We finished our first town today. We were in San Augustin, one of the smaller towns which we will go to. Since it was so small, we were able to do all of the surveys today, with the exception of a few people that didn’t want to take them because they were too shy.
The ride out to San Augustin was pretty much a blast. Since the bus got stuck yesterday, we decided to take trucks today. Out of respect for the students, we offered them all of the indoor seats, which meant that we all got to ride in the back of the pickup trucks (to all of the parents out there, this is a common occurrence in Honduras and, because of the slower speeds of driving, is perfectly safe). Have I mentioned that La Union is gorgeous? There is no better way to see this other than in the open air, driving by ridge after ridge, each with unique crops, animals, and, I am sure, its own story. This morning really made me realize that, despite the stress that this summer has put me under, I can’t imagine what I would have done if I had been sitting behind the desk the whole time.
Another time that caused this same emotion was when travelling to a group of houses that was about a half mile away from the rest of the village. They were in the bottom of a valley, whereas the rest were about half way up the mountain. This meant that we got to follow the winding trail down a valley through a set of mountains. It also meant that we got to follow a winding trail up a mountain. I was tempted to complain, when I turned around and felt, yet again, that it was totally worth the hike. I went back this afternoon for round two when offered the opportunity.
We ended up being in San Augustin until about 6:00, officially making it a long day. The biggest issue that we are running into now is that men don’t generally return until 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon. Since the sun goes down at 6:30 and men make up about half of the population, it makes for a pretty hectic couple of hours. Fortunately for us, there was a meeting for all of the men of the town (don’t ask me why, I never found out exactly). We used this as a chance to get many people as they came in, without having to go to all of their houses individually.
I have been surprised, mostly pleasantly, at the reactions that we get while surveying. The most surprising thing to me is the friendliness of most people. Often, before even telling what we are doing, people talk to us, invite us into their homes, offer us fruit or coffee, and are generally hospitable. These are obviously my favorite and, fortunately, they make up a relatively large percentage of houses.
Then there are the elder people, who see us as people to talk to. Those surveys usually take an hour (as opposed to the 15 minutes most take), but I generally leave feeling good, because you can tell that it makes their day to have someone to talk to.
Some people are indifferent or slightly annoyed that we are taking up their time, but are still willing to work with us. These make up quite a few of the people and neither make nor break the day for me.
Then there are the people who don’t, or won’t talk to you. These are the places that take the most time, energy, and generally leave me frustrated, though I cannot ever be mad. There are many different causes of people not talking to us. One that I saw for the first time today was that people are simply too shy. We had a house where several of the women refused to talk to us simply because they were scared. I felt badly that they were scared of us, because their mother said that they were afraid that the questions would be too hard for them. We tried to assure them that they could skip any questions, and that we would explain any that needed explaining, but they still were too afraid.
We also had people just flat out refuse to take the survey for no apparent reason. We had a few people who didn’t want to take the survey because they thought we were a part of the government. There is one person that we are still unsure whether he exists or not. Somebody in a house gave his name yesterday, but people we talked to today said that they had never heard of him. These are all frustrating, but a part of what we are doing, so I guess we will just continue to do what we can.
We returned a few minutes after dinner started and chowed down. We had pineapple-melon juice, made from fresh pineapples and melons, which was amazing. After that I took a nice cold shower, which actually felt good today, and then went to grab a coke with Dewitt.
Drinking Cokes in glass bottles has quickly become one of my favorite simple pleasures here in La Union. An oddity of Honduras is that the only thing that is ever recycled is glass bottles. I believe that they are recycled by the companies, to be washed and refilled. Because of this, they are actually quite a bit cheaper than plastic bottles, and they end up being less than 50 cents US. The other benefit of glass bottles is that, because the store owners have to pay for any bottles that they don’t recycle, you have to drink them at the store. Now, when you are brand new in La Union and want to meet people and learn the language, hanging out in the front of a Pulperia (store) for half an hour drinking a coke is a great way to do it.
Tonight, Dewitt and I talked to Helario, the fruit stand owner, for half an hour. We talked about snow and friends and instruments and hamburgers. In the middle of it, a man came galloping up on a horse, stopped at the fruits stand, and grabbed a piece of fruit. He was going to leave when he saw Mike’s and my jaws sitting on the ground. So he asked if we wanted to get on. I wish that I had said yes, but I chickened out and said another day. However, we ended up talking to him about random things for a little while and found out that he works in Virginia for a few months a year, when there is not work here in La Union. He said that we can ride his horse tomorrow. I might take him up on that.
We talked to Helario, his wife, and one of the cooks at the compound, who had stopped by on her way
home from work, for a few more minutes and then excused ourselves because they were getting ready to close up shop. Even without the rest of the day going well, this would have made for a good day. Some people are watching a movie right now, but I needed a few minutes to myself so I decided to do some writing. I am done with that now so, until next time, adios.
Patrick
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