Week 5

A boat in La Ceiba's bay

It's hard to believe that I've been here for over a month. At this point, I've gotten the hang of most things, but am also still learning so much. I know the daily rhythms and schedules, but I continually ask a lot of questions and I don't yet feel like a veteran. It's funny because, to me, five weeks sounds so long. All the other exchanges and trips I've been on have lasted two to four weeks and, by the end of them, I've always felt like I had a routine. After being here for five weeks though, there are still systems that I don't understand and ways of doing things that I don't know about. It's fascinating to reflect on the other trips and compare the level of mastery and understanding I felt then to how I feel now. It's probably a good thing that I don't feel fully settled because it makes life more exciting. I wonder though, if I were leaving now, would I still have as many lingering questions?

I mentioned in a past entry that a bunch of HCA volunteers left last weekend. Three of them lived in our house and one of them shared a room with me and Yamit. Also, one of the other volunteers who lives with us went to Utila for a week to get scuba certified, so home feels very empty. The kitchen-living room area used to be a social space where everyone would hang out, but now I can sit there for hours and have barely any human interaction. As much as the introvert in me enjoys having time to myself, I'd gotten used to living with lots of people and I miss them all.

Volunteers on the way to Utila

Dorian, one of the managers, surprised us early last week, by telling us that he was leaving the organization to find a new job. Any time a volunteer leaves, it's hard to say goodbye. What made this so much more difficult was that we'd expected him to be there for the entirety of our stay. Living in the same house as Dorian, Yamit and I have both become close with him. Though he'll only be an hour or so away, it feels much farther. We're going to miss him a lot as well.

We did get two new volunteers this week, but both of them are staying in the other of the two volunteer houses. One of them was here for only three days. I can't wait until we get more volunteers and I hope that some of them come live at our place.

This past weekend, seven of the volunteers went to the nearby island of Utila which is known for it's amazing scuba diving as well as it's nightlife. We stayed in a hostel, which was a first for me, and we spent the majority of our time in or near the water. On Sunday morning, a few of us woke up at a ridiculous hour to catch the free boat which took us to a place where we could go snorkeling. The water was clear and blue, and the coral and fish were beautiful, but it wasn't as exciting as some of my other snorkeling experiences. Although the Utila reef is truly beautiful, as someone who has done a good amount of snorkeling in gorgeous places, I was disappointed that the most interesting thing I saw was a 12-inch long fish. The volunteer who was getting scuba-certified had some amazing dives though. I probably just missed out on seeing the exotic flora and fauna because I wasn't deep enough.


Classes have been more or less the same this week. Because we have fewer volunteers, we've been teaching with only two to three instructors per class. Though it's a bit stressful, it forces the newer volunteers (like me) to step up and lead -- something we would have been more hesitant to do if there were more experienced staff around. At this point though, all of the volunteers who were here when I arrived have left, which makes Yamit and I the old-timers -- and we've only been here for five weeks.

This week I began my new role as Snack Co-coordinator. When I first arrived in El P in the beginning of September, we had a volunteer named Addison who was in charge of the Healthy Snacks Program. She had a background in nutrition and had come to HCA specifically to improve that program. Addison left this past weekend, so her job was pared down and given to me and the lead volunteer, Karin. Every week, Karin and I select what foods to give the kids each day. We also are responsible for making a schedule to assign staff to do snack prep and clean up. El P is essentially a food desert, so our goal is to provide healthy food that kids may not get at home, and to introduce them to new fruits and vegetables. We try to make our snacks full of protein and stay away from processed sugar. Luckily for Karin and I, Addison is amazing and left us a long list of possible snacks to serve, including chicken salad, hard-boiled eggs and fruit, egg salad, homemade granola bars, along with many others.

The coral reefs off of Utila

Our job is difficult because many kids don't like to try new foods, especially ones that are completely unfamiliar. If we offered the kids chips and Pepsi every day, I'm sure they would eat them without complaint, but when we give them foods like egg salad, which many of them haven't ever had before, it's difficult to convince them to try it. One of the best moments of my week was when, after much coaxing, I convinced one of my students to try some egg salad and she ended up eating her entire bowl. Even something as small as that helps me feel as though I'm making a difference in these kids' lives.

Word of the week:
Relámpago: literally means "lightning", but is also the name of a donut/empanada-esque pastry sold in El P.

Yamit quote of the week: 
"Now, whenever I see a motorcycle, there will be a zero percent chance that it's Dorian"