Update FBT

Written on 8/25/2009

Hi everyone!

Today was the beginning of our fourth week of FBT which means that the 15th of September, our last day of FBT, is quickly approaching. Training has been great thus far. Each day is split into two sessions: Spanish and technical. Since the last time I wrote, we have been continuing our Spanish classes. We switch teachers every two weeks to prevent repetitive classes and so far both of my teachers have been great. I usually fill an entire page of paper with new vocabulary words everyday. The only problem I have is studying them! I started making note cards to help me study but I cannot imagine using some of the vocab. For example, we learned multiple ways to say “menstruation” the other day.

Ways to say menstruation in Spanish
regla—the rule
el viejo—the old one
costumbre—tradition
menstruación—menstruation
ando con la cruz roja—I’m walking with the red cross
andar con el semáforo rojo—to walk with a red stoplight
andar en sus días—to walk in her days

Now that you are enlightened with the confusion that learning Spanish has brought to my life, I can explain the activities we have been doing in technical training. We were trained in a program called “Odyssey of the Mind.” I was not familiar with the program before joining PC, but it is a program frequently used by schools in the US to promote student creativity and imagination. We were divided into groups to work on “Self-Directed Projects.” Two aspirantes (PC trainees that are still aspiring to be volunteers) and I are working on Odyssey of the Mind with a class of 5th and 6th graders. We will use the four sessions we have to teach thinking outside of the box and self-confidence. Today, we planned our first session for Friday. We are going to play chirades, taboo, and Pictionary with the children to help spark their creativity. Since creativity is smothered in the Honduran education system, imagination and thinking outside of the box are difficult tasks.

In week 3 of FBT, we had a few different TOTs (Training of Trainers). We learned about parenting in Honduras and our influence as volunteers in regards to parents. As youth volunteers, we are encouraged to work with teachers, adolescents, and parents. Since these groups have an effect on youth, we are entitled to work with all of them in different ways. A volunteer came to talk to us about her experience with Escuela para los padres. It is a class that focuses on educating parents in nutrition, discipline, life skills, etc. The parents can choose their topics or the volunteer can choose the topics on their own.

The next day we had a TOT on Dental Hygiene. Colgate has a dental hygiene program that donates toothbrushes, toothpaste, and soap to impoverished areas as long as there is a six-month commitment to educate the population about dental health. The program is rather simple but effective and fun. We did a dental hygiene chat with a group of kindergarten students to help us practice speaking and teaching. I worked with a group of knowledgeable kindergarteners that already understood the importance of brushing their teeth but we still made paper bears, sang songs, and did a skit.

On Friday, we had my favorite TOT—BASEBALL!! I was super excited and anxiously waiting for our baseball training. We went to Río Dulce, a small town outside of Talanga, to learn and practice baseball with the current volunteer’s baseball team. It was really fun. We broke into stations of hitting drills, fielding drills, and throwing drills. The team’s knowledge of the techniques was advanced so we had more fun playing a pickup game with them. The practice game was interesting because only a handful of us had experience playing baseball! But no one got hurt and everyone left with a smile on their face!

On Saturday, a group of us went to play soccer before going out to eat. I know that all of you are laughing at the thought of me playing soccer, but I am lucky to be with a group of people who do not care about including the weak in their games (or so they tell me!) I am not improving but I have stopped caring about how terrible I look while attempting to play! After a good workout, we went out to eat at a restaurant named Old House. One of the volunteers lives with the family that owns the restaurant. She always talks about how good the food is so we decided to try it. There were three choices on the menu: two beef entrees and a ham sandwich. All of us opted for the beef options and it was really good. On Friday, we had received the list of sites in which we are going to volunteer. As you can imagine, a lot of the conversation revolved around site placement.

On Sunday, I went to a farm with a group of aspirantes. One of the aspirantes lives with an amazing host family who enjoys spending time with us. Two weekends ago, they threw a birthday party for their host son. They invited all of us to spend the night celebrating with them. They made us a bunch of snack food, invited a mariachi band to play music, and bought a huge strawberry cake. The host dad enjoys showing us his culture so on Sunday, we went to his farm to spend the day with his family. Their farm is home to various animals and a family in charge of taking care of the livestock. There is a cockfighting ring, a few natural cliffs, a stream, and a few small lakes. We spent the day exploring the farm, talking with the host family, and eating a TON of typical Honduran food.

When we first arrived they made us catrachas. Catrachas are a snack food that is also eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner depending on the quantity given. It is a fried corn tortilla topped with refried beans and a layer of shredded white cheese that reminds me of feta. Later, we ate a meal of rice, sausage, and beef without forks! Of course, you can always use tortillas as a fork if you are Honduran; however, I failed to eat my meal with the provided tortilla utensils. I must have stared at the food for five minutes debating how to start eating it before deciding an acceptable approach. For dessert, we ate a really sweet and delicious treat—ARMADILLO! There are armadillo, which are native to the region, living on the farm. The family living on the farm hunts them and saves them for family visits. They cooked one for us after we ate dinner. It was really good! It tasted like a mix of pork and chicken, shredded and served over a fried tortilla! YUM!

Other news:

Last week, I switched host families. If you want more information on the reasoning, please send me a private message or talk to my mom. I was lucky enough to find a new host family immediately. Both parents are teachers in the school system here in Talanga and well-connected with the PC. Six years ago, a volunteer lived with them for his entire two year service. They have hosted various other volunteers, but due to the increase in work, they did not accept the invitation to host a volunteer this time. When the housing director called them and explained the situation, they were nice enough to invite me into their house the next morning. They have a son (age 9) and a daughter (age 4) and a dog that just gave birth to 7 puppies the day before I arrived. I am spending a lot of time talking with them about all aspects of life here in Honduras.

In my second technical interview, I learned more about my future site. I will be working with teachers in the TEAM (Teaching English and Methodologies) program, tutoring in math as well as teaching teachers’ math skills, translating for medical brigades that come from other countries to donate their services, and starting a baseball team. So far so good! As for which site I am going to, I am in the dark. They told me that the weather was similar to Talanga which does not help me narrow down the sites! I am not putting much effort into the site list because I think it just makes people crazy in the end. My method is to not focus on one site because I do not want to be disappointed if I end up somewhere else. Our third technical interviews start on the 9th of September. We should be receiving more information about our sites during those interviews. Site announcements are on the 17th of September and we swear in on the 25th (one week after the original swearing in date).

I am getting much better at showing with a bucket and flushing the toilet with a bucket! I never thought I would say it but I am starting to appreciate cold bucket showers! In my first host family in Talanga, I had an electro-ducha (an electric showerhead that heats the water). My host family here does not have running water but they have a small heater that heats a bucket full of water in about 10 minutes. However, I rarely use the water heater! I love coming back from my morning runs knowing that a cold bucket bath awaits me!

Hope everything is going well in the States! I will keep you posted! Love always!