Alright alright, how’s everybody? Things are going good down here and we’re rockin and rollin right along through October. That stuff I said about being lazy the last time I posted was pretty much fed to me over the last couple of weeks. I’ve been working my bug-bitten butt off lately. Two weeks ago my eighth grade class decided to clean up a coffee field for some funds for a yet-to-be-determined project. I offered to help, figuring that it couldn’t be that bad. I was wrong. Seven of at us met up at 6 am for an hour hike to the finca (field) once there everyone sat down to file a few finishing touches on their machetes. Machetes aren’t very thick (between a sixteenth and an eighth of an inch) and they file them back to about a half an inch bevel on each side, meaning that the edge is extremely flat and razor sharp. The coffee finca had rows of coffee plants and in-between the rows it was overgrown with vegetation 3 to 4 feet high. They bend over and using a hooked stick they chop the grass at the level of the ground, basically they shave the dirt. It was really tough getting the hang of the technique (basically I never did, even after a couple of days). We spent the entire day out there and didn’t get home until 5 and I have to teach at 5:30. All in all, a couple of very tough days. All the guys have machete wounds; Elias has one on his index finger from last week that looks like his finger should have came off. It goes almost entirely around it at the first knuckle. Miguel slipped and hit his shin (refer to above about how sharp these things are) it cut through his pants and stopped at the bone. Everyone thought it was funny and were giving him a hard time. And he had to sit there without a grimace and smile back. I did what I could cleaning the wound with some iodine and patched it up with a sterile dressing. He didn’t even blink when I was cleaning it, I guess they make ‘em pretty tough down here. The cool thing about working was on both days we saw deer. Deer are very rare in Honduras and are the national animal, but they also taste good and eat crops so often they are hunted, and overhunted. Honduras doesn’t have a Fish and Game either so there is little management or protection. Well if anyone decides to come to Cruz Alta they can see deer. There is even one who is considered a local pet and loves to eat tortillas, his name is Juansito (little John).
Last Thursday Dawn, another volunteer, came up and we built an improved oven. The traditional ovens are huge adobe mounds that are filled with wood and lit. As soon as the wood heats the oven it is removed and whatever you want to cook is placed inside. They aren’t efficient at all and require tons of firewood. Not good if you are trying to protect the forests and watersheds not to mention the huge amount of work that goes into cutting and splitting wood without chainsaws or mechanization (Thank God most people can’t afford Husqvarnas). Anyway, we built a more efficient stove out of bricks and two barrels (one fits inside the other). It is kind of a pain to explain how it works but basically it makes a convection oven and the heat from the fire cooks the food rather than the residual heat left over in the adobe. It was a lot of fun and was an all day process. There isn’t much in the way of tools floating around and the guys used their machetes for everything, including cutting and shaping bricks.
We also had our first rounds of exams this last week and I’ve got a stack of tests waiting to be graded back at the house. As for now I’m spending the weekend in Santa Rosa de Copan at the Peace Corps house. I even managed to watch the first game of the World Series last night, so those of you thinking that I’m locked away in a mud hut somewhere with no access to the outside world think again. Thank you so much to everyone who’s sent me emails and letters. And to those who haven’t, get on it (wishvillestout@yahoo.com). And to anyone watching the news we’ve been getting some hurricanes passing through; Katrina, Stan, and Wilma to name a few. No worries about me, I’m safe up on the mountain but keep the poor in your prayers. I guess there were towns in Guatemala that were completely wiped out, some of them nobody even knew about for a couple of days, also it looks like Yucatan Mexico is getting drilled pretty hard. Well, I’d best skin out. Talk to you soon. Joe

Elias, Ronald, and Benito putting the final touches on the oven

Chuckin a little mud for the outside of the oven

Benito doing some masonry with his machete

Pounding rebar through a barrel to make oven racks (check out the big guy and the little hammer)

"Juansito"

Benito, Nelson, and Ronald sharpening machetes in the coffee finca.

Hey everybody, sorry for the lag in updates, looks like about a months gone by or so. It isn’t that I haven’t had the time or been able to get to the computer, I’ve just been lazy. I’ll give you some brief updates first.
1. My landlord, Don Meduardo, got drunk and rode a horse with his brother who was also drunk and fell off and died. His brother didn’t want to go to the hospital and instead went to his house, and from what I hear he is also going to die. This is pretty sad news, I looked forward to working with Don Meduardo, the previous two volunteers had some really great experiences with him and he was a very motivated gentleman. But there are lessons about drinking and horses to be learned here.
2. I found a scorpion in my swimming trunks and have adopted it as a pet.
3. There was a minor earthquake along the north coast of Honduras two weeks ago and I felt it. It was actually kind of fun (very minor earthquake) and it stirred some pretty funny memories of my mom rushing us kids out of Toone’s cabin in Willow Creek.
4. Another hurricane has been passing through; Hurricane Stan is what I heard on the radio. It has done nothing but rain and blow in Cruz Alta for the past week. I woke up every morning and had to convince myself that I wasn’t still in western Washington. There is mud everywhere and my garden is pretty much a mud hole.
5. I got to ride on Top (sorry mom) of a school bus the other day for an hour or so and it was one of the most visual rides I’ve taken.
6. I’ve been teaching eighth grade math, science, health, English and seventh grade English and have loved every minute of it. Maybe with the one exception of the math part. We’re working through some pretty basic Algebra. Basic if you speak the language. It is really a lot of fun trying to explain how x =3 when on the last problem x=6.8. But we’re having a blast doing it (or at least I am, it’s these kids’ futures that I’m joking about and making light of).

Other than that it has been kind of slow, and I realize that 1-4 of the above list could even be perceived as negative, but they are all experiences and I’ve learned a few things from each of them (like check your shorts for surprises before putting them on and don’t drink and drive, especially if you’re on a horse). I’m not saving the world yet; you all need to understand that Peace Corps, like any government agency is a slow and repetitive process. Could you imagine showing up to any other job and on your first day your boss says: “Joe, great to have you here, seriously man. Yeahh, for the first three months or so I don’t really want you to do anything, what’s that you’ve got some Grateful Dead Cds and some Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, excellent excellent, why don’t you go ahead and listen to those and put your feet up for awhile, get to know the office if you know what I mean.” So my job right now is talking to people and drinking coffee, and every day I teach. This is the life as far as I’m concerned, except for the fact that those that I love are so far away (that and the elk hunting sucks Peace Corps won’t even let me own a gun). Ok sorry if this came off as cynical it shouldn’t be (except for making jokes about dead guys that is pretty harsh) I am having a good time down here and everyone should come see for themselves. I will try to be better about the updates thing and I’m sorry if some of you have been worrying about me. Happy thoughts to all and I’ll leave you with a little of the Dead, keep on truckin. Joe

there is a road
no simple highway
between the dawn and dark of night
and if you go, no one may follow
that path is for your steps alone

Actually, what I’m really going to leave you with is a little Honduran imagery, a Central American landscape if you will. I hitchhiked into Gracias this morning (again sorry Mom, but it is much more accepted and less dangerous down here) and there was a campesino (Honduran farmer) in the act of personally fertilizing (deficating if you don't get the euphamism) his soil in the middle of a bare pasture (I mean bare man, no trees no nothing). Nobody else in the truck thought it was funny but I couldn’t stop laughing, the guy had this look on his face as if he were torn between stopping and getting up really quick and acting like nothing was happening or just going with it. And like we all should, he just kept on keepin on. There is a metaphor and a lesson in everything I guess.