About town

La Paz has about 30,000 people and some interesting sights. Here are some I found amusing.


Power Gym this is where I work out. I do aerobics Honduran style and spinning. There is a really funny aerobics instructor named Luis. He wears his weight lifting belt 24-7 and leads aerobics to reggaeton music.

I don´t think Honduras has the same laws about tinting windows as we do in the US. Almost 100% of cars have tinting so dark that you cannot under any circumstances see into the car. Even the front windsheild is black. Sometimes they have a little strip of clear glass that you can see out of in the front. This is one of the two discos in La Paz. I have never been here but the other one is hot and plays reggaeton, merengue, bachata and a token American oldies set.
In Honduras you can buy bags of water for $.10 and bit off the edge of the bag and suck the water out as you can see us doing below. This is Mary, my friend and fellow health volunteer.
This is a bolo, he is drunk and passed out in the park. They are all over the streets and parks all the time.

Here are Mary and the Jemelas, twins. They are 14 years old and boy crazy, so they decided we should go to a walk to the cemetary, which happens to be just past the fire station, where there happen to be men. We never made it to the cemetary.
This is me on a fire truck.

Creencias

As a college educated American I am used to believing things because they are scientifically "proven". I want to read the research, understand the mechanism and know the facts, especially when it comes to health. This type of mentality can prove to be a challenge when dealing with people who base their beliefs on a number of other sources. Creencias are commonly held beliefs mostly based on folk wisdom. As we progress through our training we learn about beleifs concerning food, cold liquids, birth, colds, dehydration, HIV/AIDS and all sorts of other stuff. Some of the beleifs are innocuous and some seriously dangerous. As a Peace Corps volunteer we need to pick our battles. The other day a 21 year old cousin of the family came over and we got to talking. It somehow came up that drinking cold liquid is bad for you. I started by trying to understand why...he said drinking cold liquids is bad because your stomach has to heat it up. Similarily, I told my mom I had a sore throat and she said it was probably because we had been drinking so much cold juice. Well, whether you drink cold or room temperature liquid throughout your entire life probably won't make a wit of difference.
Then it somehow started talking about birth control and he started to tell me about a kind of birth control pill that you don't have to take every day, only once in a while. I finally figured out that he was talking about "the morning after pill". I tried to explain that this pill is not meant to be used as birth control, it is only for emergency situations. He then tried to explain to me that it was meant to be used like this and in fact it was even safer than daily birth control pills. Unlike swearing off cold liquids this belief can have a seriously detrimental effect. Unfortunately I didn't really know what to say, and then it was lunch time.
Throughout my service I will inevitably encounter many creencias and probably some of them will be true and prove me wrong. I will also encounter many that pose serious health threats and I will have to figure out creative ways to work with them.

Dia de Cultura

This week before Easter is called Semana Santa in Honduras. Schools are off all week, people take vacations and nothing is open. Peace Corps, unfortunately had to work Monday-Wednesday, but we finished off the week with a cultural day. Each family had to cook and bring a traditional Honduran food to share. Each Spanish class had to present some type of cultural presentation representing American culture. My class did a skit depicting the process of entering the Peace Corps (the application, the waiting, the medical exams, staging, etc.). We also had the pleasure to see a performance by the local traditional dance group.

Speaking of Honduran culture...after being in Honduras for almost two months I have started to notice a few things. Some good and some bad.

First of all the good stuff...

-Overall Hondurans are very friendly. Often when you walk down the street you will greet every person you pass, creating a friendly atmosphere. On the other hand this often is hard for Americans because sometimes we just want to get where we are going and get things done and not worry about making small talk with every person we see.

-The host families are very welcoming and caring. My host mother defers to me as her daughter and tries to make me feel as comfortable as possible.

The not so good stuff...

-My homework experience: After dinner one night my 19 year old host brother came in and asked me to translate something for him and then went off to work. So I started translating it and then stopped to think. I asked my host sister if this was his English homework and she told me it was his girlfriend's English homework from University. I explained that I didn't really think I should do her homework for her and left the rest of it on the table. Later when my host brother and mom returned home my host mom called me out of my room and asked me to finish the homework. I again explained that I didn't think it was right to do her homework because she wouldn't learn anything and besides the professor would know it was not her work. I explained how in the US cheating is against the rules. I offered to help her out with the homework if she wanted to come over, but I wouldn't just do it for her. My host mother then explained that things are different in Honduras and teachers don't care if you learn anything or if you cheat, as long as you turn in your homework. So after about 10 minutes going back and forth I finally convinced them that I wouldn't finish the homework and that my brother's girlfriend really should do the rest of her own homework.

-Pets: Pets in Honduras are a little different than pets in the US. In the US I know some people that treat their dogs like they are children. In Honduras they treat their pets like they are trash. The streets are full of stray dogs that eat trash, get in fights and bark at all hours of the night. For example, my family has five dogs, three adults and two puppies, which I actually didn't see for a few weeks because they keep them somewhere else? One of the adult dogs apparently doesn't like me because he tries to attack me every time I see him, so eventually they put him somewhere else. The two puppies are very cute, but look incredibly mangy; skinny, dirty and listless. I wish I could pet them, but I'd rather not get fleas.

-Piropos: This literally translates to 'compliments' but most American women don't see it that way. I think a better translation is 'cat-calls'. Without fail white females receive these as the walk down the street from Honduran men hanging out on corners, driving in cars and sitting in their houses. They make really obnoxious kissing sounds and usually try to say something in English in hopes of impressing us? The best policy seems to be to ignore it, although I have flicked a few of them off when I was in a particularly bad mood (it doesn't seem to help though, it just eggs them on).

Pelear de Gallos (Cock Fight)

Weekends seem to last a long time in Honduras. When you wake up at 6 or 7 am, the days seem to last forever and there is not that much to do. Both of my Honduran host families spend their weekends cleaning the house and cooking and not much else. Americans on the other hand are used to constant stimulation, always having something to do, something to get done or somebody to see. It is quite an adjustment, so the volunteers try to find some type of entertainment on the weekends. Lucky for us there was a cock fight going on. So we went to get a taste of culture.

Weighing the chickens. Apparently they compete in different weight classes.
People come from all over with the chickens to compete. These are waiting to fight.
Putting on the blade.
Getting them mad. Before they start to fight they will hold their own chicken and let another chicken who is not competing start to peck at it to get it ready to fight. Notice the guy in the white t-shirt, a cock fighting competition t-shirt, apparently they travel all over.
The fight was a lot more aggressive then I expected, this picture doesn't do it justice.

This is by far the oddest part of the entire experience. As the birds fight and get injured the owner intervene and pick up the chickens to help them out (think about a boxer being coached in his corner between rounds). Well, the owner peps his chicken up by brushing its feathers, sucking blood out of its mouth and licking and kissing its wounds. From what I understand this is done to help the chicken and out of affection for the chicken, apparently the owners develope strong feelings for their chickens.
The loser.
The audience. All ages of men come to enjoy the entertainment and the betting. The volunteers were the only females present. It was actually a nice change of pace because the men were so interested in the fighting and betting they didn't pay us much attention.

Hicking and Mining

The view of Teguc from the top of a mountain in Santa Lucia. The view is a lot nicer than the actual city.

Santa Lucia used to be a mining town and a few of the mines are still around. We checked this one out but didn't find any gold.

Cashew!

Inside of these hard shells is a cashew waiting to be eaten. This thing that looks like a big lima bean actually is part of a fruit.














First we cook the shell in the fire. This is a traditional stove that many families still have. Both of my host families have a modern stove inside and the traditional one outside. It is usually used to cook beans, which can take hours to cook.











Then we crack the shell with a rock and open it up.














Voila, a cashew! No wonder they are so expensive.

Host Family

Again I am very lucky to have a wonderful host family. My mother’s name is Ruth and she runs a Pulperia (little store) out of the front of the house. There are many small businesses here that sell just a few items and the store is the front of the house. At Ruth’s Pulperia you can buy pop, water, various spices, meat, some toiletries and random shoes that have probably been sitting there for years. The front door of the house is the entrance to the store and is kept shut most of the time (see photo of store front and front of house). From the back of the store you walk into the rest of the house. So when somebody comes up to the door they yell vendame (sell to me) and somebody goes into the store to see what they want. Ruth also works as a bus attendant on the bus that her son drives (the attendant is the person that takes peoples money when the get on the bus). On Saturday she also sells meat and fish. I have a 19 year old brother named Raphael who drives a school bus (see photo) and a 14 year old brother named Antonio who is still in school. My 16 year old sister Navidad is wonderful and very helpful. She is in her last year of school this year and hopes to continue with University. The father of the family is working in Spain and the oldest daughter is in medical school in Cuba. The mother-in-law lives down the street and usually comes to visit. She thinks I am hilarious and always calls me gringita (little American/white person) or muneca (doll) although I usually can’t understand a word she is saying.

The house has a family room (see photo), kitchen, three bedrooms, two bathrooms (one inside and one out) and a large area in the back with a traditional stove, storage area and two pilas (area to store water and wash dishes and clothes). I am lucky enough to have my own room (see photo) and bathroom which is very nice so I don’t have to worry about getting in to use the shower in the morning. Unfortunately my few isn't as nice as in my last house (that concrete wall is outside my window). There is electricity and sometimes there is running water, although the shower in my bathroom doesn’t work so I take bucket baths (I am finally getting used to the cold water) and the sink is still sitting on top of my closet. I finally put up my mosquito net here because I was getting horrible bites all over, the ceiling was dropping things on me (like dirt and leaves) and I didn’t want the geckos that live in my room to crawl on my bed while I was sleeping, oh and I don’t want to get malaria. Overall the living situation is great.

My family cooks three meals a day for me which is very nice. They won’t let me do a thing, not even clear my place after I am done eating. Like my last family this family thankfully understands the concept of not eating meat and they have fed me well. However, my pants are starting to get a little tight. My family insists on feeding me a lot of food, usually the largest serving, even more than the boys. I always tell them I don’t think I can eat it all and they always having encouraging words to convince me that I should try. Hondurans love to fry almost everything. They love to use Manteca (crisco) which comes in huge tubes (think chocolate-chip cookie dough tube that you buy at the store, but Costco size, about a foot long). So I am trying to get some healthy food in me and avoid the massive amounts of oil that they use. I have been lucky enough to find a new favorite treat, choco bananas (frozen bananas covered with chocolate) which cost about $.05! I love them and I eat them every day.