Honduras Arrival

Written on Wednesday, July 29.

¡Bienvenidos a Honduras!

I finally made it! Yesterday, around 11:40 AM (Mountain Time), my flight from Miami landed in Tegucigalpa. Tegucigalpa has one of the world’s shortest international runways. Since it is a dangerous airport, the PC only allows us to fly with an American company. Thank goodness! When the pilot told us to prepare for landing (in 30 minutes), I had no idea what was in store for us. The plane started descending from the clouds causing more turbulence than I expected. Adding to the bouncing plane, the runway is in a valley surrounded by small mountains. I do not know how it works but the airplane feels like it is coasting above the ground for at least 5 minutes. I could practically see inside people’s houses, watch their TV, and say hi to their kids! A few volunteers mentioned the thought the getting stuck in the power lines…You get the picture! But, I am here and I am safe.

When we got off the plane, we had to go through immigration. They gave us 90-day tourist visas. During training, we go through the process of becoming residents which allows us to stay for the two-year service. Our training director was waiting for us by the baggage claim, happy that we finally made it. He flew to the DR to train us but has been waiting since then for us to arrive in Honduras. Some PC staff helped us get our bags through customs which involved scanning our bags for suspicious items. The staff led us outside to six PC land cruiser SUVs where we put our luggage based on our ‘pueblo’. The fed us Pizza Hut pizza, Quaker oatmeal cookies, juice, water, and fruit. I have a feeling that will be the last American food we have for awhile!

We piled into the vans to be escorted to the training center in Zarabanda. Zarabanda is about 30 minutes from the airport. It is a quaint, small town in the mountains. For the first time in a month, we did not sweat when we walked around outside. It was incredible! The temperature here is amazing—around 70 degrees with a breeze. The training center is similar to the DR Training Center but mostly indoors. Instead of cooking food for us at the center, our Honduran host families will pack us lunches in Tupperware!

My host family is amazing. I was unsure about my situation at first because my host mom is only 23! It turns out that her mother has been living in Spain for the past few years. Her father, two brothers, husband, and daughter live in the house. My host brother (age: 9) is adorable. He loves to play Frisbee, baseball, Power Rangers, etc. We already have plans for the entire week! My older host brother (age: 18) is very cool. He enjoys watching movies, reading, playing video games, playing soccer, etc. He has an entire movie collection that he offered to me! Since there is a PC and country-wide curfew, I know what I will do after 9 pm—MOVIES! My host grandpa is also very nice. He talks to me about different issues involving the US, Spain, and Honduras. My host dad is 28 and works in construction. I do not think that I will be seeing him very often. My host mom does not work outside of the house, but she takes care of 2 year-old daughter.

My house is about triple the size of my DR house but completely different. I have a HUGE room with a double bed, a sofa, a TV, and plenty of floor space. My host family has internet and cable TV—there is hope for my service!! I watched Cinderella III with my younger host brother yesterday before my host grandpa turned on Telenovelas (Spanish soap operas). They are rather entertaining as well as good Spanish practice.

As you can see, I am having a great time. I am excited to continue training and become a volunteer on Sept. 25, 2009. I leave for FBT on Sunday—a 7 week training that is specific to youth development.