Funny Video About Peace Corps

So it has been a long time since I wrote anything here and a lot has happened.  Hopefully little by little I can update.

Soccer in Honduras

One of the funniest comments I have received while I’ve been here was:

‘If you are not the center on the Honduran National Basketball Team you are wasting the opportunity of a lifetime.’

Here is a picture of my soccer team.  Can you guess which one I am?

Another amazing conversation . . .

Recently I got some feedback from my 1 or 2 readers that nobody wants to read and that I should stick to pictures and videos.  But before that I was feeling guilty that all of my pictures and videos were about having fun and holidays so I am trying to balance it out.

Anyway, yesterday I had another conversation that typifies what a unique/weird experience this is.

I was in the capital, Tegucigalpa, for a meeting to discuss climate change and strategy for Honduras.  There were some pretty high-level people there, and for the most part the crowd was well educated and cultured.

During lunch a guy at my table was asking me how many girlfriends I had (he had just finished telling me that the Italian UN worker has 5).  I replied with a slightly less ambitious ‘0’.  After we talked a little longer he left the table and the guy sitting immediately next to me decided to continue the conversation.  Here is more or less how it went:

Guy next to me: ‘You know, you shouldn’t mix races because the kids turn out with problems.’

Me: ‘What?’  (not sure if I heard him and buying time for a response)

Guy next to me repeats himself

Me: ‘Well, I have some friends of different races who had a baby and it always turns out very attractive.’

Guy next to me: ‘No, they end up having problems with learning.’

Me: ‘I guess . . . maybe you’re right.’ (didn’t feel like changing the world in this moment obviously)

Guy next to me: ‘Yeah, because you guys are so developed mentally and the Indians (harsh word here for Indigenous people) are so far behind.’

Me: ‘ . . . . ‘ (nervous laughter and looking around the room)

After I focused on food for a while he asked me if I played guitar.  I said no and asked him if he did.  He said he did, and then proceeded to tell me he loved songs like ‘A Horse With No Name’ and that his sister was even better on guitar and could play ‘Stairway to Heaven’ perfectly.

Conversation with Omar

Part of this experience is the cultural interchange, and a lot of the time I’m trying to figure out how the people in my town think or why they are the way that they are.  This is hard because I rarely get into these deep conversations – although I would love to.  Perhaps it is elitist of me to expect that, or shows how fortunate I am to even have these thoughts. Still, conversations about poverty, solutions to poverty, how Americans are, what it is like being an American in Honduras, what is the US like, personal dreams etc have almost never happened for me here.

So today was interesting because I had a great conversation with my coworker, Omar.  Here are some of his thoughts:

• I asked him if he would be working this week.  He said that he would be, but only after 2 pm every day.  He said that he couldn’t work more because the donor for our project hadn’t paid him yet.  (Said donor requires quarterly accounting and reporting.  In January they requested the reporting and accounting for the period October – December 2010 to be turned in no later than January 15.  Long story short, it has yet to be turned in.  In the meantime, the coordinator of the project resigned, both computers had problems and were taken to and from the capital for repairs, after repairs certain software was no longer compatible, and the accountant (and only person familiar with the accounting software) found a new job.  So the donor has refused to make the final payment to the project until the problems are resolved and the reporting and accounting DUE JANUARY are turned in.  In the meantime, any employees working on these issues are doing so for free – making it less likely they will ever be done.
• Omar and I have previously discussed reporting and accounting.  To me, the work involved seems excessive for a project in which the employees are only paid to be part-time.  It seems that the true work of the organization should be spending time in the field, but the reality is that the majority of the time is spent doing reporting and accounting.  I mentioned this to Omar, and asked if anyone had ever really communicated this to the donor, or if the donor understood this.  I said that it would be better if there were lesser reporting requirements so that we could spend more time on valuable work, or if the donor made the work full-time with the same reporting requirements.  He said ‘yes, they understand this, but it is like they are punishing us.  It’s like we are in the middle of the desert and thirsty.  And then they show up but they only give us a tiny bit of water and tell us we should keep looking for more water.’
• Omar mentioned that he wasn’t sure he would continue on with the project in the future.  He said ‘I can continue on with the project making $250 a month, but then I have to buy all my food because I am not working on my farm.  Or I can work on my farm and only make $100 a month but I have no expenses because I grow all my own food.  I end up the same.’  And I think this is an important point in development and for those leaving poverty – there is a lot of risk in that first step.
• I told Omar that clearly people needed help on the income side of their finances, but asked if many people really analyzed their expenses.  I used the example of how many people here love soda and will spend significantly on it but then complain that they don’t have enough money to afford medicine.  Omar said ‘most people probably don’t do this due to the machista culture that we have.  In order to do a family budget, the wife would have to know how much the husband makes.  A guy who makes $150 a month probably spends $75 on food for the family and the other $75 on vices – women, alcohol and other entertainment.  So the husband doesn’t ever want his wife to know how much he makes because later he wouldn’t be able to spend that money on his vices.’
• Omar said to me ‘you can have a lot of money but not know how to do things like write a report or use the computer.  That means you are not an important person.  I am poor and humble but I know how to do these things so I am an important person to those around me.  So despite all of the problems this project has helped advance things here.’

Part 1: The People in My Town Think I Have Money

Sorry, I haven’t given an update in a long time so I’m going to try to catch up in the next week.

I guess when you travel in certain countries you expect that people are going to come up to you and ask you for money.  And even in upper east side NYC, there were a few guys that stood on my corner asking for money.

Of course, there are reasons to say no, and some of them might be valid.  You can say that the person getting the money is going to waste it on alcohol or on drugs, or that there are shelters to help homeless people get back on their feet (I’ve never actually seen one but that is the rumor).  I think there was even an article a few years ago that explained how much money a person begging on the streets could expect to get per day and it was more than you would expect.

Here I find the begging more frustrating and the defenses against giving less convincing.  I guess I assumed that after being in my town for a while people would stop asking.  I thought eventually I would know everyone and be the weird American that everyone says hi to but then makes fun of behind his back.  But after 10 months it still hasn’t stopped.  I get really mad when I go out to buy some bananas or something I need to cook with and someone comes up to me in the market and asks for money.  After I say no the first time, they try again and again.  I then don’t really want to pull out my money to buy what I was going to buy right in front of them.  It seems like my choices at this point are either to say something really strong to get them to go away (and then I, and by extension all Americans, am cheap and heartless) or to just walk away.  Usually I just walk back home.  Other times the person will talk to me a while first, and I’ll get excited that someone actually takes an interest in me and why I am here.  I start thinking that maybe I’m going to make a new friend.  Then they ask me for money.

I guess there is nothing that unexpected in this, but I thought it would go away after a certain amount of time.  I am realizing it won’t.  In another year I will still be the American and all Americans must have money.  This despite the fact that I make half or one-third of what the school teachers here make, and I have a lot of debts waiting for me back in the US.  Of course, those are pretty lame excuses when they are still poorer than me.

In terms of the defenses, there are no shelters here or safety net for those less fortunate.  Some of the people that ask for money are alcoholics and are in pretty sad shape.  Others aren’t and are just really poor – they walk around barefoot – and I’m guessing that when they want money for tortillas they will actually use it to buy tortillas.

I still say no.  My defense is that if I give to one I will have to give to all.  Plus that I am doing enough in other work I do for the town.  But despite my rationalization it’s not pleasant.

Part 2: Christmas in France

So for Christmas I got to go meet my immediate and extended family in France.  One of the family members has lived abroad most of her life, most recently in London, and so a few years back they bought a fixer-upper in Sancerre.  They have finished the renovations, and it is amazing.  I forget the exact details, but I think parts of the house are 500+ years old.  So, we all got a few days of family time in small-town France followed by a quick half-day tour around Paris.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Trip to France, posted with vodpod

And their neighbors love to sing.

New Years in Lepaterique

After getting back to Honduras on the 29th, I wasn’t really up for any big New Year’s travel.  I started in on a couple rum and cokes and was planning to be asleep by 10.  But then my host family came to see what I was up to and invited me over to their house to celebrate.

We did a little toast a midnight, ate 12 grapes (this symbolizes good luck for the 12 months) and may have even done a little dancing.  But mostly, I hung out with the kids and helped them light off sparklers and fireworks.  My 12 year old fear of fireworks were replaced by my 30 year old fear of fireworks.  Remarkably, they are very similar – the goals is still to do something stupid and not get your hand blown off.   Then I got creative taking pictures of the little pyromaniacs.

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New Years in Lepaterique, posted with vodpod

 

R.I.P. Bike Part 2

A few months back I wrote how my bike died only 2 days after I bought it (story here).  That was not entirely true.  I found a mechanic in town who fixed it for less than $1.  And since then he has fixed a number of other small problems.

But last Tuesday it may have really died.  We’ll see what kind of magic my mechanic can work.

I was hurrying home from a meeting around 11:30.  I had a Peace Corps meeting in another city the following 3 days and had planned to meet take the 1 pm bus.  So in the remaining hour and a half before the bus I had to eat lunch, do dishes, pack and leave my house somewhat organized.

I was riding down the main street a little faster than normal.  At the main square, there was a bus parked along the side of the road right at a corner where there is a perpendicular street.  As I describe this, please keep in mind that my town has very few cars as I alluded to in the previous post.  So I just ride my bike right down the middle of the street.

I was riding past the bus right before the corner where the streets meet.  Then I see a small kid on a bike come flying around the corner.  I saw him late because the bus was blocking my view of the perpendicular street.  There wasn’t enough time to brake or to swerve, so we hit head-on.

I asked him if he was ok, and he never answered me.  Instead, he got back on his bike (which was unharmed) and rode away quickly.  I looked down at my bike and saw that the front tire had separated from the frame, and was now only attached by the brake cable.  I didn’t really know what to do and was kind of in shock over the accident, so I just stood there for a second.  Then I realized that there were a ton of people around, and they had all witnessed the 6 foot gringo get into a bike accident where a tiny 8 year old won.

I realized I didn’t have time to waste nor did I want to stick around to be laughed at.  I grabbed the front tire in my right hand and towed the back tire + frame in my left hand.  There were no remaining hands to pick up my pride.

We have speedbumps but no cars . . .

But I will award partial credit for planning ahead and being optimistic.

Peace Corps Day

I have been thinking for a while about how to write this post – supporting the work that Peace Corps does in a way that is not annoying or boring.

Anyways, I’m pushed to do it today for 2 reasons: (1) this year is the 50th anniversary of the founding of Peace Corps and (2) the first Director of the Peace Corps, Sargent Shriver, passed away today (obit here).

So I’ll try to keep this quick and painless.  I find a lot of misunderstanding about Americans here.  Sometimes I think people watch too many movies.  But I bet that each of the 8,655 current Volunteers comes into contact with at least 1,000 people over their 2 year service.  Maybe not in a life-changing way, but at least so that they can say they have seen and maybe even said hello to an American and they aren’t that bad.

So every 2 years that is 8.6 million people touched in developing countries – areas of the world that are increasingly dangerous to American interests.

The Peace Corps budget is about $400 million, or $46,000 per Volunteer.

In comparison, the Department of Defense budget (haha, yes, I went there) is $650 billion, or $433,333 per soldier in active duty.  Roughly 10x the cost per person.

Not that I think we shouldn’t have military spending.  Its just that comparatively Peace Corps is really cheap PR.