Giving what they can...

Yesterday a few GVI volunteers and some friends we made here went to an indigenous community in the mountains with a lady from the states that spends time up there regularly. We visited what is essentially an orphanage, where they make ceramics to sell. A 16-year-old girl who runs a lot of the business was thrilled to see us. So happy to show us how to work the clay to prep it for molding and then we each got to mold something to later be fired (using just a fire... not a firing oven). We ground corn and made our own tortillas. With everything made from their land and processed right there, they were the best tortillas I've had. They insisted on us have a lunch of beans and tortillas. We brought some toys for the kids and rope to make jump ropes from. While the kids at the school we work at in San Rafael love jump roping, it didn't seem like these kids had ever tried. They were so happy to be able to teach us and feed us. They invited us back anytime. We had a very good, yet thought-provoking day.

The experiences I've had here from the schools in Honduras and Guatemala where I work, to visits like this, to the wonderful travelers, volunteers, and locals I've met are invaluable. I sometimes get caught up in the moment and the excitement of what I'm doing... planning lessons, planning my next trip or excursion, blogging or facebooking, thinking about things at home... and days like yesterday remind me of why I'm here and to not take these experiences for granted.

An international celebration*

As the volunteers, tourists, and Spanish students from various countries expressed excitement on inauguration day, along with every local Honduran with whom I've spoken regarding the matter, we had an inauguration party at the Spanish school Tuesday night. Many of the teachers and their friends were there, along with Americans, Canadians, and Europeans, celebrating the start of a new era. It was exciting to see and fun to be a part of. A regular cafe of ours even stayed open when we came in before closing time to watch the event on YouTube. A worker joined us in watching and congratulated us.

Let me also say that I am happy to have discovered that the internet connection seems to have significantly improved since my last stay in Honduras. Hopefully posts with pictures will now be possible.

*In the unlikely event that my director is reading this blog, I would like to state that GVI is in no way affiliated with any political party.

Good ol' Copan

Upon returning to Copan, Honduras, last Saturday evening, it mostly seems as if I haven't left. GVI has me in the same family-operated hotel, in the same room actually. I'm being fed the same rice, chicken, and over-cooked beef. The tortillas at the house have significantly improved however, as they now have a girl working for them who makes them everyday instead of buying them from a vendor. It is good to see the family here again, and they are certainly nice enough. But not nearly as personable as my family in Antigua! I'm sitting in my normal afternoon cafe drinking a liquado con agua. I can again walk alone at night without being conscious of the money and camera I might be carrying. There is a comfort in this little town that draws people back and entices many travelers to call Copan home (at least for a year or two!).

Though Copan is tiny, thanks to the near by Mayan Ruins it is a very touristy town. Much like Antigua, only lots smaller. You see the same people around town, and the guy at the cafe today asked me where i'd been all month! Both cities are great to meet travelers from all over the world. Last night, living in a strange world where not everyone I know has a cell phone, I waited alone at a bar for friends who didn't show up b/c of a miscommunication. Ended up chatting for a while with a guy from Sicily also sitting alone. The travelers you meet is one cool thing about living in such a touristy place.

The volunteers I'm with are all brand new to me, and the school in San Rafael looks completely different as it recently underwent a paint job from GVI. Today was my first day at school, and for the first two weeks it is just small group tutoring for the incoming 1st and 2nd graders until the regular school year starts in February. Last year I had 2nd and 3rd graders, so I'm not too familiar with these kids. The volunteers have it all under control and I'm just floating, monitoring, and trying to figure out the schedule for the next three weeks!

So it's 2-3 weeks here in Honduras, then back to Guatemala. Marty is coming down to Antigua for a visit at the end of February:) And hopefully I'm going to make to Nicaragua with GVI, even if only for a week or so, sometime this spring. Time is flying!

Back to Antigua... for about a week and a half

Tuesday afternoon I arrived safely in Antigua, Guatemala after a 2 and a half week visit home for the holidays. Its kind of funny how a person can switch modes so quickly, and in a way it seems like I never left. That being said, I did have a wonderful time in Ohio and Michigan. Most days/nights were spent hanging out with my and/or Marty's family or friends, making for a busy "vacation." I definitely need to work on some card-playing skills to keep up with the Brown's and their cousins!

But for now, I'm here... and I love it! The school I'm working at in San Andres Itzapa is fabulous. Unlike the school in Honduras at which I worked, this school is totally GVI owned and operated. Volunteers run the show in every classroom, and we have some good, creative people here now. It is wonderful to see the excitement. The school is also brighter, more open, and has more interaction between classrooms. We all eat together at a house in the community where a woman cooks us lunch each day. The kids are more touchy/feely here. Also, most of the girls dress in traditional indiginous dress. The kids seem to look a bit healthier here... not quite as malnourished as the students in San Rafael.

The two GVI houses for interns are full right now, so I am living with a host family near most of the other volunteers (they like to have one intern in that section of town anyway). I have the king of host family stays. The food is great and their is plenty of it (unlike Copan). There is wireless internet (practically unheard of), there is a big outdoor roof patio right outside my room, the shower is hot, the bed is comfortable, and my "mother and father" are hilarious! They play music at dinner and do a great job of bringing us into conversations (another voluneer lives here as well). The father says "no more of that!" when we speak English at the dinner table.

Ironically, the volunteer who lives with me has done two AmeriCorps programs and he is a wildland firefighter in Arizona. Actually, just yesterday he found out that he will be on the hotshot crew next spring... a very big deal as my NCCC friends know! Also along the lines of "its a small world," I mentioned that I've climbed in Kentucky, and a non-climber from hours away from the Red River Gorge asked me if I'd been to Miguels Pizza. But of course! He said he once met someone while in Germany who had been to Miguels. It's just that good.

In one week I am heading back to Copan, Honduras to fill in during an intern gap for 2-3 weeks. I like a lot here in Antigua, but there are certainly aspects of Copan that I miss. I wouldn't want to go back for 2-3 months, but I am happy to fill in for a couple of weeks.