My 1st year in numbers (theme stolen from my sitemate Carrie, thankyouverymuch)
365. The number of days I have spent in Honduras. Somehow it feels like a lot more than that but not always in a negative way. However, the distance in miles (more than 2000, I think) seems more like the number of days I have been away than 365.
57. The number of trainees started with the H17 class that arrived in Honduras on June 23, 2010. I believe we currently have 49 from our group still here in Honduras. I applaud the volunteers who have stuck it out. In general, Honduras does not make it easy for us.
2.5. The average number of tortillas that I eat every day. Usually I eat one or two for dinner but some days I will eat up to 5!
480. The population of my village, Agua Caliente.
8.3 million. The estimated (Wikipedia) population of Honduras. Approximately 1 million Hondurans live outside Honduras. Countries with the highest populations of Hondurans are the United States, Spain, Belize, and Mexico.
50. The number of years the Peace Corps has existed. Congrats Peace Corps on making it half a century. Now, let’s just hope Congress (that means you John Boehner, you over-tanned Ohioan!) doesn’t decide to cut our budget even more and shut down operations.
$70 million. The amount the Peace Corps’ budget got cut this year. Apparently, cutting $70 million from our budget will help balancing the federal government’s books. Somehow, I think it’s just going to weaken an organization that has the incredible ability to reach highly impoverished and at-risk sectors of the global population in over 76 countries. When we talk about global security these days, I believe that one of the biggest threats worldwide is a lack of education, encouragement, and opportunities for young people. Here in Honduras, this lack of opportunity and encouragement to young people is extremely apparent. The education system is broken, there is very little value here placed in formal education because the system has so many internal flaws, and there is no creativity taught in the schools. One of the most important things that Peace Corps can do in communities is encourage youth through creative thinking, problem solving, and by example of the value of education and dreaming big. I think it is fair to say that half of volunteers work directly with young people (from elementary school kids to 25). Outreach to youth is present in all Peace Corps Honduras’ projects: Business, Protected Areas Management, Health, Municipal Development, Water and Sanitation, and of course, Youth Development. I would encourage any of you who think that the work of Peace Corps is important and valuable to think about this: the total Peace Corps budget in its 50 years of being around is equal to 1% of the defense budget for just this year. This makes you have to really think whether cutting $70 million from our organization is the best move to balance the books.
15. The number of 6th graders who painted a large world map with me during my first two months in site. All of them graduated last November and they are all great kids J
76. The number of elementary students who attend my village’s school. I have had the privilege of playing soccer and doing gym class with all of them.
12. The number of associates of my cooperative that participated in the first stage of our direct trade project. These twelve coffee farmers shared their stories and coffee with us to create a guidebook to use with international buyers and roasters.
17,000. The number of quintales (100 pound sacks) of coffee that passed through my cooperative this past coffee season (November-March).
2. The number of times I have eaten sushi in the past year. Once in San Salvador and recently, I learned how to make Sushi with some friends in Santa Rosa de Copán.
3. The number of legs my dog, Tonkey, has because a drunk man cut off his front right paw. Luckily my host mom, Carmen, is good at sewing and does not have a weak stomach.
206 (estimate). The number of “jalons” or rides in the back of pick-up trucks that I have taken since being here. It is pretty much the main means of transport in rural Honduras.
4. The number of buckets of coffee that I have picked in one day on a coffee farm during the coffee season (each bucket is about 25 lbs). I am not a very fast picker at all because I only like to pick the ripe cherries; mixing green coffee cherries with ripe cherries is a good way to ruin the taste and quality of your coffee! I would earn 25 lempiras per bucket or 100 lempiras for the day. That is about 5 American dollars. Some pickers can pick up to 15 canastas/galones/buckets in one day. That is 375 lempiras or almost 20 bucks for a hard day of work.
2. The number of pants that I have ripped open in Honduras. I ripped the first pair while scaling a fence with some kids trying to wrangle cows. I fell on some barbed wire and ripped my pants and legs up. Damn fence was rotting and I fell right through the wood! I ripped the second pair while at a goodbye party for some fellow PCVs. In front of a large crowd of people. All the way across my butt. Luckily, it was dark and no one could see or at least, they assured me that no one could see. HA.
1. The number of young bulls that I have seen slaughtered. It was an interesting anatomy lesson but I had not eaten anything all day so I had to sit down through part of it. Our local Alcoholics Anonymous chapter was celebrating its anniversary so they slaughtered a bull and made the biggest pot of soup I have ever seen. This also happens to be the number of chickens that I have personally slaughtered to put into sopa de gallina (chicken soup more or less).
4. The number of domestic beers bottled here in Honduras. The four types of beer are Salva Vida, Imperial, Port Royal, and Barena. I have indeed tried all four and none of them are outstanding. However, if I have a choice, I usually will ask for Salva Vida with lime. A lot of volunteers like to do blind taste tests to see if you can actually test the difference. Because all four beers are bottled and distributed by the same company, it seems like all the beers are pretty much the same. I can’t say that I have done the taste test…yet.
Thanks for the update, as always! Have your brother go out and buy you some good beer
Carly
It amazes me what you are doing. I like what you say about the education and hope of the young people.
And I agree with you about the tan speaker of the house. I thought the same thing.
Your parents must be very proud.