Reconnecting

Hello,

It has been quite some time since I have posted and lots of things have happened. Here is a brief outline so you can read what you are interested in:

1. Family came to Honduras

2. Work Trip to El Salvador

3. Finished the first draft of the Direct Trade Guidebook for the Co-op

4. Reconnect Project Meeting with my fellow PAMers

5. I had my Michael Jordan/Jermaine Dye birthday

1. Family!

The Kadlec family (Ma, Pops & Brother) came to Honduras over Christmas. We decided to head to Roatan. Basically Honduras’ equivalent of Hawaii but on a much smaller scale and with more SCUBA diving, Roatan was a great place to spend Christmas. We stayed mostly on the Western part of the island (West End-West Bay area).  The beaches are beautiful and there is snorkeling right off the shore. Most of the vacation was spent on or near the beach reading, sleeping, and of course, drinking local Honduran beers.

It was a great chance to catch up with my parents and Chase. I think it is safe to say that they enjoyed Honduras. Although, I do think that my Dad’s standards of efficiency and customer service do not mesh so well with the developing world. But, get in where you fit in! Chase particularly liked a Honduran specialty called Baleadas. Basically, you take a big flour tortilla, fill it with refried beans (black preferrably), cheese, and mantequilla (a kind of sour cream that is pretty good). You can also add avocado, egg, chicken, or anything else you like.

We also took a SCUBA class for the first time and it was awesome! I highly recommend taking a class if you have ever had an interest. Roatan and also the smaller, more backapacker island of Utila are great and cheap places to start diving. If anyone is planning a trip to Honduras, let me know!

All in all, it was great to see my family and eat delicious food (there is a really good Thai restaurant in West End! The Vintage Pearl in West Bay is also fantastic and has great service and the largest wine cellar on the island).  Ask my Mom for photos because I hardly took any!

2. El Salvador

Ok, so as you might or might not know, I work with a coffee cooperative in my town. Their main request of me has been to help them commercialize their coffee in a more direct way. Thus, Carrie (my sitemate and work partner) and I have been involved in contacting coffee roasters and companies that purchase their coffee directly from the farmers and their cooperatives rather than intermediaries and exporters. The problem with involving a bunch of middlemen is that you mix all the coffee together (different altitudes, qualities, origins…aka not good for when you roast it and then drink it). Plus, the small farmers don’t have control over their own coffee and the more people involved in the commodity chain, the less money actually makes it back to the pocket of the producer. But, we are trying to (slowly) change all that.

We went to El Salvador on a trip with some producer relations/quality control from a private-label roaster out of the Northwest. It was a great learning experieance for us. We visited one family’s very large operation near Ataco and Ahuachapan in Western El Salvador. Their wet mill process was for lack of another word, beautiful. The wet mill process is when you take the pulp off the ripe coffee cherry. And their setup was so nice and simple yet sophisticated. Anyways, we got to be privy to cuppings on site of coffee that our friends are going to buy. From learning about their wet mill process to watching them cup coffee on site, it was a fantastic experience.

It is hard to write about El Salvador and not get out of this internet cafe and on to the next bus to the border just because El Sally was just so great. Probably partially due to the fact that I got to see one of my best friends from college (molly), El Salvador felt like a dream come true.  However, besides the fact that I got to hang out with Molly for a week on the premise of business, El Salvador was just so much different and in a lot of cases, better than Honduras. Before you jump on my back about hating on Honduras (which I am not trying to do), let me explain some key differences.

a. In Honduras, I regularly endure men catcalling me and making awful sucking or kissing noises as I walk down the street. Even in the town where I live and work, some men still say things like “Hi, little thing” or “I love you, baby” in awful English. In El Salvador, I heard about 2 catcalls the whole time I was there. And, it happened in San Salvador (the capital).

b. the roads. El Salvador is a lot smaller than Honduras. But, it is still mountainous. However, they have managed to actually maintain their infrastructure and roads. In Honduras, we seem to be regressing in this field. There is an exponential growth of potholes here.

c. the Towns. From the moment I crossed the border, I noticed that in all the little pueblos (towns), the lightpoles and houses are painted bright colors. The streets are (relatively) clean and there are garbage cans that are actually used!! In my town, the streetpoles are mostly painted with urine. And, it is completely acceptable throughout Honduras to just throw your trash in the street, out a bus window, or anywhere besides a trash can.

A lot of these differences I have chalked up to the fact that after the civil war in El Salvador, the people were fed up of having other people (armies, revolutionaries, etc.) control their towns and mess things up. So, in the post-civil war El Salvador, I think that the people decided (consciously and sub-consciously) to take their towns back. Whether through painting their house to cover up gun shots or put trash cans in the central parks, I see people as having pride to once again be able to own their own towns and space.

3. Finished the first draft of the Direct Trade Guidebook for the Co-op

As I explained above, I work with the co-op. My main project this past month has been to create this guidebook of producer profiles. We just finished the first draft and are starting to send it out to buyers and roasters. It is not totally complete and we need to translate it into Spanish, but the first draft looks really good! I will definitely try to post a copy of it somewhere. However, if you have any interest in viewing a copy, let me know and I will e-mail it to you.  In the year ahead, we are trying to expand on the book and add cupping results (basically a coffee taste test) for each producer of their coffee.

4. Reconnect Project Meeting with my fellow PAMers

This past week, I had a reconnect meeting with all of the volunteers who are part of Protected Areas Management. It was a great opportunity to talk with other volunteers, discuss ideas, and get enthused about all the great things my fellow volunteers are up to in Honduras. Topping my list of reconnect was discussing food security, practicing to make homemade pesticides, and discussing the Women Leaders in Ag conference that is coming up in April.

5. I had my Michael Jordan/Jermaine Dye birthday

Thanks to those of you who wished me Happy Birthday. I am now 23! At reconnect, there were 4 of us with February birthdays and we all shared a delicious cake.

6. Worms!

And, last but not least, I am taking great care of my worms at the cooperative. We decided to try and upstart a worm composting project to help get rid of the huge pile of coffee pulp that inevitably always ends up stinking and rotting at the cooperative every year.  So far, the worms have been doing pretty well and are most definitely reproducing. It is amazing that babies of all species are cute!

OK, that was a big update! I hope that all is well for y’all. I would love to hear updates from anyone and everyone. These next weeks I will be working at the school (it just started), with the water board, and at the cooperative. But, I will always make time to stay in touch.

Love,

carleen