Day 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565
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Day 547 - Thursday, May 1, 2003
We headed out to downtown San Salvador to do a little touring of the city. We quickly noticed that much like Tegucigalpa, San Salvador is not a hot tourist spot. We felt relatively safe as there was an event for Labor day going on and lots of police. Also the bellhop at the hotel seemed to think that no one would bother us, but would respect us. That seemed to be the case as everyone was very respectful and helpful. We took a look at the town center and went up into the mountains above the city to a little over look. In the town center we purchased a huge silk hammock that we have been looking for since we started our service. I just hope I can find a place to hang it up when we get home. We had lunch and went back to our hotel to gather our things.
Being the adventurer and cheap people we are, we decided to forego the $18.00 taxi ride and see if we could make it to the bus via public transportation. We got on a city bus that took us to the center and then started asking for buses that would take us out towards the airport. Ten minutes later were on another city bus that would take us out to the highway where we could catch a minibus that would be going out to the airport. The first mini-bus (a 15 passenger van) that came by appeared to have about 20 people in it and no room for us or our luggage. The driver seemed pretty confident that he could fit us in, but after watching him try to shove our backpack under the 5 inches of clearance in he back seat I decided maybe we would wait for the next bus to pass by. About 20 minutes later another bus came by, just as full, but they were able to put all the luggage in the front seat where passengers are not allowed to sit. Once we picked up our 20th person we were on our way. The ride took about 40 minutes and dropped us off right in front of the airport. total cost for the two of us to get from the hotel to the airport was about $4.00. Of course it took us about an hour and a half longer, but we saved $14.00.
At the airport we had a very interesting experience. After flying from Peru with many transfers and checking only one bag, we were told that we had too much carry on luggage. This was told to us by the lone clerk who in the 20 minutes it took to bypass their checks system only checked us onto the flight for Honduras. We were sure the flight would be almost empty and didn't know why they were making such a big deal about it. They told us we had too many pieces and the ones we had were too heavy to be carry-ons. We weren't sure what we going to do with the fragile souvenirs and wine we had packed up and went to her supervisor who directed us to another check in person who was thoroughly confused why we were checking in a second time. I managed to cheat the scale by holding on to the bag while they weighed it and we were told that if we could get through the security check point we would be ok. Knowing that like most airports the security people are not too concerned with how much you bring on the place rather what you bring on the plane I figured we would be fine. I got a little nervous when the security guard approached and wanted to know what was in my backpack. Just a few bottles of wine I told him. Are they all sealed, he asked. Yes would you like to see. I started to panic a bit more when I realized that two of the bottles were gift wrapped in a special wine carrying box and it would take 20 minutes to unpack and repack it. I found one bottle and he seemed pretty content with seeing that we weren't violating the open bottle rule that apparently applies to airplanes as well. Safely on the plane I looked around to see about 20 other passengers on our 150 passenger plane and wondered what the big stink was about at the ticketing counter. Rules are rules I guess regardless of the circumstances.
We arrived safely back in Honduras and went to spend the night at Wilmer and Angelica's house. Wilmer works at the Peace Corps office is we have become friends over the last year. We occasionally stay with them when we are in town. They are a very nice couple.
Day 548 - Friday, May 2, 2003
We traveled back to Concepción this morning. In the evening we were visited by a rain storm, just as the storm was letting up we heard a loud bolt of lightning and some other pops towards the center of town after which the lights went out. Apparently a few of the transformers in town were blown out.
Day 549 - Saturday, May 3, 2003
We cleaned the house for about three hours this morning. In the process we found a mouse in our bedroom which would explain all the little mousy turds in the corners and in our kitchen. We cornered him under the bed and brought in the neighbor kids to help us kill him. I told them it was a big cockroach as no one seems to be scared of those. We found him hiding among the backpacks under our bed. Two of the kids and Jennifer ran out of the room screaming like it could at any minute leap off the floor and kill us all by sinking its tiny teeth into our jugular veins. The one brave neighbor girl that stuck around had the presence of mind to whack the mouse with her sandal as previously instructed to do and stunned him enough for me to move in for the kill. The poor little guy never saw it coming, we no longer have a problem with little mousy turds in our house.
After cleaning we showered and went out to visit people and let them know we were back in town. In the afternoon the temperature rose to 99 degrees according to our thermometer with a humidity of 80%. It was not very pleasant especially with out a fan. We managed to sleep in the evening soaking the sheets with our sweat. Luckily right after we went to bed another strong storm came through and cooled things down to a tolerable 79 degrees.
Day 550 - Sunday, May 4, 2003
This afternoon we had lunch with Douglas. We had invited him to come over have lunch and play cards. We played card for a couple of hours and had chicken noodle soup for lunch.
In the evening we went to Ruth and Mario's house for dinner. At this point there was still no lights in town, however Mario is one of the few people in town with a generator so we enjoyed a dinner with lights and a fan, which was nice as today was another 99 degree day with 80% humidity.
As I laid in bed I tried to sleep and after an hour of tossing and turning I got up and wondered how long it would take to walk to somewhere cooler. The heat was unbearable. I started to pray that God would bring us relief. I had conceded that maybe I would be reading a book by candle light for the rest for the night as sleep was not an option at this point in time. After going to the bathroom and getting a drink of water I heard the gentle pattering of rain outside which soon turned into a giant downpour. In 15 minutes the temperature dropped to about 80 degrees and the humidity went down a little as well. I thanked God and went back to bed where I was not able to sleep.
Day 551 - Monday, May 5, 2003
We just kind of hung out in the morning. The computer battery had been eaten up and there wasn't much for us to do. Around 3 pm the electricity came back on and we went to the Baptist church in town to use their keyboard to practice wedding music. We are singing for my sister's wedding in July and have a few song that we need to practice before we go home.
In the evening I went to the cooperative to work on coding products that did not have barcodes on them. I'm a little concerned about our project in the cooperative as the employees are not taking a very active role in maintaining the systems that we are setting up. There is no one in a supervisory role to tell people what to do and when to do it, and follow up to make sure it gets done. There is a general manager, but he doesn't seem all that concerned about maintaining the system that have been set up. I'm worried that our work here will have been a waste of time. They need a new set of employees who are interested in working.
Day 552 - Tuesday, May 6, 2003
We let to go back to Tegucigalpa this morning. Our bus ride was delayed by a crude oil tanker that crashed into the side of the mountain and started on fire. the police had the road blocked off and no one was allowed to pass for fear of starting the passing vehicles on fire from the intense heat it was giving off. Right after we received that bit of information another tanker carrying gasoline drive through the area and parks next to our bus. The police pulled it over and began to yell at the driver for being stupid enough to drive by the other tanker that was on fire. He explained to the policeman that his tanker was empty. I couldn't help but think to myself "oh that makes it sooo much safer after all your carrying fuel your carrying the even more volatile and explosive vapors that are left over in the tanks!!!!!!!!" Jennifer and everyone else on the bus voiced their concern about having the giant time bomb sitting next to our bus. I assured her that if it hadn't exploded yet it probably wouldn't. I was pretty confident in my answer until I saw the firemen on the scene getting board and pulling out their hoses. I started to get nervous and went up to see what they were doing. Sure enough they were setting up their hoses so they could throw water from their 1000 gallon fire truck onto the burning petroleum. I started to pray that the truck worked as well as it looked as the drainage ditch that ran downhill from the burning tanker went right next to the parked "empty" tanker and our bus. I figured is they had an overflow problem and a burning river started flowing downhill I could get Jen and run in the other direction before it exploded. The spent about 10 minutes shooting water on the fire which only seemed to make the fire flare and burn hotter. I could feel the heat from 75 yards away and was wondering what the fireman, who had opted to take off all his protective gear except for his pants - probably because it was so hot out, was feeling. I was pretty sure he would burst into flame any minute. He switched off with another guy who was smart enough to keep all his gear on. They finally gave up seeing that they were doing more harm than good. After another 30 minutes the fire burned itself down far enough that we could pass. I managed to get a few photos of the remains.
We have a luncheon with the national director of Peace Corps from Washington, DC (he is in charge of all of Peace Corps world wide). He was appointed by President Bush about a year ago. We stayed at a new hotel that has been contracted by Peace Corps Honduras and were very happy with our new accommodations. The new hotel is much cleaner, quieter, and nicer than the one we have been accustom to staying in.
Day 553 - Wednesday, May 7, 2003
We spent the morning running errands and in the afternoon had our lunch with the Peace Corps director. He was a very down to earth guy showing up in a polo shirt and jeans. He talked about what he would be doing in his time as director and what he has done already and how they were working towards President Bush's goal of doubling the size of Peace Corps. He was very impressive man, good public speaker, and seemed like someone who would be good to work for. The lunch was exquisite with fillet mignon, fresh fish, and vegetable lasagna.
In the evening we stayed in our room and enjoyed our free internet access.
Day 554 - Thursday, May 8, 2003
We ran more errands today and went to the lab for some blood tests.
In the evening we stayed in our room and enjoyed our free internet access.
Day 555 - Friday, May 9, 2003
We ran more errands today, and then went to see the doctor.
In the afternoon I bought Jennifer a bouquet of Daisies to celebrate Mother's Day and our Anniversary.
In the evening we went out to dinner with some friends .
Day 556 - Saturday, May 10, 2003
We headed back to Concepción today and chose a terrible day to travel. We left fairly early and went to the market where busses usually leave every 15 minutes for Choluteca. When we got there we waited 20 minutes with 200 other people who were waiting for the same bus. Disappointed and impatient we went to the luxury bus company and found that they were sold out. We then went back to the market and found a direct bus for Concepción de Maria that was getting ready to leave this was odd since the first bus usually leaves 2 hours later than this bus did. We managed to find seats crunched in with two other people in the seat with us. As we were exiting Teguz they picked up more people and I gave my seat to a woman with a small child. I ended up standing in the isle all the way to Choluteca where the bus empties and then refilled with people heading up towards Concepción. The ride wasn't all that bad, however we were a little frustrated that some people didn't want to share their seats with anyone other than perhaps a small child or their handbag. They were very rude and not very accommodating. Mother's day is a huge holiday here and everyone was going one place or another to see their mothers or their children. It was kind of aggravating to see how selfish some of the people on the bus were.
We did eventually make it to our town and most people cleared off the bus in Choluteca giving us a seat together for the last 2 1/2 hours of our bus ride.
Day 557 - Sunday, May 11, 2003
Today was mother's day. We went to Maria del Centro a small community about 20 minutes away on foot to attend a celebration for "Dia de la Madre" Mother Day for our young protégé Douglas who was one of the many children that was performing song or skit today. It was mildly entertaining and fun to see all the kids performing for their kids. We left before the food was served and went back to our house to finish up some leftovers.
For dinner we went to Azucena's house and had "plato tipico" a typical Honduran meal, and talked for a couple of hours.
Day 558 - Monday, May 12, 2003
Today was our third year anniversary. For most of the day I spent time getting caught up on my journal and updating the website while Jennifer sorted through all the "stuff" we have accumulated and started making piles of stuff to give away and take home.
In the evening we grilled a chicken, yes a whole chicken that weighed three and a half pounds. It was a pitiful little bird and I can wait to get back to the land of pollo grande (big chicken) and have a big ol' BBQ. Dinner was nice Jen made Mashed potatoes, Corn, and Cherry Cheese Cake. We ate and talked about the last year of our marriage. I gave her a long letter telling her how special she is to me and some "love coupons" for time and services in the future. We wrote out letters to one another and sealed them in an envelope with the hope that 17 years from today we will be around to open them and read what each other said.
We then went down to the river where there is a Huge tree that looks like it has been around longer than people have been in Honduras. We carved our initials in the tree and hope to return in ten years to see if it is still there. We cut in a big heart and put M + J, for Miguel + Jennifer. I just hope we weren't setting a bad example.
Our Trip to Peru (photos) was what we gave each other or our Anniversary
Day 559 - Tuesday, May 13, 2003
We got up and went for a nice walk this morning. When we got home we had breakfast and wrote a song. We also worked on a couple of kids songs that we are going to teach to the kindergarten kids tomorrow morning. I finished working on this journal while Jennifer continued to get stuff organized for our move back to the states.
I spent a few hours in the Cooperative preparing for a the inventory we are planning on doing this weekend. I was a little disappointed to find that my "students" the cooperative employees did not practice with the new computer program at all while we were gone. It has been frustrating as they don't seem very interested in learning anything. I guess we we will see what happens.
Day 560 - Wednesday, May 14, 2003
We started the preliminary work for doing the inventory in the cooperative. The difficult part is going to be the fact that Jennifer and I are the only ones in the store that have any idea what it means to do an inventory and put product codes on all the products. The people we are working with are not very detail oriented and tend to do anything that involved details rather sloppy. We are hoping to get all the products entered into the computer system and then count them all.
Day 561 - Thursday, May 15, 2003
We continued to work in the cooperative today. It has been very frustrating trying to get people to work and work with the system we are trying to install. Some are fighting it as they see their "free" access to products disappear, others just don't want to do the work involved in making this happen, others are trying, but don't quiet comprehend what we are trying to do. The moral level is pretty low and I'm wondering if we have the level of "confianza" or a strong enough relationship with the people to do this. Getting them to do anything is a challenge. I finally got two people to help with the entering of products today, but I had to go back and make a lot of changes at the end of the day. Details just don't seem to come very well for them. We had a meeting with the employees to try to figure out what was going on and how we could help and to see how they were feeling about working in the cooperative. They told us they thought they were overworked and pointed out some of the problems with the store.
Day 562 - Friday, May 16, 2003
I worked pretty hard in the cooperative today. Jen went to Choluteca to do some shopping and drop off material for a dress she is having made. I finally gave up on directing and decided to just do the work that needed to be done since it appears that self motivation is incredibly low among employees. I cleaned and organized and just ignored the employees since they were not listening anyway. I got a lot done in a very short period of time. I guess I wanted to show them that working isn't as hard as they make it sound. After lunch time the director showed up and wanted to know what he could do to help. I directed him to several projects that we had to do and he directed a few people to help me out. Over all it was ok start, but it seems like for every 10 minutes of work there is a 10 minute break.
I talked to the director about hiring additional employees since there were two jobs vacated in the last year and that I had a few candidates in mind, all of whom had their degrees (high school) in business. Since we taught at the high school last year and our primary students were those in the business class we had a very good idea of who would work well with the computers and organizing thing in the store. I told him I would give him a list of names of our top five students. Jennifer and I have been discussing and trying to get them to hire someone full time to manage and direct and organize, and we have always been told the same thing. They plan on hiring in the future. I gave him the name of one student in particular that I have thought about for a while. We just ran into her on a walk the other day and were reminded of what a nice person.
Day 563- Saturday, May 17, 2003
I told the manager that we should start doing the inventory in the afternoon and continue to work. I was surprised to see our number one candidate at the store that I had given to the director was there in the cooperative. Apparently the director contacted her and asked her to come over and start working on a "probationary" status. I spent about an hour going over the basics of the program and then got her started with enter products. What had taken 2 months to teach the other employees took about 2 hours to teach her. The inventory started slowly and we will be lucky if we can finish by the end of Sunday.
Day 564 - Sunday, May 18, 2003
We worked very hard today on entering inventory, it was difficult to keep people working and organized as no one is really used to taking a set of directions and continuing in a logical manner. Instead, they all want to ask about products, if they should give it a number and so and so forth. I set up a set of rules for how products would be coded in my head and that is what we were following. It was all explained to them over and over again...Some of them caught on. In the evening Jennifer and I dd spot checks and found huge discrepancies in the products that had been counted. It was a frustrating end to a busy day. We told them they would have to stay closed tomorrow if they wanted to finish the inventory.
Day 565 - Monday, May 19, 2003
We continued the inventory today and I was pretty impressed with the progress we made. In the morning we had a meeting to give everyone chocolate chip cookies and explain the importance of not stealing from the cooperative and giving accurate numbers for the products they count. We assembled counting teams and sent out to count those items already entered in the computer. I think it took them a lot longer than they had imagined. With two to three people counting the same products there a lot of discussion about what was what and how many of them there were. Overall the day went really well. We still have two area to finish, but they are areas where they don't sell a lot of products daily and will be very time consuming as there are a lot of little stuff that will be hard to code. I think we should have everything up and running by noon tomorrow.
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