Fun with Paint

This is one of my first projects. This Jardin de Niños (Kindergarten) is actually at a town close by where another volunteer is finishing up his service. Imagine this building without any paint and mickey and the gang's faces and you can see why it needed a happier face for the kids. The part I had a hand in was a few of the disney characters. Pretty awesome right. Oh I suppose pooh bear is there too and he's not disney, but everyone loves him here as much as they do in the States.

Don't ask about the bunny. He was the first one put up and the only one done without the help of a picture to copy. If you look really close he has these really nervous eyebrows, like he's just waiting for Pooh Bear or Mickey to attack at any minute.

San Luis - My Home

Here it is! San Luis, Comayagua. My home for the next two years. This is a pic from when I was hiking out in the bosque.

Baseball

More than a month at my site and a lot has happened. I have already integrated well into my community and met some amazing people. One of my biggest problems is remembering people’s names! There are over 25 kids on the baseball team I started but I can only name a handful. However, I came up with a strategy to fix this. All I need to do is take a picture of all the kids one day and go over the names with my host family or friends. I thought this was fairly genius.

Everything ends up being a new and interesting experience here, including starting a baseball team. The plan before I got here was that it would be my first project. It's working out well because I’m getting to know a lot of the kids and it isn’t necessary to know a whole lot of Spanish. The vocab for baseball is almost the same in Spanish as it is in English. What’s been most difficult is learning how to discipline the kids. When I try to reprimand one of the kids and they don’t understand what I’m saying to them, the whole effect is lost.

I was supposed to have the help of community members, a teacher actually, but two practices in he told me that he couldn’t come anymore, leaving me high and dry. The first day was the most difficult though. It was during the physical education class and my teacher buddy thought I was ready to explain baseball in its entirety, in Spanish of course. I hadn’t prepared a thing, assuming (which I’ve learned not to do anymore for countless reasons) that he would at least help in explaining what baseball is. He didn’t, but even though I stumbled over my words, the kids understood me and we were playing a game soon after.

Peace Corps puts on an annual tournament in May. Obviously my plan is to win the whole thing, but there are many other teams with more experience and better equipment than us. Also, with the coffee season starting right now, at least half the kids won't be able to play until February. So for now, all we can do is play pick-up games with whoever is able to show up. Although, the way I figure it, all I have to do is teach them the Joe Mauer batting style and we're as good as gold.

The Food

There’s nothing wrong with rice and beans. Thankfully, there is a lot more to my diet than just that. The ‘typical plate’ is beans, rice, avocado, and an egg. More often than not that is my breakfast and dinner, and I’m actually a really big fan. The only part that is a little too much to stomach sometimes is the fact that no food goes un-fried here (well, not the avocado). Just the other night I had a dish called Quesillos, which entails two tortillas with cheese in between and on top, fried till it’s crunchy. About four of those went down the hatch with some other fried concoction that resembles a home-style fry sandwich with more cheese. This really got the digestive system lubed-up and feeling funky. If I keep this up, these two years might end up taking two years off my life!

In reality though there are healthy options too. Some of the best fruit I have ever tasted has been in the last 4 months. Bananas, pineapple, oranges, mangos, and more are easily found, but some only during the right time of year. Fortunately, I caught the tale end of the mango season when I first got here, but now I have to wait a while for that bliss to come about again. However, when it does, the farthest I have to go is ten feet from my door to my family’s mango tree!

As far as keeping healthy, the situation is this. All my meals are with my family because there really is no other option, and I really want to eat as they do and not be rude. Also, when they put a plate of food in front of me I am compelled to finish it all. It’s like when your mom tells you to finish your food because in some parts of the world other kids are starving; well now they’re my neighbors. No not really, I’m just being dramatic. My town is actually a pretty well off coffee town, but I have seen gut-wrenching poverty since living here, and that’s what really comes to mind.

So, you say, why doesn’t he just tell them to serve less? This has been done many times and has not changed a thing. The way I figure it is it’s either because I pay for my meals so they think I should get my money’s worth, or more likely, they think I’m too skinny because I don’t have my set of llantas (spare tire) yet. Give it time. I will.