Hello! Yes, I'm still kickin'. My last post was so long ago that I needed to google my own blog. I'm a terrible citizen of the 21st century.
I now live in my own apartment. It's a mess right now so I did not post pictures (for your benefit). I live by myself but my apartment is connected to two other single apartments and a house for three all belonging to North Americans who are teaching at IST. The best thing about my apartment? The view:
I have three relatively large windows right next to each other so this is about what I see every morning when I wake up. Let's recap: I moved to a third-world country with no job and I end up with a great gig and a view people in LA pay millions to own. Go figure.
Second best thing? The cow-hide chair my neighbors gifted me last week. I heard a knock on the door and Mario, Alisandro, and Juan Angelo (the three little boys of La granja) had hiked this chair up the steep steps to my door.
The chair was handmade in Santa Barbara, Honduras where Sr. Velasquez has been working (in agriculture and distribution). Below is a close-up. That is genuine cow hide, people.
Gracias a la familia Vasquez! The chair is so comfortable and it's a great addition to my cozy apartment.
Singular downside to a residence in Tegucigalpa? The scorpions. Found one hiding in a pair of pants today. At least I didn't put them on before I found the critter. And then there are the geckos. . .
As far as new pictures? My adventures lately have mostly been in a classroom: Shakespeare! Grammar! And essays! Oh my!
That's my name above my classroom door. Room 25. Party time!
However, a few weeks ago, IST took a few days off of school for a type of Spring Break. During that time, I traveled with Jean and Jairo to visit Jairo's family in Catacamas, Olancho. Olancho is another department (like a state) of Honduras.
You must understand, Olancho is a bit rough. When I told one of my students that I was going there over the weekend, he said, "I'll pray for you, Mees." When Hondurans think of Olancho, they think 9mm guns, dust, heat, and curses. According to Wikipedia (the most believable source in the world), the saying in Olancho is, "Olancho: Entre si quiere, salga si puede" (Olancho: enter if you want, leave if you can). For example, one of Jairo's cousins from Olancho got into a casual disagreement at work and his coworker took out a gun and shot him in the chest. Jairo's cousin, an olanchando, took out his gun as he lay there bleeding and shot the other man dead. In fact, a friend of mine claims that the national archives of Honduras contain a document which explains why the Spaniards couldn't conquer Olancho. The conquistadores left only one line of detail on that situation: "the savages ate a priest."
Olancho itself is very dry and dusty. The roads are paved with dirt and the buildings are short and squat. Truly, though, it's a beautiful place.
Jairo's family owns a dairy farm -- Olancho is definitely known for it's cheeses and creams. So, upon our arrival after the four-hour drive to the Wild West, we visited Jairo's grandma's house.
Here's a general view of the lanscape.
That ole West vibe happening here.
We joked that this calf had never seen a camera. He/she certainly stared. 
The groupies.
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Felipe, Jairo's cousin (because everyone is someone's cousin in Olancho), rounding up the gang. |
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Jairo's grandma and grandpa take care of a lot of animals on their property. The work on the farm is never done and there are no weekends or holidays. Lots o' chickens.  I've seen chicks and I've seen chickens, but I don't think I'd ever seen chickens in the adolescent awkward phase.   Real awkward. Honest, I'm embarrassed for this one.  There are lots of dogs too, sleeping wherever they could find shade.   The horse. Carrying the supplies.  Huh.  The fam.  Honduran ducks.  This kitty was too young to walk around by herself so she is stuck on a leash. She's upset by this.  The resident parrot.  The chicken coop!  Jairo's uncle owns a monkey.  To be honest, it made me sad to see him in a cage. Look at his little leather hands!  Below is a picture of Jairo grinding the maiz (corn) into a kind of mush to make all sorts of goodies. While we stayed there, Jairo's family made all the most incredible corn dishes possible: piñol (a sort of corn-based hot chocolate drink), tamales (these take hours to make - they're boiled in corn husks for most of the day), fritas (sort of like doughnuts), tortillas (thicker, more like hashbrown-consistency), etc. All of these dishes were, of course, topped with fresh mantequilla (like a sweet, thicker cream)! We also ate about 12 homemade sweet cream popsicles each. In fact, Jairo's family guaranteed that I would gain ample amounts of weight if only I lived in Olancho for a bit.  Jairo, Jean, and I all took turns grinding the corn. That's Jairo's grandma in the background. In front of her, is a bowl full of the corn (the kernels are stripped from the cob - as seen above, the cobs were fed to the chickens). During the hottest part of the day, the activity all but shuts down and naps and popsicles are enjoyed. The sun is so hot, the tin roofing material bends with the heat and makes noise. Between you and me, Jean and I did a lot of napping and relaxing in the hammock. Jairo's family is so hospitable; the guests don't work, they eat! We only spent one night in Olancho. Instead of crowding Jairo's grandma's house, we decided to spend the night at El sembrador, or in English, The Sower. This is a wonderful agricultural school and ministry which gives kids full scholarships to live at the school while studying. Because Olancho is so rural, the education the students receive here is completely useful in supporting them after they graduate. In fact, Jairo's uncle attended El sembrador and his dairy farm supports the entire family. The campus is unbelievably serene. Pictured below is where the guests stay. I met a group of North Americans on a mission trip here, some even from Grand Rapids. Jairo explained to me that El sembrador is a perfect ministry to support because it is 100% Honduran and anything given to this school wholly benefits the students, staff, the town, and the environment.  The main hall.  The view from the end of the one of hallways.  Beautiful gate!  View of the church from inside the gate.  The soccer poli.  The emblem here says "Patria (homeland), Trabajo (work), Dios (God)."  As an agricultural school, El sembrador tends to acres upon acres of beautiful land. It was such a pleasure to walk around the grounds. In Tegus, you cannot walk for fun because it's too dangerous. I forgot how nice it feels.  The mission group came to finish the roof on this building which, if I'm not mistaken, will be a new mess hall for the students.  Beautiful tree. "FernGully" anyone?  Funky tree.  The stables. El sembrador raises livestock and horses.   Stairs.  El sembrador's beautiful man-made lake.   The lake is used to generate power through a dam. Here, Jairo threatens to throw Jean in.  The lovely couple. I'm lucky to have such great friends.      A monarch!   Tractor cars.   A view from the lake with a weird ghost spot.    Tree heaven.  I promise to write a post on teaching soon. Right now we are in the middle of exams and I'm planning the next partial. We are going to read the young adult novel Speak which I read myself as a 9th grader. Can't wait! As far as upcoming adventures, semana santa, or Holy Week, might prove interesting. I may revisit Utila, I may go to Lago (a nearby lake town with a great brewery), or I may stay in Tegus. I hear that el centro, the central part of the city, is beautiful and safe during this holiday. People are too religious here to reek havoc during the Lord's holiday! Also, I've decided to return home to Michigan for the summer. Rejoice! I'm looking forward to seeing my friends from the Mitten again. This also means that I will be looking for temporary work. If you know of an opportunity to teach, tutor, interpret, nanny, etc please let me know. Any information would be appreciated. Michiganders, enjoy the unseasonably warm weather. |
