Brotherly love

So last week literally flew by and now I have less than a week to go and I cant believe it! Life has been really fun the last few weeks and I now also feel like my brothers are my brothers; its taken a while to get to this stage of acceptance or closeness but now we are always laughing and joking, its great. Even when I always get introduced to people and sometimes they seem to get left out! Ooops! They find it hilarious though so its ok.

The rhinitis is back again unfortunately, so I havn`t been feeling my best recently. Although having said that I cant complain because one of the other volunteers has Dengue Fever. They were telling me that to have Dengue once is horrific, but to have it a second time is often fatal. (Its only her first time though so dont worry!) I never realised there were so many perks to living in England until this year!

I`ve now finished working in my project, and I had a really good time there. I wasn`t as emotional to leave it though as the blind school because I hadnt been there that long and because its harder to connect with the children that cant talk. But it was still an awesome experience and i`m glad I was there. One of the teachers there made me two pairs of earrings as a thankyou present, thats alot more than anyone else has done in any of my projects so I was really touched. Saying my goodbyes when everyone was eating though was really not a smart idea....I left smothered in chicken grease!

I have now more than just started saying the goodbyes. Friends and family have been gradually leaving to go the various other places where they are going to spend Christmas so I dont know whether thats easier or harder than saying goodbye to everyone in one go. I had to say goodbye to Oscar who went back to El Salvador, to my good friend Sandra who went to Guatemala, to Chi who has gone to Siguatapeque (and who I will miss the most after Carlota) and now Jade because tomorrow she leaves for England, and although we are going to meet up again I know it wont quite be the same. Sad times.

My last weekend in Honduras has now gone but I had such a good time and now have so many great memories and photos to take back with me. 5 days feels both like a long time and nothing at the same time. However its going to go by so fast because there is so much I have to do, here is the plan for the final five days;

* Going to Andres` (private) university

* Going to the public university where Patricia works

* Going to buy the rest of my presents and souvenirs

* Going to visit the lady taylor as she has been making a jacket for me that Carlota wants me to have to remember her when its cold in England

* Having my final evaluation session with ICYE (2 hours instead of a 3 day camp, how they can get away with that i`m not sure!)

* Sorting out all that needs doing before I leave like closing my bank account and packing obviously

and will probably end the week with a trip to the salon so that I am beautified for the journey home.

Perfect :-)

Elections in Honduras (and horse picture)

So first of December. Big day meaning only 20 days left to go before I arrive back in England! A day I would normally be celebrating by eating an undersized chocolate but they dont have that custom over here. No this year is different. This year I celebrated in style by falling spectactularly down the stairs! And so I didnt go to work today, its not really painful but mainly because in my project I have to lift and carry children around and that would definately not help the healing process. So I`m just going to rest till tomorrow. I am still feeling Christmassy though because yesterday we went to the mall and they were playing xmas music, so I decided to buy a CD of christmas music in Spanish. Alot of the songs are the same just in Spanish but there are some cool different ones. I already sing them in my head.

You probably want to know about the elections then? Well despite them finding a few bombs in the weeks leading up to the elections, but please dont worry im safe, the day of the elections passed by really peacefully. So many people went to vote that didnt last time apparently. It took Andres 45 minutes when we went with him, and not because he was indecisive! I went along just to see what the fuss was about, but apprently I shouldn`t really have been there because when a photographer tried to take a photo of me Carlota freaked out `Nooooo its prohibited for her!`. haha, she is like my body guard. I fell asleep before they`d finished counting the votes that night but I found out the next day that Pepe Lobo of the National Party won with over half the votes. I think everyone is fairly happy with that. Although I think some countries are saying that its wasnt a fair vote or something. Wow I really cant express myself properly in English anymore! The really interesting thing about the voting though which I think is a major difference to the UK is that everyone talks about who they are voting for and ask others that question and then they will tell people who to vote for. It would be rude to tell someone who to vote for back home right? Its like `thankyou but I have a right to my own opinion im not going to do what you tell me!` Plus everyone knows who supports which party, its like `oh well shes going to vote for Pepe because shes a nationalist`. Things are just a bit more private in England aren`t they or am I wrong?

In my project they`ve now stopped going to the horse therapy thing for the year but thankfully I took some photos before I left. Above you can see me with one of the kids. He would always say `brooooooooooom moto moto` which means motorbike, and we`re like `moto no, cab-a-llo` which means horse. He doesn`t seem to get it though. :-P

Costa Rica

So as you probably know, Jade and I went to Costa Rica last week for 5 days (although we only had 3 full days there). I had a good time although I did expect more from Costa Rica, I dont know why but I had thought it was kind of a big deal `the switzerland of central america` they told me! So maybe it was the fact that we didnt see the north coast or that the weather was really crappy but it was a slight disappointment. I think the first photo says it all about the weather, Costa Rica is green, green, green.

We were staying in San Jose, the capital city, so we had one day trip out the beach, but on the pacific coast, and so it was a bit dirty and not very attractive. The weather was overcast but it was sooo humid. But there were lots of souvenir shops and friendly people that wanted to talk to us. And at least one great thing about Costa Rica is that it is so safe! Well I`m comparing it to Honduras so its probably moderately less safe than the UK. But Jade and I got the bus on our own and were walking in the street at night and stuff so for us to do that when we are so used to living in fear it was amazing!

The second day we spent wondering around the city and visiting museums and stuff, yer wasnt that great. The national museum is worth going to though. We also visited a souvenir market which really was great! Jade and I got bargaining and probably bought way more than we should have done - especially since we would have spent the majority of our time in HONDURAS! haha.

The third day we visited a town outside the city called `Cartago` and came across the rather beautiful cathedral shown above. Then we visited some nearby gardens which was where the other photo was taken.

We also visited the mall in San Jose and went to the cinema to see a Costa Rican film. It was really interesting to hear how the accents and words differed from those in Honduras, plus it was a generally good film and I think I understood everything! yes!

Jade has now gone off the Ecuador to visit here boyfriend who lives there and I am back in Tegucigalpa Honduras awaiting the chaos of the elections next weekend. Oh and still working and enjoying my project.

In other news there is very little new stuff. I met two Honduran girls that are going to England in January for a volunteer year like me. I laughed so much when one of them said they were going to Brighton because here the people are generally very homophobic and you would NEVER see a gay couple in...well pretty much anywhere. So I think the year will definately be an eye opener for her! haha! Its cool because I will be around to help them settle in England and can use them to practice my spanish! haha alterior motives! No but really I will help them, currently I am advising them what clothes to buy....because they dont have anything warm enough to deal with the ice age that is winter in England! "Will I be able to wear these sandles Kat?" "...um well put it this way, I have hundreds of shoes and only about 2 pairs of sandals, a bit like you have loads of sandals and only 2 pairs of `closed` shoes!" Although there are always the strange ones that wear flip flops and shorts all year round... :-S

Running out of days, suncream and English tea...

So what has happened this week? I really dont know. I have become truly `aculturized`(which I realise is probably not a real word) and am so unorganised and living in the moment now that I havn`t written in my diary for about 2 weeks! So bear with me while I try to find the inefficiently filed away memories...

Last Sunday I think it was we went to the fair of Suyupa again (there is one twice a year and I went in Feb). I had a really great time the last time and I was all ready to take loads of photos this time - now that I`m not so scared to take my camera out of the house - but it was a bit disapointing. There weren`t half as many horses this time and no cows! Plus it decided to rain really heavily, which was unfortunate as we`d parked on a particularly muddy hill and i was wearing white sandals. I really dont think sometimes! haha! The fact that it was getting dark too really didnt help. Carlota and I practically slid down the hill, much to everyones amusement, and then it took several attempts to get the car to move. So in the end it was actually quite fun. Then we went to Patricia`s house and generously shared the mud around! There are photos of me wearing newspaper boots.

Oh and then on one evening we went to watch Andres recieve his blue belt in Tai Kwan Do, so I now feel very safe if im going with him somewhere!

The weekend just gone was different because we had one of the volunteers from Sweden staying with us. She is Andres`s `contact person`. She arrived in August and so is still finding it hard to adapt to life here. Its funny because she was making all these comments about all the strange things Hondurans do, exactly like I was in the beginning, but I now found myself trying to defend them saying `yes but...`, `i know but...`. And now all the things they do just seem normal to me. Yer its true they dont take their dogs out for walks, but why would they? Thats just pure crazyness! The dogs are there to help protect thier properties - which I now think is very sensible ever since we got robbed.

So yes it was fun to talk to a new volunteer, even though she is completely the opposite of me in that she is really outgoing and says exactly what she thinks. She also has very strong ideas about what she wants to do in her project and is finding it very hard to accept that that might not be possible. So I figure she`ll either change, adapt and stay here or will end up going home early because at the moment shes`s not very happy. I have ended up doing something completely different to what I had originally planned, I think the same is true for most volunteers.

I did get to ride to a horse in the end which was really cool, although mum says it doesn`t count if someone is leading the horse, I personally think it does. I not only had to stop myself from falling off but also the child that was with me, responsibility enough I reckon! The guy there said that he would of taught me how to ride properly if i`d had time...shame. Never mind I have learnt so much this year already, perhaps in my last blog i`l try to compose a list of them?

At the moment I am very excited because on Saturday Jade and I go to Costa Rica for 5 days! Que bien! And the best part is we have planned nothing except the flights and hotel. I have had a quick look on the internet but havn`t had time to do much research so who knows what we`l do. I do know that we will be talking spanish to each other so as to try not to look like complete tourists though. And apparently they don`t pronounce their double r `rr` so that will make it easier for me (whos been trying to pronounce it right since January without much success).

And finally I may not have been able to buy a poppy this year but I am still `remembering`.....

a few horses, alot of kids, some of El Salvador and a daylight robbery

Sorry that this post is very delayed and that there are no photos - this would be down to the fact that last weekend I suddenly decided to go to El Salvador and then the monday after someone broke into the house and stole the laptop. So at the moment we are using a borrowed laptop.

So I have now been in my new project a week and a half. Its going well I really like it, not as fun as the blind school because the children have more mental problems like cerebal palsy. So in a way you have to work alot harder for less reward. But I have already made a real connection with three of four of them. So glad i'm doing this now that I can speak spanish because trying to figure out what they are saying is hard enough as it is. They have me doing everything there though wether I want to or not it seems, I have been spoon feeding them, changing napies, carrying them... there is one thing thatts really cool though and thats that every Tuesday and Thursday some of them go to the stables and ride horses, they call it therapy.... apparently. Anyway I get to lead the horses round the field, doing a bit of exercise and getting a tan at the same time, awesome! I'l get to ride one some time too. But I really like it there its 'tranquilo' as they say.

I decided to go to El Salvador to visit my friend Oscar who now lives there, well and so I can get to see another country in Central America obviously. I had a really great time, El Salvador is like Honduras but they obviously have more money because its really pretty, theres no rubbish, no graffiti, not so many kids selling stuff on the street. The capital San Salvador reminded me of the U.S, its very smart and the malls are amzing. I could actually live there quite happily I reckon, a thought wish has never crossed my mind in Honduras though I wouldn't say this to my family here. Obviously I'm not going to, dont panic! We managed to fit alot in, we went to:
* The volcano
* The beach
* The lake
* Some mayan ruins
* and the malls, restaurants and clubs of San Salvador
Hopefully I can add some photos to this post later on for you to see. Bit annoying that all my photos i'd loaded up onto Carlota's laptop as back ups have gone. Now I just have my memory card which i am protecting with my life! :-O

The robbery, so yes last monday a horrible man broke into the house, in the middle of the day, when there were 3 women in the house! Granted 2 of them are practically bed bound but still. He stole the laptop and alot of Carlota's jewellery -including a ring that I bought her. And although he'd been through alot of my stuff and left it a mess I dont think he took anything. Thankfully he didnt have much time so didnt get to look through my suitcase and find my dollars!!! Apparently he broke in through the window in my room so I feel a bit vunerable at the moment, but Carlota gave me a herbal pill that smelled of cow poo to help me relax that night so I was ok. ;-)

I havn't heard much news from England recently, it was mum's birthday a couple of weeks ago and Dad's is coming up soon so 'Happy Birthday!' hopefully they will ring me soon to check I am ok. My boyfriend played guitar in a Halloween gig last night for charity which I hear went so well that they ended up in just their boxer shorts!

And on that note, i'd better go and get ready for the day...

"Tu bandera, Tu bandera, es un lampo de cielo..."

Yes its true, I officially know more words of the Honduras National Anthem than my own. Am I ashamed? Well yes maybe a little. Will I get over it? Yes.

Here are this weeks pictures:

The Baptism...


The beach on the side of a mountain...

Honduras now in the World Cup...

This last week has focused alot around football, which isn't really a big thing for me but even I was getting excited the other day when Honduras played USA. And even though they lost it was an exciting match. I went with some friends to watch it in TGI Fridays (oh yes!) and the atmosphere was awesome, the cheers that went up when they scored thier first goal before the States, brillliant. But what I've noticed is that the fans are 'good losers' in the way that when they lost they didnt go out looking for fights and there is absolute silence when the other team scores unlike in England! Then on Wednesday they played against El Salvador and won and they have officially qualified for the World Cup. This means ALOT to them here and they were all out in the streets singing and shouting and going crazy with fireworks and everything. And if you want further proof of how much it meant to them, later that night the President Mitcheletti announced a public holiday the following day as a celebration. That is just unheard of for us right? So some people didnt go to work the next day and some did and there was general confusion. I still went to the school as it was one of my last few days there :-(

Last Sunday I went with Carlota and Andres on a little trip with their church to this place about and hour and a half outside of Tegus to see a baptism. Now if you are going to get baptised this was absolutely the place you would want to do it. It was an artificially made beach......on the side of a mountain! I bet you thought it wasn't possible hey? Well towards the south of Honduras it is HOT and pretty much hot all year round, so even at relatively high altitude...HOT. (See above photos) It was beautiful and I was so glad I went even if it was very religiousy AND the fact that they sang on the coach all the way there and back!

So I still have one last day at the school and thats on Monday to say goodbye. It's going to be emotional so im not looking forward to it. The last few days there have been really fun. Yesterday I bought a cake for 50 people - it was huge - to take into the school as a goodbye present. Carlota, Chi, Andres and Mario came with me too so they got to see the school and the kids got to know my Honduran family. I really wanted to do more for them but in the end due to money and time constraints that just wasn't possible. I think they were very happy with the cake though.

Other news is that I got my hair cut, bit shorter than I would have liked but it has a few weeks to grow again before I'm back in the UK. I have had a bad cold but still went to work like the trooper that I am but then managed to infect a few of the kids...ooops! haha. I saw a freaking HUGE grasshopper, like almost jurassic period size and was gutted I didn't have my camera. That also reminds me that I have grown to like spiders, well one in particular that lives on my ceiling and catches all the mosquitoes! Brilliant! Much more effective than any repellent spray! So he has earned the right to live. ;-)

Soooo, next week will be an interesting one. On Tuesday I am going to a beach on the south coast on a field trip with the blind centre in Santa Lucia, so it means I have to sleep in the centre Monday night as we are leaving super early. And on wednesday I am starting a new project. It's called PREPACE and its a kind of school for disabled kids and adults to learn all sorts of practical skills. Apparently they do baking, recycling cards, making pinatas, playing musical instruments and probably alot more that I have forgotten. So it sounds quite fun and i'm looking forward to it even if it will only be for a few weeks.

Forward planning and Hondurans? forget it!!!

(Lourdes and I dancing at the school's anniversary party last Sunday)

So things are going well here, its what 4 weeks in? There are no curfews anymore and things seem calmer from the political point of view which is awesome. I'm getting back into a routine and yer im happy. I do realise now more than ever that I really dont have much time left to fit everything in I want to do and to organise my travelling. I'm finding however that making plans is almost impossible because the Hondurans are really laid back and dont commit to forward planning. I am trying my best though.

Jade and I have decided to do a four day trip to Costa Rica in November, hardly know anything about the country and what there is to do but still am really really looking forward to it!

My good friend Oscar will be moving to El Salvador next monday which is a bit sad. Of course it does give me a good excuse to include El Salvador on the list of places to travel! Currently trying to plan this.....ummm we'll see...

Today I found out that the Honduran Government is closing the public schools early this year, so that means our school is closing....THIS MONTH!! Umm what? How much school have these kids missed already this year? It's really not on, these are poor kids and the sad fact is that they will probably continue to be poor because the public education is shocking (and the rich kids that are sent to bilingual schools will continue to be rich). And even if the teachers aren't on strike or the lessons havn't been cancelled from the political crisis, then the parents haven't brought the kids to school probably because they didnt expect classes to be on! Anyway I'm still not sure if its certain but it is a bit upsetting for me too because i'l miss the kids. I'm not worried that I wont have anything to do though because I already have contacts with other projects to go to for a few weeks.

Despite having a fairly relaxing weekend I am soooo freaking tired, so im sorry this isn't a long blog. Hopefully I will make up for it next time.

Two new firsts experienced this week:

* Riding on the back of a motorbike - amazing.

* AND.... changing a nappy - not so amazing.

Yet to have a 'normal' week...

Jade, Me and Oscar out the weekend before last

A view of the mountains outside Tegucigalpa

So you have probably all heard that Manuel Zelaya is back in the country and causing further disruptions and chaos. And he appeared on my first day back in my project!!! It caused the children to acuse me of bringing him back myself! haha as if. Although I have tried to see the point of view of both sides, I am definately going with my family here that we are better off with Mitcheletti until the elections in November. That is as long as Mel isn't here causing mayhem!

So anyway I didn't go back to work again until the Friday last week. Tuesday and Wednesday we had an ALL DAY ALL NIGHT curfew, the WHOLE COUNTRY!! Can you believe it? I definately couldn't. Since then we have had a regular night time curfew which is especially annoying at weekends! When all this finally resolves itself the country is surely going to be the poorest in the whole of Cental and South America!

Having said all that I am happier here now than I ever was before, possibly also because I know I only have 12 weeks left to appreciate it. No-one should worry about me honestly I am fine and safe and I have contacts if it gets too dangerous. But hopefully I wont have to use them.

I have slowly been giving out my presents from England. Carlota loves her London teapot, must remember to take a photo some time. And the kids liked their sweets from 'England' which were actually from the States, but they dont know that :-S. I was very excited to see Chi again last week, she really is lovely we can talk for hours. She bought me back a shell necklace from her holiday on the north coast the other week.

Andres, my brother, is due to start university next week here in Tegus which will be good because he is getting very bored being at home all day. He is going to study Business Administration, same as I did. But is still thinking of studying in Sweden so might change after a year or so.

I did go to the cinema the other week to see 'Amor y Frijoles'. It was really good actually and I understood it all. Obviously not every word but enough, plus it was easier because its very typically Honduran, the slang they use and everything. Really want to buy it to show people back home. No-one buys real dvds here though they are all copies bought from the street. Even though its illegal the defence is normally 'we do it to help the youths, you know they have to pay for their studies and everything'.

Nothing else that I have done has been amazingly interesting, and sadly it might not be until the curfew is lifted. I have spent alot of time watching the news and talking with people about the situation and hearing the latest gossip, 'oooo the protesters are going to do this or that or the curfew is going to be at 6pm tonight' etc. That is what it is like here at the moment. I wonder how long this can continue? Well I'm certainly not expecting a breakthrough anytime soon.

Goodbye England and Wales, Hola Honduras!

(Photo: Dave and I sightseeing in Cardiff)

So I'm very sorry about the lack of blogging action whilst i was in England (and Wales) but the truth is that a) there wasn't much time, I seemed to occupy my time quite nicely and b) I feel a bit weird about blogging of my life in England, since most of you readin this would then be reading about yourselves, you might sue me for disclosure of classified information or something!

But as you probably already know, I had a fantastic break from Honduras and it was amazing to see everyone again and to see two of my closest friends get married. There were parties and people moving houses, film sets, trips to London, Cardiff and Snowdonia and lots of cake, beer and margaritas. :-D Perfect.

That said I am now back in Honduras and find it amazing how quickly I seem to have adapted to be being back and how comfortable I feel here. I dont know whether i'm in another 'culture shock' cycle again and this is the intial 'euphoria' stage to be followed by a 'crisis' but I definately feel the next 3 months here or 14 weeks are going to be amoung the best weeks of my life! Of course I will still be pleased when the time comes to go home but for now I'm going to make the most of being here.

I was met at Tegucigalpa airport by Carlota and her son Andres (who I hadnt met before as he was in Sweden), by one of the ICYE crew and by my friends Oscar and Jade. It was a really nice welcome. Once outside I realised I had completely forgotten about the heat! It was HOT!!! I am really not looking forward to the dramatic climate change when I arrive back in London in December! The Spanish was a little slow at first but that soon came back to me, at least once I had got over my jetlag and could concentrate properly.

Things are not completely back to normal because this week there is no school due to this Tuesday 15th being Honduran Independence Day but I am looking forward to starting back on Monday. I also have many people still to see because they have been away this week on holiday or staying with family.

The highlights so far have been
* Going to the national stadium on Tuesday to see the Independence Day march. Including people parachuting in from helicopters, and guns, horses and smoke (not necessarily together though!) I found out later that only the people who are against the old president Zelaya went to see this and all those in support of him marched around the city wearing red and black - the colours of Chavez apparently.
* A birthday party for one of the girls living in the house in the mountain.
* Going back to the familiar mall and pharmacy that i'd grown to know and love.
* Eating 'frijoles' and drinking 'banana' and also a 'granita de cafe'
* Ringing friends to say that I am back in Honduras - some of them apparently doubted I would be back!

We are also supposedly going to the cinema tonight to see a Honduran film 'Amor y frijoles' Love and beans literally. Its set in a town where I have actually been so should be good.

I shall leave it at that for today, hopefully you will hear from me again soon when I am back at the school with my children - who I have to say i've missed alot! Bye x

Back in England

Bye bye school...

Well I can definitely say I didnt expect to be blogging from home in England on the 28th of July! Alot earlier than expected! It all happened so fast really, one minute I was settled in Honduras, a bit bored for the curfew but nevertheless enjoying myself, and the next I am back to cold gloomy weather, fillets of meat and smooth road surfaces. Its a very strange feeling. I have two completely different lives now and to think that I can swap between them in just 14 hours is too much for my mind to take in!

I made the decision to come home after a series of conversations between my parents, Carlota and my security dude who works for the same company as my dad but in Honduras. They were all fairly worried about me being out there due to the current political situation. Not because I was in danger at the time, things are still going on more or less as normal - in actual fact normal in Honduras is still dangerous if im honest, but no its because of what might happen and the small possibility of a civil war. Neither side appears to be backing down so something has got to happen right?

I feel quite sad at leaving alot of people I love in Honduras particularly Carlota, and I kind of feel like I let myself down by giving up early. At the end of the day it was me who made the decision I wasn't forced to leave. But I already had flights to go back on the 12th of September after the wedding so I dont lose anything by going back on this date and finishing my year returning late December. So as long as the political situation is more stable and as long as I feel I am emotionally strong enough to go back (after living in England for one and a half months its going to be difficult) that is what I intend to do. ICYE have said that if I return to finish as planned they will still count it as a year because my leaving was only 'temporary' and I had good reason to leave. So im happy with that.

Although the whole situation is very very weird and I still dont know what to do with myself here everything feels wrong, I am very happy to be back with my parents, boyfriend, friends and family. Now I can even go to another wedding, one of best friends too, which I was going to miss so I am really excited this is now possible. As much as I tried to tell myself its more important to be there for the whole marriage rather than the one wedding day, I have to admit I wasn't convinced. Plus Dave is coming too so its even better!

My last few days in Honduras were very action packed so I barely had to time to think about going home. Andres's grandad died, Mary in our house had to go to hospital and Mina downstairs fell over badly hurting her knee. It wasn't the best time to leave really as it meant Carlota had to rush around to help them and take me to places to organise everything for going home. It was really sad to say goodbye to the children at the school and unbelievably easy to my other project. Needless to say when I return in September, it makes sense to work in the school full time until the end. It will be more helpful to them and more fun to me. Its weird because its not the reason I chose to go to Honduras in the first place, however it means I have changed as a person and gained experiences I would never have got from staying in England. The only bad side is that I'm still nowhere closer to figuring out what I want to do when I return for good, in fact I think I now have more options than before! I guess this is actually good because I know graduate jobs are in short supply at the moment :-(

So for now I will continue speaking English and make the most of the time that I have here. I'm sure I will be back in Honduras before I know it and regretting that I didn't do this or do that or eat enough Cadbury's Dairy Milk etc...

My 23rd birthday, 6th month in Honduras, and definitely 1st piñata!

So the last few weeks havn't been very eventful as far as work goes. I am now back working at the school but I've basically forgotten CEM-H exists! I do appreciate however that the team I was working with last, at least ring me up occasionally to let me know whats going on and oh that they still dont have anything for me to do. Its because they are doing things relating to the current political situation and all other things have been put on hold. I am not allowed to go to the place where I teach English as it has been deemed to dangerous at the moment, and some people think its never safe!

Luckily I have been kept busy as Carlota has holiday at the moment and so I have been helping her run errands and havn't been stuck indoors all day! Plus it was my birthday and last Saturday I had a party! Because of the curfew we had to have it in the daytime and with the piñata aswell I was only one party bag away from being a 9 year old again! Despite the fact that my friends and family teased me, even they have to admit that they enjoyed the piñata and it was a great day. I enjoyed it anyway. You can see from the photo above that it was a finding nemo piñata! I did want Spongebob Squarepants but those ones looked really ugly in the store, well I say store but we actually bought it from the street, where we also bought the cheese......? Random I know.

As far as the politcal situation goes the country seems to be almost running as normal, definitely outside of Tegucigalpa anyway. Here in Tegus we still sometimes get caught up in marches and have to be diverted. The graffiti which currently lines the streets is due to be cleaned up this weekend by a group of volunteers. Most of the shops and restaurants have replaced thier broken windows and look shiny and new again. We are making progress I feel. However the situation cannot get completely back to normal until something is resolved with the ex president. Whether thats for him to be in prison or reinstated as president i'm not sure but something has to happen before we can move on. While I have to admit I do feel quite excited and privilaged to be able to be here and witness it I am now truly bored of it all and just to get on with things. Thankfully with the curfew lifted I will be able to go out dancing again! yey!

As July is going by I am starting to think about my trip home at the end of August and all the things I need and want to do before then. For example if I bring back the hammock now then i'l have more room for other stuff in December. I have yet to buy a hammock but its on my list - IN PEN. hehe.

I've also been thinking more and more of the possibility of working in the school full time as of September when I return back after my trip. Everyday I spend there is alot of fun, laughing and smiling and then when I think of sitting in the office in CEM-H, bored and sad. Theres really no contest is there?

¡VIVA LA PAZ!

(First of all sorry to confuse you all by the date above - this is actually when I started to write this blog entry and for some reason I cant change it!)

So this whole story has been so up and down, everytime I think things are returning to normality something else happens. I hope you've all been following it and know about the President being forcefully removed from power and from the country - thats the most objective way of saying it I think. We now have a new acting President, although the rest of the world refuses to acknowledge him. The media are reporting what they want to report, which im not surprised about but really the BBC? I expected better! There have been a few protests in the city by supporters of the ex president but thats really only a small group of people, the vast majority of Hondurans DO NOT want him back, including Carlota who works at the supreme court so no surprise there. I understand what they're all saying about him having to be reinstated because of the precident that it would set otherwise but I fear that that would then lead to more protests and unrest in the city, this time by the large majority of people. I know I dont want to be around when that happens! So really no-one knows whats going to happen. At the moment there is a strange calm in the city, I guess everyone is anxiously waiting. Supposedly the ex president is back on saturday. Hmmm. We have also had a night-time curfew which is a really weird experience, I mean when would that ever happen in a normal lifetime?

So needless to say I havn't been working this week but fortunately I managed to get out last Saturday. We went to the mall to see the new Transformers, which was good but loooooooooooooooooooooong. In the evening we hit Ruby Tuesdays for cocktails and then a disco called Jaguar, was the last time I will see alot of the volunteers :-( some people got VERY drunk but I've been very good ever since that horrible horrible tequila hangover a few weeks back.

Sunday morning I was awoken by fighter planes screaming over the city the day that the President was taken. I dont know what was more of a surprise, that the President got taken or that I actually woke up, normally I sleep through these things!

Monday and Tuesday have blurred together as I was stuck at home, I might have been able to go to work but CEMH were protesting or something and its actually illegal for foreigners to partake in this kind of activity, so I couldn't join them. This makes me wonder if what I did a few weeks back marching through the streets saying 'Yes to the emergency contraceptive pill!' was actually illegal too? If it was then oooops! ;-)

Yesterday I sneaked out to go to Santa Lucia, without telling ICYE! hehe. But outside of Tegus everywhere is normal so it was peaceful Santa Lucia as usual. It was Marie's leaving do, shes another volunteer here who works at the blind educational centre. Was really sweet as everyone was saying how much they'd miss her and how she'd always be welcome back whenever. Then some of the blind teachers, who also teach at my school, played keyboard and sang, very well I have to say. Unfortunately Taunya from Canada got news that a family member had died so she's leaving today or tomorrow, :-( I am sad today as it seems everyone is leaving, leaving, leaving and I'm not! Its also worse because I am at home and have time to sit and think about this fact over and over.

There are some benefits to being at home though, I have been studying Spanish and yey because it helps to improve, I have been helping Sandra make tortillas and can now make them with my hands as opposed to the machine that makes perfect round flat ones, which is actually really difficult! I have been keeping up to date with the news and also generally relaxing. And I get to do all that without feeling guilty or like a bum because its really not my fault! There is a political crisis and we have to deal with it, so I am. Now, where have all the biscuits gone?

Special Announcement

The President of Honduras: Manuel Zelaya Rosales

I must say the Katie Clarke inside of me really does not want to post this blog today because of the inconsistency in unevenly spaced postings - not very asthetically pleasing! But it is a special day so I think we can make acceptions?

Just after I posted my blog yesterday about having a mundane week, I find out some news to completely change that! Ok so im all packed and ready for the camp, I go to sleep and am woken up at about 11.30pm by my phone ringing, in my usual half asleep state I just keep cancelling the call because all I can think about is that I want to sleep and its annoying! A bit later Carlota comes into my room and wakes me up properly to speak to Elly on the phone from ICYE. She was cancelling the ICYE camp and advising me to stay in the house for the next few days as its potentially too dangerous to go outside!!! Umm what?? So I dont fully understand this because A)I was half asleep, B) its about politics and C) I cant find any news about it in English. However what I understand is this... there has been alot of tension in Honduras the last few days because the president wants to do something with the military, that has something to do with Venezuela, but the courts are saying its actually illegal! Exactly what I have yet to understand! There is going to be a vote or something on Sunday but last night the big people in power of the military resigned, thats the heads of army, navy and airforce! I also want to say that it might have something to do with socialism? Dont know, anyway this has caused even more chaos, confusion and arguments and no-one knows what the outcome is going to be. So thats why I have to stay at home until further notice! I think ICYE are being a bit overprotective because Carlota has still gone to work as usual and the nurses are still coming to do thier shifts!

Oh well I shall just study some spanish and eat lots of biscuits no doubt! Well I did go to the gym last night!

a mundane week

Photo: This is where I teach my English classes - yes the whiteboard has still not been attached to the wall but hey, least I have one! And there were more students in the beginning but there are now only about 5 or 6 regular students on both mondays and tuesdays. Maybe one day i'l get a photo of my teaching too!

So after alot of talking and weighing up pros and cons I still dont know what Im going to do when my english classes finish in August in terms of what project. However things are perhaps looking up a little in CEM-H because I've now moved to another department -political women as opposed to -young women. Me and politics do not mix well but the ladies who work there are soooo much more friendly and they actually look for things for me to do. Im only working with them when im in the office which only equates to 2 days a week but its already much better than before. I've been busy :-O

In the school its been more of the same but its good fun. The other day the older students had a class on hygiene, I felt bad because the proffessor kept asking what I do or how many times I do stuff and I kept replying with the wrong thing! For example I said I shampoo my hair twice but she then told the kids its better to do it 3 times! Haha Im clearly not a good example! In my defence we never had classes at school to teach us stuff like that! My mum didnt tell me how many times either! :-(

Last weekend I went with two other volunteers for a trip to Valle de Angeles but this time we stayed over in a hotel! They dont speak much Spanish so we were speaking English the whole time, but I refuse to feel guilty! I dont feel so much pressure to speak spanish now that I already pretty much can. I did find out some interesting things though. One of the girls says that the anti-malarial drugs give her night terrors, I was a bit sceptical at first because im on the same thing and im fine. I sleep pleasantly even through earthquakes apparently. But the saturday night I woke up to find her crying her eyes out after experiencing yet another nightmare! I really feel sorry for her, they must be pretty strong drugs, oh and im on them for a whole year woo!

And I dont think theres much else interesting to talk about this week, seems to have gone past pretty quickly. Have been to the gym and few more times and went to extend my visa today - had to do all my fingerprints and everything! Oh and the lady taylor made me a little top, love it!

I have the ICYE mid-term evaluation camp tomorrow for 3 days....in spanish too, so better go pack....

Volunteer [vol-uhn-teer] - noun: a person who performs a service willingly and without pay

Photo: Baby in a hammock

Thursday and Friday last week there was no school so I just stayed at home and studied Spanish. It was actually really useful because without studying you can only learn bit by bit, by studying grammar you can learn a whole lot in a short space of time. Speaking in the past tense is now alot easier as I can say what I really want to say rather than saying something incorrectly and hoping they understand what I mean.

Friday night I went out with Gustavo and some of his friends to a new club in Tegus. Was good fun, they were trying to teach me merengue and I kind of got it if I looked at my feet but as soon as I looked up the feet would rebel and do their own thing. Feet will be feet I guess.

On Sunday I went to Valle de Angeles and Santa Lucia with Oscar. We met up with two other volunteers there, including the Canadian who still can't speak Spanish and I kind of get the feeling shes given up a bit. Only being here for 3 months really isn't enough to grasp the language. So we walked and ate and chatted, nice relaxing Sunday.

Monday morning was a bit different. Mario was going down to the South of Honduras (Langue) to pick up his brother, who is blind, to bring him back to Santa Lucia where he's studying. He asked if I wanted to go along and as I didnt have classes until 2pm I thought why not? His brother was staying at thier fathers farm, its actually right on the border of El Salvador. I saw El Salvador! Looks just like more of Honduras to me but what do i know? We didnt have time to stay there long but it was really pretty and I enjoyed the heat and absense of rain! I had walked past this hammock a number of times before I realised that it wasnt empty and there was a baby inside! See photo above! Not exactly sure who's it was but it was obviously content to swing in the wind...

Monday afternoon I got back in time to teach my English class. Only two students turned up but that meant they recieved some intensive teaching and it meant we could play naughts and crosses with a twist, they loved it! I thought of the game on the spot as well, well proud of myself.

Last night I went to the gym for the first time in about 6 months! Wow! It was quite a pleasant gym actually, really nice people and relatively cheap. First time I've been to a gym and got attacked by mosquitos though! Although I'm probably unbelievably unfit I didnt really notice much difference apart from how much my bum cheeks hurt bouncing up and down on the running machine! I hadn't even realised i'd put weight on there! :-( I think i will have to sign up and start to go regularly if I want to fit back into that bridesmaid dress in September!

Get that- Im volunteering in Honduras and I go to the gym? In fact it is because of things like this that I have become a joke amoung the volunteers...

* Ok so firstly I bought a HUGE suitcase with me to Honduras, most of the others bought backpacks, I have no idea how they managed that!

* Another thing is because I live in the city, I get to do normal things that I would do at home like go to the cinema, go shopping at the mall, go clubbing etc

* I am extremely lucky in the fact that I live in a house where I dont really need to do anything. For example I dont need to clean, wash my clothes, drive or cook. There is help to do that. Although in my defence I do cook when I am home alone or fancy eating something at a non-meal time. I have actually been called a doll by some people at work because thats what they call people who dont do anything. As an aside I AM actually a doll because Carlota's cousin's daughter has named her barbie 'Kat' because it has blonde hair and pale skin like me. I am quite flattered because lets face it Barbie is HOT! Wasn't quite so flattered when she was being waved around out the car window the other day! :-S

* I coped without a hairdryer and straightners for the first few months but I may have got my boyfriend to bring them out to me when he visited in May. So now I have hair products. yey!

* I tend to 'do coffee' with my friends on a regular basis, i'm now going to a gym and finally the fact that I occasionally go with Carlota to get a manicure and pedicure really does not help break the stereotype.

So perhaps I am not your typical volunteer, but whos to say what typical is? There is no guide as to what a volunteer does or does not do in thier free time and so can anyone really point and laugh? I think not! I would also like to point out here that besides all of the above I am still volunteering, still working to help the people and only receive enough money to cover the travel costs! So you did not pay to send me on holiday!!!

Today I am a bit frustrated because I couldn't teach my classes because there was no-one to take me. And I didnt find out until I'd been waiting for ages! CEM-H and their lack of communication really annoys me, plus its worse because if theres no classes it means working in the office and its sooo boring! Never mind I am going to talk to Elly at ICYE this afternoon to discuss the situation. I'm still hoping to change projects when my english classes finish and I also hope to swap wednesdays at cem-h for wednesdays at the school. Vamos a ver...

Two little monkey shaped mistakes

(Manuel, Anna and Carlota on Sunday with our lunch of pupusas and champagne!)

I had another fun weekend this week although it was a bit less action packed than the one before so I had some time to rest and to .....think.

I have been thinking about my blog recently after starting to follow a number of other blogs more religously. Including the one by American Jess which is always an inspiration, not just because of what she does but because of the way she writes, well she is a writer after all so i guess it comes naturally.
I've also started following the Wimbledon 2009 blog in my attempt to feel more connected with England and the rest of the world, plus ever since I lived in Putney for a year and went to see some of Wimbledon 2007 it became alot more interesting!
Anyway its made me realise that blogging only once a week means I only have time to describe the events of the week and not add many thoughts or musings of my own. Which is really what blogging is all about! So I am going to try to blog more frequently, although I make no promises.

Friday night as you know I went out with Gorkiana and her friends to celebrate her birthday. We went to Ruby Tuesdays for cocktails and then on to a club called Kabbalah for ALOT of dancing! I had a great time and apart from the fact that I was trying to dance like a latino and talking Spanish, I almost forgot I was in Honduras. Its because there are some places here so smart and modern looking that you just dont expect them to be in a developing country!
I stayed over a Gorkiana's house that night and in the morning we got up early to go visit Chiminike, a science museum for kids. Usually you are not allowed in without a child but we went with a huge group of college students because Gorkiana's father is a professor at the college. I really enjoyed the museum it was alot of fun, there was even a section where you could learn about and SMELL different body odours! haha! However I did have trouble understanding alot of it, as you can imagine the vocab was quite advanced or at least wasn't the kind of stuff you'd use everyday!

Saturday afternoon/night was well a bit of a disaster, it was just one thing after another. I laugh now looking back on it, it was quite funny.
* It all started when the weather turned for the worse with torrential rain and thunderstorms at about 3pm...
* ...this meant that when Carlota got back from the shops she was so busy rushing in not to get wet that she forgot to turn the lights off on the car...
* ...this meant that when we went to try to take Carlos back to his house the car wouldn't start because the battery was dead...
* ...this meant waiting around while a man came to fix it, he then left the engine on so as to charge the battery...
* ...but then of course that meant using up fuel so when it was done we had to pray we would make it to the gas station on virtually no fuel. Anyway we managed it and all was right again with the world as we took various people home. Then we stopped at Manuel and Anna's house as it was thier daughter's birthday. But we didnt stay long as it was getting late and we needed to take Mina home too, (the old lady who lives with us). So its still raining as we get back in the car and head off home, but we dont get far before something happens. At the time i didnt know what all I knew was that I was heading for the roof of the car! Quite scary! Felt like we'd hit something. Carlota pulled over and we realised we'd exploded a tyre. Dont know how though as there was nothing obvious on the road that could have prompted it. So we had to wait on the side of the road until Manuel came to rescue us. We all got drenched changing cars before realising this car too had a flat tyre! Oh my goodness! I wont bore you with the rest of the night but we eventually got home and the next day the car was fixed too. Phew.

Sunday we didnt do much apart from 'do lunch' at Manuel and Anna's house. Champagne and Pupusas. Pupusas are a typical Honduran food, its kind of like tortillas with cheese but its not really, i'm just the best at explaining things I know! ;-) Anyway they are the kind of thing you hate the first time then after 5 months of eating them you start to love them! Why is that?

I had both my English classes this week so I am very pleased. Things are getting a bit more complicated as we are starting on verbs! Still keeping my fingers crossed that no-one asks me to list the irregular english present tense verbs! :-S

Monday after work we went again to the lady taylor who had finished my skirt! Yey! I love it! Its too nice really to wear in Tegus becuase of all the dust and dirt. Maybe for my birthday party, we'll see.

Yesterday was Carlota's birthday so after work Gorkiana and I treated her to dinner and the cinema. We went to see A Night in the Museum 2, which afterwards we realised wasnt the best choice because Carlota hates monkeys and there are two in this film!! Ooops! But I enjoyed it, it was a laugh anyway.

It's wednesday today and I really dont know what I'm going to do tomorrow and friday as the school is closed this week! I might study some spanish, yes its still necessary!

Where to start?

(above: Me and Lidice at her party sat night)

I literally do not know where to start these last two weeks have been a bit of a blur, I have been really busy. I had so many invites to different things last weekend I got to choose the best ones! haha! And there wasn't much time to sit in my bedroom and mark off the days on my calendar, so today I had the great pleasure of crossing off almost 2 weeks in one go! :-D

One of the most exciting things happened in the early hours of last Thursday morning. You may have heard about the earthquake? It hit 7.1 on the scale, killed 6 people and caused large amounts of structural damage up north.....and I slept right through the whole thing! Kind of disapointed in myself. So I still dont know what it feels like apart from my go on the simulator in the science museum! In fact the first I even heard of it was when I was woken at some horrible hour in the morning by a text from my mum in England to ask if I was ok!

My time in the school these past 2 weeks has involved picking nits out of little girls hair, threading needles for them to sew on buttons, dancing and singing. All very strenuous work! haha no actually i had a great time!

In CEM-H I managed to teach one english class this week, which was alot fun, we made so much noise playing number bingo we disturbed the computer class!! But on the tuesday no students turned up to my class so I used my initiative and used the time to sweep the whole buiilding, it needed it!!! I was quite disturbed to find a condom until I remembered they'd used them for the march we had the previous week for women's health day!

Last friday evening I met up for coffee with Leo, my friend from the educational centre for the blind in Santa Lucia. He was with a new volunteer from Canada. She only just arrived about 2 weeks ago and cannot speak Spanish. It was really cool because I had to do the translating and it made me realise just how far i've come since I was like her and I had to get my ICYE contact to ring up my mum for me. She says that my accent is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo British and its weird that it completely drops when I speak Spanish. Ahhh what a complement! Yey I speak spanish with a spanish accent, apart from the fact that I still can't roll my r's! :-( Coffee turned into drinks as some other friends of Leo joined us, Mario and Oscar.

I can't even remember what we did on Saturday as we seemed to be here, there and everywhere! I do know that we went with Chi to a lady taylor who makes Carlota's work clothes for her. They said that I should get something made because I've never had anything made to my specifications and measurements before! So I choose a very nice skirt design and a fabric and it should be ready very soon! SO excited! Yet another thing that I did not expect from my volunteer experience in Honduras! haha!

Then in the evening I went to Lidice's birthday party (my work colleague at cem-h). I didnt know very many people and felt a bit like a lemon but then I got talking to a few people and had an alright time. Met this guy who is 19 and already owns and runs 2 businesses! Later Gustavo turned up and it was better as we get on really well, then he took me and some others home. I found it hilarious that he got stopped and breathalised using the policeman's hat! Like 'breathe into the hat and i'l smell it' kind of a test!! What is that about? It was fine as he doesn't drink, like alot of young people here actually, I think England could learn a few things from them!

Sunday I went walking in La Tigra national park with Mario, Oscar, Atonia (the canadian volunteer) and some more of their friends. Almost 3 hours of exercise! I felt a bit bad for Oscar as everyone could and was speaking English because of Antonia, except for him who didnt understand a word! Like being a foreigner in your own country! On the way back Oscar's car kept breaking down which was rather funny. People here literally keep their cars until its nothing more than scrap metal! Soo many taxi's now i've been in that have broken down or run out of fuel!

Talking of cars and funny moments, on monday evening Carlota managed to lock the car keys in the car! HAHA! Just like my mum in England!!! ;-) Luckily the window was open a little so we eventually wound the window down bit by bit with a stick.

And tonight i'm off to a girly birthday party which is cool as I dont seem to have many female honduran friends. Most of my female friends are other volunteers! That will probably change soon though as they're all pissing off back to thier respective countries soon those 6 monthers! Not like us hardcore 12 monthers! (well ok 11 and a bit). Just before my birthday they're leaving as well! Grr...

I can't get any money out because my mum isn't here to take me to the bank!

I actually said these words out loud today, I didnt even realise what I was saying until it was too late and then I felt shocked at myself for just how dependent i have become! There are some things you just dont expect from a volunteer experience abroad and losing your independence is one of them!

Here is a nice photo of a view of Tegucigalpa which has nothing to do with anything i'm going to talk about:

Last weekend was an interesting one. On friday night I went partying and had an ok time but not good enough to make up for the following hangover! Oh my goodness, I cant remember the last time I felt that bad! So bad that I have decided to stick to weak beers for the rest of the year! ...with maybe the odd margarita or two ;-) What?

It was unfortunate that I was ill on Saturday because Maddy, another English volunteer who had been working in Mexico, came to visit me for the weekend. In fact she will be getting on a flight tomorrow to go back to England, im a little jealous i have to admit! She doesn't have a mobile so we had arranged to meet in central park at 11, anyway there was no way I was going so Carlota had to go for me to find her. When she still wasnt there at 11.30 we were a bit worried, however not having many other options left Carlota kept waiting and they eventually found each other about 12ish! Phew! I had planned for us to go to Santa Lucia that day where I have a few friends at the blind centre and was really looking forward to a nice lunch too. But alas it wasnt going to happen and it was already late by that point. However I did have a good day doing the only thing I could, chatting, and catching up with Maddy. Was fun to hear about her experiences and how Mexico and other central american countries differ from here. I was still in my pajamas at 5pm that day! Luckily I felt better that evening and Maddy and I went out to Ruby Tuesdays with another volunteer here that i havn't seen since the beginning. She's from England too! We chose to talk in English although we probably could have got by in Spanish, just its nice to have a break once in a while. So that was fun.

On Sunday Maddy felt a bit ill so we stayed in the house again chatting and interneting and watching Grey's Anatomy which I refuse to become addicted too! HA!
She left Monday morning and I went off to work, only to find out that there would be no English class because there was no electricity in the building! Boooooooooooooooo! It was the same for Tuesday aswell so I have a slightly above average level of frustration! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! It's because there has been a dramatic change of weather here this week. These days it is hot and sunny in the mornings and big dramatic thunderstorms in the afternoons with torrential rain! Now I see why everyone drives these big 4X4's, to drive through the puddles!

Since there was no english yesterday I went with the others to the city centre, never quite sure what we're going to do till it happens here! Anyway there was a big anti-smoking protest, (or should that be smoking protest?), and although we weren't getting involved with that we used to opportunity to collect signatures from the hundreds of people there. The signatures were in favor of facilitating the use, production and distribution of the emergency contraceptive pill, so that victims of sexual abuse etc would be able to terminate their potential pregnancy. Now imagine trying to explain that in Spanish, now imagine they dont agree and you have to try and persuade in Spanish! ummm yer so i'l just look after the bags then shall I? I might have had a chance if i'd been briefed beforehand but as it was I was I felt completely useless! But it was still interesting to watch! What i found really funny was that after the crowd had dispersed three of my colleagues lit up cigarettes!! HAHA! Honduras.

Today we were preparing for another activity we have tomorrow in celebration of World day for action of women's health or something like that. I designed an information leaflet which looks very impressive until you start to read it! I left them making alterations to it this afternoon as i went to visit Chi. Carlota is away with work this week so I have had to amuse myself. while going to visit an 80 something year old might not appeal to everyone I really like Chi and our conversations. Plus I think she was really pleased that i'd made the effort to see her and not just because Carlota was going to see her! I had to leave quite early though to catch a taxi before it got dark.

So tomorrow I will not be in the school but in the city centre handing out my leaflets. I can only hope no-one has any questions!

So thats the week almost over and almost the end of May! So nearly time for Wimbledon I'm thinking? Wonder if I can follow it here so I feel like I know something about whats going on back home. Wonder if they have pimms here? Oh wait no I forget im only allowed beer and margaritas! hmmm wonder if that will last?

Mixed Emotions; the Honduran cocktail

Once again I am living the roller coaster of life.

On the one hand everything is great and I feel really happy here now. I'm still really happy with my home and 'school' life, but I'm also now much happier at CEMH teaching English. My Spanish is getting better all the time and I am planning exciting things to do in the coming months so everything is looking pretty good.

On the other hand so many bad things are happening to people around me and I am worrying for them and slightly too for my safety.

However life in Honduras will go on, and then so must I!

Last thursday I saw sandra again (the lady from the school) and we spent a (weekday) afternoon (LOVE IT!) making cakes and then took then back to the school in the evening for all the children. Was really cool to be there in the evening, was alot more exciting than the day and it was only the children that actually sleep there as the day lot had gone home. However I found out a couple of sad stories. One of the young girls there, who is only there because her brother is blind and needs looking after, her dad died when she was really young and her mum died whilst giving birth to her baby brother! She is so lovely though, even Dave thought so! Im going to get a photo album for her and print some photos before I leave I think. The picture above is of her with her brother, and the other boy is called Christian. Also there's another girl who is blind and has trouble with mobility, she was found one day in a box left outside the school gates, at about 3 years old too! :-(

The lady who cooks in our house, also called sandra, made me porridge for breakfast on saturday! and even added vanilla pods to it! Although it was a bit runny for my liking and lacking in raisins, but it was delivered with the best service so I will go back to that restaurant again! hehe

Finally made a skype call to my parents so got to see them for the first time in 4 months! Was really good...once they got the hang of the new age technology! ;-) hehe love you really!

I booked my other return flight to Honduras (because i am coming back to UK briefly for a wedding in sept) so I will be leaving Honduras for good on the 19th of December and arriving in UK on the 20th! Just in time for the much missed christmas roast dinner! hmmm.

We have sorted out the dilemma of how to get me to the centro de capacitacion to teach english now. They changed the dates of the computer course to be the same as the English and so Gustavo, the son of my 'boss', drives there and I can go with him. Phew thats a relief, and he's a good laugh.

And finally I found out that they dont have guinea pigs here, no-one even knows what they are even after being shown photos on the internet! So Cousin AL, if you're reading this, i can safely say that what you told me about Honduran's eating guinea pigs is NOT TRUE! Hmmm unless all the guinea pigs have been eaten and there are now none left? But it would have to have been several generations ago for the memory of guinea pigs to be completely forgotten! Probably the Mayans. Guinea pig sacrifices. I need to get some sleep now I think!

The Post Holiday Blues

(See also post below about the holiday)

When Dave left life was hard for a couple of days. But things improved by Friday becuase it was Honduran Mothers Day and we had celebrations at the school. So we danced and sang and ate alot of food and there were presents for all the mums. I got talking to one of the mums, called Sandra, and she was really excited by what I was doing and where I was from etc that she wanted me to go to her house and meet her family and everything. So that afternoon we went to her house, very nice, and she said I could use the internet and act as if it was my house but genuinely meaning it! Strange! Then we went out to meet her husband at a clinic because he's a doctor and he was really fun as well, then we went to have dinner and I didnt get back to the house until gone 9pm! Its amazing the things that happen when you're a volunteer, so many experiences and opportunities.

This week my English classes started for CEM-H so I have been busy. I have to say they went surprisingly well and I even enjoyed the second class! I am now teaching one class on a monday and one on a tuesday with different groups of women (young and not so young) for 12 weeks provisionally. It depends how they go. Its great to finally feel like I'm doing something to help at last! I knew 6 months wasn't long enough in a country - the volunteers who are leaving in August only have about 7 or 8 weeks of work left! If that was me I'd feel frustrated because its not long enough to really be of help. However there is a slight problem with the location of the clases because they are in a centre which is outside of Tegus and to get there I have to take a bus, a public bus, and alone. Anyway Carlota really really doesnt like this as she says its dangerous so we're trying to figure out what to do. For the mean time her son is going to acompany me there but he has university so its far from an ideal situation. I spoke to the other volunteer at CEM-H and she says its always a problem with the host families but they have to realise that i work as a volunteer in a charity to help underprivilaged people and in its very nature its going to involve working in potentially dangerous situations. Lots of the girls from CEM-H take the bus alone to the centre and say its absolutely fine nothing to worry about. I think its probably alright too and its not as if it's after dark, but then I have to accept this is Honduras and I left 'indepence' and 'freedom' behind in England.

So tomorrow I plan my next class of English. I hope there are no tricky grammar questions!

THE Holiday

Hello,

I apologise to all my subscribers (hehe, heard you were worried about me!) that I havn't blogged in a long time. I was on holiday for two weeks with Dave, then since i've got back things have been really busy and frankly i've been putting off writing because I knew it was going to take an AGE to write.

Dave arrived in Tegus on April 20th and it was a very happy day for me. It was also quite funny because there were 6 of us to meet him at the airport, me, Carlota, Chi (Carlota's aunt), Berta (Carlota's friend), Berta's daughter and neice. And loads more people wanted to come to see him too but couldn't and were quite disapointed. One of the family members wanted to have a party for him! But we were only in Tegus for 3 days really and all weekdays so couldn't happen unfortunately. I think he was a bit overwhelmed with all the people and all the crazyness of Tegucigalpa and the Spanish, he even spoke French at one point! haha! I can laugh because I did the same at first too. We did the usual trip to the mall and the bank, not the pharmacy which was surprising because we seem to live in the pharmacy sometimes! On our way back to the house we happened to bump into some of the children from my school on a little walk with one of the teachers. So we said hello and they came crowding round the car 'KATHARINE', 'KATHARINE', 'KATHARINE', hehe they are cool children.

The next day we got up super early to get the bus to Copan Ruinas. We really liked Copan Ruinas, its a small, safe, pretty town with plenty of places to buy cocktails, whats not to like? Well Dave aparently doesn't like Honduran mantaquilla as we had to leave for the hotel pretty quickly that night!
We went to the archeological park to see the ancient Mayan Ruins. They were really impressive and the Lonely Planet Guide taught us alot ;-) Smoke from a nearby fire hung around giving it quite a forboding atmosphere. Well I think I mean forboding, not too sure. Anyway it was definately worth going to see and there are other volunteers in Copan that we met up with too so it was fun.
Also in Copan we went on a tour of a coffee plantation place thing, was cool but bit weird as there were only 4 of us. Strangely enough it was a couple from London! They get everywhere the English!

Our next stop was Tela on the north coast. Very nice hotel (apparently no room was on the same floor/level) and there were hammocks which I was really excited about, Dave not so much. The beach in Tela was great with good waves, dont think i've stayed in the sea so long since I was a kid, with good reason probably because afterwards I was buuuuuuuuuuurnt! The town not so great but not horrible either, we mainly stuck to the sea front.

Next we went to La Ceiba. Hmmmm we did NOT like La Ceiba. Probably a combination of the fact that it was a sunday and nothing was open, there was a very dodgy guy on the beach who spoke to us and after eating pizza hut I was violently ill for the whole night and wasn't properly better for 3 days. I was even sick in the street! haha, not so fun times. Anyway because of that we decided not to go on a canopy tour but to head straight to the island of Roatan, a very wise decision I think.

The boat journey to Roatan would have been horrific if it wasn't for Dave's travel sickness pills! I have never been on a boat journey soooo rocky and with members of staff rushing around giving out sick bags and paper towels but looking like its something they do everyday. Which they obviously do!

Roatan was pretty amazing. It wasn't luxury but it was still idealic. The beaches, the hotel, the restaurants, the fruit smoothies, the sunsets, the lizards, the snorkling, the DIVING! All was amazing and even though I spent a day and a half in the hotel ill I still had an awesome time. But it was over way too quickly and we had to go back to the smelly, dirty, dangerous and crazy city I call home.

We had a whole day in Tegus so I took Dave to my school to meet the children and we ended up spending a long time in the public hospital because one of the girls had to take her brother and didnt want to go alone, bet Dave didnt expect that! Then we went to the city centre and got covered in 'polvo' or dust in English.

When we went to the airport to say goodbye to Dave it was horrible, I was really upset and I still am sad but I'm much better than before. It wasnt as bad as leaving England in January because I was leaving everyone for a whole new situation, at least I know where I am this time and what to expect. Its not so bad really. ;-)