August 10th, 2011
As I sit here through almost five weeks in Honduras (it has gone by so fast), I have really started to get a hold on the language. I found out today that I have moved up to the intermediate mid-level, which is two levels higher than I was before and the only level that I need to get to in order to become a volunteer. With that being said, I think that standard is very low and I do not think that my level of Spanish is enough to be a volunteer at this point and lose all my supports. Good thing is that I still have close to 6 more weeks of language classes so I am sure my Spanish will be at a good level when I am set to go to my site. We have been doing pretty much the same routine since I last wrote; we do language classes in the morning and technical classes in the afternoon. We have had the chance to give two different charlas (short presentations) to the local school kids, one about the importance of brushing your teeth and one about the colors in English. Surprisingly the one about the colors in English was easier, go figure.
I have been thinking a lot lately about the problems here in Honduras that the youth face, we have talked to a lot of different people about this problems and gotten a lot of different opinions. In my opinion I feel as though many of the problems that Honduran youth are facing nowadays are very similar to the problems that American youth are facing. Some of the main issues here are drugs, gangs, distigration of the family, and apathy. Now it may just be my opinion but I feel like American youth deal with many of these same issues. There is one major difference between these two cultures however, in Honduras everyone seems to live in the here and now. This may not seem like a huge problem but this means that very little is invested in the future, I have been conducting a little bit of an informal survey over the past couple of days and asking youth what they want to be when they grow up and usually the kids have one of three responses. 1. They tell you something that they think you want to hear, like I want to be a doctor, etc. (This may seem pessimistic of me but it is very common for the youth to just give you an answer they think you want to hear and not a real response) 2. They have to think about it for a long time before probably deciding on an answer that again they think you want to hear. 3. They simply have no idea (may be my bad Spanish but I don’t think so…) Now I am not saying that every single youth I asked lied to me, told me what I wanted to hear, or did not know; there was many youth who I asked that had wondering dreams and answers that I believed however these youth were the minority. In the United States, I feel that our culture encourages having huge dreams. We tell kids that they can be anything they want to be, and rightfully so. I am not so sure that there is that belief here in Honduras amongst the youth, they just have not seen enough success stories possibly.
The living in the here and now is not just a cultural phenomenom amongst the youth here in Honduras, it is a country wide thing. Many families will walk down to the nearest pulperia just before a meal and pick up what they need for that meal and nothing more. Families do not think ahead to the next day let alone the next week. A story that I have heard many times here to emphasize this point is that it is not uncommon for a person who is in the bathroom to send a family member to go get some toilet paper while they are sitting on the toilet taking care of business. Now I am sure there are many factors that have led to this habit, one of them is most likely the lack of money where it is not possible to buy food for a whole week in advance. Another factor is most likely the ease at which you can get the food all it takes is a very short walk to the pulperia. However I think the most influential factor is religion here, as I have stated in a previous post the phrase “Si Dios quiere” is very popular here. It means basically, “God willing.” I think many people seem to feel that they are not in control of their own lives and that God has total control over everything that happens in their life (I do not know enough about theology to get into a free will vs. fate discussion here but I am sure there are some interesting implications there). This then leads to the living in the here and now which completely neglects the future. If you completely neglect the future you do not dream big and you have nothing to work and strive for. This I think is one of the biggest challenges that I see for the Honduran youth.
Now I think that many of the people here in Honduras take their religion very serious and I get that they are simply trusting in God, however it does seem to me that they almost use it as a crutch. Let me explain, I think that I trust in God however at the same time I do think that I think about the future as well. I do not worry about the future but I do think about it and I think there is a huge difference between those two. This is kind of a stupid connection, but if you have seen the tv commercial for Christianmingle.com you will know what I am talking about. In that commercial it says that sometimes we are waiting for God to make the next move in our love lives when really God is telling us that we have to make the next move. I feel like many Honduras feel just like that, they are simply waiting for God to make the next move in their lives. Instead they should be looking, listening, and praying to see how God is working in their lives and what He has planned for them (Note: I am not 100% on this theology according to the catholic church but I feel like it is right…)
Interesting news story: as I was watching the news this morning, there was a story about a young girl here in Honduras that vomited a live frog. Now they did not have footage of the actual vomit but they did have footage of the supposed frog hopping around after the fact. Decide for yourself if that is a true story or not…
P.S. On Sunday I am leaving for a site visit in which I and another PST will be heading out to a volunteers site until Thursday to get a better idea of what being a volunteer is all about. At this site there is no electricity and for sure no internet. So I probably will not be posting again until after I get back and I will not have any means of communicating while I am gone just an fyi. Hope everyone is doing well!
P.P.S. New pictures, including a hike up a mountain:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150316049102359.392045.593887358&l=60b522cd52&type=1
