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."
Monday, September 27, 2010
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
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)