Relaxing in Juticalpa?

This past weekend I went to Juticalpa to get away from San Francisco.  In Juticalpa I stay in a hotel with hot water and send my laundry to be done by someone else.  Laundry has become a huge pain here without a dryer.  Before this weekend, I thought my clothes would perpetually smell like mildew.  I was able to get a couple decent meals from an American style gas station that sells pretty good slices of pizza and I got access to fast internet so I could steal some movies.  Juticalpa is a nightmare of a run-down, mexican-like border town.  The concrete makes it a good 5 or ten degrees hotter than San Francisco.  In fact, Juticalpa is so bad that the teachers from our sister school in Juticalpa like to come to San Francisco to relax.  So, sometimes it is almost as if we just switch cities for the weekend.

I was sitting at a burger place in Juticalpa when a shoeless kid in ripped up clothing came in and started asking people for Lempiras.  I really haven't figured out my official position on this.  I don't know that giving money to the kid is going to solve his problems, but I don't yet know if it would hurt his cause either.  A couple of the people inside the restaurant gave him food and he seemed like he was starving, literally.  What I would really like to do is clean him up and put him in a private boarding school where he can get an education and actually have a chance in life.  I had just gotten paid this weekend and I only had a 500 Lempira bill, which is only like 25 dollars American, but is kind of a ridiculous sum of money here.  I had my keys and the 500 note on the table and he walked up and asked for a Lempira.  I instinctively told him I didn't have any.  I couldn't figure out whether I meant that I literally didn't have change for this 500 Lempira bill or that I didn't have a Lempira at all for him.

What I worry about is that he will try and make a career out of begging, which is just a terrible life; and if I can be completely honest, is really annoying to the person you are begging.  On the other hand I think, how could I possibly leave a mouth unfed if I have the power to give food to him for a month in the blink of an eye.  I hate how much I have been thinking with my head lately, neglecting my heart.  Just one Lempira, that's all he wanted and I may never have another chance to give it to him.  People say money doesn't buy happiness, but I think that kid would have been pretty damn happy with enough money for a burger and fries.  And that is regret.

Roots and Wings        

A Couple of Much Needed Runs

The best part about running is that there are only two constants: left, right and repeat.  It is definitely the rainy season here, as dark clouds roll in at about 1:30 p.m. every day.  Some days I just need to go for a run no matter what the conditions.  It was hotter than usual yesterday and I told myself I would go out no matter what the temperature was—I would just need to bring water...

I got home from school and changed into some running clothes and decided to lace up an old pair of shoes in case there was mud on the trail.  When I stepped outside, I saw the storm approaching from the north and I knew that I would be running right into it.  Sometimes, the storms aren’t so bad here; it will just sprinkle and there will be some mild thunder accompanying the dark clouds.  Other times the rain damn near forms river rapid systems through the unpaved streets.  I couldn’t tell which one it was yesterday, but I didn’t really care.  I decided to be bold.

North of my town there is a path that follows a valley that was cut by a river.  This is my running path.  The path is so diverse in its terrain that I haven’t gotten the least bit bored of it for 6 months.  Especially since the rains came, the path is completely different now.  Lush green vegetation shades most of the path, which is a welcome break from the afternoon sun.  I figured the vegetation would give me some cover if it decided to rain too.  As I reached the trailhead, I looked up to see that the space in between the two mountains had sheets of opaque rain that blocked much of the view.  I knew I was going to get soaked.

There are like 5 river crossings until the end of the path.  At the end, there is really no sense in trying to go further as you would pretty much be walking through dense jungle-like brush and traversing riverbeds.  Depending on what time of year it is, the river can be dry or filled with water.  Before today, I never had an issue crossing.  I would say that the normal level for the river is around 3 inches if any water at all.  Normally if there is a little extra water, there are always large rocks protruding that make for nice lily pads to hop across.  There were no such lily pads yesterday.

As I made it to the first river crossing, the rain started to come down pretty heavy.  My Ipod was getting wet so I decided to put it in a ziplock bag that I brought for just such an occasion.  The river was higher than I had ever seen it.  I stopped my watch and thought long and hard about turning back.  I felt adventurous and decided I would cross.  Just before I jumped I looked like an apprehensive dog or cat hanging on a ledge deciding whether to take the plunge.  I bound across, just sinking one of my legs shin high.  I remember thinking, “That’s not a good sign.”

The further north I got, the harder it rained and river crossings became more difficult.  There is one main river crossing that even when it is at a low water level, I usually get my feet a little wet.  When I arrived, that part of the river was torrential.  There were rapids and strong currents.  I was repeating something I heard over and over in my head, “It only takes about 2 inches of running water to knock you over.”  In hindsight, it probably wasn’t a good idea to cross this one knowing that I would have to cross it on the way back, but I did it anyways.  At first I thought it was shin deep like the other one until I plunged ass deep in a pool and got caught in a current.  I lost control and got swept a couple meters down river and did my best to stay balanced enough to keep the Ipod out of the water.  I made it to the other side and continued to run with soggy shoes, which was kind of like running with ankle weights.  On the way back I took the river diagonally with the current and it was much easier to pass.  The rain came down even harder on the way back because I was running with the storm.  It was coming down in huge, tropical drops that filled my mouth every time I breathed.  Definitely not my fastest run by any means, what with all the mud pits and river crossings, but it had to be the most fun. 

    

Today I decided to go for another run and I took my time.  I was more worried about settling into that rhythm than anything else.  Any runner will tell you that that rhythm is the only thing to strive for.  It is the effortless, mindless lull of left and right that puts just the right part of my brain to sleep and activates a whole other part that I don’t get to use during the day.  There is a treatment for PSTD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing).  The back and forth movement of the eye is supposed to activate both sides of the brain so that information can fully be recalled.  According to Francine Shapiro, the developer of the theory, “The memory and associated stimuli of traumatic events are inadequately processed, and are dysfunctionally stored in an isolated memory network. The goal of EMDR therapy is to process these distressing memories, reducing their lingering influence and allowing clients to develop more adaptive coping mechanisms.” 

A great deal of professionals don’t use eye movements, but rather use a pulse system.  The patient holds a small object in each hand that alternates pulses between the two hands at whatever speed feels comfortable to the patient.  The left to right rhythm helps the patient to relax, remember, and eventually reprocess and restore information in a healthy way.  EMDR has been proven effective despite many critics.  Most of the critics argue that it isn’t the right to left motion that is helping the patient; rather it is just recalling the events and working through them that makes the difference.  Either way, the results have been extremely positive.

I feel that this has a definite connection to running.  The rhythm of a runners stride acts as the right-left stimulation.  I always seem to be processing so much information when I am running and after the run I always feel as though a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  Some may call this a runner’s high filling the brain with endorphins, but maybe the brain has just found a better way to process the information from a long day’s work.  When a runner decides to run may depend on when they like to get their information processed.  Some people may prefer to start their day by preparing and processing information to make their day go smoothly.  There are probably people like me who are more reflective and view a run as a way to wind down and echo the day’s happenings.  Regardless, I don’t think you can argue the fact that running is therapeutic both physically and mentally.  There are only two constants to a run—left and right—everything else is up to interpretation and a little bit of Mother Nature.              

Roots and Wings on Civil War Art

Here is a post on Roots and Wings about an Guatemalan artist:

http://rootsandwingsintl.org/blog/2011/07/regina-jose-galindo/

6 Months Here

Today, July 25, 2011, marks 6 months that I have been in Honduras.  I had a terrible weekend.  It was one of those weekends where I question what the hell I am doing here.  I wrote a couple pages of what I thought encompassed all my feelings about 6 months in Honduras.  I reread it this morning and decided it would be better not to put that into a blog.  It was basically a pissed off rant.  Here are some bullet points of things I have learned:

1. Being here hasn't taught me to place any trust in the Honduran people.  I am not saying that Hondurans aren't trustworthy in general or that there aren't any honest Hondurans.  What I am saying is that I haven't met any.
2. I have never really liked to bathe.  Taking cold showers doesn't make that any easier, and you don't ever really get used to it.
3. Honduras, and Central America in general, is a beautiful place filled with largely undiscovered treasures.  It really is a tourist's dream.  Would I like to live here permanently?  That is a resounding no.
4. The thing that makes this all worth it is the teaching, which is what I am here to do.  Sometimes I lose sight of that, but each day when I wake up I have purpose.  I truly believe that what we are doing has an impact on our students.  Maybe when this generation of kids grows up they will behave differently than their parents.  We haven't exactly been welcomed into the community as we would have liked, but each day we keep our mission at the top of the list and it makes all the difference.  And it is totally worth it.  To hear your students speaking English that you taught them is next to nothing I have ever experienced. 
5.  I don't love this place, I love what I am doing in this place.

Dia del Indio

Abuelito

Abuelito!

The Day of the Indian was much like the other holidays we celebrated: an all day assembly that should take about an hour that is filled with inappropriate dances and dramas that have nothing to do with the celebration.  For some reason, the students all want to dance to punta music, which comes from the black Garifuna population on the north coast.  I still cannot believe there is no oversight on what the kids can do in the assembly.  The funny thing is that I look around and it seems that the parents are loving it, so maybe it is just culturally sensitive to the gringos. 

Tiffany did a great job as the India Bonita, but they put a bunch of make-up on her and she looked kinda like an Indian witch.  Some of the preschool kids were calling her bruja.  You know something is bad when the preschoolers are in on it.  She even gave a great little speech that she memorized thanking everyone for voting for her.  Whenever we have an assembly we are expected to come early to the school and set up.  We always make these grand displays only to have the kids come and ruin it before the thing even starts.  I guess that is what elementary education is all about.

Most of my fourth graders dressed up as Indians and escorted Tiffany down the walkway to her throne.  There really wasn’t anything historical about the event, except for the kids dressing like they were going to a Cleveland Indians game.  It kinda rendered an important holiday useless and wasted a day of school, but the nice thing was that the assembly ended at 11 and we all went home early.

I met a guy today from Cleveland who will be here for 6 weeks working for a Catholic parish to install some water purification systems and to lead a couple medical brigades.  He said that I could come along to some rural villages and translate for the doctors and nurses, so I am looking forward to getting that experience.  I haven’t really had the opportunity to visit rural Honduran villages.  If I travel, I pretty much bounce between the big cities.  It will be nice to see how the other half live in Honduras.

It is the rainy season here and usually rains every day at 1 pm.  This makes it difficult to do the laundry.  If you do your laundry after the rain the sun isn’t strong enough to dry it and you are going to smell like mildew.  If you do it before the rain you better make sure you do it early or your clothes will get wet and again you will smell like mildew.  What I am getting at is that I smell.

The internet here has been painfully slow.  I am having trouble uploading photos.  It takes like an hour to upload 20 photos. Pretty frustrating.  Wuuuusahhh 

In Class Activities

Tiffany getting elected

India Bonita

Every year, Honduras celebrates their indigenous heritage with Dia de Los Indios or Day of the Indians, if you couldn’t guess.  They eat traditional Indian food, dance, and play other cultural games to celebrate.  They always pick a Miss India Bonita and this year it was Tiffany from first grade.  Tiffany has to be the most animated 1^st grader I have ever met.  She has a toothless smile that lights up her entire face.  They select a representative from each grade, preschool through 9^th grade and take a vote.  Tiffany won unanimously.  She was so embarrassed that I think she cried a little bit.  All the teachers have been involved in making an outfit for her, which will be a traditional Indian dress.  It is kind of like thanksgiving in that it has to do with the harvest and corn in particular.  We hot glued corn kernels in patterns on the dress and I have to say that it looks pretty great.  Last year, a dress that the school made went all the way to Panama and got 2^nd place for the celebration.  We have high hopes for this year.

Julia

Salva and the bigote

Here you have Salvador with a drawn on mustache.  Salvador is one of my favorites.  He has such a grown up sense of humor and laughs at all the right things.  He is a decent student, but has one of those personalities that will take him far on its own.  He doesn’t necessarily act out in class, but if he isn’t paying attention or is doing something that he isn’t supposed to be doing I threaten him with a “bigote” or mustache.  Everyone secretly wants a bigote but we play it off that it is a punishment.  The kids in 4^th grade will get in legitimate fights with each other.  Specifically, they will just haul off and kick someone.  Salvador and Julia do this in particular to each other.  They are the two leaders in the class I think and I also think they have a crush on each other.  I have been teaching them how to ask questions like, “Do you want, Do you need, Do you like, Do you love.”  So I say things like, “Andrea, do you like Juan?” Andrea will vehemently deny liking Juan, but when I ask Julia if she likes Salvador she will get quiet and have a surprised look on her face.  It is so funny because they are always basically kick boxing.  I really wish I could upload some videos I took of them play fighting but the internet is too slow.  

Cake

About to blow out the candles

Faviola turned 10 the other day and we had a little party during English class.  Her dad came in about a week before to ask me if it was ok.  He said, "Hey, I was wondering if I could bring in a Pinata and some cake for Faviola's birthday.  It is just a small cake and a small pinata, it will only take like 15 minutes.  Well, the celebration lasted well over an hour. It was a huge pinata and a decent sized cake, soda, and gift bags for everyone.  If I thought my kids were on fire before, after they got all that sugar in them they were intolerable. We had a little dilemma with the pinata.  The ceilings are like 13 feet high and we needed something to hang the pinata on.  So her dad was like, "Hey, just stack two desks on each other and climb up and hang the pinata."  I said, "Man, I don't really feel comfortable doing that."  He said, "Oh, you can do it, come on."  Couldn't really argue with that.  So I balanced on two stacked desks and threaded the rope through the support beams so we would have a proper pinata.   

Stress--and a Roots and Wings post

In many ways, the rural Honduran environment is wearing on the group.  The tension is palpable in the house.  I think everyone is a couple degrees away from a personal meltdown.  Oscar won’t be returning from La Ceiba to teach so that he can be closer to home.  After the death of her other son, his mom didn’t want him to leave.  Oscar could have come back and should have come back because there aren’t any jobs for him in La Ceiba.  It was a choice he made and I think he made it in part because it really isn’t easy living in Olancho.  The difference between even Olancho and La Ceiba is striking.  Unfortunately, in a situation like this, the students are the only ones losing out, although it has worked out okay since we have Honduran student teachers working at our school.  They aren’t so good at English, but at least they can look after the kids in the classroom.

I have been engrossed in the search for a new teacher for the last week.  I posted the job on the internet and have been receiving applications from some extremely qualified candidates.  I have interviewed a couple and would be willing to hire any one of them.  Fortunately for us, we found a bilingual girl in Juticalpa that spent about 12 years in the United States, so she has a pretty good command of the language.  I think we are going to hire her and she will start on Monday, so the gap has been filled.

Other than that, my disciplinary council has been implemented and it is functioning like a well oiled machine at the moment.  We already met to discuss the behavior of a student and we decided to suspend the student for a day.  It was really nice to see something go from an idea to actual practice.  It really gives the feeling of creation.  Going along with the theme of creativity, I have been trying to put together a website for the school and it is harder than I realized.  In addition to writing the content, which I often need to translate from Spanish, I have to make sure the site looks professional and not tacky.  Even though I am using Wordpress and the templates are already made, it has been really tough for my creative side to construct something worth while. 

Regardless of the difficulties we are having, the weeks are piling on and in a couple days it will be 6 months that I have been here, leaving 4 months to go until my contract is up.  Not sure whether I will teach for another year or look for something in another country.  We really do have a great situation here, but as I said before, living in a town like this really wears on you.  Last night I was in the kitchen and I heard something in my room.  Someone was reaching in through my window with a stick trying to grab something from my room.  The funny part was that I am pretty sure they were trying to steal my underwear, because we found a pair of my underwear out by the window.  It was just a really weird thing.  5 minutes later, Oscar called me from the other side of the country and asked if I was alright because he heard someone tried to rob me.  News gets around pretty quickly.     

Please check out my Roots and Wings post at http://rootsandwingsintl.org/blog/2011/07/violence-follow-up/