I feel the earth...move...under my feet

Amanda and I awoke last night about 2:30 a.m. to seven seconds of excitement. An earthquake that struck exactly 200 miles north of Tegucigalpa made our little house in Flor del Campo shake and rattle ever so slightly, and caused Amanda and I to stand up and walk around aimlessly for a couple of minutes. We also made a contingency plan that involved putting on pants, leaving the keys in the door, and placing a flash light at the ready in case we needed to make a quick escape.

We didn't sleep much after that, partly out of fear of a stronger earthquake, but also because three Honduran friends called throughout the night to make sure we were ok. We appreciate that they were thinking of us.

The quake was reported as magnitude 7.1. According to most people I've talked to, last night's trembling was the strongest they had ever experienced in Honduras. Apparently a tsunami watch was put into affect and later lifted, and officials are reporting four deaths -- all children -- in various parts of the country. Sections of a major bridge linking San Pedro Sula to the town of El Progreso reportedly fell into the river. Officials are still assessing the damage.

Here is the AP article about the earthquake.

Papa loves mangos

I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that mangos might be my favorite thing in the whole world. I love their red, yellow, green and orange peels; I love their juicy flesh; and I really love that at the fruit stand down by the soccer field they are five for a dollar!

But I'm sad that they will only be around another two weeks or so. I guess the 11-month anticipation is the price you pay for perfection.

Article on Revistazo.com

I thought I'd post a link to my first-ever published article in Spanish. It appeared today on Revistazo.com.

I'll just say that after the Revistazo.com editor made her changes that it doesn't look exactly like my original submission, but at least I know what most of the words mean.

I love libraries

I forgive anyone in advance for not reading this and just skipping to the pictures. It's probably what I would do.

I've put off writing about my new job up until now... but here goes. I work for Biblioteca Flor del Saber, a community supported library in our marginalized community called Flor del Campo. From our house I walk up some stairs, over a dirt road, up a windy little alley and down a windy little alley, down another dirt road and then I'm there at the beautiful iron gates of the library - twisted into vines and flowers and pretty things.

My first two months I spent on various projects: I organized the literature section alphabetically and did an inventory of books so that we could find books according to author and also check if we even have said book. The library was originally organized using the Dewey Decimal System, but within each major section the books were in no apparent order (they were actually in order by size, but no order that helps find a particular book). Eventually I hope we can get the whole library organized and inventoried, but the collection has over 4500 hundred books so it will take awhile. My co-workers Ivonne and Carolina and I also work together to put up monthly murals with information about national holidays and people of interest. We also help patrons and attend to requests for homework help. The library is a great resource but unfortunately kind of under-used, so we're also working on ways we can promote the library by hosting community events and doing more school visits.

Yesterday was my first day of teaching English classes - we're offering one free class to youth ages 12 - 18 in the morning and one for adults ages 18 and up in the afternoon, Tuesdays and Thursdays, for six weeks. I forgot how much I love teaching! I procrastinated, of course, on the planning; but I really enjoyed teaching and am looking forward to designing the rest of the course. It's fun to have total teaching freedom and the liberty to direct the class any direction we want to go... I'm going to type up all my lesson plans and materials to hopefully use for future classes.

I love the library. I love how beautiful and quality it is, and the fact that this amazing resource is smack dab in the midst of an impoverished neighborhood, and that kids and adults have access to this wealth of books and a computer lab. The downside is this: the organization that donated the books and materials and got this whole thing going, a private organization called the Reicken Foundation, was based on the wealth of one family. And that family lost most of their money in the market crisis recently, leaving the 50+ libraries they founded in Honduras with hardly any support. My two co-workers haven't been paid since January (that's right... January), and we haven't had Internet service in that long. It's a daily struggle for them to remain motivated as the questions of how they'll pay rent and feed their kids become increasingly difficult and pressing.

As an MCC worker, my rent, food, and all life's necessities are taken care of. I literally have absolutely no financial concerns, and I find myself taking that for granted, something that embaresses me when faced with the needs of my co-workers. One of them broke down in tears just yesterday worrying about how they were going to put food on the table. I've given and lent some money, but also don't want to get into the long-term habit of supporting the people I work with, people that SHOULD be receiving salaries. So what should I do? I know what Dorothy Day would have done... she would have emptied out that savings account in Goshen and cooked up meals for everyone on a daily basis. I'm just not that cool, or giving, or trusting. I struggle with what I really think people of faith are called to do and the daily shortcomings when that call is more than we can handle, or not what we want to hear.

View of the library facing the front door. Looks like Ivonne is straightening up.

Literature section. It's really a great collection.

Ivonne explaining about the global warming

Carolina demonstrates how the ozone layer is like an umbrella over the earth, shielding us from the harmful rays of the sun. I didn't get this on photo, but later, Ivonne cuts a big hole in the umbrella and Carolina sticks her hand through the hole... you can just feel yourself getting skin cancer.

The sixth graders attending the Earth Day talk were floored by this news, and vowed never to pollute the earth again.

I'm not sure why everyone is hugging.

Ivonne, me, and Carolina in front of our April mural, with the children's corner off to the right. I am a giantess.

Birthday fiesta!

I was skeptical, but Amanda had no worries that everyone would fit into our tiny house for our joint birthday party. We threw a pizza fiesta for friends, church people and neighbors to celebrate the passing of another year. Some people showed up to see what gringo pizza was like, others were just really curious how we decorated our house. No matter the reason for coming, the party was a success, and a reminder of the joys of living in a close-knit community. We're not sure of the count, but there were around 30-35, and only two couples we had never met.

We continue to learn new things about Honduran culture. Apparently only brothels use Christmas lights during the year. Thanks for the tip, Tina! No wonder there's always a line outside our door at night.

See our party photos here.

* Note: Due to photographer's oversight, our good friends Kathy and Virgil did not make the album despite the fact that their help with the party was indispensable. Thanks, Kath and Virg.

Our house was full.

The Cantor family, who gave us this wall hanging.Escarlet ready to bake her pizza creation.

All of our birthday presents.

I like birds

As Amanda mentioned in a previous post I have recently become enamored with -- or obsessed with -- birding. I'm not sure what it is, exactly, but I would not be as fanatical about it if it weren't for Virgil Troyer, MCC Disaster Response Coordinator, and Birder Extraordinaire. Actually, I also owe much thanks to my father-in-law, Ralph Lind, for buying Amanda and I a pair of incredible binoculars; and to my mother-in-law, Brenda Janzen, for gifting me an exhaustive Central American birding book. Thanks! I think what I like about birding is that it's a low-impact, low-equipment hobby that involves lots of reading, research, and careful observation.

I've compiled a really nice list of birds in the last 6 months, which I will not reprint here, but hope that in the next year I can add many more, including the elusive and beautiful Resplendant Quetzal.

Here are a couple of pictures from our team retreat near Lake Yojoa, taken at Finca Las Glorias.

A Ferruginous Pygmy Owl. Virgil and I spent at least half an hour tracking this guy through the woods, listening to his call and trying to answer back. Apparently my imitation was convincing. He flew right up to us, sat on his perch and had a nice long conversation.

The Belted Kingfisher. I took this picture through Virgil's awesome spotting scope. (If you want to get me another optical present, Ralph...)

First Rain!

It started slowly with a few drops and then gradually grew into a great, pounding rain. Andrew made some hot pinol (a corn based hot-chocolate-esque drink) and we sat out on our plastic chairs on the porch and watched the rain come down, washing the dusty trees and plants clean and sweeping the accumulated garbage down the gutters. I love rain! I just love it...especially after the hot dry season months, when you think it might never rain again here and everything is dry and brown, thirsty for water from the sky. We've been told that before the climate started changing here and the weather patterns were more predictable, the first rains of the year always came during the first week of May in Tegucigalpa. Our friend David went as far as to say they always came on May 3, every year, like clockwork (although I find this hard to believe... I mean, what about leap year?) It is very comforting to think that, this year at least, we are getting off to a normal start. I can imagine farmers all over will sleep a little easier tonight, and the city water board can rest assured that the water supply did not run out before the first big rain of the year, as predicted by the pessimists. It's starting again! The tinkling on the tin roof! Gotta love it.

The view looking up the stairs from our porch. We're happy that whoever designed this staircase included a little river to channel away the rushing rainwater.

Enjoying a hot cup of pinol.

This was a couple of days ago, but I thought I'd put it here anyway. Amanda cleaning out our pila, otherwise known as our mosquito farm.