First Day in Honduras

Things are off to a good start here. A lot has happened since Wednesday, so I’m going to try and recap everything as best I can. I feel that I have so much to write about here, but at the same time I don’t go into as much detail as I would like. For now I’m going to start with how things went Wednesday and Thursday.

Days 1 and 2

Getting to D.C.

Saying goodbye wasn’t as painful as I was afraid it would be, mostly because I was too tired and excited about what was coming next to really register how I felt. I knew the emotion would catch up with me, but I tried to stay in the moment.

The flight was smooth, I wanted to chat but no one sat next to me and the woman across from me went straight to sleep. I was surprised almost everyone on the plane kept their windows closed, but I guess it’s not really that surprising considering I was probably the only person on their first ever flight.

Dulles airport was a little hectic, but I basically just followed the crowd to baggage claim. I had to take a tram for a couple stops to make it to the terminal, but I was finally able to grab my bags.

 My bags. I forgot to mention that each bag was 15 pounds overweight when I got on the flight to D.C. I was misinformed a few days before and told that each bag could be 70lbs, but this was not so. I had to buy a new small bag and put the extra weight in it in order to avoid $200 of baggage fees. I got lucky as they allowed me to take the extra bag as a personal item and my backpack as a carry-on, but I was worried what would happen for the flight to Tegucigalpa the following day.

Anyways… I had a hard time carrying all of my luggage (a large hiking backpack, 2 large suitcases, plus the one smaller extra suitcase I had to buy). I eventually made it to the exit, where a taxi service was ready and waiting. I was also taking my first cab ride. The driver was nice, perhaps not as talkative as I would have liked, but I made it to the hotel in plenty of time.

Staging

My staging event in D.C. didn’t end up being as big of an event as I imagined it would be. There were only 15 of us, and we basically spent the time going through an orientation manual and reading through it as if we were in high school again. I could see why it was necessary, but couldn’t help but be a little bored. I was ready to get out there.

We were done at 7PM and decided to go out to dinner as a group. We had our last American meal of cheeseburgers, fries, and beer, and then made our way back to the hotel. By the time we ate we were all quite tired after not getting much sleep the night before. I hit the hay around 10:30, and passed out right away. For some odd reason we needed to leave the hotel by 2AM, so needless to say I was not very rested when the alarm went off at 1:30. We gathered in the lobby and made our way to Reagan airport.

Trip to Teguz

We got to the airport at 2:45, but according to the lady working at the American Airlines check-in line they usually don’t open until 4. Couldn’t we have just slept another hour? Although the employee there decided to open early for us, it took her a while to get everything ready for us. She didn’t exactly seem happy to see us, and I got the vibe that she didn’t really enjoy her job. I went to go ask her a quick question while she was doing something on the computer, and before I could get a word out she started yelling at me and saying she was too busy to talk. Oh boy.

While we were waiting we saw a bunch of people wearing Costa Rica t-shirts, so we were curious as to what kind of group they were with. My fellow volunteers suggested that I should go and ask what they were up to, so I did. Turns out they were with a youth group on a missions trip for a couple weeks. Although I didn’t want to rub it in that my group was doing something way more intense with Peace Corps, I didn’t get the chance to.

 Before I could ask what church they were with or how old they were, BAM. I was blindsided by someone walking by. Before I could ascertain what had happened, the lady that was preparing the computers to check us in was yelling at me and saying I couldn’t stand in the way! I think she was having a rough day. I decided to walk back to my group of volunteers, who were all laughing. They saw the whole thing. Even though I was sort of in the way, they said there was still plenty of room for her to sidestep me and walk by. They all witnessed her run into me on purpose. We had a good laugh about how ridiculous she was being.

Eventually we were able to print our boarding passes and check our bags. A lot of us had bags that were too heavy, but a different employee that was working there let all of us keep the heavier bags without charging us, which was a big relief. Eventually we made it on the plane and were on our way to Miami, where we would catch a connecting flight to Teguz.

I couldn’t sleep on the way to Miami, but I felt well enough to keep going. It was my first time in Florida, but I didn’t really get a chance to enjoy it as it was raining and we couldn’t see much through the airport windows. After about an hour wait in the airport, we were able to get on the next plane. We all cheered slightly (we were all still quite tired) as it was going to be our last time on American soil for a long time.

I was able to sleep for about an hour on this plane, but when we finally got close to landing I started to feel pretty excited. We could see the countryside out the window, and we slowly watched as we got closer and closer to the airport. The airport in Tegucigalpa is considered to be one of the most dangerous in the world. Despite the technology warnings, one of us decided to take out our cameras. I’m not sure if he took a video, but if he did I’m going to try and put it up somewhere. We were basically just above the ground for a few minutes, taking sharp turns to avoid mountains. When we finally landed I started to clap and everyone on the plane followed. Part of it was the excitement of arriving, and part of it was being thankful that we were still alive.

Teguz

With the help of one of our fellow volunteers already being fluent in Spanish, we were able to make it through customs. Right after customs the Peace Corps employees were waiting for us, and once all fifteen of us had our luggage, we were off.

Teguz is an interesting place. Supposedly it’s pretty scary, as we’re not allowed there by ourselves. Just outside the airport were guards with M-16’s and mean faces, who seemed a few years younger than us. I’m not sure what they were actually doing there, but it was the first of many instances where I saw people standing around with guns in broad daylight.

As we walked past a plethora of American chain-restaurants (Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, etc.), we got to the vans that were prepared for us and had our bags sent to our host families. Meanwhile, we all got into a couple other vans and were taken to the Peace Corps office. This was to be the first of many experiences on the roads, where as far as I can tell there are no traffic rules.

We spent a few hours at the PC office, but I was so tired that it was a bit of a blur. I remember some speeches, a crash course on emergency Spanish, and lesson on how to use a Pela (more on this later), and some pizza from Dominos (which was nothing like Dominos, but was still pretty good). I managed to stay awake until the end, and they finally brought us to where we were staying. It was about a half hour drive to the place where we were living (called Las Cañadas), and our host families were waiting for us there.

Las Cañadas

I was ready to pass out when I got to the house I was staying at, but it was only about 5PM. I did my best to chat, though I quickly began to realize how little Spanish I know. I hung out with some of the kids that live nearby, who were a little easier to talk to. I let them play with my camera as they taught me a couple of words here and there. Eventually I had dinner around 7:30, and I took a picture of my first meal. The taste was a little strange, but overall it was pretty good.

After my meal I decided I couldn’t stay up any longer. I thanked my host mom, Gloria, and went to bed. My room is a good size, even though the bed is a little small. Gloria asked if I wanted to sleep in a different bed that was bigger, but it was in a shared room so I did my best to tell her I didn’t mind the small one (I preferred my privacy). Lying in the bed, the reality of the situation hit me. I wasn’t going to see many of the people I love for a long time. The emotion I ignored the day before started to come back in full force, but I couldn’t cry because the walls don’t really block noise and I didn’t want them to hear me. Eventually, between the sound of the television blaring and 9 dogs barking, I fell asleep. I actually slept pretty well.

Done for now…

Sorry that was so lengthy, but as I said there’s more I wanted to write about. Hopefully I’ll be able to do some more posts soon, and I’ll try to be more succinct in the future.