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