Another Hit

Perhaps the drug reference isn’t the best comparison for my Peace Corps service, but I’m on such a high I don’t know how else to describe it! Before coming down, I only looked forward to volunteering every afternoon. It was what gave purpose to my life pre-PC. Now, I’m living that high on a daily basis, 24/7.
Picture this if you will: Yours truly in front of a class of 27 students giving a presentation on marketing, SWOT analysis and market research in Spanish. Yep, today was my first real act as a PC volunteer. Up until now, I’ve been getting acquainted with my new town and building relationships with my counterparts (which has been ridiculously easy, because they’re all amazing people). Now, it wasn’t exactly as PC as you would expect. I made a Power Point presentation and made handouts for the kids and everything. This isn’t JFK’s Peace Corps anymore! Admittedly, I had an assistant who is a compañera from the alcaldía. Doris is just two classes away from finishing her Bachelor’s in Business as well and she wanted to help me (I think mainly to get out of her normal work…). I somewhat reluctantly agreed because I wanted to do it on my own and really make my mark, but at the same time I wanted to collaborate with a Honduran and see how they work. It was a learning experience for sure. I would say she spoke more during the presentation than me. Maybe it’s my nature or the American culture, but Hondurans like to talk a lot and give a TON of examples. I felt bad for the poor kids at times. Although, maybe I bore them with my bad Spanish, few examples and mainly reading the slides (which I know is a horrible way to present, but I’m making do in my second language). Anyway, this isn’t just a onetime thing. Over the next few months I will be giving a series of charlas to the kids about other business basics and eventually they will break into small groups and create their own small businesses. After teaching them I will be able to act as a business advisor and help them (hopefully) sustain their business. Oh, and I forgot to mention that my local high school does not have traditional hours. Most Honduran schools have two sessions, morning or afternoon and kids go to one of the other. Well, as my luck goes, the high school where I’m working has no morning classes. Instead the classes are afternoon and evening. This means that today I gave one charla in the afternoon, had a few hours to kill, then went back and gave the same charla to the evening class kids. Therefore, I imparted knowledge on to 52 Honduran youth today. It is such an amazing feeling to stand there and have the kids repeat the information that you taught them. I sincerely hope they are all successful in this small assignment but can later turn it into something positive for the good of their country.
Besides that, I feel things are going really well and the people I’m working with are glad I’m here. The teacher from the high school and my compañera were really boosting my ego the whole ride home (it’s a five minute drive…ha). There was another PC volunteer here about a year ago for medical reasons, this wasn’t actually her site, and apparently her Spanish wasn’t the best, she was pretty shy and not very social. According to my two Honduran counterparts I’m about the complete opposite of her and they predict our next two years will be good. Believe me, it’s a HUGE encouragement to hear these things.
Well, better wrap this up. I just KNOW I will be super busy next week. I’ve told everyone that I will start helping them with their projects in June and I’m sure come Tuesday, June 1 my phone will be blowing up like crazy. Time to work with the women’s groups and the caja rural (micro credit union), along with planning my next charla for the kids. Oh, which reminds me! They invited me to go on a field trip with the kids to the North coast at the beginning of July to do some sort of business study on the port up there. I’m stoked! Anywho, you know the drill…thanks for reading and…
Hasta la proxima vez…