Christmas and things!

Hello friends,

Not surprisingly, my blogging fell to the wayside during the holidays, so apologies for the silence. I had an awesome time though! We finished with school on the 20th and I immediately left San Pedro Sula with my fellow YASCer Becky. We traveled about an hour and half south to a small hotel, D&D Brewery, near Lago de Yojoa. We only spent about 36 hours here, but they were really fun. The brewery, as you might expect, makes its own beers, so of course we had to try all the offerings. None were disappointing.

We spent our one full day hiking and tubing down a small river that meets the lake. We saw bats, giant spiders, and interesting birds. We jumped off the edge of a rock that juts out over the lake, and in my normal fashion I took a very awkward jumping photo. I despair that I will never be successful at such things as jumping pictures...

This hotel is kind of a backpackers' haven. There were people there from all over, and it was really quite bizarre to see so many people from all around the world. I don't often see tourists in San Pedro Sula. I'm sure they are there, it's just such a large city that I don't encounter them. As it is now, I spend the majority of my time really concentrating to understand what's going on around me. It was a whole new ballgame to be hanging out with people who were speaking French.

We returned to Tela on the 23rd to celebrate Christmas. In Honduras, Christmas is celebrated on the 24th, so we exchanged gifts and went to church, and as is the custom for teachers on vacation, went to sleep before 10pm. The 25th we made dinner and had a few people from the community join us. It was a super time, and while it was a bit strange not being with my family, I felt so lucky to be where I was. And I watched The Polar Express for the first time =)

THEN MY FAMILY CAME. Minus Ian, sadly... but the rest arrived safe and sound on the 27th, and the 28th we flew to Roatan, one of the Bay Islands off the north coast of Honduras. The water was unreal, and we had the most amazing time. My roommate, Rosella, was able to join us, and so continues my AWESOME plan of intertwining my Honduran and Mississippian family.

The week was so wonderful. New Year's Eve, again, as is the custom of teacher's on vacation, I went to sleep at 10pm... Most people I talked to were horrified, but I don't care =)

My family has safely returned to Mississippi, and I have started back at school. I'm excited to see what my life in Honduras is like for 2014. Much love!

Disclaimer: The majority of the photos below are shamelessly stolen from Becky. Thank you for being better about taking photos than I am.

FAMILY!!

My weird jumping picture

My new friend William

Becky and I being AWESOME

La Familia

In the past couple weeks I've been thinking a lot about family. This is reasonable, considering we are in the season of holidays that, for many people, is so centered on family. For pretty much my whole life the months of November and December are full of family togetherness. We travel from the various corners of the country and when we are all finally together it usually ends up with us belting out "I Believe I Can Fly" wearing blonde wigs and drinking whiskey... or some variation of this. So needless to say, it was very strange when Thanksgiving rolled around to see a photo on Facebook of my three siblings sitting in front of the fireplace and I wasn't there!

This is not my first holiday season away from my family. This will be my first Christmas away, but I've missed Thanksgiving before. It's always been hard, but what it's taught me is that family is really the same thing as community. And if you have a community, you have a family.

At Thanksgiving, my fellow YASCer Becky came to visit and we cooked enough food to feed about 20 people. Seriously. I had to freeze leftovers. We ended up having 6 people and it was truly better than I could have hoped. And I was with my Honduran community. My family.

I will have the pleasure of spending Christmas in Tela with Becky, and my family will come for the new year and I'm sure there will be no end to the singing and being ridiculous. But through this holiday season I've come to understand that I have family all over the world. And I'm incredibly lucky for this, because every time a member of my community goes somewhere new and begins to create their own community in this new place, we extend our family even further. So, my dear friends, what I would like to say today is that you never have to be without family. I love you all.

Difficulty With Prayer

I get anxious when I try to pray. It’s always been a struggle for me, but it’s something that I’ve managed to ignore for most of my life by never really taking the time to try and formulate my own prayers. My prayer life relies on already written and well-worn prayers. Sometimes though, I feel like a prayer needs to be more personal, and then panic sets in. WHAT IF I LEAVE SOMETHING OUT?? 

I find myself making laundry list prayers, never being able to end it, just going through my mental list of all the people who are important in my life and all the people who are important in their lives and their dogs and cats and birds and anything else. It’s paralyzing, and it makes it very difficult to pray. I feel like if I do forget something, then it disappears in a vortex of lost prayers. Intellectually, I know this isn’t true, and the God I believe in doesn’t let prayers, even forgotten ones slip through the cracks. But it’s times like these when I hear about the struggles of my friends and family and the people they care about that I feel like I should pray with something more personal, and then the unnerving anxiety and thoughts that if I don’t say a prayer for this person then it’s a minus 1 point in their prayer quota column begin bubbling up like a volcano. Again, intellectually I know that there’s no heavenly prayer ledger book where prayers are added or subtracted and the final quota determines the outcome, but my overly rampant imagination is a bad influence on itself and keeps building on these wild doubts. 

The beauty of the Episcopal Church for me is that when I have absolutely no idea what to say, there are ready-made prayers right there. And when you feel more than words, there’s the music, which sometimes says it better than anything. So while prayer is still a source of fear for me, I am trying to work on it by paying attention to what’s been working for so many years in our church. So I think for now I’m going to try to relinquish the power, and use words written and music composed with such grace and feeling by our Episcopal brothers and sisters, and hope that God, our Mother and Father, gets what I’m trying to say.  

I leave you with a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer that I love

This is another day, O Lord. I know not what it will bring forth, but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be. If I am to stand up, help me to stand bravely. If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly. If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently. And if I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly. Make these words more than words, and give me the spirit of Jesus. Amen. 

And with an incredible piece of music by composer Will Todd 

Medical Things!

I have been MIA for the past couple weeks, and for that I apologize, but there has been A LOT going on. One of my newest developments is that I’ve started volunteering once a week at the HIV/AIDS clinic associated with the Episcopal Church here in Honduras. The name of the clinic is “Siempre Unidos”, or “Always United,” which I just love. 

I’ve only been going for a few weeks, but already I’m falling in love with the people there. The people who work there are so caring and the patients have such great attitudes. Every morning, the patients and staff meet together in the waiting room to greet each other and discuss any upcoming events or activities. There is always laughter and discussion, and it’s so wonderful to see such a sense of camaraderie among them. This clinic is supported by donations and no patient is turned away. They pay what they can, when they can, if they can, and if they can’t, no one blinks an eye. What this clinic is providing is incredible. The medication is not cheap, and the disease is still highly stigmatized here. What this clinic is doing is providing a way for these people to live and control their disease, not be controlled by it. If you want to learn a little bit more about the clinic and its mission, you can visit the website siempreunidos.org. 

I had the opportunity to work with a medical mission for a few days this week in Puerto Cortes near the coast. This group has been coming for years to Honduras, and this year, they came not only to set up a clinic, but also to distribute water filters to the people attending the clinic. This is such a great example of self-sustainability. It's a wonderful thing that medical missions come frequently to Honduras and give their time, energy, and emotions to helping the people here, but what this group is trying to do is make the help more long-lasting. By giving out water filters, explaining the process, and challenging the people using the filters to share and teach other families how to work them, this group is working to lessen the number of people infected by bacteria found in the water here. The Episcopal Diocese is also working on opening this clinic every three months, so that there is continuity for the people making use of clinic.

I worked as a translator, although many of the people in the group spoke Spanish quite well. It was a great experience for me because I was able to learn new vocabulary and ask questions about specific cases. This was doubly exciting because I found out on Wednesday that I've been accepted to the University of Mississippi Medical School! It has put my experience with the clinic and the medical mission into a whole new perspective. After a few years of hard work and study, I can come back here with medical knowledge and help at a whole different level.

Sorry to all of my readers for the the blog hiatus, I am making a concerted effort to be more on top of things! Love you all. Hope all is well. Peace. 

Exploration Adventures

Over the past two weeks I've had the opportunity to do some exploring in this amazing country. I'm loving my city, but it's nice to get out and see some different areas. The past two Sundays I've traveled with Rick Harlow, who oversees regional coordinators of Episcopal churches all over Honduras, to see the progress these parishes are making and to attend various services. There are 156 Episcopal churches in Honduras and it's amazing how they are all working to strengthen the Diocese of Honduras. Many of them have clinics and nursing schools attached to their parish. One is in the process of developing an internet cafe to provide funds for the church.

On the 29th, we traveled 45 minutes north to Puerto Cortes and Omoa, which are both along the coast. We saw four different churches and a Diocesan retreat center. I was able to meet one of the regional coordinators, and she showed us around and explained her ideas for development in her area.

This past Sunday, we traveled further into Honduras to Siguatepeque and Comayagua. On the way we passed Lake Yojoa, which is the largest lake in Honduras. It was such a beautiful drive. Here are some photos, not many as I am terrible at remembering to take photos, but just to give you an idea.

Lake Yojoa. Now if only I had thought to take the picture with the window rolled all the way down... But no, that would make too much sense

Side of the road fish stand

Lake Yojoa

Cow. Just chillin

This was one of the churches in Siguatepeque. They all have the open bell towers at the front, which I just think are so cool 

Weird fruit

Another church. This one has the nursing school and clinic attached 

I think the spot on the mountain with no trees looks like a woman's face. She's laying down, sleeping. The dark spot is her eye. People are arguing with me about this, but I think it looks like a sleeping lady.

So there you have it for right now. I've passed my two month mark, things are still going smoothly. I'm going to begin volunteering at the HIV/AIDS clinic associated with the Episcopal church next week. I'm heading over to Tela to visit my fellow YASCer Becky in about two weeks. I will also get the opportunity to work with a medical mission that coming in from the states in a few weeks. Lots of things to look forward to! 

So much love to everyone

Finally figured out pictures!

This is Becky and I at a Habitat for Humanity ceremony in San Pedro Sula

 The tiny speck over the waterfall that you might be able to see is me! 

 Honduras in all its glory

My spider friend

 I asked a guy the name of this tree. He told me "the tourist tree." Why? Because it's red and peeling. Hilarious because it's true

 The bird that didn't like me

 My owl friend

The guide at the ruins in Copán told us this was a statue of an elephant. There were no elephants in Honduras when the Mayans lived there. It's the tail of a Jaguar. I never questioned it. Still living in blissful denial.

 For my mother. PELICAN!

My hot date for Friday night, President Lincoln

 THE MUSIC CORNER!!

 My other spider friend

 My beautiful roommate Rosella on her birthday

Tree root growing through Mayan ruins in Copán

That's right, they call me Ms. Harkey

I AM A TEACHER NOW. There are some 70 odd students at El Buen Pastor Episcopal School who are walking around calling me Ms. Harkey. It's a bizarre experience for me, having just come out of college where I referred to everyone as Dr., Mrs., Mr. etc. Now I am one of them.

These past two weeks of school have been somewhat of a blur, but absolutely wonderful. My students have so much energy and excitement, which makes it that much easier to teach them. Any former/current teachers out there? Because I am always open to suggestions, advice, prayers, anything.

I'm teaching Social Studies to 8th, 9th, and 10th grade, and we're already in the swing of things, doing projects, homework (which they hate), group work (which they love), and just generally getting to know each other.

I've also begun study sessions with students getting ready to take the SAT and TOEFL. They are really excited for the next step in their education, and I can't wait to see where they all end up!

As for my life outside of school, I'm beginning to understand how the city works now, and I've been adventuring out and exploring. I found a Jiu Jitsu gym here (!) and I tried Crossfit for the first time, which just about killed me, but I liked it. I've slowly been meeting people and I'm starting to build a community here. Next week I'm going to start volunteering at an Equine Therapy clinic here in San Pedro that is run by one of the elementary school teachers. They work with children and adults with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, blindness, among many others. Check out their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/fuhdet.atuto

A quick shout out to my family, it's been a busy time of celebration! Lorna's birthday was the 25th of August, my Dad's was the 26th, Mom's the 4th of September, and their anniversary is the 8th. Also, the 8th is my Grandmother's birthday. I miss you all and love you!!