Well
I have really been slacking on the blog since I got in site, I know that and I apologize.
I would love to say that it is due to me being so busy and not having time etc.
but there really is no excuse other than the fact that I have been kinda lazy.
I guess that coupled with me adapting to the much more relaxed and slowed down
culture here in Honduras. I have been feeling especially lazy this weekend
which might have something to do with the fact that it has been raining for the
past 24 hours and is supposed to continue for at least another day, possible
two. Just another normal weekend here in Honduras during the rainy season
though. I do not feel like I have a lot of news/events/great thoughts to pass
on at this point, however I will do my best.
Let me see, last night I literally got ready for bed at 7:30 and was in bed pretty close to sleeping by 8. I am not going to say that this is the typical Friday night in the Peace Corps but I do not think it is that uncommon. Now one of the reasons that I was in bed so early was because the power was out since about 6 o’clock right when it gets dark here. There is not a whole lot that can be done here without electricity so I played some cards with my host sister for a bit and then stared at the candle for another 10 minutes or so. It sounds like a pretty boring night but it was not actually that bad, I rather enjoyed getting around 10 hours or sleep and still waking up at 7 am. There is literally no way that anyone in this country can sleep past 7 am, it is just not possible.
Let me see, last night I literally got ready for bed at 7:30 and was in bed pretty close to sleeping by 8. I am not going to say that this is the typical Friday night in the Peace Corps but I do not think it is that uncommon. Now one of the reasons that I was in bed so early was because the power was out since about 6 o’clock right when it gets dark here. There is not a whole lot that can be done here without electricity so I played some cards with my host sister for a bit and then stared at the candle for another 10 minutes or so. It sounds like a pretty boring night but it was not actually that bad, I rather enjoyed getting around 10 hours or sleep and still waking up at 7 am. There is literally no way that anyone in this country can sleep past 7 am, it is just not possible.
As
for my language I feel like I can basically understand everything that is said
and I can read pretty well too. I actually just finished up reading Harry
Potter y la piedra filosofal the other day and have started reading the second
book right now. The hardest part of the language right now is talking, because I
have to produce all of the words by myself and in the right tense, etc. But I can
pretty much communicate fairly well, and I will continue to improve with simple
practice.
I
have been trying to have a meeting with my counterparts for a while now to set
up my schedule and for one reason or another it just has not panned out. Simply
put, this is the way things go in Honduras. It takes much more time to get
things done. I am supposed to have the meeting this Tuesday but we will see if
it works out… Once I have my schedule worked out I can really get down to work,
and there is a lot of work to do down here. For example, this week I was in
R.B.C. (one of my counterparts, it is a place for kids with disabilities to go
because they are not allowed to be in the schools… but that is another whole
post), and I watched a student (fully aware of what he was doing) kick a soccer
ball at another student’s (who has Down Syndrome) face. The ball hit him
squarely in the face and of course he got upset and started crying a bit, the
teacher and another parent who was there thought the appropriate response to
this was to laugh at the student for getting mad… Please keep in mind this is
also the two people who watched two students fight each other and laugh before
telling them to stop and finally getting them to stop by hitting them with a
ruler. It seems odd to me that people wonder where the kids get it from. So as I
said, there is a lot of work to do here. Please keep in mind that while this is
not the most glowing perception of Honduras and its people, I know that and the
truth is that it is far from the truth in reality. Everyone who I have talked
to and worked with here has told me that they want to help these students but
they simply do not know how and that as you can tell is the truth. The people
here really do want to help, they have good hearts, but they just do not know
how to work with this population and it is a tough population to work with that
is for sure. I am sure that over my next two years here through working with
the people they will have a much better idea of how to work with this
population and be able to provide the services that they need as well.
Well that post got kinda serious at
the end there… but I am doing my absolute best to present all of my experiences
down here as exactly what they are so that my readers can get as close to the
experience that I am having. With all that being said, not sure how fluent this
post is or how much sense it even makes and I am not going to proof read it
(sorry mom!), fact is I am just going to be lazy!
