Felices Pascuas

Easter is not only an important week for the Church, it´s quite busy! I didn´t expect to be spending so much time at church, but was happy to be part of the Easter celebrations. Thursday night I went to mass where Father Craig washed the feet of several parishioners. Friday morning was Via Cruces, the re-enactment of the Passion. We processed through the town, following the youth of the parish who were dramatizing the Stations of the Cross. At each station there was an alfombra, an image made out of dyed sawdust. Each image was distinct and went with the station. They were also varying in size-one was big enough to cover the width of the front of the church!

On Friday I took part in two other processions through the streets. The first was led by a group of men carrying a glass casket decorated with flowers that held a statue of Jesus. We walked from the church to a cemetary, singing and praying along the way. The second procession was later Friday night, and traditionally only women were allowed to go. It´s meant to be a time to accompany Mary in her suffering, so we said the rosary and stopped at a few altars along the way. It was touching to see how many people were involved and willing to set up an altar in front of their home.

On Saturday night I went to the fire blessing, held a block down from our house. It started with a blessing of the Easter candle. After lighting the candle, we each lit our own individual candles and then processed through the streets to the church. When we arrived, the church was left in darkness, but lit up only by our individual candles. It was quite moving to see the symbolism, that each of us carries the light of Christ and in the end, people are what give life to the church. We listened to a few readings from the Old Testament while in the dark and then the lights went on, we sang, and listened to readings from the New Testament (at least I think that´s what was happening). It was a nice ceremony, and a beautiful way to welcome Easter day.

On Easter we went to mass in the morning, with the church decked out in green and white. When we went home, we did a treasure hunt! Tori had put clues throughout the house that led us to an Easter basket hid in the mango tree. She made us each a cross-shaped cookie accompanied by a mango bunny. (My favorite clue was: I´m a very expensive paperweight. It ended up being my crap computer. Haha) I was excited that we were able to have our own kind of Easter celebration, and one that reminded us of home. It was hard being away, but we were kindly invited to dinner at Father Craig´s with the Sisters. It certainly wasn´t the same as home (or Gram´s cooking), but was very nice to share the meal and holiday with such good company.

Overall, it was a lovely holiday. Towards the end of our break, I wasn´t sure how I felt about going back to school. It was nice to have time to ourselves and relax, and I was getting a bit spoiled. But over the weekend I saw a couple students and was filled with joy. I was so excited to see them both. It reassured me that I was ready to tackle another trimester with the students.

Every trimester we change classes, so after this review week and tests next week, we´ll be starting fresh. We won´t find out our exact assignments until tomorrow, but the main classes are English, Math, Psychology, and Economics. I´m looking forward to teaching something that I know well, instead of material that I have to learn first and then teach (like Spanish grammar or an analysis of a Honduran legend).

Hopefully I¨ll be able to post some pictures of the trip and of Semana Santa, but don´t hold your breath!

¡Nuestro Primero Viaje! Our First Trip!

This past week was Semana Santa (Holy Week), an important time of year for the Church. Pretty much everything shuts down that week and everyone heads to the beach or nearest swimming hole. My housemates and I travelled to San Pedro Sula (the industrial capital) for a night and to Copán Ruinas for three nights. In San Pedro we were lucky enough to meet up with one of the psychologists that we met the previous week. She brought us to some neat places in the city including a cultural museum and a fast food chicken restaurant that she was very proud of (I really threw them off when I ordered rice and beans without one of the fifty different chicken options).

Then we headed to Copán, home of Hondura´s only site of Mayan ruins. It was a pretty touristy town and a lot safer than what I´ve been used to in Guaimaca. So just getting away on its own was a bit liberating. I enjoyed venturing through the cobblestone roads, visiting a photo exhibit, and even just sitting and reading in the central park. The ruins were pretty interesting. We were able to climb up the steps of the temples and touch sacrificing stones (equipped with slots to let the blood of the sacrificed run down). I also went on a really beautiful nature walk and saw some truly grand trees. I do wish that I had put down the money for a guide, but it just wasn´t in our budget. There wasn´t much information out along the paths, but it was still neat to witness the grandiosity of a civilization that flourished so many years ago.

The next day we ventured to Macaw Mountain. It is a bird park that accepts birds from captivity. From there, they breed them and set the youngins out into the wild. It´s mostly an educational park and it afforded us the opportunity to get up close with the birds native to Honduras. They were quite brilliant.

Possibly the best part of our trip was stumbling upon a small brewery run by a German man on the outskirts of town. Let me explain my excitement. Since our first month here, I realized that one of the things that I would miss most (talking food-wise) is good quality beer. Honduras has about three options, and they’re all watered down… the best of all being Corona. So sitting down at this brewery, being able to truly enjoy a cold wheat beer was marvellous. So this German man had settled in Copán fourteen years ago and now has a family and his own brewery. He was so passionate about his work that he gladly showed us the brewing process and his equipment. It was quite neat.

We returned Wednesday night of Holy Week so that we could be back for the Easter services. Coming back to Guaimaca made it feel even more like home…even though the electricity had gone out. 

La Resistencia

There has been unrest among Honduras’ educational system for decades now. Teachers unions are almost always on strike. Students are supposed to attend something like 240 days of schooling per year, but with all of the days off (thanks to the strikes), they spend about half that in the classroom. It’s no longer surprising for me to hear our neighbor’s excitement because she can stay home from school. There haven’t been classes for the past three weeks, and there’s talk of the students missing the majority of the year.

The teachers who are a part of the Resistencia are on strike for an increase in salary. That said, some believe that the teachers are just out for money (since they already get a decent salary).  There are a number of teachers that weren’t paid for all of last year because of budget shortages. Others blame the oppressive system/government. If teachers aren’t receiving the support that they need, then they should be speaking up and demanding better conditions for themselves. It's hard to tell what's really going on when everyone has their own opinion (including the newspapers that are owned by influential families).  

But it’s not that simple. There is a lot of political rage behind all this: ever since the coup d’état (when Zelaya was removed from office in 09), the Zelayistas have spoken up.  This past week in Tegucigalpa there was a busload of teachers loaded with rocks, throwing them at passersby.

There’s talk of the country wiping the teaching staff clean, suspending classes for six months, and completely rehiring. Apparently there are a lot of certified teachers available to replace the current staffing. President Lobo threatens that if classes don’t resume this week, then teachers will start to be fired. We’ll see what really happens.

What better way to oppress a country than to destroy educational services?

Even within the universities there is a lot of corruption among admissions and content. If you’re well connected, it doesn’t matter what you score on the entrance exam (or if you take it at all). And if you’re not connected, you’re out of luck: you might have to take the test several times.

There’s no way to improve the quality of the students’ education if the teachers are only available for half of the year and aren’t receiving the support that they need. There’s no investment in the youth. (For this, among other reasons, I really appreciate everything that the sisters are doing at the Center. Life continues as normal, regardless of the political situation.) 

Educacion en Honduras

The country requires that each student receives an education up until 6^th grade. That said, Honduras has had some of the lowest rates of access to education in all of Central America. For those that do have access, education may mean a one room schoolhouse, equipped with one teacher for all six grades. Books are a rarity, so class time is mostly spent copying the teacher’s book or information from the board (just another example of how memorizing is engrained in their educational structures).

When I started teaching the 22 seventh-graders, I was shocked to see what was for me an unruly classroom. For example, they were unfamiliar with the concept raising their hand to participate (something that I learned from a young age). Instead, whoever knew the answer would shout it out and then the rest of the class would follow and repeat the answer. Since I wasn’t allowed the opportunity to call on students, it was difficult to make sure that not just a few people were answering all of the questions. (Now that several weeks have passed, they’ve become more accustomed to raising their hands and being called on.) In a classroom in the aldea (where these students had been educated up until 6th grade), it’s probably pretty easy for students to fall behind without individualized attention.

At the end of each semester the students take a state-written final exam for each subject. I’ve looked at the Spanish exams and they’re pretty pathetic. They require no critical thinking (surprise, surprise) and are a mere two pages… mostly multiple-choice. Did I mention that the exams are worth 70% of their overall grade? If the students fail the first time, they can take it a second time right away, and then a third time at the end of the year. We’ll see how it goes this year, but last year there was a good number who had to re-take the exams. 

So needless to say, there are a lot of differences within education and it's been challenging to get used to.