Monday, December 13, 2010
lo siento.
I'm so sorry for the lack of blogging. No excuses, but I had so many papers and projects for the end of the semester and then we went to Guatemala for a week. Now I am finally done with all of the papers and getting a gift ready for a couple of the profs, so I'm back! I did write "blogs" in my journal this week on the bus to and from and in Guate, so hopefully I'll be able to post those tonight. As long as my family isn't throwing me another party... We have had 2 in the past 2 nights. So fun, but it doesn't leave time for much else, especially when I still have parties for Calvin. It's busy, but it's a fun busy. I also get to start packing!! I LOVE to pack. And I only have 3 more sleeps in Honduras! I can't even believe it.
Friday, November 26, 2010
and i don't even know his name....
So, this older guy has been living with my family since Monday. I don't know his name. I don't know why he is here or when he is leaving. His name might be Don Melaton, but that's just a guess from what I have heard my family call him. He was introduced as "a friend" by my host mom and as "the dad of a friend" by Izumi. I have gathered that he used to be a "diputado," but is now retired. (I don't actually know what a diputado is, but wordreference.com told me that is a deputy, representative, or member of parliament. I'm going with representative.) I guess that's an important job. I have a really hard time understanding him and he can't understand me, but that's not uncommon with us and the older people we meet. He is also missing a lot of teeth, so that doesn't help things. He seems to be nice though. And he loves to do stuff with family, like take the minivan to go get ice cream cones. He sleeps on an air mattress in the living room. The whole situation is quite comical to me.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Roatan
I wrote this last week (in that same email about life in Honduras) when I was on vacation with my parents, but we didn't have internet access, so this is a little of what we did. We also went ziplining and SWAM WITH DOLPHINS!! I have always wanted to do this, so that was really great. We also took a boat through the mangrove trees that the pirates made so that they could hide out. And we went to this restaurant/bar/I don't really know what to call it, that is only accessible by boat. The owner lives there, but is from the US. He's really laid back and the whole atmosphere of the place was just really chill. I liked it. But here's what I wrote one day on the beach...
Right now, I am on Roatan, one of the Bay Islands (Caribbean), with my parents. It’s a popular tourist place, but we’re staying in this remote place in the middle of the jungle, but also on the beach.. hard to explain exactly. It’s pretty cool, but today it rained all day. It was nice to just relax inside the house, though. Like I’m sure you’re finding, the semester is wearing me out and right about now, the profs are piling on the work, so this week off is wonderful. I’m also speaking in English because I’m with my parents who don’t know Spanish. It’s weird. It took awhile for me to remember it. Even now after a few days, I’m not thinking/speaking solely in English. Also, my spelling and grammar have gone out the window—in both languages. I used to be so good at it in English and now I’m not good in either language. Alas.
We went to another part of the island today. It has better beaches and today is sunny! There is a reef just off shore, so we tried snorkeling. My dad likes it, but I was really claustrophobic. I started to panic so I focused on breathing deeply, but I couldn’t handle it, so I got out of the water. Maybe I’ll try again another day.
This place is beautiful. It’s so nice to get out of Tegus. It’s nice to have clean air. It’s nice that the constant noise isn’t cars and gunshots, but waves and island music. I’m sitting here, covered in salty sand, and I am in awe of the “true blue dream of sky” meeting the deep ocean blues and aqua turquoise sea. It’s breath taking. I see the people bobbing in the water—some snorkeling, some just laughing and enjoying the mix of the sun and the saltwater. There are the sunbathers and the kayakers. And I hear English and Spanish and French and German and it all blends together in this perfect orchestra of sound and it is beautiful. And so I sit; thankful, thought-full. And the thoughts just keep coming. They aren’t bad thoughts, they’re just… big thoughts. And I try to ignore them—as I usually do—but that is not to be. Today, in this place, with the sun shining down on me, they will come, and I won’t stop them.
Right now, I am on Roatan, one of the Bay Islands (Caribbean), with my parents. It’s a popular tourist place, but we’re staying in this remote place in the middle of the jungle, but also on the beach.. hard to explain exactly. It’s pretty cool, but today it rained all day. It was nice to just relax inside the house, though. Like I’m sure you’re finding, the semester is wearing me out and right about now, the profs are piling on the work, so this week off is wonderful. I’m also speaking in English because I’m with my parents who don’t know Spanish. It’s weird. It took awhile for me to remember it. Even now after a few days, I’m not thinking/speaking solely in English. Also, my spelling and grammar have gone out the window—in both languages. I used to be so good at it in English and now I’m not good in either language. Alas.
We went to another part of the island today. It has better beaches and today is sunny! There is a reef just off shore, so we tried snorkeling. My dad likes it, but I was really claustrophobic. I started to panic so I focused on breathing deeply, but I couldn’t handle it, so I got out of the water. Maybe I’ll try again another day.
This place is beautiful. It’s so nice to get out of Tegus. It’s nice to have clean air. It’s nice that the constant noise isn’t cars and gunshots, but waves and island music. I’m sitting here, covered in salty sand, and I am in awe of the “true blue dream of sky” meeting the deep ocean blues and aqua turquoise sea. It’s breath taking. I see the people bobbing in the water—some snorkeling, some just laughing and enjoying the mix of the sun and the saltwater. There are the sunbathers and the kayakers. And I hear English and Spanish and French and German and it all blends together in this perfect orchestra of sound and it is beautiful. And so I sit; thankful, thought-full. And the thoughts just keep coming. They aren’t bad thoughts, they’re just… big thoughts. And I try to ignore them—as I usually do—but that is not to be. Today, in this place, with the sun shining down on me, they will come, and I won’t stop them.
Monday, November 1, 2010
all about honduras
A friend asked me to tell him all about Honduras. This was a project that I knew would take me awhile. I can't just sum up Honduras, no matter how hard I try. When I told him that other people had been asking the same thing, he said that I was welcome to share with them my email to him. So, this is for you if you are wondering all about Honduras...
I live in Tegucigalpa, the capitol. Tegus is in the mountains and is basically like a bowl—the city is in the valley, but goes up the sides too. Apparently it’s the most dangerous airport in the world because there is such a quick descent and the plane needs to stop so fast. But no worries, only the best pilots are allowed to fly in and out of Tegus. The city is big with lots of people. It is never quiet and it’s very dirty. The traffic is terrible. Honduras borders both the Caribbean and the pacific. I haven’t been south, but I guess the beaches are dirty and have dark sand. But up north is like those picture-perfect beaches you see as computer desk tops. Those beaches really are as wonderful as they look. The water is perfectly clear. Even if you’re up to your shoulders, you can still see your feet on the bottom. And where I went, there weren’t even any fish, just jellyfish and sand dollars. I was in a little village called Cusuna. It is literally right on the ocean. The beach was basically outside their backdoors. Cusuna is a very poor village. The homes are literally made of mud, sticks, and straw, and they are only one room—probably the size of a dorm room or smaller. There is no electricity. I’m not sure about running water, but probably not. However, they were so hospitable. Despite the insane heat and dehydration and sunburn and exhaustion, we had a great time learning about the Garífuna culture, one ethnic group in Honduras, originally from Africa.
In Tegus, I live by myself with a host family. I have a mom, a dad, and 4 sisters—ages 21, 18, 18, and 11. They are great. Really. They are. They include me as a member of the family. It can be hard, though. The 11-year-old is mean to me, but I just try to ignore that. A lot of times I feel like I do things wrong or that I shouldn’t do, but I don’t actually think that’s the case, in talking to the other students. And if it is true, oh well. It’s fine. I’m doing the best I can. It is hard not having a roommate. I’ve always shared a room—my sister, Laura, fellow camp counselors… So it’s hard to be by myself. I’m glad that I’m not with any of my host sisters. It is nice to have my own space and a place to get away, but it’s still lonely. It’s hard to be alone. But even with my host family, I feel alone. There is a barrier. Not so much the language, but that is part of it. I don’t know exactly what it is. Maybe it’s the culture differences. Maybe it’s the fact that I didn’t grow up in this family. My background is just different. And that’s okay. But through all of this lonesomeness, I’m learning a lot about trust and remembering that God is with me even when I don’t feel him. And that’s something that I have to learn hour by hour. I’m always learning this.
I go to one of the public universities in Tegucigalpa, but I only have other Calvin students in my classes. I do, however, have Honduran profs. That can be very frustrating. The grading system is very different and is against the students. In the class there are 100 points and the student can only lose points, so once you are at 90%, you can’t get any higher than that. It’s hard because we’ve never worked so hard and we’ve never received such bad grades. Yes, the grades will be changed to match our GPA, or so we’ve been told, but it’s still hard to see. I think that I’m okay with the bad grades. I really am doing my best and it’s in my second language, but the scholarship donors are not okay with it. And that is what I struggle with.
The bus system in Tegus is interesting. The buses are old school buses from the US. It only costs the equivalent of 15 cents to take the bus, so that’s really great, but you don’t ever know exactly where the bus stops are. There are no signs. The bus just stops where there are a lot of people. It also takes a long time on the bus. It’s just as long as walking, sometimes longer. And you don’t pay as soon as you get on like in Grand Rapids, but there’s a guy who comes by after the bus starts going again asking for the money. There are also people who are selling things like gum and candy and water and bread who get on the bus to try to sell them and then just gets off at the next stop to try another bus.
The gap between poverty and wealth is enormous in Honduras. There is incredible wealth for a few people, but there is unbelievable poverty for so many people. The thing is, a lot of times you see the million dollar homes next to the mud huts. Literally. Possibly the best example of this would be the huge banana plantations (Dole and Chiquita Banana are based in Honduras). These American companies have taken over this business and the people on the land or the workers are pushed off the land. The banana companies put up fences and these people live between the fences and the roads—in mud huts. How is this okay? It makes me angry. It makes me feel guilty. I didn’t actually do anything. I couldn’t do anything to be born in a middle class family in the US. It’s not my fault that they were born into these impoverished families. But I feel like I can’t do anything to change the situation and that makes me feel guilty, but I’m not sure that “guilty” is the right word. I think that all of my big thoughts and questions come down to this: injustice. I just feel so helpless because I can’t fix everything. I want to fix everything, but I know that that’s not going to happen and so I just want to help, but I don’t know how much of a difference I can make. Maybe it’s enough just to try.
I think that that just about covers it for now. Are there any other things you want to know about? Maybe I’ll think of more… I might have talked about some of this already, so sorry about that.
I live in Tegucigalpa, the capitol. Tegus is in the mountains and is basically like a bowl—the city is in the valley, but goes up the sides too. Apparently it’s the most dangerous airport in the world because there is such a quick descent and the plane needs to stop so fast. But no worries, only the best pilots are allowed to fly in and out of Tegus. The city is big with lots of people. It is never quiet and it’s very dirty. The traffic is terrible. Honduras borders both the Caribbean and the pacific. I haven’t been south, but I guess the beaches are dirty and have dark sand. But up north is like those picture-perfect beaches you see as computer desk tops. Those beaches really are as wonderful as they look. The water is perfectly clear. Even if you’re up to your shoulders, you can still see your feet on the bottom. And where I went, there weren’t even any fish, just jellyfish and sand dollars. I was in a little village called Cusuna. It is literally right on the ocean. The beach was basically outside their backdoors. Cusuna is a very poor village. The homes are literally made of mud, sticks, and straw, and they are only one room—probably the size of a dorm room or smaller. There is no electricity. I’m not sure about running water, but probably not. However, they were so hospitable. Despite the insane heat and dehydration and sunburn and exhaustion, we had a great time learning about the Garífuna culture, one ethnic group in Honduras, originally from Africa.
In Tegus, I live by myself with a host family. I have a mom, a dad, and 4 sisters—ages 21, 18, 18, and 11. They are great. Really. They are. They include me as a member of the family. It can be hard, though. The 11-year-old is mean to me, but I just try to ignore that. A lot of times I feel like I do things wrong or that I shouldn’t do, but I don’t actually think that’s the case, in talking to the other students. And if it is true, oh well. It’s fine. I’m doing the best I can. It is hard not having a roommate. I’ve always shared a room—my sister, Laura, fellow camp counselors… So it’s hard to be by myself. I’m glad that I’m not with any of my host sisters. It is nice to have my own space and a place to get away, but it’s still lonely. It’s hard to be alone. But even with my host family, I feel alone. There is a barrier. Not so much the language, but that is part of it. I don’t know exactly what it is. Maybe it’s the culture differences. Maybe it’s the fact that I didn’t grow up in this family. My background is just different. And that’s okay. But through all of this lonesomeness, I’m learning a lot about trust and remembering that God is with me even when I don’t feel him. And that’s something that I have to learn hour by hour. I’m always learning this.
I go to one of the public universities in Tegucigalpa, but I only have other Calvin students in my classes. I do, however, have Honduran profs. That can be very frustrating. The grading system is very different and is against the students. In the class there are 100 points and the student can only lose points, so once you are at 90%, you can’t get any higher than that. It’s hard because we’ve never worked so hard and we’ve never received such bad grades. Yes, the grades will be changed to match our GPA, or so we’ve been told, but it’s still hard to see. I think that I’m okay with the bad grades. I really am doing my best and it’s in my second language, but the scholarship donors are not okay with it. And that is what I struggle with.
The bus system in Tegus is interesting. The buses are old school buses from the US. It only costs the equivalent of 15 cents to take the bus, so that’s really great, but you don’t ever know exactly where the bus stops are. There are no signs. The bus just stops where there are a lot of people. It also takes a long time on the bus. It’s just as long as walking, sometimes longer. And you don’t pay as soon as you get on like in Grand Rapids, but there’s a guy who comes by after the bus starts going again asking for the money. There are also people who are selling things like gum and candy and water and bread who get on the bus to try to sell them and then just gets off at the next stop to try another bus.
The gap between poverty and wealth is enormous in Honduras. There is incredible wealth for a few people, but there is unbelievable poverty for so many people. The thing is, a lot of times you see the million dollar homes next to the mud huts. Literally. Possibly the best example of this would be the huge banana plantations (Dole and Chiquita Banana are based in Honduras). These American companies have taken over this business and the people on the land or the workers are pushed off the land. The banana companies put up fences and these people live between the fences and the roads—in mud huts. How is this okay? It makes me angry. It makes me feel guilty. I didn’t actually do anything. I couldn’t do anything to be born in a middle class family in the US. It’s not my fault that they were born into these impoverished families. But I feel like I can’t do anything to change the situation and that makes me feel guilty, but I’m not sure that “guilty” is the right word. I think that all of my big thoughts and questions come down to this: injustice. I just feel so helpless because I can’t fix everything. I want to fix everything, but I know that that’s not going to happen and so I just want to help, but I don’t know how much of a difference I can make. Maybe it’s enough just to try.
I think that that just about covers it for now. Are there any other things you want to know about? Maybe I’ll think of more… I might have talked about some of this already, so sorry about that.
rural community
This weekend we went to a “rural community.” I don’t know exactly where it was in Honduras because that’s all that was on our syllabus: “rural community.” We left at 7a Friday and were home before 7p Saturday. But those 2 days were packed with things to do. It took about 5 hours to get there in our school bus. A number of us are a little sick, so the ride wasn’t the most fun thing to do, but at least we could try to sleep. Our group is really good at sleeping on the bus… the rides are so quiet almost the whole time! It makes me laugh. We visited agricultural projects and a medical clinic (which consisted of a relatively large house with a medical cabinet and a group of moms with kids 23 months or younger that helped the moms and kids stay healthy by regularly weighing the kids and giving vitamins and things like that. Our hotel was in the middle of nowhere. Literally. We had to take these crazy mountainous roads. They were so steep and there were so many hairpin turns and it was getting dark and it was raining. This is all happening at about 5:30-6pm. Finally, after many attempts, we took our backpacks and hiked the rest of the way up the mountain in the dark and the rain. The hotel was so great. It was like a camp. There were cabins with only 3 beds (with real mattresses) in each room, so it was like a hotel room, but the rooms weren’t all in the same building. It made me really miss camp. It was such a fun place. As we were leaving, we also had to do quite a bit of hiking because the bus couldn’t make it. The bus eventually caught up with us, though, so it all turned out alright. What an adventure.
prayers and minivans.
Last night was a really special night for my host family. They have been praying for a car for 10 years. There are 6 people in the family, but usually 7 because they always have a Calvin student with them, so they really wanted a vehicle that could fit everyone. After 10 years of prayer, they were offered a minivan for $6000. They only have to pay half and the owner will let them keep paying it off in the next 6 months (or something like that). They didn’t quite have enough, but the owner accepted anyway. (and this whole process has been going on for the last couple months.) So as we were all sitting at the table finishing dinner, everyone went to get their savings that were in the house and they put it all on the table. It was truly a family ordeal. They had enough. Then we all held hands and prayed, giving thanks, asking for protection, and putting it all in God’s hands once again. It was really cool for me to be a part of. And now, we have a minivan in our garage. Thanks be to God.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Nueva Suyapa
This weekend I went to Nueva Suyapa. I was only there for 24 hours, but it was really interesting. I spent the night with another Calvin student in the home of a family in Nueva Suyapa. This family lives in a VERY small house--one room, but divided into 2 with sheets. 10 people live here. Suyapa and Jorge have 6 kids: Carla, Vanessa, Darwin, Kevin, David, and Genesis; ages 6-23. Carla's husband made some bad choices and left her and went to the US, so Carla is living with her parents again, along with her two kids: Axel (4) and Jo Anna (1). Nueva Suyapa only gets water once every 15 days. The don't have tanks to store the water, either. They need to collect it in empty pop bottles. Imagine this. They have 10 people to bathe and to wash clothes for (the bathroom is an outhouse, so they don't need water for the toilet). It's hard to believe. This family runs their own business making sandals. They have over 20 designs and are very popular. They are so kind and hospitable. It was weird to share a very small room with 11 other people, but it was a great stay. This is something else that just makes me think about justice and life and different cultures. But I have talked on and on about that already.... so I'm just going to let it lie for now.
Enrique's Journey
In high school, I read the book "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario and went to hear her speak at the January Series. This book is about kids immigrating to the US from Central/South America. It's really dangerous. They ride on top of trains. They don't have access to much food or water. There are gangs and thieves. The trains were what really got me. I can't explain how it makes me feel. It's just heartbreaking. They can't sleep because they will fall off. They go through super cold areas and through areas so hot they can see the heat on the tops of the metal train cars. They have to run and jump onto the trains.
Yesterday, I was sitting on my porch with my host mom. A guy came up to our porch and asked for money... basically he was going door to door begging. He couldn't hear or speak very well, but he told us that he had tried to go to the US and had fallen off a train and his arm had been severely hurt. He still had his hand, but he couldn't do very much, I guess. He was probably in his late twenties or early thirties. But there are KIDS doing this too. Then my host mom told me about her niece who tried to get to the US, but had fallen off the train and lost her leg--mid-thigh and down. She had to come back to Honduras. She was 19.
I need to think on this more. I think I'll be doing one of my final essays on this topic. It's so interesting and heartbreaking and unbelievable. I just don't know what to do with it. Reading a book made me think, but I could put it out of my mind for the most part. But meeting people? They're real.
Yesterday, I was sitting on my porch with my host mom. A guy came up to our porch and asked for money... basically he was going door to door begging. He couldn't hear or speak very well, but he told us that he had tried to go to the US and had fallen off a train and his arm had been severely hurt. He still had his hand, but he couldn't do very much, I guess. He was probably in his late twenties or early thirties. But there are KIDS doing this too. Then my host mom told me about her niece who tried to get to the US, but had fallen off the train and lost her leg--mid-thigh and down. She had to come back to Honduras. She was 19.
I need to think on this more. I think I'll be doing one of my final essays on this topic. It's so interesting and heartbreaking and unbelievable. I just don't know what to do with it. Reading a book made me think, but I could put it out of my mind for the most part. But meeting people? They're real.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Adventures in Nicaragua
We climbed a volcano! Like, a LIVE volcano! We went to Masaya volcano. It was so cool. It was super hard to breathe because of the smoke, but it was beautiful and amazing.
We went in a cave at the volcano national park too! I actually don't like caves at all. Also, every other time I have gone in a cave, I have been with Caleb. My brother and I have always bonded in caves because of our mutual dislike of them. Our flashlights didn't really work either, so that was fun. ha. But it was fine. Just a cave. Not as cool as some of the other caves I've been in though.
We went in a cave at the volcano national park too! I actually don't like caves at all. Also, every other time I have gone in a cave, I have been with Caleb. My brother and I have always bonded in caves because of our mutual dislike of them. Our flashlights didn't really work either, so that was fun. ha. But it was fine. Just a cave. Not as cool as some of the other caves I've been in though.
Injustice (Thoughts from Nicaragua)
Why is the world so unfair? Why do I have so much while others have so little? Why do I get 120 cordobas for lunch and another 120 for dinner when kids like Mikey have to sell chicle all day and then give all the money to his mom.
I met Mikey at lunch today. He's 9 years old. He sells chicle from 7a-7p everyday. Phanie bought him lunch. I saw him again before dinner and bought him some water. My dinner was 65 cordobas. How can I think to spend my money on souvenirs when Mikey probably doesn't make that much in a week? Why am I so blessed? And it's hard to enjoy my own life and these blessings. It's hard not to feel guilty. But what can I do?
I met Mikey at lunch today. He's 9 years old. He sells chicle from 7a-7p everyday. Phanie bought him lunch. I saw him again before dinner and bought him some water. My dinner was 65 cordobas. How can I think to spend my money on souvenirs when Mikey probably doesn't make that much in a week? Why am I so blessed? And it's hard to enjoy my own life and these blessings. It's hard not to feel guilty. But what can I do?
2 months and BUSY
Hello!
So sorry for the lack of blogging. We have a lot of homework right now, but I really do have fun things to say--like our trip to Nicaragua! I have passed the halfway point. I now have fewer than 2 months in Honduras. I hope to update this for real sometime this week. I can just barely keep up on the schoolwork and life in Honduras, so blogging has not been high on my list of things to do. Lo siento.
Bendigas,
jessica
So sorry for the lack of blogging. We have a lot of homework right now, but I really do have fun things to say--like our trip to Nicaragua! I have passed the halfway point. I now have fewer than 2 months in Honduras. I hope to update this for real sometime this week. I can just barely keep up on the schoolwork and life in Honduras, so blogging has not been high on my list of things to do. Lo siento.
Bendigas,
jessica
Sunday, October 10, 2010
what keeps running through my mind...
This is my prayer in the desert
And all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in the hunger in me
My God is a God who provides
And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames
And I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon forged against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here
And this is my prayer in the battle
And triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've recieved I will sow
And all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in the hunger in me
My God is a God who provides
And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames
And I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon forged against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here
And this is my prayer in the battle
And triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've recieved I will sow
Monday, October 4, 2010
Valle de Angeles
I went on another adventure today! Actually, I’ve already been on this adventure, but this time I didn’t go to Valle with 14 other people, just 2. So it was more exciting. It was more difficult and took more independence. It was fun. We did our Christmas shopping A group of other college students were at the same shop as us at one point and a couple of them were from by the Alabama/Florida state line. The others were from Tegucigalpa. We kept talking in Spanish, because it’s hard to know how to respond when people talk to us in English. Do we respond in English or Spanish? Do they know a lot of English? The guys from Alabama/Florida kept talking in English, but the girls from Tegus talked in Spanish. The told us that our Spanish was really good. That was really encouraging to hear because I had done most of the talking for us. Of course that got me thinking. I started to reflect on my Spanish. I think that it has improved a lot, but I think that possibly the most significant change is in my confidence in myself. I’m not so afraid of not knowing the words or the conjugations anymore. Now I just talk.
Roman
There is a gentleman who is at our house a lot. His name is Roman. He can’t hear and he can’t talk. My mami just said that he was a “vecino” (neighbor). He is the most helpful person and is so kind and friendly. He will do any favor for you. He uses sign language. I don’t know sign language, but my family, especially my mami, talks with him all the time. And he just comes and goes at our house. He’s basically part of the family. Today was his birthday. We had him over for cena (dinner). And we had a birthday cake and ice cream. I guess that everyone forgets that it’s his birthday on October 1, even though he is always helping everyone. And people don’t call him by name; they just say “el mudo” or the mute guy. That makes me a little angry, but more, it just makes me sad. I think he and I might have a lot in common here. Watching him at dinner, he couldn’t really participate in the conversation. I mean, if questions were directed to him, then he would, but we didn’t talk in sign language. Mami was pretty good at including him, but it was just hard because 1) we don’t know sign language, or at least I don’t, and 2) we’re not used to talking like that. So he just ate with his thoughts and joined the conversation when addressed. I feel like that a lot. I just can’t keep up with the conversation. I do understand the majority of what goes on. I really do. It’s by dinner time (any time between 7:30 and 9:30 or later) that I just can’t comprehend anything else. It’s all just noise by then. So I zone out while I eat and the conversation goes on around me. I’ll join in when addressed and my mami does a good job at pausing the conversation to ask if I understand, but I think Roman and I are in similar situations. Only he didn’t choose to be in his. Thank you, God, for putting someone in my life that shows me how to live a joyful life even if I don’t always understand what’s going on.
Monday, September 27, 2010
life
Sometimes it's hard to live here in Honduras. Don't get me wrong, I do love it. It was my hermanita's birthday yesterday and we had a party tonight for her. I love hanging out with the other students. I love my family and we get along really well. I get to see and experience so many things here. I am learning so much, and not only when it comes to Spanish. I'm learning a lot about life too.
Sometimes life's just hard here, but then, it's hard everywhere at some point. One of my biggest pet peeves is any time I leave the house. Because I am gringa, because I have blonde hair, blue eyes, and light skin, and because I'm female, I am objectified. I am told "I love you, baby" "Hello gringa" "Hey Honey" "Beautiful/Bella"... and the list goes on. We get whistled at, honked at, and "kissed" at (when the men make kissing noises). I don't particularly like this aspect of life in Honduras. It can be hard to feel safe, but we are. We've got a Protector and an army of angels. So we rest in that.
Another thing that's hard is the loneliness. We have each other--the Calvin group, we have our families, we can use the internet and phones and snail mail, it's just different. It's hard to explain and the best way might be that we don't feel "known." But a friend told me that these semesters abroad aren't about being known, but about knowing others. So we build community as a group. We get to know our families, and become a part of the family. We get into local communities. I get out of ourselves and into the hearts of others. I think this is important. I think we're going to need to remember this at home too. I think it's necessary for the Kingdom. We're not called to live inside ourselves, to live for ourselves. We're called to be ONE, "just as [Jesus] and the Father are one."
Sometimes life's just hard here, but then, it's hard everywhere at some point. One of my biggest pet peeves is any time I leave the house. Because I am gringa, because I have blonde hair, blue eyes, and light skin, and because I'm female, I am objectified. I am told "I love you, baby" "Hello gringa" "Hey Honey" "Beautiful/Bella"... and the list goes on. We get whistled at, honked at, and "kissed" at (when the men make kissing noises). I don't particularly like this aspect of life in Honduras. It can be hard to feel safe, but we are. We've got a Protector and an army of angels. So we rest in that.
Another thing that's hard is the loneliness. We have each other--the Calvin group, we have our families, we can use the internet and phones and snail mail, it's just different. It's hard to explain and the best way might be that we don't feel "known." But a friend told me that these semesters abroad aren't about being known, but about knowing others. So we build community as a group. We get to know our families, and become a part of the family. We get into local communities. I get out of ourselves and into the hearts of others. I think this is important. I think we're going to need to remember this at home too. I think it's necessary for the Kingdom. We're not called to live inside ourselves, to live for ourselves. We're called to be ONE, "just as [Jesus] and the Father are one."
Friday, September 24, 2010
catching up
What happened this week? Well, we went to a museum. That was interesting, but the guide talked in Spanish of course, so that was challenging. I can't remember anything out of the ordinary, so that's a good sign :) This weekend Tropical Storm Matthew is supposed to hit Honduras, so that is both exciting and scary, but I'm sure we'll be fine. The only bummer is that we don't get to go to Nueva Suyapa anymore because of the hurricane watch. It's my hermanita's birthday on Saturday. We're going to have parties and who knows what. It will be fun. Sorry I don't have anything exciting to say! I am, however, adding more pictures on facebook whenever I get the chance. Have a lovely week!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
adventure by bus
Today I went to the mall. Not just the mall that's a 40 minute walk (it's across the street from the university). Nope. It was an adventure to the big mall--the Mall Multiplaza. So Katherine, Sara, Heather, and I took the bus (we had to figure out which one..), apparently chose the right one, but one that was going the opposite direction. So some girls on that bus got us on the right one. Then we had to figure out where to get off. But after a phone call to Allison, we got that figured out. And then we climbed a pedestrian bridge so that we could see where we needed to go and took a walk. It was fun. If I think about it too much, it's scary to not know where I am in a strange city in a strange country with a very confusing bus system and a different language, but it was good. It was nice to do something different, to get out of our houses. But now it's time to hit the books. With the combination of classes that I'm taking, I have an insane amount of homework. Sometimes there are literally not enough hours in the day to do it all before class the next day. So linguistics, here I come!
Evangelica
Yesterday, September 15, was the Independence Day of Honduras. Like in the US, there were parades. They are different here in that there are no floats. It's just groups walking and high school bands marching. The Post High group at La Gran Comision wanted to be in it to evangelize. They had never done this before and my sisters were very excited. I did not want to go because I was afraid that there would be tear gas. (You just never know how the crowds are going to be and if they are going to get out of hand...) It was also way out of my comfort zone. When it comes to evangelism, I think that it's great and that we were called to it, but I like how St. Francis of Assisi put it: "Preach the gospel always, and when necessary, use words." I have a hard time walking down the street shouting Bible verses (in Spanish) and singing songs (in Spanish) and chanting (in Spanish) and handing out tracts. I had never done something like this. But there was a gringa in the Independence Day parade in the capitol of Honduras--me. I felt a little awkward, but it was a good experience. (and there was no tear gas in Tegucigalpa. There was in San Pedro Sula.) I don't know if it did anything, but maybe a seed was planted. It was neat to see all the people and to walk past the president and other important people. And my sisters were so happy that I did it with them and my parents and little sister taped us on tv and kept replaying it all day.. haha.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
1/4
This week marks the 1/4 point of the trip. (I come home 3 months from Thursday and I have been here for 1 month on Saturday.) I can't believe it. In some ways it feels like I've been here for a year, but at the same time it feels like I just got here last week.
This week was our first week of semester classes. It is exhausting and it's hard. It's so hard to focus for 4 hours straight of classes taught in Spanish. We're having a hard time understanding, but it will come. I can already see a difference in my communicating with my familia. I think a big thing is just that I have more confidence. With this confidence, though, sometimes I just start talking and they look at me and laugh and then I realize that I just said that sentence in English (without knowing it...). It's a little frustrating, but it's more funny because I'm comfortable/more comfortable with both languages and I just don't realize that I switch back and forth.
Last night was a fun, relaxing night. A few of the girls in my neighborhood and I went to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for a special recipe for brownies. We then walked to another super and then back to the first one and then to one of our houses. We made the brownies (Honduran style) and then watched a movie, enjoying pupusas (my favorite Honduran food) and then brownies. It was great.
Today I was going to go to Santa Lucia with Allison and her host family, but the transportation didn't work out so that's going to have to wait. Flexablilty: Welcome to Honduras. But it's actually just fine. We have tons of homework... or maybe it just takes longer to do it all in Spanish. Either way, the more I get done today, the less stressful the week will be. :)
This week was our first week of semester classes. It is exhausting and it's hard. It's so hard to focus for 4 hours straight of classes taught in Spanish. We're having a hard time understanding, but it will come. I can already see a difference in my communicating with my familia. I think a big thing is just that I have more confidence. With this confidence, though, sometimes I just start talking and they look at me and laugh and then I realize that I just said that sentence in English (without knowing it...). It's a little frustrating, but it's more funny because I'm comfortable/more comfortable with both languages and I just don't realize that I switch back and forth.
Last night was a fun, relaxing night. A few of the girls in my neighborhood and I went to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for a special recipe for brownies. We then walked to another super and then back to the first one and then to one of our houses. We made the brownies (Honduran style) and then watched a movie, enjoying pupusas (my favorite Honduran food) and then brownies. It was great.
Today I was going to go to Santa Lucia with Allison and her host family, but the transportation didn't work out so that's going to have to wait. Flexablilty: Welcome to Honduras. But it's actually just fine. We have tons of homework... or maybe it just takes longer to do it all in Spanish. Either way, the more I get done today, the less stressful the week will be. :)
Monday, September 6, 2010
La Iglesia Gran Comisión
5 septiembre 2010
Like the first Sunday I was here, I went to church with my family today. (I was in Cusuna the second Sunday, so we went to a church there.) It’s a very contemporary church with lots of people. Both Sundays, we have sung Spanish songs, but also songs that we sing back home, only translated into Spanish. This does a couple things for me. First, it makes it easier to worship because I don’t have to think about the tune, lyrics, and the translation of the lyrics. I only need to learn the Spanish lyrics. The other thing it does is help me imagine the Kingdom. It helps me imagine my church back home, SpringHill, LOFT, CCHS, China, and Honduras all worshiping together, all worshiping one God—even in different languages. This was SO true for me today when we sang “You Are Good.” --People from every nation and tongue, from generation to generation… We worship you! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! We worship you! And you are good!-- This chorus hit me every time at camp this summer thinking about my time in China and about what it would be like in Honduras, so to sing it in Spanish (well, Spanglish for me… I kept switching back and forth if I wasn’t focused on singing in Spanish) was amazing for me.
Like the first Sunday I was here, I went to church with my family today. (I was in Cusuna the second Sunday, so we went to a church there.) It’s a very contemporary church with lots of people. Both Sundays, we have sung Spanish songs, but also songs that we sing back home, only translated into Spanish. This does a couple things for me. First, it makes it easier to worship because I don’t have to think about the tune, lyrics, and the translation of the lyrics. I only need to learn the Spanish lyrics. The other thing it does is help me imagine the Kingdom. It helps me imagine my church back home, SpringHill, LOFT, CCHS, China, and Honduras all worshiping together, all worshiping one God—even in different languages. This was SO true for me today when we sang “You Are Good.” --People from every nation and tongue, from generation to generation… We worship you! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! We worship you! And you are good!-- This chorus hit me every time at camp this summer thinking about my time in China and about what it would be like in Honduras, so to sing it in Spanish (well, Spanglish for me… I kept switching back and forth if I wasn’t focused on singing in Spanish) was amazing for me.
Welcome to the USA
2 September 2010
Today, we went to the US Embassy to learn about what the embassy does and hear different presentations. We got to talk with Simon Henshaw, the Charge (i.e. 2nd in command, but right now is acting as ambassador as the real ambassador is on vacation), about the Coup d’état (June 28, 2009) in Honduras and what preceded and followed it. We also got to hear about how the US is helping the poverty situation, but there’s too much to get into here. We then got to talk with 3 Foreign Service Officers in their first term. It was interesting to be able to ask questions about what it means to work in an embassy. Finally, we got to talk about the consulate. We got to hear about how they are there 24/7 to help US citizens in Honduras who are in need of help. (Now we all have the US Embassy in our cell phones…) And we got to talk about visas and the process to get one. That was one of the most interesting parts.
Also, the whole time we were in the Embassy, the rule that we can only speak in Spanish was temporarily suspended and all the presentations were in English and so were our conversations. It was so weird to hear English in Honduras. But it was a nice break for us. We’ve been noticing how exhausted we are. I’m sure that there are many causes, but we’re guessing that translating everything (whether we hear it in Spanish or English, we translate to the other language) is a key factor in our exhaustion.
Friday is our last day of the August interim. We are now heading into the real thing. Classes start on Monday, September 6 (no, we don’t get Labor Day off, but we get September 15 off for the Honduran Independence day). We’re excited. We’re ready for a more concrete schedule—as concrete as a schedule can be here in Honduras.
I know that many of you are also starting school right about now. I hope that you are all doing well and that things get off to a great start.
Love,
Jessica
Today, we went to the US Embassy to learn about what the embassy does and hear different presentations. We got to talk with Simon Henshaw, the Charge (i.e. 2nd in command, but right now is acting as ambassador as the real ambassador is on vacation), about the Coup d’état (June 28, 2009) in Honduras and what preceded and followed it. We also got to hear about how the US is helping the poverty situation, but there’s too much to get into here. We then got to talk with 3 Foreign Service Officers in their first term. It was interesting to be able to ask questions about what it means to work in an embassy. Finally, we got to talk about the consulate. We got to hear about how they are there 24/7 to help US citizens in Honduras who are in need of help. (Now we all have the US Embassy in our cell phones…) And we got to talk about visas and the process to get one. That was one of the most interesting parts.
Also, the whole time we were in the Embassy, the rule that we can only speak in Spanish was temporarily suspended and all the presentations were in English and so were our conversations. It was so weird to hear English in Honduras. But it was a nice break for us. We’ve been noticing how exhausted we are. I’m sure that there are many causes, but we’re guessing that translating everything (whether we hear it in Spanish or English, we translate to the other language) is a key factor in our exhaustion.
Friday is our last day of the August interim. We are now heading into the real thing. Classes start on Monday, September 6 (no, we don’t get Labor Day off, but we get September 15 off for the Honduran Independence day). We’re excited. We’re ready for a more concrete schedule—as concrete as a schedule can be here in Honduras.
I know that many of you are also starting school right about now. I hope that you are all doing well and that things get off to a great start.
Love,
Jessica
30 Ways SpringHill Prepared Me for Honduras:
--COUNT; make sure everyone is always with you
--Be outgoing and make new friends
--Wear bugspray
--Be confident
--When feeling under the weather: Ask yourself, “How many bottles of water have I had today?” “What have you eaten today?” “What are you worried and/or thinking about?” Then tell yourself, “Breathe. Take deep breaths.” “Drink water.” “Use your inhaler.” “Put aloe vera on it.” “Put a band aid on it.” “Sleep.”
--Little time on the internet
--Sometimes you just can’t take a shower everyday
--Sometimes you won’t have electricity
--Be gracious
--3 minute showers
--Write down what you’re learning
--I can kill bugs
--Laugh at yourself
--It’s ok to ask for help
--Wear sunscreen
--Be flexible; things change
--Rain doesn’t have to ruin your day
--Can’t go home any time you want
--Tin roofs are really loud
--Be patient, especially with yourself
--Sometimes sweating is inevitable, especially with humidity and temperatures in the 90’s
--Wear a watch; you shouldn’t take your phone out of your pocket on the street
--Your heavy backpack is your security blanket
--Take solo time
--Walk 3-4 miles everyday
--Go big… and then go home
--Be on the lookout for stranger-danger
--Everyone has a story, listen and be willing to share yours
--HYDRATE OR DIE… literally
--Even though it might be difficult or uncomfortable, even though it seems like an eternity before you can go back home, back to your “normal,” enjoy it. Take advantage of every opportunity. Try new things. This too will pass, (and it’s going to pass more quickly than you realize.) Don’t get to the end of the semester and have regrets.
--COUNT; make sure everyone is always with you
--Be outgoing and make new friends
--Wear bugspray
--Be confident
--When feeling under the weather: Ask yourself, “How many bottles of water have I had today?” “What have you eaten today?” “What are you worried and/or thinking about?” Then tell yourself, “Breathe. Take deep breaths.” “Drink water.” “Use your inhaler.” “Put aloe vera on it.” “Put a band aid on it.” “Sleep.”
--Little time on the internet
--Sometimes you just can’t take a shower everyday
--Sometimes you won’t have electricity
--Be gracious
--3 minute showers
--Write down what you’re learning
--I can kill bugs
--Laugh at yourself
--It’s ok to ask for help
--Wear sunscreen
--Be flexible; things change
--Rain doesn’t have to ruin your day
--Can’t go home any time you want
--Tin roofs are really loud
--Be patient, especially with yourself
--Sometimes sweating is inevitable, especially with humidity and temperatures in the 90’s
--Wear a watch; you shouldn’t take your phone out of your pocket on the street
--Your heavy backpack is your security blanket
--Take solo time
--Walk 3-4 miles everyday
--Go big… and then go home
--Be on the lookout for stranger-danger
--Everyone has a story, listen and be willing to share yours
--HYDRATE OR DIE… literally
--Even though it might be difficult or uncomfortable, even though it seems like an eternity before you can go back home, back to your “normal,” enjoy it. Take advantage of every opportunity. Try new things. This too will pass, (and it’s going to pass more quickly than you realize.) Don’t get to the end of the semester and have regrets.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Viajes
This weekend we took a trip to a little community called Cusuna. It took about 15ish hours to get there and about 13 to get back (from and to Tegus.)… on a school bus. :) Cusuna is a little village where the majority of the homes are mud and stick huts. There is not electricity, except for a few buildings with solar panels. It is right on the Caribbean. It is insanely hot and even more humid. It makes Tegus. feel good (even though we’re already hot in Tegus. as we walk to school in the morning). We also had to bring our own drinking water to Cusuna. Tons of people ended up getting sick—dehydrated or from the food or from the bus rides. I made sure to drink a lot of water, but I needed more than I even thought was a lot. On Sunday we went to a church service at a nearby community (that we needed to take the bus and then lanchas—canoes with motors—to). The heat and the sun and the humidity were awful. Pablo kept making sure I was drinking water because he didn’t want me sick and I was already getting dizzy. I had over 2 liters of water during that church service, in other words, over 2 liters in less than 2 hours. I took “hydrate or die” (our camp motto), to a whole new level that day. And when two other girls were almost fainting, literally, I was doing well, and by the time we got back to Cusuna, I was doing great. Infirmary girl, right here. :)
It was so cool to learn about the Garífuna culture. (The people in Cusuna and the surrounding communities are Garífunas. They are of African heritage and speak their own language along with Spanish.) And they were so welcoming. It was hard for me to see such poverty. I just want to change things and make things fairer. Why should I have so much and be able to do so many things when so many people have so little and don’t get to travel the world like me. And yet, they’re so happy and so hospitable and kind. I just don’t know what to do when I’m faced with situations like that. I like to make things better, and in this case, along with many other times here in Honduras or at camp or in China or in Grand Rapids…, I can’t do anything. I can get to know people and show love and accept hospitality, but I don’t know what else I can do.
This trip led to all of us feeling like our casas in Tegus. are home. We were so excited to get off that bus, to go home, to have electricity, to have more access to clean water, to not be in the sun all day long, to see our host families/to not be surrounded by people who would switch into another language so that we couldn’t understand… And in feeling more comfortable, I’m more confident talking with my family. They noticed it already Monday night when we came home. They said, “Are you sure that this is the same Jessica that we took home last week Wednesday?” and then they teased me, “Are you sure you didn’t have any cerveza—wine—in Cusuna?” and of course that answer was, “¡Claro que no, Mami!” :)
And then Tuesday we took a viaje pequitito—super little—to the Congress building in Tegus. We got to tour it and some people, including the President of the Congress and other congress members, talked to us about Honduras and Congress and politics and the like.
On the walk back to the bus, Bettina and I panicked because there were people protesting (peacefully, but still) who also had people talking into a microphone and were holding signs, and then a bus or motorcycle or something started up or backfired and we screamed. It just sounded too much like the tear gas bombs for us. I think I better work on this newly aquired fear… That third day was quite traumatizing. Haha. But seriously. It was.
Oh, speaking of tear gas bombs and protesting, the huelga—strike—has been resolved, at least for now. That means that we can have class in the university instead of at the AJS building and that everything is just a lot more tranquila—peaceful—here in Honduras. Gracias a Dios.
Con un abrazo y un besito,
Jessica
It was so cool to learn about the Garífuna culture. (The people in Cusuna and the surrounding communities are Garífunas. They are of African heritage and speak their own language along with Spanish.) And they were so welcoming. It was hard for me to see such poverty. I just want to change things and make things fairer. Why should I have so much and be able to do so many things when so many people have so little and don’t get to travel the world like me. And yet, they’re so happy and so hospitable and kind. I just don’t know what to do when I’m faced with situations like that. I like to make things better, and in this case, along with many other times here in Honduras or at camp or in China or in Grand Rapids…, I can’t do anything. I can get to know people and show love and accept hospitality, but I don’t know what else I can do.
This trip led to all of us feeling like our casas in Tegus. are home. We were so excited to get off that bus, to go home, to have electricity, to have more access to clean water, to not be in the sun all day long, to see our host families/to not be surrounded by people who would switch into another language so that we couldn’t understand… And in feeling more comfortable, I’m more confident talking with my family. They noticed it already Monday night when we came home. They said, “Are you sure that this is the same Jessica that we took home last week Wednesday?” and then they teased me, “Are you sure you didn’t have any cerveza—wine—in Cusuna?” and of course that answer was, “¡Claro que no, Mami!” :)
And then Tuesday we took a viaje pequitito—super little—to the Congress building in Tegus. We got to tour it and some people, including the President of the Congress and other congress members, talked to us about Honduras and Congress and politics and the like.
On the walk back to the bus, Bettina and I panicked because there were people protesting (peacefully, but still) who also had people talking into a microphone and were holding signs, and then a bus or motorcycle or something started up or backfired and we screamed. It just sounded too much like the tear gas bombs for us. I think I better work on this newly aquired fear… That third day was quite traumatizing. Haha. But seriously. It was.
Oh, speaking of tear gas bombs and protesting, the huelga—strike—has been resolved, at least for now. That means that we can have class in the university instead of at the AJS building and that everything is just a lot more tranquila—peaceful—here in Honduras. Gracias a Dios.
Con un abrazo y un besito,
Jessica
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Una Semana
It has been a week. In some ways it seems like it has been a year and in other ways it feels like it’s only been a day.
It has been a long week. It has been an exhausting week. It has been a week that has stretched me more than I even imagined it would. It has been a week of learning, of growing. I have definitely seen that in my Spanish. My mind is a confusing place right now… I honestly can’t tell you what language I’m thinking in at a given moment. I do think in Spanish most of the time. It’s generally when I am really tired or talking about a subject that I don’t know a lot about or rarely talk about in Spanish that I think in English and then have to translate to Spanish. And then throw in the occasional Chinese for “thank you”: [seeyaseeya]. And sometimes, actually a lot of times, I switch languages mid-sentence. I am pretty sure that I continue speaking in Spanish, but I don’t really know. It’s interesting for me to pay attention to.
Today we went to Nueva Suyapa! This was probably the thing that I was most excited about Honduras for. My senior year, I wrote a fable—in Spanish, of course—for El Verbo, the Christian elementary school in Nueva Suyapa. I’ve also learned a lot about Nueva Suyapa in my high school Spanish classes and from Association for a more Just Society (AJS). We actually didn’t spend a lot of time in the town. We walked up the “Montanita,” the little mountain that Nueva Suyapa is on. We got to see the vegetable gardens that groups of women grow up there. While we were on the mountain, David, the brother of one of my Spanish teachers, met up with us. He had actually come to my Spanish class senior year and talked to us about the work he does in Nueva Suyapa, so that was a fun fact for the day.
I was really dizzy today. For those of you who don’t know, dizziness is not a new concept for me. The thing is, I had been doing so much better—like, for months. But today was really hard. And it was different than normal, so I don’t know what it was/is (because I’ve been dizzy the past few days, and still am, but not like in Nueva Suyapa or on the mountain). It’s very possible that it’s the altitude because Tegus. is higher elevation than Michigan and Nueva Suyapa and la Montanita is even higher. But, no worries, I know how to live life dizzy, it’s just really frustrating and when I’m so dizzy that I can’t walk, it’s pretty hard. The professors did take me to the doctor, but they didn’t think anything was wrong. Now I’m just keeping an eye out for triggers and stuff.
This weekend we’re taking a 4-day weekend and going to Cusuna, a rural town (without things like electricity), 11 hours from Tegus. It’s on the ocean, so it will be fun to spend time at the beach. We’re going to be learning a lot about the Garifuna culture there, too.
Right now I am listening to a sermon (a little strange? Maybe, but something I love to do), but I can’t really hear it due to the chubasco-->Caleb, that’s for you, for the rest of you, it’s a strong rainstorm—outside. My room has a door and a window (on the same wall) that face outside, but not to the street. They face something like an outdoor room… oxymoron?... it has walls, but it’s outside and half of the “room” has a roof. That half is next to my room, so it’s not like I would get wet if I opened my door right now. The roof is tin. That’s why it’s extra loud. (To my dear craft girls: I didn’t live in the tree houses with tin roofs with you, but I live with a tin roof now for 4 months, so I understand.) It’s starting to calm down now and I’m running out of things to say.
Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers and encouragement. I’ve had some people ask for my address here…
Jessica Lamer
Apdo 30676
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Central America
Me extrañan mucho a todos (I miss you all a lot), pero estoy mucho más cómoda aquí ahora (but I’m a lot more confortable here now). Espero hablar con ustedes pronto (I hope to talk with you again soon). ¡Cuídense! (Take care!)
Con amor y un abrazo,
Jessica
It has been a long week. It has been an exhausting week. It has been a week that has stretched me more than I even imagined it would. It has been a week of learning, of growing. I have definitely seen that in my Spanish. My mind is a confusing place right now… I honestly can’t tell you what language I’m thinking in at a given moment. I do think in Spanish most of the time. It’s generally when I am really tired or talking about a subject that I don’t know a lot about or rarely talk about in Spanish that I think in English and then have to translate to Spanish. And then throw in the occasional Chinese for “thank you”: [seeyaseeya]. And sometimes, actually a lot of times, I switch languages mid-sentence. I am pretty sure that I continue speaking in Spanish, but I don’t really know. It’s interesting for me to pay attention to.
Today we went to Nueva Suyapa! This was probably the thing that I was most excited about Honduras for. My senior year, I wrote a fable—in Spanish, of course—for El Verbo, the Christian elementary school in Nueva Suyapa. I’ve also learned a lot about Nueva Suyapa in my high school Spanish classes and from Association for a more Just Society (AJS). We actually didn’t spend a lot of time in the town. We walked up the “Montanita,” the little mountain that Nueva Suyapa is on. We got to see the vegetable gardens that groups of women grow up there. While we were on the mountain, David, the brother of one of my Spanish teachers, met up with us. He had actually come to my Spanish class senior year and talked to us about the work he does in Nueva Suyapa, so that was a fun fact for the day.
I was really dizzy today. For those of you who don’t know, dizziness is not a new concept for me. The thing is, I had been doing so much better—like, for months. But today was really hard. And it was different than normal, so I don’t know what it was/is (because I’ve been dizzy the past few days, and still am, but not like in Nueva Suyapa or on the mountain). It’s very possible that it’s the altitude because Tegus. is higher elevation than Michigan and Nueva Suyapa and la Montanita is even higher. But, no worries, I know how to live life dizzy, it’s just really frustrating and when I’m so dizzy that I can’t walk, it’s pretty hard. The professors did take me to the doctor, but they didn’t think anything was wrong. Now I’m just keeping an eye out for triggers and stuff.
This weekend we’re taking a 4-day weekend and going to Cusuna, a rural town (without things like electricity), 11 hours from Tegus. It’s on the ocean, so it will be fun to spend time at the beach. We’re going to be learning a lot about the Garifuna culture there, too.
Right now I am listening to a sermon (a little strange? Maybe, but something I love to do), but I can’t really hear it due to the chubasco-->Caleb, that’s for you, for the rest of you, it’s a strong rainstorm—outside. My room has a door and a window (on the same wall) that face outside, but not to the street. They face something like an outdoor room… oxymoron?... it has walls, but it’s outside and half of the “room” has a roof. That half is next to my room, so it’s not like I would get wet if I opened my door right now. The roof is tin. That’s why it’s extra loud. (To my dear craft girls: I didn’t live in the tree houses with tin roofs with you, but I live with a tin roof now for 4 months, so I understand.) It’s starting to calm down now and I’m running out of things to say.
Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers and encouragement. I’ve had some people ask for my address here…
Jessica Lamer
Apdo 30676
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Central America
Me extrañan mucho a todos (I miss you all a lot), pero estoy mucho más cómoda aquí ahora (but I’m a lot more confortable here now). Espero hablar con ustedes pronto (I hope to talk with you again soon). ¡Cuídense! (Take care!)
Con amor y un abrazo,
Jessica
Monday, August 23, 2010
Tercer Dia
Well, today I had my first, and hopefully last, encounter with tear gas. We were walking to Hospimed—a hospital in Tegucigalpa—for a tour. Right now, the teachers in Honduras are on strike. All public schools are closed, and have been for 3 weeks. Today there were protesters in the street outside the Universidad Pedagógica. The protestors were blocking the street so that no traffic could get through. I even saw rocks in the road. Well, impeding traffic is not allowed, so the police had to use force to get the people to disperse. They used tear gas. We didn’t know what was going on. At first we thought they were shooting guns, because that’s what they sounded like, but there was an awful lot of smoke for it to be guns. People were running in every direction. I was toward the back of the pack (there are 29 students here), but I just kept following the people in front of me. Then a couple people around me and I started to notice that not all of us were together. We stayed back for a few seconds to try to find them, but we couldn’t see them and the smoke was getting to us and then we realized that it wasn’t smoke. We didn’t know what it was yet, but we did know that our throats, mouths, noses, and eyes were burning. It was hard to breathe and to see, but we just started to run, still following the people in our group. We would run and then wait to try to find the others (there were about 10 people who weren’t with us) and then the gas (someone told us that it was tear gas) would catch up to us and we would run some more. Finally we got a hold of the others and they were all together and safe in the mall. They were in the back of the pack and ran in the opposite direction as us. (One of the students with them is from Honduras.) Those of us that had kept going forward finally made it to Hospimed. A doctor talked to us, but we didn’t take a tour. We just went back to our casas. So now I’m back in my casa. My face still burns, but I’m safe and I’m not panicking anymore. It was quite the adventure for the third day.
Segundo Día
I have never felt so alone in my entire life. I’ve never cried so much. I’ve never wanted to be in Grand Rapids so badly.
I love my host family. They are so great. They make sure that I feel like I am another daughter. The thing is, right now, all I want is my own family, my SpringHill family, my Calvin family… and I don’t have them. It’s so hard.
I’m just really overwhelmed right now. I feel like I don’t know enough Spanish. I can communicate, but it takes awhile and I’m just not good at it. (But I am starting to think in Spanish again because as I’m typing this I keep starting to type the words in Spanish, but then translate to English.)
Please pray for me. I am exhausted and I don’t want to be here. I just want to go home. I feel like this is too hard and I just can’t do it. Pray that these feelings will pass and that I will feel what I know in my head: that this will be a great semester and that this is where God wants me to be right now. Please also pray for encouragement, peace, confidence, and comfort.
I love you all.
I love my host family. They are so great. They make sure that I feel like I am another daughter. The thing is, right now, all I want is my own family, my SpringHill family, my Calvin family… and I don’t have them. It’s so hard.
I’m just really overwhelmed right now. I feel like I don’t know enough Spanish. I can communicate, but it takes awhile and I’m just not good at it. (But I am starting to think in Spanish again because as I’m typing this I keep starting to type the words in Spanish, but then translate to English.)
Please pray for me. I am exhausted and I don’t want to be here. I just want to go home. I feel like this is too hard and I just can’t do it. Pray that these feelings will pass and that I will feel what I know in my head: that this will be a great semester and that this is where God wants me to be right now. Please also pray for encouragement, peace, confidence, and comfort.
I love you all.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Camp
It is Week 1.4 here at camp. I'm loving it here. Week 1.2 I was in StoryBrook with 1st-3rd graders. Last week and this week I'm in NewFrontiers with 6th-9th grade art girls. The campers are so funny, especially in StoBro. I would love to tell anyone some of the stories, but I have very limited time on the computer (hence the lack of blogging). I really liked StoBro and would go back in a heartbeat, but I love it here in NewFro too. I love having the deep conversations with the campers.
I am doing well. I camp to camp knowing no one, but now I have a lot of really good friends here. I'm really exhausted, but that's expected. Please pray for strength for me and for the other counselors.
Peace.
I am doing well. I camp to camp knowing no one, but now I have a lot of really good friends here. I'm really exhausted, but that's expected. Please pray for strength for me and for the other counselors.
Peace.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Training and Week 1
Week 1 started yesterday! I'm sad because there were so few campers signed up that I (and TONS of other counselors) had to take the week off. BUT, I am excited for these kids and this week will be really nice for me to get things done for Honduras in the fall.
Training was long. It was draining. It was disorganized, sometimes to the point of chaos. But it was good. My favorite part was watching our relationships grow from just trying to remember each others' names to some good friendships. It's going to be a great summer.
Training was long. It was draining. It was disorganized, sometimes to the point of chaos. But it was good. My favorite part was watching our relationships grow from just trying to remember each others' names to some good friendships. It's going to be a great summer.
Friday, May 28, 2010
SpringHill Address
Apparently, SpringHill has had some issues with the PO Box for summer staff. The correct one is PO Box 24.
In other news, I'll be at camp in FOUR DAYS!! So excited.
If you would continue to pray for peace for me, and for God to work in the lives of everyone at camp this summer, that would be appreciated.
In other news, I'll be at camp in FOUR DAYS!! So excited.
If you would continue to pray for peace for me, and for God to work in the lives of everyone at camp this summer, that would be appreciated.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Bienvenidos
I have decided to start a blog. Obviously.
I have thought about blogging, especially for this summer and this fall. I was then asked by a lot of people if I would write a blog. So I decided to. We'll see how it goes.
I chose the description of this blog from Praise Habit, a book by David Crowder. I chose this theme because it is how I try to live. I want to find God in everything, and I want to praise him in everything. I think this is also appropriate because I am heading into two brand new situations.
I'm going to be a camp counselor at SpringHill Camp this summer and I'm heading to Honduras this fall for a semester of Spanish studies.
If you know me, you know that change is not something that I particularly enjoy. I finally felt at home at Calvin College. I was growing and learning and it was so great. But it's time for something new. And this is so good. I'm nervous about the next six months, but I am so excited. I cannot wait for all these new adventures and everything that I'm going to see and witness and learn.
That's where this blog comes in. This blog will give me a place to share the ways in which God reveals himself to me in the next six months. This will be a way to tell of what I am learning and how God is growing me. We'll see how it goes. (It will be especially hard to blog while I'm at camp, but I'll try.)
I also love hearing from people. Snail mail is going to be a fun thing to do this summer at camp. If you write to me, I promise that I will reply every time.
Finally, I ask for your prayers; prayers for peace, courage, patience, wisdom, and love.
Shalom.
jessica
I have thought about blogging, especially for this summer and this fall. I was then asked by a lot of people if I would write a blog. So I decided to. We'll see how it goes.
I chose the description of this blog from Praise Habit, a book by David Crowder. I chose this theme because it is how I try to live. I want to find God in everything, and I want to praise him in everything. I think this is also appropriate because I am heading into two brand new situations.
I'm going to be a camp counselor at SpringHill Camp this summer and I'm heading to Honduras this fall for a semester of Spanish studies.
If you know me, you know that change is not something that I particularly enjoy. I finally felt at home at Calvin College. I was growing and learning and it was so great. But it's time for something new. And this is so good. I'm nervous about the next six months, but I am so excited. I cannot wait for all these new adventures and everything that I'm going to see and witness and learn.
That's where this blog comes in. This blog will give me a place to share the ways in which God reveals himself to me in the next six months. This will be a way to tell of what I am learning and how God is growing me. We'll see how it goes. (It will be especially hard to blog while I'm at camp, but I'll try.)
I also love hearing from people. Snail mail is going to be a fun thing to do this summer at camp. If you write to me, I promise that I will reply every time.
Finally, I ask for your prayers; prayers for peace, courage, patience, wisdom, and love.
Shalom.
jessica
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