Visita de mi hermana Rita/My sister Rita’s visit

As many of you know from my past blogs, I had to return home for a medical emergency. It turned out to be perfect timing because I was able to catch a flight back to Honduras with Rita (who was nervous to fly alone). When we landed in Honduras we picked up our Chevy Aveo, stopped at the Metro Mall, did some grocery shopping, and then headed to the ranch. We went to hogar where Rita was swarmed by all my girls. By now they had met everyone in my family, except for Rita, so they were pretty comfortable with her and called her “Jennifer Aniston”. No one on the ranch could believe that Rita was my younger sister because she is way taller than me, even though she is six-and-a-half years younger!

We left early the next morning to head to Tela. Kris, Monica, and Tess were already there, so we were going to meet up with them. It was a long drive, but we had the iPod to keep us company and we made a few pit stops to pass the time. A few of these pit stops were to Honduran banks. It turns out that my ATM card stopped working and I was unable to withdraw money. Rita, being the poor college student that she is, only had the cash that she came with, which was not much to get us through the week. So, it was a bit stressful, especially being that it was a Saturday and the banks all close at noon. One bank sent us to another bank, which sent us to another bank...meanwhile, we were trying to make it to Tela in a reasonable amount of time. We finally ended up at a bank in Siguetepeque. By the time we waited in line and our turn was called, they told us that their machine was broken and we would not be able to withdraw cash. Luckily, when we got to Tela, Monica and Kris lent us some cash, which got us through our travels. We stayed in a hotel a block away from the beach called Mar Azul (Blue Sea). It cost us 75 lempiras per person per night (about $4.50). The five of us shared a room. We had to shower out of buckets because there was no running water, they had to wheel in an extra bed, and the ceiling didn’t quite meet up with the wall. It worked though. We went to the beach to catch the last bit of sun, ate freshly macheted coconuts, and had a little happy hour to hold us over until dinner. After our bucket showers we headed out to dinner. We ate at an Italian restaurant. Rita ordered (for the first of many times during the week) camarones al ajillo/garlic shrimp. She loved it! Rita is a pretty picky eater (for example, at McDonald’s and any other place she orders a hamburger, just ketchup), but she loved Honduran food. Crazy that my parents couldn’t eat the food on the ranch, and Anna and Justin refused to drink out of plastic bags, but Rita loved all of it. During dinner we met up with a group of five other Americans who are working in San Pedro Sula. They met up with us later in the night to go dancing. I was able to show Rita a night out in Honduras, northern coast syle. She got to see the Punta...quite a cultural experience. We spent most of the night watching all the locals dance, in awe.

The next morning, the other girls left pretty early to head back to the ranch. Rita and I went to the nearest licuado stand for licuados and coconut bread. I had been told about a beautiful beach not far from Tela, called Miami. It’s a Garífuna village. We asked a few people how to get there and we ventured out of town. Our little Chevy Aveo braved dirt and sandy roads. We drove through several Garífuna villages and even drove across the beach. Finally, about 45 minutes later, we reached Miami. It was a sight to be seen. Miami is a narrow beach with the Caribbean Sea on one side and a lagoon on the other. Lining the beach are palm frond houses. It was beautiful! Immediately when we arrived and parked the car we were approached by two locals telling us they would watch our car. They also offered to take us on a boat ride through the lagoon. We thought we might as well since we drove all the way here. So, we paid the guy 400 lempiras ($15) and hopped into the boat. It was a beautiful ride. We stopped at a lookout, hoping to see monkeys, but we didn’t have any luck. Afterwards, we laid out on the beach and napped. I think we dozed for a little too long, because when we woke up we were fried! Rita especially. We were soooo sun burned! We made our way back into town, bucket showered, and headed to the boardwalk. We did some souvenir shopping and then had a wonderful dinner at Cesar Mariscos. We passed out after a filling three-course meal.

The next morning we had a licuado and coconut bread breakfast and hit the road. Next stop El Lago de Yajoa. For those of you keeping up with my blogs, you now know that el lago is a destination I bring all of my visitors. Rita was no exception. However, we were out of luck in that there was no vacancy at the brewery. Instead we stayed at Agua Azul (Blue Water), which is right on the lake, so it had gorgeous views. Even though we couldn’t stay at the brewery we headed there for lunch. We enjoyed corn dogs, onion rings, beer and brewed pop. Afterwards we went to Pulhapansak, the waterfall park that is just a short drive away. This is now my third time in Pulhapansak. I went once with volunteers and once with my parents. I knew that I wanted to bring Rita here to hike, climb, and jump underneath the waterfall. We found a guide right when we got there named Rafa. He remembered me from the past two times I had been there. He flirted with Rita a lot. We had a great hike into the waterfalls, jumped off low cliffs, swam underneath the falls, and climbed up into the caves. It was great. Afterwards, we hiked above the falls and took a bunch of pictures. That evening we chilled out at Agua Azul. We watched the sunset from the patio, I introduced Rita to anafre (refried beans, cheese, and tortillas in a ceramic pot), we had a huge dinner, and we played gin, Egyptian war, and listened to the iPod. The following day it was time to head back to the ranch. We returned our rental car and I got to show Rita how to “jalón”/hitchike. She had her camera out the entire time taking so many photos. We spent the evening in hogar and went to bed early because the next day I had to work, and Rita came along with me. Since it was the first week of classes, and I am now the only speech-language pathologist on the ranch, I spent my day screening all of Julia’s students (the speech-language pathologist who left in February). Rita hung out, took pictures, and read magazines. We worked in the school and Casa Suyapa. I brought Rita to the cocina/kitchen for lunch, introduced her to employees and ex-pequeños, and we relaxed in the afternoon. One afternoon that Rita was here we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for all the girls in my hogar and we brought them to la posa/swimming hole. We had a great time swimming, hanging out, taking pictures, and eating pb&j’s. Some of the girls had never had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in their entire life, so it was fun to share that with them. The week went by really fast. I think Rita had a good time. I could definitely see her doing something like this when she graduates from college. She may be following in my footsteps to go to Spain next year, we’ll see if she continues in my footsteps to come to Honduras.

Despedida/Going Away Party for the “old volunteers”

Okay, need to back up to mid-February. The so-called “old volunteers” who arrived in January 2006 had completed their 13-month commitment, we welcomed in the “new volunteers”, and our group became the new old volunteers. This was a hard time for me to go through because I had become very close with some of the volunteers in this group and it was really hard for me to see them go. On top of that, my roommate, Monica, decided that she was going to leave the ranch early. She was unhappy in her job, had gained a lot of weight, and missed her fiance (who proposed to her while he was here) back in the states. She was not only a roommate to me here, she had become a really good friend, so it was especially sad for her to leave. Also, Vanessa, another one of my good friends, was leaving. I was unsure how I was going to make it the rest of my time here without them. In addition to these girls leaving Casa Personal and the ranch, here is a list of the other “old volunteers”.

Franca – Germany

Vanessa – San Francisco

Kathi – Austria

Julia – Austria

Laura – Mexico
Monica – Seattle
Daniela – Switzerland
Aline – France

To celebrate their despedida/going away party, we first had a special misa/mass for them on the ranch where they each received their NPH plaque (handmade in talleres/workshop). We then headed to Tegucigalpa, settled into the Nan Kin hotel, had dinner at Paseo Universitario, and then went dancing at Bambu. It was a fun, emotional, and exhausting night.

I now have a new roommate, Eva. She is a physical therapist from Austria. Things are going well living with her, but I miss the friendship I had with Monica. Here is a list of the “new volunteers”.

Miguel – Austria
Julia – Germany
Tess – Boston
Max – Germany
Matthias – Austria
Eva – Austria
Florian – Austria
Rob – Ohio
Foerche family – Germany

I am over half way done with my Honduras experience. It’s been great with the “old volunteers”. We’ll see how it goes with the newbies. I have to say, first impressions are that there are too many Europeans (i.e., too much German being spoken), too many boys, and too many young (i.e., immature) people. For these reasons, I happily welcome my new job responsibilities and plan to spend as much time as I can with my girls.

Speech Therapist et al.

My primary job when I came to the ranch was to be a speech-language pathologist. This is true. I also knew that I would be working in an hogar/home during the evenings and alternating weekends. Well, since my arrival my job description has grown.

In July during orientation I took on an extra job, that of coordinator of Proyecto Familiar/Family Projects. Since the kids on the ranch all live in their respective hogars, brothers and sisters do not live together, and don’t always get to spend lots of quality time together. Proyecto Familiar is something that we, as volunteers, offer to the kids to allow brothers and sisters to spend some family time together. Every weeknight a volunteer is assigned to a family and between 5:00-7:30pm they come to Casa Personal, make dinner together, play games, chat, and hang out as a family. My job is to keep an updated list of all the families on the ranch, keep track of when it’s their turn for proyecto, to assign families to a volunteer, and to make the monthly calendar.

In February, Julia, the other speech-language pathologist from Austria finished up her 13-month commitment and returned home. I, in turn, took on her caseload and have a pretty full schedule.

Just within the past week, Jennifer, the volunteer coordinator (from Ohio), approached me and asked if I would take on some of her job responsibilities since she is leaving and has no one to replace her. I am now going to add External Volunteer Coordinator to my job title. In addition to the other jobs I’m already doing on the ranch, I will now also be in charge of answering information requests by potential volunteers, reviewing and making decisions of applications, placing new volunteers in needed jobs, maintaining contact with incoming volunteers (sending information and answering questions), and maintaining contact with the international offices.

Needless to say, I am going to be quite busy during my remaining five months on the ranch. I am looking forward to it though, and hopefully will be able to handle it all and have fun!

Mis Cumpleaños/My Birthday

I know I’ve still got a lot of catching up to do on my blogs; however, I have to interrupt the flow and share with you my 27th birthday on the ranch.

My birthday was on March 5. The day started out fine: I did sunrise yoga on the roof with Tess, Kris put balloons and a “Feliz Cumpleaños” sign on my door, I received a couple text messages from my parents, my girls came and sang “Las Mañanitas” (the Spanish equivalent to “Happy Birthday”) to me through my bedroom window at 6:30am, and then I headed to work. The plan was that I would make a cake for my girls in hogar and Kris was going to make me a Belgian chocolate cake and we’d have a little fiesta in Casa Personal that night. While I was working, however, Vanessa (who is in charge at Casa Ángeles) asked me to go into Tegucigalpa that afternoon so I could do therapy at Casa Ángeles on Tuesday. There went my birthday celebration. I tried to look at the bright side of things and decided I would treat myself to a yoga class, dinner, ice cream, and a movie while I was in the city – the rest of the plan would just have to wait until the day after my birthday. Everything was going great, until I arrived at Casa Alistar at 10:15pm to go to bed. Casa Alistar is a ranch home where boys in high school and the university live. It’s also next door to Casa Ángeles and they have a room for the therapists to sleep in when we come to the city. Well, it’s been over a month since I’ve gone to Tegucigalpa to do therapy. Since then they have switched it to a girls’ home, and also have switched the locks. Basically, it was dark, raining, and I was locked out. I climbed the portón/front gate to get in, but then found myself locked out of the house. I started banging on the door and yelling for the girls to wake up. Finally one of the girls came and let me in. As I was heading to my room, she also went. No one informed me that these girls were now living in the used to be volunteer room. So now I had no room to myself, no sheets, no pillow, and they were already sleeping. Great. Luckily there was an extra bed – a top bunk that seemed like it was about to fall apart at any minute. The girls lent me a sheet and a blanket and then it was lights out. I felt like Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future II when he climbs in his bedroom door to find someone else sleeping in his bed. It sucked. Anyways, the next day I did therapy in Casa Ángeles as usual and headed back to the ranch in the afternoon.

When I got back to the ranch I made cakes to bring to hogar that night. I put on crappy clothes because Honduran (or ranch) tradition is that on your birthday they throw eggs and water at you. I had a feeling my girls might be doing this to me when I got to hogar. Plus, I had heard that the volunteer before me had not only eggs and water thrown at her, but also the girls pee and cow poop. I was a little nervous to go to hogar that night. When I got to hogar, the girls wouldn’t let me go inside. After dinner they led me into the sala/living room with my eyes closed. When we entered and I opened my eyes I found the hogar all decorated with balloons and there was a big heart-shaped poster signed by all the girls. They sang “Las Mañanitas” again. In the middle of the room was a mound covered by a blanket. When they finished singing they took off the blanket. Underneath was a mountain of presents. I was awestruck. Each one of the girls in my hogar had gotten me a present and wrapped it very nicely. It was like Christmas. All of the gifts were something of the girls that they gave to me. I sat down on the floor and they began handing me gifts. Let’s just say my room is covered in gifts right now. Stuffed animals, bracelets, nail polish, stickers, t-shirt, skirt, charms, toys – my girls went through their own things and picked out something special for me. It was unbelievable. They had to help me bring back all the gifts to my room there were so many. I don’t know what I’m going to do with all these stuffed animals!! The girls told me to give them to my kids (or to my sister’s kids) when I have them…haha. Knowing how little these girls have (all of their belongings, clothes, keepsakes, etc. fit in one locker), it really meant a lot to me, as well as it probably did to them. It was a really special and unforgettable night. After hogar I showed off all my goodies to the other volunteers and Markus made a delicious, wonderful cinnamon cake. It was soooo good. Just as Christmas was different for me this year spent on the ranch, so was my birthday, but it is definitely one I will never forget.

Visita de mis padres/My parents visit

Well, life is getting back into a routine on the ranch after my little medical emergency, trip to the United States, and visit from my sister Rita. Now it’s time for me to get caught up on some blog writing. Let me back up to the last week of January when my parents came to visit.

My parents were here from January 22-30. I picked them up at the airport in our 2007 Toyota Corolla, we stopped at the Metro Mall for lunch and to buy groceries, and then we headed to the ranch. We went through their goodie-filled luggage when we arrived to my room. They brought granola bars, trail mix, crackers, cookies, an arm band for my iPod, my Indiana University hoodie, pens for my girls, and Fruit by the Foot. This is all very exciting stuff when you’re living on a ranch in Honduras! We took a little drive around with ranch, accompanied by Digna, and we showed my parents la granja/farm, tías houses, internet café, talleres/workshops, and la cocina/kitchen. My parents settled into their room in el anexo/the annex, and before long it was time to head to hogar. They came with all the loza/plates that they had in their room. My dad’s pockets were full of spoons, forks, and they each brought a bowl and plate. Very funny, because there was pizza for dinner. I told them they were lucky; pizza on the ranch is a good meal. However, I don’t think they agreed. They barely ate anything. My dad told me he was planning on losing weight during his week in Honduras. Plus, watching all the kids eating with their hands, sharing food, etc. wasn’t the most appetizing sight for them. After dinner we headed to the sala/living room, where we set up the iPod, played Blackjack, and listened to the punta (Honduran music). The girls were all over my parents. After hogar we relaxed in Casa Personal with some other volunteers and my parents had their first Honduran beers.

Early the next morning, we headed out…destination Copán. Kris, the art therapist from Belgium, caught a jalón/ride from us. It was a curvy, windy, mountainous seven hour drive. In Honduras there is no direct way to get anywhere; there are only a certain number of paved roads. So, in order to get from point A to point B, you often times have to pass through point D, E, and F first. We finally made it, dropped Kris off at her hotel El Vía Vía, and then we headed to our Hacienda San Lucas. This place was a little piece of Heaven on Earth. Hacienda San Lucas is tucked away on a mountainside overlooking Copán. It is family-owned and has a lot of history. We were welcomed right away by the owner, who told us to not worry about a thing, to get a glass of wine, and to head out and watch the sunset. Sounded good to us! After enjoying the vistas/views, taking some pictures, having a beer, and talking with other visitors, we headed to our room…the Mayan number 12. Everything was candlelit, the bathroom was amazing, and it was very cozy. We showered, relaxed for a bit, and then headed down to dinner, where our table was waiting for us. We enjoyed a great three-course meal and then called it a day.

The next morning we woke up early, went down to our assigned table, had breakfast, and then headed out in a group of tourists to the Ruínas de Copán/Copan ruins. We ended up meeting the mother of Carl, who is a volunteer from Maine. She had been on the ranch and was now doing some traveling with a friend. We met up with our tour guide, Julio, and began our tour of the Mayan ruins. We learned that everything points west to where the sun sets, and that marks the underworld. After touring the ruins, we headed to the bird park. This place was absolutely beautiful. It is owned by an American guy and is a great place to walk trails, see toucans, macaws, eat a good lunch, and go swimming in the river. We also had a coffee and bought some Noni tea. Afterwards, we met up with Kris and did some walking around the town of Copán, bought some souvenirs and had a great dinner at Twisted Tanya’s. After our long, touristy day, it was time to head back to Hacienda San Lucas and pass out. The next morning we had breakfast and then headed out on a walking trail to see Los Sapos/the frogs. These are Mayan ruins on the property of Hacienda San Lucas, where women used to go and give birth. They are actually rocks carved into the shape of frogs. My mom was interested in doing some eco-tourism as well, so this was a good outing. We were offered a trail guide, but we decided we’d be just fine with the little hand-drawn map the hotel had to offer. We found los sapos no problem. It was getting back that turned into the adventure. We ended up off the map (actually heading in the direction where it said NOT to go). On our way we ran into a local girl named Rosa who tried (and succeeded) in selling us crafts made from cornstalks. We made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. She leads us back to the Hacienda San Lucas, we buy her goods. Well, we made it back…all sweaty and gross, but it was a fun little adventure. We showered, packed up our things, and then headed back on the road…destination Tela.

On our way to Tela we stopped at a coffee plantation. At this point, my mom was not handling the terrain so well. She pretty much laid down and slept in the backseat for the majority of the drive. When we arrived in Tela, the weather had taken a turn for the worse. The streets were flooded, it was overcast, and we didn’t have any hotel reservation. We luckily were able to get a room at the Telamar, which is the poshest hotel in all of Honduras if you ask me. I felt like we could’ve been in Cancún. The Telamar is a resort on the Caribbean Sea with three restaurants and two pools. It used to be where the Chiquita banana people lived, so some of the cabins and rooms are renovations of their old houses. Despite our five-star living quarters, the weather definitely impacted our sunning and beaching. That night we decided to head out to dinner. Typical Honduras: right when our food arrives, the power goes out. My mom had ordered a mariscos/seafood soup with claws, shells and all, so there was no way she could eat a thing in the dark! It started raining harder…typical Honduras…that’s all I can say. We looked down the beach and the rest of Tela had electricity, just not the nicest, most expensive hotel where we were staying. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow would bring better weather and better luck.

Not really. The next day was just as overcast, but we still wanted to get our money’s worth. We walked down the beach into town. Because of all the storms and rain, the beach was littered with tons of trash and was not a pretty sight. We braved through it though, made it into the city, and had licuados out of bags. We headed back, accompanied by a group of Garífuna kids selling coconut bread. Even though the weather was crappy, we put on our bathing suits, determined to enjoy what our resort had to offer. We went swimming, went on the water slides, and then decided to call it quits. We attempted to find another hotel to stay in for the night, but everything was booked. So, we enjoyed our last meal in Tela at Cesar Mariscos (yum!) and then hit the road…destination Lago de Yajoa.

By the time we reached el lago, the weather had cleared up and things were lookin good. Bob, the brewer was stuck in Roatán because of the weather, so he wouldn’t be at the brewery until the next day, but that was okay with us. We checked in to our cabaña and then headed right back out to enjoy some brews, dinner, and played Gin. Ahhh, the relaxation of the brewery at el Lago de Yajoa. By far, this is my most favorite place to go in Honduras. The next day was absolutely gorgeous weather wise. We enjoyed blueberry pancakes and fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast and then we headed out to Puthapansak, a park with a river for swimming and waterfalls. We hiked some trails, took pictures, and my mom and I went swimming in the river. Afterwards, we went back to the brewery, laid out by the pool, played more cards, and just relaxed.
The next morning, Bob met up with us for breakfast, as well as Malcolm the 60-something, bird-watching hippie from England. He showed us his collection of gems, rocks, and Mayan artifacts. Then, back on the road…destination Tegucigalpa.

We stayed at the Honduras Maya Hotel, which is one of the nicest hotels Tegucigalpa has to offer. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about bringing my parents into the city of Tegus, but at the Honduras Maya, you could be anywhere but Tegucigalpa. It is really nice. We were upgraded to an executive suite room on the seventh floor in a corner room, with great views of the city. Who knew Tegucigalpa could look so nice from up here??God, I did not want to leave this place!!! Wireless internet in our room, my bed was so high up I had to jump into it, and floor-to-ceiling windows!! My dad was insistent on staying here because attached to this hotel is a casino. We went down to the bar for happy hour, then down to the restaurant where we had a great meal of cheese fondue and shrimp salad. Then off to push our lempira luck at the casino. We played Blackjack for a few hours. I won 500 lempiras/$25 and my parents each won a little bit I think. Some of the rules were a little bit different from the states, but hey, I won, so I don’t care! Plus, my dad is now able to add Honduran chips to his collection, so he was happy too. The next day we had a great breakfast buffet, did some souvenir shopping, and then headed back to the ranch.

That afternoon, Allana, Mariela, and Sandra went on a hike with my parents and me to the ranch cemetery. Okay, it seems grim, but it is a beautiful walk. We played “I Spy”, sang songs, told jokes, and took pictures. That night was my parents last night. They came with me to hogar one last time, my girls exhausted them, and then it was to bed. The next day I took them to the airport, we had our last meal at Burger King, and they were off. Second group of visitors complete. It was a whirlwind tour of Honduras; we saw and did a lot in a short amount of time. I hope that this trip gives some peace of mind to my parents (especially my dad) for the rest of the time that I am here, and that they can see that even though this is considered a third world country, it has so much to offer in beauty, nature, and culture.