Dating Diaries of International Volunteer

**With only a few months left here, I find myself going back and trying to make good of all the ideas and notebook scribblings I´ve had for this blog. One concept people have actually been asking me to write about is dating... while I has been quite a while since I´ve ¨dated¨ here, it was an experience to say the least...***

Since moving to Honduras, lots of friends back home have asked, ¨What is it like dating in Honduras?¨ To which I unconsciously reply ¨uff.¨ It is not that good men do not exist in Honduras, it is just that the cultural concept of ¨good¨ is a little different... In a macho society where more women = more manly, men are pressured to have at least one ¨other,¨ and extramarital affairs are presumed. There are definitely nice, monogamous men, but much like the states- the good ones are always taken ;) My foray in the dating world was brief but pretty typical, according to Honduran friends.

So here it is: the story of how I ¨struck out¨ with dating in Honduras.

Strike 1:

Newly single, I notice an attractive guy get on the bus and think to myself, ¨I am not ready to date, but if I were, he´d be my type.¨ Atractive guy just happens to be on the same bus on the way home and strikes up a conversation. He just happens to be a health promoter working on childhood nutrition (insert sigh) in the next municipality, and is studying English- note: He had also conveniently just finished a long term relationship and was just looking for ¨a friend,¨ ... awww. Attractive guy and I talk for the hour and a half bus ride, I give him my number, and he invites me to lunch the next weekend. cheque! Saturday he shows up with his motorcycle- he had called to see if I was game and I said Yes(!) given you have an extra helmet. He shows up with a styrafoam child´s bike helmet, and in my confused state, we are off. We go to a fantastic restaurant (fantastic because it is 98 degrees out and the restaurant has A.C.) It also has a flat screen tv which seems to captivate my date´s attention nearly the entire meal. Apparently he used up all of his conversation on the bus, because he had nothing left to say... until he invited me back to his house to meet his family... say what??? Well, why not I say, and back on the bike we go. The next hour and a half pass by, sitting in his parents´living room, on the other side of the room from my date, talking to Tio about the difference between public and private education systems, while somewhat less attractive guy watched tv & texted... Finally, back on the bike we go, through a rainstorm to get back home. I decided that Yovany was not my ¨other half,¨ upon which my coworkers told me: ¨Oh good, because he is married.¨ thanks for the heads up gals... Yovany continued to call for 8 months until I ¨lost¨ my phone...

Strike 2:

Javier and I met during Orocuina´s annual festival. He invited me to dance, and I declined. The next day, we bumped into each other at the cultural acts, and he spent the evening explaining the skits and jokes- even the raunchiest jokes he explained politely. He invited me out & I declined say that I was seeing someone, whom he met and hung out with the next day when we bumped into one another again... normally I would be leary of so much ¨accidental bumping,¨ but in a town of 4,000 it is hard not to bump. Fastforward 3 months. It´s Valentine´s Day and we again ¨bump.¨ Asking about my boyfriend, I lie and say we are still together. He says ok and that he´ll stop over to say hi the next day. Fast forward a month: we bump again at Ash Wednesday services, the first time I´ve seen him since he says he´ll stop by. He promises to stop over, and I say ¨no se preocupe ie don´t worry about it.¨ The next night he stops by, presents me with chocolate, a rose, and a teddy bear, and says he will stop back another night to talk and promptly bikes away. Javier never stops by, but this is when the calls begin. Every day, 3xs a day, 5 xs a day, 23 xs in one day... until I ¨lost my phone.¨ We bumped one last time where I explained about the phone but didin´t offer a new number. Javier continues to call the old number and although my friend answers and explains it is no longer my phone, he calls back 5 minutes later. After Javier´s first and only official visit to the Center, my coworkers informed me that Javier has a 1 year old daughter that he doesn´t support. I couldn´t help but think of the teddy ber and how she should have been the recipient and not me...

Strike 2.5 (foolish optimism strikes):

I met Carlos at a party a while back, and had been ignoring his texts, but decided what the heck, and finally caved in and said ¨hey.¨ We talked about getting together and hanging out with some friends- he was a mutual acquantaince of a fellow PC volunteer- had to be ok, right? We planned to hang out Friday night. Carlos calls Thursday and says ¨I have it all planned. You come into town, we get a bottle of wine and talk all night, and then you can stay here with me at my parent´s.¨ I never got together with Carlos and I found out a month later that he was only 2 weeks from being married!!! He continued to call until I ¨lost my phone¨...

Strike 3:

The doctor. Having not learned my lesson about men at bus stops- I started chatting with the handsome doctor while waiting for the bus back to Orocuina. Conversation continued on the bus as we both turned down seats to keep talking. The next day he stopped by after work and talked with Benicia- brownie points were scored. Two days later, at his suggestion, we went for an early morning walk. He is not only the first Honduran I´ve met that likes to exercise, but he is the first Honduran I´ve met who arrives early: 5:40am to begin walking at 5:45am! (Definitely not from these parts...) The next week he showed up with his cousin and popsicles, and from there a most elaborate courtship began. A month and a half of visits, bringing fruit, chocolate, tamales, homemade cheese, rosquillas, and microwave popcorn (you´d have to live in a technology limited country to understand what a delicacy microwave popcorn is here... :)) After our talks on politics, religion, travels, and life, I found out that the good doctor was previously an agricultural engineer and held a post in the evangelical ministry (which is dating code for monogamous). He also had absolutely no interest in moving to the states (code for not in it for the green card)- cheque!

Despite the fact that absolutely nothing had happened, I begin to vaguely contemplate what it would be like to create a life in Honduras. (The idea of an international paycheck and living someplace not the US sounded doable--- wasnt sure about the whole raising a family here-- but didn´t want to get too ahead of myself, did I?) Ironically- the minute I began to doubt this ¨idyllic life in the campo,¨ the good doctor stopped making house calls. (read: started to date one of his nurses) Some how, the doctor and I actually became friends and we now get together to chat about correlations between blood pressure and stroke or how to change prescription compliance behavior every few weeks/month. It is a welcome change of pace from discussing the weather, and there are no longer any gifts involved! :)

While dating is always a gamble, dating Hondurans proved to be a bit of a crapshoot. Although it was one interesting ride, I happily struck out and am not looking for an extra inning!

A Goodbye, Jungle Style!

The day after arriving back in Orocuina from a quick trip ¨up North,¨ myself and 12 other compañeras loaded into the pick up truck and headed to the nearby waterfalls to say goodbye to and celebrate the work of one of our short term volunteers, Matt. It was a fantastic day, and one that exemplified the sweetness, goofiness, and all around craziness that in life in the Honduras campo.

The hike through the jungle

While 12 people easily fit in a pick up, this particular trip required two pickups because of the massive amount of STUFF we brought with us. If you saw all the canastas, colchones, and the barbeque grill, you would have thought we were car camping... but no, just a day trip! Even more so, we hauled all this over a mile through the jungle!! (Guess who ended up carrying the grill?? :) ) While we complained the whole way there, the trip was more than worth it! We spent the day relaxing along a series of pools, each emptying into the next with its own waterfall!

Cooking up lunch: Sausage, marinated steak along with salsa, beans, and of course, tortillas

Sliding down the waterfalls!

After a humid hike through the forest, the water felt great and the freshly grilled steak was fantastic! A bit hesitant at first, nearly all the women skimmed down to their bloomers and waded in.

Having a new volunteer in site was great in a lot of ways. (I´ve previously blogged about the energy and excitement that a new person brings to the mix.) Not only was it nice to have someone else here to hang out with, but it was nice to take the time to do all those fun, touristy things that I had been putting off or had not done for a long time! With only a few months left, I appreciated taking time to enjoy my surroundings and make the most of every minute!!

Thanks for all you brought to Honduras and AMDV, Matt & Best of Luck!

Travel Musings

The past few months have left me feeling like quite the jettsetter with two trips to the states, a national flight, and multiple cross state travels. (In the past WEEK, I have been on planes, trains, buses, cars, motorcycles, and bicycles as forms of transportation!!) All of this traveling has made for lots of great visits with friends and family, a greater appreciation for the US´public transportation system, and some of the best people watching to be had!

While cameras are usually frowned upon in airport security, and really taking pictures of random US residents in general- I constantly found myself wanting to take a picture to capture odd moments throughout my travels:

1. After standing in line over 30 minutes in what turned into over an hour wait just to leave baggage claim in the Maimi airport (read: avoid this airport at ALL costs!) The woman behind me kept knocking my ankles with her luggage cart. On the 5th dig, I lost my patience and turned around with an oooh so comically stereotypical Latino ¨oooouuuy! porfa!¨ We both appologized profusely for our loss of patience and she began to pray outloud as the man infront of me ignored his wife to play his portable playstation.

2. After learning to ¨stretch the truth¨ and downplay my ¨farm time¨ on my immigration forms, my bags have not been checked coming or going in ANY country. Regardless of my ever dwindling savings, I have yet to take interest in the effervescent drug trade... but I´m just saying... (even got passed up on the invasive metal detector!)

3. I´m pretty sure I witnessed a Milwaukee man bringing his mail order bride home. As our Coachline O´hare to Milwaukee bus came over the bridge into Milwaukee, the Bulgaria native said, ¨I don´t think I like it here,¨ to which her actually very sweet travel companion took her hand and said, ¨you´ll learn to like it.¨ Oh boy...

There have also been many sweet moments:

1. Meeting a San Pedro dental student who spoke AMAZING English and helped me haggled down some nasty Teguc taxi drivers.

2. Talking about renewable energy and sustainable building practices with a Spaniard in Spanglish while flying to Phoenix.

3. Getting upgraded to the exponential legroom of emergency exit row seats for helping the American Airlines rep learn how to pronounce German last names. :)

The best thing is that I know that these adventures won´t end. While I have a limited number of travels left awaiting me here in Honduras, I know that I don´t have to be outside of the states to connect with amazing people from all over the world- I just have to say hello to the person sitting next to me! :)

Tigers in Teguc??

Since I got to Honduras, I have been wanting to visit La Tigra, a national park just North of the capital. It took me nearly two years, but I finally got there!

After three great weekends in Orocuina and the surrounding countryside, it was time to get away and do a little exploring. Matt, a volunteer doing his practicum with the Association, and I decided to spend a weekend in the ¨big city.¨ Here´s the weekend in a nutshell:

Friday: Spend the morning connecting with health center staff before hopping on a bus to Teguc. After running some quick errands for the Association, we were on a mini bus to Valle de Angeles for souvenir shopping and a relaxing coffee break with rosquillas and honey- yum!

From there, we found a cheap hotel and headed to dinner with friends in Teguc. Of course, I forgot my camera, but it was a great night of barbeque and anafre, bachata, merengue, cumbia, and reggeaton, and karoake!

Inside La Tigra

Saturday: We headed up the mountain to La Tigra! About an hour ($20) taxi ride through pine covered hills later, we arrived at Jutiapa, the last small town before the visitor´s center. The park was only a 20 min walk, and there was a fantastic eco-lodge and cafeteria at the trailhead.

We checked in and headed straight out onto the trail! A two hour hike through beautiful cloud forest and we arrived at a 70+ foot waterfall!

The ecolodge where I stayed! ($15 per night includes a bed, blanket, towel and hot water shower)

¨La Cascada¨

It was beautiful, and a great place to take a break. Almost as soon as we sat down, it began to rain. While Honduras is currently in its canicula (short dry period when farmers harvest and replant crops), we were in the ¨rain¨forest. Our plans for taking the long route back were stiffled, but I have to say that walking through the rainforest during a thunderstorm is possibly one of the coolest things I have yet to experience! The sounds of the rain hitting the upper canopy and the sound of running water forming small streams along the path, coupled with bird calls and the distant sound of muffled thunder was better than any homeopathic cd.

I quickly learned why this altitude rainforest is called the cloud forest, as a layer of mist rolled in through the trees and the temps dropped. I arrived back at the lodge, muddy, wet and cold, but still in awe of my surroundings! The rest of the afternoon was spent under the covers of my bed; donning just about every piece of dry clothing I owned and venturing out only for instant soup and hot coffee! After unsuccessfully soliciting extra blankets, we decided to take matters into our own hands and split a bottle of blackberry wine to warm up. (The wine was actually really yummy, grown and produced locally within the park... and had no hangover after effects!)

Showing off my well placed mud stains

Sunday: We had planned to get up early and hike, but night storms left the trails (and our shoes) soaked. Instead, we decided to head down to Jutiapa and see what there was to see. Our first initiative was coffee and it was found at a little house right above the soccer field. From there, we spent the rest of the morning watching soccer games until the bus to the city showed up. The sticky heat of Choluteca was welcomed as I slowly peeled off the layers.

Mist rolling onto the field from the surrounding forest during the day´s first game

While we didn´t see any Tigers (in ¨La Tigra¨) was a great weekend! La Tigra was beautiful and left me wondering why more people don´t visit! (A $1 bus ride, straight to the entrance and clean, inexpensive lodging with hot water- what not to love?) Here´s hoping these next few months bring lots more hiking and exploring!!

Children of the Corn

This weekend was spent in the mountain cornfields, of Northern Orocuina, visiting the family of my godson´s father. The trip was long overdue and a great escape to the overwhelming heat that has recently hit Orocuina. The visit was also perfectly timed for the beginning of the corn harvest... which meant, you guessed it: lots of corn!!

Tamalitos (boiled, sweet corn dough), cooked corn, and grilled corn were all on the menu for the carbo-loaded weekend, and if we didn´t get enough corn during our weekend visit, we were each sent a 10 lb bag of corn goodies to take home with us!! (And people wonder how us volunteers gain weight... :) )

Mama Chuey boiling the tamalitos

Today, we left the house at 2:30am to catch the 4:00am bus and head to work!! It was a nice, relaxing weekend away and a great way to spend time with Honduran family! Enjoy the rest of the pics! :)

The bus seats cleared out and only the true cowboys remained as we made our way up the mountain!

Bryan and I after a hike up the mountain!

International Fusion at its Finest!

It has now been 3 weeks since arriving back in Honduras, and the time is flying by! This past week was spent investigating and writing grants, planning, and connecting ¨new talent¨ to the organization. Generally, most of my free time these days has been spent connecting with friends and family in the states and beginning to think about ¨next steps¨ after my time here = Exciting! All of this ¨researching¨ has left my pretty glued to the computer, and so I was really excited at the prospect of an evening away from the computer, cooking with friends!

A close friend had recently sent me a photo of an Indian stew he had made that looked incredible. Having grown up in Southwest India, we got to talking about similarities between culture, climate, and foods, and I have been amazed to learn that so many facets of my experiences in Honduras are similar to what he experienced in India. When I saw the stew, I couldn´t help but think... 1) YUM! and 2) I wonder if we could make this??? So the quest began for two Estado Unidenses and a Honduran to make a traditional Indian dish!

The first step was to gather all of the ingredients. If you are unfamiliar with Indian cooking (which I do NOT claim to be an expert on), many of the dishes are known for their rich and complex flavors, created by use of a variety of fresh and dried herbs. After looking up a few ingredients in Spanish (Lesson 1: Turmeric is curuman in Spanish, but better known as azafran...), it was off to the market we went!

Our first stop was a corner vegetable stand, where we got all of our fresh ingredients: tomatoes, onions, carrots etc. Cheque!

Then it was to my favorite corner store, where we picked up any dry materials we didn´t have on hand. I figured Cardamom would be easy to find as Honduras is a large producer and exporter, but apparently the harvest is over as we were told to go to China... what?? Bueno... the truth is, we are looking for the spice to make a dish from India... this elicited a ¨Porque?? You don´t like beans and rice? ¨ and then an interested smile and blush from Ruth, the pulperia owner. After checking around, we learned it was true... we would have been better off going to China for our cardamom, or Choluteca at least...

After getting all of our ingredients, it was home to cook! While Benicia is an amazing cook, she decided to sit this one out and cheer from the sidelines. She had been excited to try the dish since I mentioned it the week before, but after seeing all of the ingredients, particularly the cinnamon and cloves, asked ¨So what is this ´Indian food´ all about?¨

I smiled and said, just wait! As we cooked, the stew started to smell wonderful, and the next question Benicia asked was, ¨Is it ready yet?¨

If the amount of stew left in the pot is any indication, our ¨extranjero efforts¨ at making my friend´s dish went fairly well, the pot standing empty at the end of the night! Being far away from family and friends can be difficult, but little things like sharing a recipe seem to bridge the miles and are a great opportunity to share different cultures! Our stew was accompanied by tortillas and Imperial, a local beer, making our dinner an international fusion :)

Buen Provecho!