First week:
The first day I was here I went to the colegio and met the director, all of the afternoon teachers, and was introduced to all of the afternoon classes. My introduction to the first class, I believe, is the keystone to a rather awkward definition of who I am. The director (who is incredibly nice and helpful) wanted to give me a good introduction so he proceeded to talk me up for about 5 minutes, using my resume as his inspiration. He started out by introducing me as Sarita (basically the Johnny version of Sarah) so now I am known far and wide as Sarita, which is fine with me but occasionally makes me feel even more like 5 year old. Then he proceeds to tell everyone that I am a psychologist (because my undergrad was psychology) which makes me slightly nervous as I am nowhere near qualified to give psychological advice (let alone in Spanish…). Then came the real curve ball, he explained that I have a degree in education and specialize in treating kids with dyslexia, which means “kids that have trouble forming words and talking.” Now, I personally have never worked with any dyslexic children but am certain that is not what dyslexia is (unless it is different in spanish). It also seems ironic that the girl who can barely say hola convincingly is allegedly here to help kids with speech impediments (I myself AM a walking speech impediment). His secretary was listening to this introduction and she made a bunch of subsequent introductions so now I am officially a psychologist specializing in dyslexia. Oh well.
The next day was Saturday and my counterpart (the one I was staying with) took me to a place called “La Pista” which is a big open field on the top of a hill that overlooks the town. It was a really great view. She explained that the area had been cleared during the war in El Salvador and it used to be a landing strip for planes bringing in aid because there was a huge refugee camp near town. Now the town uses it as a place for picnics etc. On Sunday I went to the market and visited some neighbors.
On Monday I went back to the colegio and met the morning classes. I also went to the gardin de niños (I love that name, garden of kids…it is the Honduran equivalent of preschool) and the elementary school. Then I finally met my host family and got to move into my new place. My room is nice, it is an apartment with its own bathroom. My favorite feature is my bedspread. It has a giant picture of a leopard on it and is velvety, I’ll have to post a picture of it eventually. Tuesday I observed an English class at the colegio (first words I understood in Colomoncagua), went to the Centro de Salud (health center) and tried to visit the mayor but he wasn’t around. Then I went to the local Coop to try to cash a check so that I didn’t have to take the 4 hour bus ride to La Esperanza to get some money. I wasn’t sure if I had to make the check out to myself or the Coop so I left it blank but filled in the amount. I walk in, thinking it would be a relatively simple process, but I was wrong. It was kind of stupid of me to assume I could just waltz in, a random strange gringa, and cash a check for a relatively large amount of money. They looked at me like I was crazy. Then when they realized I had not filled in anything on the name line they asked me if I had ever written a check before. I assured them I had, and I told them where I was living in case there was anything wrong with the check. They also examined my signature and asked if that was really how I signed my name. In Honduras they love their fancy signatures and my scribble is apparently subpar. I just pray that nothing goes wrong with the check because I can only imagine the chisme (gossip).
Wednesday I met up with the coordinator for EDUCATODOS. She basically told me that there was nothing I could do until the next school year but (after I awkwardly forced her) let me tag along with her when she went to visit a school in an aldea. She warned me that we would have to walk but I thought nothing of it, I welcomed a good walk. Little did I know we would be knee deep in mud, fording creeks, dodging barbed wire, and balancing precariously on logs. I am 100% certain I could not find my way back to that school if you paid me. But, all in all it was a good experience and I am looking forward to getting to know her next year because she seems cool. Thursday I went to a kinder outside of town with the assistant district director. She wants to implement a Montessori system in a bunch of kinders in the aldeas and the school we visited already has started using Montessori methods so she wanted me to see how it worked. The ride there was jarring to say the least, the roads were awful. I couldn’t decide which would be a better death, wearing my seatbelt and being slowly strangled by it as it tightened over every bump OR being thrown out my open window. Naturally, to keep my mother from flying down to smack me, I chose to wear the seatbelt. The kinder was interesting, I am not sure how feasible it is to do a Montessori program in every kinder but I am excited to work on it. When I got home I headed over to the colegio and sat in on some more classes. I almost fell asleep in the last one, it was an epic battle to stay awake but I knew I could not afford to make that bad of an impression hopefully I pulled it off. Friday I switched it up and went to the elementary school and sat in classes there. I think I am going to do that a couple more times because I actually learned stuff, particularly in the Spanish class. This weekend I did a lot of sitting around. Saturday night was the Honduras vs US soccer game. I went to Edna’s house(counterpart I stayed with) to watch the game and they gave me a Honduras jersey. It was way to small but I squeezed myself in it and watched the US beat Honduras. I won’t lie, when the US won I felt very awkward. Edna and her family decided it would be safer/wiser if they walked me home so I was escorted home by 5 people. A couple people bitterly muttered things like “you won” as I walked by but all in all it was very calm. Sunday I went to the market again and then sat around.
I promise that I do not plan on giving a day by day account for the next two years, but since it was the first week I figured I should be thorough.
Random Tidbits:
- While I was still staying at Edna’s house I refused to open up my suitcase and dig around because I didn’t want to have to pack yet again. So I reverted to sticking my hand in my bag and wearing whatever I could grab. Unfortunately, I never could seem to grab my towel (and I actually opened the suitcase to look for it but couldn’t find it) so I decided the logical thing to do was use a pair of sweatpants as a towel. Yup, that’s right, I spent my first week in Colo drying myself off with a pair of sweatpants. That might be one of those things I should keep to myself but I thought I would share.
- I spend a lot of time sitting around.
- Roosters suck. Seriously, whoever said that they only make their stupid fog horn noises one time in the morning is a dirty liar.
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