Olimpiadas: Chapter 1

Since I arrived almost two months ago, I had heard talk of Olimpiadas, and that they are THE event of the year. A couple weeks ago, we had a big meeting to announce the theme for the year, and to allow each team to assemble. The night before, I had to look up my name and see what team I was on. I learned that there are typically about 1-2 kids from each hogar on a team, along with a tío, tía, employee, and volunteer, so there is a wide age range on each team. I looked up my name on the massive team roster, and discovered that I was a member of Equipo 2. First is the worst, second is the best, right?

This year, the Olimpiadas theme was insects, so each team picked a specific insect. When I heard this, I started to hope for one of the more likable insects, although frankly, I’m not a fan of any creepy crawly creature. But I figured if I had to be an insect, butterflies or ladybugs would be great, lightening bugs, bees, or even ants. But unfortunately I wasn’t so lucky. When they pulled our bug out of the raffle, I couldn’t hear the name of the bug, but a collective laugh/groan from everyone. It wasn’t until later when I met with my team, that I learned I was a member of Las Termitas: the termites.

There was a lot to do for Olimpiadas. Each team was expected to choreograph and perform a 7 minute dance, create a flag and mural, which had to include a “central theme or main idea,” along with information about termites. We needed to make tshirts to wear for the games and find costumes to wear in the dance. We also had to choose a mascota, who would dress up as a termite and represent the team. I was told the mascot is typically one of the little kids, though my little friend here kept insisting he wasn’t going to do it, until about 5 minutes before performance time when he was wedged into the termite piñata he had to parade around in.

We rehearsed for Olimpiadas 6 hours each week, 3 days for 2 hours for about a month before the actual event. If you went to Augie with me, and had the pleasure (or displeasure to perhaps many of you, sorry about that) of working with me when I co-ran Sing, you understand how I like rehearsals to go. I start on time, I end on time. We work hard, we don’t talk, we are efficient and productive. It’s challenging and tiring, but rewarding because each meeting we move step closer to our goal.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t running these rehearsals. As a volunteer who had never experienced Olimpiadas before, I did not often have success when I made a suggestion or offered to help. I was asked to participate in the dance, but when I came up with choreography ideas, it was clear that my ideas of dance were quite different than what the girls here wanted. When I tried on my skirt for my costume (even girl termites like to be pretty,) I was told that they used the same skirt length for all the girls. As a 5’7” American dancing among Honduran pequeñas ages 12-15, let’s just say if I had to do the classic “fingertip test” to see if my skirt length was long enough to wear to school, I would have failed miserably. I have never been more thankful for my leggings which had made the cut into my 49.8 lb. suitcase.   

I was hesitant to blog about my frustration, because I didn’t intend for this blog to become a place where I talk about the negative aspects of my experience. But in the end, I decided it’s worth posting, because amidst all the hip shaking and arguments over skirt length, I had an important lesson in flexibility and patience. I had to consciously take the time to remind myself that this isn’t about me, or my Type A need to have perfectly synchronized hands and feet in the dance. I was one of many, many people working towards Olimpiadas, and I needed to do my part to help make this year’s event a success for the kids. Despite my frustrations, Olimpiadas was going to happen, so I did my best to make the most of it. I smiled during the dance, I proudly wore my leggings, and let the girls enjoy performing. By the end of the weekend, everyone was exhausted, bruised and sore (you’ll understand why when I talk about the games,) but smiling. It has now been a week and every time I see a fellow Termite they run up to me and talk about last weekend.

My next post will be about game day and how the events turned out. The prizes were actually pretty great (translation: involved food that is not rice and beans,) so everyone was very motivated to do their best. Sorry for the cliffhanger friends, but you’ll just have to wait for one more post to know how things turned out for the Termites. In the meantime, if anyone needs to borrow a skirt and leggings, I’ve got you covered. 

The best of week 3

I’ve now been in Honduras for a month! It’s crazy to think about how fast the time has gone by. Each day I continue to learn and slowly adjust to living on the Ranch. Although I know I’m falling behind on my updates, I’ll share with you what my third week was like, since a lot happened.

After two weeks of being here, all but one of the past year’s volunteers headed back to the US. I think it kind of freaked me out, because their leaving confirmed that I am staying. I’m still not sure I totally can fathom being here for a year, but I guess I’ll find out in the months to come.

Here’s what I was up to during my third week in Honduras. I officially started working as the speech-language pathologist (SLP) on Monday. Unfortunately, I was unable to start seeing kids (I’ll explain more about that in a bit,) but I met with my supervisor and started to get settled into my job. I cleaned and organized my room, which I enjoyed more than I should probably admit. I was so impressed with the amount of games and materials that I have available to me. Although many of the materials are starting to become a little dated, I’m still so thankful to the past SLPs for creating materials and leaving things behind. I hope to be able to do the same over the course of this year.

My first week of work was La Semana de la Hondureñidad, or the Week of the Honduran. Each day included a special activity. On Tuesday, the kids played different games and rotated to each station, a lot like a Field Day. I was in charge of a game called Las Ollitas with a fellow volunteer. On Wednesday, each grade dressed up and performed a traditional Honduran song. They all looked so cute in their costumes! On Friday, we had a long ceremony honoring being Honduran, which included singing the very long national anthem, seeing various dance performances, and one boy from each grade dressed up to represent Honduras. So my week wasn’t the most productive as far as doing therapy, but I enjoyed getting to know the students and staff during the week.

One of the classes performing their song.

Second grade after their performance.

The cutest little performer. 

This little boy spent a lot of time with me when I visited his hogar. He loves telling me riddles in Spanish. I'm not great at them yet, but he was shocked when I could actually solve a few. 

The stage for Friday's program.

The boys after being individually presented.

He insisted on posing for me. 

The end of orientation

Well, I'm officially done with orientation. The first two weeks were a whirlwind of information, visits, and questions. Although there is still so much to learn and figure out, I'm glad I had a few weeks to get my feet on the ground here. Typically, orientation lasts 3-4 weeks, but since all but one of the July volunteers had to get back to the States for jobs and medical school, we had to squeeze in some job training/shadowing before they left. So it was a shorter, but more intense, couple of weeks. 

I'll share with you the highlights of week two, along with some pictures.

Monday through Wednesday I spent time at school learning more about my job. I got to explore my classroom, meet the students and staff, and start to see what a typical day is like at Escuela Rancho Santa Fe. I also visited Casa Angeles in Tegucigalpa, where I will do therapy once day a week. 

On Thursday, we visited Talanga, a town about 30 minutes away from the Ranch. We spent time at the Comedor Infantil, which is a soup kitchen for children. The children come each day for lunch and stay to do homework. In order to attend the Comedor, the children must be enrolled in school. The soup kitchen provides the children with a safe place to eat and spend time, in the hopes that they will stay in school. When the children arrived, they wanted to play soccer (of course,) so we all headed across the road to a makeshift soccer field. I honestly haven’t played soccer in 10 years, but it was really fun! I’m not good at all, but the kids had a blast. Some of the boys started to cheat (we were playing boys vs. girls). For those of you who know me well, the rule-follower in me was dying a little, but the kids were having fun, which was the most important.

Sorry, I didn't snap a lot of photos here. I was busy playing soccer!

Delicious tacos for lunch in Talanga's center.

On Friday, we spent the day in Tegucigalpa. We visited the NPH offices in the city and the rest of my orientation group met the sweet kids who live at Casa Angeles. It was nice to go back, because I could practice with names before I officially start doing therapy there. The kids who live at Casa Angeles have severe disabilities, and/or medical needs that require them to be closer to the city and a doctor. The Ranch is about 45 minutes outside of Tegus, so it would be really challenging to have the kids live so far away. Plus, many of the children have limited mobility, and the Ranch is full of hills, tree roots, cracks, and bumps. I haven’t wiped out yet, but it’s bound to happen soon.

After lunch, we went to Pasos Pequeñitos, which provides childcare and support for single mothers. As soon as the kids saw us walking towards the door, they started to scream “una visita!” which means “a visit!” The kids were so excited to have us there. We got to see them hit a piñata and play with them. When it was time to leave, they asked us to stay. I really enjoyed spending time there.

Pretending to be a monster. He waddled around in the tunnel trying to scare us for a long time.

He told me to fold my arms, but I didn't know we were supposed to make serious faces. 

Throughout the week, I continued to visit different hogars each night. It has been a fun way to get to know the kids and see where they spend their time outside of school.

That’s what my second week in Honduras looked like. I’m continuing to adjust to the food and water (I’ve successfully made the switch to Ranch water!), mosquito bites, and the Honduran heat. I will share more about week 3 soon! 

Here are a few more pictures during my first few weeks here:

A playground on the Ranch. 

The awesome view from my classroom! 

I stepped outside my classroom one day, and this is what I found. 

My currency for the year. Approximately 20 Lempiras is equivalent to $1.

For those of you who know me well, you will understand how excited I was to see this is in the volunteer house library. I hope to get through the series in Spanish over the course of the year!

Los pequeños and visiting hogars

It feels weird that I have posted three times, and have hardly mentioned the pequeños yet. They are, after all, the reason why I'm here.

I have been greeted with a variety of reactions. Some of the kids run up to me and give me a hug. They love to touch my hair and comment on what I’m wearing. Others just stare and scowl at me, because my presence means the upcoming absence of volunteers that they have grown to trust and love. Others have just needed time. Even by the end of the week, some of the kids have started to slowly approach me. Perhaps the most challenging is when the kids try to test me. They all want me to know their names. I’ve got maybe 30/300 kids down. Some of the kids tell me the completely wrong name. They just make one up. They almost always ask if I know Spanish, and then demand that I prove it. If I can’t understand everything (the Honduran dialect can be very fast,) they will often say something like, “Well, you just told us you can speak Spanish!”  

Part of orientation has included visiting the hogars with the current volunteers. Each night, a volunteer spends the evening in hogar. This includes eating dinner, helping with homework, and spending time with the kids. Once I choose a hogar, I will be with them for the year. For now, I have been visiting a different hogar each night. After a couple weeks, I’ll list my preferences and be placed in a hogar for the year.

Last Tuesday was a really fun night in hogar. I went to Casa Suyapa, which is the baby house. All the pequeños ages 0-8 live there, and then they move to girls/boys homes. Tuesday Casa Suyapa had a birthday party to celebrate everyone with May and June birthdays. It was a lot of delicious food and dancing. The kids had a blast.

Singing happy birthday to everyone.

One of the birthday girls. I didn't know it at the time, but I would get to know her very well, in both therapy and hogar.

On Saturday, I spent all morning with one of the girls’ homes who are ages 10-12. In the morning, the girls woke up, got dressed, and had breakfast, then it was time for chores. A group of girls went to the Chapel to clean. I went with the other group down by the bridge, where they cleared out some of the leaves and mud from the little river that runs through the Ranch. The girls also had to cut the grass…with machetes. I volunteered to help out with trimming the grass, but I was horrible at it. I’d whack the grass and maybe get one little blade. By the end of chores, I already had a blister on my hand. We also spent over an hour picking lice out of the girls. Later in the day, two of the girls discovered that I know the songs from Frozen in English, and they made me sing it to them about 100 times. I’m mastering the words in Spanish now as well.

Visiting the different hogars has been fun, but also overwhelming. I’ve been asked about where I come from, why my hair is so curly, why I speak English, and if they can have my watch, shirt, backpack, etc. when I leave. Every volunteer I talk to absolutely loves their hogar, so it’s nice to know that I’ll likely love wherever I end up. But I still have no idea what I’ll choose.

This week I started learning more about my job. I’m excited to get started, but also a little nervous. I’ll post again soon about what work will look like, and include some pictures of my classroom! 

Orientation highlights

I’ve officially been here a week! In some ways, I feel as though I have been here for much, much longer. It has been a whirlwind of a week. I’ve seen a lot of the Ranch, and been given a great deal of information. In true Jessica form, I’ll give you a list of highlights:

• Orientation began the evening I arrived (6/29) with a bonfire. All of the current and new volunteers introduced themselves, made s’mores, and hung out. I found out that in addition to fellow American volunteers, I will be spending part of my year with volunteers from New Zealand, Holland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, and Colombia, which I’m very excited about. By 9:00, however, I had been awake for almost 21 hours, so I’m not sure I was the most fun to be around. Over the course of the week, I'm slowly getting better with the names and jobs of everyone!
• I’m currently living in a dorm with the two other July girl volunteers who are here. It’s the not the most glamorous living situation, but overall I don’t mind. I could do without the cucarachas as extra roommates, however.
• We have met several offices and departments around the Ranch, such as Human Resources, the Godparent Office, Communications, the Religion Department, Internal/External Clinics, Holy Family Surgery Center, Social Work, and Psychology. It has been interesting to hear about each department’s role, and see what a big operation NPH is.
• We went to Tegucigalpa for a day to get to know the city. We learned how to catch the bus, where to get off, and where to find the bank, grocery store, post office, etc. I can’t say I’m confident enough to do it on my own quite yet, but hopefully over time! While we were there, we stopped at a store to buy some juice. I chose jugo de límon y mango. It was delicious! It was cheaper to buy my juice in a bolso, or bag, so I drank from a plastic bag with the straw poking out.
• Tuesday was Día de Talita Kumi, which is the name of all the homes where the girls live. We ate a delicious lunch of churrasco, rice, and salad, and spent the afternoon playing and dancing with the kids. It was a really fun day.

I have moments where I look around and think, “oh my gosh I can’t believe I’m here!” which is exciting to think I have so much time to grow and learn. But sometimes I feel homesick and lonely. It’s hard to ever have privacy, so even my brief phone conversations with home are surrounded by others. I’ve learned to appreciate even 10 minutes alone in the dorm, just for a few minutes to give myself some space.

I know it will take time. Everyone has told us we have a “three month hump” to get over, before we can really settle in and adjust. I’m nervous to see what these months will bring, but also excited to finally feel as though the Ranch is home. Thanks to those who have continued to send prayers and good thoughts. Although I know this year will not be easy, I’m so thankful to have you thinking of me.

I want to post soon about the kids, visiting hogars, and share a few pictures with you. The internet is tricky, so I’m often at the mercy of when it works. I'll do my best!

Where the volunteers live. I'm on the roof looking down. 

A view of the mountains from the roof. I love seeing them when I'm walking around the Ranch. 

Enjoying my juice from a bag. 

Hello from Honduras! But first, a quick history...

I'm happy to report that I arrived safely without any major difficulties. Although I was nervous to go through customs and manage my bags on my own, I did it. I walked out of the baggage claim wearing two backpacks and wheeling two suitcases, (looking super beautiful, as anyone who has spent the past 12 hours awake and traveling is bound the look...) hoping that someone from NPH would be there. And sure enough, as I walked out of customs, I saw the NPH sign and was greeted with a hug.

Before I dive into my first day here, I wanted to back up and explain exactly what I'm doing here. I know many of you have heard me talk about NPH, but I want to familiarize anyone who hasn't had the chance to hear me gush about this amazing organization that I'm lucky to be a part of.

Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH,) was founded by Padre William Wasson in Mexico. Rather than testify against a young boy caught stealing in the church, Padre Wasson decided to ask for custody. Over time, Padre Wasson became the guardian of over 1,000 children in Mexico. NPH Honduras welcomed its first children in 1986, and is the second oldest NPH home. There are now NPH homes in 9 different countries in Central and South America.

Each NPH home has employees, but they also have volunteers from all over the world who spend a year working in a specific job. So, I was particularly interested in the homes that had speech-language pathologist positions.

I actually applied for NPH in December 2011, when I was applying for graduate school. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go straight to grad school, or if I should take a year off. I was fortunate enough to be accepted into two NPH homes, and so badly wanted to come. However, due to a variety of reasons I was unable to volunteer in 2012 after graduation. I called the USA volunteer coordinator crying, but she encouraged me to reach out after my Master's.

In March of this year, I emailed the NPH USA volunteer coordinator to say hello, and see if I could still apply. I was juggling a variety of international options and programs, but I wanted to be considered for NPH as well. Things moved quickly, and after a quick catch-up interview, I was offered a position as the speech-language pathologist.

And now, I'm here! I'm tired and sweaty and a little overwhelmed, but I'm here. And for that, I am thankful.

Here we go...

With less than 12 hours before I leave for the airport, it's time to get this blog up and running! My bags are packed, my to-do list is dwindling, and the adventure I've hoped and prayed for for over two years is just about here.

I've never blogged before, so bear with me as I figure this out. I'll do my best to post regularly, and share my experiences with you. Thank you for the love, prayers, well wishes, and support as I head to Honduras for the year. More to come soon!