Yefri: (pronounced Jeffery; a really nice teen in my 9th grade class) ¿Cómo se dice cabrón en inglés?
Me: No sé. Creo que es una palabra mala. ¿Por que?
Yefri: Los mexicanos siempre dicen "Oye, cabrón" cuando hablan con otros.
Me: ¿Buscamos en el diccionario?
Yefri: (looking it up in a Spanish-English dictionary) Dice "cuckold".
Me: Oh, pero esa es una palabra muy vieja, no se usa todavia.
Yefri: Entonces, ¿No puedes decir a un gringo "Hey, cuckold!"?
Translation:
Yefri: How do you say cabrón in English?
Me: I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure it's a bad word. Why?
Yefri: Mexicans always say "Hey, cabrón!" to each other.
Me: Let's look it up in the dictionary.
Yefri (reading from the Spanish-English dictionary on my desk): It says "cuckold".
Me: Oh, that's an old word that no one uses anymore.
Yefri: So you can't say "Hey, Cuckold!" to a gringo?
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Boundaries
This is one of the topics that comes up most frequently about working with the kids here, both as a volunteer hanging out with them, and as a teacher in the school. The question is, at least in my mind, about how to create a positive emotional environment for the kids that will help them grow up and get past the traumas --not to mention the general emotional difficulties of having no family-- that they come in with.
And interestingly, providing a positive emotional space often (if not all the time) means setting up boundaries with the kids that they understand. In fact (and I've already seen this in action), setting up boundaries with the kids often seems to make them like you more. Why is that?
Anyway, two stories and one really nice moral:
One tiny experience that keeps coming to mind is actually from Clark Park Soccer: while we were playing another team, one of the other team's players was pushing one of my really cute kids. So I pulled him aside. After telling him that we don't push people here, and that he could go back and play if he wasn't going to push anyone, he told me: "I don't like you anymore". "You don't have to like me, you just have to not push people", was my response. He just wandered around picking at the grass the rest of the morning, and I felt bad. But as he was leaving, he smiled at me and waved, and then continued to come say hi to me the rest of the season.
The other story is from earlier this week, in one of the more difficult classes. The kids in the class were watching a movie (they get points towards a movie when they act good), but one student who didn't like the movie choice got really angry. He had a fork and a spoon that he was throwing across the room, and then banging on a desk. Their usual teacher was out that day, so the (really awesome) special ed/guidance counselor teacher was watching them. After Angel was making all that noise, she calls him over to her and says, forcefully but calmly, "Look, I don't want to get you in trouble and tell your tio, actually I like you a lot, and I know you know what to do to be respectful of the other students now. I don't care if you watch the movie or not, just be respectful of the class. Now it's in your hands to decide whether to be responsible".
And, of course, after murmurring a little bit, he sat down to watch the movie, and ended up complaining when we had to stop because class was over.
So it seems like providing boundaries for the kids often makes them feel more comfortable or secure. Maybe there's a sense of security in the knowledge that even if you push the boundaries and receive a consequence, that person will still be there for you and will still care about you (and maybe that kind of confidence gets rid of some of the self-esteem issues that cause a lot of these kind of problems to begin with...). And in fact, maybe limits can even be reassuring sometimes...
Anyway, after that class I was feeling sort of overwhelmed, but when we were talking at the end, Profe Loli (the special-ed teacher from earlier) said something I'm going to try to remember: when working with these kids, who have had so many difficulties in their lives --though I'd think this philosophy could apply to our interactions with anyone-- you have to remember that everything you do with them is like planting seeds in them. Seeds of confidence and respect, both for them and for others. And we may not see those seeds grow, but we have to keep trying to plant them there in the hopes that someday they will.
A cute little kid from the ranch (not the one from the above story) wearing my hat.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Un fin de semana muy tranquilo (and some vague questions about international economics)
I just finished up a really wonderful weekend, which has (hopefully) left me feeling ready to spend the next week 'student teaching' before taking over on my own the following week. I'm pretty excited to get started...although we'll see if I'm still saying that tomorrow night.
This friday (which marked the end of our orientation), there was a bienvenidos party for all the new volunteers. They made us really tasty balleadas, which are a traditional Honduran food made up of a tortilla with refried beans, eggs, salsa, and a variety of other stuff inside. After dinner the party went from listening to reggeaton to moving down to the fire pit in the garden to listen to one of the volunteers play guitar (and singing along).
Then last night, after returning from spending the afternoon in the city (a topic which is going to need a blog post of it's own), the handful of us that were around had one of those great conversations that just went on for hours and moved its way through religion and spirituality (a lot of people here have really interesting perpsectives on being spiritual), international economics, sustainability and activism, cultural awareness and how that plays out in our roles on the ranch, etc. Definitely my kind of thing!
Speaking of economics, being here in Honduras and seeing how much everything, in various ways, is tied to the economic situation here has really has gotten me wanting to know more about how it all works. Everything from the huge wealth divide (we've talked a lot about how there seems to be virtually no middle/professional class), to the general poverty in the country (and which many of the kids I'll be working with come from), to why it is that Tegucigalpa is filled with American fast food restaurants (Pizza Hut, Wendy's, Dunkin Donuts, Dominos, KFC, even Church's Chicken- I don't even know what that is and I'm from the US!).
The stories about how all this has come about --and from there, maybe how to help with some of the sad parts-- must be really really interesting. If anyone has any good resources/thoughts about this kind of stuff, I'd love to hear them!
Anyway, I took a picture today to try and capture the laid back-ness of the weekend:
This is from inside the volunteer house- the room I've been staying in is on the far side of the garden. I spent most of the morning sitting in one of these chairs and reading (in this photo Pete, one of the other new volunteers, is doing the same).
This friday (which marked the end of our orientation), there was a bienvenidos party for all the new volunteers. They made us really tasty balleadas, which are a traditional Honduran food made up of a tortilla with refried beans, eggs, salsa, and a variety of other stuff inside. After dinner the party went from listening to reggeaton to moving down to the fire pit in the garden to listen to one of the volunteers play guitar (and singing along).
Then last night, after returning from spending the afternoon in the city (a topic which is going to need a blog post of it's own), the handful of us that were around had one of those great conversations that just went on for hours and moved its way through religion and spirituality (a lot of people here have really interesting perpsectives on being spiritual), international economics, sustainability and activism, cultural awareness and how that plays out in our roles on the ranch, etc. Definitely my kind of thing!
Speaking of economics, being here in Honduras and seeing how much everything, in various ways, is tied to the economic situation here has really has gotten me wanting to know more about how it all works. Everything from the huge wealth divide (we've talked a lot about how there seems to be virtually no middle/professional class), to the general poverty in the country (and which many of the kids I'll be working with come from), to why it is that Tegucigalpa is filled with American fast food restaurants (Pizza Hut, Wendy's, Dunkin Donuts, Dominos, KFC, even Church's Chicken- I don't even know what that is and I'm from the US!).
The stories about how all this has come about --and from there, maybe how to help with some of the sad parts-- must be really really interesting. If anyone has any good resources/thoughts about this kind of stuff, I'd love to hear them!
Anyway, I took a picture today to try and capture the laid back-ness of the weekend:
This is from inside the volunteer house- the room I've been staying in is on the far side of the garden. I spent most of the morning sitting in one of these chairs and reading (in this photo Pete, one of the other new volunteers, is doing the same).
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Un foto, y an entertaining conversation
This is the view from right outside the volunteer house (which is to the right of this photo, but not in it).Anna, to answer your question briefly- the living situation here is pretty nice (the cold showers are still rough, though). There's a great volunteer house that has a big garden in the middle, with a kitchen, hangout area, and meeting room on one side, and then rooms all around. The other volunteers are really nice, some of them have been here 6 months, some are new like me, and some are just finishing up their 13 months now, so there are lots of different experiences and everyone is really helpful!
Also, a fun story:
This morning I was working in the kitchen. We were making bread and the girls I was working with were laughing at me for not knowing how to make different kinds of bread. So, to defend myself, I asked them if Honduran men all know how to make bread. At that point, one of the women who works in the kitchen walked by and responded "The only thing Hondruan men know how to make is children".
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Unconditional Love
The theme of love is one that´s been talked about pretty frequently during our orientation here (and which, as you can probably imagine, I think is super awesome).
It began with a talk with the director here my first day here. He spoke about how the mission of NPH (Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, the overarching organization) is to provide love and guidance for the kids that come here, who either have no parents, or their parents (or extended family, in a lot of cases) are economically unable to take care of them. This means that many of them come from poor backgrounds, but also many of the other issues that come into the cycle of poverty: hunger, abuse (both sexual and emotional), parents with addictions or depression-- overall, an extreme lack of support and care for them. Thus, the job of the ranch is to help all of these kids not only by providing food and shelter, but also helping them to feel valuable and loved, and to provide support and guidance, so to help them be content human beings and become part of society. Whether that happens in all aspects of the ranch is a different story, for many different reasons, but I like that goal.
We also had a charla (chat) with the man in charge of the kids who do service years here at the ranch before going on to high school or university. He was the kind of guy who just clearly had his heart in the right place, and everything he said was about supporting and helping the kids. Among many amazing things, he said two things that I thought to write down: one is a cool phrasing about helping the kids to turn their mistakes into experiences (What do you have to do to turn a mistake into an experience? Process it and proceed forward?).
The other is a wonderful quote that I´ll leave you with: ¨Como seres humanos, nosotros todos tenemos el derecho de equivocarnos¨ (As human beings, we all have the right to make mistakes).
It began with a talk with the director here my first day here. He spoke about how the mission of NPH (Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, the overarching organization) is to provide love and guidance for the kids that come here, who either have no parents, or their parents (or extended family, in a lot of cases) are economically unable to take care of them. This means that many of them come from poor backgrounds, but also many of the other issues that come into the cycle of poverty: hunger, abuse (both sexual and emotional), parents with addictions or depression-- overall, an extreme lack of support and care for them. Thus, the job of the ranch is to help all of these kids not only by providing food and shelter, but also helping them to feel valuable and loved, and to provide support and guidance, so to help them be content human beings and become part of society. Whether that happens in all aspects of the ranch is a different story, for many different reasons, but I like that goal.
We also had a charla (chat) with the man in charge of the kids who do service years here at the ranch before going on to high school or university. He was the kind of guy who just clearly had his heart in the right place, and everything he said was about supporting and helping the kids. Among many amazing things, he said two things that I thought to write down: one is a cool phrasing about helping the kids to turn their mistakes into experiences (What do you have to do to turn a mistake into an experience? Process it and proceed forward?).
The other is a wonderful quote that I´ll leave you with: ¨Como seres humanos, nosotros todos tenemos el derecho de equivocarnos¨ (As human beings, we all have the right to make mistakes).
The Ranch
Hi everyone! I´ve been here at the Ranch -which is what they call the orphanage, because it´s on a big campus of sorts- for a little over a week now, and I´m beginning to adjust to the life here! My goal is to keep these blog posts short, so let´s see if I can describe life here in a few sentences. A ver...
The ranch is pretty rural, about 45 minutes from Tegus -the nickname for Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras and nearby big city- and most of the buildings are about a 15-20 minute walk from the road. It´s gorgeous, with tree-covered mountains surrounding everything, and lots and lots of trees and nature; and, of course, that nature also includes lots of humoungous grasshoppers and spiders, as well as your usual flies, mosquitos, ants, roaches, etc. There are a bunch of buildings: houses for the kids (there´s a big plaza for the girls, one for the boys, and one for the littlest kids), a big kitchen, soccer fields and basketball courts, the volunteer house, and a lot more. There´s a school for K-6, and then a separate colegio (middle school) for grades 7-9, which is where I´ll be teaching.
The orientation routine has consisted of getting up around 6:30, with the workday starting by 7:20 here- for orientation, we go to shadow people at different jobs, or just have various talks, tours, etc all day. There´s a break from 4-6, and then we go to hogares (homes) from 6-8. Hogares are where the pequeños all live, and every volunteer is assigned one to hang out with from 6-8 every day, to eat dinner with them, help them with the homework, play around (lots of that), etc. The kids all live with 2 or 3 tíos or tías as well (literally, uncles and aunts, but in this case caregivers) who are in charge of them- thus, we just go to hang out, but the tíos have the rough job of being parents to 25 kids.
I´ve had lots of interesting experiences in hogar already, everything from holding a kid upside down while he recited the 3rd stanza of the Honduran National Anthem, to trying to help a girl who didn´t want to do her math homework, to encouraging a group of young teens to chop grass using machetes.
Ok, that´s more than enough description for now! Sorry for letting it get so long. I´ll try to explain things in readable-length installments, but with feeling like I´m taking in more than I know what to do with every day here, it´s hard to keep my descriptions contained.
A todos te extaño mucho!
The ranch is pretty rural, about 45 minutes from Tegus -the nickname for Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras and nearby big city- and most of the buildings are about a 15-20 minute walk from the road. It´s gorgeous, with tree-covered mountains surrounding everything, and lots and lots of trees and nature; and, of course, that nature also includes lots of humoungous grasshoppers and spiders, as well as your usual flies, mosquitos, ants, roaches, etc. There are a bunch of buildings: houses for the kids (there´s a big plaza for the girls, one for the boys, and one for the littlest kids), a big kitchen, soccer fields and basketball courts, the volunteer house, and a lot more. There´s a school for K-6, and then a separate colegio (middle school) for grades 7-9, which is where I´ll be teaching.
The orientation routine has consisted of getting up around 6:30, with the workday starting by 7:20 here- for orientation, we go to shadow people at different jobs, or just have various talks, tours, etc all day. There´s a break from 4-6, and then we go to hogares (homes) from 6-8. Hogares are where the pequeños all live, and every volunteer is assigned one to hang out with from 6-8 every day, to eat dinner with them, help them with the homework, play around (lots of that), etc. The kids all live with 2 or 3 tíos or tías as well (literally, uncles and aunts, but in this case caregivers) who are in charge of them- thus, we just go to hang out, but the tíos have the rough job of being parents to 25 kids.
I´ve had lots of interesting experiences in hogar already, everything from holding a kid upside down while he recited the 3rd stanza of the Honduran National Anthem, to trying to help a girl who didn´t want to do her math homework, to encouraging a group of young teens to chop grass using machetes.
Ok, that´s more than enough description for now! Sorry for letting it get so long. I´ll try to explain things in readable-length installments, but with feeling like I´m taking in more than I know what to do with every day here, it´s hard to keep my descriptions contained.
A todos te extaño mucho!
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