Merry Christmas

It doesn´t feel like it. Maybe I´m just too used to Christmas in Pennsylvania and it wouldn´t be a big deal if I were from Texas. It just does not seem like the Christmas season here altough there are lights and Santas, and I´ve even seen a few reindeer, without the cold (although it is chilly here at night and in the morning) and snow, or at least the chance of it. Not to get all sentimental, but this is the first Christmas away from family and friends so that is probably a large chunk of the explanation as well.

Well here is a bit about what has been going on. Internas (primary elections) for Honduras took place on the 30th of November. Pretty exciting news for my community because the incumbent mayor won for his party so maybe he will have ganas (the will) to actually help the small communities like mine that he promised to aid during the last year of his current term, so he can win some votes in the general elections next year. People hung out in front of the school all day where the elections were held and there was an armed soldier present to make sure things didn´t get out of hand. The elections closed around 6 but a lot of people stuck around to hear the final count for the community (I didn´t on advice that things can get a little crazy in a closely contested race) and staid up to listen to the results on the radio.

I also finally made it to the nearby protected area (although I belong to the Protected Areas Management Program I don´t actually live in the protected area). It´s not too hard to get to as there are some pretty decent access roads, thanks to the logging companies. It is quite beautiful but very deforested in many places, the sad truth for a lot of this area of Honduras. I got to see a sweet cascada (waterfall) which is probably amazing during the rainy season but it is still impressive, probably over 100 ft of drop. There is also an entrance to an old gold mine there that I wanted to explore a bit but didn´t have a foco (flashlight) so it will have to wait for another day. Apparently this gold is the reason some North American companies are looking into strip mining the region. I hope it doesn´t happen. We also went to a mirador (observation point) to try to catch a glimpse of some monkeys in the valley but no luck. A lot of people think they don´t have a chance; they are losing too much habitat.

We won our first game the other day, 4 to 1. At the risk of boring those who aren´t interested in soccer the score should have been 6 to 1 but two legitimate goals were called off sides. It was a kind of redemption for me after the 3 to 1 loss to the same team that I mentioned in the previous post. For those of you that know me well, you know I´ve only ever played defense. I´ve never felt comfortable playing anywhere else. For this game, I was tossed out in the midfield and it almost killed me. Not only am I not yet in shape, and missed a week of practice, but midfield likely runs 5 times as much as defense. I probably crossed the field 3 times running back and forth before I was completely winded, and spent the rest of the game trying not to die. Thankfully I didn´t play all of the second half. The surprising thing is that several people, including the coach, told me that this was the best game I´ve played. Maybe I´m just not giving myself credit since I favor D so much, but I had a ton of bad touches, lost the ball more than I won it, and was so tired that I was completely lacking in hustle. My only guess is that since I wasn´t playing defense and in the spotlight being directly responsible for the goals that pass, my errors were less the center of attention. Or maybe I just need to suck it up and get in shape for the midfield.

I helped my host family harvest frijoles the other day. Quite different from picking green beans in the family garden at home. The plants are left to dry in the fields and when they are bien secado (well dried) the entire plants are pulled out and placed in piles. Later the piles were gathered up (this is where I joined the process) and dumped on a tarp assembled from old feed sacks. Then we proceded to beat the plants with sticks so that the granos (seeds) fall from the dried beans. First the plants are bashed with sticks like baseball bats for round one. Round two involves a more skilled invidual with two smaller sticks who further refines the bashing and gathers the waste into balls to throw off the tarp. Next a broom made from grass was used to brush the larger pieces of remaining waste away. Then the bottom half of an old soda bottle was used to lift the granos up and dump them so that the wind would carry off the polvo (dust) and leave the frijoles limpo (clean). Then we tossed the frijoles into old feed sacks and carried them down the hillside (substitute a burro (donkey) or ox cart if you really have a lot, the heavy rains put a dent in my host family´s crop this year).

A little bit on work status. The study for the water system was recently completed by the water and sanitation volunteer so I am hoping this will breathe some more life into the water project. The status of the property remains the same as far as I know but hopefully we can move forward with something else like logistics. However, there is the risk of getting too far invested if it ends up that the property is no longer available. The electrification project seems to be making more progress (not my main project but I´ve agreed to help). My community joined with 3 others nearby some time ago to form one big Patronato to work together on the project. The study was recently completed and approved and they are in the process of obtaining Personaria Juridica, difficult to explain but basically legal standing to receive and manage funds. With the mayor´s approval they can turn in the application to Tegucigalpa and start looking for funding. Maybe I´ll actually see electricity come to my community before I finish my service.

take care