Finding Inspiration

Highest Highs, Lowest Lows
I enjoy reading the comments from friends and family about how proud they are of the work we do here with the Peace Corps. In fact, it's these notes that encourage me through the mundane and sometimes depressing times. However, there are several times when it feels completely undeserved. Yes, I am giving up two years of my life to live in Honduras and maybe that alone is worth acknowledging, but simply surviving rural Honduras doesn't accomplish what I, nor Peace Corps, set out to.



The emotional ups and downs are innate with this type of work. You have the new experience of a new country, new language, new family, new food, and constant new sights and smells. Then it hits you - you're here for a reason - to accomplish something. The only problem is part of the job is figuring out what the job is. Some volunteers replace older volunteers and pick up where they left off. Other times, you're in a completely new community or one where they haven't had a volunteer for a long time. There's no work to pick up. There's endless possibilities (and endless dead-ends). The other challenging aspect of this is that there is no other job like a volunteer. How does one utilize this person in the community, especially when they're no one's employee and don't pertain to any one organization or company in town. Let's just say it's very easy to amass and perfect a wealth of personal hobbies.

Sometimes you have those really great ideas about what could improve your community and you found those key people... and nothing happens. Resilience is an important trait for volunteers. But how many brick walls are too many? I came across a brilliant article about this aspect of Peace Corps recently. An often-understated experience, even skill, learned as a volunteer.

Thanksgiving Recap

Most of us can't make it home to our families for Thanksgiving. So, we create our own family. It's always great getting together with a bunch of volunteers, especially when there's so much food involved! For those of you who think I'm not eating here (I have somehow managed to lose weight), and in the interest of showing Hondurans how Thanksgiving is really done, I ate A LOT of food. And it was all good. You can see my own contributions to the smorgasbord of deliciousness - a green bean casserole (top right) and candied yams (bottom center). When I was about to start washing the 10 or so large yams, the water trickled out. But if there's one thing we've learned in Honduras, it's improvisation. Glenn had a pool which contains the overflow water (when it's actually running), point being that it's not stagnant. So we moved operations outside to clean and peel the camotes (yams) (bottom left). The kids at the orphanage were some of the happiest/most excited/energetic little turkey-eaters I've seen. They were all over us from the moment we stepped in the door wanting to learn our names, take advantage of our height with a piggy-back, and just generally running a muck. Great fun was had by all.

What's in the Pipeline for Subirana?
I'm glad you asked.

I had a chat with my good friend and former roommate at MIIS, John, who's currently serving as a business volunteer in Costa Rica. An inspiring conversation about the ups and downs of PC life that lead to some great ideas, one in particular I'm excited about. I've talked before about the interest and obsession I had with doing microfinance. It's still something I'm very interested in, even though I've discovered the reality isn't quite like the fantasy. The coffee cooperative here has worked with loans, although somewhat unsuccessfully. Ideally this would be reincorporated in the distant future. But really, all that lacks is an organized system to manage loans and payments. John suggested I create an almost separate division that could act as a savings & loans institution. This simplifies, or at least separates the two operations so as not to complicate the primary coffee focus of the cooperative. More to come on this as it develops, hopefully to be implemented in the spring.

First steps: securing seed capital and organizing a loan approval process.

The other idea I'm excited about, because it includes one of my hobbies, is starting a cooking class. I talked with the couple that owns the repostería (bakery) about joining forces and sharing some of their delicious cake recipes. They enthusiastically agreed. This will hopefully accomplish a few things, apart from legitimizing my time spent cooking and eating. The 2nd goal of Peace Corps is to promote understanding of American culture on the part of the people served (i.e. Hondurans). As much time as we spend adapting the culture here, other than one-on-one conversations there aren't many public venues to share our American culture. But nothing says America like learning how to make an apple pie. We'll probably switch off between Honduran and American dishes and, if I can convince my friend Stephan to get involved, Swiss dishes. It will also be a great opportunity for some sanitation/health education.

First steps: securing venue and equipment, organizing class materials, and advertising.

What's up (or down) with the Lempira?
If you remember my previous post about the Honduran Lempira exchange rate, I talked about how the HNL had been unpegged (really) from the USD and, as you can see from this beautiful graph, it has been moving around. OK, so it's nothing compared to the Euro right now, but it is changing in value in comparison to the dollar. The previous fixed rate was 18.89 lempiras to 1 dollar. Most people here do quick math using 20 (multiply by 2, add a 0 to get lempiras from dollars).

So what is this graph saying? Well, basically since mid-October that line has been hanging out around 18.95, which means compared to the previous 18.89, the Honduran Lempira has weakened slightly (i.e. it takes more lempiras to buy one dollar). In September, the Honduran Central Bank released their monthly bulletin with a better-than-expected outlook causing the Lempira to strengthen for a few weeks until their recent visit by a team from the IMF who examined Honduras' external debt situation (which has climbed over the past year) and thus caused the market to reconsider their previous hope in the Lempira, settling around 18.92. The frequent spikes you see, I can only assume are the percentage bands the BCH put on the currency; they're allowing it to fluctuate within certain boundaries and when it begins to exceed those boundaries, the BCH presumably takes open market operations to correct the exchange rate. On a side note, it is quite difficult to find detailed analysis (OK, any analysis) on a third-world central bank's actions.


Whiskey's (Boxing) Corner

Whiskey at the office (pre-fight)

So Whiskey has been getting more and more bravo (brave/aggressive) and independent. He seems to have our destinations figured out and decides to walk half a block in front of me in excitement to cause some mischief at the neighbor's of my friends. Well, at least I know where he is and he usually comes when I call him. So I went to the bank agent to get some money while he scavenged for food or whatever he does over there. When I come back, he's no longer at the neighbor's house, but instead sitting on the patio of the cooperative waiting anxiously for me. He's got some saliva on his head (presumably from another dog) and some scratches on his face, as evidenced by some splotches of blood (but nothing too serious). Well, looks like my dog got in a fight, probably over food. But he now seems to think sticking next to me is safer than previously imagined. It's kind of sad, but also cute (I'm really not sadistic) to see his little half-swollen face today as I baby him through his first experience getting beat up at school. The streets are a tough place to learn. This is just one of those experiences that, like Dad always said, builds character.


"I failed my way to success"
-Thomas Edison


Adam & Whiskey