Yesterday morning, after doing some work in the office and talking to family via Skype, I set out to return to the Messianic Jewish/Christian community. A brief phone call to Oscar, their English teacher, got me some directions with a worrisome bit, “Be at Buena Ventura by 2:30 to catch the only bus up to Amapa El Zapote.” I hurried home and packed an extra shirt, a kikoi, toothbrush and, more importantly, bird books and binoculars and went into town to find transport. Well, as is often the case, you don’t know something exists until you start looking for it. There is, actually, a rapidito route that goes from Santa Cruz to Buena Ventura (along with some other places). What a delight to see Peña Blanca on the front of the van.
Within forty minutes I was dropped of in Buena Ventura with plenty of directions from the other passengers. To double check, I phoned Oscar again and found out that I needed to be four blocks away at another bus stop. Sure enough, the battered yellow school bus was waiting, albeit with hood up and oil and water containers strewn about. I checked with a couple of people inside and they said the bus was indeed leaving at 2:30 (an hour or so later). A few Kakuro puzzles later and some elementary conversations fumbled through the brother of one of the people in the community I was headed to stuck his head in to say hello. That was a relief. He assured me that I was on the right bus and told the others where to make sure I got off. So delightful to have people help you out in such ways.
Close to 2:30 the bus started up and, with a minimum of splutters and chokes began climbing out of town. Within short order we were into the hills and valleys with their green lacework of a myriad cattle tracks and fence lines meandering haphazardly up and down. This area is cattle country with lots of dairy cattle interspersed with the Brahman type beef cattle. Oscar and another young man were waiting at the drop off point so there was no need to worry. We started the mile walk (about four blocks in Oscar’s words) to the community. We met their friend, the major landholder in the area, who gave us a ride most of the way.
Within a few minutes we were seated by the synagogue overlooking a lush green valley framed by green mountains. One of the features of this group is that they have a strong sense of coming troubles. In order to prepare for these troubles, it is necessary to move to the mountains and become somewhat self-sufficient. Having grown up with numberless “end times” prophetic theories I readily identified with their thinking. Of course, there is the troubling question, “How to live until then.” We began to look at resources they have at hand. As we began to talk about trees, plants and natural resources we were looking at they began to become very excited. That is always a pretty neat feeling to see people begin to feel that there is hope and potential in their lives. We continued the conversation this morning and, Rolanda, one of the main leaders began to start understanding the nuts and bolts of what could be done. We first of all had to climb the hurdle of long term thinking. We sat looking at a coconut tree that was only five years old and loaded with more than $40.00 of coconuts. I asked about planting them as an income source and Rolando talked about it been such a long time. When we compared it to the ages of his children he began to see that a ten year plan was possible and, even, prudent. Once that hurdle was clambered over then lights began to turn on. Tree after tree was pointed out and, with growing excitement, Rolando was able to tell me what the potential was. So incredible. The knowledge was already there. It just needed a different point of view to begin to put it together. One of the trees shown me was the Mulberry tree which was great. I have been looking for seed stock for that because it offers so many potential uses for small landholders (fruit, firewood, high protein leaves).
Last night was day 8 of Hanukah. Their cantor was visiting from San Pedro Sula with his wife and family. This meant a time of celebration with lots of candies, driedel games and a tiny bit of liturgy. Evidently, this movement is growing rapidly in Latin America. There are books with Spanish and Hebrew liturgy, a “Seminary” in Brazil (complete with Synagogue planters) and a translation of the Bible into Spanish that includes Jewish type explanations. For example, when the verse says that Jesus broke bread, their version says that Jesus broke the middle piece of matzoh. Obviously, those familiar with the Passover celebration already know that (including the original authors of the Gospels) so I am not sure who benefits from the additions. Still, it was very interesting to look at. For their worship they use ordinary Spanish translations but their liturgical leader has this special version.
Part of the celebration included white bread sandwiches. Obviously, white bread is a luxury item only seen on special occasions. I am still confused as to what the spread was but it followed the cardinal rule of cooking, “Enough garlic solves every problem.” We had leftover spread on white bread for lunch today.
Although the synagogue has power, the rest of the community does not. We trudged to my host’s house by cell phone flash light and, once there, lit a candle. I had a nice, double bed with a pillow and blanket. My kikoi gave the needed extra warmth so a good night’s sleep.
In the morning I began looking for birds. Morning fog covered everything and it was great to watch the sun begin to tear away the shrouds and reveal bits and pieces of mountains and valleys. At 7:15 I began walking to the bus stop as I was told that the only bus came by at 8:00. Fortunately, I passed by Ronaldo’s house and he had alternative plans – including coffee and a hot tamale. The cantor was heading back to San Pedro Sula at 1:00 so I had lots of time to find birds, talk trees and ideas and so forth. A profitable morning with five new species and several others worth looking at again. The community is high enough up that I could watch the vultures from above as they began their daily search for updrafts. How do they sense the where the air is going to be moving upward and manage to slide into those movements? It is really marvellous to watch fifty of these birds sail back and forth until they find the needed help and then begin the circle that soon makes them specks even from the top of a mountain.
Lunch done, we got in the truck and an hour later I was by the main highway waiting for a Santa Cruz bus. One of the soda sellers at the stop was most helpful in shouting out the destination of each coming bus long before I had any hope of reading the signs. He obviously knows the shape and colour of the buses on the route or else has 80/20 vision. Home again safely and ready to go cook supper (ham of course:))).
Bryan
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas Eve
The morning was spent in the office, working on various lists and talking with people on the phone. The Skype system is so wonderful. The old system of international calls which needed to be booked hour ahead of time and had long wait times which broke up every conversation are part of the dinosaur past. All those skills for talking via that method are becoming obsolete, along with making four carbon copies of lesson materials and letters on a portable typewriter. Computers are so much easier on fingertips than pounding out multiple copies on a manual machine. Say the word Telex machine to your children and check out the look they give you. Now, via the wonders of internet, a phone call can be made anywhere in the world for pennies or less.
In the afternoon I went out to El Ciprés to visit a couple working with MCC on a small fish project and conference centre. The streets were full of people dressed up and waiting for the evening’s festivities. Stores were still bustling though so lots of merchandise to see. I wondered what to take out with me and was making scant progress until I came to the couple selling fireworks. We managed to communicate the explosive nature and pattern of each of their wares and for $5.00 I had a small bag of firecrackers, sparklers and one lovely 15” long by 4” diameter tube of something with showers of sparks on the picture. Now we were ready to truly celebrate the coming of Christmas.
On the way down the hill into their property I saw my first snake here. It was only about 60 cm long and was much like a brown and black striped garter snake. It saw me stop and decided on a hasty retreat for which I was duly appreciative. My African strategy with snakes was to first find the machete and then, when head and body were separated by a minimum of 20 cm, go and get the snake guide book to identify it. It seemed so much easier to say, “Oops, not poisonous,” than miss something more troublesome. Obviously, to me, that is not an issue here. When I see people cruise through tall grass without a thought of what is in their way I realize that snakes of the bothersome variety are not an issue. Rule number one when going through grass in Africa: Let someone else go first.
At the MCC centre, I met a couple from Ohio who are working with disaster preparedness and long term recovery out of Tegucigulpa. They were, delightfully, birdwatchers and, even more amazing, hobby beekeepers who had tried top bar hives. Needless to say, we had lots to talk about ... besides kids.
A few village children were down visiting as well so my fireworks were the ideal gift. Lots of entertainment as we tried different combinations of firecrackers and so forth. We left the big tube till dark. That turned out to have a wonderful trajectory and spark trail, a very satisfying thunderclap but nothing in the way of showers of coloured balls of sparks. No one was disappointed though.
After a supper of mashed potatoes and roast pork (talk about comfort food), we visited with the stream of drop in visitors until time to get in the truck and head to Santa Cruz for mass. A number of boys took the opportunity to ride in the back for a chance at ‘big city’ lights and action. Josh and Marie squashed a few of their dreams by insisting that they would have to go to church – so much for cruising the streets.
The church was quite full but we all found seats. In addition to the huge crèche scene, there were long, beribboned garlands of plastic pine on every pillar and light string. The music group was busy pounding out a rendition of “Navidad, Navidad, Feliz Navidad” (you’ll figure out the tune shortly) as we entered. Being Christmas Eve, the incense was out in full force and soon filled the church with its fragrance. The priest needs to take lessons from the Ethiopian church that we attend on high holidays. The general rule there seems to be that if you can see the middle of the church you need to add a couple more spoonfuls of frankincense. We were in no danger of that last night – just a tasteful amount. The music group surprised us with two acapella numbers. The whole group, drummers, electric piano players, guitarists and rhythm section all were part of the choir. Very well done. Four parts even.
After mass, I stopped to greet a few people I knew and thank the music group for their work. The Christmas Eve fireworks were popping merrily as I headed home. Midnight came and with it, the popping became a barrage. The whole city broke out in bangs and crackles. I went outside to watch and the sky was filled with clouds of firework smoke. Setting off loud fireworks inside small compounds makes for great amplification. Someone within twenty blocks or so had a super duper stereo system which they shared with all of us. Happily, the noise died down within an hour and people got on with eating and family gatherings.
There were no Christmas bells a ringing but, there were bells as we exited the church. The ice cream man had parked his cart at the foot of the stairs and was ringing out the good news of cold treats for all to the parishioners.
It is 8:00 a.m. and the left over firecrackers are being set off by early risers. I am headed to the office to post this and to make some Merry Christmas phone calls.
God Rest You Merry.
Bryan
In the afternoon I went out to El Ciprés to visit a couple working with MCC on a small fish project and conference centre. The streets were full of people dressed up and waiting for the evening’s festivities. Stores were still bustling though so lots of merchandise to see. I wondered what to take out with me and was making scant progress until I came to the couple selling fireworks. We managed to communicate the explosive nature and pattern of each of their wares and for $5.00 I had a small bag of firecrackers, sparklers and one lovely 15” long by 4” diameter tube of something with showers of sparks on the picture. Now we were ready to truly celebrate the coming of Christmas.
On the way down the hill into their property I saw my first snake here. It was only about 60 cm long and was much like a brown and black striped garter snake. It saw me stop and decided on a hasty retreat for which I was duly appreciative. My African strategy with snakes was to first find the machete and then, when head and body were separated by a minimum of 20 cm, go and get the snake guide book to identify it. It seemed so much easier to say, “Oops, not poisonous,” than miss something more troublesome. Obviously, to me, that is not an issue here. When I see people cruise through tall grass without a thought of what is in their way I realize that snakes of the bothersome variety are not an issue. Rule number one when going through grass in Africa: Let someone else go first.
At the MCC centre, I met a couple from Ohio who are working with disaster preparedness and long term recovery out of Tegucigulpa. They were, delightfully, birdwatchers and, even more amazing, hobby beekeepers who had tried top bar hives. Needless to say, we had lots to talk about ... besides kids.
A few village children were down visiting as well so my fireworks were the ideal gift. Lots of entertainment as we tried different combinations of firecrackers and so forth. We left the big tube till dark. That turned out to have a wonderful trajectory and spark trail, a very satisfying thunderclap but nothing in the way of showers of coloured balls of sparks. No one was disappointed though.
After a supper of mashed potatoes and roast pork (talk about comfort food), we visited with the stream of drop in visitors until time to get in the truck and head to Santa Cruz for mass. A number of boys took the opportunity to ride in the back for a chance at ‘big city’ lights and action. Josh and Marie squashed a few of their dreams by insisting that they would have to go to church – so much for cruising the streets.
The church was quite full but we all found seats. In addition to the huge crèche scene, there were long, beribboned garlands of plastic pine on every pillar and light string. The music group was busy pounding out a rendition of “Navidad, Navidad, Feliz Navidad” (you’ll figure out the tune shortly) as we entered. Being Christmas Eve, the incense was out in full force and soon filled the church with its fragrance. The priest needs to take lessons from the Ethiopian church that we attend on high holidays. The general rule there seems to be that if you can see the middle of the church you need to add a couple more spoonfuls of frankincense. We were in no danger of that last night – just a tasteful amount. The music group surprised us with two acapella numbers. The whole group, drummers, electric piano players, guitarists and rhythm section all were part of the choir. Very well done. Four parts even.
After mass, I stopped to greet a few people I knew and thank the music group for their work. The Christmas Eve fireworks were popping merrily as I headed home. Midnight came and with it, the popping became a barrage. The whole city broke out in bangs and crackles. I went outside to watch and the sky was filled with clouds of firework smoke. Setting off loud fireworks inside small compounds makes for great amplification. Someone within twenty blocks or so had a super duper stereo system which they shared with all of us. Happily, the noise died down within an hour and people got on with eating and family gatherings.
There were no Christmas bells a ringing but, there were bells as we exited the church. The ice cream man had parked his cart at the foot of the stairs and was ringing out the good news of cold treats for all to the parishioners.
It is 8:00 a.m. and the left over firecrackers are being set off by early risers. I am headed to the office to post this and to make some Merry Christmas phone calls.
God Rest You Merry.
Bryan
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The Value of One – CPI Efforts
As we begin this project, we look back at other work that CPI has done over the past few years. It is often difficult to quantify the work that has been done and match that to the money spent. Accounting principles have been blurred at times by differing cultures, differing expectations and, sometimes, deliberately. At times, it is discouraging to work through all this and one loses sight of the people that were given hope and opportunity through all of the efforts.
Being able to live in Santa Cruz, I am able to meet, often several times a week, individuals whose lives have been changed by our efforts, ideas and money. Listening to Lydia, a current Board member, describe to a visiting delegation the effects that being able to graduate from Sixth Grade has made in her life and the life of her family. Watching the excitement on Julia’s face, a widowed mother of five, as she talked about the chance to learn more and take Grade Seven. Meeting a young man who was able to finish Grade Six because of a scholarship and is now finding ways to work and pay for further schooling. To hear stories from the ladies who operate the little Botequines (medicine boxes) tell of patients they have treated – with scant resources and scantier knowledge – in villages where no medical treatment is available opens exciting vistas of ideas and opportunities.
The bottom line in every project is, “What is the value of one?” How do we put a dollar value on intangibles like learning, hope, medical treatment, new agricultural methods? Of course, the answer is, “We don’t.” In the end, we look at our efforts and ask ourselves only one question, “Did we try?” If the answer is “Yes”, we have been successful. Without doubt, we will also ask ourselves how we can try better or be more effective. But that is something that stems from the basic first question.
A couple of tidbits from the last few days. Saturday night I enjoyed a small bowl of pig skin soup. The pig skin is deep fried and, in the process, puffs up and gains the texture something like a cheesy. These pieces are then put in a soup with spices, peppers and tomatoes (and x kinds of vegetables). As with every type of soup I have tried here, it is delicious.
In search of Christmas presents (for January Christmas in Canada), I took a Rapidito trip to La Guama, up the road about fifteen kilometres. I had seen a tourist type place along the highway so knew it was on the La Guama route. As we went, I paid the fare of 18 L. The tourist place was some kilometres before La Guama but I thought nothing of it as I climbed out of the Rapidito. Well, after shopping and purchasing a couple items, I walked back to the highway and sat on the wooden slab bench and waited for a return Rapidito. One went by, rather full, without stopping and I resigned myself to waiting an hour. Fortunately, within another fifteen minutes, the same Rapidito I was first on stopped for me. As I went to pay for my fare, the driver turned to the turnboy and told him to discount the price to match what I had overpaid on the outward trip. What a pleasant surprise. It was so nice to be shown that respect and courtesy.
Sunday morning saw me in the office waiting for a repairman to come and fix the tiles in our kitchen area and some other odds and ends we had informed the landlady about. Not too surprisingly, he showed up two hours late and then only to drop a couple of things off and that was it. Sigh. I had stopped doing office work and was busy watching a Harrison Ford movie dubbed in Spanish. The printed parts were redone in, I think, Greek lettering but the words were in Spanish. When you pay $2.00 for a DVD that has all four Indiana Jones movies on it you need to be prepared for the odd difference.
At about 12.30, there was a knock on the door and in walked my friend Mariano and his friend, Pablo. They had come to take me to lunch. What a nice surprise. We headed to a restaurant that is on the second floor of a building. The walls are open and you are high enough to see the trees and greenery and enjoy the breeze. Colourful Japanese lanterns, four jolly plastic Santas and several old 78 rpm records are part of the decoration. We ordered Chorizzo, a spicy sausage, served with salsa, cheese and chips. The owner of the restaurant spoke some English so whenever we hit an impasse in our conversation, we had him help out with a phrase or sentence. We must have managed okay because Manuel told me yesterday that he met Pablo on his way to the office and Pablo had said we had a great time. Manuel, who really knows how little Spanish I know, was amazed.
Yesterday I spent almost an hour walking through town trying to find a plug for my bathroom sink. A number of places had drain units for sale but no one had only a plug. Even went to the large department type store on the edge of town. Found that store accidently on Saturday as I was searching for prices of rebar and metal tubing. I was so amazed to find such a big place here in Santa Cruz. I have seen plugs for sale (when I wasn’t looking for one of course) but, I fear that they were on some table in front of a kiosk somewhere in downtown San Pedro Sula. I will use the technique of not looking for it and then I shall be sure to find it.
The nativity scene at church is incredible. It is about 3 metres X 4 metres with walls of bamboo and thatched roof. The floor is covered with sand and stones and there are thirty or forty houses with over a hundred figurines of people, animals and different tools of daily life. On one side is a little jungle area with jungle animals including (as it must have, surely, on that night in Bethlehem) dinosaurs and tigers. All this is set off with blinking and winking strings of colourful Christmas lights. The cradle is covered until Christmas Eve. I wonder how long the scene stays up. Because of the scene, the music group has had to switch to the other side of the church which leaves things rather crowded but … the more the merrier, right?
We have a night watchman now that the computers are set up. His only job is to sleep inside the house. He likes to come at about 8:00 because he is worried about walking around the town after that hour. I hear stories of problems but haven’t figured out what streets they are on. Of course, I won’t go looking either. The street I use to come home on is always full of families, children and vehicles as well as several pulperias and a church so I am not worried about that route. Evidently other routes are not as welcoming.
Have to run.
Bryan
Being able to live in Santa Cruz, I am able to meet, often several times a week, individuals whose lives have been changed by our efforts, ideas and money. Listening to Lydia, a current Board member, describe to a visiting delegation the effects that being able to graduate from Sixth Grade has made in her life and the life of her family. Watching the excitement on Julia’s face, a widowed mother of five, as she talked about the chance to learn more and take Grade Seven. Meeting a young man who was able to finish Grade Six because of a scholarship and is now finding ways to work and pay for further schooling. To hear stories from the ladies who operate the little Botequines (medicine boxes) tell of patients they have treated – with scant resources and scantier knowledge – in villages where no medical treatment is available opens exciting vistas of ideas and opportunities.
The bottom line in every project is, “What is the value of one?” How do we put a dollar value on intangibles like learning, hope, medical treatment, new agricultural methods? Of course, the answer is, “We don’t.” In the end, we look at our efforts and ask ourselves only one question, “Did we try?” If the answer is “Yes”, we have been successful. Without doubt, we will also ask ourselves how we can try better or be more effective. But that is something that stems from the basic first question.
A couple of tidbits from the last few days. Saturday night I enjoyed a small bowl of pig skin soup. The pig skin is deep fried and, in the process, puffs up and gains the texture something like a cheesy. These pieces are then put in a soup with spices, peppers and tomatoes (and x kinds of vegetables). As with every type of soup I have tried here, it is delicious.
In search of Christmas presents (for January Christmas in Canada), I took a Rapidito trip to La Guama, up the road about fifteen kilometres. I had seen a tourist type place along the highway so knew it was on the La Guama route. As we went, I paid the fare of 18 L. The tourist place was some kilometres before La Guama but I thought nothing of it as I climbed out of the Rapidito. Well, after shopping and purchasing a couple items, I walked back to the highway and sat on the wooden slab bench and waited for a return Rapidito. One went by, rather full, without stopping and I resigned myself to waiting an hour. Fortunately, within another fifteen minutes, the same Rapidito I was first on stopped for me. As I went to pay for my fare, the driver turned to the turnboy and told him to discount the price to match what I had overpaid on the outward trip. What a pleasant surprise. It was so nice to be shown that respect and courtesy.
Sunday morning saw me in the office waiting for a repairman to come and fix the tiles in our kitchen area and some other odds and ends we had informed the landlady about. Not too surprisingly, he showed up two hours late and then only to drop a couple of things off and that was it. Sigh. I had stopped doing office work and was busy watching a Harrison Ford movie dubbed in Spanish. The printed parts were redone in, I think, Greek lettering but the words were in Spanish. When you pay $2.00 for a DVD that has all four Indiana Jones movies on it you need to be prepared for the odd difference.
At about 12.30, there was a knock on the door and in walked my friend Mariano and his friend, Pablo. They had come to take me to lunch. What a nice surprise. We headed to a restaurant that is on the second floor of a building. The walls are open and you are high enough to see the trees and greenery and enjoy the breeze. Colourful Japanese lanterns, four jolly plastic Santas and several old 78 rpm records are part of the decoration. We ordered Chorizzo, a spicy sausage, served with salsa, cheese and chips. The owner of the restaurant spoke some English so whenever we hit an impasse in our conversation, we had him help out with a phrase or sentence. We must have managed okay because Manuel told me yesterday that he met Pablo on his way to the office and Pablo had said we had a great time. Manuel, who really knows how little Spanish I know, was amazed.
Yesterday I spent almost an hour walking through town trying to find a plug for my bathroom sink. A number of places had drain units for sale but no one had only a plug. Even went to the large department type store on the edge of town. Found that store accidently on Saturday as I was searching for prices of rebar and metal tubing. I was so amazed to find such a big place here in Santa Cruz. I have seen plugs for sale (when I wasn’t looking for one of course) but, I fear that they were on some table in front of a kiosk somewhere in downtown San Pedro Sula. I will use the technique of not looking for it and then I shall be sure to find it.
The nativity scene at church is incredible. It is about 3 metres X 4 metres with walls of bamboo and thatched roof. The floor is covered with sand and stones and there are thirty or forty houses with over a hundred figurines of people, animals and different tools of daily life. On one side is a little jungle area with jungle animals including (as it must have, surely, on that night in Bethlehem) dinosaurs and tigers. All this is set off with blinking and winking strings of colourful Christmas lights. The cradle is covered until Christmas Eve. I wonder how long the scene stays up. Because of the scene, the music group has had to switch to the other side of the church which leaves things rather crowded but … the more the merrier, right?
We have a night watchman now that the computers are set up. His only job is to sleep inside the house. He likes to come at about 8:00 because he is worried about walking around the town after that hour. I hear stories of problems but haven’t figured out what streets they are on. Of course, I won’t go looking either. The street I use to come home on is always full of families, children and vehicles as well as several pulperias and a church so I am not worried about that route. Evidently other routes are not as welcoming.
Have to run.
Bryan
Monday, December 22, 2008
God Sat Alone
Four Sundays of preparation for God’s coming.
Hundreds of people waiting in expectation ...
as they have for two thousand years.
The huge crèche with a village of waiting figurines centered
round the still empty cradle blinked and glittered invitation.
Then,
just as the fourth service was ending,
God arrived.
The One who belongs beyond time,
beyond light and darkness,
beyond space infinite and infinitesimal arrived
Swaddled in three shirts and extra long, walked on jeans
stained by rain sweat nights spent barred from love
by barbed crowned walls and gates
locked from fear of Love’s inadequacy.
For someone Whose only language is Love,
the language being sung and spoken with musical and practiced intonation
had whispers and foggy wisps of connection
but never quite enough to be confident of the translation.
No one moved to greet God.
In fact, things went on,
albeit a wee bit chagrined,
as if no one was there, kneeling at the front.
Eventually, God turned around and sat on the altar steps.
God came.
But ...
God sat alone.
Bryan
Hundreds of people waiting in expectation ...
as they have for two thousand years.
The huge crèche with a village of waiting figurines centered
round the still empty cradle blinked and glittered invitation.
Then,
just as the fourth service was ending,
God arrived.
The One who belongs beyond time,
beyond light and darkness,
beyond space infinite and infinitesimal arrived
Swaddled in three shirts and extra long, walked on jeans
stained by rain sweat nights spent barred from love
by barbed crowned walls and gates
locked from fear of Love’s inadequacy.
For someone Whose only language is Love,
the language being sung and spoken with musical and practiced intonation
had whispers and foggy wisps of connection
but never quite enough to be confident of the translation.
No one moved to greet God.
In fact, things went on,
albeit a wee bit chagrined,
as if no one was there, kneeling at the front.
Eventually, God turned around and sat on the altar steps.
God came.
But ...
God sat alone.
Bryan
Friday, December 19, 2008
A Shofar Shalom – Dec. 19
It seems like a week since I was writing last. When you are busy for sixteen hours in a day, a lot can happen. As I mentioned before, the unexpected is always lurking around the next corner. Lots of corners yesterday.
The group from Tegucigalpa phoned at about 11:00 telling us they were still on the way. By their location, we knew it would be more than an hour. After riding with their driver later in the day, I realized why their trip was taking so long – very cautious that man. Well, the Mayor, Principal and head of Educatodos here in Santa Cruz were all on schedule for 11:00. A bit of a worry for all of us. We had an early lunch of seasoned chicken salad and waited patiently. At 1:00 we began walking towards the City Hall to be there when the guests arrived. Manuel and I headed to the Education offices and arrived just as the folks were getting out of the car. Some quick phone calls and schedules were rearranged. The Mayor said we could see him at 3:00 (that was a minor miracle let me tell you) and the Principal, who was on lunch break agreed to meet then as well. That left us to take the guests to tour our facility.
Here at the office, we had lunch and each of the Board members talked about their experiences with CPI, education and, in particular, Educatodos. They all spoke well and had interesting stories so that was very good. I sat in the corner, observed and ate a second round of chicken sandwiches. The Educatodos program also insists that each student work on some sort of project – tree planting, first aid, etc. – that will help them or their community. Because we had the Moringa seeds ready for our guests, the conversation turned to that. It ended up that the five pots we had for the dignitaries were just enough to give one to each of our Tegucigalpa guests. My computer was up and running so I was able to show them pictures of the tree and some more information. All that writing I did this fall is certainly having some positive results. It is so easy to “flip” the page to the relevant material and have it on the screen for people to see. As well, Manuel has read much of the material so is able to refer to it when needed. The lady in charge of the delegation is actually very knowledgeable about local trees and so was able to appreciate the merits of the Moringa and the information much better than most (a plus for our project pitch as well).
Three o’clock saw us at the Mayor’s office. Amazingly, he was in and waiting. The Principal arrived as well and all of us (almost twenty) filed in and sat in the chairs arranged for us. The Mayor’s translator, Oscar, came with to help. That was an unexpected bonus because it left Manuel free to speak as one of the school directors (me being the other one) rather than translating. Often translators become part of the furniture rather than being respected in their own right. The Educatodos lady, the Principal and Chepe (our Board Chairman) all spoke. I was delightfully surprised at the passion with which the Educatodos lady and Principal spoke. Eventually I was given a couple of questions to answer as well. To me, part of the merits of a project idea is when local people begin to claim it as their own and do the pushing for it. Obviously, this project is fitting into that category as I don’t have to do much of the talking. The Mayor then asked me when we were ready to go talk to the Minister in Tegucigalpa. I looked at my watch and replied, “In an hour.” He grinned and took out his cell phone and scrolled down to the Minister’s number and called him then and there. That is fast and shows some of the clout that the Mayor of a region has. The Minister told the Mayor that the project had been approved and was handed over to the head of the EFA (don’t ask me what the initials stand for) to deal with. The Mayor got his number and then gave him a call. This next person began to play some games with the Mayor and talked about arranging a meeting in Tegucigalpa, etc., etc. What he didn’t realize was that the Mayor had turned up the volume on his cell phone (obviously much better model than mine) so that those of us close to the desk could hear what was said. Very quickly the Mayor informed him that the meeting would take place in Santa Cruz and he would call the Mayor to inform him when. So ... some hope for things. Certainly everyone on our team was encouraged. Finally we are getting enough of a group that we can push things through. The Mayor also mentioned that if progress is too slow he will simply go to the press with the story. Good stuff from our point of view.
I was quite happy with our day and ready to head back to the office and discuss plans and so forth. However, the head of the Educatodos group told us that we were going to see a school run by them. Manuel, Chepe and I hopped in the van and headed off. It was after 4:00 by this time and it gets dark by 5:30 so this seemed rather brave to me. It turned out that it was very brave. We drove for an hour and the road became progressively narrower, rougher and steeper. Rule number one when driving up strange roads: Never go up a track you are not prepared to back down. The van finally came to a patch that was too steep and muddy to navigate and so we backed down for an anxious few minutes till a spot to turn around was located. For our Tegucigalpa, city friends, it was feeling very remote. Even cell phone coverage was missing. Turns out we were only about fifteen kilometres from the main road. We back tracked to a fork in the road to find an alternative route. Looking down from the fork, the road looked much too iffy to try. Fortunately, cell phone coverage was available and our guide made a quick call and in about three minutes a four wheel drive pickup appeared. We climbed in and headed up and away.
Just at dusk, we arrived at the school. The lights were on and everybody was at home. Fifteen students sat in chairs listening to lecture notes from two foot high speakers in a 6 M x 5 M room. Another four sat around a table studying their books. This turned out to be a group of Grade Seven students and the smaller group of Grade Eight students. The building turned out to be a Synagogue belonging to a group of Messianic Jewish believers. In accordance with Leviticus 19.27, the leaders had long beards. A couple of the other men had short beards so I felt right at home. One of the members spoke very good English and so we got some of the background. An amazing group of people who are working together to make a life for themselves and their children. They are doing well in many ways because of their cooperation with each other. It was fun to talk with people who are full of ideas and knowledge of things they have tried or heard about.
We watched the school for an hour or so, meandering in and out at times to continue conversations with the men outside. It is of course, very dark by this time and I know that a return trip has to be made. All public transport shuts down at about 8:00 p.m. so I wasn’t sure where I might spend the night. The coffee cups arrived and, shortly, the coffee appeared. The students around the tables got up and chairs were set up for the guests. However, it was first time for introductions and welcoming speeches. Everyone was, thankfully, brief. The leader of the synagogue was very grateful for the educational opportunity provided by the Educatodos program. He was quite emotional about it and, at a loss for words, he turned to one of the Shofar horns (go to II Samuel 6.15 for one description – a one metre long, twisted wild goat or kudu horn) and blew it. It was amazing. He was extremely proficient and it was very moving to listen to. I have never heard a Shofar horn played with any skill so this was beautiful.
Students were dismissed and there were enough chairs for us all to sit down and enjoy sweetened home grown and roasted coffee with fresh hot milk. Lovely. After an appropriate amount of time, we stood up to go to the truck. We all made it outside when it was announced that cuajada was on its way. All the Hondurans were excited about the prospect of home made cuajada. Cuajada is a type of soft, fedha cheese. Sure enough, plates, utensils and platters with refried beans, thick cream, scrambled eggs and balls of cuajada appeared. We trooped back in and sat down. By this time we wondered if we would be staying for breakfast as well. This feeling was even stronger when, as we stood up after the meal and the pitchers of spring fed water appeared. We sat down again and enjoyed the water.
Back up and ready to leave. Fortunately, all was not finished. The leader wanted to send us off with a blessing. So, the cantor donned his prayer shawl, rubbed his hands with scented oil, a CD of Hebrew singing was turned on and the prayer began. The prayer was in Spanish so only the background singing was in Hebrew. Part way through, the shofar was played as an accompaniment to the music. Again, very well done musically. Prayer over, we all shook hands, received a blessing and were out the door for the last time.
As we drove away, the young people sent us off with echoing sounds of the Shofar following us. Clear skies allowed us to enjoy the stars and the night flowers perfumed our way. We arrived back in Santa Cruz at 10:00 p.m. The people in the van still had another two hours to get to San Pedro Sula so they will be well tired and travelled today.
I find it so heart warming whenever I am able to participate in worship traditions that stretch across geographical and historical boundaries. What a lovely Advent touch to hear the same sounds that were part of Jesus’ growing up. Each Friday and Saturday evening at sundown He would have heard the Shofar calling out the Sabbath. At festivals and celebrations the same sound would have filled the streets of His village. No doubt, during triumphal entry into Jerusalem there were more than one Shofar horns being blown. And, quite likely, that was one of the sounds heard as the disciples carried Christ’s body to the tomb.
Bryan
The group from Tegucigalpa phoned at about 11:00 telling us they were still on the way. By their location, we knew it would be more than an hour. After riding with their driver later in the day, I realized why their trip was taking so long – very cautious that man. Well, the Mayor, Principal and head of Educatodos here in Santa Cruz were all on schedule for 11:00. A bit of a worry for all of us. We had an early lunch of seasoned chicken salad and waited patiently. At 1:00 we began walking towards the City Hall to be there when the guests arrived. Manuel and I headed to the Education offices and arrived just as the folks were getting out of the car. Some quick phone calls and schedules were rearranged. The Mayor said we could see him at 3:00 (that was a minor miracle let me tell you) and the Principal, who was on lunch break agreed to meet then as well. That left us to take the guests to tour our facility.
Here at the office, we had lunch and each of the Board members talked about their experiences with CPI, education and, in particular, Educatodos. They all spoke well and had interesting stories so that was very good. I sat in the corner, observed and ate a second round of chicken sandwiches. The Educatodos program also insists that each student work on some sort of project – tree planting, first aid, etc. – that will help them or their community. Because we had the Moringa seeds ready for our guests, the conversation turned to that. It ended up that the five pots we had for the dignitaries were just enough to give one to each of our Tegucigalpa guests. My computer was up and running so I was able to show them pictures of the tree and some more information. All that writing I did this fall is certainly having some positive results. It is so easy to “flip” the page to the relevant material and have it on the screen for people to see. As well, Manuel has read much of the material so is able to refer to it when needed. The lady in charge of the delegation is actually very knowledgeable about local trees and so was able to appreciate the merits of the Moringa and the information much better than most (a plus for our project pitch as well).
Three o’clock saw us at the Mayor’s office. Amazingly, he was in and waiting. The Principal arrived as well and all of us (almost twenty) filed in and sat in the chairs arranged for us. The Mayor’s translator, Oscar, came with to help. That was an unexpected bonus because it left Manuel free to speak as one of the school directors (me being the other one) rather than translating. Often translators become part of the furniture rather than being respected in their own right. The Educatodos lady, the Principal and Chepe (our Board Chairman) all spoke. I was delightfully surprised at the passion with which the Educatodos lady and Principal spoke. Eventually I was given a couple of questions to answer as well. To me, part of the merits of a project idea is when local people begin to claim it as their own and do the pushing for it. Obviously, this project is fitting into that category as I don’t have to do much of the talking. The Mayor then asked me when we were ready to go talk to the Minister in Tegucigalpa. I looked at my watch and replied, “In an hour.” He grinned and took out his cell phone and scrolled down to the Minister’s number and called him then and there. That is fast and shows some of the clout that the Mayor of a region has. The Minister told the Mayor that the project had been approved and was handed over to the head of the EFA (don’t ask me what the initials stand for) to deal with. The Mayor got his number and then gave him a call. This next person began to play some games with the Mayor and talked about arranging a meeting in Tegucigalpa, etc., etc. What he didn’t realize was that the Mayor had turned up the volume on his cell phone (obviously much better model than mine) so that those of us close to the desk could hear what was said. Very quickly the Mayor informed him that the meeting would take place in Santa Cruz and he would call the Mayor to inform him when. So ... some hope for things. Certainly everyone on our team was encouraged. Finally we are getting enough of a group that we can push things through. The Mayor also mentioned that if progress is too slow he will simply go to the press with the story. Good stuff from our point of view.
I was quite happy with our day and ready to head back to the office and discuss plans and so forth. However, the head of the Educatodos group told us that we were going to see a school run by them. Manuel, Chepe and I hopped in the van and headed off. It was after 4:00 by this time and it gets dark by 5:30 so this seemed rather brave to me. It turned out that it was very brave. We drove for an hour and the road became progressively narrower, rougher and steeper. Rule number one when driving up strange roads: Never go up a track you are not prepared to back down. The van finally came to a patch that was too steep and muddy to navigate and so we backed down for an anxious few minutes till a spot to turn around was located. For our Tegucigalpa, city friends, it was feeling very remote. Even cell phone coverage was missing. Turns out we were only about fifteen kilometres from the main road. We back tracked to a fork in the road to find an alternative route. Looking down from the fork, the road looked much too iffy to try. Fortunately, cell phone coverage was available and our guide made a quick call and in about three minutes a four wheel drive pickup appeared. We climbed in and headed up and away.
Just at dusk, we arrived at the school. The lights were on and everybody was at home. Fifteen students sat in chairs listening to lecture notes from two foot high speakers in a 6 M x 5 M room. Another four sat around a table studying their books. This turned out to be a group of Grade Seven students and the smaller group of Grade Eight students. The building turned out to be a Synagogue belonging to a group of Messianic Jewish believers. In accordance with Leviticus 19.27, the leaders had long beards. A couple of the other men had short beards so I felt right at home. One of the members spoke very good English and so we got some of the background. An amazing group of people who are working together to make a life for themselves and their children. They are doing well in many ways because of their cooperation with each other. It was fun to talk with people who are full of ideas and knowledge of things they have tried or heard about.
We watched the school for an hour or so, meandering in and out at times to continue conversations with the men outside. It is of course, very dark by this time and I know that a return trip has to be made. All public transport shuts down at about 8:00 p.m. so I wasn’t sure where I might spend the night. The coffee cups arrived and, shortly, the coffee appeared. The students around the tables got up and chairs were set up for the guests. However, it was first time for introductions and welcoming speeches. Everyone was, thankfully, brief. The leader of the synagogue was very grateful for the educational opportunity provided by the Educatodos program. He was quite emotional about it and, at a loss for words, he turned to one of the Shofar horns (go to II Samuel 6.15 for one description – a one metre long, twisted wild goat or kudu horn) and blew it. It was amazing. He was extremely proficient and it was very moving to listen to. I have never heard a Shofar horn played with any skill so this was beautiful.
Students were dismissed and there were enough chairs for us all to sit down and enjoy sweetened home grown and roasted coffee with fresh hot milk. Lovely. After an appropriate amount of time, we stood up to go to the truck. We all made it outside when it was announced that cuajada was on its way. All the Hondurans were excited about the prospect of home made cuajada. Cuajada is a type of soft, fedha cheese. Sure enough, plates, utensils and platters with refried beans, thick cream, scrambled eggs and balls of cuajada appeared. We trooped back in and sat down. By this time we wondered if we would be staying for breakfast as well. This feeling was even stronger when, as we stood up after the meal and the pitchers of spring fed water appeared. We sat down again and enjoyed the water.
Back up and ready to leave. Fortunately, all was not finished. The leader wanted to send us off with a blessing. So, the cantor donned his prayer shawl, rubbed his hands with scented oil, a CD of Hebrew singing was turned on and the prayer began. The prayer was in Spanish so only the background singing was in Hebrew. Part way through, the shofar was played as an accompaniment to the music. Again, very well done musically. Prayer over, we all shook hands, received a blessing and were out the door for the last time.
As we drove away, the young people sent us off with echoing sounds of the Shofar following us. Clear skies allowed us to enjoy the stars and the night flowers perfumed our way. We arrived back in Santa Cruz at 10:00 p.m. The people in the van still had another two hours to get to San Pedro Sula so they will be well tired and travelled today.
I find it so heart warming whenever I am able to participate in worship traditions that stretch across geographical and historical boundaries. What a lovely Advent touch to hear the same sounds that were part of Jesus’ growing up. Each Friday and Saturday evening at sundown He would have heard the Shofar calling out the Sabbath. At festivals and celebrations the same sound would have filled the streets of His village. No doubt, during triumphal entry into Jerusalem there were more than one Shofar horns being blown. And, quite likely, that was one of the sounds heard as the disciples carried Christ’s body to the tomb.
Bryan
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Ready and Waiting – Dec. 18
Good news. The delegation coming to visit us phoned and said they were leaving Tegucigalpa. Phew. I had worried that they would cancel the visit. Bad news. They phoned after 8:00 a.m. But, they should be here in an hour or so.
All of the CPI Honduras Board showed up this morning and are waiting with us. The two boys working on the yard continue apace. Today they are digging up two permanent beds. When they finish those they will cut some grass and other biomass to finish filling the banana circles that we laid out. Yesterday the yard was cleaned, the last of the shrubs planted, Moringa seeds planted and yard raked and stones picked up. It looks like a yard now and not a derelict post-construction site. Two days of light evening rains and cloudy days have meant ideal planting conditions. The shrubs planted on Monday are already sending out new leaves.
The tables arrived from the carpenter at 1:00 p.m. yesterday. Wow. The same day they were scheduled to arrive. They look wonderful. A little tall but that is nothing that a hacksaw can’t remedy. Our carpenter is proving to be an excellent workman. It is such a pleasure to have an idea translated through an interpreter and scratch drawings turn into something workable. Often, the only person who has ever seen such a thing is me so it is a stretch for everyone else involved.
We took a trip to the local material shop and got some lovely tablecloth material which features bold green squares alternating with squares of sunflowers and a boarder of sunflowers. Bright and cheery. Hopefully it will look as nice in a year. Jessica, one of our future Grade 8 students who is also a teacher in the Grade 1-6 Educatodos Progam, took the cloths home to hem them. We spread them this morning, lifting and moving the computers to squeeze the cloth underneath.
With tables and computers all organized, the place looks like a real office/tutorial centre. The activity has caused lots of comments in the community and I notice passersby slowing to read the sign and, if I am outside, ask questions. For our dignitaries, we first thought of having them plant a shrub. Well, I miscounted numbers and had planted too many of the shrubs before recounting. So, we went to Plan B. We bought 5 flowerpots and filled them with dirt. Then, with each pot, the dignitary will receive a packet of four Moringa seeds and a beribboned document that outlines some of the qualities of the plant. All are pleased with Plan B so that is a relief. I went down to the material to shop to buy the ribbon this morning.
As I write, the first students are having an introduction to computers lesson. How to turn it on and find the typing program are first lessons. Will see how it is going in a few minutes. It is rather intimidating for them to have me towering behind them.
Lunch is here for the guests. Not sure what it is going to be but I am sure the ladies will do us proud. We had a mid morning snack – white buns with heavy cream. Cream is used as a substitute for butter and the same word is used for both. Confusing to someone like me. One of the things about English is how very precise we are with hundreds of extra words for everything from unbred female pigs to a zillion kinds of cheese. Often that same precision exists in other languages but in areas that we are unfamiliar with (Inuit words to describe ice and snow for example).
Tried to do some emergency repairs on the toilet this morning. Sigh. One never knows when you will hit the wall of the last plumber’s lack of experience, lack of parts or lack of will. The good news is that nothing is broken and water is not flooding any part of the bathroom. The bad news is that we will have to rely on buckets for flushing. The good news is that our pila out back is full of clean water. And, there is no doubt that every one of our visitors will be able to handle the system with experience.
Last night, as I sat having baleadas, everyone in the restaurant, including the owner, started hustling out to the street. Not to be outdone, I followed. The excitement was over when I got there. Evidently, up the hill a ways, two electrical wires were shorting and causing an impromptu display of fireworks. The owner looked at me, grinned, shrugged his shoulders and said, “This is Honduras.”
Because we have computers here in the office, it was felt that we need a guard at night. Julia found a young man named Harrison to come and sleep in the office. I gave him my foam mattress and he slept here. I noticed that he had slept with a machete beside him – it was still on the floor this morning. I guess that there is a drug addict who hangs out in the empty lot beside us some nights.
Finished the requirements for my bank account this morning. The forged signature passed muster and the stamp we had made did the trick. The lady was happy with the document and returned my cheery “Merry Christmas” with a will. Manuel’s question was, “Why did the documents we made work here and not for me at my bank?” He will try another bank. Sigh.
I notice that more and more things from my kitchen are appearing here. It will be a challenge to get them all back to my place once the festivities are done. I wonder what my place is looking like. With all the strange ladies going in and out of my apartment, I hope that the neighbours don’t start too many stories. Men might be coming to me for advice. What a waste of their time that would be.
Time to check on the classes.
Bryan
All of the CPI Honduras Board showed up this morning and are waiting with us. The two boys working on the yard continue apace. Today they are digging up two permanent beds. When they finish those they will cut some grass and other biomass to finish filling the banana circles that we laid out. Yesterday the yard was cleaned, the last of the shrubs planted, Moringa seeds planted and yard raked and stones picked up. It looks like a yard now and not a derelict post-construction site. Two days of light evening rains and cloudy days have meant ideal planting conditions. The shrubs planted on Monday are already sending out new leaves.
The tables arrived from the carpenter at 1:00 p.m. yesterday. Wow. The same day they were scheduled to arrive. They look wonderful. A little tall but that is nothing that a hacksaw can’t remedy. Our carpenter is proving to be an excellent workman. It is such a pleasure to have an idea translated through an interpreter and scratch drawings turn into something workable. Often, the only person who has ever seen such a thing is me so it is a stretch for everyone else involved.
We took a trip to the local material shop and got some lovely tablecloth material which features bold green squares alternating with squares of sunflowers and a boarder of sunflowers. Bright and cheery. Hopefully it will look as nice in a year. Jessica, one of our future Grade 8 students who is also a teacher in the Grade 1-6 Educatodos Progam, took the cloths home to hem them. We spread them this morning, lifting and moving the computers to squeeze the cloth underneath.
With tables and computers all organized, the place looks like a real office/tutorial centre. The activity has caused lots of comments in the community and I notice passersby slowing to read the sign and, if I am outside, ask questions. For our dignitaries, we first thought of having them plant a shrub. Well, I miscounted numbers and had planted too many of the shrubs before recounting. So, we went to Plan B. We bought 5 flowerpots and filled them with dirt. Then, with each pot, the dignitary will receive a packet of four Moringa seeds and a beribboned document that outlines some of the qualities of the plant. All are pleased with Plan B so that is a relief. I went down to the material to shop to buy the ribbon this morning.
As I write, the first students are having an introduction to computers lesson. How to turn it on and find the typing program are first lessons. Will see how it is going in a few minutes. It is rather intimidating for them to have me towering behind them.
Lunch is here for the guests. Not sure what it is going to be but I am sure the ladies will do us proud. We had a mid morning snack – white buns with heavy cream. Cream is used as a substitute for butter and the same word is used for both. Confusing to someone like me. One of the things about English is how very precise we are with hundreds of extra words for everything from unbred female pigs to a zillion kinds of cheese. Often that same precision exists in other languages but in areas that we are unfamiliar with (Inuit words to describe ice and snow for example).
Tried to do some emergency repairs on the toilet this morning. Sigh. One never knows when you will hit the wall of the last plumber’s lack of experience, lack of parts or lack of will. The good news is that nothing is broken and water is not flooding any part of the bathroom. The bad news is that we will have to rely on buckets for flushing. The good news is that our pila out back is full of clean water. And, there is no doubt that every one of our visitors will be able to handle the system with experience.
Last night, as I sat having baleadas, everyone in the restaurant, including the owner, started hustling out to the street. Not to be outdone, I followed. The excitement was over when I got there. Evidently, up the hill a ways, two electrical wires were shorting and causing an impromptu display of fireworks. The owner looked at me, grinned, shrugged his shoulders and said, “This is Honduras.”
Because we have computers here in the office, it was felt that we need a guard at night. Julia found a young man named Harrison to come and sleep in the office. I gave him my foam mattress and he slept here. I noticed that he had slept with a machete beside him – it was still on the floor this morning. I guess that there is a drug addict who hangs out in the empty lot beside us some nights.
Finished the requirements for my bank account this morning. The forged signature passed muster and the stamp we had made did the trick. The lady was happy with the document and returned my cheery “Merry Christmas” with a will. Manuel’s question was, “Why did the documents we made work here and not for me at my bank?” He will try another bank. Sigh.
I notice that more and more things from my kitchen are appearing here. It will be a challenge to get them all back to my place once the festivities are done. I wonder what my place is looking like. With all the strange ladies going in and out of my apartment, I hope that the neighbours don’t start too many stories. Men might be coming to me for advice. What a waste of their time that would be.
Time to check on the classes.
Bryan
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Planting Shrubs – A Form of Prayer – Dec. 16
On Thursday, a group of officials from the Educatodos Centre in Tegucigalpa are coming to tour our facility. These are the folks who own and manage the curriculum we are hoping to use for our school. The curriculum is designed for students who don’t have access to schools and regular classroom settings. This makes it ideal for our purposes. If they are happy with what they see, they have promised to give us an electronic copy of their material which would be very helpful. Currently we are starting to type all of the material so that we have our own electronic copy. If they give us the material we will be months and money ahead of the game.
In preparation for their coming we have been trying to get things spiffed up. The man I expected to come yesterday to start clearing the yard was a no show. Fortunately, one of our Board members has a son who was willing to come today. He will come again tomorrow and bring a friend to finish all the things I have in mind. The grass is now all slashed (sharpened machete in one hand and a small forked stick in the other to push back the grass as it is being cut) and in two nice piles (future sites of papaya circles – the seedlings are three weeks away from being ready for transplant). This afternoon I laid out the holes for the shrubs I bought on Sunday and started digging. The handle of the hoe (a long grubbing type hoe – I only know the Swahili term ‘Jembe’ for it) was brand new so I have some blisters to show for my efforts. Once the holes were laid out and cleared of grass, we dug the final part with a machete (in Uganda we used a spear but this works pretty good) and then began planting.
Santos, the nursery man, sent me eight varieties of shrubs so it will look very nice when they begin to fill in. The seedlings are all at least two feet tall so the already look good. I really do think that whenever you kneel to plant a tree or any plant, you are worshipping God and participating in God’s plan of beauty and plenty for all. So, a small prayer for beauty and plenty for my Honduran brothers and sisters was said today.
Yesterday, the Board of CPI Honduras met here to discuss plans and to hear about the school, etc. One of the tasks I set them was to come up with a name for the school. Now, years of fiery, hell and brimstone evangelical sermons have equipped me with an awesome ability in alliteration. So, my first thought was to have a catchy alliterated title for the school. I even went through the Spanish-English Dictionary and wrote down all the ‘E’ words that had something inspirational to go along with Escuela. Well, the words were a good starting point for discussion but the Board, not burdened with my penchant for alliteration, went in another direction. Final product, “Centro de Enseñanza Fraternidad”. Roughly translated that means, I think, Centre for Learning and Brotherhood. Not quite as catchy in English. Everyone was well pleased with their efforts.
The sign painter came yesterday to get an idea of what we wanted. He showed up today with an amazing stencil that he had crafted. It has the Honduran and Canadian flags crossed in the centre and then, in an arc over them, the schools name and in another arc, CPI Honduras underneath. It was an amazing piece of work. He taped the stencil on the side of the building and daubed away with a piece of sponge and blue, red and white paint. He fine tuned the final product with a tiny brush. Impressive.
Went to the bank this morning to get some money for all these expenses – new school tables, new medicine cabinets for village dispensaries, December salaries (in Honduras, you get 14 salaries a year – extra one in December and another in June), etc. The bank is, happily, in the bus terminal (a huge improvement from downtown). Still, a five hour journey there and back. Because it is December, the line up for the bank began gathering an hour before it opened. Fortunately, I was there fifty minutes early so was in the front part of the line. When I got to the teller, I had her update my passbook. I was disappointed to find that the money wired to my account hadn’t arrived. As I was walking out (almost to the two armed guards with metal detecting wands) I noticed that the machine had updated my book in reverse order. The money was up four lines and sort of blurred by some overlapped typing. I turned around and went to get in line again. The teller saw me though and motioned me to come back to the window where she served me as soon as she finished with the next client. We got everything sorted out and she needed only one “Dio Mio” to get the machine to finally cooperate and show us the real information.
Lots of people on the bus today so we had a choice of standing or waiting for thirty to forty minutes for the next bus. We chose standing. A small delay along the road for an accident but, thanks to being full, we didn’t have many of the normal stops and starts to pick up people. I have this feeling that the driver and turnboy keep track of the ticketed passengers but somehow get to share the monies from the unticketed passengers. So, there is that balance. They need to keep an eye on the clock so they stick to the timetable but anyone they can pick up and drop off within that window of opportunity is extra money. Not sure about that but I do have a few suspicions.
Manuel spent the afternoon loading Windows software in four computers. A couple of others wouldn’t respond so we will have to find the problem there. Come Thursday we should look very professional. The carpenter has the table tops ready and the welder has the bottoms done and being painted today. Can you believe it – two days ahead of schedule. Are we on top of things or what?
Night is falling (although not as early as for you folks up north). I do hope that the rain which Hector, my yard man for the day, said is going to fall tonight does come. It will help the transplants get established faster ... I hope.
Bryan
In preparation for their coming we have been trying to get things spiffed up. The man I expected to come yesterday to start clearing the yard was a no show. Fortunately, one of our Board members has a son who was willing to come today. He will come again tomorrow and bring a friend to finish all the things I have in mind. The grass is now all slashed (sharpened machete in one hand and a small forked stick in the other to push back the grass as it is being cut) and in two nice piles (future sites of papaya circles – the seedlings are three weeks away from being ready for transplant). This afternoon I laid out the holes for the shrubs I bought on Sunday and started digging. The handle of the hoe (a long grubbing type hoe – I only know the Swahili term ‘Jembe’ for it) was brand new so I have some blisters to show for my efforts. Once the holes were laid out and cleared of grass, we dug the final part with a machete (in Uganda we used a spear but this works pretty good) and then began planting.
Santos, the nursery man, sent me eight varieties of shrubs so it will look very nice when they begin to fill in. The seedlings are all at least two feet tall so the already look good. I really do think that whenever you kneel to plant a tree or any plant, you are worshipping God and participating in God’s plan of beauty and plenty for all. So, a small prayer for beauty and plenty for my Honduran brothers and sisters was said today.
Yesterday, the Board of CPI Honduras met here to discuss plans and to hear about the school, etc. One of the tasks I set them was to come up with a name for the school. Now, years of fiery, hell and brimstone evangelical sermons have equipped me with an awesome ability in alliteration. So, my first thought was to have a catchy alliterated title for the school. I even went through the Spanish-English Dictionary and wrote down all the ‘E’ words that had something inspirational to go along with Escuela. Well, the words were a good starting point for discussion but the Board, not burdened with my penchant for alliteration, went in another direction. Final product, “Centro de Enseñanza Fraternidad”. Roughly translated that means, I think, Centre for Learning and Brotherhood. Not quite as catchy in English. Everyone was well pleased with their efforts.
The sign painter came yesterday to get an idea of what we wanted. He showed up today with an amazing stencil that he had crafted. It has the Honduran and Canadian flags crossed in the centre and then, in an arc over them, the schools name and in another arc, CPI Honduras underneath. It was an amazing piece of work. He taped the stencil on the side of the building and daubed away with a piece of sponge and blue, red and white paint. He fine tuned the final product with a tiny brush. Impressive.
Went to the bank this morning to get some money for all these expenses – new school tables, new medicine cabinets for village dispensaries, December salaries (in Honduras, you get 14 salaries a year – extra one in December and another in June), etc. The bank is, happily, in the bus terminal (a huge improvement from downtown). Still, a five hour journey there and back. Because it is December, the line up for the bank began gathering an hour before it opened. Fortunately, I was there fifty minutes early so was in the front part of the line. When I got to the teller, I had her update my passbook. I was disappointed to find that the money wired to my account hadn’t arrived. As I was walking out (almost to the two armed guards with metal detecting wands) I noticed that the machine had updated my book in reverse order. The money was up four lines and sort of blurred by some overlapped typing. I turned around and went to get in line again. The teller saw me though and motioned me to come back to the window where she served me as soon as she finished with the next client. We got everything sorted out and she needed only one “Dio Mio” to get the machine to finally cooperate and show us the real information.
Lots of people on the bus today so we had a choice of standing or waiting for thirty to forty minutes for the next bus. We chose standing. A small delay along the road for an accident but, thanks to being full, we didn’t have many of the normal stops and starts to pick up people. I have this feeling that the driver and turnboy keep track of the ticketed passengers but somehow get to share the monies from the unticketed passengers. So, there is that balance. They need to keep an eye on the clock so they stick to the timetable but anyone they can pick up and drop off within that window of opportunity is extra money. Not sure about that but I do have a few suspicions.
Manuel spent the afternoon loading Windows software in four computers. A couple of others wouldn’t respond so we will have to find the problem there. Come Thursday we should look very professional. The carpenter has the table tops ready and the welder has the bottoms done and being painted today. Can you believe it – two days ahead of schedule. Are we on top of things or what?
Night is falling (although not as early as for you folks up north). I do hope that the rain which Hector, my yard man for the day, said is going to fall tonight does come. It will help the transplants get established faster ... I hope.
Bryan
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Sunday Afternoon – Dec. 14
Saturday turned out to be National Telethon day in Honduras. Two flat beds were set up side by side at the top of the city square and all day (until midnight) there was entertainment of one sort or another. I was able to watch some traditional and modern dancing which was well done. One of the town dogs tried to join the dancing but gave up quickly – no partner I guess. People with twenty litre plastic water jugs were wandering through town collecting money for the telethon – on behalf of handicapped people and services in Honduras. I understand that there is a wee bit of scepticism as to whether all the money ends up in the hands of handicapped service. The sponsor of the telethon also owns the TV stations and so forth that it is broadcast on. So ... is he doing it for nothing?
While standing watching them set up in the morning, one of the people I have met in the Principal’s office handed me a CD of his music group. He had told me about his music when talking in his office. I am enjoying it as I type this. The quality of music that I hear in churches and yesterday at the Telethon is quite good. A very pleasant surprise to go to church and have such a pleasant sound.
Last night was a sad evening. Marathon scored with thirty seconds left in regular time to win the championship. Next year for Reál España now. Enjoyed the game with a friend and, despite wearing my team jersey, all was in vain.
This morning dawned sunny and bright. In short order all the cold, damp days were forgotten and spirits were lifted. I went to mass and enjoyed, again, the music group. Most of the service is easy to follow but don’t ask me to interpret for you. The statutes of Mary and Joseph are out for the Advent Season. They have bars on the pedestals for carrying in procession. Not sure when that will happen. A huge nativity set takes up the left front of the church. It is still covered so don’t know how it will look until Christmas Eve???
For afternoon activity time I decided to take the rapidito down to La Barca and deliver Moringa seeds to two friends. Got to my American friend’s place (L.F. is his name – not sure about the story on that one) and we sat and chatted ideas for an hour or so before he gave me a ride to the next stop, a plant nursery run by two friends.
En route we stopped at a place that makes tables from sections of tree stumps. Some lovely wood and great ideas. The quality of the workmanship wasn’t up to snuff yet but the designs were gorgeous to look at.
At the nursery, Santos, the owner, showed me where he had planted the Stevia seeds I had dropped off on Tuesday. There were at least twenty little specks of green peeking out so I am thrilled. I promised him $0.50 apiece for seedlings so he is anxious that they grow. He obviously knows a whole lot more about starting seeds than I do because, so far, he is having great luck. Will see in time.
While there I bought about 25 seedlings for the school. With a committee of people coming to see the place on Thursday, it is time to get some work done on the yard. Have lots of things and folks lined up for the next three days – hope it all comes together. Santos gave me a good deal on the plants and on transportation so we all arrived here safely and in good shape. I have a variety of shrubs that have lovely flowers or variegated leaves.
Had hoped to work on the internet and talk on Skype but I see that the internet is not working for some reason. Sigh. But ... did I tell you ... the sun is shining.
Some people set up very intricate village scenes for Advent. There are many different tiny clay figurines that depict various activities and village people available for a reasonable price. I noticed one display from the car window. Will have to find a way to stop and see it more closely.
Well ... power is out as well.
Bryan
While standing watching them set up in the morning, one of the people I have met in the Principal’s office handed me a CD of his music group. He had told me about his music when talking in his office. I am enjoying it as I type this. The quality of music that I hear in churches and yesterday at the Telethon is quite good. A very pleasant surprise to go to church and have such a pleasant sound.
Last night was a sad evening. Marathon scored with thirty seconds left in regular time to win the championship. Next year for Reál España now. Enjoyed the game with a friend and, despite wearing my team jersey, all was in vain.
This morning dawned sunny and bright. In short order all the cold, damp days were forgotten and spirits were lifted. I went to mass and enjoyed, again, the music group. Most of the service is easy to follow but don’t ask me to interpret for you. The statutes of Mary and Joseph are out for the Advent Season. They have bars on the pedestals for carrying in procession. Not sure when that will happen. A huge nativity set takes up the left front of the church. It is still covered so don’t know how it will look until Christmas Eve???
For afternoon activity time I decided to take the rapidito down to La Barca and deliver Moringa seeds to two friends. Got to my American friend’s place (L.F. is his name – not sure about the story on that one) and we sat and chatted ideas for an hour or so before he gave me a ride to the next stop, a plant nursery run by two friends.
En route we stopped at a place that makes tables from sections of tree stumps. Some lovely wood and great ideas. The quality of the workmanship wasn’t up to snuff yet but the designs were gorgeous to look at.
At the nursery, Santos, the owner, showed me where he had planted the Stevia seeds I had dropped off on Tuesday. There were at least twenty little specks of green peeking out so I am thrilled. I promised him $0.50 apiece for seedlings so he is anxious that they grow. He obviously knows a whole lot more about starting seeds than I do because, so far, he is having great luck. Will see in time.
While there I bought about 25 seedlings for the school. With a committee of people coming to see the place on Thursday, it is time to get some work done on the yard. Have lots of things and folks lined up for the next three days – hope it all comes together. Santos gave me a good deal on the plants and on transportation so we all arrived here safely and in good shape. I have a variety of shrubs that have lovely flowers or variegated leaves.
Had hoped to work on the internet and talk on Skype but I see that the internet is not working for some reason. Sigh. But ... did I tell you ... the sun is shining.
Some people set up very intricate village scenes for Advent. There are many different tiny clay figurines that depict various activities and village people available for a reasonable price. I noticed one display from the car window. Will have to find a way to stop and see it more closely.
Well ... power is out as well.
Bryan
Friday, December 12, 2008
Searching for Jesus – Dec. 12
Although lacking in wisdom, sadly, I felt a bit like the wise men in the Nativity story Wednesday. In Tegucigulpa there is a statute of Christ, the Picacho Statute, that towers above the city. You can see it from miles away ... so it does exist. Our meeting was at the top of the mountain on which the Picacho Christ resides. We wanted to make sure that we saw the Christ on this trip. All the way up the mountain, curve after curve, mansion after mansion, stone wall after stone wall, we looked for signs to tell us, “Where is the Christ?”
One sign got our hopes up and we stopped to check if the Christ was nearby. Alas, they sold souvenirs of the Christ and snacks to help you on your way ... but no Christ there. We passed the entrance to a National Park, the same road as our meeting place and headed up the mountain. Near the top we stopped to ask, “Where is the Christ”. “Not here, you missed it back down the mountain.” So, back we went. Jerusalem gatherings and sage scholars had nothing more to contribute to our search. Along the final stretch to our meeting site, we asked again. “Yes, the Christ is straight ahead.” No sign of the towering statute though. Seen from miles away but not metres? There must be a lesson here somewhere.
We got out of the car and began walking. Still no sign. The road began to be bordered by hedges, green trees, benches and paved walkways. Still no sign. We burst out on the edge of the mountain and saw miles and miles of city, tracks of thousands of lives being lived in insecurity and uncertainty. Still no sign. The path seemed to end but, by walking right up to the wall, a doorway appeared. We asked a man standing by where the Christ was. “Right there.” And, passing through the doorway, there the Christ was, arms spread out above us, the city at his feet. Truly remarkable, almost missing something so obvious, so ever present, so much an integral part of the landscape.
Bethlehem means “House of Bread” or, in layman’s terms, and not as romantic sounding, “Bakery”. As we drove along, I thought of all the people involved in making a bakery a success. Not very many extraordinary, well-placed folks but, certainly, lots of ordinary people in ordinary, very commonplace jobs. The wood cutters blunting easily dulled iron axes and slivering bent handle shaped fingers; donkey drovers with dusty feet scarred from missteps on rocky trails; rope makers scything tall grasses on dried stream beds; oxen drovers yoking up patient pairs for another day of ploughing dusty seed beds; itinerant, immigrant harvesters with blackened, creased necks, bent backs and sack cloth mattress bundles; stone masons astride butt numbing blocks of uncarved millstones eyes squinting from spurting chips and quarry reflected rays; shrouded winnowers enduring the maddening barley hull itch; water carriers’ chaffing backs cool under bulging goat skins; carpenters chipping and drilling at handles, bowls, mortars and pestles; stove masons, roof thatchers, adobe brick makers and layers, cattle herders, milk maids ... oh, yes, ... finally the baker. These are who were there to welcome God to earth. These are who we need to walk with if we want to find God still.
Bryan
One sign got our hopes up and we stopped to check if the Christ was nearby. Alas, they sold souvenirs of the Christ and snacks to help you on your way ... but no Christ there. We passed the entrance to a National Park, the same road as our meeting place and headed up the mountain. Near the top we stopped to ask, “Where is the Christ”. “Not here, you missed it back down the mountain.” So, back we went. Jerusalem gatherings and sage scholars had nothing more to contribute to our search. Along the final stretch to our meeting site, we asked again. “Yes, the Christ is straight ahead.” No sign of the towering statute though. Seen from miles away but not metres? There must be a lesson here somewhere.
We got out of the car and began walking. Still no sign. The road began to be bordered by hedges, green trees, benches and paved walkways. Still no sign. We burst out on the edge of the mountain and saw miles and miles of city, tracks of thousands of lives being lived in insecurity and uncertainty. Still no sign. The path seemed to end but, by walking right up to the wall, a doorway appeared. We asked a man standing by where the Christ was. “Right there.” And, passing through the doorway, there the Christ was, arms spread out above us, the city at his feet. Truly remarkable, almost missing something so obvious, so ever present, so much an integral part of the landscape.
Bethlehem means “House of Bread” or, in layman’s terms, and not as romantic sounding, “Bakery”. As we drove along, I thought of all the people involved in making a bakery a success. Not very many extraordinary, well-placed folks but, certainly, lots of ordinary people in ordinary, very commonplace jobs. The wood cutters blunting easily dulled iron axes and slivering bent handle shaped fingers; donkey drovers with dusty feet scarred from missteps on rocky trails; rope makers scything tall grasses on dried stream beds; oxen drovers yoking up patient pairs for another day of ploughing dusty seed beds; itinerant, immigrant harvesters with blackened, creased necks, bent backs and sack cloth mattress bundles; stone masons astride butt numbing blocks of uncarved millstones eyes squinting from spurting chips and quarry reflected rays; shrouded winnowers enduring the maddening barley hull itch; water carriers’ chaffing backs cool under bulging goat skins; carpenters chipping and drilling at handles, bowls, mortars and pestles; stove masons, roof thatchers, adobe brick makers and layers, cattle herders, milk maids ... oh, yes, ... finally the baker. These are who were there to welcome God to earth. These are who we need to walk with if we want to find God still.
Bryan
Travelling to Tegucilgalpa – again - Dec. 12
Another three day trip this week. I took the slow bus to San Pedro Sula. An interesting trip, and amazingly enough, not really that much slower. Slow and steady does, in fact, do as well as stop and sprint. The slow bus features more entertainment value than the express bus. Preachers and patent medicine sellers jump on at various stops, give their spiel and then hop off at the next stop ... to be replaced by the next live advertising service. Sellers with little bags of coconut milk (complete with floating chunk of coconut meat), chocolate flavoured rice drink, oranges, water and fried plantain slices throng the bus at major intersections. The slower pace lets you see the scenery and the vultures with wings spread to catch the sun mark each spot where an unlucky dog or what not has ended its days in the ditch. You, do, of course, catch some of the smells at that speed as well.
We picked up a car in downtown San Pedro Sula and headed out. Amazingly, there was virtually no traffic and we just sailed to our first stop. We picked up Carolina and Chepe and rolled along. Travelling during daylight hours is nicer than in the dark. We were in Comayagua for supper. We were directed to the city square to find supper. A yearly fair/celebration of sorts was in progress and the city square was teeming with activity. Food sellers were selling pinchos – pieces of meat on a stick, tortillas and so forth. Mimes and clowns entertained crowds of people and hucksters were selling lights and doodads. A huge, artificial Christmas tree was set up in front of the Cathedral. For those us from historically young places like Alberta, it is so awe inspiring to be in a place which is so set in history. The Cathedral was finished in 1711 and has one of the three oldest functioning clocks in the world. The Hall of Justice on the opposite side of the square is more than a hundred years older than the cathedral.
We settled for a Chinese restaurant. Mysteries of life question. How do all Chinese restaurants manage to have food that looks and tastes exactly the same? Are there Chinese restaurant cooking factories that turn out these restaurant menus? I chuckled at the reaction of my fellow travellers. It must have been one of the first times they had met a Chinese person and they were busy commenting on the shape of eyes and so forth. One forgets that every culture finds other cultures interesting and unusual.
Travelling through the city of Tegucigalpa was much easier this time now that we have done it once before. Not a single wrong turn. That really saves a lot of time.
We met with many of the Educatodos people and had a good meeting. They were quite positive and hope to have us set up and running by February 1. We budged a bit on the date and that gives them more time. I hope it can actually happen. We will have our own stuff ready just in case. The head of the group, Esmirna, was able to chat after the meeting for awhile. She was good at using simple Spanish so I could understand and she understood my simple English. We got along just fine with a minimum of translation pauses. During my presentation, Manuel had used the word Permaculture in his translating and they hadn’t heard that word. I downloaded a copy of my book on to her computer so she can see what we are talking about. Will see. The point is that she will at least have an idea that we are somewhat knowledgeable about life in other parts of the world.
We then went to the Ministry of Education offices. That was an interesting drive. A myriad of one way streets that never seemed to quite get there. We would come to the critical street only to find it blocked by street vendors and long lines of clothes and goods. We managed to find a parking spot within a few blocks and walked the rest of the way. Then the game of musical offices began. The good news was that every office knew of our project and knew that it had been approved. So ... when can we start? Right? But, they saw our faces, knew we were working on things and that is about all we can do for now.
Rather than stopping at Comayagua for the night, we continued to Siguatepeca. Almost a mistake. Another fair was happening there the next day so all the inns were full. Joseph and Mary did not have the luxury of a car to check out hotels. Number 9 was our lucky number and we were soon registered. Because it wasn’t as close to the city centre, it was actually cheaper and nicer than the first ones we looked at. So, good deal all around. Our room had four beds set up in Snow White Dwarf fashion. In just a few minutes this sleepy miner was busy sawing shoring.
Yesterday we were up for an early breakfast – baleadas (yeah). Chepe and Carolina had a new dish to me. Fried plantains (the sugar in the fruit caramelizes during the frying process) served with heavy, salted cream and shredded cheese. Looked interesting. Will try it some time.
We stopped at a tree seed centre (always a treat for me – drool at all the neat types of trees there are to grow and utilize) and bought a package of Moringa seeds. Will try and get them distributed next week so that they are in the ground shortly. They don’t have a long shelf life so need to be planted in the next two or three weeks to have any viability.
Further down the road we stopped to check the hotel registration for some dentists coming in January. The hotel is right by Lake Yajoa and looks nice. It was super busy but Manuel got everything straightened out.
Next stop was to see a plantain plantation (sounds catchy doesn’t it?). The road looked much too difficult for our car. It was raining – gently – so we left the car on the main road and began picking our way through muddy tracks. The five minute walk (information from a local person) turned into ten. Fortunately, a man caught up with us and directed us to the house where project people lived. He was able to tell us about it at the same time as we walked.
The project leaders came to see us and showed us around some of the fields where they have planted plantains. They are doing very well and the returns from the plantains are truly amazing. A football field of plantains would give you double the salary of a teacher at a bilingual school in San Pedro Sula. They had originally started with a drip irrigation system for fertilizing the plants. There subsequent plantings didn’t have the system. Not sure that it was necessary because they weren’t using the system to water the plants. Pedro, a donkey and two barrels of liquid fertilizer could do the same thing without nearly as much maintenance.
Thoroughly soaked we got back to the car. I grabbed a dry shirt from my suitcase and Chepe and Manuel grabbed towels from theirs. The heater worked well in the car and we were warm.
After dropping off Chepe and Carolina near their homes (can’t drive to their homes in muddy weather) Manuel and I stopped at my house to change into dry things. I then took him to my favourite place, Locos Tacos, to show him the Cincronisada dish (tortillas, ham and cheese melted together). We are wondering about using local dishes for the dental group when they come so that they have a variety of tasty, simple local food. Manuel thought that this would fit the bill nicely.
Back to San Pedro Sula in plenty of time to return the car. It turned out to be even cheaper than expected – good news. Then rapito and bus back to Santa Cruz. My special bus, Divine Women, was ready to take me home. The rain meant fewer passengers so fewer stops. One of the passengers was a young man who is semi-paralyzed. School buses are not user friendly for people like him. But, the turnboy picked him up and made sure he was comfortable and secure in a seat (of course, are you ever comfortable in a school bus seat?). At the stop, they hustled out, got the wheelchair ready and then came in and carried him off and got him seated safely. When you see the way in which the turnboys shout and abuse passengers it is such an pleasant surprise to see the way in which the have such careful consideration for those who really need it.
Heavy rain after I arrived home so it was nice to sit and listen to it on the tin roof. Still raining the next day and so cold and damp. But ... electricity is own, internet is working and the room is dry. Great stuff.
Bryan
We picked up a car in downtown San Pedro Sula and headed out. Amazingly, there was virtually no traffic and we just sailed to our first stop. We picked up Carolina and Chepe and rolled along. Travelling during daylight hours is nicer than in the dark. We were in Comayagua for supper. We were directed to the city square to find supper. A yearly fair/celebration of sorts was in progress and the city square was teeming with activity. Food sellers were selling pinchos – pieces of meat on a stick, tortillas and so forth. Mimes and clowns entertained crowds of people and hucksters were selling lights and doodads. A huge, artificial Christmas tree was set up in front of the Cathedral. For those us from historically young places like Alberta, it is so awe inspiring to be in a place which is so set in history. The Cathedral was finished in 1711 and has one of the three oldest functioning clocks in the world. The Hall of Justice on the opposite side of the square is more than a hundred years older than the cathedral.
We settled for a Chinese restaurant. Mysteries of life question. How do all Chinese restaurants manage to have food that looks and tastes exactly the same? Are there Chinese restaurant cooking factories that turn out these restaurant menus? I chuckled at the reaction of my fellow travellers. It must have been one of the first times they had met a Chinese person and they were busy commenting on the shape of eyes and so forth. One forgets that every culture finds other cultures interesting and unusual.
Travelling through the city of Tegucigalpa was much easier this time now that we have done it once before. Not a single wrong turn. That really saves a lot of time.
We met with many of the Educatodos people and had a good meeting. They were quite positive and hope to have us set up and running by February 1. We budged a bit on the date and that gives them more time. I hope it can actually happen. We will have our own stuff ready just in case. The head of the group, Esmirna, was able to chat after the meeting for awhile. She was good at using simple Spanish so I could understand and she understood my simple English. We got along just fine with a minimum of translation pauses. During my presentation, Manuel had used the word Permaculture in his translating and they hadn’t heard that word. I downloaded a copy of my book on to her computer so she can see what we are talking about. Will see. The point is that she will at least have an idea that we are somewhat knowledgeable about life in other parts of the world.
We then went to the Ministry of Education offices. That was an interesting drive. A myriad of one way streets that never seemed to quite get there. We would come to the critical street only to find it blocked by street vendors and long lines of clothes and goods. We managed to find a parking spot within a few blocks and walked the rest of the way. Then the game of musical offices began. The good news was that every office knew of our project and knew that it had been approved. So ... when can we start? Right? But, they saw our faces, knew we were working on things and that is about all we can do for now.
Rather than stopping at Comayagua for the night, we continued to Siguatepeca. Almost a mistake. Another fair was happening there the next day so all the inns were full. Joseph and Mary did not have the luxury of a car to check out hotels. Number 9 was our lucky number and we were soon registered. Because it wasn’t as close to the city centre, it was actually cheaper and nicer than the first ones we looked at. So, good deal all around. Our room had four beds set up in Snow White Dwarf fashion. In just a few minutes this sleepy miner was busy sawing shoring.
Yesterday we were up for an early breakfast – baleadas (yeah). Chepe and Carolina had a new dish to me. Fried plantains (the sugar in the fruit caramelizes during the frying process) served with heavy, salted cream and shredded cheese. Looked interesting. Will try it some time.
We stopped at a tree seed centre (always a treat for me – drool at all the neat types of trees there are to grow and utilize) and bought a package of Moringa seeds. Will try and get them distributed next week so that they are in the ground shortly. They don’t have a long shelf life so need to be planted in the next two or three weeks to have any viability.
Further down the road we stopped to check the hotel registration for some dentists coming in January. The hotel is right by Lake Yajoa and looks nice. It was super busy but Manuel got everything straightened out.
Next stop was to see a plantain plantation (sounds catchy doesn’t it?). The road looked much too difficult for our car. It was raining – gently – so we left the car on the main road and began picking our way through muddy tracks. The five minute walk (information from a local person) turned into ten. Fortunately, a man caught up with us and directed us to the house where project people lived. He was able to tell us about it at the same time as we walked.
The project leaders came to see us and showed us around some of the fields where they have planted plantains. They are doing very well and the returns from the plantains are truly amazing. A football field of plantains would give you double the salary of a teacher at a bilingual school in San Pedro Sula. They had originally started with a drip irrigation system for fertilizing the plants. There subsequent plantings didn’t have the system. Not sure that it was necessary because they weren’t using the system to water the plants. Pedro, a donkey and two barrels of liquid fertilizer could do the same thing without nearly as much maintenance.
Thoroughly soaked we got back to the car. I grabbed a dry shirt from my suitcase and Chepe and Manuel grabbed towels from theirs. The heater worked well in the car and we were warm.
After dropping off Chepe and Carolina near their homes (can’t drive to their homes in muddy weather) Manuel and I stopped at my house to change into dry things. I then took him to my favourite place, Locos Tacos, to show him the Cincronisada dish (tortillas, ham and cheese melted together). We are wondering about using local dishes for the dental group when they come so that they have a variety of tasty, simple local food. Manuel thought that this would fit the bill nicely.
Back to San Pedro Sula in plenty of time to return the car. It turned out to be even cheaper than expected – good news. Then rapito and bus back to Santa Cruz. My special bus, Divine Women, was ready to take me home. The rain meant fewer passengers so fewer stops. One of the passengers was a young man who is semi-paralyzed. School buses are not user friendly for people like him. But, the turnboy picked him up and made sure he was comfortable and secure in a seat (of course, are you ever comfortable in a school bus seat?). At the stop, they hustled out, got the wheelchair ready and then came in and carried him off and got him seated safely. When you see the way in which the turnboys shout and abuse passengers it is such an pleasant surprise to see the way in which the have such careful consideration for those who really need it.
Heavy rain after I arrived home so it was nice to sit and listen to it on the tin roof. Still raining the next day and so cold and damp. But ... electricity is own, internet is working and the room is dry. Great stuff.
Bryan
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Tegucigulpa – You Can Get There From Here ... Well ... Sort Of – Dec. 6
Only 500 kilometres round trip. It can’t be all that hard ... can it? And, on top of that, we are talking about the main artery in the country. All paved.
I am sure that you have asked for directions at some time in your life and been given the answer, “You can’t get there from here.” Well, I felt like that a few times in the last couple of days.
Wednesday, we went to the AVIS office in downtown SPS and reserved a car for the next day. Easy. The girl behind the desk spoke very good English so all was in good shape.
Thursday. Left Santa Cruz at 1.00 p.m. so that I would be sure to get to the office before it closed at 5.30. The bus ride was incredibly short. Not too many people to pick up and drop off. Made it downtown with time to spare. Went to Guamalito Market (a large craft market in one half and a few aisles of tortilla makers in the other half). Went up and down to each shop seeing what is new and different and what might make a good Christmas present. Didn’t spend any money there but had a lovely time.
Walked back the kilometre to the Rental Office and was in time to check out the little car. That was good news as we were scheduled to have to take a pick up. Cheaper and more fuel efficient. Great.
After checkout – a lengthy procedure of going over every square inch to make sure that all current damages are accounted for (I find that nerve wracking because ... “What if I miss something?”) – I adjusted the seat, mirrors and steering wheel and headed out into traffic. Missed one turn – followed the sign but found out there wasn’t a second one pointing to the Airport turn off – and so took the long route to Manuel’s house.
Stefan and Manuel were ready to go and we headed to Santa Cruz. The idea was to get an early start on Friday morning. We were in S.C. by 8:00 p.m., had a supper of baleadas and came to my apartment for the night. By spreading out the top mattress, the foamy and the box spring, we all had a place to sleep. My box spring is a bit more box than spring but it didn’t take long to find the right place to lay.
Manuel’s alarm went off at 3:50 a.m. so we were up, got bathed and dressed, had a drink of hot ice tea and were out the door by 4:40. It was foggy on the roads but there was not much traffic. We were ready to pick up Chepe at his stop by 5:00 a.m. He wasn’t there as we had said 5:15. A quick phone call and he appeared in a few minutes.
The road to Tegucigulpa is twisting and turning with about ten different small mountains to wend up and down. The big trucks that carry containers from the port use this route as well as the gaudily painted wooden sided trucks piled high with oranges, bananas and sacks of maize and beans. Long lines of traffic collect behind these vehicles in the steep parts and then the challenge of passing them begins.
We covered the first 100 km in just over two hours and stopped for breakfast. The roadside cafe had breakfast all ready in warming pans and so we quickly got beans, scrambled omelette with tomatoes and peppers, a slice of ricotta type cheese, a big scoop of butter (to go with the beans – new one for me) and a few tortillas. Fresh orange juice and it was all there.
With only seventy km or so to go, I was cheerful about the rest of the trip. The approach to the city was uneventful and we were ready to tackle the ring road – map in hand. Alas. The ring road has three sections, each with a different name. However, none of those three names from our map appeared on the green signboards at each exit. Manuel did a masterful job of trying to spot anything alongside the road that would give us clues as to where we were on the map. Despite that, we took three wrong exits and had to do some inventive turning to get back on track. Asking taxi drivers wasn’t always that useful as they tend to stick to one route and ply that route without ever really knowing the rest of the city. As well, most people standing by the road don’t drive so only know which bus to take.
We got to the bottom of the high hill (mountain) and began the climb up to the office where our meeting was. There is a large Christ figure on the mountain – we’ll stop for the photo next time – but we missed that turn off. With fifteen minutes to spare we made it to the office. 4.5 hours for 200 km. Don’t do the math. It’s too discouraging.
After a productive meeting we wound our way back down the hill. We caught up with a flat bed carrying an old box from a big semi. It hung out over the back at an angle and, regularly, a young man with a wooden stick had to carefully lift the electrical and telephone wires that swooped over the road. I got by them as quickly as possible – didn’t want to be behind the fireworks.
We went in to the city centre to look for a GPS unit. The streets are narrow and shops crowd the narrow sidewalks. Traffic is one way and moves at a snail’s pace. Again, the street signs – painted, sometimes, on corner buildings, did not correlate with our map (who drew the thing?). Despite that, Manuel and Chepe found the store we were looking for. Amazing.
We almost stopped for lunch at one street because we could see a small truck on fire and it looked like reasonable entertainment. Certainly the stores were emptying out with customers carrying plates to enjoy the free road show.
Getting out of the city was only fraught with one wrong turn off – 25 minutes of stop and go traffic to get back the four blocks. The double negative in English gets in the way when you are trying to communicate and translate at the same time as drive in heavy traffic in a strange city. Sigh. Good news – no bumps – the really important thing.
Supper/lunch was along the road again. We left Comayagua just as dusk settled and, unfortunately, the rain began. Fortunately, it was only a light rain but it still slowed things down considerably. The car had to be back before 10 p.m. at the airport in San Pedro Sula and I kept doing the math in my head and it got progressively tighter as we crept along at 30-40 km/hour. Occasionally we would break through and have a mind boggling stretch of 60-70 km and my hopes would soar. The first 100 km section after supper was not well marked so it was a challenge to see the road when meeting traffic. What a relief to hit the well marked section close to the Santa Cruz area. Traffic picked up and the clock slowed down. We dropped Chepe off and headed for the last 80 km. There are two routes into SPS and we took the one that is a bit longer but has no traffic. Phew. We buzzed along and were at the airport with plenty of time to spare.
The lady at the airport was nice but was going to charge me for an extra day because I was two hours too late. I had told the office that I would be late and nothing had been mentioned then. With some pleading the lady just put down that the car had arrived at 6:00 p.m. and all was well. Phew.
We took a taxi to Manuel’s house and within ten minutes I was asleep on a mattress in the living room. At 6:30 a.m I was on my way for the final leg – rapiditos and bus back to S.C. Home with hot chocolate in hand by 10:00 a.m.
You can get there from here.
Bryan
I am sure that you have asked for directions at some time in your life and been given the answer, “You can’t get there from here.” Well, I felt like that a few times in the last couple of days.
Wednesday, we went to the AVIS office in downtown SPS and reserved a car for the next day. Easy. The girl behind the desk spoke very good English so all was in good shape.
Thursday. Left Santa Cruz at 1.00 p.m. so that I would be sure to get to the office before it closed at 5.30. The bus ride was incredibly short. Not too many people to pick up and drop off. Made it downtown with time to spare. Went to Guamalito Market (a large craft market in one half and a few aisles of tortilla makers in the other half). Went up and down to each shop seeing what is new and different and what might make a good Christmas present. Didn’t spend any money there but had a lovely time.
Walked back the kilometre to the Rental Office and was in time to check out the little car. That was good news as we were scheduled to have to take a pick up. Cheaper and more fuel efficient. Great.
After checkout – a lengthy procedure of going over every square inch to make sure that all current damages are accounted for (I find that nerve wracking because ... “What if I miss something?”) – I adjusted the seat, mirrors and steering wheel and headed out into traffic. Missed one turn – followed the sign but found out there wasn’t a second one pointing to the Airport turn off – and so took the long route to Manuel’s house.
Stefan and Manuel were ready to go and we headed to Santa Cruz. The idea was to get an early start on Friday morning. We were in S.C. by 8:00 p.m., had a supper of baleadas and came to my apartment for the night. By spreading out the top mattress, the foamy and the box spring, we all had a place to sleep. My box spring is a bit more box than spring but it didn’t take long to find the right place to lay.
Manuel’s alarm went off at 3:50 a.m. so we were up, got bathed and dressed, had a drink of hot ice tea and were out the door by 4:40. It was foggy on the roads but there was not much traffic. We were ready to pick up Chepe at his stop by 5:00 a.m. He wasn’t there as we had said 5:15. A quick phone call and he appeared in a few minutes.
The road to Tegucigulpa is twisting and turning with about ten different small mountains to wend up and down. The big trucks that carry containers from the port use this route as well as the gaudily painted wooden sided trucks piled high with oranges, bananas and sacks of maize and beans. Long lines of traffic collect behind these vehicles in the steep parts and then the challenge of passing them begins.
We covered the first 100 km in just over two hours and stopped for breakfast. The roadside cafe had breakfast all ready in warming pans and so we quickly got beans, scrambled omelette with tomatoes and peppers, a slice of ricotta type cheese, a big scoop of butter (to go with the beans – new one for me) and a few tortillas. Fresh orange juice and it was all there.
With only seventy km or so to go, I was cheerful about the rest of the trip. The approach to the city was uneventful and we were ready to tackle the ring road – map in hand. Alas. The ring road has three sections, each with a different name. However, none of those three names from our map appeared on the green signboards at each exit. Manuel did a masterful job of trying to spot anything alongside the road that would give us clues as to where we were on the map. Despite that, we took three wrong exits and had to do some inventive turning to get back on track. Asking taxi drivers wasn’t always that useful as they tend to stick to one route and ply that route without ever really knowing the rest of the city. As well, most people standing by the road don’t drive so only know which bus to take.
We got to the bottom of the high hill (mountain) and began the climb up to the office where our meeting was. There is a large Christ figure on the mountain – we’ll stop for the photo next time – but we missed that turn off. With fifteen minutes to spare we made it to the office. 4.5 hours for 200 km. Don’t do the math. It’s too discouraging.
After a productive meeting we wound our way back down the hill. We caught up with a flat bed carrying an old box from a big semi. It hung out over the back at an angle and, regularly, a young man with a wooden stick had to carefully lift the electrical and telephone wires that swooped over the road. I got by them as quickly as possible – didn’t want to be behind the fireworks.
We went in to the city centre to look for a GPS unit. The streets are narrow and shops crowd the narrow sidewalks. Traffic is one way and moves at a snail’s pace. Again, the street signs – painted, sometimes, on corner buildings, did not correlate with our map (who drew the thing?). Despite that, Manuel and Chepe found the store we were looking for. Amazing.
We almost stopped for lunch at one street because we could see a small truck on fire and it looked like reasonable entertainment. Certainly the stores were emptying out with customers carrying plates to enjoy the free road show.
Getting out of the city was only fraught with one wrong turn off – 25 minutes of stop and go traffic to get back the four blocks. The double negative in English gets in the way when you are trying to communicate and translate at the same time as drive in heavy traffic in a strange city. Sigh. Good news – no bumps – the really important thing.
Supper/lunch was along the road again. We left Comayagua just as dusk settled and, unfortunately, the rain began. Fortunately, it was only a light rain but it still slowed things down considerably. The car had to be back before 10 p.m. at the airport in San Pedro Sula and I kept doing the math in my head and it got progressively tighter as we crept along at 30-40 km/hour. Occasionally we would break through and have a mind boggling stretch of 60-70 km and my hopes would soar. The first 100 km section after supper was not well marked so it was a challenge to see the road when meeting traffic. What a relief to hit the well marked section close to the Santa Cruz area. Traffic picked up and the clock slowed down. We dropped Chepe off and headed for the last 80 km. There are two routes into SPS and we took the one that is a bit longer but has no traffic. Phew. We buzzed along and were at the airport with plenty of time to spare.
The lady at the airport was nice but was going to charge me for an extra day because I was two hours too late. I had told the office that I would be late and nothing had been mentioned then. With some pleading the lady just put down that the car had arrived at 6:00 p.m. and all was well. Phew.
We took a taxi to Manuel’s house and within ten minutes I was asleep on a mattress in the living room. At 6:30 a.m I was on my way for the final leg – rapiditos and bus back to S.C. Home with hot chocolate in hand by 10:00 a.m.
You can get there from here.
Bryan
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Merry Christmas - Oh Sorry – No Salary Till January – Dec. 2
Another couple of days of trudging from office to office to continue to get things in place for our school project. Yesterday, on my fourth try (Manuel’s umpteenth), we found the Educatodos people in their office. Well ... 2 out of 3. They were warm and welcoming and we chatted for an hour. Once again we our project was welcomed as they have been getting requests from the Maquilas (Sweatshops) for some such type of program for their workers and recruits.
We had hoped to walk out with a hard copy set of books, CD’s and tests for all three Grades. Whoa, Bryan, just how fast do you want to move here? They went and got a set of Grade Seven material for us to see and touch. But not take. Evidently there have been serious problems in the past with finances and inventory. So, new, strict rules in place. And an easy, one, two, three ... twenty step process to follow.
We were to go to Santa Cruz and talk with the head of the Educatodos program in Santa Cruz (they kindly gave us her name and number). She would give us a form that allowed us to be deemed a facilitator and, thus, eligible to receive a set of books. With that, we would go to a bank and deposit in the Educatodos account the purchase price. With that receipt attached to the form we could then return to the office in SPS and they could process the request. Of course, not all of the set might be in San Pedro Sula. If not, the rest could be obtained in Tegucigalpa. All these steps, of course, assume that the people will be in the office.
We began the process today. Wonder of wonders, the lady was in the office and most willing to help us out. She gave us the bank number and we hurried off to the bank here in Santa Cruz. Twenty short minutes later we were through the line up and had the money deposited and the form filled out in triplicate, signed and our copy in hand. Back to office A where the lady said that she was headed to San Pedro Sula and would pick up the materials for us. Wow. Go directly to Go and collect $200.00.
We celebrated with smoked/barbecued chicken at a local restaurant. Rather delicious meat.
This afternoon we went to the City Hall to try and get a letter of introduction to the department of Health in the area. All officials involved were out. Still batting over .500 so not to worry. While there, I met Oscar, my English speaking friend. He told me he was hoping they would get paid today so that he could buy a birthday present for his daughter who turns five tomorrow. After seeing Manuel off on the bus (we chased the bus for five blocks and, then, a bicyclist passing by saw our dilemma and sped ahead to alert the driver), I returned to Oscar’s office with a gift for his daughter. The office was in a sombre mood. Not only was the pay not arriving today, it was likely being postponed until January. The City Hall is out of money and so, minor things like City Hall worker salaries just have to be put on hold. What amazes me is that these employees continue to come to work, continue to serve the public in a reasonable fashion and continue to be civil and helpful. What a way to live.
Tonight is Game 2 of the Reál España vs Olímpia Semi-final. So, off to my favourite place to game watch – Locos Tacos. Viva Reál España!!!
Bryan
We had hoped to walk out with a hard copy set of books, CD’s and tests for all three Grades. Whoa, Bryan, just how fast do you want to move here? They went and got a set of Grade Seven material for us to see and touch. But not take. Evidently there have been serious problems in the past with finances and inventory. So, new, strict rules in place. And an easy, one, two, three ... twenty step process to follow.
We were to go to Santa Cruz and talk with the head of the Educatodos program in Santa Cruz (they kindly gave us her name and number). She would give us a form that allowed us to be deemed a facilitator and, thus, eligible to receive a set of books. With that, we would go to a bank and deposit in the Educatodos account the purchase price. With that receipt attached to the form we could then return to the office in SPS and they could process the request. Of course, not all of the set might be in San Pedro Sula. If not, the rest could be obtained in Tegucigalpa. All these steps, of course, assume that the people will be in the office.
We began the process today. Wonder of wonders, the lady was in the office and most willing to help us out. She gave us the bank number and we hurried off to the bank here in Santa Cruz. Twenty short minutes later we were through the line up and had the money deposited and the form filled out in triplicate, signed and our copy in hand. Back to office A where the lady said that she was headed to San Pedro Sula and would pick up the materials for us. Wow. Go directly to Go and collect $200.00.
We celebrated with smoked/barbecued chicken at a local restaurant. Rather delicious meat.
This afternoon we went to the City Hall to try and get a letter of introduction to the department of Health in the area. All officials involved were out. Still batting over .500 so not to worry. While there, I met Oscar, my English speaking friend. He told me he was hoping they would get paid today so that he could buy a birthday present for his daughter who turns five tomorrow. After seeing Manuel off on the bus (we chased the bus for five blocks and, then, a bicyclist passing by saw our dilemma and sped ahead to alert the driver), I returned to Oscar’s office with a gift for his daughter. The office was in a sombre mood. Not only was the pay not arriving today, it was likely being postponed until January. The City Hall is out of money and so, minor things like City Hall worker salaries just have to be put on hold. What amazes me is that these employees continue to come to work, continue to serve the public in a reasonable fashion and continue to be civil and helpful. What a way to live.
Tonight is Game 2 of the Reál España vs Olímpia Semi-final. So, off to my favourite place to game watch – Locos Tacos. Viva Reál España!!!
Bryan
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Graduation Party and Land Hunting – Nov. 30
Saturday morning and I was at the City Hall by 8.00 a.m. ready to go look at a piece of property for sale. Five of us piled into a double cab pick up and headed off. The trip was 24 kilometres but took us 45 minutes. The road wasn’t too bad and, despite a long bout of rainy weather, was in good shape. The gravel section is, evidently, worked on once a year by the district. It is the only route to a village on the far side of a large lake that has been created by a dam used for hydro-electric production.
We were a fair bit higher than Santa Cruz and the hills and valleys looked much like a greener version of the B.C. interior. Hills were covered with thickly scattered pine trees and each fold was lush with a great abundance of trees. By the time we could see the lake, the population had dwindled to just the odd house every kilometre or so.
The lake is gorgeous and the land we were looking at had a number of lovely viewpoints. One section of the land is almost touching the lake but we didn’t have time to hike all the way there. As it was, we hiked up and down and around looking at nooks and crannies, springs, streams, small valleys, tree covered hillsides and odd little pathways. It really was a spectacular place. It is hard to believe how quickly the population drops off away from the major arteries.
En route to the property we passed a checkpoint manned by armed soldiers. Evidently they are posted to prevent illegal harvesting of trees. That is nice to see. I wasn’t sure about all the numbers but it seems that if you harvest a tree you must plant ten replacements. I hope that is true. It bodes well for the future.
One of the men we were with knew a great deal about the land and what would grow and so forth. He gladly pointed out the different species of trees and some of their characteristics. In one of the lower sections there was wild Honduran cilantro growing. Another spot featured liquorice.
The altitude ensured a relatively cool atmosphere, despite the sunshine. Nevertheless, we were well warmed up by the end of three hours hiking. A small spring helped cool us down as we headed back to the truck.
Coming out of the property we came across another vehicle that was trying to carry fence posts up to a corner of their pasture. It had gotten well and truly stuck. After fifteen minutes, unloading the posts and well splattered jeans, the truck was out of the mud and we were back on our way.
We arrived back in Santa Cruz at close to one o’clock. That was when the sixth grade graduation I was to attend was scheduled to begin. Well, I hurried home, had a shower (the water was running thankfully) changed clothes and headed back to the town square to catch a rapidito to the village turn off. Well, the election is scheduled for today and already police and army had moved in to ensure stability (???) and so the collectivos had disappeared. I didn’t have enough Spanish to inquire where they might have gone. Fortunately, I spotted a van that had the names of villages beyond my destination and garnered a seat. There were obviously others in the same predicament as the rapidito was soon filled to African capacity.
After reaching the turn off, I walked the half mile to the hall where the graduation was to take place. I passed by a few houses and saw them decorated with balloons for their graduate. In one house I saw one of the graduates in her lovely, semi-formal blue dress still getting ready. So, even though I was 45 minutes late, I was still early. Good stuff.
At the hall, I met an American couple who have been living in the village for the last three years. We renewed acquaintance and then moved in to be seated. I found a seat but, very shortly, I was asked to move to the front of the auditorium and take a seat at the head table with the couple. Foreign dignitaries and all that. Sigh. I’ve been through that before so wasn’t too taken aback.
The 14 graduates were all dressed in light blue shirts or formal/semi-formal dresses. Obviously, a very big event in their lives. Considering that many children in Honduras do not finish Grade 6, it really is an important occasion. For the majority, there is no school for them to go to for further education. Hopefully, our project will be able to change that in a small way.
The ceremony began with the singing of the National Anthem. My theory is that, the smaller the country, the longer the anthem. Two younger girls from the school had been recruited to hold the flag so that it was fully spread out. It was a long two hours for them.
Speeches, of course, were given. When it came time to hand out the framed diplomas, each of us “dignitaries” was given one diploma. The students were called one by one and, as their name was called, they went to the back of the auditorium and were then escorted back to the front by one or two witnesses. As they went down the line of dignitaries to receive a hug or handshake, their witnesses signed the school registry to affirm that they had received their diploma. Then, the person with their diploma presented it to them and stood while pictures were taken. The student then was given a small present bag by their witness and, occasionally, by other members of the audience.
Part way through this part of the ceremony, we at the front were served with a glass of banana flavoured soda and several crackers with a dollop of jam. It is hot and thirsty work being a dignitary. For the greater part of the proceedings, I had been unofficially adopted by a small Huck Finn type. He meandered back and forth from my lap to go visit a couple of other wayfarer type onlookers and then back again a number of times. Of course, he was confident that his visits should entitle him to a share of the refreshments. One of the other people dissuaded him of that perception so I was saved from wondering what was appropriate.
Staying for the whole ceremony is not a cultural necessity. By the time the last graduate received their diploma, about half of the audience had headed outside and were on their way to various homes for food and refreshment. The applause was definitely much less enthusiastic by that time as well.
My hostess, Julia, directed me to the home of her daughter where the celebration for her grandson (son? – Spanish and whatnot making for a bit of confusion on that score) was taking place. Money had been sent by her children in the States to ensure an acceptable celebration. The home was a partly finished building with unplastered walls and gravel floors in half of it. But, tables and chairs were spread out and balloons and decorations made the place festive. We had potato salad, fried chicken and rice with vegetables followed by cake. Lovely.
As it turned twilight, I climbed the hill back to the main road and waited for a collective back to Santa Cruz.
Bryan
We were a fair bit higher than Santa Cruz and the hills and valleys looked much like a greener version of the B.C. interior. Hills were covered with thickly scattered pine trees and each fold was lush with a great abundance of trees. By the time we could see the lake, the population had dwindled to just the odd house every kilometre or so.
The lake is gorgeous and the land we were looking at had a number of lovely viewpoints. One section of the land is almost touching the lake but we didn’t have time to hike all the way there. As it was, we hiked up and down and around looking at nooks and crannies, springs, streams, small valleys, tree covered hillsides and odd little pathways. It really was a spectacular place. It is hard to believe how quickly the population drops off away from the major arteries.
En route to the property we passed a checkpoint manned by armed soldiers. Evidently they are posted to prevent illegal harvesting of trees. That is nice to see. I wasn’t sure about all the numbers but it seems that if you harvest a tree you must plant ten replacements. I hope that is true. It bodes well for the future.
One of the men we were with knew a great deal about the land and what would grow and so forth. He gladly pointed out the different species of trees and some of their characteristics. In one of the lower sections there was wild Honduran cilantro growing. Another spot featured liquorice.
The altitude ensured a relatively cool atmosphere, despite the sunshine. Nevertheless, we were well warmed up by the end of three hours hiking. A small spring helped cool us down as we headed back to the truck.
Coming out of the property we came across another vehicle that was trying to carry fence posts up to a corner of their pasture. It had gotten well and truly stuck. After fifteen minutes, unloading the posts and well splattered jeans, the truck was out of the mud and we were back on our way.
We arrived back in Santa Cruz at close to one o’clock. That was when the sixth grade graduation I was to attend was scheduled to begin. Well, I hurried home, had a shower (the water was running thankfully) changed clothes and headed back to the town square to catch a rapidito to the village turn off. Well, the election is scheduled for today and already police and army had moved in to ensure stability (???) and so the collectivos had disappeared. I didn’t have enough Spanish to inquire where they might have gone. Fortunately, I spotted a van that had the names of villages beyond my destination and garnered a seat. There were obviously others in the same predicament as the rapidito was soon filled to African capacity.
After reaching the turn off, I walked the half mile to the hall where the graduation was to take place. I passed by a few houses and saw them decorated with balloons for their graduate. In one house I saw one of the graduates in her lovely, semi-formal blue dress still getting ready. So, even though I was 45 minutes late, I was still early. Good stuff.
At the hall, I met an American couple who have been living in the village for the last three years. We renewed acquaintance and then moved in to be seated. I found a seat but, very shortly, I was asked to move to the front of the auditorium and take a seat at the head table with the couple. Foreign dignitaries and all that. Sigh. I’ve been through that before so wasn’t too taken aback.
The 14 graduates were all dressed in light blue shirts or formal/semi-formal dresses. Obviously, a very big event in their lives. Considering that many children in Honduras do not finish Grade 6, it really is an important occasion. For the majority, there is no school for them to go to for further education. Hopefully, our project will be able to change that in a small way.
The ceremony began with the singing of the National Anthem. My theory is that, the smaller the country, the longer the anthem. Two younger girls from the school had been recruited to hold the flag so that it was fully spread out. It was a long two hours for them.
Speeches, of course, were given. When it came time to hand out the framed diplomas, each of us “dignitaries” was given one diploma. The students were called one by one and, as their name was called, they went to the back of the auditorium and were then escorted back to the front by one or two witnesses. As they went down the line of dignitaries to receive a hug or handshake, their witnesses signed the school registry to affirm that they had received their diploma. Then, the person with their diploma presented it to them and stood while pictures were taken. The student then was given a small present bag by their witness and, occasionally, by other members of the audience.
Part way through this part of the ceremony, we at the front were served with a glass of banana flavoured soda and several crackers with a dollop of jam. It is hot and thirsty work being a dignitary. For the greater part of the proceedings, I had been unofficially adopted by a small Huck Finn type. He meandered back and forth from my lap to go visit a couple of other wayfarer type onlookers and then back again a number of times. Of course, he was confident that his visits should entitle him to a share of the refreshments. One of the other people dissuaded him of that perception so I was saved from wondering what was appropriate.
Staying for the whole ceremony is not a cultural necessity. By the time the last graduate received their diploma, about half of the audience had headed outside and were on their way to various homes for food and refreshment. The applause was definitely much less enthusiastic by that time as well.
My hostess, Julia, directed me to the home of her daughter where the celebration for her grandson (son? – Spanish and whatnot making for a bit of confusion on that score) was taking place. Money had been sent by her children in the States to ensure an acceptable celebration. The home was a partly finished building with unplastered walls and gravel floors in half of it. But, tables and chairs were spread out and balloons and decorations made the place festive. We had potato salad, fried chicken and rice with vegetables followed by cake. Lovely.
As it turned twilight, I climbed the hill back to the main road and waited for a collective back to Santa Cruz.
Bryan
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Soccer Semi-finals – Nov. 28
The last two nights have been the first leg matches of the semi-finals for the Honduran Soccer League. Fortunately, I have been able to watch both games on TV. The first game featured Real España vs Olímpia. I cheer for Real España so was hoping they would be able to keep to their first place ways. Now, the word is that the Honduran League has some more creative ways of winning than just what happens on the field. Evidently games that are played in Tegucigalpa, especially, are subject to some, what shall I say, pre and post game financing. Wednesday night’s game seemed to bear that out. A sure goal that was clearly okay, despite the numbers of replays I saw, was disallowed. Of course, you can guess which team it was against. Sigh. Fortunately, the team is down by only one goal coming back to their home stadium for next week’s match. The return game will be held in the smaller, Morazan stadium where fans are right on top of the players and where small inconveniences like bags of water, plastic cups of beer and long rolls of paper streamers can be launched against the opposition. I do have to figure a way to get to that game. Last night’s game was less controversial. The Tegucigalpa team scored first so that helped.
Game time snacks include Chicarron. This is deep fried pig skin. Likely not something that will appear on DQ menu boards any time soon. It is crispy and crunchy and served with little wedges of lime and pickled rings of onion. My limit is one small piece so I don’t order it. Fortunately, I was watching with a friend who let me have my one piece and happily ate the rest himself. I settled for some fried tortilla chips with avocado sauce and some pulled beef fajitas.
Yesterday we were in the local court (Justice?) office to continue the saga of ACP. They were trying to recover a truck that had been put into custody by original board members. Well, I was there as the Canadian, international observer. Sort of. Five of us crowded into the Justice’s office. The office featured the local medium size fridge status symbol and, on top, boxes of Cheerios and Fruit Loops. We spent about forty-five minutes listening to arguments and so forth. Things went well for the people I was with and some of the truth was outed. Will see what future sessions entail. Since I was just an observer, I was without translation and had to follow as best as I could. I was pleased that I followed a fair amount and that is a good sign. Now ... to learn how to reply.
In the afternoon, we had our first class sessions in our office. Chepe, Carolina and Manuel had bookkeeping lessons. Since they are all part of CPI activities in Honduras it is good that they have some inkling of how to go about the process. For Carolina, it was doubly good because I illustrated some of the stuff on my laptop and she got to see a spreadsheet for the first time. She will be taking Grade 8 in January and part of the requirements for Grade 8 in our program are being able to make a simple spreadsheet work. Carolina is a girl who has been active in adult education and in her community even though, at nineteen, she has only had a chance to take Grade 6. This year, thanks to some friends, she has been taking Grade 7. She is hoping to, eventually, get into nursing. Until this year, that was only a pipe dream but if our project gets a full set of green lights, she will have the doors opened to her. She was fun to work with as, unlike anyone else I have met, she was able to add and subtract in her head. That was exciting to see. We managed a few things and got some of the concepts across.
Financial accountability is such a huge issue here in Honduras and, in part, the total inability of the population to understand basic bookkeeping allows for incredible irregularities to take place at all levels. As we learn how to do the bookkeeping, obvious places to check and how to look for those problems will give these people a big leg up on others in understanding what is happening in their communities.
A second sunny day in a row. Even though it feels cool when it is cloudy, it only takes a few minutes of sun to warm up quickly. The humidity must be staggering as the whole earth is soaked with the rains of the last weeks.
Bryan
Game time snacks include Chicarron. This is deep fried pig skin. Likely not something that will appear on DQ menu boards any time soon. It is crispy and crunchy and served with little wedges of lime and pickled rings of onion. My limit is one small piece so I don’t order it. Fortunately, I was watching with a friend who let me have my one piece and happily ate the rest himself. I settled for some fried tortilla chips with avocado sauce and some pulled beef fajitas.
Yesterday we were in the local court (Justice?) office to continue the saga of ACP. They were trying to recover a truck that had been put into custody by original board members. Well, I was there as the Canadian, international observer. Sort of. Five of us crowded into the Justice’s office. The office featured the local medium size fridge status symbol and, on top, boxes of Cheerios and Fruit Loops. We spent about forty-five minutes listening to arguments and so forth. Things went well for the people I was with and some of the truth was outed. Will see what future sessions entail. Since I was just an observer, I was without translation and had to follow as best as I could. I was pleased that I followed a fair amount and that is a good sign. Now ... to learn how to reply.
In the afternoon, we had our first class sessions in our office. Chepe, Carolina and Manuel had bookkeeping lessons. Since they are all part of CPI activities in Honduras it is good that they have some inkling of how to go about the process. For Carolina, it was doubly good because I illustrated some of the stuff on my laptop and she got to see a spreadsheet for the first time. She will be taking Grade 8 in January and part of the requirements for Grade 8 in our program are being able to make a simple spreadsheet work. Carolina is a girl who has been active in adult education and in her community even though, at nineteen, she has only had a chance to take Grade 6. This year, thanks to some friends, she has been taking Grade 7. She is hoping to, eventually, get into nursing. Until this year, that was only a pipe dream but if our project gets a full set of green lights, she will have the doors opened to her. She was fun to work with as, unlike anyone else I have met, she was able to add and subtract in her head. That was exciting to see. We managed a few things and got some of the concepts across.
Financial accountability is such a huge issue here in Honduras and, in part, the total inability of the population to understand basic bookkeeping allows for incredible irregularities to take place at all levels. As we learn how to do the bookkeeping, obvious places to check and how to look for those problems will give these people a big leg up on others in understanding what is happening in their communities.
A second sunny day in a row. Even though it feels cool when it is cloudy, it only takes a few minutes of sun to warm up quickly. The humidity must be staggering as the whole earth is soaked with the rains of the last weeks.
Bryan
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Hen Soup – Nov. 26
Yesterday we travelled to visit some more botiquines. There were enough people that I was part of the truck box passenger section. Fortunately it did not rain during the day. Even though the people I was with are not well off, they had collected some clothing for a village en route that had been washed out by flooding a few weeks ago. It is energizing to be with people who are giving out of their own little stores without comment or braggadocio.
The scenery is gorgeous wherever I travel and there are scores of spots each day that I just want to stop and build a home at. The rains have everything growing at top speed so there are hardly any spots that have less than a dozen colours of green.
At one of the homes we stopped at, the lady talked to us about making healthy drinks from the Noni tree. This is a new tree to me but it grows quickly. She had a ten month old tree that was fruiting heavily already. It is not a tall tree and it fruits, evidently, year round. The drink is in high demand here in Honduras and fetches a very high price. The one tree had over $30.00 of fruit on it. Not sure what that translates into for juice and income potential that way.
For lunch we stopped at a home where the lady had built her own Lorena stove a year ago. She built it inside her kitchen and it is right beside her sink. She can now prepare food and cook it without having to go outside, especially in the rain. The stove cost her about $30.00 to build and she is saving 50% firewood now. As well, her eyes and lungs are in better shape. She has tiled the edges and it looks very nice. The smoke goes outside and up a brick chimney.
Rosara, the lady in question, was able to cook soup, coffee and tortillas on the stove at one time. Very user friendly. We talked about setting up a way to heat water for washing using the chimney. That is on my ‘to do’ list sometime. It wouldn’t heat the water to pasteurization levels but would be nice for bathing or washing clothes and dishes. An added bonus on cold days.
The lunch was a hen soup with local vegetables – ayote (like a hard light green squash), baby corn and potatoes. There was rice to add into the soup and then some pickled onions and peppers. The peppers were fairly strong. Fortunately, I was able to swallow the second, smaller and hotter one, almost whole after the first bite. I knew that if I chewed it, I would be in serious trouble. Chicken soup is made from a young broiler and, according to my friends, doesn’t compare to a soup made from an older, layer type bird. The quality of soup we had for lunch was such that I wasn’t about to argue.
On the way home we stopped at an aunt’s place to pick up a birthday cake for a little girl. There was some sample cake from somewhere so we all got a small piece of chocolate cake.
One of our afternoon stops was at a home with walls and floor of adobe. It was doing very well and looked very nice. The community must be fairly proficient in adobe work as there are a number of very nice homes built that way. The floor was a bit rough but not bad for fourteen years of wear and tear. Surprisingly good condition considering the traffic and time. As we visited, several of the yard fowl cruised through checking up on kernels of maize that were dropped by the little girl who was shelling a cob for entertainment. I confess having chickens amble through the living room is still not in my comfort zone. I do like to walk barefoot inside my house and not sure about Oil of Oh Lay Sole Cream. The yard also featured several large rabbits amongst the large flock of colourful chickens and ducks. The home owner said that they hadn’t eaten any rabbits yet because they were too cute. Easter Bunny wins again.
Bryan
The scenery is gorgeous wherever I travel and there are scores of spots each day that I just want to stop and build a home at. The rains have everything growing at top speed so there are hardly any spots that have less than a dozen colours of green.
At one of the homes we stopped at, the lady talked to us about making healthy drinks from the Noni tree. This is a new tree to me but it grows quickly. She had a ten month old tree that was fruiting heavily already. It is not a tall tree and it fruits, evidently, year round. The drink is in high demand here in Honduras and fetches a very high price. The one tree had over $30.00 of fruit on it. Not sure what that translates into for juice and income potential that way.
For lunch we stopped at a home where the lady had built her own Lorena stove a year ago. She built it inside her kitchen and it is right beside her sink. She can now prepare food and cook it without having to go outside, especially in the rain. The stove cost her about $30.00 to build and she is saving 50% firewood now. As well, her eyes and lungs are in better shape. She has tiled the edges and it looks very nice. The smoke goes outside and up a brick chimney.
Rosara, the lady in question, was able to cook soup, coffee and tortillas on the stove at one time. Very user friendly. We talked about setting up a way to heat water for washing using the chimney. That is on my ‘to do’ list sometime. It wouldn’t heat the water to pasteurization levels but would be nice for bathing or washing clothes and dishes. An added bonus on cold days.
The lunch was a hen soup with local vegetables – ayote (like a hard light green squash), baby corn and potatoes. There was rice to add into the soup and then some pickled onions and peppers. The peppers were fairly strong. Fortunately, I was able to swallow the second, smaller and hotter one, almost whole after the first bite. I knew that if I chewed it, I would be in serious trouble. Chicken soup is made from a young broiler and, according to my friends, doesn’t compare to a soup made from an older, layer type bird. The quality of soup we had for lunch was such that I wasn’t about to argue.
On the way home we stopped at an aunt’s place to pick up a birthday cake for a little girl. There was some sample cake from somewhere so we all got a small piece of chocolate cake.
One of our afternoon stops was at a home with walls and floor of adobe. It was doing very well and looked very nice. The community must be fairly proficient in adobe work as there are a number of very nice homes built that way. The floor was a bit rough but not bad for fourteen years of wear and tear. Surprisingly good condition considering the traffic and time. As we visited, several of the yard fowl cruised through checking up on kernels of maize that were dropped by the little girl who was shelling a cob for entertainment. I confess having chickens amble through the living room is still not in my comfort zone. I do like to walk barefoot inside my house and not sure about Oil of Oh Lay Sole Cream. The yard also featured several large rabbits amongst the large flock of colourful chickens and ducks. The home owner said that they hadn’t eaten any rabbits yet because they were too cute. Easter Bunny wins again.
Bryan
Expect the Unexpected – November 24
The good news about living outside of Canada is that, generally because you don’t know the culture and the language very well, something new and unexpected is always just a step away. The bad news is that the unexpected is always just a step away. Sometimes it is only a half-step away and that can be overwhelming.
Almost all good unexpected the last couple of days. Sunday afternoon, after a long couple of hours uploading my book to a friend who is going to do some work on it, (I was halfway through a 90 minute download when the connection broke – Plan B worked though), I headed for supper – it started out to be a late lunch when I first sat down at the internet.
On one of the routes to the city square, there is a tiny door which looks like a back entrance to the two large buildings around it. I happened to notice the other day that it had a sign on it, “Locos Tacos”. I glanced in the window and saw a bar and TV and then went on. So, last night I returned to the Crazy Tacos to see what it looked like inside.
Inside were about five tables and a four stool bar. It was clean, snug and, a bonus after a weekend of rain, warm. Behind the bar a lovely Christmas plaque with Santa Claus flashed and danced with lights. Spanish music played while two TV’s showed different channels (fortunately the sound was off the one). I thought I ordered a Taco but forty minutes later realized that I must not have. Further conversation with the lady in charge revealed that they didn’t have tacos. So much for the sign out front. Instead she brought me something called a barbacoa. Much better than a taco. (Tacos here are generally deep fried and often rather well crisped.) Two small tortillas with a pile of pulled, spiced beef with onions and cilantro on top. A wedge of lime and an avocado (I think) based dip to compliment. Very good. I ordered a second one.
After supper I headed to the town square to go to Mass. They have a good music group so I got their early enough to listen to them practice. There was an extra copy of the words to the songs so I got to sing along – nice. One of the songs was about the ninety and nine sheep so I was able to piece that out – oh how multilingual that boy is. After mass was finished, no one got up to leave. This is not always a good sign – especially if you are like me and sit in the front part of the church. Well, it turned out that all the local candidates for the upcoming election were invited to a mini election forum. The priest was the moderator and kept things going quite smoothly. The local TV channel was there filming the event and I noticed that the ‘director’ helped the priest move things along. I stayed till after nine and then, after looking around and seeing that many folks had called it a night, slide down the bench to the wall end and left after a speaker had given his thoughts on how to deal with corruption in government.
Today I went into San Pedro Sula to, again ... still ... try and get some of the textbook material we need. Most of the education offices were open ... but not the one we wanted. For some reason, no one knew of a phone number for them either. We tried a number of offices and a number of individuals in each office but no luck. Strike three ... or is it five ... can’t remember.
Manuel is trying to get some bank work done on his home. Well, he needed a copy of his contract with us. Unfortunately, we don’t have a rubber stamp yet. So, the contract was not accepted. Sigh. He is having a stamp made today, I will sign the papers again tomorrow and he will try again. I even went to the bank with him and sat trying look as employerish and foreign businessish as I could. Didn’t help.
Manuel went off to go have a stamp made and I went to say hello to the teachers and students at El Buen Pastor, the Bilingual school Alyssa and I were at two years ago. It was nice to see old friends and get some phone numbers of people I can talk to in English.
The Vice Principal gave me a ride to the terminal where I got a ticket and saw the Sta Cruz bus backing out of the stall. I ran and caught it just as it was ready to move forward. They are always happy to have another customer so were watching hopefully for that last minute rider. This bus was a big, old school bus with only a few passengers. Most worrisome as that generally means a million stops to get things filled. The bus was named the “Divine Women”. Not sure ... maybe there is a better Spanish phrase that it comes from. “Mujeres Divina” roared out of the terminal and hustled down the highway. Fortunately, the first couple of makilas we came to were just at shift change and, within two stops, we were full. Hurrah.
Divine Women had, on the side window a twelve inch translucent picture of Jesus, small decals of Jesus and Mary in each of the corners of the large interior bus mirror and one or two more icon figures on the windshield. With that much protection we were free to move at top speed down the highway. The driver, very considerately, had the turnboy go through their CD’s and find one with English songs mixed in with the Spanish numbers. And in true Honduran fashion, they generously turned the volume up to full so that I, along with the others, could completely appreciate the music.
Happily, we made the trip in one piece and, even more happily, in great time. It was still twilight when I stepped off the bus. A stop for some air time on my phone, another for orange juice and in short order I was home.
Laundry is not drying very quickly. That is an understatement. Having bought an iron on Saturday, I spent ten minutes finishing drying a pillow case for tonight. The rest will have to wait until Wednesday to get final attention.
Bryan
Almost all good unexpected the last couple of days. Sunday afternoon, after a long couple of hours uploading my book to a friend who is going to do some work on it, (I was halfway through a 90 minute download when the connection broke – Plan B worked though), I headed for supper – it started out to be a late lunch when I first sat down at the internet.
On one of the routes to the city square, there is a tiny door which looks like a back entrance to the two large buildings around it. I happened to notice the other day that it had a sign on it, “Locos Tacos”. I glanced in the window and saw a bar and TV and then went on. So, last night I returned to the Crazy Tacos to see what it looked like inside.
Inside were about five tables and a four stool bar. It was clean, snug and, a bonus after a weekend of rain, warm. Behind the bar a lovely Christmas plaque with Santa Claus flashed and danced with lights. Spanish music played while two TV’s showed different channels (fortunately the sound was off the one). I thought I ordered a Taco but forty minutes later realized that I must not have. Further conversation with the lady in charge revealed that they didn’t have tacos. So much for the sign out front. Instead she brought me something called a barbacoa. Much better than a taco. (Tacos here are generally deep fried and often rather well crisped.) Two small tortillas with a pile of pulled, spiced beef with onions and cilantro on top. A wedge of lime and an avocado (I think) based dip to compliment. Very good. I ordered a second one.
After supper I headed to the town square to go to Mass. They have a good music group so I got their early enough to listen to them practice. There was an extra copy of the words to the songs so I got to sing along – nice. One of the songs was about the ninety and nine sheep so I was able to piece that out – oh how multilingual that boy is. After mass was finished, no one got up to leave. This is not always a good sign – especially if you are like me and sit in the front part of the church. Well, it turned out that all the local candidates for the upcoming election were invited to a mini election forum. The priest was the moderator and kept things going quite smoothly. The local TV channel was there filming the event and I noticed that the ‘director’ helped the priest move things along. I stayed till after nine and then, after looking around and seeing that many folks had called it a night, slide down the bench to the wall end and left after a speaker had given his thoughts on how to deal with corruption in government.
Today I went into San Pedro Sula to, again ... still ... try and get some of the textbook material we need. Most of the education offices were open ... but not the one we wanted. For some reason, no one knew of a phone number for them either. We tried a number of offices and a number of individuals in each office but no luck. Strike three ... or is it five ... can’t remember.
Manuel is trying to get some bank work done on his home. Well, he needed a copy of his contract with us. Unfortunately, we don’t have a rubber stamp yet. So, the contract was not accepted. Sigh. He is having a stamp made today, I will sign the papers again tomorrow and he will try again. I even went to the bank with him and sat trying look as employerish and foreign businessish as I could. Didn’t help.
Manuel went off to go have a stamp made and I went to say hello to the teachers and students at El Buen Pastor, the Bilingual school Alyssa and I were at two years ago. It was nice to see old friends and get some phone numbers of people I can talk to in English.
The Vice Principal gave me a ride to the terminal where I got a ticket and saw the Sta Cruz bus backing out of the stall. I ran and caught it just as it was ready to move forward. They are always happy to have another customer so were watching hopefully for that last minute rider. This bus was a big, old school bus with only a few passengers. Most worrisome as that generally means a million stops to get things filled. The bus was named the “Divine Women”. Not sure ... maybe there is a better Spanish phrase that it comes from. “Mujeres Divina” roared out of the terminal and hustled down the highway. Fortunately, the first couple of makilas we came to were just at shift change and, within two stops, we were full. Hurrah.
Divine Women had, on the side window a twelve inch translucent picture of Jesus, small decals of Jesus and Mary in each of the corners of the large interior bus mirror and one or two more icon figures on the windshield. With that much protection we were free to move at top speed down the highway. The driver, very considerately, had the turnboy go through their CD’s and find one with English songs mixed in with the Spanish numbers. And in true Honduran fashion, they generously turned the volume up to full so that I, along with the others, could completely appreciate the music.
Happily, we made the trip in one piece and, even more happily, in great time. It was still twilight when I stepped off the bus. A stop for some air time on my phone, another for orange juice and in short order I was home.
Laundry is not drying very quickly. That is an understatement. Having bought an iron on Saturday, I spent ten minutes finishing drying a pillow case for tonight. The rest will have to wait until Wednesday to get final attention.
Bryan
Saturday, November 22, 2008
New Doors for the Office – Nov. 22
The carpenter has been here the last two days working on new doors. He made the doors from scratch and was installing them. This morning he brought his little two year old son, Japhet, along to help with the finishing touches. Japhet would wander back and forth by my office carrying pieces of wood and giving me a smile each trip. I could here his dad listening to the prattle with one ear and voicing that universal, “mmmhmm” sound that dad’s make when they are busy working. For me, as Advent season is just a week away, it was a reminder of how Jesus began his life – fragrant wood chips dusting his hair, leftover pieces of wood clutched in fat fingers and Joseph giving him the occasional ‘mmmhmm’ just to keep him interested and to let him know that he was a special son.
Several reminders this week of how close to the bone most people live here. While not as close to life and death as places I have lived in Africa, the reality of falling off a cliff is constantly present.
Several of us went to visit three Botoquines (little medical/medicine supply centres) that were begun by CPI over the last few years. We visited the ladies who are in charge of dispensing some of the medicines and doing rough first aid. They each have a small cabinet of supplies that is much the size of the cabinet in most bathrooms in Canada. They treat about thirty people a week and do what they can.
Most of their treatment deals with diarrhoea and colds/asthma. Since nearly every family uses wood fires to cook with, they are constantly exposed to smoke which does nothing helpful to general well being. Of course, it is the women and children who spend the most time in the smoky areas.
The cost of a Lorena stove, a fuel efficient stove that uses about 60% less wood and features a chimney to take the smoke out and away is too much for people to think about. The labour costs for a stove are $80.00 and the materials about (I’m guessing here) $30.00. I wonder if we can’t figure out a way to help different groups of people learn how to make a simple version and then move on up from there. Firewood is running about $0.10 a stick so it really wouldn’t take many months to pay for the stove in savings – let alone gains in health.
Another area of hard financial choice is in the area of birth control. The cost of the shots for a month’s protection is 30-40 Lempiras ($2.00). Of course, I think that the cost of a pregnancy is much higher but when there is no money, the risk is taken.
We spent a few minutes with one of the ladies going over the rehydration drink featured in “Where There Is No Doctor”. I need to try making it with some fruit juice added (or tea or coffee) for flavouring. I know that the tea is, to some degree, a diuretic but if we can find a way for people to sort of like the stuff, they won’t be as anxious for other treatments. The treatment that they really want is IV rehydration. That is just too scary for me. Especially when it is being administered by barely trained personnel. Don’t want to go there at all.
We visited a couple who have a small plant nursery. They have traditionally gotten a loan in November/December from CPI to purchase extra plants for sale during the holiday season. The loan was about $200.00. This year, CPI is in between projects and so the loans aren’t available. So, a major source of yearly income is at risk for this family.
Our visits to these small villages highlighted how quickly life changes metres away from the major highways. We were still within two or three kilometres so really hadn’t gotten into anything remote. It will be interesting to see what life is like further back in the hills.
Last night I checked my blog site and had a surge of hope. My readers had gone up 50%. I clicked on the space to see who had joined. Alas, “Sassy” had found her (his?) way to the site. How many people are out there with nothing to do but send Spam and what not to every site in the world?
Power is out, carpenter is gone and the battery on the computer is running down. TTYL
Bryan
Several reminders this week of how close to the bone most people live here. While not as close to life and death as places I have lived in Africa, the reality of falling off a cliff is constantly present.
Several of us went to visit three Botoquines (little medical/medicine supply centres) that were begun by CPI over the last few years. We visited the ladies who are in charge of dispensing some of the medicines and doing rough first aid. They each have a small cabinet of supplies that is much the size of the cabinet in most bathrooms in Canada. They treat about thirty people a week and do what they can.
Most of their treatment deals with diarrhoea and colds/asthma. Since nearly every family uses wood fires to cook with, they are constantly exposed to smoke which does nothing helpful to general well being. Of course, it is the women and children who spend the most time in the smoky areas.
The cost of a Lorena stove, a fuel efficient stove that uses about 60% less wood and features a chimney to take the smoke out and away is too much for people to think about. The labour costs for a stove are $80.00 and the materials about (I’m guessing here) $30.00. I wonder if we can’t figure out a way to help different groups of people learn how to make a simple version and then move on up from there. Firewood is running about $0.10 a stick so it really wouldn’t take many months to pay for the stove in savings – let alone gains in health.
Another area of hard financial choice is in the area of birth control. The cost of the shots for a month’s protection is 30-40 Lempiras ($2.00). Of course, I think that the cost of a pregnancy is much higher but when there is no money, the risk is taken.
We spent a few minutes with one of the ladies going over the rehydration drink featured in “Where There Is No Doctor”. I need to try making it with some fruit juice added (or tea or coffee) for flavouring. I know that the tea is, to some degree, a diuretic but if we can find a way for people to sort of like the stuff, they won’t be as anxious for other treatments. The treatment that they really want is IV rehydration. That is just too scary for me. Especially when it is being administered by barely trained personnel. Don’t want to go there at all.
We visited a couple who have a small plant nursery. They have traditionally gotten a loan in November/December from CPI to purchase extra plants for sale during the holiday season. The loan was about $200.00. This year, CPI is in between projects and so the loans aren’t available. So, a major source of yearly income is at risk for this family.
Our visits to these small villages highlighted how quickly life changes metres away from the major highways. We were still within two or three kilometres so really hadn’t gotten into anything remote. It will be interesting to see what life is like further back in the hills.
Last night I checked my blog site and had a surge of hope. My readers had gone up 50%. I clicked on the space to see who had joined. Alas, “Sassy” had found her (his?) way to the site. How many people are out there with nothing to do but send Spam and what not to every site in the world?
Power is out, carpenter is gone and the battery on the computer is running down. TTYL
Bryan
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Honduras Is On The Road To World Cup 2010 – Nov. 20
Watched Honduras beat Mexico last night in a rain soaked match in San Pedro Sula. The price of the tickets was very high so I opted to watch in a restaurant here in Santa Cruz. There were a few others with the same idea so a nice little crowd.
For supper I had the smoked pork which is a favourite of mine here. The pork chop is cut very thin but the way it is smoked is lovely. At half time, the restaurant folks served the fans a lovely little snack of a fried tortilla (deep fried I think) with a little dollop of refried beans sprinkled with cheese. Very tasty. Lots of salt which I think was to encourage ordering extra rounds of refreshment. I obliged with coffee and hot milk.
After the game, the town resounded with celebration. Fireworks and loud firecrackers were set off in every corner. After I got home, I heard the truckloads of fans sploshing up and down the muddy streets full of exuberant fans.
The game was somewhat interesting and Mexico was obviously not too serious about winning. Their berth in the next stage was already assured. There were flickers of the Mexican’s superior skills but, for the most part, they hung around their own end and let the Hondurans bring the game to them. Things got a little more intense in the last few minutes as a Mexican defender was sent off. But, other than that (from a Canadian fan’s perspective) the game was rather uneventful. Canada was continuing their shameful journey by losing 3-0 to Jamaica. We have big players who are skilled enough to play in Europe but cannot find a way to play as a national team. Not sure what the problem is.
This morning I woke to more rain. My laundry is being done but it is not drying. I may have to buy an iron just to get things dry before I run out of clothes. Or, I will build another grain dryer and use it for a laundry dryer.
Bryan
For supper I had the smoked pork which is a favourite of mine here. The pork chop is cut very thin but the way it is smoked is lovely. At half time, the restaurant folks served the fans a lovely little snack of a fried tortilla (deep fried I think) with a little dollop of refried beans sprinkled with cheese. Very tasty. Lots of salt which I think was to encourage ordering extra rounds of refreshment. I obliged with coffee and hot milk.
After the game, the town resounded with celebration. Fireworks and loud firecrackers were set off in every corner. After I got home, I heard the truckloads of fans sploshing up and down the muddy streets full of exuberant fans.
The game was somewhat interesting and Mexico was obviously not too serious about winning. Their berth in the next stage was already assured. There were flickers of the Mexican’s superior skills but, for the most part, they hung around their own end and let the Hondurans bring the game to them. Things got a little more intense in the last few minutes as a Mexican defender was sent off. But, other than that (from a Canadian fan’s perspective) the game was rather uneventful. Canada was continuing their shameful journey by losing 3-0 to Jamaica. We have big players who are skilled enough to play in Europe but cannot find a way to play as a national team. Not sure what the problem is.
This morning I woke to more rain. My laundry is being done but it is not drying. I may have to buy an iron just to get things dry before I run out of clothes. Or, I will build another grain dryer and use it for a laundry dryer.
Bryan
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Rapidito Mechanics – November 19
Spent a number of hours on public transport yesterday. The best mechanics of Rapidito riding are skills acquired over years of contortions and close contact with fellow passengers. Honduran Rapiditos have four and a half rows of seats behind the front seat. The three back ones hold four people and the one immediately by the door holds three. Behind the front seats is a ledge that holds three or four more people.
The trick to riding a Rapidito is to plan for a reasonably graceful exit. Years ago, in Kenya, I could squiggle out the rear window and hop to the ground in a trice. That ain’t going to happen anymore. So, you need to time your boarding so that you either in the very front with the driver (best choice – but closest to any collisions) or the front two seats in the back. However, if you are on the folding jump seat, you have to be prepared to get in and out and each stop to allow those in the back two rows a chance to leave. The ledge is nice in that you don’t have to get in and out. However, you are wedged in trying to fit knees and bags in between the same parts of the two people facing you. Rather intimate. If you were a teenager and caught in such a position by your dad at night you would be grounded for life. In six rides yesterday I captured two front seats, two jump seats and one ledge. The last was a boring front seat by the window. Both my bus trips had front seats with leg room and a good view.
The humidity is so high that the slightest cooling or additional moisture in the air causes fog and clouds. Yesterday every valley and ditch was shrouded in fog. The roadside lines of shanties covered with scraps of metal roofing or leftover plastic from discarded billboard signage were wrapped in soft white or totally hidden from view. So quickly do the poor become invisible again.
Bought a small package of processed sandwich meat on Saturday. It was the compressed extrusions from chicken processing mixed with some spices, cooked and sliced. The name on the package was Cargill. Interesting how far the tentacles of the company extend here. They control the seed, the chemicals, the storage, the conversion to animal feed, the growing operations, the processing plants and, now, the value added sales of ‘scraps’. Cheap enough packages but utilizing a former waste product. Each step means a bit of profit leaving the country and going to the pockets of foreign shareholders – none of whom are held responsible for any actions or consequences of company policies and practices here in Honduras.
Enough. When the lights go out you can see the fireflies. Power outages bring their own beauty to light.
Bryan
The trick to riding a Rapidito is to plan for a reasonably graceful exit. Years ago, in Kenya, I could squiggle out the rear window and hop to the ground in a trice. That ain’t going to happen anymore. So, you need to time your boarding so that you either in the very front with the driver (best choice – but closest to any collisions) or the front two seats in the back. However, if you are on the folding jump seat, you have to be prepared to get in and out and each stop to allow those in the back two rows a chance to leave. The ledge is nice in that you don’t have to get in and out. However, you are wedged in trying to fit knees and bags in between the same parts of the two people facing you. Rather intimate. If you were a teenager and caught in such a position by your dad at night you would be grounded for life. In six rides yesterday I captured two front seats, two jump seats and one ledge. The last was a boring front seat by the window. Both my bus trips had front seats with leg room and a good view.
The humidity is so high that the slightest cooling or additional moisture in the air causes fog and clouds. Yesterday every valley and ditch was shrouded in fog. The roadside lines of shanties covered with scraps of metal roofing or leftover plastic from discarded billboard signage were wrapped in soft white or totally hidden from view. So quickly do the poor become invisible again.
Bought a small package of processed sandwich meat on Saturday. It was the compressed extrusions from chicken processing mixed with some spices, cooked and sliced. The name on the package was Cargill. Interesting how far the tentacles of the company extend here. They control the seed, the chemicals, the storage, the conversion to animal feed, the growing operations, the processing plants and, now, the value added sales of ‘scraps’. Cheap enough packages but utilizing a former waste product. Each step means a bit of profit leaving the country and going to the pockets of foreign shareholders – none of whom are held responsible for any actions or consequences of company policies and practices here in Honduras.
Enough. When the lights go out you can see the fireflies. Power outages bring their own beauty to light.
Bryan
Meeting My Shower Menagerie - November 19
Some scattered thoughts from the last few days.
I am sitting in the CAL office with our lovely new beige furniture unpacked and assembled (two plastic tables and eight plastic chairs) waiting for the technicians to come and connect us to the internet. It may also be a connection to Cable TV but that won’t be a priority. There are only so many Latin American game shows one can handle in their lifetime. Of course, the hostesses for those game shows are rather more spectacular than our customary Vanna White types.
It has been raining here for the last three days. Today is only cloudy but the streets are still muddy. The temperature is quite cool and a jacket feels very nice. My Sunday plans of watching the local soccer league games were put on hold. I wasn’t sure they would even play in the rain and I really didn’t feel like finding out.
Instead, I bought a copy of Dr. Doolittle movies in Spanish and watched them. For $2.00 you can buy a DVD with a movie on it. Two years ago, there was generally only one movie on each DVD. Now, the customary number is three or four. Not a bad deal for your money. My laptop has the capability of showing the movies so that is delightful.
Monday was a meeting at the Mayor’s office again with three more officials. One was the Principal of the Education Department for the Santa Cruz area. He was quite delighted with our program plans and that was good to hear. They had a letter ready to send to the Minister by afternoon and it was going to be taken by the Principal (evidently a friend of the Minister’s) to Tegucigalpa on Tuesday.
Yesterday we were in San Pedro Sula trying to track down some more of our curriculum materials. However, the Education offices were blocked by parents wanting to get a Teacher’s College developed for this region. The blockade was in its second day and no end in sight. Evidently this is a common occurrence (even more so in Tegucigalpa) as it is one of the only ways to get action on matters.
The school year is supposed to have a minimum of 200 teaching days. However, because of strikes, disruptions, lack of salary, etc., the real number is nearer 120. The program we are working on will offer a very attractive option. Right now, the only option is a private school and the majority of parents can’t afford those fees. As well, many of the private schools aren’t offering a real quality of education.
Sunday and Monday I met some of the residents in my shower stall. Under the top bar of the shower doors is the home of a small 12 cm long lizard. Obviously it comes out at night to enjoy insects drawn to any puddles or whatnot. Monday I noticed that one of the buckets I use to store water had a companion feature of a miniature frog. Not sure how it got there but he wasn’t getting in the road of my bath so ... let it be. Last night a couple of crickets were meandering through the house. Will see what else appears over time. As long as it is not snakes or cockroaches I am rather comfortable.
Bryan
I am sitting in the CAL office with our lovely new beige furniture unpacked and assembled (two plastic tables and eight plastic chairs) waiting for the technicians to come and connect us to the internet. It may also be a connection to Cable TV but that won’t be a priority. There are only so many Latin American game shows one can handle in their lifetime. Of course, the hostesses for those game shows are rather more spectacular than our customary Vanna White types.
It has been raining here for the last three days. Today is only cloudy but the streets are still muddy. The temperature is quite cool and a jacket feels very nice. My Sunday plans of watching the local soccer league games were put on hold. I wasn’t sure they would even play in the rain and I really didn’t feel like finding out.
Instead, I bought a copy of Dr. Doolittle movies in Spanish and watched them. For $2.00 you can buy a DVD with a movie on it. Two years ago, there was generally only one movie on each DVD. Now, the customary number is three or four. Not a bad deal for your money. My laptop has the capability of showing the movies so that is delightful.
Monday was a meeting at the Mayor’s office again with three more officials. One was the Principal of the Education Department for the Santa Cruz area. He was quite delighted with our program plans and that was good to hear. They had a letter ready to send to the Minister by afternoon and it was going to be taken by the Principal (evidently a friend of the Minister’s) to Tegucigalpa on Tuesday.
Yesterday we were in San Pedro Sula trying to track down some more of our curriculum materials. However, the Education offices were blocked by parents wanting to get a Teacher’s College developed for this region. The blockade was in its second day and no end in sight. Evidently this is a common occurrence (even more so in Tegucigalpa) as it is one of the only ways to get action on matters.
The school year is supposed to have a minimum of 200 teaching days. However, because of strikes, disruptions, lack of salary, etc., the real number is nearer 120. The program we are working on will offer a very attractive option. Right now, the only option is a private school and the majority of parents can’t afford those fees. As well, many of the private schools aren’t offering a real quality of education.
Sunday and Monday I met some of the residents in my shower stall. Under the top bar of the shower doors is the home of a small 12 cm long lizard. Obviously it comes out at night to enjoy insects drawn to any puddles or whatnot. Monday I noticed that one of the buckets I use to store water had a companion feature of a miniature frog. Not sure how it got there but he wasn’t getting in the road of my bath so ... let it be. Last night a couple of crickets were meandering through the house. Will see what else appears over time. As long as it is not snakes or cockroaches I am rather comfortable.
Bryan
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