Préstame un Martillo

Since my last update, I have been unbelivably busy (warning: long post), and I am definitely getting into the swing of things with work.

Last week the students here were on vacation, and since both of my host parents work in schools, they were home as well.  On Wednesday afternoon, they took me up to their coffee and banana farm in the mountains, which was very beautiful and tranquil.  I learned a little about what life would be like in a rural site, and about the process of cultivating coffee.

I am getting into my work with CAMACO, the network of cajas rurales (small microfinance banks) that is run by our municipality.  I spent 2 days last week filling out loan paperwork.  Basically, every year CAMACO lends fertilizer to local farmers, but the bankers don't know how to properly fill out the forms.  So they get the necessary names and signatures/thumbprints and then drop off the stack of paperwork at the municipality office.  And now my counterpart is slogging through it.  One of my goals here will be to train the individual banks to keep their own records, but before we can start that, we have to get through the montón of papers sitting before us!

This week a national organization is in town conducting a census of all of the cajas.  I am spending today and tomorrow introducing myself to the representatives and presidents of all of the cajas when they come to fill out the census.  It's really boring, but very important that I am there to get to know everyone and develop confianza (trust).

Monday I went to La Esperanza for a Plan International meeting, which went very well.  It sounds like I will be working with them to develop basic business and math lessons for youth, and then training teachers in outlying communities.  Also at the meeting were 3 staff members from Amigos de las Americas, which is a volunteer organization for high school students.  I learned that my town will be getting 3 Amigos volunteers next week.  Add this to the 4 UNC students that are here with Nourish International (so random!), plus the staffs of the 2 bilingual schools, myself, and my sitemate, and we are going to be overflowing with gringos for the next 2 months!

Yesterday I gave an HIV charla to a group of high school age students with the two volunteers from La Esperanza, Nicki and Nolan.  This was the same exact program that we gave to the 11-year-olds in Yuscaran, but it went much more smoothly with the older kids.  Just as before, it included a condom demonstration, presentations about HIV/AIDS, and an infinite number of dinámicas, or games.

Hondurans are really, really into dinámicas.  Kids and adults alike, even at the most formal of meetings.  They don't have to be clever or profound -- for example, silly dances, beans, candy, double entendres, throwing paper.  We tried out a bunch during training.  The health volunteers got super into them, but most of us in business were adamant that we would never, ever, EVER, do some of these activities.

However, there is one that captured a lot of our hearts, and any time I have to do a dinámica, this is my go-to.  You get the whole group in a circle and go around one by one, repeating the following exchanges:

Person 1: Préstame un martillo.  (lend me a hammer)
Person 2:  ¿Para qué?
Person 1:  Para martillar! *mimes hammering*

Person 1: Préstame una plancha. (iron)
Person 2:  ¿Para qué?
Person 1:  Para planchar!  *now miming hammering with one hand and ironing with the other*

Person 1: Préstame una licuadora. (blender)
Person 2:  ¿Para qué?
Person 1:  Para licuar! *you get the drift*

Silly, but fun.  Although it kind of crosses the line of ridiculousness when you think about it English (¨Lend me a hammer.¨  ¨Why?¨ ¨To hammer!¨).  Can you see anyone in the US doing this activity with a group of adults?

Finally, I am developing a business curriculum with the colegio and met most of the students this afternoon and evening.  Right now this is on the back burner because I am spending most of my time at the colegio practicing for our 2 upcoming musical performances.

I am sure both performances will be videoed and broadcast for all to see, adding to my laundry list of stellar PR moments.  Since my first live interview, I have been ambushed twice: once for a radio interview while I was filling out caja paperwork, and again for a TV spot... while I was working out!  My host family is letting me use their exercise bike, and I actually had to stop midway through and do an interview, totally sweaty and distracted.  Que barbaridad...