Today Hermilo came to Juticalpa to visit and we had a meeting about the upcoming conference I am planning for the ninth and tenth of December. I am planning an interactive workshop for 40 high-school students who are members of environmental organizations.
FLM has had youth conferences in the past, but they are usually for 200 students in a big hall, with some dry presenter rambling on while the students throw paper air planes and fall asleep on each others shoulders. When I was a student I could not stay awake for those types of lectures let alone learn anything substantial even if the topic was muy interesting to me. So for this workshop I decided to change it up a little bit, because I want these kids to get excited and I want them to feel passionate and I want them to take something away from the experience. There will be four presentations from professionals or specialists (One on the new forestry laws, one on the situation of the water systems in Olancho, one on Recycling, and one on Climate Change and the situation of Olancho's Forests), several activities that help illustrate what the presentations are trying to teach and get them thinking about the issues in a different medium, and discussion groups for them to share their thoughts and ideas. Each day the students will be given time to work on a 10-15 min. presentation in their smaller groups that they will present to the other groups at the end of the workshop. Presentations can be formal and informative, take the form of a game, quiz, song or play, or any medium that the group of students want to explore to share their ideas, what they have learned, their hopes for the future, and of course have fun while doing it!
I would be nervous if I was facilitating this in Canada in English, because that's my style (I always get nervous, I always over plan, and then usually everything works out and I am very pleased with the results) but trying to pull this off in Honduras at my (fleeting)level of Spanish brings a whole new set of challenges. I am pretty comfortable with problem solving, thinking on my feet, and corralling unruly high-school students but without having mastered the language (although I am doing much better than when I first arrived) I am very nervous for the success of this event. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
I am also nervous because I can almost see the the sand of time passing through the hourglass (at an alarming rate) as I race to finish this post...time is going by that fast, and I have a whole lot of things I want (need) to accomplish before I can leave (feeling satisfied). I have been working on my preliminary research and have been working with Hermilo to fine tune my interview schedule so after the conference I can begin interviewing. I am hoping to get a few interviews in before the country shuts down for Christmas Vacation (which I have been warned about by several people) so I will be able to finish the remainder in January, compile the results and finish the report before I head back to my home and native land at the end of January.
I'm not sure how I feel about being here for nearly five months and doing so 'little'. If I had to explain what I did in a day it wouldn't sound like much and even without going into boring details, stories about the work that I am doing while in Honduras would put even the best intentioned to sleep and leave many of you asking, "That's it?". But I am always busy. I am always doing something or talking to someone or scurrying off somewhere to try and get something done so I really don't know what to tell you or where my time goes...its a mystery.
I do feel quite strongly that I should not have came here (been allowed to come here) with my level of Spanish. At least for the purposes of this internship. Two months in and my conversational Spanish is functional, and if I was traveling I would be set. However working in Spanish is still a challenge and I can't help but feel that the quality of my work and my ability to help the FLM and MAO would be dramatically different if I were fluent on arrival. But I am here, and I am not fluent in Spanish (yet), so I will just keep working my ass off to catch up and make my time here count now wont I.
My stomach has decided to strike against my will. Against frijoles that is. I like beans I really do. I have nothing against them, but my stomach has had enough and against my wishes flips over and refuses to allow entrance when they are placed before me. Beans are served three meals a day here and there is no escaping them, which was fine for a while, and I'm sure will be fine again...but for now, my stomach is on strike and there is nothing I can do about it until its needs are met(likely a week or two of bean free dining).
Also, today when I got home from work Silvia (mom) told me I would have to unfortunately pack up my stuff and move to another room in the house because her (ex)husband is moving back to the house. Because the house is in his name there is little she can do (according to her lawyer) to keep him from coming back, and he ended things with his hunny bunny (someone is pregnant but I couldn't figure out who or why it was a problem) so he needs a place to live. Im not to thrilled with this for a couple of reasons. I can tell that Silvia is less than thrilled, which makes me less than thrilled because I have her back, I liked my room (although that's not a huge issue at all, rather a minor convenience), and I had liked living in an all female house (minus the kidletts) although I guess I didn't realize how much until the dynamic was threatened with change. I'm a bit apprehensive because I cant walk two feet down the street without attracting relentless unwanted attention over and over and over and over and over and over (you get the picture) again day after day and the house was kind of like my refuge not to mention the fact that I have been asked several times by the Uncle to date him, if I want to marry a Olanchanan, if I will have Honduran children and many other real gems of questions and I really really hope that doesn't happen on a daily basis...because that will get exhausting quite quickly and change my wonderful living situation into a rather uncomfortable one. But, not to get ahead of myself...I'm sure things will all work out and I am apprehensive for nothing :)
Tomorrow I head to Silca to talk to the secretary of MAO about the organizational structure, mobilization, and training of MAO. Im taking a bus and having a sleepover, which should be interesting although I am excited because Maria is one of the sweetest, most caring and passionate individuals I have met while down here so I'm sure it will be fantastic and good to get out of Juti (if even for a night).
Dream Sweet,
Delaney C.
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