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Thursday, August 25, 2011

Since I've been AWOL

I must apologize for my slacker-ness in keeping my blog up to date. As July was ending, there was nothing that seemed worthy of writing about and August seems to be heading for the same fate. None the less, I feel a sense of responsibility to this ridiculous medium and the handful of people who choose to read it. Yet again, I will hit you with the ever popular recap and summary of what’s been going on.

I kicked off July with another trip to Roatan in the Bay Islands, which is one of the most beautiful places in the world. A fellow PCV/really good friend’s family came to visit, rented a house and I got to tag along for the week. The most exciting part was learning how to SCUBA dive and getting my Open Water certification. Not to say I did this all fearlessly. I freaked out during our initial sub-surface practice and could have easily stood up and been out of the water. It proves how powerful an emotion fear is and how it completely takes away your sense of reasoning. Other skills such as removing your mask while underwater, swimming without the mask and pretending your tank is out of air and using a buddy’s air source are scary, yet necessary. Overall, I’m glad I did it and look forward to diving more in the future. Just maybe not off my native Pacific Coast in that cold, murky water… It will never compare with the warm, clear waters here and the tropical reef, which is second only to the Great Barrier of Australia.

Work has been just a lot of charlas in the high school the last two months. One of the teachers and I have been giving a series of classes to the “seniors” about the importance of developing skills which are important in the work place. After finishing with the seniors we started with “sophomores” with the idea that they will have to teach the class to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders next year. That way it’s more sustainable, the main goal of Peace Corps work – I’ll be gone, but the information will perpetuate and benefit more people in the future.

This week is the last week of service for the group that came in ahead of mine, known to us as H15. That will make my group, H16, the most seasoned veterans of Peace Corps service here in Honduras. So many cliché statements come to mind, but the truth is a cliché – I can’t believe it’s gone by so fast! An H15 volunteer who lives near me will be passing many of her belongings on to those of us who will still be here in country for awhile. I’m so excited to be inheriting her double bed! For the last six months I’ve been sleeping on a twin size bed that my landlady is loaning to me. It will be nice to feel like an adult again and not like I’m back in the college dorms.

There was an anecdote of an experience yesterday that I wanted to share. On a more personal level the Peace Corps is humbling experience and I’m frequently reminded to get off my sassy horse. After traveling into the capital, Tegucigalpa, for a dental appointment Monday afternoon, I was told my crown wasn’t in from the lab yet and would have to stay over night (luckily Peace Corps picks up the tab on hotels). Having not brought a change of clothes, I sucked it up, stayed the night and got my dental appointment in the next morning. After the appointment I headed to the part of town where buses bound for my town are. Arriving at 11:45, I learned one bus wouldn’t leave until 1:30. Being very impatient and loathing that bus terminal, I headed to the one around the corner where I was told the mini-bus would be leaving at 12:30. Sweet! I thought I’d scored and was stoked to get back home sooner. Well, time ticked by and 1:00 rolled by, then 1:30. Sure, I was frustrated…but of anything I’ve learned in Honduras it’s that schedules are not to be followed and you better have gallons of patience. As it was approaching 2:00, I was getting angry and imagining how I could tell the office manager how horrible they run their business, how disrespectful they are of people and how I would storm out to take the other company’s bus at 2:30. Trying to keep my cool, I again asked what time the mini-bus would leave, “Pronto, dentro de quince minutos” they told me. Not believing that it would be neither soon, nor within fifteen minutes, I checked the time on my phone – almost 2:30. My anger diminished and I felt like a real fool. The words twelve and two sound very similar in Spanish – doce and dos. The man had told me 2:30 when I first arrived, but I heard 12:30 and created all that anger and resentment myself. Luckily, I hadn’t made a fool of myself by doing any of what I’d conjured up in my mind. It was just another lesson in humility and realizing, for the “umpteenth” time, that things will rarely meet my expectations here and I need to just chill out. To further illustrate the point, the mini-bus got a flat tire on the way back home and we were delayed another half hour. All I could do was laugh at myself and appreciate the lesson that was being taught to me.

Well, with all that in mind – I think I’ve put together a decent post for those of you reading. I appreciate you paying attention to this, thanks mucho!

Hasta la proxima vez…

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