Field Based Training Week 1

Written on August 9, 2009

Since we started FBT (Field Based Training) on Monday, August 3, our training has intensified. We now have training from 7:30 to 4:30 everyday, which includes 4 hours of Spanish class in the morning and 4 hours of technical training in the afternoon. Usually, we arrive at INFOP—the training center we are using in Talanga—at 7:25 and work through lunch. FBT is divided based on project so I am only with 17 people right now. The other two programs are in other sites around Honduras. It was a big change going from 50 to 17…and it will be even more difficult when we go from 17 to ALONE! Most of us think training in counteractive in preparing us to live on our own because we have everything prearranged for us. For example, I wake up at 5:40 to meet a friend to run at 6:00. We run until around 6:30 when I come home, take a shower, and eat breakfast. My host mom prepares my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Although I try to help her by washing my dishes, my responsibilities are limited. I come home to eat lunch everyday and then after training ends at 4:30, I return home to eat dinner and do my homework before going to bed. My schedule seems very similar to that of many high school students!

I do have to wash my own clothes (one advantage to PC Dominican Republic, the host family was responsible for washing my clothes!). My first hand-washing experience happened today at 5:00am. I usually wake up early since my bed time is between 9:00 and 9:30. When I woke up this morning without any clean clothes, I decided it was time to finally try my luck at hand-washing. I have been avoiding washing my clothes for this reason—how do you hand-wash clothes? Well, I quickly learned. I spent about 2 hours washing a weeks worth of clothing. My towel is as stiff as a board and most of my clothes smell overwhelmingly like soap. I will have to try again next time since rewashing is NOT an option!

Some of my friends from Muni-D came to visit us today. Municipal development is one of the other projects along with youth development and PAM (protected areas management). The Muni-D group is completing FBT in a site about an hour away from Talanga. Since the towns are close to each other, they took a bus into Talanga to see us. We decided to take them on a hike to a cave that is a popular local destination. First, you have to climb up to a white cross then climb another hill before veering to the left and finding the cave. Some of my friends from YD and I went to find the cave on Saturday but we did not bring headlamps. The cave is too dark to explore without headlamps or flashlights so today we came prepared. There were a ton of bats flying around inside and it smelled strongly of sulfur. We walked in and looked around but we could not find a pathway to take us deeper into the cave. We headed back down the mountain a different way than we came up in order to see more scenery.

This is a beautiful country and I am loving my time here. So far, I have very few complaints. For instance, I wish they cooked with less fat and more vegetables. But, this is a change I can make when I live on my own. I have 4.5 more weeks of FBT before we return to Zarabanda for the final stages of our training. I will keep you updated.