Brian & Regan

I had this crazy dream (I don't know what it is that I only remember ridiculous ones). So I'm at school, I think down in Honduras, but I'm a student, not a teacher. And since I'm part of the group that gives tours of our town to people when they come in I had the opportunity to give a tour to a group that was coming in. Apparently our director Megan had some friends coming in named Brian and Regan (Could this be related to Brian Regan? Maybe...) and so she asked if anybody wanted to give a tour. Of course I didn't want to but it turned out that everybody else just stood up and left. So I decided sure, I guess I can do it. Things were going fine on our tour until I realized that instead of a pair of lame people it was actually the comedian Brian Regan, only in this dream he was split into two people, and they were both females, around 24, single, and flirting with me. So naturally when they wanted to stop at the jewelery store I said yes. I was helping one of them pick out a ring for her mom when she asked, "Can I put whipped cream on your neck?" Well of course! So I go down on my knees, head down and leaning forward so that she could put whipped cream on my neck. Then the other one came over and poured hair dye into my hair. It was a bright orange throw up type color, and permanent. I forget the reason why, I think because I wouldn't take her sky diving. They were both laughing cause this was their plan all along apparently. Then there's a fire alarm so I go outside with my friends David and Cody who are suddenly there. We get into the field with everybody else, but there is some confusion where we are supposed to go. Then we get on the bus and sit right behind Megan who seems to be staring at my hair. Come to find out that her friends aren't Brian and Regan, their actual name is the Hair Stripers...go figure. So since the fire alarm is going off we decide to all head out to the hot springs for the evening. But the alarm stops before we can leave. So back inside we go for a conference that's suddenly planned. We're switching rooms all the time but when I switch rooms I can't find my shoe! And this happens in each room over and over and over. I get to the new room and can't find my shoe. Decide that I'll track it down later, then magically am wearing my shoes when I leave. Get to the next room and I don't have my shoes, blah blah blah. Why am I so bizarre?

Repairman for a Day...or Two

I recently acquired my car from my cousin who had been taking care of her for the past year I was gone. She told me, “there are just a few problems...” One being that the drivers side window kind of goes down and kind of goes up. This was a problem when I turned the car over to her, yet the motor had managed to almost officially die. The motor, if you will, went onto hospice.
I asked my brother, “how do you fix a window motor?” “Oh simple, just pop off the door panel, take out the old one, and put in the new one!” If only it were so simple....yet I didn’t know this until many hours into the project! So early Thursday morning I embarked on a mission that would take me two trips to Shucks, countless efforts of looking for help online, and a lot of guessing/hoping/praying.
What was supposed to be a quick morning fix on Thursday was finally completed in time for lunch on Friday. I tried, I guessed, and I conquered....mostly. The monetary cost was significantly cheaper than taking it to a mechanic, but the non-monetary cost may turn out to be quite high. I busted one place intended once upon a time for a screw. So there are now two screws, not three, holding my door together. I busted a small panel on the door, but that was easily fixed with a few extra screws. And the kicker on the home repair....I tried the window when we were all done....I took a deep breath....waited....and pushed....nothing....I tried again....I pushed down on the power window button....nothing....I took another deep breath....looked at my dad....and pushed up....IT WORKED! When I pushed up on the window button it went down, and when I pushed down it went up. So in a sense, yes, the window works perfectly!

Most Terrifying Moment

So these dumb dogs have this habit of waking me up at 3 or 4 in the morning in order to go outside. Other than annoyed I haven't thought much of it until tonight. Now, let me take this back just one or two days for a second....there was a news story about a dog that was attacked by a raccoon. The dog lost it's leg and was only saved when it's owner detached the raccoon. I said something jokingly like, "Maybe I'll find a raccoon in the backyard one night." Why did I have to open my mouth like that?
Ok, back to these dogs and tonight. I take them outside and immediately they go running outside barking, including Fetch dog. And the more curious part is that they don't go to the back corner, they go running to one of the bushes barking and then, suddenly, yelping. All the dogs are barking bloody murder and my mind immediately starts racing! Luckily there is a small light that I figured out how to turn on just last night so I could see a little bit of what was happening. Diaper dog comes running out of the bushes followed by a gigantic cat! That's funny, the cat is huge! Way bigger than the pug! And it has black and white stripes on it...hmmmm. I immediately freak out and start yelling at the raccoon (not about to chase after a raccoon twice the size of a pug when it's angry!). I'm clapping and yelling at it while Sausage and Diaper dog come back to me I shove them inside (without his diaper but who cares). Then I hear the dogs move towards the back corner, it's down to Water dog and Fetch dog....Water dog looks pitiful and is now just standing under a tree (what do you expect from him?), so I run over, pick him up, and shove him back inside. Fetch dog (probably the most aggressive of the four) is still in the bushes barking at something. I don't want to go back in the bushes and grab him cause who knows if the raccoon is still there or not! But then, maybe I should go back and get him for that very same reason, I might stand a better chance against a raccoon than a 20 pound (on a good day) dog. I run inside looking for a flashlight (luckily I had explored the kitchen from day one), find a small one that works and sprint back out the door. It's just powerful enough to make out something gigantic moving across the fence and now I hear Fetch dog barking (a good sign that he's still alive) but on the other side of the small fence! He's jumped a 3+ft fence in search of this guy! I quick run next door to the neighbor's house and without regard for privacy sprint around their house and through their backyard to the side Fetch dog is still barking on. I see him running up and down the fence chasing the raccoon that is running back and forth on top of the fence. I run up, grab Fetch dog, and sprint back to the house, breathing a sigh of relief as I'm safely inside with all four dogs. I examine all dogs a quick run-over and amazingly enough the only blood that I spot on any of them is on Fetch dog and without any cuts or bits on him I'm assuming it's from the raccoon...serious?* These are some bad-ass dogs! Who knew?
*Scratch that comment, I spoke too soon. Fetch dog was not putting any weight on his right leg this morning and I examined more closely. He did have a small bite, so he's at the vet now getting it cleaned and taken care of.

Potty Break

Every time I take these dogs outside it's the same thing:
1) They all go running outside barking into the back corner of the fence (minus fetch dog that drops the ball at the door and waits).
2) Sausage dog grabs her stuffed animal and shakes it for a while in her mouth, then pees on it.
3) Diaper dog goes running around the whole time barking at birds in the trees, the fence, fetch dog, airplanes, helicopters, the barbecue, and the gate.
4) Water dog (now named that way for the amount of water he drinks then spits up on the floor) just stands at my feet once he's done barking at the back corner and he does nothing.
5) Fetch dog continues to play fetch despite the barking and standing going on around him.
6) Sausage is now done with her stuffed animal and tries to have a poop but is usually constipated so she just squats for a half minute. Then drags her bottom across the grass.
7) Diaper dog is now barking at a bush.
8) Fetch dog is still bringing the ball back to me.
9) Sausage is all done now and just sits in the grass awkwardly.
10) Fetch dog gets the ball, stops by the water dish for a drink, and brings it back to me to keep playing.
11) Water dog is still standing.
12) I get bored and bring the dogs in (not before putting diaper dog's diaper back on him).

Diaper Dog

This is maybe not the most appropriate posting....but it's probably the most hilarious thing that has ever happened to me....stupid diaper dog.
So this afternoon I bring the dogs in from outside (going to the bathroom and playing fetch), give them their treats, and then go to the bathroom myself. It's weird enough that I look at the dor and there's two dogs staring at me while I pee. But then as soon as I finish the diaper dog (pug named Brutus) walks up to the toilet and LIFTS HIS LEG! I immediately kicked him and he ran out of the room....but can you believe this?! He's dumber than a brick.

Dog Sitting

I got a call from the neighbor of a friend who wanted me to dog sit and I agreed to help out. Now I'm about half way through day one of about nine and these dogs are crazy! There's three terriers of some kind and one pug who thinks he's a terrier. Terrier one likes to play fetch non-stop! The family suggested to play just for 20 minutes three times per day (but we've already played four times). Then terrier two and three have yet to leave their cage. They just stay in there all day because they're depressed I suppose. One of them has kidney problems and so the owner left me the vets number "just in case" he goes into kidney failure. He drinks a lot and has to go to the bathroom a lot "but that's good for him." Oh, and he sleeps with me....yay. Then there's the pug who apparently has bladder issues. So there are some "diapers" that they put on him....they are actually maxi-pads stuck to a cloth and strung around his backside. I get to change that....woo.
And how could I forget about the cat! There's a cat who comes and goes apparently. I haven't seen him all day but his food is sitting here in case he ever comes home. It's no skin off my back if he doesn't, I hate cats. But the owners might see this as a bad thing (who knows why). Well, I suppose it's time to take the dogs out once again...maybe those two mutts will come out of their cage this time...or not. And the pug keeps making growling noises randomly all day, do all pugs do this?

Striking Realization

I just had a terrible realization...I'm lonely. I've been back in the States now for almost four weeks and I'm lonely. In Copan I was surrounded by friends day and night and interacted with hundreds of people every day (albeit the majority under age 12).:) Since coming back to my parents place my life has seemed fairly flat and lacking something and I couldn't place a finger on it...Then sitting here in bed tonight it struck me like an epiphany (learned that word in church...), I'm lonely!
There's no real blame to go around on this issue, I haven't sought out friendships around here as I view the Seattle are as a very temporary place to be...so who needs close friends here? Now, no offense in the least bit to my parents (sorry to say this mom), but when I spend the majority of my time alone at home or with my parents at home my social life feels like a vacuum...only I'm the only one hanging out inside the vacuum bag. I need to get out there and make friends my age around here...that's scary...how do you even do that? I don't even remember what it's like here in the States to try and make friends outside of school. Don't all the people my age just go dancing and get drunk? I don't even know what people do around here for fun? Do lots of people in their twenties think cards are one of the greatest inventions ever or is it just me? Do lots of people my age prefer to just stay home and chill with a few friends on the weekend instead of "hit the town?" Do lots of people enjoy sitting and people watching? What if I'm hanging out with somebody and I have nothing to say? Are people ok with that around here? I don't know if I've ever had a bigger feeling of seclusion...I guess I do take after my dad on the extrovert scale more than I thought.

They Have a Word for that already...

I took a break from a medical brigade in town this afternoon to hit up a free lunch offer. Who could ever turn one of those down?:) While I was hanging out with a handful of other foreign teachers at Marisol's house (Honduran director-type) we started talking about all sorts of different Copan things. We got onto the topic of drug lords and drug trafficking in the area. One of the ironic things that we got to talking about is how they refer to their trading of drugs. You see....they don't "sell" drugs. What they do is that they exchange the drugs for money. I started thinking....I think that there's a name for exchanging an object for money. It's called selling. Does it make it sound any better to say that you exchange drugs for money instead of saying that you sell them? I'm not really too sure about this one...maybe it's like a public image sort of thing. Don't want people to think that you're doing anything shady, right?

¡Me Va a Sacar los Frijoles!

He's so excited!
Originally uploaded by zassink

Yesterday was one of those days of extremely mixed emotions. My neighbor, Carlos José, had his sixth grade graduation, which is a really big deal here. It’s kind of like a high school graduation in the States, just cheesier (at least here in Copán). We went to one of the nicest hotels in Copán, Hotel Posada Real, in order to have the ceremony and dinner. Apparently the hotel is famous for not good food....and I’d say that it lived up to that. We had a super expensive dinner that I probably could have made better, and that’s saying something!:) The ceremony was alright, I really don’t see the big deal about graduating from sixth grade, because you’re only about half way through school in my opinion...never-the-less I played along and enjoyed the ceremony.
When we got home around 9:30 I was hanging out with my neighbors realizing that I might not see some of them for a really long time. They were planning on leaving early this morning (5:15am) for Tegucigalpa and the graduation of the oldest of the kids from high school. They don’t get back until after I leave for the States on the 27th. Only about half of them were planning on going, but they were all considering going (still last night they weren’t sure!). So as I said my “see you laters” last night I started to get really nostalgic thinking about all the things that we’ve done together. They have all been like brothers, sisters, and of course a mom to me. We’ve taken trips together, eaten dinner together on a regular basis, I’ve studied with Carlos José constantly, had our Sunday morning coffee hang outs, watched Caso Cerrado (it’s like a good version of Judge Judy), sat outside the house commenting on all the tourists passing by, they’ve even tried to get me a girlfriend here in Copán (unsuccessfully).:) So I’m saying goodbye at the time to María Beatris and her four year old son right before I go to bed. María and I are talking about all sorts of different memories and thanking each other for putting up with each other. Then I bend down to give Norman Roman (the four year old) a hug; I lift him up and give him a strong hug. As I set him back down he says (giggling), “Mister.... ¡me va a sacar los frijoles!” In other words, “Mister...You’re going to squeeze the beans out of me!” I got up this morning and found a note on my kitchen stove....all my neighbors left this morning! I’m left to fend for myself here in my house for the last week. I no longer have anybody to joke around with, to make fun of each other with, to comment about tourists with...nothing! This will be kind of a boring week I think...the good news is that there is a medical brigade that should keep me busy. I’m going to miss my neighbors though, beans and all.

My New Che

I used to think that Che Guevara was my favorite Latin American revolutionary but with the conclusion of the Confessions book and now looking into Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa things have changed. I've come to see Correa as one of the most unique revolutionaries in Latin America in the modern era. I ran across an interview with him shortly after he won the preliminary elections in April with over 50% of the vote (meaning that for the first time in 30 years there was no run-off election) in which he talks about his vision for Ecuador and South America in general. Here's my favorite quote from the interview. The whole interview can be found at:
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1915/68/

"Competition is a concept that is already very debatable at the level of economic agents, but at the level of countries – fraternal countries – are you going to compete? It’s a complete absurdity. And how have they competed? Whoever mistreats the labor force most, whoever puts it in the most precarious position, because that is the only way to gain competitiveness. And we deteriorate the standard of living of our population and, above all, our working class. And the ones that most benefit from the cheapest products are the First World."

Confessions of an EHM

I just got finished reading one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read. It’s called Confessions of an Economic Hit Man and presents a very different look upon the world. I highly recommend it for anybody interested in globalization, world politics, corporations, economics, etc. Now...time for a little background:
When I came to Honduras two years ago I started to get a little different twist on all the news articles that I was reading here in Honduras. I started to form a truly unique perspective on world leaders hailed by the US press or shamed by them. Latin America has a recent upswing of leftist leaders throughout the region including Chávez in Venezuela, Morales in Bolivia, Correa in Ecuador, Noriega in Nicaragua, Zelaya in Honduras, Funes in El Salvador, etc. I started to ask myself over the past two years, is it possible that in the US we are missing something? Why is there a sudden swing to the left here and is it a bad thing? All these figures are certainly painted in a bad light in the US. True, Chávez might be slightly crazy, and Morales has made some bizarre moves. None-the-less, there must be something to these leaders who keep getting elected (maybe it’s just corruption and I’m outta line here). Then I read in a Spanish paper several months back that Correa decided to stop paying back the national debt. About half the national income was put towards paying off past debts incurred through the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, etc. and he decided that they were mostly illegal and refused to pay them back. Correa was a man educated in Belgium and the US, fluent in Spanish, English, French, and Quechua (indigenous language in Ecuador), he has his PHD in economics from University of Illinois! This man is not crazy or dumb or even out of touch with reality a little bit. So why does he make this claim? Well, recent articles I read said that the country was forced into default on their loans in 2000 and large corporations and oil companies quickly swooped in buying bonds and taking control of the country. So Correa said that since they were forced into default the move was illegal and he’s paying back 35 cents on the dollar for all bonds bought after they went default. What is going on?!
So this is my state of mind when my friend Ty (who has been here 2 years with me) tells me that I should read Confessions of an EHM as it ties into a lot of Latin America, especially Ecuador. I was itching to read the book and as soon as he gave it to me I began to eat it up. The author, John Perkins, talks about his work as an EHM. In short he would go into a country and proclaim that with the economic growth that they will experience on a certain project they will be able to pay back the debt incurred from the loan to build it. They would help with the expectation that they would use US corporations to build the projects. His statistics would all be inflated. For example, instead of a consistent 6-8 percent increase in electrical use he might predict a 17-20 percent increase per year because the economy is prime for a boom! Of course this wasn’t true, but the country would buy into it and take the loan, use US corporations to complete the project, and then be in debt to the World Bank, IMF, etc. Since the growth would not be what was predicted (surprise) the country would not be able to pay back it’s loans. Thus the country would be in debt still, but would now owe more than just money to the corporations...they’d owe loyalty to the US. Granted, this is 250 pages summarized in a paragraph, so it’s ok if you don’t follow all this.
I got to thinking about Ecuador in all this. Is it possible that Correa is not so off his rocker? Is it possible that the government was taken advantage of and used in order for monetary value but also for a personal interest? A simple look at statistics can help take a look at this. From 1970 to 2000 Ecuador experienced some dramatic shifts. The “official” poverty level grew from 50 to 70 percent. The under or unemployed grew from 15 to 70 percent. Public debt increased from $240 million to $16 billion. National resources devoted to the poorest declined from 20 percent to 6 percent. So think about it, is Ecuador in a better position today than it was 30 years ago? Oh sure, the country has some vast oil reserves and is becoming an exporter of oil, but at what cost? Most of the oil is located under the Amazon and is only harvested at the expense of local tribes who are either exploited or ousted.
So as I sit here in my last two weeks in Honduras I ask myself what this all means. Is what I just read really true? Is this really happening? I can’t fully grasp my mind around all that is running through my head. There is so much corruption in the world and I don’t exclude the US in any of this. I wish that there were some way to wave a magical wand and just make socialism work across the globe. Instill in all of us a greater sense of altruism and selflessness that would lead to the elimination of poverty and hunger. For now I just sit here thinking....where do we even begin?

Pulhapanzak and Yojoa

Pulhapanzak
Originally uploaded by zassink

This weekend David, Cody, and myself decided to get out for one last weekend adventure. We had heard all sorts of good things about a local Honduran lake and waterfall. On Saturday we left for Lake Yojoa with plans to check out all the spots around the lake (caves, national park, cloud forest, waterfall, etc.). We spent the morning on Saturday traveling to Parque Nacional Cerro Azul (Blue Mountain National Park). We got there late afternoon and decided to take a little walk to a viewpoint that looks out over the lake. When we got to the viewpoint (hiking from about 750 meters up to 1100 meters) we decided to just go ahead and finish the loop of 7 or so kilometers instead of going back the way we came cause that would just be boring. So we hiked up another 100 meters or so before reaching a bend that went around the mountain and we went down the other side past another waterfall and hiked all over the place. We were hungry, tired, and exhausted by the time we got to the end and were all severely disillusioned to find out dinner would not be ready for another 45 minutes. We survived though....then we spent the better part of Sunday just working on changing hotels, looking for a new one, and then getting settled in. Sunday was basically a wasted day in which we ended up at the D & D Brewery/Bed and Breakfast, which we’d heard lots of good things about. It turned out to be a big dud. Apparently the wife (Honduran) ran off the husband (American/owner) and now the hotel doesn’t really have a good owner. The owner is known for his homemade beer and soda, neither of which they had of course. The food was marginal and expensive, and to top it all off the beds were the most uncomfortable ones in all of Honduras I think.
Then today we decided to hit up Pulhapanzak (Poo-lah-pawn-sock) on our way back to San Pedro and then Copan. The waterfall was a smash hit! It’s 44 meters tall and is extremely impressive. We paid for a guide to take us down behind the waterfall and do some cliff jumping as well off to the side. I had a lot of fun at the waterfall and would highly recommend it to anybody in the area...if you ever come to Honduras.:) The only down side of today was when we hiked behind the waterfall they told us to wear shoes for the safety of our feet. Of course I only took one pair of shoes, which means that I made the whole bus ride back to Copan in soaking wet shoes. Not the most exciting part of the trip (being on the bus for four hours with wet shoes), but well worth it.

Three Things I Learned Today

Hi-Yah!
Originally uploaded by zassink

We took a bus this morning to El Sapote, a place about 13 kilometers from Copan. We got off the bus in the middle of nowhere, hiked across a valley, over a stream, and up a mountain. Soon we were looking out over the whole valley. It was a great exploration...not so much a hike. We went about 3 miles on our hike, but the majority of that was finding a way into the jungle. Once inside the going was so slow we covered about a mile or 2 at the most in a couple hours of hacking, climbing, and slipping. I learned a lot of things today while on the hike....Here are three of the things that I learned:
1) Tall grass makes the going tough....but not impossible. With a little bit of ingenuity you can get through any grassy situation. I just took out the machete and sliced a path through the tall grass.
2) Rainforests have no paths....we were exploring and exploring and kept thinking, "follow that path up the hill!" Then as David so astutely would point out..."I don't think that's a path, I think it's a runoff for rain water." He was always right about that as we tried following a stream but found no path in the jungle.
3) Few things dry in the rainforest...the bottom of my pant legs got wet at the start of the hike when trying to get into the jungle through the grass...and they never dried out. I think that the majority of uncovered forest floor was just mud. I don't think that very many things ever dry out fully in the rainforest.

Hiking in Copan

The Stela Group
Originally uploaded by zassink

I recently realized that with less than a month left in Copan I really need to take advantage of the time that I have here on the weekends without school. Last weekend some teachers were hiking up to a waterfall and invited me along. We first went to the waterfall, then to the ancient Mayan stela "nearby." I heard it was nearby, it was another hour or so of strenuous hiking. Never-the-less...we made it! Then we read the sign and one part jumped out at us quickly, "nearby caves." So we made a plan (as we were all out of water almost), come back next week with lots of water and food to find the caves.
This morning we left the central park at 7am in search of the caves and a far away peak to conquer. We quickly got passed the stela on a short cut we had discovered and then plotted on towards where we thought the caves might be....the side of a big cliff. We ran into one person that pointed us up the hill so up we went. After scrambling up the loose rocks and dirt to the top we were still no closer to the caves. We asked some more farmers we ran into and they pointed us in a direction even further away from Copan. We'd now been hiking almost 3 hours and had climbed more than 1400 feet of elevation! We were tired but saw the village of Cabañas on the far side (which has bus service to Copan). It was never our intention to hike there, but we started talking about it in a semi-serious manner. After running into a third person that "pointed us" in the direction of the caves we set out confidently. Soon we were staring at the side of a cliff where obviously a cave should be but there was no cave in sight. We searched all over and eventually realized the caves were a mystery to us. We kept walking on our way to Cabañas and looking for the caves but never ended up finding them. In total it was a five hour hike covering over 6 miles climbing from 2000 ft up to 3400 ft then back down to 2200ft. We were disappointed to not conquer the caves, but we did conquer a big rock hill and many barbed wire fences that we hopped over. All in all...this was a successful day.:)

The Earth Shake

I woke up at 2:24am on Wednesday night/Thursday morning and noticed that my bathroom door was swinging funny. Having lived in LA for 10 years (although it was a long time ago) I remember a lot about earthquakes. I quickly realized that I was in an earthquake so I rolled out of bed and then....I just sat there on my hands and knees thinking, “I’m in Honduras. If this is a strong earthquake there are no building codes here and I’m sure I’m in deep trouble. If this isn’t strong, then why am I jumping out of my bed?” About the time that it took for this to go through my head the quake had settled a little then gotten a second wind and was now winding down when I decided to sit on the floor a bit longer cause it was hot that night and the tile was nice and cool.:) The power lines outside my window were going crazy the whole time and I was thinking, “I’m glad my house isn’t made of rubber.” By far the worst part of the whole experience were my neighbors. They all went outside and starting yelling and shouting. “The ground was shaking!” “I was thrown out of my bed!” “I went this way! Then I went that way! What was that?!” And there they sat for another 30 minutes or so just talking in loud voices as if the earthquake happened while nobody was sleeping. The next day they were all asking me if I had been too scared to come outside? Had I freaked out about the quake? Had I felt one before? I just kinda laughed and told them...”I’ve felt a couple...”

Through Painted Deserts

I remember my brother, Jonathan, read the book Blue Like Jazz a couple years back and had an immediate author crush on Donald Miller. Can you blame him? I equally had a major crush on him after reading that book. My brother went on to read Through Painted Deserts, also by Donald Miller. At the time he read it he would tell me constantly, “This book is amazing! It is so fitting to my life. I wish our parents could read this to know what I’m going through, etc.” At the time I chalked it up to transitional stress as he was a recent tenant of California...perhaps it’s my outlook of my less than six weeks I have of being a resident of Copan....but I started reading the book this afternoon on my free time while subbing in second grade and fell in love all over again. It’s like finding a cd of a long lost musician while cleaning out a closet and deciding to give it a listen. The whole premise is about leaving what we know, going somewhere and changing. I hope that my changing in life is not complete but as I come to a close of this “two year evolution” in my life I am struck by this passage of the book:
“I could not have known then that everybody, every person, has to leave, has to change like seasons...Everybody has to change, or they expire. Everybody has to leave, everybody has to leave their home and come back so they can love it again for all new reasons...I want to keep walking away from the person I was a moment ago, because a mind was made to figure things out, not to read the same page recurrently. Only the good stories have characters different at the end than they were at the beginning. And the closest thing I can liken life to is a book, the way it stretches out on paper, page after page, as if to trick the mind into thinking it isn’t all happening at once...Everything we were is no more, and what we will become, will become what was.” – Donald Miller

My Grandpa

There’s an amazing story that I’ve held onto for the past 4 years since I’ve studied in Spain that I have read and reread a million times. I come back to it whenever I’m going through a transition in my life with the departure of a friend or when I up and move to a different country.:) My teachers in Spain gave me the story and therefore the story has been in Spanish. However, on my recent journey back to the States for my grandpa’s funeral I decided to translate the story into English and share it with all of you. Through the many agonies (as a recent friend put it) my grandpa truly had a beautiful heart...
Once upon a time there was a young man that went around the world saying that he had the most beautiful heart in the world. He went from town to town betting with the people that his heart was the most beautiful of all, and he demonstrated it. In fact, his heart was precious, young, and strong. But one day the young man found himself with an old man that insisted that his heart was much more beautiful than the young mans’. The young man laughed, thinking to himself that the old man was crazy but to give him the pleasure of competing agreed to bet with the old man. The two men took out their hearts in order to compare them. The heart of the old man was full of patches, holes, and scars. The young man asked, “How can you possibly say that your heart is more beautiful than mine? Look at it. It’s ugly, full of scars and holes. Mine is strong, perfect, and young.” The old man responded: “Every hole that you see is a piece of my heart that I have given to somebody. And each patch and scar is a piece that somebody has given to me. My heart is full of the marks of everyone who has passed through my life and meant anything significant to me. I have shared my heart with them and them with me.” The young man realized in this moment that the old man was right. He conceded to the old man the right to say he had the most beautiful heart in the world and he asked him to exchange a piece of his heart, so young and perfect. In this manner the young man began to make his heart more beautiful.

Proverbios/Proverbs

I’ve been collecting some proverbs that I’ve enjoyed over the past however much time and thought that I should put them together for a little post here…

-El que hoy se cae, se levanta mañana.
-He who today falls down, rises up tomorrow.

-En boca cerrada no entran moscas.
-Flies don’t enter into a closed mouth.

-Es más rico el rico cuando empobrece que el pobre cuando enriquece.
-The rich man who becomes poor is richer than the poor man who becomes rich.

-Darle una pelota a un niño es suficiente para sellar relaciones internacionales.
-Giving a ball to a kid is enough to seal international relations.

-Díme con quien andas y te digo quien eres.
-Tell me who you hang out with and I’ll tell you who you are.

-La muerte se esconde en lo más cotidiano. Nunca hay ceremonias y discursos en el momento de la muerte.
-Death is hidden in the most daily things. There are never ceremonies and speeches in the moment of death.

- Más ondo el río, hace menos ruido.
-The deeper the river, the less noise it makes.

Woody-Whoppers

I have had the joy of yet another batch of visitors here in Copan recently. This time my Spanish prof from college (Viki) and my communications prof (Clella) are both down here with a group of students from George Fox University. I haven’t really been hanging out with the group at all but I see them around town, talk to them a little, and I’ve gotten to hang out a bit with both professors. The other night we went to dinner at a local restaurant (Via Via) and got to talking about the local moto-taxis. Those that have come down here have seen them, they’re also called tuk-tuks or something like that. The whole group went up to La Pintada (a local village) the other day and my professors went up in a moto-taxi. As Clella is telling the story she says, “We went up there in one of those woody-whoppers.” I just kind of stared at her...”what?” I knew what she was talking about but I’d never heard it called a woody-whopper. I just started laughing as I recalled all the times in class that she made up words and talked about “wanging it out there” when talking about a new subject. Her rationale was something along the lines of, “I don’t really know where it came from. Just somewhere down in the depths, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything called that before.” Oh communications professors. What are we ever going to do with them?
In other news, I’m heading back to the US this weekend for a couple days. Those that haven’t heard from me yet, my grandpa passed away about 3 weeks ago. I’m going back to the funeral service which won’t be until Tuesday the 12th of this month. So if you feel so interested as to call my state-side phone Sunday through Tuesday I’ll be there.:) Oh wow....rain storm just started. I’ve heard thunder and seen lightening for the past half hour or so. I was starting to think that it wasn’t going to actually rain....but wow....it’s really raining like crazy...and with this rambling we’re now done....have a good rest of your day/night!

Mi Brigada Favorita

The medical brigade that I have been waiting for nearly a year now has arrived! There's a group from New York University that came down here last year with about 30 dental students and faculty with a few community health/nurse people to tag along for research and record keeping purposes. This brigade is super well organized (at least compared to others) and has a great goal in mind. They are trying to target kids in first and second grade in order to save their permanent teeth that come in. Their vision is really to impact an entire generation of Hondurans and improve their oral health. They have people keeping track of how many children have cavities, decay, etc. on their teeth. They're training local teachers in the school system to apply fluoride to kids in kindergarten through 6th grade and promote tooth brushing, etc.
I got the privilege of being the token translator for them today and I will get another opportunity tomorrow and Sunday as well. Unfortunately I have to teach all of next week and will only get one chance to go to the brigade from Monday to Friday; so I have to take advantage of the opportunity now on the weekend.
In other words...no, I'm not going to become a dentist, a public health specialist person perhaps....or maybe an EMT....or maybe an interpreter...or maybe something different. I always thought when I was younger that by the time I was old and out of college I would have a permanent career path. Here I am two years out of college with very little clue still. I promise that by the time I retire I will have a concrete idea of where my life is headed.:)

La Pascua

In light of today being Easter Sunday I thought that I should go to church for the first time in a couple weeks...don't let my dad know that.:) Instead of the usual service that is around here with a good amount of people it was packed inside the church! There was somewhere around 1,000 people there all crammed inside, standing in the aisles, in between the pews (in front of people), and even out the door because it was so crowded. The only real point of writing this is because the priest said something that I really liked. The exact quote was, "Este es el domingo mas importante de todos los domingos para nosotros. Los otros domingos son un eco de lo que pasa este dia." In more understandable terms for most of you..."This is the most important Sunday of all Sundays for us. The other Sundays are just an eco of what happens on this day." I really liked the thought of this being the end-all be-all of all days. It's really true, this day is what makes Christianity so amazing, Christ arisen, aleluya.:)

Abandoned Plaza = Dancing...

Abandoned Plaza = Dancing...
Originally uploaded by zassink

With my recent travel to Tikal I was feeling liberated and free! It's Semana Santa (week before Easter), there's no school, and I haven't seen a student in almost a week! Does like get better for vacation? Well, I found out that it definitely does. I arrived to Flores, Guatemala on Monday afternoon along with my brother, David, and Cody and we found a great hotel right on the lake for just $5 each! So we explored the island for the night, got some great fried fish, and just relaxed for our full day at Tikal. While in Tikal I was in a constant state of shock about everything. It was all so massive, huge, and mind-blowing....You can check out some of the pictures on my flickr, I'll put some more up later too. The top of Temple IV (one of my favorite spots) was also where they shot the scene of the rebel base in Star Wars. Some of you might recognize it.:) Other than that....there was Temple I which I made a relief of in pottery class my senior year of high school. I've been dreaming of seeing that temple ever since then and finally, 6 years later, I got to see it! Or climbing to the top of Temple 5 which was about a 60 meter staircase going straight up like a ladder instead of stairs.
One of my favorite things about our trip was walking through the jungle and imagining the Mayans having the place cleared out for paths and temples. It's a super thick jungle (much more than anything with have in Copan) and I can't imagine the Mayans coming in and building this huge city without any river or lake even nearby! There was stucco plazas, temples, and statues all over the place. Our guide did a great job of separating speculation from history and painted amazing pictures for us of the era when the Mayans were ruling compared to the reality of the ruins now.
Anyways....my pictures are better descriptions on this one than my words....look away...:)

Belize

I think that David said it best, "I always thought of Belize as this like American/British Central American paradise where they all speak English..." Well after having visited Belize I can definitely say that I'm not sure what they speak in Belize. I heard English, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin I assume....what do I know about the language?) and at least two other languages that I think were Garifuna and Creole English.
The point of going to Belize was to get our visa renewed for Honduras, and luckily that was accomplished. We have to leave the CA-4 (Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala) every 90 days or we get a fatty fine from the government for overstaying our welcome. The easy way to fix it is to leave the countries for a few days and we're welcomed right back in.:)
The most interesting part of the whole trip was trying to understand the locals speak English and decipher what they were saying to each other when they weren't even trying to speak "real" English. In conclusion, I was really happy to be back in a Spanish speaking country like Guatemala when we arrived there on Monday!

La Temperatura

The temperature this morning was about 93 at 11:30am this morning....it's really hot here...

Remember that Office Episode....?

So I don't know which of you happen to watch the Office, but imagine that 1 hour Super Bowl special from this year. At the start Dwight sets off the fire alarm and chaos breaks loose with people jumping through the ceiling, breaking vending machines, breaking the window and yelling for help, throwing cats into the ceiling, having a heart attack, etc. Well that was school today, the first Friday that was REALLY HOT!
Kids are naturally crazy on a Friday, and naturally crazy when it's hot....bad combination in and of itself. Well this Friday I take out my class (3rd grade) at 7:20 in the morning for a little walk around school looking for geometric shapes. I realize all of the sudden the 6th graders are playing soccer and not in class! One of the other teachers I walk by makes a comment to me but I don't really think anything of it yet. Then at 7:45 I find out the teacher didn't call ANYBODY and just didn't show up at school. Left no lesson plans or anything. So Megan (the director) is busy teaching first grade as that teacher is gone. Linda (another back-up sub) is busy cause she's teaching fourth grade. Norma (Honduran director) is busy cause two Honduran teachers are gone and she's covering for them. So what happens? We close the library and Diana (my counterpart) goes into the classroom with no lesson plans and little idea of what is happening. Now all this passes and life goes on as a normal Friday. Then all of the sudden I see one of my kids walking around at 10am....they have Spanish class from 9:20-10:40 so I ask her, "Maricruz what are you doing?" Her response was ridiculous! "It's...well....the teacher said we no have class now." And sure enough, right behind her come all the other kids in the class just walking around...for 40 minutes! Ok....now I think, this is ridiculous. In that very second all the secondary kids (7th-9th) are all out moving rocks for their final PE exam. Some are just making a pile in the middle of the school, some are raking dirt, some are shoveling gravel into wheel-barrows and taking it who knows where? So I just sit and stare as all these kids are doing nothing for their final exam, then my third graders are walking around aimlessly....then come the 6th graders! The ones without a teacher, they're coming to help move rocks under supervision of the kindergarten teacher while his kids do who knows what?! So we have 3rd and 6th-9th all out on this tiny field moving rocks and walking around aimlessly! What was going on!? Well the kids finally went back to class, we had library (with me), computers, and some art after that and made it through the day semi-normally. I couldn't believe how ridiculous the day was. At least it wasn't like yesterday where I had a kid stuck upside down on the little climbing net. A third grader that couldn't pick himself up from the net! He was stuck by his knees and hit his head on the ground, bawling as a first grade teacher picked him off the ground and a third grade teacher struggled to pull out his leg which was all twisted in the net. The kid cried for 10 or 15 minutes, but he walked back to class in mostly one piece.:)

Viaje a Paraíso (Part II)

It’s now the start of my last full day in Utila and I feel like I’m starting to get back into real life mode and thinking about things like school once again. I’ve now spent 4 full days in Utila and I’ve spent about half the time not being sun burnt.:) So get this....I put sun block all over my back and everything before snorkeling. I go out for like an hour and a half on Wednesday and enjoy my time. When I get back that evening my back feels like it got burnt! When I look at it there are lines going across that aren’t sun burnt. I think, “man, that’s weird...” and start thinking back to after I put the sun block on. I sat like 5 minutes in a wood chair that had horizontal slats! The parts with the wood absorbed all my sun block and I got burnt there! Then yesterday we went snorkeling twice on a little boat excursion so I put sun block on in the morning....then again after our first snorkeling dive....and I still got sun burnt again on the back of my legs! So now being sun burnt on the back of my legs and on my back is making life at night interesting. I’m a definite back sleeper....
Anyways....I’ve decided that snorkeling is now my favorite beach activity next to sand castle building. We go out about 50 meters to the reef and get to see a ton of different sea life. The other day I got to see a “Spotted Eagle Ray” passing about 30 meters below me with a huge tail probably 15 feet long or so. I’m telling you, it’s totally like paying to enter an aquarium, except you get to swim in all the tanks! Yesterday I was swimming through a school of thousands of 6 inch long fish trying to catch one with my hands. Those buggers are fast in the water! It’s fun to extend my hands under water and chase after some of the fish trying to catch them. Of course there’s no way that I could actually reach one of the fish...but it’s still a fun game to play as long as you have the mindset that it’s ok to be defeated by an inferior species.:)

Viaje a Paraíso (Part I)

Well thus far my vacation on Utila has been one of the most relaxing and enjoyable things that I have done in Honduras. I took a series of busses and a ferry on Sunday with David and Cody (we met up with Cody’s mom and brother along the way) and got into Utila late on Sunday evening. On Monday we spent the whole day exploring on bikes, walking around, and just getting our bearings on the island. The most confusing thing on the island is not direction, but what language to speak! I’ve heard that people speak English here, but I have yet to hear people speak real English to each other. I’ve heard Spanish and some crazy almost English but not quite language. Some people don’t speak any English, some people don’t speak any Spanish. I don’t know how people cope on this island! It’s so confusing. I try to stay in English, but then sometimes I have to break out Spanish. For example...
This gentleman is walking down the road while we are sitting in our rented golf cart (to explore the island) and he’s singing a famous Cuban song, “Guantanamera.” He asks us in English if we like the song and we all say yes. Cody and I both know the song quite well and were chuckling that he was singing it. The gentleman then turns to his friend and says in Spanish, “A ellos no les gusta esta canción como son gringos.” Or in other words, “These guys don’t like this song cause they’re gringos.” I got super defensive right away and switched into Spanish semi-yelling, “Bien! Me la sé y me gusta.” (Heck yes! I know it and I like it!) The gentleman was shocked, said something to his friend that I don’t remember and is friend laughed and said, “sí, habla español.”
My other adventure thus far has been snorkeling. I don’t know which of you out there were as blessed (as I was thinking) enough to never have to go snorkeling. I was apprehensive about it all day as everybody wanted to go snorkeling in our group. I’m not the greatest swimmer in the world and I’ve never been a big fan of swimming in oceans. The vastness of it astounds me and intimidates me like few other things. So we get snorkel equipment rented and start to make our way out from in front of our house. it’s a long wade out to the coral part of the ocean and we’re probably about 50 meters from the shore by the time we really hit anything that would be interesting for snorkeling. I’ve never been snorkeling before (and I’ve never even swam with flippers on) and my first reaction while I am in between “snorkels” is to tread water for a while to rest. I was so tired in a matter of minutes and felt like snorkeling was probably the biggest waste of time. All I could think about was how far from the shore I was and how I’ve never been that far out to sea without a boat or life-vest and I couldn’t tread water for more than a couple minutes in those dumb flippers. Well I started to head back to shore and call it quits. Then on my way back I had to put my head back down to figure out the path back through the coral in order to not scrape against it or run into it. Before I knew what was happening I’d gone like a minute straight with snorkeling and I was starting to enjoy seeing the things under the water. Instead of going all the way back I started to practice in the shallow parts to not be so intimidated by the drop off. It goes from about 8 or 10 feet deep to something like 20 or 30 feet deep in a matter of seconds. I started to see all sorts of fish, coral, plants, etc. under the ocean that I’d never seen before! I was one of the last people in our group to come back in as I was enjoying it so much. The whole time all I could think of was “Finding Nemo” as I was thinking about the anemones, algae, schools of fish, stingrays (which I didn’t see), the drop-off, touching the “butt,” and a variety of Nemo things. I’m probably going to have to watch that movie pretty soon....such a classic.:)

Bendito Segundo Grado

This week is a special week for me as I get to spend time with a "one of a kind" class. This week has been spent with a rambunctious group of second graders who are sometimes lovely and sometimes drive me up a wall! We've had two good days and two bad days thus far. Today was a good day which makes writing this post void of any vulgarities. Had I started this post yesterday or Monday, however, it might be a different story. There is one student who drove me completely bonkers yesterday and would never stop talking. He got sent to the office at the end of the day so we could call home and talk to his mom about his behavior. He started bawling and promising to never do it again. Before you feel too touched, he does this frequently. Well we made a deal, we won't call his mom as long as he doesn't get in any trouble what-so-ever Thursday or Friday. Today we came into class and I gently reminded him that with one outburst and we call his mom and he goes home suspended. He just looked at me, smiled, and said, "oh mister!" Well, apparently it worked because today he was like an angel compared to the past couple days!
Then there's another rebel rouser (however that's spelled) who every morning has sat there for 20 minutes doing nothing until saying, "Mister, es que no tengo lapiz." (Mister, I don't have a pencil). I went off on him yesterday and raised my voice perhaps a little bit, "No trajo un lapiz?! Y que suponia ibamos a hacer hoy en la escuela?!" (You didn't bring a pencil?! What did you think we were going to do at school?!) Today he came in and I never once heard him say to me, "No tengo lapiz." So I suppose that's a minor victory right there, the boy has a pencil at school!:)
I could go on for hours about all sorts of stories this week. I just hope that I can have one more good day to finish out the week ahead 3-2 with good days defeating the bad ones. It's like game five of the ALDS in 1995 with Cora on third and Griffey at first....so exciting, who's going to come out on top? The kids or me?:)

El Año Santo

I finally accomplished my goal of over a year in going to Esquipulas! It’s a town/city in Guatemala with a super rich history...let me paint some of the history before I tell my story.:) It’s believed that it was a pilgrimage site long ago, before the first conquistadors arrived in the Americas. Back in the 1500’s a Portuguese wood sculptor donated a sculpture of a black Jesus on the cross. It was put into the church and soon became a pilgrimage site for local Catholics. Time passed and it came to the mid-1700’s when a bishop in Guatemala made a pilgrimage to see the sculpture and went away miraculously healed of a chronic illness. Upon this news the Catholic church decided to build a huge Basilica in Esquipulas and put the statue inside. It quickly converted into a huge pilgrimage site and is often called the “center of Central American faith.”
So this weekend I went with four other friends and we checked out the whole city. There’s a small zoo there that randomly has lions, water buffalos, ostriches, raccoons, crocodiles, and a whole bunch of other random animals. Two highlights of the park were the fact that the ostrich cage had an opening that literally anybody could just walk into and enter the cage. Then over the island that the monkeys live on there’s a zip line that Matt took which is about 100 yards long and costs like $1.15. On Saturday night we went to the Basilica in order to see the statue of Jesus. It was a short line and we spent about a half hour in line. The line on Sundays takes up to several hours to get through. It was a pretty simple statue without knowing the history of it, but I was pretty impressed with it. On Saturday night we went to Pizza Burger Diner for some pizza, which turned out to be the best I’ve had since I was in the States! We went back to the place on Sunday morning for breakfast cause we figured that being such a good restaurant they probably have pancakes also. We got there and they didn’t have them on the menu! So we asked the waitress (which was the same one as the night before), “Hay panqueques?” To which she casually responded, “yeah, we just don’t put them on the menu.” They were amazing! It’s my new favorite restaurant in Central America. I would say that the city has renewed my faith in Guatemala as a decent country. I was under impressed with Lago Atitlán my last trip there, so now I am back “in like” with Guatemala.

Agua Caliente

In celebration of our Director's birthday this coming week we all took a trip to the hot springs this weekend. It was a lot of the foreign staff along with one of the Hondurans, Ffarah (with her husband, uncle, and daughter). It's about an hour drive out to Agua Caliente from Copan on a dirt road and of course the best way to get there is in the back of a pick-up. So we all loaded up into two pick-ups and headed out there for the afternoon. It was sunny as we left Copan but on the road out there it started raining! It was cloudy almost the whole time at the hot spring, luckily the water is, well...hot.
There is a little statue of sorts that the waters comes out of (I'm not sure this is allowed...) and so we climbed up to the top of it to start jumping into the pool. Nelson (Ffarah's husband) did a back flip off of it and all I could muster to compete with that was a cannon ball. So he started to teach me by starting on the side of the pool and jumping backwards. A perfect back flop to start! Now with a red back I tried it again and landed upside down on my head...I had to practice it like 10 times but I finally did a back flip from the side of the pool. With enough confidence mustered up I climbed up on top of this statue about 6 feet tall and did a back flip! Woo! So next time you see me at a swimming pool and you want to see a back flip...just go ahead and ask.:)

Happiness in Seattle

At last my view of baseball in Seattle is repaired. For nine years I have suffered without my favorite player of all time in Seattle...I've been checking every time I get online to see if Junior has signed with anybody yet. Then I see the title I've been waiting for in an e-mail from my parents, "Griffey's back." My heart goes soaring through my chest and suddenly it seems like the last day of school before the summer. This is proof that not all baseball players are complete idiots...that there are still a few decent players in the game. Ok, he's just returning to Seattle for a last tour of his home-team and not curing cancer or anything, but for a person who likes the Seattle Mariners because of one player, this is like life coming full circle. From seeing Griffey Sr. and Jr. hit back-to-back home runs, watching Griffey slide into home beating the freaking Yankees in '95, and watching the entire infield stand between first and second I'll never grow tired of my Griffey memories. So here's to one of the few players with class in the game...who's stayed clean through all the steroid accusations...who inspired me to enjoy playing center field...and who made me proud to bat left-handed.:)

What's wrong with Catholicism?

I had another conversation today that drove me crazy about religion. I was at a medical brigade coordinated by Evangelical churches around here when I got into a conversation with a lady who was in line. She asked me if I went to La Iglesia Renovacion and I said no...she asked which one I went to and I said the Catholic Church. I got the usual treatment from people in this area...she asked me if my parents were both Christian and I said that my dad was actually a pastor, and my mom also is one...her next sentence made me want to punch her in the face! She proceeded to say, "Oh, so you're the only one in your family who doesn't love Jesus?" What am I supposed to say to that one? "Oh, you're right, that guy drives me crazy! Who did he think he was anyway?!" Or do I begin a circular conversation in which I say that I am Christian and do love Jesus (but because she is pre-dispositioned to my Hell-bound living as a "Catholic" she won't change her stance). So I just answered her with, "algo asi (something like that)." The rest of the conversation was short, awkward, and I left shortly there-after.
Now tell me something, is there something that I'm missing? I've grown up believing that the stance of one's Christianity is ultimately up to the individual and God...and we can't judge each other...especially when we just meet. There are of course standards to Christianity such as the early Church Creeds and Biblical standards...but that would be too much to think about for this lady, right?
Now I won't make this whole thing saying how great Catholicism is, of course there are problems that I have with the Church. What church have I ever gone to other than Bedside Baptist that I didn't have at least a small disagreement with? I'm still not too high on this whole asking Saints and the Virgin Mary to intercede for us, but I'm a big fan of the tradition and other things in the church. I don't say that I'm Catholic, but I do go to that church. No church is perfect, but what is the point? Do we go to church for the community? The preaching? The church creed? Personally I'd have to say that the point of church is to form a community of support for spiritual growth and encouragement. The church is a group of Christians that can have a shared experienced worshiping God...does God care if I worship Him in a Catholic, Baptist, Quaker, Reformed, Lutheran, etc. church? I submit that he does not!:) Disagree if you must...but please don't beat me down for it.:)

The Joys of First Grade

I was reading a book to the first graders the other day when I had to use all of my willpower to not just completely bust a gut laughing, yet at the same time cry my eyes out (not from laughing). We're reading a book about this duck on a farm that has to do all the work while the farmer just sits in bed eating candy, reading the newspaper, and growing fatter every day. When we read that part and showed the picture one of the first graders jumps up and points to the picture, "Mi papi es asi!" (My dad is just like that!). Of course Diana (who I work with in the library) is just sitting behind all the kids chuckling to herself...I was stuck in front of all of them trying to keep reading while trying to give the kid this look like, "it's not appropriate to say things like that inside the library."
That was about a week ago, then just yesterday the same class was in the library and I was reading a book called "Abuela" about a grandma who takes her granddaughter to the park. From the park they start to fly and they fly all over the city. At the start I ask the kids, "Do you have any grandmas?" The kids all start shouting and yelling, "Yo tengo uno! (I have one!)" or "Yo tengo dos! (I have two!)" or "Yo tambien! (me too!)"...and then the same kid pipes right up, "Yo tengo doce! (I have twelve!)" I tell you, this kid cracks me up....when we get done reading the story he kicks another kid in the class so I pull him aside to talk with him. I tell him that here at school we don't hit other people, we have to use our words. If somebody is bothering you move away from them, etc...but here at school we never hit anybody. his immediate response was, "Y si estoy lejos de aqui? (and if I'm far away from here?)" Good question I suppose....I told him that even there it was not nice to hit people, but he should talk to his parents about their rules at home. Speaking of children who could be their own blog with their crazy stories and actions....this first grader might be top of the list!:)

Enjoying the Shrink

Last week I had yet another privilege of working on a medical brigade. This one was a little bit different as they brought quite a few of their own translators. Also, there was a psychiatrist that didn't always want a middle schooler being the interpreter, so I got to work with him quite a bit. We got to talk with a lot of different people and cases and I realized for the first time....Copan really needs a psychiatrist!:) I thought that it was fascinating to work with somebody who knew a lot about interacting with people and getting them to open up and talk. It blew me away that this guy from the US was down here getting people to talk for a half hour or an hour about their various problems. I thought that being a psychiatrist would be a fun job....but I imagine that takes a special person to be able to do that. I know I know, we're all special...but I think I'm special for other things, not a psych.:)
I feel like I could start a whole separate blog to be about medical brigades. And guess what I was advised is coming next week and I need to go to at least one day to help out...a medical brigade!:)

The After Brigade Party

The short three day medical brigade ended last night and in order to celebrate we had a big dinner at the house of one of the Rotary members. Everybody who had helped out with the brigade was at the dinner and we had a blast eating, watching parts of the Honduras vs. Panama game (which we lost), telling jokes, and listening/dancing to marimba music. At the party I grouped up with all the medical students who were here from San Pedro. They were almost all right around my age and wanted to “go out on the town” which is a little ironic when you’re in Copan. There’s not much to do...and I never do anything on the weekends but hang out at home. The med students convinced me to go to Las Piscinas with them, which is a club, bar, hang out spot that I had never gone to in the evening. Thank goodness they didn’t want to go into the club, so we just hung out in the bar which has karaoke! This medical brigade was a couple of firsts for me. I was getting in on tooth extractions earlier in the week and now I can add onto that singing karaoke and dancing salsa with a Latina.:) That’s right, I sang La Bamba! I had such a good time and when the night was all finished and I was dropping all of them off at their hotel they all told me to make sure and come visit them in San Pedro. I was already planning a trip there for visiting another friend...now I can visit my medical friends and sing karaoke in San Pedro as well.:)

Another Brigade Day

I was sitting down for my enjoyable lunch on Tuesday at school when Profe Norma comes walking up to me and says, “Mr.....there’s a medical brigade tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday in El Jaral. Since the kids are in exams we can’t send them so we need you to go all three days.” Of course I had to put on the face of, “Oh well...I dunnno, I need to check with Diana. I’m not sure if I can miss school for three days.” But really what I was thinking inside was more like, “WOOOOOOOOO!”
As it worked out I got to take two sixth graders with me to help me out and they did a great job! I started out the day in oral surgery. I didn’t really seek it, it more just fell into my lap. If you know me well then you know how I feel about other people’s blood. My mom tells me, “Zach, you’re going to get married, your wife is going to have a baby, and you’re not going to enjoy it because you will be passed out on the floor.” Well mom, you would have eaten those words today as I was holding kids hands while they got teeth ripped out. It’s so brutal! I had some blood squirt onto my arm several times, had my right thumb almost squeezed off, and got to talk each patient that came in through the operation. The hardest was one girl who couldn’t have been older than 17 years old. She had teeth on both side to pull (and this is all with local anesthesia). The first tooth broke off and the doctor had to dig out a root. Then on the other side he had to pull and pry as well and it took about a half hour to take out two teeth. This girl shed one tear, just one! The doctors were sitting there working and scrapping saying, “This is amazing. I can’t believe that this girl isn’t screaming. I would be bawling at this point. I’m amazed at how much pain this girl can stand because this would be excruciating.” She made it through without any major complications though. We were all quite impressed with her.
The funny point of the day came when I was working with general medicine in the afternoon and a man came in complaining about his diabetes. Then he kind of back tracks and says, “well, I don’t know for sure cause I’ve never gone to a doctor for it. But I’m pretty sure.” Then after some more questioning he back tracks to say, “Well I don’t really know what diabetes is.” Honestly?! I thought you were supposed to have diabetes! Well to be sure the doctor ran a test on him with the little glucometer. This is the funny part, the man is a coffee farmer and works with his hands, and has for the past 50+ years. When I think of tough hands I like to think of my late Grandpa Gordon who had fairly tough hands from construction...well this guy put my grandpa to shame. The doctor made one poke in the finger....nothing....so he tried a poke on the side....a little tiny tiny bit but not enough for the test. Then he poked another finger, nothing....then a fourth time.....nothing. He finally just pulled out the needle from the machine thing and jammed it into the guys finger to draw a drop just barely big enough to run the test. And after all that the guy was completely normal with a 97 blood sugar. As it turned out, apparently somebody confused his back pain/pinched nerve that he had with diabetes. I’m not sure how that one works out, but the doctor got it all figured out in the end.
I think that thus far this has been my favorite medical brigade this year, good stuff.:)

Short/Long Term

I was recently blessed to be part of a short term medical/missional brigade which came to the Copan area. They went to several aldeas (villages) in the area to work with local health and building projects. In one particular village is where they built a church. I was so thankful for the group to come and it was a nice break from school (although I only went one day of the 5 they were working).
I was reminded through this group of my constant belief that short-term trips over-seas...which I might consider anything with a time line (such as one week, one month, one year, etc)...are so much more self-gratifying. It's not a bad thing really. It gives a chance for the people on the team to see "how the rest of 'em live" and do some good in the process. I think that people can learn a lot from only serving for one week in a third world country. However, for a lasting impact I'm increasingly convinced of the need for permanent missionaries and just servants in general. I give mad props to missionaries who have been in one location for years and years at a time. Now, I don't mean servants like the one that spit-shines your floor...I just mean someone willing to help anyone and everyone that they can.:)
My grandma gave me a book on tape (cd actually) about Roberto Clemente a couple years ago that was amazing. Clemente was such a maverick (for lack of a better term) and was passionate about serving his "family" in Latin America. He died in a plane accident while attemping to take relief supplies to earthquake struck Nicaragua. Roberto Clemente said, "Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don't, then you are wasting your time on Earth." I love that quote.
This is a little bit "distraido" (distracted), but I think that the point I'm trying to make is my same-old same-old. Be willing to serve those around you, far from you, and in between the two. Because whether you're in a location far from home or at home, for one week or one life...when you have the opportunity to make a difference and you waste it, you're wasting your time.

Los Momentos Buenos

The first week back at school I had the “grand privilege” of teaching for a couple days before a teacher came back from Christmas break. It’s not necessarily the worst behaved class in the world but they have their moments of hellions. Anyways, I got through a couple of days in the class and was thankful for the regular teacher to be back (as I think most of the kids were too). On Friday last week I was sitting in the office with the directors going over some things when one of the students walked in just to say hi. I asked him how things were going and he said that he had missed me and just wanted to say hi. He came up and gave me a hug, looked at us for a little bit, there was a pause in the conversation and then he left. Later Diana told me that the same kid had gone by the library to look for me and she said to look in the office. It’s a new kid at the school this year and while his behavior is not always the best, he’s a pretty well behaved kid...and apparently a suck-up too.:) It was one of those good moments of teaching though. One of those times that I thought, “well I guess this isn’t the worst job in the world.” Now don’t interpret that last sentence as a hint that I’m staying here another year....ni invente (don’t even go there).
Los buenos momentos en la escuela vienen de vez en cuando. Vienen en la mirada de un alumno expectante, en la sonrisa de un niño en el recreo, en las indiadas de un catracho, y sobre todo vienen cuando los busco. En un día que me levanto y me digo – hoy sí voy a trabajar con ganas y lo voy a pasar bien con los cipotes – eso es lo que hago, lo paso bien con ellos siempre pensando en lo mejor de todo. En vez de ver aquel alumno atrás aparatando, veo los demás que prestan atención con ganas de satisfacer al maestro. Lo mismo me pasó el año pasado en la clase y empiezo a pensar.... ¿será que la vida es así? ¿Cuando nos levantamos y nos decimos que vamos a vivir con ganas que lo hacemos? En esto empiezo a creer...no es lo que la vida nos da, es lo que damos a la vida...que sea ganas...que sea penas...logramos lo que buscamos.

La Guerra es el Fracaso

I love that line in Spanish, “fracaso.” It can be defined several different ways and they are all great in this sentence. “Was is the flop/fiasco/bust/debacle/dud/etc.” I’m reading a book by Jorge Ramos right now called El Regalo del Tiempo (The Gift of Time). In this book he talks about various experiences he’s had in life (he’s a famous news reporter for Univision. Anyways, here’s my translation of his little diddy on war that I really like. For those that want a challenge, I also put the original tid-bit down.:)

“War is the ultimate failure.
War is the absolute confirmation that we fail...that we are not as clever as we thought, that we haven’t learned from those who fought (and died) before us.
War is the ultimate non-sense.... I have been in five wars [as a journalist]...and I can assure you of one thing; there is no good war.” – Jorge Ramos

“La guerra es el fracaso.
La guerra es la absoluta confirmación de que fallamos...de que no somos tan listos como pensamos, de que no hemos aprendido de los que pelearon (y murieron) antes que nosotros.
La guerra es el sin sentido.... Me ha tocado cinco guerras...y les aseguro una cosa; no hay guerra buena.” – Jorge Ramos