Right now I´m in Tegucigalpa at my host grandmother´s home, and she has quite graciously let me use her computer. This is incredibly nice and it has reminded me that I have yet to speak of my family in Talanga thus far. So, for those of you who are interested, I currently live with 11 other people in one house. It´s really not as crowded as one might think, and I actually quite like all the company that I have. My host parent´s names are Miguel and Marlen, and I have 5 host sisters, one brother, one brother in-law, and a niece. Iliana (21 and married with a baby girl Victoria), Christopher (21, brother in-law), Ilza (19), Michelle (16), Susan (15), Dany (13), Lizbeth (6), Victoria (2). I also have a live-in maid named Marixzá. This may sound pretty fancy and that my family has a lot of money, though in reality having help around the house is very common in this culture. In all, my family is extremely helpful when I´m trying to speak Spanish and they treat me very well. I am truly treated like I am part of the family. We have definitely had our share of laughs when I have tried to say some tongue twisters and instead said a few crude and bad words on accident. Lizbeth is always helping me with my Spanish while I help her with a little English homework. Lizbeth is actually here with me write now and she wanted me to say this to you all: (I had to translate this to English, I haven´t quite got her English this good yet).
Lizbeth Sarai Elbir Martín says: To all of Sara´s friends, I hope you have a wonderful day with your family-and if you think you would like Talanga, come visit us! I hope you all are well!
About some projects I am currently doing. I am still working at the Buena Vista school is the mornings and I am not working at Project Manuelito in the afternoons. This program works with street children from around Honduras. Some of you might know that this is right down my alley! I am very excited to be able to work with these children. So far I have only been able to visit the project twice, but it was a great experience working on self-esteem art projects. Currently there are 18 children who live on a property outside of Talanga. Each child has their own section in the family garden, and the project raises their own pigs, cows, chickens, corn, and beans. They truly work together to provide themselves with the food they need. I asked them about their funding, and I was told that the government is supposed to provide funds, however they receive none. Therefore, they rely strictly on donated funds. In all, it is spectacular program--I hope with time they can accept more children.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Assistance needed
Hey everyone,
So i´m pretty positive that I am going to have a baseball team, and I have a lot of aspirations as to what I am going to do with that team. I want to include a lot of life skills training within certain drills, but I am a little concerned with running out of ideas for drills. Do any of my softball and baseball friends have any contacts or ideas?? I am welcome to any sort of help anyone can offer me. Just send me an email. Thanks a lot!!!
So i´m pretty positive that I am going to have a baseball team, and I have a lot of aspirations as to what I am going to do with that team. I want to include a lot of life skills training within certain drills, but I am a little concerned with running out of ideas for drills. Do any of my softball and baseball friends have any contacts or ideas?? I am welcome to any sort of help anyone can offer me. Just send me an email. Thanks a lot!!!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
PC Training Week 6- Field Based Training in Talanga, Honduras
I appologize for not being able to post for awhile- pc officials usually find things to fill my time nowadays. Instead of being in Las Cañadas, I moved to Talanga about 2 weeks ago. They moved the three different projects (Municipal Developement, Youth Developement, and Protected Areas Management) to three different towns for FBT or Field Based Training.
Talanga is kinda like what some people thought Kansas was like when I was living in Virginia Beach. I would get questions like, “So, are there like cows and horses walking around in the streets?” Well, here in Talanga, yeah. There are horses, donkeys, cows, ox, chickens and other animals without ropes tied to them, and they are just walking around chillin on the side of the road, or if they feel like it, right in the middle taking a nap. It is quite comical at times and oddly enough, sometimes reminds me of my old farm. The town is fairly big, but is largely under developed despite the amount of commerce that goes through. It only gets pretty hot during the hours of 12-3, and other times it is fairly comfortable. It isn´t the prettiest place in Honduras, but the town is surrounded by mountains, so there is a nice view. Today I´m actually going to hike up one of the mountains to a big cross where I hear there is a cave. I have actually never seen a bat, so i´m pretty excited.
Since I have been here, we have had some rigorous training that lasts from 7:30 am to “5pm.” I usually have 4 hours of Spanish class, like before, and then the rest of the afternoon is training me how to do my job. So far I have learned SOME info on how to give talks about Domestic Violence, Life skills training, how to teach middle school teachers how to teach English, etc. Also, I was just assigned a school with 3 other aspirantes to work in for the next 3-4 weeks. It´s called Buena Vista, and is located about 2 miles outside of Talanga. It is very small, with about 70 students, but only 2 classrooms and 2 teachers. One teacher teaches first, third, and fourth grades, while the other teaches second, fifth and sixth grades. I am sure you could only imagine how effective that learning process would be. Yesterday was my first day there and I was pretty astounded with the situation both the students and the teachers are in. My role in this school will be to give some talks on things such as AIDs, teen pregnancy, drugs and alcohol, life skills (decision-making, relationships, self-esteem), and come up with art projects, reading activities, and fun, interactive games. FBT is going alright but because some of the training is vague, which makes the process a little frustrating and nerve-racking. Nonetheless, I am hoping that I will be more prepared by the time they send me off by my lonesome to my site.
About the poverty here in Honduras, the poverty level is very sad... about 60% of the population here is considered below the poverty line, and 40% are considered extremely poor which means they are sometimes not able to afford food, potable water, electricity (if it´s available), or adequate shelter. Many people do not have running water and electricity only works part of the time. Also, in many places people have latrines or out-houses as their only bathrooms. There are children working in the fields not going to school, and many times when children are able to go to school, the teachers are on strike and they can´t go. The average education level of the people here is 6th grade, and it´s rare for people to go to high school, let alone college. To make it short, there´s a reason PC is in Honduras.... it´s one of the poorest countries in central and south america. If I remember right, it´s the 3rd poorest country.
Now, that I am done with my depressing news on the state of Honduras, I have a little news for everyone,
Despite my rigorous efforts to explain to certain people my real reasons for going into the Peace Corps, some people still think I went into it to find myself a latino boyfriend or husband.... I would like to clarify that I have not yet found that husband, however, I have found a very handsome, playful, fun, comical, and sweet boy to spend some of my time. He´s always fun to be around and has given me quite a chase. His name is Isidro and he has made my Peace Corps stay a better experience. Even though he doesn´t have a job, or always wipe his face clean after he eats, i still appreciate the heart he has and how he makes me feel... We´ll see how our relationship progresses. Ohh, I forgot to say his age... he´s eight years old and is the brother of one of my fellow aspirantes..
Disclaimer: I want to apologize if some of my words or sentences might sound a little funny. There´s a joke that goes around in the PC that volunteers start to lose some of their English speaking and writing skills because we are doing everything in Spanish. I am going to try very hard to not let that happen to me, but I do catch myself using the wrong word or forgetting the name of something in English at times. Some day when i have time to read a book this might help this issue, but until then please bear with me.
Also, I was told that some people were having a hard time figuring out how to leave me messages on my blog. Look at the bottom right hand side of the page and it will say __ commentarios. This means, ___ comments. Click on that and it will take you to a page where you can see other´s comments and also a space where you can write something. You might have to sign up to be able to post something but it shouldn´t be too hard. Try going to www.freetranslation.com and type the words you need to know. I have tried multiple times to set up a blog in English, but for some reason it´s not wanting to work for me...soo...until I can figure something out I´ll have to stick with this one.
Talanga is kinda like what some people thought Kansas was like when I was living in Virginia Beach. I would get questions like, “So, are there like cows and horses walking around in the streets?” Well, here in Talanga, yeah. There are horses, donkeys, cows, ox, chickens and other animals without ropes tied to them, and they are just walking around chillin on the side of the road, or if they feel like it, right in the middle taking a nap. It is quite comical at times and oddly enough, sometimes reminds me of my old farm. The town is fairly big, but is largely under developed despite the amount of commerce that goes through. It only gets pretty hot during the hours of 12-3, and other times it is fairly comfortable. It isn´t the prettiest place in Honduras, but the town is surrounded by mountains, so there is a nice view. Today I´m actually going to hike up one of the mountains to a big cross where I hear there is a cave. I have actually never seen a bat, so i´m pretty excited.
Since I have been here, we have had some rigorous training that lasts from 7:30 am to “5pm.” I usually have 4 hours of Spanish class, like before, and then the rest of the afternoon is training me how to do my job. So far I have learned SOME info on how to give talks about Domestic Violence, Life skills training, how to teach middle school teachers how to teach English, etc. Also, I was just assigned a school with 3 other aspirantes to work in for the next 3-4 weeks. It´s called Buena Vista, and is located about 2 miles outside of Talanga. It is very small, with about 70 students, but only 2 classrooms and 2 teachers. One teacher teaches first, third, and fourth grades, while the other teaches second, fifth and sixth grades. I am sure you could only imagine how effective that learning process would be. Yesterday was my first day there and I was pretty astounded with the situation both the students and the teachers are in. My role in this school will be to give some talks on things such as AIDs, teen pregnancy, drugs and alcohol, life skills (decision-making, relationships, self-esteem), and come up with art projects, reading activities, and fun, interactive games. FBT is going alright but because some of the training is vague, which makes the process a little frustrating and nerve-racking. Nonetheless, I am hoping that I will be more prepared by the time they send me off by my lonesome to my site.
About the poverty here in Honduras, the poverty level is very sad... about 60% of the population here is considered below the poverty line, and 40% are considered extremely poor which means they are sometimes not able to afford food, potable water, electricity (if it´s available), or adequate shelter. Many people do not have running water and electricity only works part of the time. Also, in many places people have latrines or out-houses as their only bathrooms. There are children working in the fields not going to school, and many times when children are able to go to school, the teachers are on strike and they can´t go. The average education level of the people here is 6th grade, and it´s rare for people to go to high school, let alone college. To make it short, there´s a reason PC is in Honduras.... it´s one of the poorest countries in central and south america. If I remember right, it´s the 3rd poorest country.
Now, that I am done with my depressing news on the state of Honduras, I have a little news for everyone,
Despite my rigorous efforts to explain to certain people my real reasons for going into the Peace Corps, some people still think I went into it to find myself a latino boyfriend or husband.... I would like to clarify that I have not yet found that husband, however, I have found a very handsome, playful, fun, comical, and sweet boy to spend some of my time. He´s always fun to be around and has given me quite a chase. His name is Isidro and he has made my Peace Corps stay a better experience. Even though he doesn´t have a job, or always wipe his face clean after he eats, i still appreciate the heart he has and how he makes me feel... We´ll see how our relationship progresses. Ohh, I forgot to say his age... he´s eight years old and is the brother of one of my fellow aspirantes..
Disclaimer: I want to apologize if some of my words or sentences might sound a little funny. There´s a joke that goes around in the PC that volunteers start to lose some of their English speaking and writing skills because we are doing everything in Spanish. I am going to try very hard to not let that happen to me, but I do catch myself using the wrong word or forgetting the name of something in English at times. Some day when i have time to read a book this might help this issue, but until then please bear with me.
Also, I was told that some people were having a hard time figuring out how to leave me messages on my blog. Look at the bottom right hand side of the page and it will say __ commentarios. This means, ___ comments. Click on that and it will take you to a page where you can see other´s comments and also a space where you can write something. You might have to sign up to be able to post something but it shouldn´t be too hard. Try going to www.freetranslation.com and type the words you need to know. I have tried multiple times to set up a blog in English, but for some reason it´s not wanting to work for me...soo...until I can figure something out I´ll have to stick with this one.
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