post #6

long over-due.
oh, and thank you for continually checking in to see if i have written. not to sound like big brother too much, but i can check blog stats (how many visitors, clicks, etc.) and they have been spiking recently! wahoo!

so honduras. oh, honduras. i think that i am going to do a hybrid account via chronology and experience. i also apologize because i am going to literally put my fingers on the keyboard and just go. if i don’t have complete thoughts or it seems like the entry is a stream of consciousness, it is because it is. ok, here we go.

day 1 >> yoro, honduras
16 of us were on the trip. we boarded a 7am flight from boston to miami, where we then hopped over to san pedro sula, a major city in honduras. we waited outside for our little bus (read: the size of the small school buses in the US) with our driver DENIS (read: the MAN). no crap, my spanish was poor. i could barely communicate with anyone… one of the native hondurans was able to muster enough english, though, to ask me if i was like bruce lee and knew karate. i had to laugh. i mean, come on.
we made our way through the outskirts of san pedro, and were on our way to yoro. along the way, we stopped for lunch. i had some tortillas with mystery meat (honestly: no clue what it was), and a “link” grapefruit soda that actually tasted like grapefruit. jealous, i know.
onward to our destination, we encountered cows in the road, rolling hills, beautiful green grass, acres and acres of sugar cane, corn, and beans. we also saw where lands have been victims of slash/burn from loggers in the area, and the drastic differences across physical lands that have been touched, and untouched. we also saw lots of little houses with little gardens.
we arrived at this hotel that were staying in for the night, met SELVIN (read: the man) who oversees the work with the community of yoro on behalf of the local honduran organization working with SHI (FUCOHSO– which works with communities in honduras to help teach, promote, and practice sustainable farming not only for a means of food, but to hopefully reinvest in the local economy). we learned a bit more about the project that we would be splitting up and working on (more later), about why yoro (incredibly impoverished region of honduras), and what we could expect from the community (other than amazing hospitality and patience).
we went to sleep knowing we had some seriously awesome work ahead of us.

day 2 >> yoro, honduras
8 folks went into the the community to stay with families, and do smaller scale projects for the local families. i was with the half that was staying in the FUCOHSO main office in yoro to work on a NEW demo farm. a new strip of land was purchased by FUCOHSO to be used as a demonstration farm, so that families could come and see how to sustainable and organically farm to preserve the land and yield good results. it was uphill, shadeless, and big. they bought this on purpose to show that even difficult pieces of land can be farmed on successfully and fruitfully.

we only worked for about 4 hours that morning before lunch, and it was devilishly difficult. for those 4 hours, i literally just raked brush and dug holes.
i was really, really trying to be tough, not take as many breaks, and try to work through it all. most of the time, i put my head down, and just trucked through it. i did this for 3 reasons: 1) i was only hear to give 4 days of good work before leaving, 2) i wanted to be useful and abused if i was only here working for such a short period 3) i am stubborn beyond belief.
in the afternoon, i helped work on another on-going project: they just purchased another small piece of land where the NEW office will be, and in the future, dorms and bathrooms for volunteers to stay at when coming down with SHI.
i shoveled dirt/gravel into a wheel barrel, moved the wheel barrel into the new building, and dumped it. i repeated this for quite a long time before the rain delayed our work. it was just wilmur and myself, and with his little english and my little spanish, it was literally SILENT for the first 30 minutes. it was a comfortable silence, though… just working with a common goal (cheezy, i know). but when the rain smothered the mountain tops, drove the cattle away, and silenced the roads, i dove in with D- level spanish, and we had some great conversations. i learned about his family, life in yoro, and how he loves national geographic television programs. i think that i was snapped back to reality quickly when he asked how much it costs for cable in the US, and i said that cable can be anywhere from $20-150… per month. at that point, it was a big pill for him to swallow, and an even bigger one for me.
we finished work, and i headed back to the office to meet up with the others. we had dinner, the sun dropped, and i took a shower underneath the heavy down pour of rain, thunder, and lightening. it was the first time i have ever done that, and i hope to have many more.

day 3 >> yoro, honduras
sleeping was tough last night. with gecko poop and sharing a twin bed with my better half, it was pretty much assumed that it would be a full day of work without much sleep.
for 3.5 hours, i dug more holes today with a big-ass pick axe, but today the whole crew of 8 on the demo farm rocked out. with the help of our engineer, GREGARIO (a man of few words…), the place started to actually look like a farm that could grow and harvest fruits/veggies. so far, we had planted rows of valeriana, bananas, and something else i can’t remember (surprise surprise).
lunch, again, couldn’t have come sooner. at this point, even though every meal was starting to look the same (rice, beans, tortillas, and then a side of suprise: sometims an egg, or an avocado, or a piece of meat), the food was just what my body needed to keep going. at this point: still regular and loving it!
after lunch, we worked out little tooshies off again at the new office, and there was such a good sense of camaraderie in the group, and a deep sense of pride in the work we were doing.
every step along the way on the demo farm and at the new office, the local workers were patiently teaching us to mix and make cement, splatter it on the walls, and everything else. they were filled with smiles, good senses of humor, and delightfully strong work ethics.
all the neighbors came over tonight… kids and adults. it was like the night at the circus: come see the gringos at the FUCOHSO officina! it was quite hilarious and fun. soccer, frisbee, and conversations were had by many.
at this point, i was beginning to think more about what the problems really were. why isn’t there clean, running water? why is there no trash removal (everyone burns the little trash that they have in their yard)? where are the social welfare programs? why the limited health services? where was the social responsibility for equitable redistribution to ensure some healthy level of living, even if it was a bit skewed? where the hell was the infrastructure? sometimes it is easier to gut the house, than to try and fix it. this might be one of the cases in some parts of honduras that i was able to see.
tung: welcome to developing world, and those who can’t catch up because others are moving too fast.

day 4 >> renada, honduras
we dropped off the first group of 4 in rosario, which was about 45 minutes away from where we had been working. it was up, up, up in the mountains and what seemed even further removed from “stuff.” my destination was the second stop in renada… again, up, up, up in the mountains– another 45 minutes away from rosario. we worked all day helping build a garden for a school, and in the time the 4 of us were there, we went from nothing to full-fledged garden! it was pretty awesome, actually. the kids were helping the entire time, and under the guidance of DARBIN (suave to the max), we made something super useful for the school.
now, the school. 70 kids, 1 teacher, 1 room, a tadpole infested pila (water source for the school). when we brought our donations, part of me wanted to cry on the inside watching how carefully the teacher laid out the donations, and tried to equitably distribute the goods so that each child could bring something home that they needed and wanted. yes, so glad that we were able to donate all of these things, but, at the same time, always difficult to see that there is a need for it.
that night we just hung out with the family after a huge neighborhood game of soccer on a super well-kept field. and it was dark early, so we went to bed early.
it is amazing how our family literally shared what little they had, made us feel at home, consistently asked us if we needed anything, and was always willing to act politely when i muffed up my spanish words.

day 5 + 6 >> renada + yoro, honduras
oh crap… literally. this day is still a little bit of a blue because i got fairly sick this day and the next. at breakfast, i sat down to a plate full of refried beans, cheese, and eggs… pretty much the 3 things that i did not feel like having at the moment. after breakfast, i was out of the gates and RUNNING (if ya know what i’m sayin…). we did our last bit of work on helping restore a family garden, said our gracious thank yous and goodbyes to our host family, and then was picked up and heading back to yoro. that afternoon FUCOHSO members had a meeting with us to let us know how things went (exceptionally well!), what is next (super cool things!), and to say thank you. it was nice to have a sense of closer and accomplishment all at once.
our plans had changed because of hurricane dean. we were supposed to go to some more local communities and hang out, but our locals were near the water. instead, we were going to head to copan (home of some ancient ruins), which was about a 7 hours drive to the west. but before that, things were coming out every which way, i was getting a bad case of the chills, then sweating profusely, and not sleeping in the process. many hours later, the sun broke, it was daylight, and it was time to board our bus for 7 hours. i started on the anti-biotic CIPPRO, which fights bacterial infections in your body.
that was one hell of a bus ride. windy, uphill, hot, foul-smelling air (just around the city of san pedro sula), and icky. i didn’t toss any cookies or crap my pants on the bus, but man i was close… many, many, many times.
when we reached copan, i napped, started to feel better (thank you modern medicine), and began to eat solid food by the end of day 6.
good times.
it was a bit of culture shock going from rural yoro to the tid-bit toursity copan. it was a good change for lots of the kids on the bus, and to be honest, i welcomed it because of my current situation of ill-ing.

day 7 >> copan, honduras
everyone went horseback riding to a waterfall, hot springs, and a coffee farm. i was feeling much better, but still wasn’t up for that. instead, i gave myself a photo project, and went forth with it. i wanted to capture the colors of copan (“colores de copan” –> a nice ring to it, eh?), and with that, had an idea: what if i were able to sell some of these images from copan (and the rest of the trip, for that matter), but have 100% of the proceeds go directly to SHI?? what a brilliant idea!
(this is what i have been working on, and continually working on… but this whole “teaching” thing is sort of getting in the way of me finishing this in a timely manner)
everyone came back, happy, exhausted, and we finished the evening together with pizza and fruit smoothies (come on… how could we say no after rice and beans for a week straight!!)

day 8 >> san pedro sula
this was everyone else’s last night. the other 13 on the trip were going home tomorrow, and with that, we had a final dinner at cool restaurant in the city. we had it with the office folks from FUCOHSO, and was a great way to close it all.
we had a wonderful discussion that night that made me incredibly happy and proud. most of the people on our trip were in middle and high school. they all shared their thoughts about the experience, and all of the sincere words amounted to them learning something important about themselves and the world. what more could you ask out of any experience, domestic or abroad, work or play?
it was a special group, and it was going to be strange to not have all of them around (constantly) after this.

day 9 + 10 >> san pedro sula + cofradia, honduras
4:00am wake up call, to the airport, they leave, we get a ride to cofradia (home to BECA, visited with the new batch of volunteer teachers at the school, met some locals, and rested. we were fried, and the thought of no more belize (damn hurricane dean… this is what was waiting for us at the end of our trip) made us want to just rest even more.

day 11 >> tegucigalpa, honduras
we were staying in a nice hotel (the same one the taiwanese–i think?–head of state was staying at), and flying out first class the next day (only because there were no other flights out… and don’t worry, we had to pay for the upgrade). this stuff is boring because it doesn’t quite have the same theme and feel as the rest of the trip.

in short, i learned so much on this trip, and really cherished the experience. it was eye-opening to see this from the perspective of a developed-world-citizen hoping to stir some change where help is welcomed and needed. be sure to check out my flickR album on honduras. take a look around, see what you like, and if there are some that catch your eye, let me know… i will be sending out an email soon detailing the project of selling these images with 100% of the proceeds benefiting SHI.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tttphoto/sets/72157601687591357/

it helps showcase the story of what i saw, and what i felt while in honduras. what it doesn’t do, unfortunately, is really describe to you how amazing this country is. it has beautiful sights, and warm hearts. people welcomed us, as strangers, into their homes, shared what little they had, and always eager to teach and work with us.

it is a great model for all of us to learn from, and if we did, i am sure this world would be a much, much safer, better, eventful, fun, and meaningful place.

be well.

post #5

i promise i will write more once things settle down a little bit.
i just got back from honduras a few days ago, school meetings just started, my classroom needs some work, i spent all weekend going through images + editing, and now the “R” on my keyboard fell off (i have to like jam my finger down on the thing that triggers the R… Really annoying).

for now, check out ==> my album on flickr <==
(watching in slideshow mode is the way to go!)

by the end of the week, hopefully, i will have a fully functional keyboard and can pump out a long entry chronicling my trip.

i’ll be back soon.
be well.

post #4

ok, so it has been a looooong time, i know. but i do have some excuses:

1. i was out of town for about 1.3 weeks
2. i got the chance to work with eric laurits helping shoot a (kick-ass) wedding in waterville, me
3. i moved to somerville
4. was away again for about 1 week

and i am back… with little to write about. sad, huh?

but check it out: i am going to honduras/belize for the next 2 weeks. when i get back, i am going to do a SUPER ENTRY about my trip, and everything that i ate, saw, did, learned, lived, and remember from the trip. it will surely be awesome.

as unfortunate as it may be, check back in on monday/tuesday-ish, august 27th/28th.
until then, be well.

post #3

welcome back.

so i have been spending lots of time recently thinking about my upcoming trip to honduras and belize. i leave on monday, august 13th and come back at some point (i don’t really know what the date is: is that bad??). being the super-efficient-traveling-packer that i am, i usually spend time thinking about what bag i am going to pack for the given trip, which clothes/items i want to bring, how much of each item i want to bring, and whether or not it will all fit. i think this activity, which i HIGHLY love, stems from my childhood love affair with tetris. at one point in middle school, i was so obsessed with tetris that when i slept at night, i use to see how the different 4-blocked shapes could fit into each other in a continuing set of frames where the game would go on and on and on and on… it became so frustrating that i couldn’t get the thought out of my head that i had to actually kick the habit, drop the game, and move on with my simple life. to this day, i still wish that i had been entered in some sort of international tetris championship that based its qualifying marks and standards on which competitors’ highest levels achieved, and not based on points. i always advanced to high levels, but my scores would not always be as high as other tetris-ites.

and i digress…

with packing ahead, i figured that i would share with you all of you about my trip, why it is going to be awesome, about the cause, and what YOU can do to help. after all… a significant characteristic of the world we live in now is the power of an individual. everyone can help, and you could help after reading this entry.

my trip to honduras/belize at the end of the summer will fall under the category of VOLUNTOURISM. if you haven’t heard of it, you can probably take a guess at what it aims to combine: volunteering + tourism. this trendy, helpful, experience is becoming more popular, especially amongst all age groups (kiddies to middies to seniors). we (ashley, me, and many others) are going with the organization SUSTAINABLE HARVEST INTERNATIONAL (SHI), which aims to “build a global network of local partners working toward environmental, economic, and social sustainability… SHI facilitates long-term collaboration among trained local staff, farmers, and communities to implement sustainable land-use practices that alleviate poverty by restoring ecological stability.”

bad-ass, i know.

in honduras, a group of about 15 will be working to build a demo-farm that will promote sustainable farming, help build a sturdy farm-stand to sell what they grow, and really anything else necessary to get these locals set up to grow environmentally safe/efficient, while also helping to boost the local economy. it will be some good, difficult, and fun work down there.

so anyway, this gets me on my thought: this type of vacation/service is becoming more popular, especially among people with money. because when it boils down to it, only people with some sort of money can afford to travel/vacation anyways… so what better way to do it than to to combine seeing another part of the world with HELPING that part of the world? your entire trip does NOT have to be just of service… but instead, just one part of it. doesn’t this sound awesome? doesn’t this sound like something YOU would want to do? there are TONS of these organizations running these kinds of trips. the best part: they organize almost every bit of it for you. all you have to do is pick a cause you like/care about, learn more about it, make sure it fits your budget, see if you want to add anything else to the trip, and then book that bad boy.

ashley and i will be working that week with SHI on the farm in honduras, but then spending a few days with a honduran non-profit named guaruma (increasing the level of education and environmental awareness with env. education, computer, and photography skills), and then doing some of our own traveling with a superstar named mel (ashley’s friend and our connection to all of this) to/around belize afterward.

ok, so your homework after reading this (yes, i said it… homework):

1. check out SHI’s website, look around, sign up for their newsletter, tell everyone else you know about it (or about my blog!) learn about it, and email me if you are interested so i can get you hooked up with the people that actually know how to get you signed up
2. go to stonyfield farm’s website and help support SHI by voting for SHI in their “bid with your lid” campaign (they are giving a total of $100,000 to three organizations that help the earth, and each organization will receive $20,000 plus a percentage of $40,000, based on your voting)
3. ) TO VOTE, click on this link

ok, that is it.
leave your comments. check in next week. and be well.

post #2

hey all.
thanks for your comments, and i will do my best throughout this post and future ones to answer all of your adoring fan mail.

maybe i will do a little segment at the end of each post where i draw a question from the comments, and think about it out loud.
for now though, i guess we move onward to the first official post of legit thoughts…

this past weekend was witness to the LARGEST worldwide concert/gathering in the history of our existence… the “07-07-07 s.o.s. live earth” concert series presented by al gore and company. it was an incredibly cool concept, where for 24 hours, across all 7 continents (yes, even antarctica!), more than 100 musical acts performed in front of 2 billion people… yes, this was a biggie.
this is part of the multi-year campaign to build awareness AND action for climate change in our world. audience members paid (at least in the US, which means prices were comparable at all of the other locations) between $53, $83, $173 and $348. not a cheap price… but can you put a price on saving the earth’s life? (this is one of those questions where if you say no, then you have said the right answer, and if you say yes, you look like a jerk…)

i am not going to go into all of the different acts and their 20 minute sets to woo the crowed, but i must admit that i did watch some of it… it did, however, bring about lots of questions that may have been left unanswered for a reason:

1. how much more electricity was used during all of the concerts?
2. how much more paper was used for advertising, tickets, programs, etc.?
3. how much more oil was used to transport all of those artists via airplanes, trains, buses, and cars?
4. how much more trash was created by making more food/drinks for mass amounts of people?
5. how much less creative could they have been in an important task?

ok. so maybe i am being a bit harsh. but lets stop to think about it: could they have been more creative with this? couldn’t they have sponsored something that was completely in-line with their philosophy and mission? what about an event that didn’t use THAT MUCH MORE electricity, paper, oil, or trash? i don’t know what it is, but there are plenty of smarter people out there than me that would know how to put these events on. any ideas?

the way i see it, one of the major problems with the way people are treating the earth is with over-consumption… in other words, people constantly buying MORE stuff. STUFF STUFF STUFF. and people need to get it out of their heads that over-consumption is a westernized phenomenon and an isolated occurrence. it is happening everywhere. yes, i am sure the US is a guilty, guilty, guilty participant, maybe even the guiltiest, but so are many other places. anyway, the concert series asked all of its viewers to do these things:

• to change 4 light bulbs at home to CFLs (compact fluorescent lights; used less energy; last longer)
• to shop for energy efficient electronics/appliances
• to shut off and unplug equipment when not using it
• to carpool or use public transportation one or more times per week
• to forward the live earth email to 5 people

i think that these things are great. they are small, manageable ways reduce everyone’s individual impact and footprint on the earth. collectively, it makes a difference. in fact, i love this message: start small, change your habits slowly, and hopefully they will keep progressing to the point that your lifestyle might change and make things better for all of us. they fit in line with malcom gladwell’s ideas in “the tipping point”, which i loved (major trends and changes don’t always result in big, swooping changes, but rather smaller things that can really made a difference– thanks to ken T for the book 2 years ago, still one of my favorites today).

but i think that there is more that we can do, and i wish the s.o.s. live concert series had addressed it since it had 2 billion people in front of them. going back to the idea of more more more, over-consumption, over-consumption, over-consumption, people need to just stop buying/using stupid shit. i can be just as guilty of this, too, but i am working on it. for those of you who know me, i really don’t own that many things. all of my life’s possession fit nicely in a room that is 9 feet by 8 feet… and that is including a desk, a queen size bed, a bookcase, and a dresser. and even with everything that i own in this world in this room (with the exception of my car), i still feel like i own too much, and want to get rid of more things. i want to keep giving things away that i don’t need to someone who may need it, and can’t afford it. so if i can find places in my life to do it, surely you can to.

we just need to stop being so wasteful.
ask yourself: do you really need to buy everything that you think you might want? do you really need to replace everything that you have with the newer version? just stop. borrow things from people. i know, crazy concept… share.

this idea of reducing one’s impact/footprint is hard, i know. kermit said it well, “it’s not easy being green”. and if you forgot how difficult it is, check it out here: kermit’s “it’s not easy being green” video.
here is some more information that you should definitely check out:

• live earth >> more about live earth, and what you can do to help in the climate change crisis
• earth day quiz >> what is your ecological footprint?

leave your comments. check in next week. and be well.

post #1

ok.
so i have tried this once before, and it worked out alright. some people read it religously (that is perhaps an exaggeration… actually, it most certainly is), and others never touched it.

here is surely another attempt. life is wonderful because it can forgive and grant second chances.
to the blog gods: please forgive the failure of my last blog, and thank you for giving me this second opportunity to write about what is on my mind.

this blog, however, is going to have a different twist.
my last e-thoughts were primarily made up of random ideas that i had, and i am still stunned that anyone even bothered reading it. i now have a sense of purpose, or at least, hope so…

as many of you know, part of my teaching load at shore c.d.s is teaching a social studies elective that i created on globalization. it is a topic that i love, and something that i love teaching. this past academic year has also been filled with growth, maturity, and intellectual strides. no, i am not talking about puberty. i am talking about a better awareness of what i really think about the world, and what should happen to make it better for all of us.

here is my chance to share it with you. i am going to use this blog to talk about what i think is the root of globalization, and what i think is influential to our world today. i want to talk about everything, with a particular focus on people and what people are doing to change the world for better and worse. i want to write about everything that i see as great, horrible, confusing, and anything in between. and i want you to read all about it.

instead of romanticizing about which day i will create a new post with fresh, genuine, hip, and mind-blowing thoughts, just check in at the beginning of each week. i hope that there will be one post per week.

if i slack off, shoot me an email, and help keep me honest.

finally, please leave comments. i (and the rest of the world) want to hear what you have to say.
be well.