Well, this is it! It´s Saturday morning, about 9:15 in Honduras, and I´ll be leaving for the airport in 15 minutes. Yesterday, my last day, was very fun. All the kids were very nice, and I had a great time running around with them, playing soccer, and spending time with them.
This has definitely been a worthwhile and fun trip, and I´m definitely glad I decided to do this. I´ll be glad to be back in Rhode Island, where the weather isn´t 90 degrees every single day, and I don´t need to eat rice and beans and tortillas every day. That said, I´ll miss all the kids and everyone here, because they were all very nice to me, and very fun to spend time with. Thanks to everyone who followed this blog, and I hope you enjoyed reading about my two-plus weeks in COPPROME in Honuras. Maybe I´ll come back someday, but for now, it´s adios!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Of Weather and Boys
Hi everybody,
I hope you're all feeling lucky, because this is the 3rd entry in the lat 30 hours! I know, I'm prolific. It was HOT today. According to Weather.com, it was 99 degrees yesterday plus humidity, and it felt even hotter today. At the end of the day though, there was a terrific sunset that turned the sky this orange/pink/purple color. I went inside to get the camera to take a picture, and it had already nearly disappeared! However, I think I managed to still get a couple nice photos.
On another weather-related note, this is the 4th or 5th night in a row that we've had lightning on the horizon, although only yesterday did a storm actually hit us. But it certainly makes the nights more interesting.
On a more serious note, I've spent a good deal of time talking, writing and thinking about how cute and wonderful these kids are, but that's not always this case, as I was reminded today. Really, my only issues with the kids thus far have been getting them to share things and play nice, and getting the littler kids to do what we tell them to. However, I have noticed that the kids can be mean, and even vicious at times, in both actions and words. Often, when one child is annoying another child, the child will take it upon himself or herself (it's equally prevalent) to physically berate the one who is doing the annoying. I witnessed a boy take a girl by her hair and nearly swing her around because she was annoying him. The girl wasn't hurt, and didn't even seem to seriously bothered, but I was mildly shocked. There have been instances that end in crying and tears, especially among some of the younger ones, who are a bit more fragile (although seemingly no less vicious). It's difficult to try and explain to these kids that they shouldn't be doing that to each other, especially when a frequent answer is "well, he was annoying me."
However, I think that to be less of a problem than the following issue, which was particularly noticeable today. There is one young boy of probably 7 years old or so who seems a bit fragile. He is very quick to cry if he gets hurt, even if it's not seriously, and is very clingy, always looking for attention and positive feedback. I've noticed that a number of the kids seem to make fun of him, and target him, for no discernible reason. This came to a head tonight when 3 or 4 boys about 9-11 years old were mocking this particular boy and giving him a difficult time. The boy seemed particularly upset by this, so I told them to stop, which they eventually did. I asked why they were so mean to him, and they responded that he was a mariposa. Mariposa means butterfly, but is also (derogatory) slang for a gay man. He's a mariposa they said. Le gustan a los hombres. He likes men. En la noche, siempre quiere tocar a los hombres. At night, he always wants to touch men. I had absolutely no response.
These kids are otherwise sweet, cute 10 year olds, but here were mocking a 7 year old for being gay, which seems implausible and wrong on a number of different levels. The lone boy and the group of boys went off in their own separate directions, and I was just left standing there, trying to figure out what was going on. Why a group of boys would want to label a 7 year old as gay and mock him for it was (and is) beyond my comprehension. At most, this boy is small, shy and soft-spoken. Is that why he was labeled as gay? This left me far more concerned then kids fighting over toys or being annoying, and I still don't know what to think.
Tomorrow is my last day before leaving on Saturday, and hopefully it will be a good one. I hope everyone's doing well back in the States! Adios
I hope you're all feeling lucky, because this is the 3rd entry in the lat 30 hours! I know, I'm prolific. It was HOT today. According to Weather.com, it was 99 degrees yesterday plus humidity, and it felt even hotter today. At the end of the day though, there was a terrific sunset that turned the sky this orange/pink/purple color. I went inside to get the camera to take a picture, and it had already nearly disappeared! However, I think I managed to still get a couple nice photos.
On another weather-related note, this is the 4th or 5th night in a row that we've had lightning on the horizon, although only yesterday did a storm actually hit us. But it certainly makes the nights more interesting.
On a more serious note, I've spent a good deal of time talking, writing and thinking about how cute and wonderful these kids are, but that's not always this case, as I was reminded today. Really, my only issues with the kids thus far have been getting them to share things and play nice, and getting the littler kids to do what we tell them to. However, I have noticed that the kids can be mean, and even vicious at times, in both actions and words. Often, when one child is annoying another child, the child will take it upon himself or herself (it's equally prevalent) to physically berate the one who is doing the annoying. I witnessed a boy take a girl by her hair and nearly swing her around because she was annoying him. The girl wasn't hurt, and didn't even seem to seriously bothered, but I was mildly shocked. There have been instances that end in crying and tears, especially among some of the younger ones, who are a bit more fragile (although seemingly no less vicious). It's difficult to try and explain to these kids that they shouldn't be doing that to each other, especially when a frequent answer is "well, he was annoying me."
However, I think that to be less of a problem than the following issue, which was particularly noticeable today. There is one young boy of probably 7 years old or so who seems a bit fragile. He is very quick to cry if he gets hurt, even if it's not seriously, and is very clingy, always looking for attention and positive feedback. I've noticed that a number of the kids seem to make fun of him, and target him, for no discernible reason. This came to a head tonight when 3 or 4 boys about 9-11 years old were mocking this particular boy and giving him a difficult time. The boy seemed particularly upset by this, so I told them to stop, which they eventually did. I asked why they were so mean to him, and they responded that he was a mariposa. Mariposa means butterfly, but is also (derogatory) slang for a gay man. He's a mariposa they said. Le gustan a los hombres. He likes men. En la noche, siempre quiere tocar a los hombres. At night, he always wants to touch men. I had absolutely no response.
These kids are otherwise sweet, cute 10 year olds, but here were mocking a 7 year old for being gay, which seems implausible and wrong on a number of different levels. The lone boy and the group of boys went off in their own separate directions, and I was just left standing there, trying to figure out what was going on. Why a group of boys would want to label a 7 year old as gay and mock him for it was (and is) beyond my comprehension. At most, this boy is small, shy and soft-spoken. Is that why he was labeled as gay? This left me far more concerned then kids fighting over toys or being annoying, and I still don't know what to think.
Tomorrow is my last day before leaving on Saturday, and hopefully it will be a good one. I hope everyone's doing well back in the States! Adios
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Weather update
Hello all, I thought that I would just put in a little update for everyone right now (just before 7 Honduras time and just before 9 east coast time). At about 5:00 this afternoon, I got to witness one of the more remarkable weather phenomenons that I have seen. A little before 5, it was bright, sunny, and warm. Just before 5, the wind began to pick up, and dark clouds were visible in the distance. I thought "oh, we'll be getting some rain tonight." 10 minutes later, the clouds had advanced almost over us, leaving half the sky almost black, and half full of light. About 5 minutes later, these clouds, very low, very dark, and very fast moving, had covered as far as the eye could see. 5 minutes after that, it began to sprinkle, and that sprinkle took about 45 seconds to turn into a torrential rain that lasted more than an hour. Even now, a lighter, but still steady rain continues to fall. After the heavy rain had let up, the sky turned this strange orange color, and I managed to get a picture of it. Here are some pictures of the storm. I don't know if you can quite tell in these pictures how dark the sky was, but it was very dark.
Here is the progression of the storm, from the clouds coming in, to the downpour:
This is what the sky looked like after the rain had let up somewhat:
P.S. Dinner tonight? Tortillas, refried beans, and eggs. Like I said, I could go for some spaghetti and meatballs right now.
Here is the progression of the storm, from the clouds coming in, to the downpour:
This is what the sky looked like after the rain had let up somewhat:
P.S. Dinner tonight? Tortillas, refried beans, and eggs. Like I said, I could go for some spaghetti and meatballs right now.
Winding Down (Photos!)
Hi everybody,
Time is winding down here at COPPROME, as I only have 4 more days here before coming back to the United States. Nothing too remarkable has happened in the past couple days; it's just been the familiar routine of helping and playing with the kids. It's been increasingly difficult to sleep here, although I'm not sure why. I went to bed at about 10:30 last night, but couldn't fall asleep to past 1:00. I then woke up again at about 5:30 and dozed on and off for as long as I could over the next several hours. I don't know if it's the heat, my bed, or what, but it's difficult to sleep.
I'm starting to seriously crave familiar American food like ham and cheese sandwiches, cheerios, spaghetti, and basically anything that doesn't involve beans, rice, or potatoes. That said, the food here isn't bad, just a little monotonous. It's been consistently hot here, but not to the point that it's become a huge issue. It's tought to tell how hot it is without a thermometer or anything, but according to weather.com, it's been between 93-97 in El Progreso pretty consistently since the time I've arrived, with high humidity.
It still seems hot, but not smothering like you might think. According to weather.com again, it's 97 degrees right now, but feels like 116. Either I've adjusted surprisingly well, or it doesn't really feel like 116 right now. I'd say it feels about 95 right now, with moderate humidity. The sun is noticeably hotter here as well. I sat out in the sun at about 1:00 pm and it took about 90 seconds before I was noticeably sweating. It's not all that bad, but I can't say I'll miss it.
Internet access has been pretty consistent here, which has been nice, as I've been able to stay connected with people and events in the U.S. I was able to watch the Celtics-Magic game last night, which the Celtics won of course, making me very happy.
Most of my day consists of just interacting with the kids, without a set schedule. If they need help with something, I help them. If they want to play soccer, I play with them. If they want to play catch, or monkey-in-the-middle or whatever, I play. If they want to talk, I talk. It's a nice schedule, because it's pretty flexible, and isn't too constraining. Here are some more pictures that I promised. Enjoy:
I probably shouldn't play favorites, but this last girl, Wendy, is 6 or 7 years old and is one of the funniest and cutest kids in the whole place.
Hopefully now you can picture the orphanage a little better, and what everything's like here. It's been a really fun experience, and hopefully these last few days continue to be just as fun! Adios!
Time is winding down here at COPPROME, as I only have 4 more days here before coming back to the United States. Nothing too remarkable has happened in the past couple days; it's just been the familiar routine of helping and playing with the kids. It's been increasingly difficult to sleep here, although I'm not sure why. I went to bed at about 10:30 last night, but couldn't fall asleep to past 1:00. I then woke up again at about 5:30 and dozed on and off for as long as I could over the next several hours. I don't know if it's the heat, my bed, or what, but it's difficult to sleep.
I'm starting to seriously crave familiar American food like ham and cheese sandwiches, cheerios, spaghetti, and basically anything that doesn't involve beans, rice, or potatoes. That said, the food here isn't bad, just a little monotonous. It's been consistently hot here, but not to the point that it's become a huge issue. It's tought to tell how hot it is without a thermometer or anything, but according to weather.com, it's been between 93-97 in El Progreso pretty consistently since the time I've arrived, with high humidity.
It still seems hot, but not smothering like you might think. According to weather.com again, it's 97 degrees right now, but feels like 116. Either I've adjusted surprisingly well, or it doesn't really feel like 116 right now. I'd say it feels about 95 right now, with moderate humidity. The sun is noticeably hotter here as well. I sat out in the sun at about 1:00 pm and it took about 90 seconds before I was noticeably sweating. It's not all that bad, but I can't say I'll miss it.
Internet access has been pretty consistent here, which has been nice, as I've been able to stay connected with people and events in the U.S. I was able to watch the Celtics-Magic game last night, which the Celtics won of course, making me very happy.
Most of my day consists of just interacting with the kids, without a set schedule. If they need help with something, I help them. If they want to play soccer, I play with them. If they want to play catch, or monkey-in-the-middle or whatever, I play. If they want to talk, I talk. It's a nice schedule, because it's pretty flexible, and isn't too constraining. Here are some more pictures that I promised. Enjoy:
I probably shouldn't play favorites, but this last girl, Wendy, is 6 or 7 years old and is one of the funniest and cutest kids in the whole place.Hopefully now you can picture the orphanage a little better, and what everything's like here. It's been a really fun experience, and hopefully these last few days continue to be just as fun! Adios!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Second week
Hi everybody, all's well here as I begin my second week here at COPPROME in Honduras. I went to Tela yesterday to got to the beach with Mrs. Rubi and her husband, which was quite nice. We went to this swanky-looking resort on the beach because apparently, the public beaches are pretty grimey. We had to pay to get in, but somehow Mr. Rubi negotiated that he pay the "child" price for me. Perhaps the guard's eyesight was failing. I don't know. Like I said, the place was a resort type beach, so there were plenty of Americans around, which was a little bit weird. I had a good time swimming in the ocean, which was very warm, but also very salty. We also had an excellent buffet lunch in a restaurant in the resort, which came free with the entrance fee. I feasted myself on beef, chicken, pasta, and chocolate eclairs. Needless, to say, a very satisfying meal. After some more swimming, we left in the mid-afternoon. I was not burned at all, which was nice, and I think mainly due to the fact that they had a covered deck-type area to sit when you weren't swimming.
I got back and came on the computer to see that the Orlando-Boston basketball game was in progress, so I found a site showing the broadcast and watched the last 6 minutes of the game, as the Celtics held off Orlando, making me very happy. I had a little bit of an adventure last night because I locked my room key inside my room and we couldn't find a spare, so I didn't know what I would do. Luckily, we found a spare key, I retreived mine, and was able to sleep in my room.
Everything's been going well with the kids, as I've been helping them with homework and playing games with them. As I've said before, the main thing that these kids want is attention and company, which is easy to provide. The only issue thus far has been that the kids seem to be lacking in the concept of sharing and nice play. I was playing monkey-in-the-middle with two little girls today, both about 7 years old. The ball bounced away at one point, with one girl pouncing on it. The other girl tried to wrestle it away, as I told her to stop. The two girls started pulling each other's hair, and it ended in tears. So if everyone can play nice and be inclusive, all goes well, but you do have to be careful that everyone plays nice.
So everything is good here, and I'm looking forward to coming home this weekend (but not then having a band concert and putting together a powerpoint and preparing a presentation about this). Oh well, it's a small price to pay. I hope everyone back in the states is doing well! Adios!
I got back and came on the computer to see that the Orlando-Boston basketball game was in progress, so I found a site showing the broadcast and watched the last 6 minutes of the game, as the Celtics held off Orlando, making me very happy. I had a little bit of an adventure last night because I locked my room key inside my room and we couldn't find a spare, so I didn't know what I would do. Luckily, we found a spare key, I retreived mine, and was able to sleep in my room.
Everything's been going well with the kids, as I've been helping them with homework and playing games with them. As I've said before, the main thing that these kids want is attention and company, which is easy to provide. The only issue thus far has been that the kids seem to be lacking in the concept of sharing and nice play. I was playing monkey-in-the-middle with two little girls today, both about 7 years old. The ball bounced away at one point, with one girl pouncing on it. The other girl tried to wrestle it away, as I told her to stop. The two girls started pulling each other's hair, and it ended in tears. So if everyone can play nice and be inclusive, all goes well, but you do have to be careful that everyone plays nice.
So everything is good here, and I'm looking forward to coming home this weekend (but not then having a band concert and putting together a powerpoint and preparing a presentation about this). Oh well, it's a small price to pay. I hope everyone back in the states is doing well! Adios!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Weekend
Hello everybody. The weekend is here, which means things are pretty quiet at the orphanage. Not a whole lot going on, people coming and going, etc. I took advantage of that today by going to the mall to go see a movie - Iron Man 2, followed by a nice meal at Wendy's. I felt refreshingly American after that. I found it interesting that a ticket to go see Iron Man 2 cost 60 lempiras - a little more than $3, while getting a small soda and M&M's cost 62 lempiras. Also, at Wendy's in Honduras, they actually make the food while you wait, as in putting the burger on the grill (or whatever that economy sized cooker is called) and cooking it while you watch, which meant my burger was nice and fresh. The movie was more or less what I expected - a fun popcorn-type flick, but nothing to write home about (or maybe it is, because I'm doing just that...). Seeing Robert Downey, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansenn, Gwyneth Paltrow and the ever-present Samuel L. Jackson almost made me forget I was in Honduras! (Except for the Spanish subtitles running across the bottom of the screen.)
Tomorrow, I will be going to Tela, the city to the north of El Progreso that has...beaches! So tomorrow will be a beach outing, which should be fun, assuming that I don't get roasted by the sun. As promised here are some pictures of the kids. I forgot to get some basketball related pictures, but I think there are still some nice ones.
I'll try and get some more varied pictures this week, and if I do, I'll post them. Hope everybody's doing well! Adios.
Tomorrow, I will be going to Tela, the city to the north of El Progreso that has...beaches! So tomorrow will be a beach outing, which should be fun, assuming that I don't get roasted by the sun. As promised here are some pictures of the kids. I forgot to get some basketball related pictures, but I think there are still some nice ones.
I'll try and get some more varied pictures this week, and if I do, I'll post them. Hope everybody's doing well! Adios.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
In The Swing of Things
Hi everybody,
It's just before lunchtime here on Thursday, and things have picked up pretty nicely. Not much ever happens in the mornings, because it's only the little kids here, of which there are only 3. Today though, the middle kids didn't have school for some reason, so everybody's here except for the the older high school aged kids.
I went to the mall yesterday and bought a small handpump to pump up the basketballs, and they were an instant hit. There wasn't a place to shoot on yesterday, but everybody was dribbling them around and having fun. I also brought out the foam/nerf footballs that I brought, and they had fun with those too.
In part of the grounds, they have an open concrete space with a simple hoop - metal support, plastic base, plastic backboard. So I played around with some of the kids today, all of whom are very anxious to learn between the legs dribbling and trick shots and stuff. It's all very fun.
The meals here are simple, but good. Everything seems to be a variation on a theme - tortillas, rice, and some sort of meat, along with a side of beans, egg or vegetables. The other day we had noodles with chicken, which was a nice change of pace. My only issue here is being the only English speaker that's here full time. The Canadiant student, Fiona, is here and she's nice, but she leaves by 3 or so every afternoon, and the other volunteer, Mia, is technically not a volunteer - her grandparents founded the orphanage, so she just visits for fun, but she has no set schedule. So it gets a little tiresome being the only English speaker here full time, but it's still fun. I've been trying to keep up with American events here through the internet. I was able to watch (albeit through a glitchy connection) the Celtics put a beatdown on the Cavs the other night, and I'll try to watch again tonight. I see that people are still upset over Arizona's immigration law, and that the oil spill in the Gulf is still an issue. I'll try and put up some pictures tomorrow of me helping the kids with work, and playing with them, etc. Until then, adios!
It's just before lunchtime here on Thursday, and things have picked up pretty nicely. Not much ever happens in the mornings, because it's only the little kids here, of which there are only 3. Today though, the middle kids didn't have school for some reason, so everybody's here except for the the older high school aged kids.
I went to the mall yesterday and bought a small handpump to pump up the basketballs, and they were an instant hit. There wasn't a place to shoot on yesterday, but everybody was dribbling them around and having fun. I also brought out the foam/nerf footballs that I brought, and they had fun with those too.
In part of the grounds, they have an open concrete space with a simple hoop - metal support, plastic base, plastic backboard. So I played around with some of the kids today, all of whom are very anxious to learn between the legs dribbling and trick shots and stuff. It's all very fun.
The meals here are simple, but good. Everything seems to be a variation on a theme - tortillas, rice, and some sort of meat, along with a side of beans, egg or vegetables. The other day we had noodles with chicken, which was a nice change of pace. My only issue here is being the only English speaker that's here full time. The Canadiant student, Fiona, is here and she's nice, but she leaves by 3 or so every afternoon, and the other volunteer, Mia, is technically not a volunteer - her grandparents founded the orphanage, so she just visits for fun, but she has no set schedule. So it gets a little tiresome being the only English speaker here full time, but it's still fun. I've been trying to keep up with American events here through the internet. I was able to watch (albeit through a glitchy connection) the Celtics put a beatdown on the Cavs the other night, and I'll try to watch again tonight. I see that people are still upset over Arizona's immigration law, and that the oil spill in the Gulf is still an issue. I'll try and put up some pictures tomorrow of me helping the kids with work, and playing with them, etc. Until then, adios!
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