Week 2

First, sorry for the delay in updating TalangaVision. I’ve come to the internet café twice in the past week to make a post, but I could hardly remember what I did in the past two weeks much less tell you about it. Alas, here’s my best shot at communicating what’s been going on.

I think the most exciting part of the last two weeks has been getting to know my host mom, Eva. While I live in a house with fellow volunteers, we are all assigned a host family in addition to practice Spanish, learn about culture and tradition, and as a break from the house and service. Eva has turned out to be a great host mom. She cooks me dinner all the time, brought me to a fair a few nights ago, and is very patient as I learn Spanish. She lives just around the corner from me in a nice house with her daughter, granddaughter, brother, and perhaps a few others. That’s another thing I’m observing and seek to understand – families here extend very far. Despite the utmost importance placed on family, though, nuclear families are very hard to find. The majority of couples are never married, first, because it’s expensive, and second, because they are so vehemently opposed to divorce. Fathers often leave and single motherhood is the norm. So, daughters stay with their moms as they raise children. As my relationship with Eva develops, I hope to learn more about her family and family structure in general here in Talanga.

A few of you might be wondering about food here. It’s actually quite good! I’ve been able to try several typical dishes since Eva cooks for me often. Most meals involve beans and corn tortillas with mantequilla (a condiment that’s a cross between butter and sour cream). I think that corn must be in season because it is used in basically everything: corn tortillas, corn on the cob (sold on the street), tamales, tamallitos, atol, etc. Those last three are typical Honduran dishes. Yuca is also popular; it’s a potato-like food often fried. Balleadas are great; there is a vendor in town who sells these quesadilla-like flour tortillas with refried beans, eggs, mantequilla, and a little bit of cheese inside. As I expected, meat and/or poultry is very rare. My stomach is handling the food well, though, and I’m enjoying learning how to make and eat it. Oh yea, utensils are also rare, usually just a fork is given, so I use the tortilla and fork together and basically eat with my hands.

Hm what else? I’m learning to drive stick. It’s going pretty well so far. I’m nervous to try it out on the treacherous hills outside the city up to the aldeas, but I’ll learn eventually. My Spanish is coming along. Even after just two weeks I feel more confident and can feel myself improving. We have Spanish class twice a week with a Seminarian here named Oscar, but I’m learning mostly by listening and trying. At the end of the day my brain can’t wait to rest after working tirelessly all day just to communicate. Needless to say, I sleep really well here in my mosquito-net-enclosed bottom bunk. My bed is great is great, so comfortable.

I haven’t been assigned yet or chosen specific projects to work on, but some opportunities that I’ve learned about over the past two weeks are: coordinating a Domestic Violence support group, visiting the sick, spending time with internos at an AIDS hospice nearby, working with Catechists at the church as they lead kids’ programs (Eva is a Catechist), getting funding for a new soup-kitchen like cafeteria for street kids who can’t afford to go to school, supervising a program in one of the aldeas to weigh and track the weight of (mostly underweight) children, and so much more. There is no shortage of work to be done, it’s just a matter of choosing what I want to do and where I’m best suited. I’ll keep you updated.

Thanks for all of your e-mails and encouragement. I’ll try to update a bit more frequently going forward. Hope you had a great weekend!

Abrazos,
Patricia