The Devil´s Playground

...I really like the title, so I hope the blog entry is fitting.

Training has finished and it´s now official; 44 of the amazing 46 Hondu-12 trainees have sworn in as official Peace Corps volunteers. To be honest, I had no expectations of the ceremony or celebration while in training. My only interest was swearing in and getting to work. Little did I know that the 24 hours following my swear-in would solidify the amazing friendhships I have made over the last 3 months in Honduras.

Over the past three months I have cried, laughed, made friends...had horrible diarrhea...and created a family of Hondurans and fellow volunteers that I feel will be there whenever i need help during my journey. During training we were given just enough time to feel comfortable with a place, and then we moved to a new place for training. The only constant has been our amazing staff and the trainees. Because of that we are stronger than ever. We have spent time together and gotten to know eachothers excentricities, and now as we each deploy to our sites all across the country the process starts all over again. We have said our goodbyes, some of us thinking it will be forever until we see eachother again. For most, it will be a short bus ride to another Hondu-12 volunteer. And if not a fellow hondu-12er, there are about 200 volunteers in Honduras each understanding this amazing and tough process of becoming a volunteer.

As for me, I am one of the few. I have been sent to Choluteca, the capital of the south, with high hopes of pulling together the resources that are available.

Fun Fact #1, its the hottest place in Honduras.

My health program director and project specialist have put a lot of confidence in me, and are hoping that I can use my professional and personal skills to really organize the different organizations working in my site. To give you an idea, Choluteca is a major city with about 100,000 people. Several organizations work here. CARE, Plan International, Pure Water for the World, USAID, World Bank, and UNICEF are just a few that are in the city. For me, my primary counterparts are Pure Water for the world and the HIV/AIDS clinic.

Fun Fact #2, the rainy season starts this month, which means flahflooding through November and thousands of mosquitos soaring through the air.

Pure Water for the World, My first counterpart, is part of a network of offices throughout Honduras that manufacture and install potable water biofilters for surrounding communities. To date, the team in Choluteca has installed over 3000 filters in and around Choluteca. In addition to installing filters, the team trains community volunteers to monitor the use of the filter, trains communities on diarrheal disease prevention, and provides pre and post water sampling which includes ph level, turbudity, and biacterial contaminiation.

Fun Fact #3, my host brother got robbed the day before i arrived, but Choluteca is the safest big city in Honduras...Im pumped. Actually, the day I arrived I stepped outside to integrate with my family on the front stoop. (Peace Corps has been drilling the importance of this since day one) As I introduced myself and took a seat to chat, some of my host brothers friends start yelling ¨here they come!, here they come!¨ Of course, innocent little Joel is thinking...who? who´s coming? are they nice? Well, lucky for me it happened to be the two guys that robbed my host brother at knife point the day before. Instantly sensing the familiar feeling of a bowel movement, I started to freak out a little and put on my tough face. It was too late to go inside, integration with the family had to be completed! As the two thugs (yes, they were dressed thugish) rode by on there bikes (yes, they were riding bikes), they made instant eye contact with me and didnt break the stare until they went around the corner. It was awesome. Great first day.

Thus far I have worked primarily with this group. The staff is pretty great, but I have quickly realized that my time there will be less than what they are expecting. Since I have a second countepart, my time will be split between the two. Pure Water has some great things going, but what I would like to focus on primarilly with them is grant writing, monitoring, and the training phases.

Fun Fact #4, did I mention Choluteca is freaking on FIRE, ITS SO HOT!

Personally, its important for me to establish a professional relationship with my counterpart. Ín the few days that Ive been here Ive noticed that things can get pretty lax. Atleast initially, I really want to keep myself busy. My biggest concern at this point is becoming too dependant on my counterpart, since there are so many organizations in the city that are available to work with. I have already been given a work phone and it has been mentioned that they really want to get me license so I can get around to different sites on my own in their vehicles. Both perks are awesome. In fact, im not really sure why im complaining. However, I dont want to foster too much dependancy with the organization. I am super excited to get to work with them, but they need to understand that I am here for two years and working with several groups. So far though, they have been very understanding. Great stuff.

Fun Fact #5, Im living with a host family for the first two months and my host mom happens to be the Peace Corps Business program Director´s Aunt.

My second Counterpart is the HIV/AIDS clinic, about three blocks from my house. Yesterday was my first day working with them and they are amazing. The staff is full of energy and they have been dying to work with a Peace Corps volunteer for a couple years now. In addition to working with the center itself, there is a HIV support group that meets and coordinates through the center. The group is pretty huge, but are lacking some organization. Yesterday, they had their monthly reunion, so I was able to meet everyone. Since the group is very prvate and doesnt like the center interfering with their group, I made it very clear to them that I am not employee of the center and am here to help them in anything they are trying to put together. I explained that I am not trying to tell them what to do or how things should be done, but instead have an exchange of ideas so that we can all learn from eachother. They were really receptive to me and looked really excited about working. There is already talk of getting me to help them with an income generation project. They also invited me to a mothers day bash downtown at 5, I am totally there.

Fun Fact #6, I was told to wash my clothes in the pila (for those of you who are not familiar with this word, a pila is a huge cement basin used to wash close in by hand) Though not exactly thrilled about this development, I came to terms with it quickly and was excited to sweat a little...as if there is anything else to do here. Having accepted the pila as my new best friend, I decided to do a little reading that evening with my door open. As I slipped away into the world of the unabridged version of The Count of Monte Cristo I heard an intermitant humming coming faintly from across the courtyard. (thats right, theres a courtyard, but lets not get too excited about it) More curious than I´ve ever been, I decided to investigate this familiar sound. As I approached the cast iron door with my mouth gaping in curisousity and aww, my host mom quickly squeezed through the door simultaneously shutting and locking the door. Unfortunately for her, her attempt to block the treasure inside failed. With the last sliver of light guiding my eyes as the door swung shut, I saw it (seriously, it was straight out of Indiana Jones...the one with the Nazis). The holy grail of Honduras. The single most incredible piece of technology (next to the air conditioner) that has ever simplified the lives of countless human beings was a mere 4 ft. away. A real life washing machine! Unfortunately, there was also a steel door between us, and of course my host mom was there too staring into my face as if to say, ¨washing machine? there´s no washing machine here. Just pilas, thousands of unused pilas.¨ Not sure what to say or how to react, I mentioned the weather...as if it ever changes:

Joel: ¨Hot today isn´t it?¨

Host mom: ¨Usually is...¨

(long pause)

Joel: ¨Well then...gonna get back to my book¨

Host mom: ¨Alright then...

Joel: ¨great¨

Host mom: ¨yup¨

So It was awkward, and I suppose I can understand why. Water isn´t exactly as accesible as it is in the states, and I´m pretty much a stranger to them...the reaction was totally understandable...kind of. Unfortunately, the whole experience felt like an amazing taste of home followed by a swift kick to the nuts. But dont feel too bad for me, yesterday I asked how much it costs to have your laundry done for you, and my host mom replied with, ¨just use our laundry machine its cheaper.¨ I swear to g-d I heard angels. Not only will it now only take 30 minutes to wash my clothes, but the extreme and unbearable heat allows for a 30 min drying time as well. Sweet.

Thats about it for this entry folks, I hope you enjoyed it. Make sure to be checkng over the next couple weeks, Ill be chatting about the new exotic foods my family has promised to give me. Including: raw sea turtle eggs (apparentally not protected all year round, lucky for me), raw curriles (raw mussles I think...served with pico and lemon juice), and the very famous BULL TESICLES!! (MAKES JOEL STRONGER)

PS-sorry no pics, it took really long to upload

I love you and miss you all so much,

J