Arrival in Honduras

Finally I'm here. I've waited a long time to finally return to Honduras and actually implement the project I've been planning this full year. I'm unbelievably excited to be here, to learn more about Honduran culture, challenge my abilities as a leader, and do something meaningful with the skills I have to offer. I'm also quite nervous. I'm afraid that what I have to offer is not enough, that I'm not up to this monumental challenge of community service in a striking new form. I think what will pull me through is keeping an open mind throughout all of the fluctuating plans, uncertainty, and fear. I hope to stay confident and yet to also know my limitations as a leader and as a volunteer.

It's pretty crazy here already. I just arrived yesterday, but already we've spent a lot of time exploring the city of San Pedro Sula. We're waiting here another full day and night for our last team member to arrive. There are all sorts of fast food places in San Pedro Sula - more than I would have ever expected to find in Honduras. In the "centro" - the small downtown area of the city with a beautiful waterfall located between the church and the municipal center - there is a corner where Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonalds, Wendys, Burger King, and Popeyes Chicken all intersect. The church is monumental and gorgeous - it has statues of Christ on the cross and beautiful stained glass windows. I would guess that it's about a third the size of the Duke chapel - which is a huge edifice here. Compared to La Esperanza - the town I stayed in last summer for a week - San Pedro Sula is noticeably noisier, more bustling with urban life, and not as run down. There are paved streets, not as many open gutters as La Esperanza, and a close-up view of Honduras's beautiful mountains. Interestingly enough, there's a Coca-Cola sign quite similar to the infamous Hollywood sign, and it lights up at night. Who would've thought there could be so much big company presence in a country so weathered down by poverty, poor health conditions, and crumbling infrastructure?
On a different note, the people here are very friendly and since I definitely stand out like a sore thumb, people speak English with me if they know it. Unfortunately, I find myself fumbling a bit over my Spanish even though I can sense that I have a stronger grasp on the language than I did last year when I came here and was really stumbling over my words. I hope I can pick up more Spanish here and really use mine to the full capacity that I know I have the potential for.
It's exhausting here with a seemingly endless supply of heat and humidity that literally evaporates all my sweat and water away to replenish the sticky air. I find myself drinking more water than usual yet I don't really use the bathroom as much. It's been nice, tho, to have a day to fully rest and orient ourselves a bit to Honduran culture. The market we visited today was filled with small hand-made crafts, jewelry, scarves, fabric, vegetables, fruit, clothing, hats, shoes, foreign DVDs and CDs, purses ... truly everything you could imagine. There was even a place where women were hand-making the little tortillas that I love here. It's a wondrous sight - the people here have so many goods in their street vendor cards and small umbrella stands in the market. I was truly in awe. I hope that in time they will sell their goods. It seems like no one sells too much of it... but everyone passes the time sitting at their cards, walking and approaching people on the street to buy their goods, and generally sitting or walking. I've seen a lot of cars here - and it still amazes me that there are paved roads here quite similar to the US. I hope that I'll continue to be blessed with noticing more cross-cultural similarities between the people here and people I know from home. I know at the core that the "Hondureños" have kind hearts and are very nice and friendly. I'm excited to learn more about Honduras and to embark on this monumental responsibility - to work together with the communities here to do some great work. :)