Journal Entry, August 2007:
Earlier I went up to my favorite view spot. I was alone, absorbing the view-- rolling green hills of crops and trees and every shade of green you could ever imagine. Rudy and his sister had followed me up. He's TINY and he is 13 years old. He said school bored him and that "se sentia mal ver su papa trabajar solito." Rudy says he has no time to play. He works everyday except Sunday. What does he do for fun? Twisted. I haven't seen Rudy before. Poor Guy... today was my last Saturday in Rodeo Campuca.
It is said in Honduras (and as my host father first told me) that when Christopher Columbus explored the eastern part of Honduras during a tropical storm he reached a cape and cried "Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de esta honduras!" [Thank God we survived these treacherous depths!] According to some, that is why the cape is now known as Gracias a Dios and the country as Honduras.
I travelled to Honduras back in summer 2007 with Amigos de las Americas. Amigos is a community development volunteer program I participated in with my best friend Maddy. We trained, fundraised, and prepared together during our junior year of high school. Maddy went to Nicaragua, while I my summer in Honduras. (Maddy went on to be a supervisor for Amigos two summers into college as well! And my sister Tanya is currently preparing for her summer) Anyways, my community was called Rodeo Campuca in the municipality of Lempira, Gracias. We worked with a non-governmental agency called Plan Honduras, which has a presence in many latin american nations. My partner was Katie, she's from Washington and plays guitar. Our town had limited running water and no electricity, paved roads or cars. I absolutely loved my experience in Honduras, and I recall being truly happy and at home in my new environment.
The community was (and undoubtedly still is) completely dependent on coffee and corn crops. There were bananas and other fruits and vegetables that families grew for themselves and to sell within the community but it was the milpa y "cafe" that was their pride and joy. Fields wrapped around hills, rolling and rolling farther than I could ever see. The women made the tortillas, cared for the kids, and grinded the coffee. The men worked in the field, played soccer, and carried around machetes. The kids played, but they worked and held responsibilities unknown to kids their own age north in the United States.
Pablito (7), Carolina (9) Edwin (11) Merlin (17) Medardo (19) Nelson (22) Reina (21) Pablo y "Mama"
Journal Entry (July 14, 2007):
July 14, 2007
...We finished the solicitude officially yesterday too. We had to get 20 signatures of community members. It got to be awkward because Wilmar Calderon said "no puedo" and then I realized he couldn't write and that hadn't even crossed my mind. I signed his name for him. Nelson wrote his first name under 'apellido' his middle name under 'nombre' his last name under 'cargo' and his second last name under 'firma'. There were lots of elders and young men that couldn't write. My best bet were the 13 year olds. Women couldn't either, it was a pretty big slap in the face early on. Why would they even need to read and write if "agricultor" was their "cargo" I though. I know now that there are many reasons actually... But I just can't even imagine it, I don't understand it.
I smell. And my butt is dirty. But I like it here and I'm happy. Any longer than 6 weeks and it could get boring... Yet they do it everyday, forever. Vilma (katie's host mother) moved in with Edgardo's family at 13 and had Doris at 16. Intense, no? Vilma and Edgardo are like 20/21 or 21/22. They look a lot older...Life.
July 17, 2007
The men smell terribly. Especially right after they come home from working all day. I get this overwhelmingly strong and disgusting whiff of... well of SMELL. Not too pleasant. I fight every urge not to cringe.
We spent all morning making friendship bracelets. The kids start off by saying "no puedo, no puedo" and once they get excited about choosing colors for their bracelet, they learn really quickly. I like how 13 year old boys want to join in too. And even better is that Elder, Jairo and Nelbin all chose pink (Rosado!) as one of their colors. And they are determined to make their bracelets turn out well too. Not in the states...
I thought about my grandparents and for some reason felt better seeing that their bodies were placed in a special part of Barcelona. My grandma told me later that night that all of her relatives are also there. Something about that is reassuring. The cemeteries I have seen in the United States are very different... and for the first time I feel like I can appreciate a cemetery as a beautiful place.
