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.