Still Alive

Yeah so the whole keeping an updated blog hasn’t been working out so well. At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if anyone at all will even look at this post because it has been so fruitless up to this point to try to see what I’m up to. But, believe it or not I’m up to a lot which is exactly why I have been so bad at updating this thing; that and the horribly unpredictable access to Internet I get to read e-mail and other pressing issues like Pitchfork Music and Facebook before anything else. I want nothing more than to upload a few pictures for friends and family to see…but alas it is an arduous process every time, almost always ending in curse words in two languages.
Perhaps an update of what I’ve been up to. It’s hard to start really. I’m in my site, which will be my home for the next two years theoretically. I’m in the South, the dirty South if you will. It’s the hottest part of the country. Eight months or so out of the year not a drop falls from the sky and the dust apparently becomes rampant. Now we are in a bit of a weird point weather wise. Everyday is still hot as a mother, but El Nino has supposedly returned bringing crazy powerful rainstorms here and there. The last big one, “Agatha,” I believe they called it, wiped out bridges displaces thousands of people and brought upon an onslaught of water related health issues; namely digestive related and Dengue (Malarias’ ugly cousin who makes your whole body hurt and kills appetite for weeks). All of this has served to deter some of my progress here in the south…but not that much. I work for what is called a Mancommunidad called MAFRON. Basically it’s an office organized to get projects designed and followed through with in 5 Municipios here in Valle. Oh yes I almost forgot. I live in a town called Langue in the department of Valle. Basically Honduras is split up into departments, which are in turn split up into Municipios (the US equivalent of counties lets say). My town is Langue, a town of about 4,000 or so, and also sits in the Municipio of Langue as if not to make it any more confusing.
So my office is made up of a few engineers and technicos and a secretary or two who are paid by the Mayors offices of our five Municipos to design and follow through with projects. Projects like civil engineering stuff such as buildings and bridges, as well as health and other infrastructure things…like my project…Water and Sanitation!! I’m a volunteer obviously and I work with the Mayors of MAFRON to see what their needs and desires are relating to water and basically make decisions what kind of work I want to get involved in. It sounds easy enough on paper but hardly in real life. Things like the aforementioned storms are just a tangible means for explaining the hurricane of excuses down here for work not getting done, or even getting started. In fact there is an all too common phrase down here used at the beginning of the sentence for every excuse or apology to “lesson the blow”. The dreaded “fijese que”. For example…”fijese que but my plans totally changed the other day and I decided to go do something else without telling you I wouldn’t be at your meeting”. I get it constantly, and honestly the biggest problem is that it’s so damn contagious. After getting burned a few times with some fijese que’s it sure was nice to dish it out and just say it when I wanted to change a few dates. Its all relative I suppose.
So what exactly have I done the last month or more in site? Gotten to know my town, leaders, and the five Municipos around me; a job in and of itself without Spanish in the mix. I have done topographical studies and designs for two water systems that are to be built in two communities who have never had running water. Had a number of meetings with Mayors and various foremen and water management people to discuss problems and hopes and expectations for the future. And this is all just work related. Such a huge part of all of this is getting to know whom your community is, what makes it tick, what the people are like.
Langue is very chilled out. Ironically very likely a direct result of how ridiculously hot it is here. This is some powerful sun. It sits in rolling hills and is about 15 minutes from the El Salvador border and 2.5 hours from the capital of the country, Tegucigalpa. In every direction there are dirt roads heading out to the Aldeas (small, usually very poor, communities outside towns) good for walks and running as well as a 7 km hilly main road heading into Langue good to make your legs hurt for a while. It’s very predominantly Catholic and relatively safe in terms of how Honduras goes. I play tons of soccer every week where on the field I’m known as primo Jesse. The town also got to know me very quickly I think as a result of playing so much. My first experience was an intense one. I had been looking for a good game to play in for three weeks in site and was understandably unsure of where to look or go or who to ask. There is a stadium but these games on weekends are official league games. And during the week it never struck me to look there. Anyways I showed up with my cleats on my third Sunday here and low and behold there was an official 21 and up game about to start and one team was down a player. Suit up the gringo!! Before I knew it I was in Juventes jersey and shorts playing right attack in front of at least 60 Hondurans screaming every time I touched the ball or just generally yelling gringo. I played the first half, not so great, not so bad either, tired as hell. The other player showed up, and just as well. I spent the rest of the game in the stands surrounded by curious Languenans who all of a sudden wanted to know everything about me.
Now I hear my name everywhere I go coming from people I don’t even recognize at times. It really isn’t fair. There is one guys name to learn who stands out of every crowd and for me it’s a constant struggle to try to come up with just a handful every day. Tack on trying to learn Spanish to everything and it quickly becomes unmanageable (I watch tons of world cup and only just learned Alemania is Spanish for Germany ☹ its easy to feel like an idiot in Spanish at times for me). Things are crazy right now. My counterpart just got fired for political reasons and a lot of work has disappeared, I just found a fixer upper place to live in for August (I can’t wait to get out of my current host family situation), and I just spent an overwhelming 4th of July weekend with all the volunteers from the south and more for a welcome party for the new volunteers. Things could be better and I have to remind myself that things could be worse…no one said the Peace Corps is easy.
I am now somewhat forcibly moving out of the honeymoon phase of my Peace Corps and site experience. The “everything is so wonderful” feelings have fleeted in the last week or more with large challenges of work, friends, and host family ensuing. But all in all things are okay. It’s all going to work out one way or another. It has to…just not according to plan…like everything around here. I will continue to live the best life I possibly can down here trying to remain true and authentic to my heart.

I hope everyone I know and miss in the States is doing well.

Paz,
Jesse