Hobbies...and celebrations!

Hello friends,

Thanks for the introductions.  It was a lot of fun reading the entries.  I love that we all speak many languages J

Like a lot of you (Ahmed, Jonathan, walter, Miguel, Samantha, Brian, Luis), most kids here enjoy playing soccer.  Others that don’t like to play will mostly likely watch the national teams play.  The city has many soccer fields, some are very nice with fake grass and others are a dirt area.  In the rural areas, most fields are a dirt area with rocks for goal posts.  Also, the kids in the rural areas often play barefoot!  Is soccer a big sport in Anaheim?

Our town soccer team is El Hispano.  The team’s mascot is a “burro” (donkey).  One of the largest rivalries is between the two capital city teams, Olimpia and Motagua.  The annual game between these two teams is called “El Clasico” (the Classic). Maybe Walter can tell you all more about this rivalry?

Like in the States, cell phones are very common here.  They offer the best calling rates to the United States which is where a lot of their family members have immigrated too.  Kids love to text message here.  And most everyone likes to listen to music.  The most popular music genre is probably reggaeton.  I’m sure you’ve all heard this type of music living in Southern California. 

However, in the North Coast, the most popular music genre is probably punta.  This music is original to the Garifuna community, an African ethnic group.  Maybe Ms. Garcia can help explain how Honduras came to have an African community.  Actually, Honduras counts with many ethnic groups (see the map).  Some of these groups have their own language like Mayan, Garifuna, Pech, and English.  Yes, some Hondurans speak mostly English like the Afro-Caribbean on the Island of Roatan. 

As you can imagine, these ethnic groups have their own cultural traditions that makes them unique. 

One of the most celebrated traditions take place during Christmas.  Hondurans love to make their favorite holiday foods like torrejas (a sweet corn dessert) and tamales.  They also burn a lot of fireworks.  It is very common to see fireworks with any celebration here.  For example, for New Years the kids make a human size doll that represents the Año Viejo (Old Year) and stuff him with firecrackers.  Once midnight strikes, they light him to represent the burning of the “bad memories” of the past year.  Another important holiday is Semana Santa (Holy Week).  The week is filled with religious processions.  In my site, the town is decorated with alfombras (carpets made of colored sawdust) Holy Thursday. 

Tell me a bit about your family or cultural traditions.  What do you celebrate? 

I hope you are all doing great.  I know you are weeks away from summer vacation so I hope to read from you soon. J

Introductions

Hello!  If you've read my profile you already know a bit about me.  I'm originally from Central California. My family is originally from Mexico.  They immigrated into the US as teenager.  I grew up speaking Spanish at home and visiting our familia (family) in Mexico for Christmas every year.

My "abuelita" (grandma) making tortillas with my aunt.

A lot of why I am serving as a volunteer is because of these experiences.  I understood early in life that my parents worked hard to make sure we grew up with more opportunities.  Today, serve as a Peace Corps volunteer to help other see that they too have more opportunities in life.  I serve as a Youth Development volunteer in Honduras.  Mostly, this means that I help youth grow an interest for new skills and help them develop them as well.  Much of my responsibility is also to help teachers and parents better work with youth.

Currently, my main projects include teaching English to elementary teachers.  You see, the government is requiring all elementary teachers to teach the fundamental skills on the English language.  However, the government has not provided the adequate resources for this to happen effectively. (Can you imagine if the US government asked all elementary teachers to teach us Chinese, Spanish, or another main language?)

Here is another question...why would the Honduran government select English as their second language?

One fun part of my job is to observe my "students" (the elementary teachers in my class) teaching their own classes.  They work hard and their students do too.  Visit soon to see them performing the greetings song and working on other activities.  :)

Bienvenidos (Welcome)

Welcome to OUR blog.  I hope you enjoy this journey.  My name is Monica.  I will serve as your "blog" pal for the next month or so.  :)