We are the Champions

Real Juventud is the division II futbol (aka soccer) team in Santa Bárbara. The players come from all over Honduras to play for the team and for the since their creation they have remained a division II team. However, last Friday night they won the division II championships for the second season in a row and therefore were able to move up to division I, making Santa Barbara very proud to have a division I futbol team! Katie and I went to the game and it was incredibly exciting. People started arriving 3-4 hours before the game started to get seats but Katie and I decided that we didn’t necessarily need to sit down so we arrived about 1.5 hours before it started and stood at the fence separating the field (which I personally think is a great view).

The stands were packed with crazed fans…

The riot police were ready…


And the hot dogs were hot… and the beer was cold...The other team scored in the first half and Real kept missing shots. We started to get nervous…Theyn in the second half they scored their first goal and then with about five minutes left of the game they scored a second goal, winning 2-1! Everyone exploded with excitement, climbed the fences, rushed the field, grabbed the trophy and went crazy.
Luckily it was all in good spirits and the riot police were not necessary. The other team kinda just stood around and I didn’t even see any of their fans. After the field settled down a little Nineth and I made out way out to congratulate the players.

Nineth & me

On of the most exciting parts of the game was the fact that Katie and I knew a number of the players, so it made it much more personal. Also, people seemed to love the fact that we were Americans supporting the team (Afitrionas Americanas). They interviewed us and I had a number of people tell me they saw me on TV.

This is Frijole, the goalie (and no, that is not his real name).

Afterward they had a caravan of cars all around the city and to neighboring towns to pick people up to go downtown for the celebration. They caravan was headed by the fire truck with about 30 people hanging off of it and was followed by motorcycles and trucks full of people, half of which were probably drunk (yes, incredibly dangerous and illegal).

Luckily there were no incidents and nobody got hurt. Then we all ended up in the center of town where there was a band playing. Overall it was such an exciting night and it made me so proud of Santa Barbara. I couldn’t stay out too late though because I had to get up early the next day and save my energy for carnival.

Carnival

Carnival in La Ceiba (on the north coast) is the biggest and best carnival in Honduras (just like in Brazil…yeah right). I went last year and had so much fun that I had to go back again this year. So, Katie and I got up at 5:30 am Saturday and made our way to the north coast in scorching heat. We arrived around 2 pm and met up with my friends and made our way down town to catch the tail end of the parade.
Me & Katie

Jason, a teacher in La Ceiba was nice enough to host Katie and me at his place. Here I am with him and his awesome girlfriend.
Me, Jason & Cindy

Then we went to the mall, ate at the food court and went and saw the new Indiana Jones movie (the AC felt great). They we went home to take naps and headed out around 11 pm (I never stay up this late, but the Red Bulls helped me out). We started off at Fogoncitos, a restaurant with professional dancers who we got to dance with…it was great, I haven’t danced so much in a long time. It really made me miss being able to dance with good dancers. Then at about 3 am we made our way downtown and danced in the streets until about 4:30 am. Finally we made it home and went to bed for a few hours. Sunday we basically just ate and relaxed all day long and went to bed early.
Cindy, me, Mary

Cayos Cuchinos

Monday morning we again woke up early and met up with some other volunteers and their friends visiting from the states and made our way to a neighboring town to catch a boat to Cayos Cuchinos, islands off the north coast of Honduras.
From left: Mary & Kendras friends from the states, Katie, Mary, Kendra

The ride was about an hour off shore and was incredibly beautiful and the weather was perfect.

We arrived at the first island and checked in at the welcome center and watched an informational movie.


Apparently people believe that turtle eggs are an aphrodisiac and steal them to eat, so this information sign recommended they take Viagra instead. Translation: My eggs are not the answer

Then we went to a tiny island with nothing on it but two palm trees and snorkeled. I actually enjoyed the snorkeling this time since my snorkel worked and the water was deep enough that I didn’t have to worry about hitting the coral. We saw a huge 6 legged jelly fish (is that like finding a 4 leaf clover?) and beautiful conch shells.
Then we went to Cachuate, a third island and had lunch and hung out. This is the most inhabited island, with about 150 Garifuna people living there. Katie and I spent the night and it was such a unique experience.
There is one “hotel” with 8 rooms and there are also families that will host you. The accommodations were actually much nicer and cheaper than I had expected. For only $5 a person we got a room with a wood floor (as opposed to sand), a bed with clean sheet and water to take a shower.
We spent the afternoon walking around the island (which only took us about 10 minutes) and swimming in the crystal clear water.
Me & Katie

Then we lay in hammocks and played with the kids and talked to the people that live there.


Right next to the island we stayed on is another small private island, apparently owned by a Cuban.

After dinner we found some other Peace Corps volunteers that were on the island as well and roasted marshmallows, listened to drumming, danced punta and lay on the sand. It was actually cool at night and there were no sand flies at all. I was amazed by this fact because on most of the beaches on the north coast you will get eaten alive after just a few minutes, there is no way you could lay for hours on the beach. We went to bed around 10 pm and slept incredibly well to the sound of the wind coming from the east side of the island. In the morning we took a bucket bath in a bamboo shower.
We had breakfast and then just watched the fisherman and kids working as we waited for our boat to come pick us up.


It is by far one of the most amazing experiences I have had in Honduras and I can’t wait to go back as soon as I have the chance.

One Year Down, One to Go

May 3rd, 2007 I was officially sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer and May 3rd, 2008 marks my one year in site! That means I only have one year left! Up until now I feel like I have been counting up how many months I have been here, but now I am counting down to how many months I have left. This year has gone very fast yet at the same time I feel like I have been here for a long time. In some ways now that I have passed the one year mark I feel that things will go very quickly until the end and that I hardly have time to finish all the projects I want to work on. On the other hand it still feels like I have a long time to go when I think about that fact that I have to do all the holidays again. It also feels like an incredibly long time when I realize I have to work with the Rotary Club for a whole other year.
To celebrate our one year Hondu 10 (the group that I came in with) all got together at Lago de Yojoa (The largest lake in Honduras) for the weekend. Our group came in with 51 people and over the past year 11 have ETed (Peace Corps acronym for Early Termination, aka they went home). With 25 out of 40 at the lake we had a pretty good turn out. It was nice to see fellow volunteers again and hear about their various experiences. I am thankful that after a year I can say that I am happy with myself and happy with my work. At times I have felt overwhelmed by the amount of work and the responsibilities I have been given but over the past few weeks I haven’t been that busy and I realize that I would rather have work than not have work. Hopefully I can find a good balance over the next year. I have never once thought seriously about leaving and have only asked myself “What in the world I am doing here?” about twice. I feel thankful for this because not all volunteers are as lucky to have meaningful work and a meaningful experience.

Pulhapanzak Falls

While at the lake a group of us went to Pulhapanzak Falls and I think that it is one of the coolest things I have seen/done since being in Honduras. It is a 43 meter waterfall on the Rio Amapa a little ways from where we were staying by the lake. We took a couple of jalones (hitchhiking) from our hotel to the falls and considering we were traveling in a group of 8, we had pretty good luck and made it their safely and didn’t have to walk that much. Although the first jalone that we got was the fastest I have ever been in, we were probably going about 70 mph, which feels ever faster in the bed of a truck.
Once we got there we made our way down to the lookout at the bottom of the falls and it was really incredible and gorgeous. As we were heading down to the falls a group of three little Honduran boys came and found us and told us they would show us the way. Once we got down there a guide showed up who said he could take us into, under and behind the waterfall for $5/each. We weren’t sure and stood around debating for about 15 minutes. When we first saw the route we would take, a narrow, muddy path along the side of a cliff we said no way (especially since three of us just had flip flops on). Then the little kids ran out on that same path, either barefoot or with their school shoes on and jumped and dove off the cliffs into the pools below. At first we thought they were crazy, but then it looked kind of fun so in the end 6 out of 8 of us decided to go. We negotiated $25 for the 6 of us. So we set off on the incredibly muddy and dangerous path (it actually wasn’t that bad) towards the base of the waterfall. To get to the base we had to jump off boulders into roiling pools, and swim under the waterfall while getting pounded by the water (43 meters is high). I abandoned my flip flops on a rock and went most of the way barefoot. I was shrieking the whole time and kept thinking how incredibly dangerous this was and how it would never fly in the states. Finally we made it to a little space behind the waterfall where we could stand and watch the water come down. There was also a tiny little cave that we could crawl into. The little Honduran boys came in with us and even though they were half my size I was holding on to their hands for dear life. Then we made our way back out to where the little boys had originally been jumping off the cliff…now it was our turn. I am generally a pretty big wimp and rarely jump off high things, but this time I impressed myself by jumping off the cliff twice! It was probably about 25 feet high and although it took me a while to work my nerve up it was so much fun once I finally did it. After we finally made our way out I was so giddy, it was an exhilarating experience. After it was all said and done we paid our guide another $5 because we liked it so much and gave the boys tips. Then we went to the top of the waterfall and went swimming and slid down rocks. Again the boys went with us and were crazy diving and jumping into the rapids and sliding down the rocks. I envied their fearlessness and wished I wasn’t such a wimp with a strong aversion to the possibility of getting hurt.

The Explosion

I have been meditating daily for the past three weeks and it has been wonderful. I read Eat, Pray, Love by and have been reading Jivamukti Yoga and I am newly inspired to deepen my yoga practice and search for God through yoga and meditation. There are many things here that I have to deal with on a daily basis that are incredibly frustrating and meditating helps me accept these things just a little better. On of the most frustrating things I have to do is deal with the Rotary Club. In particular, I have to attend meetings between Agua Pura and the Rotary Club. I usually end up coming home after one of these meetings and venting to Katie for 30 minutes about how intolerable those men are. Well, before our meeting last night I wondered if my new found inner peace would allow me to resist the urge to let those men get to me and simply observe the meeting with acceptance and serenity. Well, lets just say I have a long way to go before I reach enlightenment.
At 7:30 pm Nineth and I were all ready for our monthly meeting; we had called everybody to confirm and prepared the agenda. Two of the three showed up, but the president of the club didn’t show up, so we couldn’t have the meeting. Instead the two that showed up just started criticizing Nineth for the decisions she was making and the work she was doing and blaming her for everything and not taking responsibility for anything. The entire time I was becoming increasingly angry (where is serenity when you need it?). So finally I told them I needed to say something and asked that neither of them interrupt me, which kindly, neither of them did. I didn’t actually yell but I spoke harshly and my voice was quavering with anger that entire time. I told them that they have not been taking enough responsibility for this project, that they always blame everything on Nineth and aren’t capable of accepting responsibility for their mistakes and they don’t treat Nineth with enough respect. While I was saying all this Nineth put her head down and I was scared that she was thinking “No, Allison, you can’t say those things, they are going to get so mad!” After I finished each of them responded with excuses as to why those things weren’t true and implored that they do spend a lot of time on this project. As they responded I realized that they could never see things from my perspective, or even if they did they would never admit it. At that point I realized that it was okay if they didn’t accept what I said because all that was important was that I said what I needed to say. Then one of them left and the other stayed and continued to talk to Nineth and I. He said that if there are problems she needs to communicate them face to face and that you can never confront somebody in a group, because even if you are right the person will be embarrassed and get mad and defensive (lose face). As he was talking I began to realize that the two I just yelled at are the only two in the Club that actually do work and that I can actually talk to. I wanted to direct my complaints to the whole club, but since they were the only ones that actually came to the meeting they received the tirade. For this I felt bad afterward. Luckily the one that stayed was not mad and gave Nineth and I a hug as he left.
In the end I really wanted to talk to Nineth to make sure she wasn’t mad at me for what I said. I wanted to express myself but I didn’t want to do anything that would negatively affect Nineth’s position or relationship with the Rotary. Luckily she was not mad at me at all, just the opposite, she was happy that I had said all those things because she doesn’t have the luxury to be able to talk like that to those men She doesn’t have the luxury because she is Honduran, she is a woman, she is younger than them and they are her superiors with the power to affect her job. She put her head down so she wouldn’t loose control and become hysterical.
After I sobbed and sobbed at the injustice of the situation. On one hand it was good that I could communicate the things that she couldn’t, but on the other hand it made me so mad that I can express myself and she can’t and just has to put up with being treated badly. I felt thankful that I come from a culture that allows women to speak their mind and at the same time I felt guilty that I had more power than her.
After it was all said and done I began to question myself. Although I basically said what I wanted to say, I was frustrated that I still lack the language to say exactly what I want quickly enough, and I hoped I got my point across. I began to wonder if I was wrong for saying those things or that I was too harsh. But then I remember that I have been feeling those same things for the entire year I have been working here and Nineth has felt like that for even longer. The things needed to be said and I finally said them and I feel good about that. Hopefully it will improve our working relationship with them in the future and build the all important confianza (trust).
As always I learned some important things from the experience:
1) Make sure I know what my goal is before I do something; do I just want to yell and scream to get things off my chest, do I want to hurt people’s feelings, do I want to end a relationship, or do I want to fix a situation. Based on the fact that I still have a year left here I probably want to fix the situation and not burn bridges. So, if my goal is to fix or improve the situation I should probably keep that in mind and act accordingly. (This sounds vaguely reminiscent of something I read in a book somewhere…Start with the end in mind; does anybody else know what I am talking about?).
2) When beginning a tirade I should first start with praise and tell them what they do well and also explain why I am saying the things I am saying (not to criticize them but to improve our relationship) and that I am saying it to them because I trust them to be able to listen. Although the two that I reamed out do irritate me royally, they are still the most productive of any of the Rotary members, unfortunately I forgot to mention that during my little rant.
3) I should never confront somebody in front of a group; a middle-aged Honduran man would die before admitting he was wrong to a 23 year-old American girl in front of a group of his peers. In the future if I need to communicate something difficult I should do it one on one.