TravelStream™ news feed for member claudiacfavre on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/claudiacfavre en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:45:53 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1245806985/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1245806985/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1245806985/tpod.html Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:45:53 -0400 Mothers and Daughters

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San Pedro Sula, Cortés, Honduras

Today was crazy hectic because it is our last full day...We spent lunch with Ninoska and her family. She made us pastelitos, which are sort of like hot pockets with seasoned ground beef inside. It was a nice visit, but rather brief for Honduran time. Next, Deeda (one of the volunteers) took us to visit Dona Norma and her family. Dona Norma used to work at the school as a cleaning lady. She is raising a litter of kids, even though she is nearly 70. Her appearance is old and frail with a very short stature. Sweet as can be. This year, the school fired her because they said she was "too expensive". Don't get me started...She lives in her tiny house with 9 other people. Her daughters keep having illigitimate babies. Her daughter, who was on drugs, recently had a baby that she wanted to give up for adoption. Dona Norma wouldn't have it and has decided to raise the baby herself, even though her daughter is still living in the house! It's "her baby" now... when we got there it was laying in the hammock outside. This part was really difficult for me to swallow because my cousin, Holly, is desperately trying to adopt a baby from Ethiopia right now. How is it that in our world a parent that doesn't want a child cannot simply give it to a woman or family that wants it more than anything else in the world? We spent the afternoon visiting with the family and playing with the kids. We brought them clothes and toys. I don't know how they get by...For dinner, I promised Nathan that I would make him lentil soup because that was his favorite meal last year. I taught him how and he tried to make it in Canada but I guess it just wasn't the same! We chilled out all afternoon/evening drinking Flor de Cana, Honduran's own rum, and cooking. It felt like old times... we even wrote mean things on the fridge about Alex, which was a joke that we all played as roommates. Lastly, Mary & Digna threw us a going away party! They had food and pineapple upside down cake! Delicious!!! We played their favorite game "Los Globos", or "Balloons". They write silly commands on little pieces of paper and stuff them into balloons before blowing them up. For example, we may have had to act like a lion or a chicken or give a speech about someone in the room. It's fun! We said our goodbyes and then we were off to bed.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1245803676/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1245803676/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1245803676/tpod.html Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:29:31 -0400 Mothers and Daughters

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San Pedro Sula, Cortés, Honduras

Today was a rough day at school. I was loosing patience quickly with 1st grade and 5th grade was not much better... this is the last week of school so they are anxious to escape for the summer! I can relate, I've been there. They have exams this week so we will be doing a lot of testing and grading. For lunch we went home and ate tamales with Mary. Tamales are sort of like cornmeal burritos with chicken and random vegetables wrapped up in a banana or plantain leaf. They are very interesting. Traditionally, they are a Christmas food. Tamales take a whole day to make. I would really like to learn sometime. All afternoon and evening we spent with Ninoska and her family. We brought them a lot of presents and clothes and even a kitchen table! The father is a carpenter but he doesn't have the time or money to make a table for his own family because he is busy making things to sell. Ninoska taught us another version of tacos. We made home made corn tortillas on an open flame stove, chimole (similar to a salsa), and salsa ranchero (a tomato sauce), plus the tacos. It took all evening but it was rewarding once I sat down to eat! While my mom & I cooked dinner, Paige & Kim taught the two nieces and two neighbors how to play a new card game. They loved it! I was impressed that Paige could teach them in Spanish!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1245806184/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1245806184/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1245806184/tpod.html Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:28:55 -0400 Mothers and Daughters

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San Pedro Sula, Cortés, Honduras

Today was our last day of school... it's hard to say goodbye but I had such a great trip that it's hard to be sad. I know I'll be back!After school we swung by Ninoska's house again. Her brother has been making us handcrafted wooden goblets!!! They are beautiful! He wrote our names with "Honduras 2009) along the bottom rim. It was his idea and he insisted on giving us these amazing gifts! He stained them and filled them with candy. I feel so blessed to have friends like them! How generous!!! By the end of our 10 minute visit we were ALL crying. Their entire family and the 4 of us were all crying like little girls. Hard to say goodbye...Next, we went to a pool party for all of the faculty and staff from the school. It was nice to have time to sit around and talk. They made a huge spread of traditional food. We were kind of anxious because Mirna was supposed to take us to San Pedro Sula to meet Mary. We made it on time though- somehow it always works out in Central America. Tonight we wanted to have a special night in the big city of San Pedro Sula with Mary, Juan Carlos, Katherine, and Madheline to thank them for letting us stay in their house for 2 weeks! They were so generous and hospitable, we can never really repay them! We met the girls at the movie theatre to see "Night at the Museum II". The theatre is in a gigantic mall that could easily be in any city in America. It is easy to forget that you are in Honduras when you enter the cold, air conditioned multi-story building of the City Mall. The name is even in English... how ironic. It is full of American food and stores, all with American price tags. The movie was in Spanish so me & Paige understood about half and our moms understood about zero! It was pretty easy to figure out the jist just by watching though. After the movie, Juan Carlos met us for dinner at Tony Roma's. We had quite a huge feast! They ordered steak and a big shrimp platter. The girls enjoyed their kids' meals too. One last meal together... lots of stories, lots of laughs. They gave us a ride to our hotel and we had to say goodbye for now...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1245804479/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1245804479/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1245804479/tpod.html Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:16:20 -0400 Mothers and Daughters

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San Pedro Sula, Cortés, Honduras

School was much better today. I had a lot of patience and a fresh outlook. I was more prepared and thus more effective. After school, we walked home with Christian. He is in 6th grade this year. His little sister, Jennifer, was one of my students last year and I also taught his 3rd grade sister, Miriam. She got kicked out of school this year and is now at a public school. We walked for about 20-30 minutes in the blaring midday sun to get to their house. As usual, we loaded up a ton of presents, clothes, and school supplies to take them. I guess I should give a little background about their family- they are extremely poor, to the point that they don't send food to school with their kids because they simply cannot afford to buy it. My dad ended up sponsoring Jennifer's food last year but I don't know what they're doing now. Kim brought them each a package of animal crackers and they scarfed them down- I'm sure that was their lunch. Her parents are very strange... they used to come into school yelling at the principle and would get mad at me too (I lacked the Spanish to ever figure out why.). They have really grown on me and are extremely complimentary of me because they know how much I love Jennifer. I hope they are good to Jennifer, but I am never sure of that. If I could bring her home, I would! Anyway, we had a great visit with them. I brought Jennifer a Barbie Doll and she was thrilled. I already can't wait to see her again!!! At one point, I had to pee really bad and couldn't wait. They warned me that they didn't have any "paper" but I had Kleenex. In the bathroom the trashcan was full of wadded up newspaper and notebook paper that they had used for wiping! I was saddened thinking about the luxuries that we overlook everyday. Afterwards, we went to the pool with Jeff, Andrea, Katherine, and Oscar. A lot of the other volunteers were there too. Nathan and I had a chance to chat for a bit. Tonight, me & my mom babysat for Katherine and Madheline while Mary & Juan Carlos went to Bible study. We studied, played, read books, and played Uno. Fun!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1243370001/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1243370001/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1243370001/tpod.html Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:34:19 -0400 Mothers and Daughters

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Cofradía, Cortés, Honduras

Our flights went well yesterday. Paige & Kim are staying at "The Rocks" which is Ben & Terry's creation- a jungle pool with a tree house, a bunkhouse, a restaurant, and even a little dance floor now. They will be turning it into a hostel soon. My mom & I are staying with a family that I became close to last year. They are SO generous- we are actually sleeping in their bed and they are sleeping with their children! We tried refusing but they are more stubborn I suppose. My Honduran "babies" are no longer babies! They are in "prepa" this year which is pretty equivalent to American kindergarten (ages 5-6). They have learned so much- they are even writing! Last year we worked on coloring and writing their names and holding pencils! Everyone was incredibly welcoming. They had a big "Welcome Back Miss Claudia sign and we shared countless group hugs when I got to the school. The whole school was excited to see us! There is a new volunteer, Carla, who has been teaching prepa all year. She is going to spend another 2 years there revamping the school. I hope she can really whip it into shape. As usual, there were several grades that didn't have teachers. Right away, we jumped into teaching- 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, and colegio! I almost forgot how frustrating it can be to teach the older kids! I miss my little guys! Some of the kids seem to have made a lot of progress. It is interesting to compare the kids to what they were like last year and see how far they have come. Christian, who used to be a bit of a discipline case, was so pleasant and read to me in the library for about 40 minutes! I was very impressed but I think it just boils down to kids needing and craving individual attention. I was completely exhausted by the end of the day. We went to the pool, which looks PHENOMENAL. Ben & Terry have been busy fullfilling their wildest dreams! Mr. Nathan (a friend/housemate from last year) is also in town visiting and so is Mr. Tim (who worked there right before me last year). Mary cooked us all a big dinner and taught my mom how to make hand-made tortillas! My mom is well on her way to becomming Honduran!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1245802808/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1245802808/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1245802808/tpod.html Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:33:36 -0400 Mothers and Daughters

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Pena Blanca, Honduras

We got up this morning and had a nice breakfast at Hidden River Hotel. She made us American style pancakes with jam & syrup. When I was stuffed to the brim she brought out huge bowls of fresh fruit salad to top us off. Mmm... Surprisingly, everyone was feeling pretty good this morning! I think there were a few stiff legs in the mix but overall we were ready for another adventure. I chose to take them to Puhlapunzak because of its incredible beauty and the extremely unforgettable experience of going through the waterfall into caves and back out to jump off big rock cliffs into deep pools of water. I went twice last year because it is truly one of my favorite places/experiences on Earth. $7 covers the entrance fee and a private guide. (Last year I thought that was ridiculously expensive but heard that it was worth it, and it was!) It was as beautiful as ever. I really enjoyed showing them this spot. My mom was absolutely freaking out going through the waterfall. The only thing I can compare it to is maybe if you were in a hurricane or something... the water is falling so hard that it is difficult to open your eyes and move around. You have to trust the person in front of you to guide you through the rough rocks and water pools to get into the cave. At one point I thought she was crying and all she could say was, "I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING!!! I AM NOT ADVENTUROUS" She took it like a sport and ended up liking it a little bit, I think. If nothing else, it will be an experience she will never forget.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1243656000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1243656000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1243656000/tpod.html Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:05:31 -0400 Mothers and Daughters

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Pena Blanca, Honduras

For me, a relaxing vacation includes long vigorous hikes up mountains... for others, this is not the case. I clearly stated that it was not necessary for everyone to participate but my gung-ho group insisted that they were up for anything. Almost anything... We were hoping to hop a few buses and visit the National Park "Cerro Azul" (blue sky). It is mountainous and has a cloud forest- it sounded great. Well, we should have thought twice when the last bus driver said that the closest he could drop us off was about 3 miles from the park entrance. There were no taxis or buses so we had to keep our fingers crossed for a pick-up. About half way we got lucky and hitched a ride up to the park. At the park, we had lots of decisions to make about which trails to take. Since it is a loop, the park rangers insisted that doing the whole thing is the best idea. I can't remember exactly, but I think it was about 6 miles which can be done in about 3-4 hours. There was one part that they said was steep but the rest should be no problem. That wasn't entirely true! The steep part was steep but led to some amazing views of Lago de Yajoa, Honduras' only lake. The trail wound up in a cloud forest which offered us really unique plants and lizards that could only be found in a jungle. Unfortunately, Kim has lupus which shows up as arthritis in her knees. It was really painful for her to be hiking like we were. My mom was getting worn out too. I felt really bad that it wasn't fun for everyone. There was a beautiful 10 meter waterfall where we stopped and relaxed a little. Eventually, we made it back down. We were hoping and praying for there to be a pick-up willing to take us down to the bus stop. We were scarfing on food and drinking tons of liquid when the park ranger came up and told us that we only had 1 hour before the last bus went back to the town that we were staying in! We still had a 3 mile walk and a bus ride to do in 1 hour!!! We hopped up and started hoofing it. About half way, we heard the engine of an SUV. A really nice couple let us pile in, even though they were hauling enormous vases that took up most of the back seat. We let my mom sit with the vases and Kim, Paige, and I sat in the trunk with the door flung open. There was a metal bar held in place and we grasped it for dear life but we were all happy to have a ride! They drove us all the way into the town that we were staying in! Truly angels in disguise!As a treat, we went to D&D's for a good ol' American dinner. We ate, drank, and were merry.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1243569600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1243569600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1243569600/tpod.html Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:48:43 -0400 Mothers and Daughters

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Pena Blanca, Honduras

Friday's are half days at school. We did our usual teaching, 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th. At this point the kids are starting to get used to us, which can be good and bad! I promised the girls that we would take a relaxing weekend in the mountains. They had their first experiences riding on crowded chicken buses, the grand terminal, and fitting people in the trunk of a taxi (the kind with windows). I really like going to this place called D&D's, a hostel/microbrew/restaurant owned by a man named Bob from Oregon. It's truly a retreat but unfortunately it was booked up (always make reservations if you aren't planning on camping). Next door, there is a brand new RESORT called Hidden River Hotel which ended up being a perfect paradise for us to spend the weekend at. The couple that owns it are simply charming and our cabin is amazing. For only $100 the four of us stayed there for 2 nights. It's not doable for a backpacking budget but my mom & Kim didn't bat an eye for showers and big comfy beds. We snuck over to D&D's for a couple celebratory brews. (Bob makes wonderful flavors like apricot, mango, and raspberry.) For dinner, the wife cooked us a typical Honduran meal of grilled beef, beans, tortillas, and avocado. For desert we had pineapple.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1244692800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1244692800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1244692800/tpod.html Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:25:26 -0400 Mothers and Daughters

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Cofradia, Honduras

Everyone was really freaked out about the earthquake- some people didn't even know what it was! The dogs howled for hours, as did the mothers. They cancelled school for the entire region today, for fear of another earthquake. We took full advantage of having the day off. First, we went to my friend Ninoska's house to visit her and her family. She lives in a small house with her brother, his wife, 2 kids, and their mom. She made us tostados for lunch and taught me how to make tamarindo juice. I don't think we have tamarindos in the US but they kind of look like mushy, maroon pea pods. I had to massage them into water to get the flavor out and then add sugar and more water. It's a delicious flavor! Her family is always so sweet and they are extremely welcoming. The rest of the day we spent emptying our suitcases! After seeing the need last year, I decided that this year we would come prepared. The four of us EACH brought two 50 lb suitcases, most of which was to give away! We gave a lot to Mary & Digna's families first and then loaded up to go into the "poor section" of town. There is a river with a rickety bridge that leads to the rural side of town where people tend to be even more poor than what you will see in Cofradia. We took toys, clothes, shoes, toothbrushes/paste, soap, etc and distributed it out to the kids and families in need. At first they were very suspicious but once they realized it was free they were shouting over to their neighbors and everyone was bringing their kids outside. Good news travels fast! Right when we were about to move on, another 10 kids ran up the hill! This continued in each community that we visited. Today was a huge success! Tonight Mary taught us how to make taquitos or "tacos" as they call them. Very yummy!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1243458267/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1243458267/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/claudiacfavre/2/1243458267/tpod.html Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:13:16 -0400 Mothers and Daughters

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Cofradia, Honduras

Today was a great day! Carla & Laura planned a pool party for kinder & prepa at "The Rocks". Ben & Terry have drastically improved the pool since last year. They even added a kiddie pool, perfect for these kids. My dad bought a bunch of pool supplies like water wings, beach balls, etc for the kids to use at the pool party. They loved them! It was nice to play around for half a day. Paige & Kim stayed all day to help with the older kids too. Me & my mom went back to school to pitch in where we could. After school Digna had a going-away party for Mr. Tim. Her family recently expanded their tortillaria and they now produce 5,000 corn tortillas everyday! They do half the batch around 6 am and the other half around 4:30, once it starts cooling down again. The machine is very hot so it is extremely unpleasant to make them during the daytime. We all got to help with the 4:30 batch. What an experience! Dinner was excellent as usual. We hung out and played board games in Spanish. Digna is trying to learn English because her son, Jeff, needs an operation on his leg and they will need to travel to the US. He has had 4 surgeries in Honduras by American doctors but one legs is still several inches shorter than the other. As a temporary solution, he wears a big platform shoe. Jeff and Digna are flying to New York later this summer to get opinions from 2 American doctors that hope to be able to fix his leg. During the night, we had quite a surprise! There was a 7.1 earthquake!!! (There was also a 4.8 but I didn't feel it.) It rumbled and shook the whole house. My mom & I jumped out of bed and held onto each other in the doorway. My mom was praying and also saying, "I'm going to be buried alive in Honduras!" 6 people did perish, but in other parts of the country. Lucky for us, and Cofradia, the fault line was out in the ocean so we were far enough away to avoid major destruction.
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