I cannot believe it but the halfway mark of our 4 months here has come and gone. I cannot remember a time when school has gone by so fast! Its just incredible to look back all thats happened and how little I have written about it on here, sorry! I just put a bunch of pictures on Facebook from our latest trip to Guatemala so make sure to check those out as well as the ones I'm tagged in because my camera broke about halfway through the trip.
We had a few set-backs in getting there. It took us 3 different buses to get us to Guatemala. The first was too small (or we weighed too much), the second broke in Copan, Honduras and delayed us a full day, and finally the third arrived and seemed to work alright for the rest of the trip. God was definitely keeping an eye on us this whole trip, we had many close encounters and some had some scary ones, but nothing serious happened and everybody made it back safe. And looking back many of the encounters we had helped to remind us of where we are, the precaution we need to take and also helped us realized that most of the world is not as safe and cozy as where many of us live in the US.
Guatemala is one amazing country, the majority of the population is still made up of the indigenous people, however tourism is quickly influencing the traditions and practices of these people. We had a chance to visit two small towns on Lake Atitlán that I believe are only accessible by boat. The first was called San Antonio Palopó and the second Santiago Atitlán. The people in each town are still close to their traditions, religions, and way of dress. However, they informed us that even these towns are quickly modernizing with the changing world. Their clothes are handmade garments from brightly colored cloth and each town has their own specific colors for example the first town was mainly red with some blues and greens. The women carry their things for sale on their heads and all the little girls are dressed alike with braids and headbands wrapped tightly around their heads. I wish I had a pictures, but I felt kinda of rude to start taking pictures of them as if they were on display, but they probably would have been fine with it. I got my first taste of bartering here even though the women didn't want to budge much on their prices. After we toured the town a bit and visited a fabric making "factory" consisting of about 5 workers, we returned to the boat to go to the next town. The boat ride was so relaxing in the sun and when you looked around there were 3 volcanoes rising up into the clouds and the mountainsides surrounded the rest of lake. So incredible.
At the second town, we ate lunch and I had my fried fish again, which I guess in central america means the whole fish is fried, eyes, head, fins, and all. But definitely delicious. Then we went to this house that was temporarily housing this saint named Maximón. I thought I was going to meet this old pipe smoking man dressed in traditional clothing. When I got there, I found out that this "saint" is actually a wooden statue of a man dressed in real clothes and had a real cigar in its mouth. On either side of it were two men that were there to protect the "saint." The rest of the house had an odd smell, maybe due to the combination of smoke and the excessive use of candles. There were many other statues in there and a coffin as well, each representing a saint or actually considered a saint. I'm still not sure on that. It turns out that this saint Maximón is central to the specific religious belief of this town. It is a combination of catholicism and some of the Mayan beliefs. Every year Maximón is moved from house to house in a huge procession that goes through all the town and passes in front of the huge Catholic cathedral in the middle of town. Our guide was a young boy of I think 11 years old and he knew everything! He gave us the history of the church and Maximón and answered any question we asked. It was easy to see that the religion in this town is central to who they are, so that even the kids know the traditions and history like the back of their hand. I personally kind of felt uncomfortable when we were in the room with Maximón, I can't really describe it, but I just wanted to leave. Luckily we didn't stay too long, but it was a good thing to experience in the long run. After this we had a while to shop around. This is where I found my love for bartering haha. There is definitely an art to bartering, I would not say I am anywhere near at mastering it, but I'm getting there. For example, another girl on the trip with me, Christa, and I wanted these amazing blankets/bed covers. They were handmade and super cozy. We were looking at them and admiring the colors when a woman came over and said she would take down them for us to look at them closer. I found out this is pretty normal, if you touch something they think you want it and will take it down for you every time. I found a teal/torquise colored one I liked alot and Christa found a royal blue she liked. We asked the price and it was 400 quetzales for each. 400 quetzales is like 50 bucks. Neither of us wanted to pay that, so we kind of hesitated in saying anything. So she said "whats your best price?" Christa said the two for 400. The women then went on and on about the quality and that she couldn't sell it for such a low price. (by the way its just a good selling tactic when they say this) So she suggested the two for 600. We were like ok ok 450. And she said her lowest price was 550. then I looked at my wallet and so did Christa and we realized we only had 480 between us haha. So we were like well we only have 480 with us, we can't spend money we don't have. She didn't believe us, so we started to leave a little bit and said we would come back another time. Pretty quickly she changed her mind and said 480 was just fine. So we landed two blankets almost for the price of one. We felt pretty proud of ourselves at the time. But looking back on it, we definitely could have brought down the price more, but I guess we just have to learn from experience. And its definitely a rush bargaining back and forth, I loved it and didn't want to stop. Sometimes I found myself bargaining down prices on stuff I didn't even want and never ended up getting. Crazy stuff. But here is a list of things I have found to be helpful.
Bartering Strategies
-Don't appear too interested in what you really want, just glance at it
-Buying more than one is always cheaper if you have a friend that wants the same thing
-Make sure to not act desperate or ever say a price higher than you want or think is fair
-After a while, ask what it costs
-Never pay what they ask the first time
-Find a price in your head of what your willing to pay and don't go over it, there are always more vendors
-And never give your max price first, always start way lower
-Don't be afraid to spend a lot of time in one store bartering
-Also don't be afraid to actually walk out of the store to show your "disinterest" often they will call after you with a much much lower price
-Say less than half of what they asked, I personally like starting around a quarter of what they ask
-Sometimes they will act offended and say the quality is too good for such a low price and will go on and on about where it was made and how long it took, but know that this is a selling tactic, don't get emotionally involved or start feeling bad if they start telling stories on how they need the money
-Always take your time in deciding, there is no rush, but don't act too attached
-Sometimes acting rushed works if you seem to really have no interest in buying, b/c that can cause sometimes a quick reduction in price to get you to agree before you leave
However the best way I have found is to have a friend that really wants something and have them go through the whole bartering thing and buy something and just be a bystander. And then just as you are about to leave, show a little interest in that same thing if its what you want and then say o its alright I'm going to go. Often the vendor will yell out a price even lower than what your friend payed to get you to buy it. This happened to Julienne after I bought the blanket, she got offered a price lower than what we payed, haha.
Of course this is just what I do, I'm sure there are better ways, but I have way too much fun w/ it. Well I'm about to go eat dinner so I'll post more later, ¡adiós!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Soccer Game: Honduras vs. USA
So a group of us Calvin students thought it would be fun to play some soccer yesterday. Somebody knew of a soccer stadium not too far away so we borrowed a soccer ball and walked over there. We got there and a bunch of people were there (we think a game had just ended or something). So someone asked one of the guys and he said that we could play if we wanted and there weren't any more games. So we went out there and started kicking the ball around on the dirt field. But more players were coming on the field with kleets and shinguards and the whole deal and started practicing. I think most of us were a little intimidated with all the people around and all the officially dressed players so we left to find another place. After walking for a while we finally came upon this little fenced in field. It also doubled as a basketball court so it was concrete but still had some goals at each end and bleachers to sit on. Most of us were a little unsure about going in cause were quite a few guys playing already in there. But we figured if we didn't go in, we wouldn't be able to play at all. So inward we marched.
If I thought we stood out before, we definitely were fish out of water here. Everybody stopped what they were doing and just stared. So after putting our stuff down we started kicking the ball around awkwardly and seriously doubting our skills. Finally after about 10 or 15 minutes, one of the guys in our group went and talked to some of the guys that were playing there and they said they would play us. haha, yes Honduras vs. USA as they said it. As if it wasn't uneven enough, our team consisted mostly of girls and many who hadn't played much soccer before this. But hey we figured it would be fun. So off we went! We had one sub to sit with the stuff and the rest played (or attempted to keep up with the Hondurans). At one point I looked around and we had quite the audience. There were people in the bleachers, others watching from rooftops, and people stopping the street. Apparently a bunch of white kids playing soccer was an odd site in Honduras haha. But we didn't care and in reality were kind of used to being stared at. So we played as well as we could and did better I think than we thought. Of course the locals were playing nice and not taking every opportunity to score but thought it funny to watch us run around trying to get the ball haha. They actually knew a bit of english too and made sure to distract us in any way by speaking the few english words they know. We scored the first goal, but that was short lived and I think in the end it was something like Honduras: 12 USA: 6. Not horrible right? Well it was fun and some of the guys turned out to be pretty nice (well minus the ones who kept trying to take us girls' pictures with their camera phones, haha) so some of us talked to them for a while afterwards and they kept insisting we come back the next day and said they would be waiting for us. Well we didn't quite make it back today, but we hope to go back soon cause we had such a great time!
Soccer is so ingrained in this culture, I doubt most of these kids actually have had real training in soccer, yet everyone of them had amazing ball skills and they could pass so well in such a small space. Everybody plays and everybody watches, its so great!
If I thought we stood out before, we definitely were fish out of water here. Everybody stopped what they were doing and just stared. So after putting our stuff down we started kicking the ball around awkwardly and seriously doubting our skills. Finally after about 10 or 15 minutes, one of the guys in our group went and talked to some of the guys that were playing there and they said they would play us. haha, yes Honduras vs. USA as they said it. As if it wasn't uneven enough, our team consisted mostly of girls and many who hadn't played much soccer before this. But hey we figured it would be fun. So off we went! We had one sub to sit with the stuff and the rest played (or attempted to keep up with the Hondurans). At one point I looked around and we had quite the audience. There were people in the bleachers, others watching from rooftops, and people stopping the street. Apparently a bunch of white kids playing soccer was an odd site in Honduras haha. But we didn't care and in reality were kind of used to being stared at. So we played as well as we could and did better I think than we thought. Of course the locals were playing nice and not taking every opportunity to score but thought it funny to watch us run around trying to get the ball haha. They actually knew a bit of english too and made sure to distract us in any way by speaking the few english words they know. We scored the first goal, but that was short lived and I think in the end it was something like Honduras: 12 USA: 6. Not horrible right? Well it was fun and some of the guys turned out to be pretty nice (well minus the ones who kept trying to take us girls' pictures with their camera phones, haha) so some of us talked to them for a while afterwards and they kept insisting we come back the next day and said they would be waiting for us. Well we didn't quite make it back today, but we hope to go back soon cause we had such a great time!
Soccer is so ingrained in this culture, I doubt most of these kids actually have had real training in soccer, yet everyone of them had amazing ball skills and they could pass so well in such a small space. Everybody plays and everybody watches, its so great!
Piñatas are Underrated
So we had an amazing 4 day weekend last weekend because of Honduran Independence Day. So my family took me to this amazing place called Zamorano, which I'm pretty sure is a university campus. But it was amazing! I just put up some pictures of it on facebook if you'd like to see what it looked like! There was a large river to fish in, tennis courts, soccer fields, and food! What I didn't know was that this was the 14th birthday party for my twin cousins. So when we got there the entire extended family was there too! I was definitely surprised, but I'm sure my family told me they were going to be there I just don't understand nearly enough. Jourdan (one of the other Calvin students that lives by me) came with me for the day too, which was really nice cause that way we didn't know what was going on together haha. Well we ate as soon as we got there and started fishing. Our fishing pole consisted of a piece of a branch with fishing wire wrapped around it and a small hook on the end with a little bait on it. I didn't believe it would work, but my papa proved me wrong and caught a fish! I guess it wasn't big enough to eat or anything so he threw it back, but it was pretty exciting nonetheless. Then came the birthday festivities, apparently the birthday girls ran the show and explained the games and handed out prizes. Jourdan and I most of the time had no idea what the point of the games were and so we just did what everybody else did. At one point we were bending over and spinning in circles and never found out how we were suppose to win. Luckily Jourdan can understand quite a bit so she tried to explain as much as she understood of what we were suppose to do. Then after the games we had some free time to hit or "bump" around the volleyball with the cousins.
Then was piñata time! We all crowded around and we had to go in order of age, but with the birthday girls first with the youngest cousins. Unfortunately, if your over 3 feet tall you have to go on your knees to hit the piñata because otherwise it would be too easy! Jourdan and I weren't too sure about taking a swing at it, but they made sure we had our chance haha. But they don't have blindfolds like we do. They have one person pulling the rope up and down, while the other person just swings and swings. At the same time everybody else is singing a song about hitting it once, twice, and three times. Then when they finish the short song, you have to stop hitting. The system seemed to work quite well and eventually the piñata gave out and everybody was showered with candy. It was quite a bit of fun and I'm pretty sure we should have more piñatas in America, especially at college. It be a great pastime haha. Later we passed the soccer ball around for a while like keep-away. Then came time for the cake! I wish I had a picture of this thing, it was like the ultimate cake of sugar. Amazing, I tell you! It was two layers with this caramelized middle, then covered in frosting. And the frosting was literally covered with marshmallows, jelly beans, cookies, and any other sugary goodness you could think of. And then at parts it had more frosting on top to say happy birthday or "feliz cumpleaños." And it tasted just as good as it sounded!
Just as I was finishing, my family yelled that I had to hop in the truck. So I did with Jourdan, the family, and some cousins and off we drove to the tennis courts. The only open one was a clay one, but it definitely did the job. We ended up having a tournament with everybody, it was a lot of fun. But I couldn't let my tennis teaching jobs over the summers go to waste, so I was helping everybody with their serves or strokes because most of them had never played before or were still learning. I think everybody had a grand ol time though. After we finished the tourny, we ran over to join the rest of the cousins and uncles in a big game of soccer! It was so much fun! We played till it was dark, and I only managed a small cut to the wrist from falling and Jourdan tweaked her ankle, but all was good and we couldn't stop smiling from all the fun we had. Well just as I thought the night was over, we all climbed in the truck and headed over to my aunt's house for a huge dinner with the whole family again! It was great and a good time to talk with the family. I found out one of my cousins volunteers every Saturday at this reptile house with snakes, turtles, and other amphibians too. I guess he cleans their cages and does tours. It sounds really sweet so I think Jourdan and I are going to go with him one weekend to watch. Then after a couple of hours and exhausted from the day we headed home and went to bed.
Unfortunately, that was the end of the fun for the weekend for me! I got pretty sick after I got home on including fever, headaches, stomach problems, loss of appetite, nausea, and loss of all energy. This lasted till about Tuesday, but now I'm doing much better no need to worry! Still don't know what caused it or if it was just a combination of things but its alright cause its done! So that was my weekend of fun with the family, and we're hoping to go back there soon!
~Kelsey~
Then was piñata time! We all crowded around and we had to go in order of age, but with the birthday girls first with the youngest cousins. Unfortunately, if your over 3 feet tall you have to go on your knees to hit the piñata because otherwise it would be too easy! Jourdan and I weren't too sure about taking a swing at it, but they made sure we had our chance haha. But they don't have blindfolds like we do. They have one person pulling the rope up and down, while the other person just swings and swings. At the same time everybody else is singing a song about hitting it once, twice, and three times. Then when they finish the short song, you have to stop hitting. The system seemed to work quite well and eventually the piñata gave out and everybody was showered with candy. It was quite a bit of fun and I'm pretty sure we should have more piñatas in America, especially at college. It be a great pastime haha. Later we passed the soccer ball around for a while like keep-away. Then came time for the cake! I wish I had a picture of this thing, it was like the ultimate cake of sugar. Amazing, I tell you! It was two layers with this caramelized middle, then covered in frosting. And the frosting was literally covered with marshmallows, jelly beans, cookies, and any other sugary goodness you could think of. And then at parts it had more frosting on top to say happy birthday or "feliz cumpleaños." And it tasted just as good as it sounded!
Just as I was finishing, my family yelled that I had to hop in the truck. So I did with Jourdan, the family, and some cousins and off we drove to the tennis courts. The only open one was a clay one, but it definitely did the job. We ended up having a tournament with everybody, it was a lot of fun. But I couldn't let my tennis teaching jobs over the summers go to waste, so I was helping everybody with their serves or strokes because most of them had never played before or were still learning. I think everybody had a grand ol time though. After we finished the tourny, we ran over to join the rest of the cousins and uncles in a big game of soccer! It was so much fun! We played till it was dark, and I only managed a small cut to the wrist from falling and Jourdan tweaked her ankle, but all was good and we couldn't stop smiling from all the fun we had. Well just as I thought the night was over, we all climbed in the truck and headed over to my aunt's house for a huge dinner with the whole family again! It was great and a good time to talk with the family. I found out one of my cousins volunteers every Saturday at this reptile house with snakes, turtles, and other amphibians too. I guess he cleans their cages and does tours. It sounds really sweet so I think Jourdan and I are going to go with him one weekend to watch. Then after a couple of hours and exhausted from the day we headed home and went to bed.
Unfortunately, that was the end of the fun for the weekend for me! I got pretty sick after I got home on including fever, headaches, stomach problems, loss of appetite, nausea, and loss of all energy. This lasted till about Tuesday, but now I'm doing much better no need to worry! Still don't know what caused it or if it was just a combination of things but its alright cause its done! So that was my weekend of fun with the family, and we're hoping to go back there soon!
~Kelsey~
Thursday, September 11, 2008
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-
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-
Monday, September 1, 2008
Hiking through the Jungles of La Tigra
¡Buenos Días!
Well as most of you have probably found, I posted a bunch of pictures on facebook of my latest adventures here. On Friday we had the awesome opportunity to drive to El Campo (the countryside). Let me tell ya its not like the countryside at home. This countryside is in the mountains along steep bumpy dirt roads. The houses were for the most part brightly colored and in better shape than I had expected them to be. There were horses everywhere and most were not fenced in or tied
up! We even passed one horse who had just given birth to a foal! It was adorable. The views were amazing and I tried to capture those in the pictures, but those do little justice to what we saw. Our destination was this little organic farm in the valley of the mountain. I believe it is the only organic farm in all of Honduras. The people were very friendly and gave us the grand tour of the place. I tried some of the carrots they grew there and th
ey were quite tasty! They also had squash, lettuce, celery, chives, broccoli, corn, and many other types. It was great walking through fields and looking up to see the mountains around us with blue skies and fluffy white clouds passing by. It just did not feel real. We then had lunch, which we brought with us consisting of sandwiches and chips. Some of the stray dogs came running when they smelled the food. We all felt so bad for them cause their ribs were basically sticking all the way out. So we fed em a little bit of our food haha. And its so hard not to pet them! Then we piled back on the bus and off we went back down the mountain.
Then this weekend we had a nice long adventurous trip to La Tigra, which is a national park in the mountains! I thought the views in El Campo were amazing, the ones at La Tigra were even more incredible. We drove for about an hour up the mountain and then the bus pulled over in a little town. We had to hike up the mountain for the rest of the way (about 2 miles up) We put our stuff for the night in a truck that took it to the house we were staying in. Of course all the girls had to use the bathroom first, and me Julienne and Betsy were last. We got out of the bathroom and found that the who
le group had left without us! We were like hmmm alright who do we ask "where did all the gringos go?" ( we are called gringos here in case your not familiar with the term) well a nice lady pointed us in the right direction and off we went. We found out quickly that the path was quite steep and the air was thin which made for lots of heavy breathing and breaks. Betsy showed us this sweet plant that when you touch it, it will curl up. So every time we saw a patch of it we would stop and make it all curl up. I have a video of it on facebook too if you want to see what I'm talking about. Except one of the times when we were taking a video of it, I was standing in a huge ant hill and didn't know it till all of sudden my foot started stinging and I look down to see it covered in little ants. I jumped around and threw my shoe off and managed to only get 3 or 4 bites. Luckily they didnt' get infected or anything :) But we continued on our trek up and ended up guessing which way we were suppose to go and asked locals on the way. We saw a wild toucan flying in the trees an
d Betsy saw a scarlet macaw, it was sooo neat! We passed many horses, dogs, chickens, and a goose. It was amazing, the nature was so bright and brilliant, I had never seen anything so amazing in my life. It made the incredibly difficult climb much easier. After 1 1/2 hours of climbing we reached our house (kind of like a hotel). We had a home cooked delicious lunch of beans, rice, tortillas, beef, and veggies, and then left for our next hike in the jungles of La Tigra. We were in the jungles for three hours and came across so many waterfalls including the huge one we have all the pictures of! It was incredible, it was so green and wet and filled with mosquitoes and every other kind of bug. We walked on tiny trails on the edge of incredibly high drop-offs. It was exhilarating. There were huge trees, vines, and undergrowth everywhere. It was just breath taking. The large waterfall was so much fun, we climbed all around it and cooled off our feet in the freezing water. Then we headed back to the house where we had dinner mmm mmm, and then had a share time with the group so we could get to know each other a lot better. Then we had a camp fire in the pouring rain and roasted marshmellows and ate smore's! It was amazing and delicious, chocolate finally after over a week of being here. (Sidenote: the people here do not each sweet things very often at all, rarely are 
there desserts, and chocolate is expensive so its hard to come by) It was a great time to get to know our group better and learn some new card games! The next day (Sunday) we had some free time to relax and then we took a short walk over to a gorgeous yellow house that overlooked the entire city of Tegucigalpa and the mountains. It was amazing, definitely my dream house. This was the house of Jorge and his wife who were originally from Germany, but fell in love with Honduras during a visit and just couldn't leave. But his wife is a vet and makes jam. Which was awesome, so I bought some home made jam from them, we had a sample of it and it was so so good. Then we walked back to the house and had lunch and then walked down the mountain to the bus and went home to sleep the rest of the night. It was such a great weekend to relax, see new things, and get to know everybody.
Well as most of you have probably found, I posted a bunch of pictures on facebook of my latest adventures here. On Friday we had the awesome opportunity to drive to El Campo (the countryside). Let me tell ya its not like the countryside at home. This countryside is in the mountains along steep bumpy dirt roads. The houses were for the most part brightly colored and in better shape than I had expected them to be. There were horses everywhere and most were not fenced in or tied
up! We even passed one horse who had just given birth to a foal! It was adorable. The views were amazing and I tried to capture those in the pictures, but those do little justice to what we saw. Our destination was this little organic farm in the valley of the mountain. I believe it is the only organic farm in all of Honduras. The people were very friendly and gave us the grand tour of the place. I tried some of the carrots they grew there and th
ey were quite tasty! They also had squash, lettuce, celery, chives, broccoli, corn, and many other types. It was great walking through fields and looking up to see the mountains around us with blue skies and fluffy white clouds passing by. It just did not feel real. We then had lunch, which we brought with us consisting of sandwiches and chips. Some of the stray dogs came running when they smelled the food. We all felt so bad for them cause their ribs were basically sticking all the way out. So we fed em a little bit of our food haha. And its so hard not to pet them! Then we piled back on the bus and off we went back down the mountain.Then this weekend we had a nice long adventurous trip to La Tigra, which is a national park in the mountains! I thought the views in El Campo were amazing, the ones at La Tigra were even more incredible. We drove for about an hour up the mountain and then the bus pulled over in a little town. We had to hike up the mountain for the rest of the way (about 2 miles up) We put our stuff for the night in a truck that took it to the house we were staying in. Of course all the girls had to use the bathroom first, and me Julienne and Betsy were last. We got out of the bathroom and found that the who
le group had left without us! We were like hmmm alright who do we ask "where did all the gringos go?" ( we are called gringos here in case your not familiar with the term) well a nice lady pointed us in the right direction and off we went. We found out quickly that the path was quite steep and the air was thin which made for lots of heavy breathing and breaks. Betsy showed us this sweet plant that when you touch it, it will curl up. So every time we saw a patch of it we would stop and make it all curl up. I have a video of it on facebook too if you want to see what I'm talking about. Except one of the times when we were taking a video of it, I was standing in a huge ant hill and didn't know it till all of sudden my foot started stinging and I look down to see it covered in little ants. I jumped around and threw my shoe off and managed to only get 3 or 4 bites. Luckily they didnt' get infected or anything :) But we continued on our trek up and ended up guessing which way we were suppose to go and asked locals on the way. We saw a wild toucan flying in the trees an
d Betsy saw a scarlet macaw, it was sooo neat! We passed many horses, dogs, chickens, and a goose. It was amazing, the nature was so bright and brilliant, I had never seen anything so amazing in my life. It made the incredibly difficult climb much easier. After 1 1/2 hours of climbing we reached our house (kind of like a hotel). We had a home cooked delicious lunch of beans, rice, tortillas, beef, and veggies, and then left for our next hike in the jungles of La Tigra. We were in the jungles for three hours and came across so many waterfalls including the huge one we have all the pictures of! It was incredible, it was so green and wet and filled with mosquitoes and every other kind of bug. We walked on tiny trails on the edge of incredibly high drop-offs. It was exhilarating. There were huge trees, vines, and undergrowth everywhere. It was just breath taking. The large waterfall was so much fun, we climbed all around it and cooled off our feet in the freezing water. Then we headed back to the house where we had dinner mmm mmm, and then had a share time with the group so we could get to know each other a lot better. Then we had a camp fire in the pouring rain and roasted marshmellows and ate smore's! It was amazing and delicious, chocolate finally after over a week of being here. (Sidenote: the people here do not each sweet things very often at all, rarely are 
there desserts, and chocolate is expensive so its hard to come by) It was a great time to get to know our group better and learn some new card games! The next day (Sunday) we had some free time to relax and then we took a short walk over to a gorgeous yellow house that overlooked the entire city of Tegucigalpa and the mountains. It was amazing, definitely my dream house. This was the house of Jorge and his wife who were originally from Germany, but fell in love with Honduras during a visit and just couldn't leave. But his wife is a vet and makes jam. Which was awesome, so I bought some home made jam from them, we had a sample of it and it was so so good. Then we walked back to the house and had lunch and then walked down the mountain to the bus and went home to sleep the rest of the night. It was such a great weekend to relax, see new things, and get to know everybody.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
My New Friend Who Lives Under my Bed
So funny story...well at least for all of you it will be funny. I wasn't laughing last night (but I am now). Well I was getting ready for bed and I was up pretty late finishing up some crazy amounts of hw (already! i know) anyways, it was dark for the most part and my light in my room is pretty dim as well. My whole family was asleep (I think it was the first time I've ever been up later than my family). So I'm tip toeing around trying to be quiet as I get ready. I reached down for one of my bags on the floor because I needed a band-aid cause I have a new blister from my sandals. So I pick up the bag and set it on my bed. I feel something on my arm but think nothing of it until it starts running up my arm. Its so fast I don't get a chance to look at it, but can only see a black blur. So I'm scrambling to knock the thing off of me, but it keeps crawling up each arm, faster and faster. I'm trying so hard to be quiet to not wake anybody (I'm glad I'm not too much of a screamer, or this situation would have gotten a lot worse haha). Finally I knocked it off and breathing really hard I look down and its a giant cockroach the size of my palm! I had just said the day earlier that there were only cockroaches in the streets, but none in the house! Guess I was wrong...or I just jinxed myself...but anyways back to the story. Before I could react the thing ran under my bed. I was like shoot, now what. So I figured I would move my bed and squish the dumb thing. So I start moving my bed and it was so loud, I was like great Kelsey way to pick the night that I actually stay up later than the family. At that point I figured I had two choices...1) stay awake all night waiting for it to come back out or 2) turn out the lights, go to bed, and pray that the cockroach stays under the bed. Well I went with door number 2. I couldnt' believe how scared I was of the dumb thing all night, so didn't sleep too well and kept checking around to make sure nothing was crawling on me. But no worries I caught up on sleep with a "siesta" today. So yes that is the story of me and my new friend who lives under my bed :)
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Pictures!
Buenos Dias
It was been such a whirlwind of a weekend! So much site-seeing! Well here are a bunch of pictures mainly from our trip today to the beautiful place called El Picacho, it on the top of a mountain and over looks the entire city of Tegucigalpa! You can kind of understand the beauty from the pictures. Also there is a zoo there, where many of the monkeys just run free around the zoo! It was soo neat. Well enjoy the pictures, sorry if the format is not great, still trying to figure it out! And I'm going to try to post more pictures on facebook if you get a chance to look there!
It was been such a whirlwind of a weekend! So much site-seeing! Well here are a bunch of pictures mainly from our trip today to the beautiful place called El Picacho, it on the top of a mountain and over looks the entire city of Tegucigalpa! You can kind of understand the beauty from the pictures. Also there is a zoo there, where many of the monkeys just run free around the zoo! It was soo neat. Well enjoy the pictures, sorry if the format is not great, still trying to figure it out! And I'm going to try to post more pictures on facebook if you get a chance to look there!
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