¡Viva Honduras!
Right now I am sitting on our balcony enjoying a rare cool breeze, grateful for the rainstorm we had moments ago. It had been quite hot all day while Sarah, Soojin, and I had been preparing our Kid’s Camp lesson for tomorrow. The view from our balcony here at the volunteer house is picturesque- the palm and mango trees, the terra cotta roof tiles, the mountains of Honduras beginning not too far behind us. My personal favorite thing about this view? One of our neighbors is a mechanic with a pet Capuchin monkey who climbs on the autoshop roof and dances on the power lines every evening!
This past Sunday we went to San Jorge, a colonia of El Progreso not known for being the “nice part of town”. However, the interns and I (probably naively) barely blinked- this does not faze those who’ve spent a decent amount of time in Siete de Abril. Our mission was kept a surprise but on the way we stopped to buy cake and soda. We pulled into our destination and walked inside to find about two dozen elderly men and women. We’d come to a Honduran version of a nursing home. Quite different from the American version, many Hondurans drop their parents off here when they can no longer care for them. It was an odd reversal of roles compared to what we were used to because, like Katerine said to me, instead of the children being abandoned it was the elderly. I remember thinking that we’d now seen the beginning and end of the impoverished life. Poverty had followed these men and women all the way to their death beds. Despite the disheartening side of the visit, it was really such an enjoyable afternoon. Soojin and I had a great conversation with a funny toothless woman who wore tinted sunglasses. As usual, my Spanish skills were dismal, but she was patient. She also had an infectious laugh which Soojin and I got to hear quite often (and which was probably directed at my dreadful Spanish). As we were passing out the cake and sodas I noticed a bunch of young boys from the neighborhood yelling and smiling at us from outside the gates. Luckily there were some treats left over and we gave them to these boys as we left. They were ecstatic and I took a picture of one taking a huge bite. So funny.
We are now off to el Centro to watch the Honduras vs. U.S. fútbol game! I’m a bit unsure of who I’m supposed to root for…
