I have left the bubble many call Wheaton

Hey Y'all,

Sorry for the lack of writing this past week. Unfortunately I've been sick off and on and the school work kept piling up. Don't worry, I didn't have anything serious, just the normal stomach issues of adjusting to new food and water. But now everythings good and I'm ready to write some more for you all.

So I have been here now for a little over 3 weeks. I can't believe its been that long cause it has gone so fast, but at the same time it feels like I have been here forever. Its an odd feeling. But anyways I have noticed that there is much more that makes up this amazing Honduran culture than what meets the eye. Sure the language is different, its hot here all the time, the bugs are bigger and bite more, the people are shorter and talk faster, and they eat tortillas with every meal. But its interesting because they have many different priorities, customs, and values. So I'll go through some of them, because some are pretty interesting and a good reminder at least to me where some of my priorities should be.

One: family life
Family is a huge priority to these people. It is home, their security, and their world. Most of the family spends most of their time in the house. While we would go out and do homework with friends, or go catch a movie during the summer, they hang out together in the house or go out as a family. Going to the grocery store is a family outing most of the time. And generally when they want to hang out with someone outside the immediate family, that means they go visit a cousin, aunt, or grandparent. My entire extended family here lives within walking distance! On both sides too. I've gone to a movie with my cousin, shopping with my sister, to the zoo with my grandma, and uncle and his girlfriend, went with my sister to borrow something at my aunt's and met more of the cousins, and went to the mall with my sister and her husband and my little brother. Every outing is a family outing. It is really neat! I mean its not like the people don't branch out of the family (I mean how would they ever meet someone to marry?). People visit a lot, and there are church events, but if you want to hang out with a friend, you hang out with their whole family. Or if they come over, it isn't just you and them, its you + your family and your friend. At first, I kind of just wanted a little privacy when my friends from Calvin came over to work on homework, but now I really appreciate having my family join in the conversations!

Another aspect about family is that they are incredibly close and stay close their whole lives. My older sister is 26 and married and they both live here in the upstairs room. Rarely do kids live outside of their home before marriage. It usually bodes badly on the family if a kid moved out before marriage. My family here is great. They argue a lot, but you can tell there is a deep love that will never be lost between them and they would be willing to do anything for each other. For instance my little brother is now in first grade and is learning English. He has a really hard time with it because he is still learning Spanish! (They really push the kids from a young age in the schools, its incredible). But the whole family takes a part in helping him learn. Every night, each family member takes time to help him with penmanship and with spelling. It rotates through my papa, my sister, my mom, and then my older sister and sometimes her husband too. My little brother loses patience with them all the time, but they just wait till he is ready to work again and stop what they are doing to continue the learning process. This past weekend we had a big trip planned with the church, but little Luisito just did not want to finish his homework. So the whole family stayed behind to work with him on his homework till he finished so he wouldn't get behind in school. The dedication is incredible. I thought, when was the last time I did that for one of my brothers? or anybody in my family?

Two: Food and Hospitality
People take pride in their food and cooking. I'm so glad I asked to cook with them from the first day I was here, because I have learned so much. If you ever want me to make some good Honduran food for you when I get back, I can sure do that! The food is amazing, but all the food is hand made from scratch for every meal. They do not go out to eat except on maybe Sundays. They use every bit of food that they have and never buy more from the store than they would eat in a day. So that means everyday someone goes to the store to buy food for the family's meals that day. They do this because its very hard for many of the people to preserve food well. There are ants everywhere and the fridge does not get too cold and they do not have the tupperware that we americans have nor the space to put it. Food also plays a role in hospitality here. Everytime you go to someone's house, the family will always offer you food and drink even if you say "no thanks, I just ate." So I have learned never to go full to someone else's house haha, because I will be eating. And they don't offer food because they have a lot of it, but it is their way of saying welcome to our home, we are glad you are here. Often it is the most expensive type of food in the house. And if the guest does not eat it or all of it, it is quite rude and they are hurt that you did not want their food. So we eat it even if it does not taste so good or if we aren't hungry and do it with a smile. And of course we always have to say thank you many times and reassure them that we love it.

Even at home it is rude to not finish food and your like or dislike of the food is of great importance to the cook. Often my mama will stand next to me as I try my first bite of something and look at my face to see my reaction and of course right away I will say "oo muy bien, me encanta" (its great, I love it!). Then my mama will walk satisfied. Also, finishing everything on your plate is a big indicator of if you liked it or not. If you don't finish something, they will think you didn't like it or don't like their cooking. Unfortunately for me, in my family they always give me huge portions of food. Usually I have no problems eating it, but the amount of food they give me every meal is incredible. Don't get me wrong, it is great food, but way too much. (And asking for less, well I've tried) Another disadvantage I have is that they always serve me before I have a say in it, and they always ask I leave my plates on the table and they will clean it up later. So they see all the food I don't eat. When I was sick I had a hard time eating much food and always felt horrible when I couldn't finish my food and they always looked so hurt. So I figured out ways to get rid of the food without eating it. I often eat alone (especially breakfast) because everybody's schedule is very different and my mama will just cook for me and put on the table and then tell me its ready. So I will call over my little brother and give him some of it if my mama isnt watching. Or I will bring some of it it my napkin and throw it away, or throw some out the window to the birds (haha). I know its bad and its a waste of food, but I honestly don't know what else to do cause it gets to the point of hurting when I eat that much food.

Ok I'll give an example, breakfast this morning: huge bowl of cornflakes with sugar, good sized cup of coffee, scrambled eggs with ham, beans, and bread with butter. Then she wanted to bring out more food because I didn't get any fruit. That is just breakfast, typically I have a cup of yogurt w/ granola in the US haha. Or for dinner last week we had company, and they gave me three giant tacos ( different tacos than the US, each one is so big you often can't fit your mouth around it). I only wanted two, but they insisted I have another. I gave in, then they brought out some fruit and two glasses of coke (no complaints). So I finished it all and felt quite proud that I finished the whole dinner (especially since we had guests) and felt quite full. Then out of nowhere my mama comes in with not just a cup, but a bowl of chicken soup with a full chicken leg in it. I think my reaction made everybody laugh, but somehow I forced myself to eat most of it, but I regretted that attempt later. Well all that to say, food is important here. People take pride in their food, buy sparingly, share grandly, and appreciation and acceptance of food is essential. Which makes me think how often am I that grateful for the food my own mom makes and how often do I actually say thank you and that I love her cooking? Not only that, but should I be buying and using food more wisely and sharing it just as much? I have often found in my past two years at college that I hide my extra good food and share only the rest of the food when people ask for it, I think it should be just the opposite.

Three: Clothing
What you wear says everything about you here. Most people do not have much money and so cannot have an endless wardrobe of clothes. However, the clothes they do have, they take extremely good care of. They never leave the house in just a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, especially for school. They always wear pants and a nice shirt that is ironed and clean and fits tightly. Shoes are the focal point of the ensemble though. Even if your clothes are not of the highest quality, if your shoes are nice that is what matters. No flipflops here, those are considered shower shoes. Girls are most of the time in high heels even with all the walking ( I just don't know how they do it) or cute or shiny flats. Guys wear dress shoes most of the time. In the house, you can wear whatever you want, most of the time my brother and papa don't even wear a shirt, just shorts. But once you leave the house, it matters what you wear. No matter how hot it is outside, no shorts, maybe a skirt for the girls. Of course we Americans sometimes break this rule when we aren't at school, because we can't take the heat and the walking like they can. Everybody has their fare share of blisters and sweating all the time is the norm. It really shows me that I should be more grateful and take better care of what I have. Its way too easy to take for granted what I have and its made me realize that I have way too many clothes and should be putting my money in more important places.

Well I think I have left you with way too much to read, haha, I don't blame you if you can't get through it all in one sitting. But I hope to get some pictures of my house and where I go to school up soon, so you guys can see where I live and spend most of my day! ¡Adiós!

-Kelsey-