Politcal Event

Today, Monday was our first day of classes. We have a two week summer class. Every other day we have a class to learn about the culture of Honduras. On the other days we have a crash course in the specifics of Honduran Spanish. Today’s class was about the history of Honduras. We learned about 2000 years of a country’s history in three hours. I can tell my Spanish is getting better, because the entire lecture was in Spanish, and I actually understood it all. We then had a three hour lunch break. We ate at the university because it’s much cheaper than the mall. I can have a meal for less than two dollars. Afterwards we went to the mall to use the phone and internet. We shopped for a while and then returned to the university. Today there was a big political event. Honduras is signing an agreement with Venezuela to get cheap oil. Honduras only has to pay upfront 60% of the price. They then have 3o years to pay the rest. In the meanwhile, Honduras can use the money to help the country’s problems. The only problem is that the Honduran president is not known for using the country’s money well. Today the Honduran president, Bolivian president, and Venezuela’s president Chavez spoke. Before going we had to leave all our things in the Calvin office, take off all jewelry, and split in the groups of six. It is no secret that Chaves is very anti-Bush, and very anti-Americans. We were warned that because we were Gringos we needed to be extra careful. The professors told us not to be offended by the comments people may say. By the time we got back to the University, Katie, the girl I walk with, and myself were very tired. We decided to try to take a bus, however the bus we were told to take did not really take us where we wanted. We still had to walk a bit, but it was defiantly faster than walking the entire way. I made is home just before it started to rain.


Today, Tuesday I had my first language class. We learned about a new conjugation they use quite often here in Honduras, but none of us had learned before. Then we were given cell phone from the school. As long as we do not lose the phone, we do not need to pay for the phone. It is free to call other people on the plan, other students and the professors. It does cost to call anyone not on the plan though. To call the United States I bought a new Sim Card, I think that that is what it’s called, and a calling card. It’s a lot more expensive to call the United States with my phone than just using the phone at the mall, but it’s a lot more convenient. Today was the first day that I had to walk home alone. It is safe but not my favorite thing. Because we are clearly a gringas, we receive a lot of attention. Men will say “hello ladies” or make a clicking noise, and people driving by honk. I was able to take a nap this afternoon. By the end of the day I am usually quite tried.