Week 11

A PEP2 PM kid poses with my GFS sunglasses

On Monday, one of the cutest things happened. Yamit and I were sitting in PEP Centro, waiting for our adult students to show up, when in walked in one of our PEP students, Michael, with his father, Jon. The father owns a nearby restaurant and had been attending evening classes when we first arrived in September. He hadn’t come in a while though and, every time we asked him why, he said that he was very busy with work. Within seconds of their arrival, it became apparent that both of them planned to stay for the entire class. Normally, we don’t allow anyone under the age of thirteen to come to our adult classes but, because Michael was here with his dad, we couldn’t say no. I happened to have no students that night, so I spent my time in English Beginner Class with Yamit, Michael, and Jon. Yamit had a lot of great vocabulary activities planned. We played Uno which helped us practice numbers and colors, drew place settings to review the names of utensils and foods, sketched family trees to learn the members of our family, and played a fun game with the names of different fruits. It would have been an enjoyable class no matter who the students were, but having this father-son pair made it even better. Both Jon and Michael had little notebooks that they would write in furiously every time they learned a new word. Michael, of course, was slower than Jon, being that he’s eight. So, after putting each word or phrase down, Jon would look over at his son's work to make sure he was spelling the words correctly and doing okay. It was very heartwarming to see a parent, especially a father, who cared so much about his child and interacted with him in such a gentle, loving way. All around the world, there's a stereotype of the mother being the one who raises the children. Anytime I see a father breaking the stereotype, it makes me smile. After spending an hour and a half with Jon and Michael, I was practically exploding from happiness and cuteness overload. 

Playing games at the registration/graduation

Tuesday and Wednesday were very rainy, so classes were cancelled. The volunteers spent the two days hanging out, sometimes without any electricity. Yamit and I went on walks and watched some more soccer on the nearby field. Having time off was nice, but I really missed the kids. It was also a shame to lose those two days because they were our last regular classes before our end of school celebration.

When Thursday came around, the sun was shining brightly and the puddles had begun to dry up. In the afternoon, we brought all of the PM kids (the ones who attend classes in the afternoon) to the biggest of the three locations and had  registration for Vacation Activities Program (VAP) and a graduation party. Parents were invited, though only a few showed up, and the children went through stations -- playing games, reading on kindles, playing on the computers and eating snack. Each of them also got a certificate for attending the PEP classes. It was chaotic, but I think that the kids had fun.

Enjoying the beautiful blue Roatan water

Yamit’s dad and his friend were coming to visit us over their Thanksgiving break and had generously offered to treat us to a couple of days on a beautiful island called Roatan, off the coast of Honduras. Yamit and I woke up early on Friday morning in order to make the 9 o’clock ferry. After a nauseating hour-and-a-half ride, we arrived in Roatan. The place where we were staying was absolutely beautiful; with the kind of views you would see on a postcard. The infinity pool and restaurant both looked out on the bright blue ocean and the rooms were huge. During our two days there, we hung out by the ocean and the pool, walked up and down the beach, and explored the nearby touristy town of West End. We also took a trip on a glass bottom boat allowing us to see the reefs without getting wet. It was quite an amazing experience, but it was also culture shock.

View from a restaurant in Roatan

Traveling from El Porvenir, where all of the locals speak Spanish and where the currency is Lempiras, to Roatan where most people speak English and all the prices are in American dollars, was strange. I found myself missing speaking Spanish, even something as simple as saying "buenas" to every person I pass on the street. Before heading overseas, when I told people that I was going to volunteer and live in a small town in Honduras, I would normally get reactions along the lines of “Wow, you’re going to get to know the culture so well,” or “How great that you’re going to be living like a Honduran.” And, to some extent, these things are true. I am getting to know this culture and I am, in certain ways, living like a Honduran. However, going to Roatan reminded me that I have my family and the life that I'm used to in the U.S which I can return to. So, I would argue that I’m not really living like a Honduran. I’m living like an American in Honduras. I think if I were living with a family here, it would be a little different. But still, no matter where I go, what I'm doing, or who I’m with, some part of me will always be an American tourist/visitor.

For those of you who live in Philly, especially those of you who live near/in Mt. Airy, I want to make you aware of a fundraiser that HCA is having at Earth, Bread and Brewery on Tuesday, December 5^th, from 6-9pm. The three volunteers from Philly are going to try to Skype in, so not only will you be eating yummy pizza, you will also get to see our beautiful faces :) Here's a link with more info:

https://www.youcaring.com/honduraschildalliance-1011615

Word of the week: 

Gringo/a: this is a word I've used before in my blog, but it's important enough that I figured I should take a moment to explain it. At the most basic level, gringo means someone from the U.S. However, in different countries it has different connotations. For example, in Mexico, being called a gringo is an insult -- kind of like being called a redneck. In Honduras, gringo simply means someone from the states and many of the children and people in town call the volunteers (even the ones not from the U.S.) gringas. 

Yamit quote of the week:

Gets out of bed in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. "Ugh, I don't have a flashlight."

"Yamit, we have power." 

 "Oh, lol." Proceeds to turn on the light and go to the bathroom.