’t work for her. She then asked another guy if he had change and waited a few minutes and continued to look at me with a blank face. Then a few minutes later she pulled out change from under the desk and gave me my change. She did have change after all!

Wish List

So, many of you have been asking if there is anything you can send me, so here is a list of things that could really brighten up a Peace Corps volunteer’s day.

Some general things:
Copies of DVDs or music CDs
Magazines: Shape (to keep my exercise routine interesting), People (to keep up on celebrity gossip of course), etc.
Photos & Updates
Snack food, think Trader Joe’s style (chocolate covered soy nuts, granola bars, animal crackers)

Tela

On July 22nd, 2007 I turned 23 years old and I did it in the beach town of Tela. Six other volunteers met me up there and we stayed in a crappy hotel called Brisas del Mar (which actually had a breeze!). We basically just spent the day hanging out on the beach in the shade under the palm trees and eating mangos and coconut bread (which they sell all along the beach).
Raphael, fellow health volunteer eating a beautifully cut mango (you know, these things are not easy to eat without making a complete mess of yourself)
From left: Nick, me, Mary, Katie, Raphael, Conor, (Chris is taking the picture)
Yes, we are wearing matching dresses.

Although my birthday was actually on Sunday, some type of miscommunication happened and Nineth, my counterpart, thought my birthday was on Tuesday, so I got a cake on Tuesday.

Cultural Differences

After a while in Honduras I am beginning to pick up on some cultural differences concerning what Hondurans consider rude and what Americans consider rude. Being the American living in Honduras I guess it is my job to adapt to the Honduran style of doing things and stop waiting for Hondurans to learn some manners.

Things that are rude in the states but not in Honduras:
1) Cutting in line. If there is a line in the states it means you get in the back and wait your turn. If there is a line in Honduras it means that you try to push your way to the front and take your turn. Us gringos usually get the shaft with this one because we wait patiently for our turn while in the meantime three people get served before us because they were more aggressive. So I have picked up aggressive line skills to make sure people don’t cut in front of me, it helps if I have a friend and we can tag team to fend off anybody who tries to butt in.
2) Spitting, peeing or picking your nose in public. I have probably seen over 50 men peeing on the side of the road since I have been in Honduras. I once saw a little boy standing on the sidewalk peeing on a car parked at the curb. Another volunteer had a man blow a snot rocket on her kitchen floor and gave her a blank look when she gave him a broom to clean it up.
3) Referring to someone as El gordo or La gorda (ie.the fat one). While in the states this would be extremely rude and severely offend the person being referred to, it simply acts as a descriptor here. For example, my counterpart refers to her husband and “El gordo” and her daughter as “La gorda”. I personally think this will giver her daughter a complex, but it seems like everybody does it. There is also nothing wrong with telling somebody they are looking particularly fat or asking if they have gained weight. For example, I showed my host mom a photo of me when I was heavier and she couldn’t get over it, she kept saying, “Look at how fat your legs were! Look, how fat you were!” I also had a woman come up to me and put her hand on my stomach (which is called a pansa here) and ask if it was my first, as in my first child! One reality that cushions the blow of being called fat here is that a fuller figure is usually more desirable than a thin one, so it is really a compliment,right?.
4) Answering your cell phone at any time, anywhere. My counterpart once answered her cell phone in the movie theater and talked to her husband and daughter for about 2 minutes during the movie. People who are leading a meeting will answer their cell phones and have a conversation while everybody patiently waits for them to finish. I attended a three day seminar and one attendant had his earpiece in his ear the entire time. During that same seminar we had a man come speak to us about living with HIV. Beforehand the facilitator asked everybody to turn off their cell phones to show respect for the speaker (he repeated the request three times). Alas, a cell phone went off! Once I was in a meeting and my phone buzzed because I had a text message but obviously I didn’t read it because that is rude! The person I was meeting with asked if I wanted to answer my phone.
5) Showing up to a meeting late or not showing up at all and not calling or apologizing. My second week here I planned to give a presentation with a counterpart and he never showed up and never called and never mentioned it the next time I saw him. People will even tell you a few hours before the meeting that of course they will be there and they know when and where it is and then just not come and not think twice about it. One time we were supposed to go visit a community with a Rotary Club member. He showed up 20 minutes late (which I was actually very impressed by) and said “Sorry I’m late, I had to eat breakfast”.
6) Making any type of cat call, including kissing motions or sounds, tiss-tiss sounds, or saying mi amor, que guapa, etc. The worst is when they try to speak English and say bye-bye, or I love you or beautiful in a horrible accent. Sometimes if you don’t respond they think it is because you didn’t hear them so they often repeat it in an even louder voice. Men of all ages partake, from 14 year old school boys to 60 year old men.
7) Incessantly honking your car horn. In the 7 years that I have had my license I have probably honked my horn 20 times. Here people honk their horns on average, 20 times a day. Some even have customized sounds like sirens.


Things that are rude in Honduras but not in the states:
1) Not greeting everyone when you walk into a room (even if you walk into a meeting late). Hondurans are very social and always greet everyone in the room with a handshake or kiss on the check so if you don’t do it or don’t respond when somebody says hello it is rude.
2) Calling somebody out on a lie. So if you know that somebody is lying to your face and you call them out on it, you are the rude one because you are calling them a liar.
3) Refusing food that is offered to you. If somebody offers you something to eat or drink you should take it even if you don’t like it or you already ate. For example, when we go to the villages to install filters people will often offer us coffee and food and we often get stuffed eating everything people offer us. It is a little tricky for me because I don’t drink coffee or pop or eat meat so I have to decline food often. Luckily I think people just attribute it to the fact that I am a weird gringa and I can’t eat those types of foods, so I can usually get away with it.
4) Slamming doors, including car doors. During training we continually lectured to close our bedroom doors carefully and shut car doors gently. In my last host family I would cringe every time the door accidentally slammed shut from the wind.

From my lists you can obviously see that I am more acutely aware of the things that Hondurans do that I find rude than the things I do that Hondurans find rude. Maybe I’ll get over my American manners and learn to pick my nose while carrying on a conversation and hopefully stop whatever rude acts I have been unknowingly committing.

Livin Large

After 5 months of living with host families I finally moved into my own apartment! I am so excited and it feels great to be on my own. This is actually my first time living by myself and I love it so far. I’m not too lonely though, Katie, the other volunteer lives in the apartment upstairs so we see each other all the time.
Katie, my site mate

It was easy to find the apartment because volunteers have been living here for years. The landlords are actually a little, um, selective, as in the only rent to foreigners, probably because they can charge more. A Japanese volunteer moved out just in time for me to move in and left lots of stuff for me. Peace Corps gives each volunteer a settling in allowance of about $250 dollars which is enough to supplement an apartment that already has the basics. Unfortunately many volunteers move into completely empty apartments and often spend their own money to buy a bed, fridge, stove, the basics. I on the other hand got very lucky! I have couches and chairs and tables and a bed and a large fridge and a two burner stove and tons of kitchen supplies.

I came in at a good time because lots of other volunteers were leaving and have passed their stuff on to me. So I will probably buy a blender, a steamer, a garlic press, a mirror and maybe a few other things and still have money left over from my settling in allowance.

There are five apartments in the complex with three of them occupied. Andrea & Bernardo and Robert are Peace Corps volunteers who just left, so now the complex feels a little empty. Robert actually married one of the daughters of the landlords and they lived here together and he extended for two years and has just now gone back to the states with his Honduran wife after living here for 4 years! The landlords have two houses attached and live there with the grandparents, four daughters and their assorted children who are very entertaining.

The complex is about 10 minutes from downtown so that makes it very convenient. It is also very safe (mom, I hope your reading this). There is an outer gate that nobody comes in and the landlords are always here. I feel 100% safe here.

I love being able to cook my own food, although I’m not very creative so I need to work on expanding my repertoire. I love being able to play my music whenever I want. I love being able to have a whole room to work out in and not have people watch me. I love cleaning my apartment and keeping it perfectly organized (yes, I’m neurotic). I love living close to town and being able to walk home for lunch. I love having electricity and running water and a toilet that flushes just about every time. Overall I just love it all (except when the electricity goes out)!

Another perk to living here is the incredibly cute little boy of the landlords. Tommy is two and absolutely adorable and full of energy.

The only downside to moving out of my host family’s house is that I no longer have a washing machine and have to go back to the old fashioned way and wash my clothes in the pila. It is however one of the nicest looking pilas that I have ever seen and they wash it almost every week, so I don’t have to take care of that myself.

The roof is where we hang our clothes to dry and there is a great view of the city.

The landlords also have a tortilla business, so they make tortillas on the roof.

Carlos

This is Carlos. He is 13 years old, but he looks a lot younger. He is a tricky little fellow. He lives in Zorca, one of the communities where we have installed filters. He loves the Agua Pura truck and loves to help us whenever we are in town and he is out of school. He comes straight to wherever we are without even changing his school uniform and taking off his shoes. The first day I went to his community to install he came with me to every house to help me install. He picked things up very quickly and loved to help carry things. He also comes along in the truck to tell us where people live. One tricky thing about installing filters is that it is hard to find where people live and who has filters because home addresses haven’t quite caught on. Of course within the community everybody knows where everybody lives and who has filters. However, detailed directions are hard to come by. Usually people live up there or down there and that’s about as specific as it gets. So…kids are our saviors because they always want to help. Carlos is also good for getting us food. He bluntly tells his mom that we are hungry and she prepares some great rice, beans and tortillas for us. We also usually go home with a few stalks of cane from the field.
Although Carlos is extremely helpful and bright he is also a little tricky. One time he decided he would hop in the back seat of the truck as we were leaving his community and not say anything for the entire ride. About 30 minutes into the trip out we realized he was sitting quietly in the back seat and had to turn around and drive him all the way home. He is also a little curious about shinny things. The last time we visited his community I noticed my cell phone was missing once I got home. I wondered if I had left it in the truck or in the community and later confirmed that Carlos had “borrowed” it without asking. Chris & Adan went back to the community the next day to get my phone for me and low and behold Carlos wasn’t home. They had to drive another 30 minutes to a nearby town to find him and eventually got my phone back.

Bye-bye Andrea & Bernardo

Up until Saturday Andrea & Bernardo were my site mates when they finished up their two years of service and left for the states. To bid them farewell we drove them to Teguc to see them off and enjoyed some of the finer things that the big city offers. For example, sushi, the mall, Subway, Die Hard 4 (in English with Spanish subtitles, my Spanish still isn’t good enough to catch everything in a movie), cable TV, free internet at the Peace Corps office and dance clubs. We went to a trendy night club called Casa Vieja with Andrea & Bernardo, Nineth, my counterpart from Agua Pura, Chris, the Canadian volunteer from Agua Pura and Maria, the national director of Agua Pura along with her husband. It was a great time and wonderful to do a little traveling. We also had to go to turn in the Agua Pura truck that we have been using, because apparently it belongs to another project and they now need it. With our new grant from Rotary Clubs in Maine we have $16,000 available to buy a new truck but for some reason they haven’t been able to send it, so we returned to Santa Barbara on the bus and now have no truck to go install filters with L.

From left: Allison O´Donnell; Maria Inestroza; Nineth Mungia; Andrea Aguilar

AIDS and Homosexuality

During my second week in site I helped translate for a medical brigade from the states and meet an American missionary family living here in Santa Barbara. They run a church and various bible studies and missionary trips. I have been testing out various churches so I decided to visit their church and their bible study. The church service was alright and gave me a chance to meet other Hondurans. Then I went to bible study and although it was a little conservative it was alright. Then towards the end the pastor from the states reminded us that all sins have consequences. For example, the consequence of homosexuality is AIDS. When I heard this my heart started pounding and I got so mad that I got up and left the meeting. I felt like I had to stand up for what I believe in and it felt very good to leave that meeting. Afterward the pastor’s wife asked me what happened and I said I didn’t think that was true and she said okay. I didn’t say anything to the pastor and thanked them for dropping me off at home after the meeting. After that night I was torn because I didn’t know if I should confront them or let it go or return to their church. In the end I decided I had to stand up for what I believe in and let them know how I feel.
Here is the letter I wrote them followed by the letter they wrote back to me:

Dear Collin & Ginger,
First, I want to thank you for the hospitality you have shown me since we met. I really feel blessed to have been able to be a part of the optometry brigade and meet your family, especially your boys (and their respective girlfriends). Some of my personal goals during my time here are to find spiritual support and form close relationships with people in my community (both Hondurans and foreigners). Attending different churches and groups is an important way for me to do that.
In addition to personal goals, I also have work related goals as a Peace Corps Health Volunteer to educated people about HIV/AIDS. Some of the things that were said during last week’s bible study have really gotten me thinking and I would like to share some of my thoughts with you. I’m sure you remember how I stood up and left towards the end and I would like to explain why. Collin, when you were talking about the consequences of different sins I believe you mentioned AIDS as the consequence of the sin of homosexuality, is that correct? I may have missed something important after I left, if so I’m sorry, it just upset me very much and I had to leave to calm down.
As a health volunteer working with HIV/AIDS one of our main goals is to provide people with accurate information so they can make healthy choices in order to protect themselves. Throughout the world and in Honduras there are many myths surrounding HIV; how you can and cannot get it, who can and cannot get it, where it comes from and why. One of these myths is that HIV/AIDS is a gay disease and only homosexuals have it. This is a very dangerous and inaccurate misconception for a number of reasons…
§ First of all it is not true; AIDS is not the consequence of homosexuality, being gay doesn’t give you AIDS. AIDS is the consequence of unsafe exchange of bodily fluids. AIDS has inaccurately been labeled the ‘gay disease’ but remember that there a lot of other ways to transmit HIV besides homosexual contact. Since we are in Honduras I will share with you the statistics about HIV/AIDS infections here…
-82% of HIV/AIDS cases in Honduras were contracted through heterosexual contact
-8% of the cases were contracted through other ways, such as vertical transmission (mother to child) and through blood
-6% were contracted through bisexual contact
-4% were contracted through homosexual contact
HIV/AIDS is something that can affect anybody, not just homosexuals. I don’t believe that there is any country in the world with a higher rate of homosexual transmission than heterosexual transmission.
We often think of high risk groups as homosexuals and injection drug users. It turns out that in Honduras married women fall into a high risk group because their husbands have unprotected sex outside of marriage and in turn infect their wives (and in turn their children) who have no power to ask their husbands to wear condoms. If you want to link AIDS to sin infidelity would be a good place to do it.
§ Second, associating AIDS only with homosexuality confuses people about who can get it. If a heterosexual person thinks that HIV is a gay disease he will think he is not at risk and may engage in risky behave thinking he is immune because he is not gay.
§ Third, HIV/AIDS remains to be a highly stigmatized disease because it has been associated with sinfulness and homosexuality. This stigma prevents many people who are at risk from even getting an HIV test. It prevents many people with HIV/AIDS from seeking treatment or support from their friends, family and churches. Imagine if somebody in your church was HIV positive but was too scared to admit it and seek help because he thought it made him gay or people would think he was gay or people would think he was a sinner. Breaking down myths, stereotypes and stigma against HIV will help people living with HIV/AIDS to get the treatment and respect that every human being deserves no matter what their sexuality is.
§ Fourth, linking HIV/AIDS to homosexuality increases stigmatization and hate towards the gay community for being ‘responsible’ for such a deadly disease. I’m positive that you personally would never preach hate towards any group of people but through the history of HIV/AIDS linking these two together has often caused extreme hate and violence against the gay community.
§ Finally, as an American missionary and leader of a church you obviously have a very strong and important influence on your people and I’m sure you take this responsibility very seriously. Please consider that some of your teachings could have unintentional but nonetheless dangerous health consequences.
Thanks for reading,
Allison

This is their response:
OK. I was not going to respond because I did not want to argue. I have given it some thought and as you said I have a responsibility to the truth and to the people who listen to me. More than that I have a responsibility to preach God's word. So here goes. You are right I should link HIV/AIDS with all sexual sins. But I was there when HIV/AIDS was discovered. I remember all to well that it was almost completely among homosexual men. You were not born yet. Many people want to rewrite history. At the time it was discovered it was believed to have started among homosexual men in the prisons of Africa. I don't know that they have ever discovered exactly where HIV/AIDS got its start but one thing is for sure it was almost exclusively among homosexual men.
I base what I said on Romans 1:21-32.
God said in verse 27 that He has designed a consequence for homosexual activity that is very specific to that sin. Although there are a lot of ways to transmit HIV/AIDS it started with the specific sin of homosexuality.
To not tell people the truth is like saying it is ok to park your car on the train tracks. Don't worry when the train hits you we will blame it on the train. We will tell people the only way to be safe is to park you car on the train tracks safely. You must have a strong and good car (condom) and you will be safe but if you die we will just give some technical explanation as to why the train killed you and we will again blame it on the train. We will never tell people not to park their car on the track because every one is doing it and we might offend some one.
It seems to me that the most kind and loving thing is to preach and teach people that the only safe thing is to practice sex God's way through marriage. Be faithful to your spouse and faithful to God's word. If every one did that than we would eradicate HIV/AIDS in just 10 years.
It is true that I love every one. I want every one who has AIDS to seek help. It is probably true that many people have aids that did not practice sex outside of marriage. It is unfortunate that sin effects us all. I do not hate the homosexual or the person with aids but I will tell the truth. HIV/AIDS started because God is judging homosexual behavior. I can not help the fact that some people are going to feel guilty and maybe avoid seeking treatment. I am thinking more about the masses that do not yet have AIDS and they deserve the truth. The only way to help them who do not yet have aids is to worn them that AIDS is a consequence of sin. If you do not like those words than read Romans 1: and take it up with God. As for me I will preach God's word.
Thanks for reading.

Collin and Ginger Jones



After I read the response I was again furious but in the end I accepted that I had done what I could to express my viewpoint and if they didn’t want to accept it there was nothing more I could do. No matter what I do or where I am there will be I don’t agree with, especially when it involves religion. I think I’ll visit another church, maybe the Catholics; they seem to be the more liberal ones down here.

Toma de Posesion

Handmade paper mache Rotary Club symbol

Every year the Santa Barbara Rotary Club elects a new president and holds a very fancy Toma de Posesion (literally, Taking of Possession).

The ceremony was held in the afternoon at the city cultural center and everyone arrived in suits and their best dresses, including the mayor, and other important people.

Me with the mayor on the right and some other guy I don´t know on the left.

One new member was welcomed to the group who I am very excited about; a woman doctor who will be a good contact for me because she is part of the HIV network in Santa Barbara. Andrea & Bernardo, the two Peace Corps volunteers who will be leaving next week received a paper of gratitude as did Agua Pura for all the work we have done.

From lef: Andrea & Bernardo, Peace Corps volunteers; Chris, Agua Pura volunteer from Canada; Nineth, supervisor of Agua Pura Santa Barbara; me.

Later that night they held a more relaxed party with dinner, drinking and dancing. Overall I was very impressed with the entire event went and how much work they put into the details of the handmade signs and centerpieces.

Handmade centerpeices

Hopefully the president of the Santa Barbara Rotary Club 2007-2008 will work just as hard as president as he did on his inauguration party.