This last week everybody in Tocoa has become accustomed to the toques de queda (curfews). On Monday and Tuesday, I was forced to push my night class back to 4 PM, because the toques started at 6 PM. But by the Wednesday the curfew had been pushed back to 10 PM, so I could hold class during regular hours. This week we had begun working on the present progressive verb tense. I am eating, you are sleeping, we are studying, etc. The students had a rudimentary grasp on how the verb tense functioned, but they needed practice on combining the “-ing” with the infinitive, as well as conjugating “be” with the corresponding subject.
I found this game online called Harry Potter. Basically you make one quarter of the group Voldemorts and the other three quarters Harry Potters. The Voldemorts chase the Harry Potters around outside until the Harry Potters are tagged. The Voldemort orders the tagged person to do something (“eat!” “run!” “sleep!” etc.) And they have to perform that action in place, until another Harry Potter approaches them, tags them, and asks, “What are you doing?” The frozen HP tells them, “I am running!” then they are unfrozen, until tagged by another Voldemort.
We’ve played this game for a couple of days as a warm up activity. The kids absolutely love this game and are disappointed when it’s not on the schedule.
A couple of Fridays ago we watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I don’t usually show movies in class but this day was an exception. The series is as popular in Honduras as it is in the States, though there is no movie theatre in Tocoa. The place you need to go to see a new movie is in San Pedro Sula, and that is 6 hours away!
Sunday was largely a rainy day. I passed some of the day watching Spanish Fast and the Furious. During a commercial break there was an ad for a cell phone plan with TIGO, the local service provider. They were offering a “Gringo Plan” for people to call the United States. I thought it was pretty funny.
I went to the TIGO center in Tocoa to renew my internet service for July. There was some confusion on my account, and long story short I ended up talking with the branch supervisor. She said she understood the situation I was in but could not help with my account, like how I could not help her get into the United States. It was an interesting exchange of words after that.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Where Does it Hurt?
I spent a large part of my day working on a website I have promised my host brother. He is deeply involved with a local soccer club and asked if I would make a website for the club. So basically I have been fooling around with Adobe Dreamweaver and Photoshop. It isn’t easy to create an attractive website! I haven’t done any work on this software in months, so I spent most of the day relearning both programs. When I get closer to a finished product, I’ll be sure to share it.I haven’t written much about my in-class activities. I will share something we did last Thursday. I have been teaching my students body parts vocabulary (e.g. head, shoulders, knees and toes, so on and so forth). We have played Simon Says, drawn ourselves on poster board, labeling body parts, we even played an ESL rendition of twister.
On Thursday I tried this new activity. Teaching the verb “hurt” to my students, they learned how to say, “my elbow hurts,” or, “my stomach hurts.” Incorporating this into simulation, I had the students pair up. Each turn, they would play rock-paper-scissors to decide the role they would play (doctor or patient). The doctor says, “Where does it hurt?” The student playing the patient responds, “my arm hurts,” or whatever body part depending on a card I would pull from a hat. The doctor would then ask, “Can I help you?” and then would wrap up the arm, or the leg, or the foot in toilet paper. By the end of the class period I was surrounded with young Honduran mummies. It didn’t take that much toilet paper and they all seemed to have a great time.
I was walking home from the centro (town center) in Tocoa today at 6 PM. People were crowding the intersection near my house. At first I thought it was some protest to a 6 PM toque de queda (curfew). This was not the case. An eight-year-old girl walked out into the middle of Calle Chela and was hit by a car. She was thrown several feet upon impact, and suffered a severe bone fracture in her leg. I missed the accident by barely a minute, and the girl was carried to the hospital immediately before I arrived. Most of my neighbors were in tears, as this is a close community. It was an emotional experience; most of them saw the accident happen, including the four-year-old son of my host sister.
Calle Chela is a very busy and dangerous road. Traffic laws outside of the States aren’t as strict, and this served as a harsh reminder of that fact. Drivers here have no worry of traffic police, or speeding tickets, and have only their own discretion to govern their driving habits. These laws become merely suggestion.
I found out tonight that the young girl is going to live, and keep her leg.
I taught some friends tonight how to play Presidents and Assholes. If you are not familiar with the game it is a lightning paced card game popular in most universities across the country. Here is a link explaining the game. I tentatively renamed it Presidentes y Tontos, mostly because we were playing with a twelve year old. They were fascinated with the game, and even more so with the titles bestowed upon the winners and losers.
If you don’t know how to play, we can play when I come home.
Manuel Zelaya, the Honduran President exiled one week ago, is arriving back in Honduras. I have taken the advice of a friend here and will be spending the day at home. Nobody here knows what’s going to happen tomorrow, so I’m going to lay low.
Happy Fourth of July
Saturday, July 4, 2009
First Independence Day Abroad
Saturday was the first day in nearly a week without a six o’clock curfew. Since Monday everyone in Tocoa (as well as Colón Department) has been forced to be inside their houses because of an order of the new government under Roberto Micheletti. People have told me that the curfew started at 6 PM in Colón Department rather than 9 Pm for the rest of the country because A) Colón is locally know to suffer from a high level of delinquency (e.g. robbery, assault, etc.); and B) Colón department is thought to be a Zelaya stronghold.
Through government order, four constitutional rights have been suspended to assist curfew enforcement. Among those suspended are the right to see a judge within twenty-four hours of arrest, and the right not to be arrested without charge.
I had seen quite a few police vehicles on Sunday and Monday. People were picked up by local police and carried to the local jail, and released the next day. My neighbors, who seemed to at first defy the curfew on a nightly basis, have been spending their evenings indoors after 3 young women were arrested on their own front porch.
It has been quiet since Tuesday. I have not seen any police trucks on Calle Chela, though this is because I have not been looking for them, being accustomed to the curfew. On Friday afternoon there were rumors swirling around Tocoa that there would be a twenty-four hour curfew, in conjunction with Exiled Mel Zelaya’s return to Honduras. I thought a twenty-four curfew sounded crazy, and was especially skeptical, because curfew rumors had been spreading throughout the week.
It turned out to be false. Saturday is the first day without a 6 PM curfew since Tuesday. I had no class to teach, so I slept in, taking advantage of the weekend. This is the first Fourth of July outside of the United States for me. It is just another day in Tocoa, aside from the political climate. Surprisingly, many Hondurans are aware that this is the American day of Independence, though I have been asked several times from whom did the colonies declare their independence.
Through government order, four constitutional rights have been suspended to assist curfew enforcement. Among those suspended are the right to see a judge within twenty-four hours of arrest, and the right not to be arrested without charge.
I had seen quite a few police vehicles on Sunday and Monday. People were picked up by local police and carried to the local jail, and released the next day. My neighbors, who seemed to at first defy the curfew on a nightly basis, have been spending their evenings indoors after 3 young women were arrested on their own front porch.
It has been quiet since Tuesday. I have not seen any police trucks on Calle Chela, though this is because I have not been looking for them, being accustomed to the curfew. On Friday afternoon there were rumors swirling around Tocoa that there would be a twenty-four hour curfew, in conjunction with Exiled Mel Zelaya’s return to Honduras. I thought a twenty-four curfew sounded crazy, and was especially skeptical, because curfew rumors had been spreading throughout the week.
It turned out to be false. Saturday is the first day without a 6 PM curfew since Tuesday. I had no class to teach, so I slept in, taking advantage of the weekend. This is the first Fourth of July outside of the United States for me. It is just another day in Tocoa, aside from the political climate. Surprisingly, many Hondurans are aware that this is the American day of Independence, though I have been asked several times from whom did the colonies declare their independence.
Monday, June 29, 2009
golpe+1
(Advisory: Some national and international channels are deactivated by the order of the current government....)This morning a protest formed on the bridge leading out of Tocoa. The bridge where this took place is the central vein of transportation between La Ceiba and Tocoa. My host brother told me he saw 500 people on the bridge. By the afternoon the police had set up a barricade 2 blocks away, so that no one else could join the protesters.
I went to a local internet cafe today to print some worksheets for class. My normal cafe was closed, which struck me as odd becasue they are usually open seven days a week. I walked around the corner to another cafe that is somewhat closer to my gym. It was closed too. It became apparent that the internet was shut down in town, for at least today.
The ATM's were out of order too. I tried to access my checking account, but could not. Communication lines have been severed.
My students came to school, asking me if we were going to have class. This political crisis is affecting all levels of daily life, young and hold. It feels so strange, everything being upset by politics. I never realized how lucky we in the states are for having a stable country.
Tonight will be the second night of curfews in Tocoa, and all of Honduras. In Spanish they are called toques de queda. After class an eight year old student asked me how she was going to get home. She lives two blocks away from the school, but the curfew had already begun. I told her I would go with her so she would feel safe. As we left I noticed there were some police officers standing a block away. While leery, I continued walking her home.
Suddenly my neighbor, a girl my age, approached us from her house. She told me that I should go back to my home(+school), becasue she was worried I would have problems with the police. As my neighbor is also a teacher, she is well aquainted with this student and brought her home.
I walked back to the family compound, and joined my host mom. She was sitting in the patio, overlooking calle chela, one of the main drags in Tocoa. Within two minutes we saw two cars drive by on an otherwise empty street. The first was a police department pickup truck. In the bed were five soldiers, and 3 civilians or so. The second was a civilian van, being driven by a soldier, and filled with more civilians, at least 6 or so. These people were all rounded up by the military, and were being taken to the local jail to spend the night.
About ten minutes later another police pickup drove by my neighbor's house. There were about 8 people hanging out in their patio. The soldiers told them to go to bed. The mother of the house, a Garífuna woman in her mid-forties replied, "I'll go to bed when I am tired!"
The soldiers got out of the truck, and then chased them all back into their house, six girls screaming. Satisfied, they got back in their truck and left. While those girls stayed inside for the rest of the night, I couldn't but help notice, that I could see faces peering out of most windows facing calle chela. Slowly, the young people crept out of their homes to sit on front stoops, spying the goings on of the almost nonexistent traffic.
I stayed outside for another 30 minutes, hoping to catch another glimpse of this. All I did see was an old man biking home, and a teenager dancing in the street, testing fate as teenagers do so well. He was hooting and whooping, dancing, and had the whole block as his audience. He danced for about 3 minutes, then wandered home.
Several channels are blocked on the television. I can't find CNN. Maybe I've got the wrong channel, but I can't find it. I've attached a photo that shows a message from the Honduran cable company based out of Ceiba. The photo pretty much sums it up (I'm lucky to have a mobil usb internet attachment). People out here are wondering what's going on in Tegucigalpa and the rest of the country. We're waiting for for things to get back to normal. Wednesday, some tell me.
Manuel Zelaya declared today that he is coming back to Honduras on Thursday to finish his term.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
US Embassy
I just wanted to quickly share all of the links I've been following from the US embassy in Tegucigalpa:
http://honduras.usembassy.gov/acs_pubannounc2009.html
http://honduras.usembassy.gov/acs_pubannounc2009.html
Thoughts on the Coup from Tocoa
Hey all. I'm doing fine, despite all of the news you have been hearing this weekend. Let me fill you in on my take of what's going on in Honduras right now.
Manuel Zelaya was elected the President of Honduras in 2005, from the Liberal Party of Honduras (PLH). Since then he has been seen as an ally of Hugo Chávez and the recently formed ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the people of our America).
One interesting part of the Honduran constitution is that it only allows a president to serve one term. I'm also told that there are only three presidential candidates in every race. A short time ago, I began to hear about this political movement called Cuarta Urna. In Spanish, this means fourth ballot box. What I understand is that the political objective of Cuarta Urna is to change the Honduran constitution. Many believe that Cuarta Urna is a political means for Manuel Zelaya to be elected a second time. Furthermore, opponents of Cuarta Urna infer that this movement is ultimately to achieve the indefinite reelection of a president.
Last week, tensions in Honduras rose as Zelaya was planning on executing a national referendum, or encuesta, scheduled for Sunday, June 28, 2009 (today). It was to be a yes/no inquiry to see if the Honduran people were interested in making changes to the constitution. But on Thursday, the head of the Army, Romeo Vásquez, was fired by Zelaya for not logistically supporting the referendum with the army.
I heard Vásquez refused to help because the Supreme Court and the National Congress declared the referendum to be illegal. It would have been illegal, because national referendums cannot be held 180 days before or after an election. As the next presidential election is this year, they said that any referendum would be illegal. The Supreme Court then ordered Zelaya to reinstall Romeo Vásquez.
A father of one of my students, told me Thursday night that he suspected a coup d'état was in the works. He advised me not to go downtown in Tocoa for the next four days, or go near any large groups of people, especially because I am a foreigner (target?).
His words were almost proved correct on Friday morning, as I was told me that a coup d'état almost happened on Thursday night, except that both parties (President vs. Congress & Courts) received a phone call from a mediator. Was it Hillary Clinton?
Friday and Saturday were tense in Tocoa, and around Honduras in general. Zelaya and his supporters mobbed the military airbase and took all of the ballot boxes for the referendum. This way they could distribute the materials for the referendum on Sunday. There was no resistance by the military.
Last night, I went out with some friends for a beer. I sat with three Tocoans, listening to their concerns for the future of their country. There had been an article in the local newspaper, La Prensa, that Nicaraguan soldiers were infiltrating the border in civilian clothes. Even worse, Honduras' neighbors on all sides were mobilizing at the border. It seemed that everyone was expecting the worst as referendum day drew near.
It seemed quiet in Tocoa last night. Even though there are less than 30,000 people living in Tocoa, at least the main drag is bustling around 1 or 2 a.m. Everybody apparently decided to stay home. It probably would have been prudent of me to stay home too, but I guess part of me found going out to be exciting, in a twisted way. Don't confuse my feelings, I want the most peaceful and democratic solution for this country. But I am pursuing a political science degree, after all. It feels like I'm experiencing history. It might be a misplaced fascination with a volatile political scene, but hey, I'm already here, right?
Sunday, June 28, was to be the day of the referendum. I woke up at 8:30 a.m. to the sound of my AC going down. My host brother told me that the military had shut down the electricity in all of Honduras for the day. I used the last 15 minutes of battery to log online and discover that Zelaya had been arrested and expelled from Honduras. This meant that the military went ahead with the coup.
You can read about what happened elsewhere in Honduras, but I'll share what I know about Tocoa. People here were fairly certain that the electricity was deliberately shut down by the military. Maybe they did it to stop the people watch reports on TV before they could issue a report. Around 10 a.m., my host brother saw a small airplane dropping leaflets on Tocoa. I eventually saw one, and it stated that the referendum was illegal, that Cuarta Urna was illegal, and for everyone to stay in their homes. I'll try to get a copy of that leaflet up tomorrow.
The referendum voting places were to be the local schools in Tocoa. The ballot boxes were seized, and the referendum canceled. I didn't go downtown, but some in my host family were running errands. They told me that there was a gathering in the central park of Tocoa, a demonstration probably. Additionally, these demonstrators were surrounded by soldiers, that were guarding the park and town. Local businesses shut down early on Sunday, out of fear of a mass protest.
By noon, the power was back, and not a moment too soon. The Confederations Cup final was about to start! I laid low for most of the day, watched the U.S. national team choke during the second half, eat lunch, and watch Interim President Roberto Micheletti get sworn in by the national congress.
Many Hondurans are struggling with the definition of what happened here today. Was it a coup, or wasn't it? A lot of people in Honduras don't think it was a coup, since they transitioned to a new civilian government so quickly. They saw it more as a replacement of the president. The military ousted Zelaya early this morning, but the National Congress claims they acted under their orders. Micheletti is apparently Zelaya's replacement for the next six months. What more, their from the same party! So this struggle between Zelaya and the other two branches of government extend to his own party and former political allies. It isn't seen as a cut and dry coup from here in Honduras. Many here told me they were afraid that Zelaya wanted to rule indefinitely, and do the same in Honduras as was done in Venezuela.
A lot of Tocoans do not believe Zelaya's accusation that the U.S. embassy has been supporting a coup. Many actually see the U.S. government as a better ally than Chávez, who is perceived as a threat to the stability of Honduras. Hondurans are looking to the U.S. for support, especially as a counterweight to Venezuela. We will see how the international community interacts with this new government.
People in Tocoa want support. They are going to try to make Monday a normal day. Businesses are to be open and school will be in session. People want it to normal here, but are all too aware of the tension, and too unaware of the future. I'm holding class tomorrow, but can't really count on anything.
Let's hope for the best.
UPDATE:
Before I go to sleep for the night, I just read online that a nationwide curfew has been imposed for Sunday and Monday each night spanning from 9PM to 6 AM.
Manuel Zelaya was elected the President of Honduras in 2005, from the Liberal Party of Honduras (PLH). Since then he has been seen as an ally of Hugo Chávez and the recently formed ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the people of our America).
One interesting part of the Honduran constitution is that it only allows a president to serve one term. I'm also told that there are only three presidential candidates in every race. A short time ago, I began to hear about this political movement called Cuarta Urna. In Spanish, this means fourth ballot box. What I understand is that the political objective of Cuarta Urna is to change the Honduran constitution. Many believe that Cuarta Urna is a political means for Manuel Zelaya to be elected a second time. Furthermore, opponents of Cuarta Urna infer that this movement is ultimately to achieve the indefinite reelection of a president.
Last week, tensions in Honduras rose as Zelaya was planning on executing a national referendum, or encuesta, scheduled for Sunday, June 28, 2009 (today). It was to be a yes/no inquiry to see if the Honduran people were interested in making changes to the constitution. But on Thursday, the head of the Army, Romeo Vásquez, was fired by Zelaya for not logistically supporting the referendum with the army.
I heard Vásquez refused to help because the Supreme Court and the National Congress declared the referendum to be illegal. It would have been illegal, because national referendums cannot be held 180 days before or after an election. As the next presidential election is this year, they said that any referendum would be illegal. The Supreme Court then ordered Zelaya to reinstall Romeo Vásquez.
A father of one of my students, told me Thursday night that he suspected a coup d'état was in the works. He advised me not to go downtown in Tocoa for the next four days, or go near any large groups of people, especially because I am a foreigner (target?).
His words were almost proved correct on Friday morning, as I was told me that a coup d'état almost happened on Thursday night, except that both parties (President vs. Congress & Courts) received a phone call from a mediator. Was it Hillary Clinton?
Friday and Saturday were tense in Tocoa, and around Honduras in general. Zelaya and his supporters mobbed the military airbase and took all of the ballot boxes for the referendum. This way they could distribute the materials for the referendum on Sunday. There was no resistance by the military.
Last night, I went out with some friends for a beer. I sat with three Tocoans, listening to their concerns for the future of their country. There had been an article in the local newspaper, La Prensa, that Nicaraguan soldiers were infiltrating the border in civilian clothes. Even worse, Honduras' neighbors on all sides were mobilizing at the border. It seemed that everyone was expecting the worst as referendum day drew near.
It seemed quiet in Tocoa last night. Even though there are less than 30,000 people living in Tocoa, at least the main drag is bustling around 1 or 2 a.m. Everybody apparently decided to stay home. It probably would have been prudent of me to stay home too, but I guess part of me found going out to be exciting, in a twisted way. Don't confuse my feelings, I want the most peaceful and democratic solution for this country. But I am pursuing a political science degree, after all. It feels like I'm experiencing history. It might be a misplaced fascination with a volatile political scene, but hey, I'm already here, right?
Sunday, June 28, was to be the day of the referendum. I woke up at 8:30 a.m. to the sound of my AC going down. My host brother told me that the military had shut down the electricity in all of Honduras for the day. I used the last 15 minutes of battery to log online and discover that Zelaya had been arrested and expelled from Honduras. This meant that the military went ahead with the coup.
You can read about what happened elsewhere in Honduras, but I'll share what I know about Tocoa. People here were fairly certain that the electricity was deliberately shut down by the military. Maybe they did it to stop the people watch reports on TV before they could issue a report. Around 10 a.m., my host brother saw a small airplane dropping leaflets on Tocoa. I eventually saw one, and it stated that the referendum was illegal, that Cuarta Urna was illegal, and for everyone to stay in their homes. I'll try to get a copy of that leaflet up tomorrow.
The referendum voting places were to be the local schools in Tocoa. The ballot boxes were seized, and the referendum canceled. I didn't go downtown, but some in my host family were running errands. They told me that there was a gathering in the central park of Tocoa, a demonstration probably. Additionally, these demonstrators were surrounded by soldiers, that were guarding the park and town. Local businesses shut down early on Sunday, out of fear of a mass protest.
By noon, the power was back, and not a moment too soon. The Confederations Cup final was about to start! I laid low for most of the day, watched the U.S. national team choke during the second half, eat lunch, and watch Interim President Roberto Micheletti get sworn in by the national congress.
Many Hondurans are struggling with the definition of what happened here today. Was it a coup, or wasn't it? A lot of people in Honduras don't think it was a coup, since they transitioned to a new civilian government so quickly. They saw it more as a replacement of the president. The military ousted Zelaya early this morning, but the National Congress claims they acted under their orders. Micheletti is apparently Zelaya's replacement for the next six months. What more, their from the same party! So this struggle between Zelaya and the other two branches of government extend to his own party and former political allies. It isn't seen as a cut and dry coup from here in Honduras. Many here told me they were afraid that Zelaya wanted to rule indefinitely, and do the same in Honduras as was done in Venezuela.
A lot of Tocoans do not believe Zelaya's accusation that the U.S. embassy has been supporting a coup. Many actually see the U.S. government as a better ally than Chávez, who is perceived as a threat to the stability of Honduras. Hondurans are looking to the U.S. for support, especially as a counterweight to Venezuela. We will see how the international community interacts with this new government.
People in Tocoa want support. They are going to try to make Monday a normal day. Businesses are to be open and school will be in session. People want it to normal here, but are all too aware of the tension, and too unaware of the future. I'm holding class tomorrow, but can't really count on anything.
Let's hope for the best.
UPDATE:
Before I go to sleep for the night, I just read online that a nationwide curfew has been imposed for Sunday and Monday each night spanning from 9PM to 6 AM.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Trujillo
Hey all,I hope that Minnesota has warmed up over the weekend. IT is STILL hot in Honduras. I went to the local gym for the first time today. A monthly membership is 350 lempiras ($19.50???). It's certainly not the best facility I've been to, but at the same time its all that Tocoa has to offer, so there we go. The gym is only open from 5:30-8 AM so I need to be there around 6 if I want to exercise in the morning. I had my morning class today at 8 AM, we worked on simple present verb pronunciation. They are a bunch of sharp kids, even if they can't sit still for 2 minutes.
After class i took a nap in a hammock. This is turning into one of my favorite activities. But it rained for 20 minutes before I woke up so I had to go inside. And I don't like having my air conditioner on during the day, so its pretty hot in my room right now.
Yesterday I went with Orlin and his friend Carlos to Trujillo. Its this little town about 45 minutes north east of Tocoa. It was the place where Christopher Columbus landed in Central America in his last voyage to the America's in 1502. Trujillo is on the Caribbean sea, so I was able to go swimming in the ocean for the first time in my trip. We ate at this place called La Perla del Caribe. I orderd this Sopa Marinera, and what I got was this. Yes those are fins and yes those are crab legs in my soup. It was a veritable seafood extravaganza (plus lobster, shrimp, etc.)!
Then we went to The Fort of Santa Barbara, a 400 year old fort that the Spanish built to protect Trujillo from Pirates-unsuccessfully, but it was still pretty neat. The fort was in a poor state of disrepair- 7 million lempiras (L18=$1) had been given to its restoration but it has already been spent. Pretty interesting though, I saw the place where the 19th century filibust William Walker was executed after he tried to conquer Central America.
Then we went to this old museum, or more accurately an old building that was the American HQ in the early 20th century. Inside were a bunch of artifacts from ships and trains and Mayan culture, a bunch of rusty chachki's, really.
I read or heard somewhere that
Next week there's a carnaval in Trujillo. I think that I'd like to go to Ceiba instead.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
I'm Still River
I started teaching the simple present tense of verbs yesterday to my evening class. They seemed pretty receptive, but I need to remember that they are new to every word I teach them, and I can't take it too quickly with them. Nothing to worry about though. The thing that has helped me most is setting clear objective when writing my lesson plan. This brings clear purposes to my classes. Like I want to have them familiar with X today, or introduce vocab X-Z; then the next day make sure they are competent in conjugating only X,Y & Z verbs. Overall it has been rewarding to see myself grow into this leadership role. Growing into this leadership role has so far been very rewarding, and I look forward to the rest of the summer. This has been a new experience for me, but despite the the work everyday, has been a lot of fun.
Last night Orlin and his Boca friends don Vidal and Elling were waiting for me after class. They wanted me to help them write a letter from the Tocoa Boca Club to the Argentine Boca Club. After writing a couple of drafts explaining the history of their club, we went to Orln's brother Marvin's house. Marvin has a degree in education, and is also a good writer. We wrote the first draft that will be emailed/ mailed to Buenos Aires in the coming weeks. But to get recognition for the Tocoa Bocas Marvin thought the only way to really show them what Tocoa Boca is about is to create an official website for their club. So they asked me to create that for them, while I am here. I am really excited to do that, not only because I got done with the 4th course in the Education technology certification at UMD, but also because I bought the ADOBE software to do so before I came to Honduras. Making them a website will be my side project for the summer, when I'm not teaching. I'll keep you up to date on its progress as it develops.
I never thought I would be writing a letter to Boca Juniors!
Last night Orlin and his Boca friends don Vidal and Elling were waiting for me after class. They wanted me to help them write a letter from the Tocoa Boca Club to the Argentine Boca Club. After writing a couple of drafts explaining the history of their club, we went to Orln's brother Marvin's house. Marvin has a degree in education, and is also a good writer. We wrote the first draft that will be emailed/ mailed to Buenos Aires in the coming weeks. But to get recognition for the Tocoa Bocas Marvin thought the only way to really show them what Tocoa Boca is about is to create an official website for their club. So they asked me to create that for them, while I am here. I am really excited to do that, not only because I got done with the 4th course in the Education technology certification at UMD, but also because I bought the ADOBE software to do so before I came to Honduras. Making them a website will be my side project for the summer, when I'm not teaching. I'll keep you up to date on its progress as it develops.
I never thought I would be writing a letter to Boca Juniors!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
I live on Calle Ocho
the Banegas family, my hosts here in Tocoa, are big fans of soccer. They love soccer so much that the founded their own club here in town. The club is called the Boca Juniors. If you're not familiar with international soccer, Boca Juniors is the biggest club in Argentina. It is the 8th most successful club this year. It was even the club where Soccer Idol Diego Maradonna spent the majority of his career.
This is funny because Boca is the arch-rival of my favorite Argentine club, River Plate. Once I told everyone I was of the Banda Roja (River) and not a Bostero (Boca), ha we exchanged the expected trash talk between teams. River has done fairly poorly this year though (#87 globally, I think). I still think it's cool that they are such huge fanaticos, though. They've gotten sponsors (like Orlin's friend don Vidal), and have their own barra (superfan group). Orlin wants me to help him write a letter to the original Boca Juniors in Buenos Aires so that the Tocoa Boca Juniors can get some international recognition. Maybe some sponsorship??? Even though its my archrival, I like this little club since they're the underdog and just getting started.
They are also for Real Madrid while I am a Barça fan.
Note: We are writing that letter tonight.
My classes have been going fairly well. I have 13 students in my evening class, all in the secondary school range. They all have fairly advanced English textbooks they use at school, but don't seem to be able to construct English sentences without help. The established purpose of this school was to assist with English conversation, so being able to form a sentence would seem to be pretty important.
We're just getting started with nouns and the simple present tense of verbs right now, along with some vocabulary practice. Last week my students made family trees, with key words like mother, father, brother, sister, etc. There is a strong sense of family in Honduras so I figured this would be a practical place to begin. Otherwise we have been reviewing numbers, the English alphabet, and basic phrases, which they seem to already have a basic grasp. I feel like everything is going well in class, and that these kids will make a lot of headway in the next 3 months.
By the way, I found out the street I'm living on is called CALLE OCHO. They called it this because there used to be a big nightlife on this street. Cantinas lined both sides of the street and it got to be pretty crazy. I guess a bunch of people got killed so the government shut it down like four years ago.
This is funny because Boca is the arch-rival of my favorite Argentine club, River Plate. Once I told everyone I was of the Banda Roja (River) and not a Bostero (Boca), ha we exchanged the expected trash talk between teams. River has done fairly poorly this year though (#87 globally, I think). I still think it's cool that they are such huge fanaticos, though. They've gotten sponsors (like Orlin's friend don Vidal), and have their own barra (superfan group). Orlin wants me to help him write a letter to the original Boca Juniors in Buenos Aires so that the Tocoa Boca Juniors can get some international recognition. Maybe some sponsorship??? Even though its my archrival, I like this little club since they're the underdog and just getting started.
They are also for Real Madrid while I am a Barça fan.
Note: We are writing that letter tonight.
My classes have been going fairly well. I have 13 students in my evening class, all in the secondary school range. They all have fairly advanced English textbooks they use at school, but don't seem to be able to construct English sentences without help. The established purpose of this school was to assist with English conversation, so being able to form a sentence would seem to be pretty important.
We're just getting started with nouns and the simple present tense of verbs right now, along with some vocabulary practice. Last week my students made family trees, with key words like mother, father, brother, sister, etc. There is a strong sense of family in Honduras so I figured this would be a practical place to begin. Otherwise we have been reviewing numbers, the English alphabet, and basic phrases, which they seem to already have a basic grasp. I feel like everything is going well in class, and that these kids will make a lot of headway in the next 3 months.
By the way, I found out the street I'm living on is called CALLE OCHO. They called it this because there used to be a big nightlife on this street. Cantinas lined both sides of the street and it got to be pretty crazy. I guess a bunch of people got killed so the government shut it down like four years ago.
Red Card=MP5
Hey I haven't blogged in a week but I will tell you what I know...
Every morning for the last 2 weeks I have been waking up at 7 AM to a gratefully cool 82 degrees, and enjoy my coffee. By 9 AM we're back up to 89 degrees or so. I have an air conditioner in my apartment and am loathe to shut it off when I start my day. At 8 AM I teach a small group of 4 sisters. We play word games, practice vocabulary, and work on pronunciation in the morning. Their ages range from 7-12 years old. One of their favorite games to play is big karuta. I hide flashcards around the Banegas compound, shout them out in English (one at a time) and the girls have to sprint around the yard looking for the right word. This activity usually tires them out enough so that they will sit through a quick grammar lesson. Even so, they are fountains of energy and are ready to leave by 10 AM, when classes end.
After that I usually eat breakfast, tough it varies. Today for breakfast I ate an omlette, some kind of fried bean/chile, crumbly white farmer's cheese (not my favorite) and some sort of fried banana/maduro/platano/verde. I am a pitiful judge of what kind but I know its served at every meal! By 11 AM I amsettled down into one of the five hammocks hanging from varying mango trees on the Banegas Compound. I usually prepare my lesson for the night class at this time, though I usually nod off for a bit during the midday sun. There is a breeze right now, but at a price: the majority of the roads in Tocoa are dirt and as such blow a lot of dust into the air. Sweeping is a regular chore.
1 PM is usually lunch time. I don't know what we will be having but maybe I will blog about it tomorrow. Banana!
My associate/hostess Diani has a 4 year old son named David. He is a precocious and energetic little boy that made friends with me the night I got here. David calls me Elik. He likes to show me everything, like food, tables, hammocks, locks and explain how they work. He also likes to ask questions and He invited me to his birthday party. Which happened on the 28th of May, haha. The goodwill was there though.
For the last two Sundays I have been hanging out with my host brother Orlin. I go with him and his friends don Vidal and Joel Caballero to Sava to watch the Division 3 soccer playoffs. His club, The Boca Juniors, were knocked out a couple weeks ago so Orlin was there merely as a fanatico of fútbol. This last Sunday was the championship, between Juventud of Sava and Trujillo, a coastal city an hour north of Tocoa. After 90 minutes Sava was up 1-0 and gameplay became continually more agressive. In the end, a Trujillo player unsuccessfully tackled a Juventud player from behind. They started fighting and the Trujillo player got the red card. So the T. player charged the Ref and started roughing him up. 2 cops came onto the field to subdue this guy. One of them had a pistol and the other held back, brandishing an MP5, making sure the teams nor the fans started getting too rowdy. I have never seen automatic weapons on the soccer field, so of course I thought it was awesome/hardcore/ messed up.
Every morning for the last 2 weeks I have been waking up at 7 AM to a gratefully cool 82 degrees, and enjoy my coffee. By 9 AM we're back up to 89 degrees or so. I have an air conditioner in my apartment and am loathe to shut it off when I start my day. At 8 AM I teach a small group of 4 sisters. We play word games, practice vocabulary, and work on pronunciation in the morning. Their ages range from 7-12 years old. One of their favorite games to play is big karuta. I hide flashcards around the Banegas compound, shout them out in English (one at a time) and the girls have to sprint around the yard looking for the right word. This activity usually tires them out enough so that they will sit through a quick grammar lesson. Even so, they are fountains of energy and are ready to leave by 10 AM, when classes end.
After that I usually eat breakfast, tough it varies. Today for breakfast I ate an omlette, some kind of fried bean/chile, crumbly white farmer's cheese (not my favorite) and some sort of fried banana/maduro/platano/verde. I am a pitiful judge of what kind but I know its served at every meal! By 11 AM I amsettled down into one of the five hammocks hanging from varying mango trees on the Banegas Compound. I usually prepare my lesson for the night class at this time, though I usually nod off for a bit during the midday sun. There is a breeze right now, but at a price: the majority of the roads in Tocoa are dirt and as such blow a lot of dust into the air. Sweeping is a regular chore.
1 PM is usually lunch time. I don't know what we will be having but maybe I will blog about it tomorrow. Banana!
My associate/hostess Diani has a 4 year old son named David. He is a precocious and energetic little boy that made friends with me the night I got here. David calls me Elik. He likes to show me everything, like food, tables, hammocks, locks and explain how they work. He also likes to ask questions and He invited me to his birthday party. Which happened on the 28th of May, haha. The goodwill was there though.
For the last two Sundays I have been hanging out with my host brother Orlin. I go with him and his friends don Vidal and Joel Caballero to Sava to watch the Division 3 soccer playoffs. His club, The Boca Juniors, were knocked out a couple weeks ago so Orlin was there merely as a fanatico of fútbol. This last Sunday was the championship, between Juventud of Sava and Trujillo, a coastal city an hour north of Tocoa. After 90 minutes Sava was up 1-0 and gameplay became continually more agressive. In the end, a Trujillo player unsuccessfully tackled a Juventud player from behind. They started fighting and the Trujillo player got the red card. So the T. player charged the Ref and started roughing him up. 2 cops came onto the field to subdue this guy. One of them had a pistol and the other held back, brandishing an MP5, making sure the teams nor the fans started getting too rowdy. I have never seen automatic weapons on the soccer field, so of course I thought it was awesome/hardcore/ messed up.
Monday, June 1, 2009
I am in Honduras!!!
So I am in Tocoa Honduras. It is a town of ten thousand plus about an hour south of the Caribbean Sea. I came here to teach English to youngsters, and will be doing just that through the middle of August. Woo!
Getting to Tocoa was a journey though. Back last Friday my friend Jake drove me to Minneapolis. I spent the evening packing and repacking all of my things, which included a backpack full of school supplies for my new classroom (pens, pencils, notebooks, textbooks, activitybooks, markers, a whiteboard, flashcards, etc etc etc).
At 3 AM Jake, Nelly (good friend and Jake´s fiance) and I left for the airport. We forgot which was the Airport was the international terminal (humphrey of lindbergh) and I was accidentally dropped off at humphrey (woops!) Finally, I got to the Lindbergh terminal where my Boss Anna saw me off.
So I went through the security check, nothing particularily new to me, and I FORGOT TO TAKE MY LAPTOP OUT OF MY BACKPACK! So I got held up by three guards who wouldn´t let me touch my stuff until they could verify I wasn´t a terrorist, or something. If it couldn´t get worse, they didn´t assign my flight a terminal until a half hour before departure!
Not such an auspicious start.
Things smoothed out after that. I flew into Houston by 8:30 and flew out an hour later. By 11 AM I had arrived in San Pedro Sula, Honduras´second largest city and their industrial capital. When I disembarked their was a team of workers screening passengers for the swine flu. I had to sign a statement saying I wasn´t sick, then they filmed me for a second so they could record who they checked. I waited outside of customs for like twenty minutes until Cindy, Anna´s in-law found me.
She drove me around San Pedro, a veritable circus of activity and a traffic nightmare at that. She showed me the cathedral, anbd then bought me lunch from SUPER CATRACHO fast food place (rice, yuca, chicken and tortilla). Then she drove me to the bus terminal, which seemd larger than the airport. Getting on the bus, I was told by Tony (relation of Cindy´s),
¨cuidado cuidado en el bus!!!¨Errrr................not such a good thing to hear...
I rode window seat on this old bus that didn´t have air conditioning. It wasw probably ninety degrees inside of their for the first three hours of the trip. Although it was intense, I pretty much stuck my head out the window for that entire time, even after it started raining, which was such a relief.The bus ride lasted from 1 until 7 PM, and we rode through La Ceiba, Sava, a bunch of little towns.
My socia Diany picked me up in the Tocoa bus station a little after seven and brought me to the Banegas compound, where I will be spending the next three months. I get my own room with a private bathroom, and even an air conditioner (threw that on right away).
I spent Sunday getting settled in. Orlin, Anna´s brother in law took me to a soccer game in Sava, about 20 minutes away, during the afternoon. With us went his friends Joel Caballero, and Jose (don´t know his last name). We ate at some Argentine parilla (grill) restaurant ($4 entree pf grilled beef, beens, fried maduro chips, ensalada and tortilla) then drove to te stadium. There was an armed guard protecting the parked cars. Tickets were 30 lempiras, which is like $1.50 or so. It seemed like a high school level game, and each team had their own hinchada (crowd) banging drums and blowing horns constantly. It started raining an both hinchadas crowded underneath the stand´s awning. Players kept getting injured from the wet field, but they finished after 90 minutes anyways in impate (tie).
Today is my first day of teaching classses. It starts at 6 and goes until 8. My nine students are elementary age, and I am keen to see how we will get along. I dont have any pictures up, and probably won´t until i find a faster computer. I am well, and hope you all are too.
Getting to Tocoa was a journey though. Back last Friday my friend Jake drove me to Minneapolis. I spent the evening packing and repacking all of my things, which included a backpack full of school supplies for my new classroom (pens, pencils, notebooks, textbooks, activitybooks, markers, a whiteboard, flashcards, etc etc etc).
At 3 AM Jake, Nelly (good friend and Jake´s fiance) and I left for the airport. We forgot which was the Airport was the international terminal (humphrey of lindbergh) and I was accidentally dropped off at humphrey (woops!) Finally, I got to the Lindbergh terminal where my Boss Anna saw me off.
So I went through the security check, nothing particularily new to me, and I FORGOT TO TAKE MY LAPTOP OUT OF MY BACKPACK! So I got held up by three guards who wouldn´t let me touch my stuff until they could verify I wasn´t a terrorist, or something. If it couldn´t get worse, they didn´t assign my flight a terminal until a half hour before departure!
Not such an auspicious start.
Things smoothed out after that. I flew into Houston by 8:30 and flew out an hour later. By 11 AM I had arrived in San Pedro Sula, Honduras´second largest city and their industrial capital. When I disembarked their was a team of workers screening passengers for the swine flu. I had to sign a statement saying I wasn´t sick, then they filmed me for a second so they could record who they checked. I waited outside of customs for like twenty minutes until Cindy, Anna´s in-law found me.
She drove me around San Pedro, a veritable circus of activity and a traffic nightmare at that. She showed me the cathedral, anbd then bought me lunch from SUPER CATRACHO fast food place (rice, yuca, chicken and tortilla). Then she drove me to the bus terminal, which seemd larger than the airport. Getting on the bus, I was told by Tony (relation of Cindy´s),
¨cuidado cuidado en el bus!!!¨Errrr................not such a good thing to hear...
I rode window seat on this old bus that didn´t have air conditioning. It wasw probably ninety degrees inside of their for the first three hours of the trip. Although it was intense, I pretty much stuck my head out the window for that entire time, even after it started raining, which was such a relief.The bus ride lasted from 1 until 7 PM, and we rode through La Ceiba, Sava, a bunch of little towns.
My socia Diany picked me up in the Tocoa bus station a little after seven and brought me to the Banegas compound, where I will be spending the next three months. I get my own room with a private bathroom, and even an air conditioner (threw that on right away).
I spent Sunday getting settled in. Orlin, Anna´s brother in law took me to a soccer game in Sava, about 20 minutes away, during the afternoon. With us went his friends Joel Caballero, and Jose (don´t know his last name). We ate at some Argentine parilla (grill) restaurant ($4 entree pf grilled beef, beens, fried maduro chips, ensalada and tortilla) then drove to te stadium. There was an armed guard protecting the parked cars. Tickets were 30 lempiras, which is like $1.50 or so. It seemed like a high school level game, and each team had their own hinchada (crowd) banging drums and blowing horns constantly. It started raining an both hinchadas crowded underneath the stand´s awning. Players kept getting injured from the wet field, but they finished after 90 minutes anyways in impate (tie).
Today is my first day of teaching classses. It starts at 6 and goes until 8. My nine students are elementary age, and I am keen to see how we will get along. I dont have any pictures up, and probably won´t until i find a faster computer. I am well, and hope you all are too.
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