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