Night of the Living Mosquitos…

Well hello again. It is I, back with more tales from Hondu 14.

So this has been a busy week. So busy that I actually have had to break out my calendar to remember everything we did this  week. So let’s start with last night (and then proceed in no logical order of events).

So last night was an interesting night. First of all, let me explain how the weather works here. It’s kind of like a bastard hybrid of Colorado and Florida (at least where I am at the moment). Meaning, for those of you who have not had the pleasure of living in both locations, that it will vary in temperature about 20 degrees in one day. So it will start out at about 65 in the morning (let me reiterate once more that there is no hot water here… I have decided I will simply never get used to that) to up to around 85 in the afternoon (Like CO). It will also decide to suddenly rain for 15 minutes in the middle of  the day (like FL). But I digress.

Anyway, so we got mosquito nets about a week ago. Well most of us have rebelled against putting them up because we really  haven’t seen a mosquito at all since we have been here. Until last night. So I was talking on the phone with Katie and I  saw a mosquito. And I was like hmmm, I should kill that. So, my whole family is in bed so I have to be super quiet so I am  skulking around my room in my jammies with my headlight lamp on trying to stalk a mosquito and kill it without making sound. And I succeed. Oh glorious moment of success.

So, I thought nothing of it. Well, I went to bed and started reading my book. I gaze off into the distance for a brief  moment and suddenly I notice that there are seriously 30 mosquitos in the beam of light O_O. So, here I am skulking around  in my room trying to exterminate 30 malaria-carying mosquitos without making any sounds so as not to wake the 3 year old.  Finally, I give up and ghetto-hang my mosquito net up in the middle of the night with the athletic tape I brought to cover my tattoes. Then I proceed to sit under the net gazing around with my headlight trying to find any mosquitoes lurking in  my little tent.

By the way, athletic tape doesn’t work so well. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking I was being attacked by a  fishing net. But I only have about 4 more nights here so I don’t want to bother with putting it up correctly. so I have it taped up again and kind of rigged to my dresser. I will take a picture. It’s special.

As a friend of mine says, “It’s like sleeping in a princess bed… but puke brown.”

So now I am looking at my calendar.

So Monday, we had this volunteer panel come and talk to us about safety and security in honduras. It was pretty interesting. The panel was made up of 4 volunteers who each had experienced “incidents” during their service.

Tuesday we had another  S&S meeting about “Dealing with Unwanted Attention” which was actually pretty hilarious. The guy who runs it is a former cop and he used me as a demonstration and asked “What would you do if the co-worker you were riding in a car with in an hour long ride wouldn’t stop giving you unwanted attention.” I responded with “Once we got there I would probably turn around and go home and tell him I won’t work with him until he can behave.” I’m such a teacher.

Tuesday we had to go to the market in the capital. That was fun. Tell the volunteers how scary and dangerous the big city is and then send the little volunteers off to the capital on their own. O_o Of course, it was fine. But it was most assuredly sketchy. So we had to take the bus into the capital and the poor Hondurans were completely bewildered at the sudden appearance of 13 gringos on their daily bus commute. (As an aside, busses in honduras BLARE regeaton music. Busses in the states are BORING). Then we got off at the hospital in Tegucigalpa and argued with a taxi driver about fare to the market. (This is a big difference than in the states. You barter your fare and you do not tip. ) Then we met our teacher at the market. Then we rummaged around the market (we had to buy food for our host families with thier money so that we would be forced to haggle for the best price). After the market we hopped into another taxi and visited the PC office. Then it was back to school.

But let’s go back to the market for a moment. This was something I have never experienced. It was like flea-market meets Winn-Dixie. There were little booths about 6×6 in which a vendedor sat and sold their wares. And it ranged from fruit to bathroom supplies depending on the booth. But the funnest area were the meat booths in which the dogs run freely, the  workers don’t wear gloves, and I actually saw a man hacking apart a cow with an AXE on a CHOPPING LOG. I am not  convinved that he was regularly bleaching his log. I will likely go back to veg once I’m not living with a host family. BTW eating pork here is like a gaurunteed tape worm. Great diet plan, but kinda creepy.

The cheese isle was interesting. I was soooooo excited and had taken my lempira’s out of my bra and shoe so I could buy some delicious gouda, or sharp chedar, maybe some swiss, or brie… because we get two kinds of cheese here – salty and melty. Guess what kind of cheese they had in the cheese isle….. Salty and melty. REALLY? You need an ISLE for TWO types of CHEESE?!?!

Dear god, somebody send me a sharp cheddar wheel. I will hack off the mold, I swear.

Maybe don’t though, because they cook everything in oil here and my heart already thinks I am trying to clog it up onpurpose.

Wednesday was super-fun-nerd-day. We got to make a flexi-pump. So basically we made a basic pump where we could pump water out of a given source and then by pumping it by hand you could move the water from the source to a secondary source. So for example you could get water out of an underground source, and then pump it up into a holding tank on your roof, so you could have running water in your house. (TAH-DAH!) So we were in groups of 4 and had a competition. It was easy to do and it was really fun.
But it was also the afternoon of lame (yet hysterical) jokes (GRANDMAS SHOULD NOW GO TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH AND STOP READING
HERE) with everything everyone said. I mean, we were building and testing pumps. So the conversation would basically follow the script of “The Office” such as: “Awe, our pump is only good for 20 strokes…..That’s what she said!” “Hey Randy, don’t forget to lubricate the tube first…. That’s what she said!” But like all day. Personally, I never stopped laughing.

Yesterday we learned about the history of Honduras. We Americans did quite a bit of meddling in their affairs here. It’s pretty sad, actually.

So this weekend I get to go visit a volunteer in the field. I’m pretty excited except the whole “get there by yourself” thing. I mean, I have detailed instructions, but it’s totally “little nerd goes to big city.” But we just have to get to the capital and then get on the right bus. The girl I am staying with says “How good is your Spanish?” I say, “Okay, I’m Intermediate-medium.” and she says “Good, than you can ask where the gringa lives, because I’m the only one here.”

HAHAHA!

But what was really exciting was this question: “Do you drink? Because I was going to buy us some beer.” Heck. Yes.

So I will let you know how that adventure goes.

So we have had our first volunteer get denghue. Poor thing. We also had a volunteer get an intestinal bacteria because her host family washed their vegetables in the tap water and/or didn’t’ wash them at all. She was definitely in the more than 4 times a day = okay to call the nurse range. I get veggies
in my lunch now…. hmmmm….

I have never talked about bowel movements so much in my life. I can tell you one thing, we have been divided into two groups. “Those who fall past or very close to the 4 times a day = call the nurse” category, or the “four times since I have arrived” category. The latter group should come over to my house and try the mantequilla. It will clear up that problem REAL fast.

I left my razor handle at my brothers house on accident. I had to buy a razor. It cost me an entire days pay.
So, that’s about it for now. I am moving to a new location next weekend and I’m not sure how the internet situation is there. I heard rumors that we have access in our tech-room. We shall see.

PS
Does anybody have a scientific calculator that I can have??? If so, send it to me in a cheese wheel. Throw in a netty pot while you are at it. If it get´s stolen then the jokes on them.

PSS
I just looked up and I don’t think there is a single mosquito in my room. W……T…….F…..