Hollywood comes to Honduras

The Kinder that is being run by Charlie and Amalia is for young children that arn't in school yet. However, for the older kids, we hold tudoring sessions and art classes. Since school is run irregularly if at all (with teachers striking among a host of other problems), these extracurricular sessions help to further stimulate the kids.

















This particular day was a blast. The kids made jewlery out of beads and string. In minutes they were transfromed into movie stars, posing for the papparazzi (me). They absolutely love having their photo taken so they can se themselves. The class ended right as the sun went down, and we caught a beautiful sunset to cap off the day.

Building a Bridge

The first step for building the bridge was to dig pits for the foundation on each side of the sludge river. Even in calling it a sludge river, I am being gracious. The assorted trash and unmentionables create a smell in the afternoon heat that could put a skunk to shame. Charlie did a bacteria test on the water and it overwhelmed the culture.

In case I may not have mentioned him yet, Charlie is the representative from Helping Honduras Kids in El Porvenir. He and his wife, Amalia, moved to El Porvenir to help those in need here. They are a great people, and a true blessing to this town. Charlie is a classic Texan, with his southern accent and hospitality. Amalia is Hondurian in heratige, but from the US. She is a fantastic cook and may convince me to stay permanently if she invites me to any more dinners.

As for the bridge, cement was chosen as the building material upon a recomondation from Charlie. Although wood would be much easier, apparently it is a hot comodity and has a tendancy to grow legs and wander off, no matter how many screws and nails you put in it. Whereas, a two ton cement bridge would make for a very impressive heist.














After the pits were dug, we built the form for the cement foundations and went to work a-mixin'. During the last project I worked on in Belize, we were fortunate enough to procure a cement mixer. I don't thing they've even heard of one of those here. Instead, all the cement was mixed on the ground in some of the most back breaking work I've ever done. I had about 4 of the local guys helping, and we were able to knock out the two foundations fairly quickly. After a long, sweaty day, I took a refreshing swim in the ocean just out my front door.

Day trip to Pico Bonito

The mountains in the background of my pictures from town are part of a huge reserve called Pico Bonito. Amalia once again spoiled us by setting up a trip to the mountains. One of the local guys from El Porvenir, Oscar, was our guide (in the yellow shirt below). We drove through Dole´s pinapple fields to get there. The fields butt up to the mountains and make use of all the water running down.




























Once we entered the park, the jungle closed in around us closing out most of the light. The first warning we got was to stay on the path because of poinsonous snakes and spiders... don´t have to tell me twice. Sure enough, I saw my share of spiders, and we happened across a snake on the path. Sloane, one of the Aussies, almost stepped on us. Oscar told us it was poinsonous, but didn´t tell us till 5 minutes later that if bit by that snake, we would have to make it to a hospital within 10 minutes... or else.
















































The hike we did was to a waterfall, and it only took us about 45 minutes. The water was a clear as can be, and alls I wanted to do was have a swim, but the locals use the water for drinking so swiming was prohibited here. Once we got back down to the base, however, there were a couple of nice swimmin holes. One had a big waterfall that the locals were telling us to jump off of. When they wouldn´t do it themselves, we thought better of it. There was another spot further down the river where you could jump off a high rocky bank. You can see in this picture I am working on my Pterradactyl imitation.



































There was also a natural waterslide built into the river. It reminded me of a place called 7 falls in Santa Barbra, Ca. We spent a couple hours escaping from the heat in the water before we finally got too shriveled up and had to head back to El Porvenir.

Day trip to the Wildlife Refuge

Amalia, who works with Helping Honduras Kids, has been like a grandma to me here. Making us meals and looking in on us, it wouldn´t be the same without her. To add to her kindness, she set up a trip to the Cuero Y Salado Wildlife Refuge. To get there, we had to take a little train that was built from the chassis of a little truck. The railroad ties looked like they were put together with a soldering iron, but we never got out of first gear so any kind of crash would have been a slow-motion comedy at best.




























The refuge borders the beach and is filled with mangrove trees. The way to see it is by boat. We had a tour guide take us through the waters pointing out the various animals. Home to a variety of animals, the trees teem with life, emitting constant noises of bird calls, bellowing frogs, and the infamous howling monkeys.














The Howler Monkeys create a bone chilling sound that makes you feel like you are in a prehistoric land and humans are no longer at the top of the food chain. Pirates used to use the waters in the refuge as a hide away. When they first arrived, they were afraid to go ashore because they didn´t know what made the thunderous howling noises. Once you see the monkeys though, you are amazed that such a small thing can belt out that noise.














They also have crocodiles in the swamp, one of which we got up close and personal with. The guide was able to spot his two beady eyes from 50 feet away. When we got up close, the two little beady eyes were only the tip of the iceberg. What had appeared as a little croc turned out to be a 7-8 foot ´beaut´! When he finally got sick of us, he splashed down in the water sending the 3 women in the boat into a fit, ¨Vamanos, Vamanos!¨

Honduras Part 2

August 30

The second week here has been even hotter than the first. Sweating has become a full time job, starting at 8 sharp and continuing until after the sun goes down. Those of you who know me well, know I am more at home in the snow than on a beach, so needless to say its not my ideal climate.




























Regardless, things have been picking up with work. I am still doing some teaching with the kids in the kinder. I´m glad for the opportunity to work closely with them, but it is tiring work. I don´t think I could ever teach kids as a full time job.














More and more I´ve been working on a couple construction projects. One is the new Kinder being put up for the kids, so they don´t have to meet in the first floor of our house. The shell of the building has been completed, and we are working on some finishing touches, i.e. installing ceiling tiles, ceramic floor tiles, plumbing, electric wires, and windows. We also make use of the local labor to put money into the economy, not to mention the daily wage around here is like 7 bucks, so its well worth the extra pair of hands.















The other project I am working on is a bridge for one of the houses Helping Honduras Kids works with. It is essentially a grandma who runs 5 or so families of children who are orphaned or only have one parent who has to work all day. The current bridge they have is pretty bad, with kids sometimes tripping and falling into the disgusting sludge below. The new bridge will be made of concrete with hand rails and all. Additionally, it should still be functional during the flood periods when the water can rise 7 to 8 feet overnight. Below the kids are checking out our progress- a big hole in the ground.