Site Placement

I am currently sitting through a torrential downpour. Which means this is the best time to use the internet. That makes sense, right? Well, I have fully charged batteries on my laptop and my phone (modem) and there is no power in town, which means I am one of few, if any, other people able to access the internet, so it's all mine!

It seems like I've been here a while. And I have. However, I'm still in this long, arduous part of Peace Corps known as training. I'm not a Peace Corps Volunteer. Yet. I'm a Peace Corps Trainee.

So here's how it works. I spend roughly 3 months in cultural, technical, and language classes learning how to interact with my family, what it means to be a business volunteer, and of course, Spanish. Throughout training, there are a series of 3 technical interviews where my superiors sit down with me 2 on 1 and ask me a range of questions from what kind of work I'd like to do to what size of town I'd like to live in. As the experience progresses, I get a better and better idea of the aspects that are bueno, and the aspects that are not-so-bueno. Sometimes I change my answers from one interview to the next based on my experiences and exposure to certain things. For example, I really had no idea what size of town I wanted to live in. But after I came back from a tiny little pueblo in Olancho, I realized I kind of like the quaintness, although I wanted something a little bit bigger with a few thousand people.

I went to my 3rd interview yesterday. This is the big one, and the last. I have now officially told them all of my requests and thoughts about what I want the next 2 years of my life to look like. This interview was spent mostly portraying the types of sites that they are considering for me, and then discussing my feelings towards each scenario. So here are the pictures they painted:

1 - This is a pretty rural site with a couple thousand people. My main counterparts (who generally determine what kind of work I'll be doing) would be two different coffee cooperatives. There was one coop, but after deciding a few of the farmers had higher quality coffee that was simply being diluted, they amiably created their own. Or rather, they're still in the process of creating it, and that's where I would come in. The other big part of work at that site would be the high school (colegio) where I would be able to give all sorts of business charlas (lessons) and most likely help in creating some microbusinesses. I realized, after having done a few activities with the schools, that I really enjoy working with kids and I think that aspect would really add to my overall job satisfaction. The nearest big city would be a couple hours away by bus, but I realized I was asking for a rural site when I said I wanted to work with coffee. As far as microfinance, there's always an opportunity to work with money when you're working with business. And my counterparts don't limit me to the type of work I'll be able to do at my site, so I'm fine with that not being included in the painted scene.

2 - This site is slightly bigger and is more urban. There are about 3 larger cities within 30 mins. In this site, I would be working with a women's coffee cooperative and would be linked to some of the aldeas (surrounding villages) through the municipality, where I would work to create microbusinesses with the youth. The European Union has funds available for youth-run businesses, and I would be helping to organize, create, and write business plans for these microempresas.

There was a lot more we talked about in the interview. Why I didn't really want to work with artesanía (handicrafts, or "handicrap"?) because I just didn't see the value in it. I mean, if I'm going to get involved with growing or starting someone's business, I'd prefer that it didn't just collect dust in some gringo's house. But hey, that's just my personal opinion. A lot of people love the pine-needle-woven placemats. And more power to them, because they're doing the work I don't want to do. Also, nice thing happens when you request to work with coffee - you get placed in high, mountainous, coffee-growing regions of the country where the weather is much more bearable. That part I'm excited about. A lot of other aspirantes PC Trainees are really preoccupied, or even worried, about where they'll end up and what kinds of hints are being dropped in the interview. Here's my philosophy: I didn't request to come to Honduras. Heck, I didn't even request to come to Latin America. And so far, I'm loving it. So why start being picky now? Since December, when Peace Corps told me I'd be headed for Honduras on February 22nd, I knew I was on a need-to-know basis. And trust me, there's a whole lot of things that I simply do not need to know. So for the time being, I'm going to continue to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Only God knows where I'll end up, and He's never steered me wrong.


Salmos 23


Jehová es mi pastor; nada me faltará.
En lugares de delicados pastos me hará descansar;
Junto a aguas de reposo me pastoreará.
Confortará mi alma; 
Me guiará por sendas de justicia por amor de su nombre.
Aunque ande en valle de sombra de muerte,
No temeré mal alguno, porque tú estarás conmigo;
Tu vara y tu cayado me infundirán aliento.
Aderezas mesa delante de mí en presencia de mis angustiadores;
Unges mi cabeza con aceite; mi copa está rebosando.
Ciertamente el bien y la misericordia me seguirán todos los días de mi vida,
Y en la casa de Jehová moraré por largos días.