New Experiences

I recently had the opportunity to try "juevos de toro". I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later - everyone has stories about trying some unusual food - but this was sort of suddenlly thrust upon me. Fresh bull testicles for lunch, and I mean fresh - castratated that morning after the cows were milked. I don´t want to give the impression that this was forced upon me, but my host family made it seem like such a treat that how could I refuse. End result: not as bad as I expected but I would not pay for it. It´s much better than "sopa de mondongo" (tripe soup) which is like chewing on rubber, but I have no desire to make it a regular part of my diet.

After a home soccer game against a town in which a fellow volunteer is stationed, I went over to talk with the coaches and see if they knew the volunteer. After joking about my "stellar" performance not being bad for a gringo, I found out that they thought they did, but really didn´t, or at least had him confused with some other gringo because some of the details were off (we gringos all look the same anyway). I stuck around to BS a little more and the one coach graciously bought me some taquitos and a fresco. While I was eating, some female fans of the other team started taking pictures of me with a cell phone. I´m not sure that even models can pull off looking attractive while eating, but I was wearing a dirty, sweaty, soccer jearsy, eating extremely messy finger food loaded with salsa, and balancing a drink packaged in a plastic bag. So in this extremely attractive state what would possess someone to take a photo of me?. My "blue eyes" apparently. Eventually I told them the next one would cost them 20 Lempiras (about 1 dollar) and they giggled and from that point onward tried to be more sneaky about it. I don´t enjoy the spotlight and it was made even more awkward by the fact that they were probably around 16 years old. I suppose I should just take it as a compliment.

I had my mid-service medical evals in October and I am proud to say I am parasite free, have recuperated my lost wieght, and my blood pressure is "within normal bounds" despite my high fat diet. Even more surprisingly, given the over-abundance of sugar in Honduras, the dentist found no cavities in my teeth and even complimented me on my hygiene - I can´t remeber the last time a dentist had something complimentary to say about my brushing habits (kind of sketched out by the fact I was in and out in 15 min though). A few weeks later during the regional safety and security meeting I had a brutal reality check. Looking around the room at all the new faces relative to a year ago it suddenly hit me that I´m now a seasoned veteran and I can´t help but think "what do I have to show for it?"

¡Vamos al Mundial! Honduras is headed to the World Cup for the first time in over 20 years. Although definitely overshadowed by the Goipe de Estado, it was inspiring to see Hondurans united and so animated about something other than politics. My Honduran friends took the earlier loss to the US well (more or less) but I would have never heard the end of how the US sold out to Costa Rica if the US has not tied enabling Honduras to pass Costa Rica to classify with a win against El Salvador. So it all worked out - both Honduras and the US classified.

Work Status:

The de facto government decided to end classes early so the school garden is suffering. The parents promised to send the students to water (and the students were watering for a while) but without the obligation of classes I have not been able to keep them motivated to come to the school, especially after I took a week of vacation in Guatemala. The health promotor wanted to start a vivero (tree nursery) project at the school but we have decided it will be best to wait until classes start up again.

The water project continues to throw me for a loop. The owner of the property of the proposed dam location continues to be hard to get in touch with, but supposedly is willing to move the dam further upstream. Good news for the fact that this would provide water of much better quality for the community, but double edged in the fact that we would have to start over again (not from the beginning at least). The really frustrating part is that we had already brought this possiblity to his attention in February and he was in agreement only to change his mind after I had already invited my fellow water and sanitation volunteer to come meet with him and extend the project topographic study.

The electricty project may still be on the table. Apparently a week ago my counterpart went to the capital to meet with some members of the congress and was told that the project would have support of some sort in 15 days. As the elections are set for Nov. 29 I am trying not to be cynical in thinking this is nothing more than a campaign promise.


I ran out of time today so I´ll post a little about my Guatemala excursion at a later date.

Peace