Last week was the first Rural Baseball Tournament of Honduras, held to commemorate Peace Corps’ 45th anniversary and the creation of the Honduran Federation of Baseball. This was a tournament for Peace Corps volunteers with baseball teams from all over the country, such as us, and we all converged on the capital of Tegucigalpa with our teams of kids between the ages of 8 and 12.
While football (soccer to you gringos) will always reign supreme in Honduran sports, other sports are also popular, especially basketball and volleyball. The creation of the Honduran Federation of Baseball is an attempt to spread the popularity of baseball throughout Honduras. Essentially to my understanding, this is a program sponsored by MLB in the states to foster understanding of baseball in other areas of Latin America, and therefore create more recruiting opportunities for MLB in the years to come. Those that follow Major League Baseball will know that a lot of talented ballplayers come out of countries such as Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela, The Dominican Republic, and Cuba. Within urban areas of Honduras there has been a history of baseball team organizations, much like our little league, but accessible only to the elite. As baseball equipment is expensive and knowledgeable coaches are scare within the rural areas, this program and its grants allows the poor kids in the country access to the sport of baseball. Currently, there are 10 teams supported by the initial grant, and plans are to double the amount of teams by next year.
We actually have two teams, one in Las Vegas and another in El Mochito. In the time between the last volunteers and our arrival in site, the Las Vegas team fell apart, but we found a wonderful coach in El Mochito who loves baseball, and can explain the finer points of baseball in Spanish. (Just trying to explain a force out to a kid in English can be difficult, but with our Spanish it can be impossible!) Therefore, with our two coaches, three volunteers, one parent chaperone, and 12 kids, we jammed into a minivan for the 5 hour drive to Tegus.
We had a celebration much a kin to an Olympic Opening Ceremony, complete with an exhibition baseball game, and the opening pitch was thrown by the US Ambassador in Honduras. However, the “hotel” provided for the weekend was a nightmare. All the kids were separated by sex, all the girls (including coaches) slept in a giant hostel, whereas all the boys got sent to the Air Force Barracks. Despite the different locals, Crystal and I had similar experiences. Placing 100 kids in a giant room with bunk beds is a mistake. Each day was the same: the first three hours after we got to the “Hotel” there were kids running around kicking footballs, each other, and always screaming, fueled by copious amounts of cake, soda, and what must have been cocaine judging by their actions. They would go to sleep at about 10pm, but both groups took it upon themselves to wake up at 430am, running, screaming, and beating each other once again, only this time without clothes. My being woken at 4:30am to five kids pulling two naked boys across the floor on a bed mattress like some evil dogsled team while screaming like banshees will haunt me for the rest of my natural days. Needless to say nobody sleep the entire weekend, and the lack of screens on windows left Crystal and I covered with mosquito bites.
The next day we had two games in the elimination round. Our first game was super close: last inning, bases loaded, two outs, and our best hitter at the plate, who then struck out, a perfect baseball moment. The other team we faced was by far superior, we borrowed a ringer pitcher from a Tegus league and they still beat us 11-0. However, our kids played well in their first two baseball games ever. Regardless of our record, it was a valuable experience for all of the kids, allowing them to encounter kids from all over the country and to partake in something trivial that we take for granted like a tournament. One of our kids stood mouth agape in amazement as he saw his first airplane in person circle the city. Crystal’s favorite memory from the tourney was our catcher after the awards ceremony running down the bleachers with a diploma in one hand, a medal of participation in the other, and a screaming mouth covered in cake frosting. It is these moments that comprise Peace Corps, the horrible and wonderful together, the ability to give an experience special and lasting in a person’s life.
Thursday, March 9, 2006
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
¡Si, todos!
During our first months in Honduras, we often worked with our good friend, Kathryn, and had a lot of the same stories. Here is another story of our training antics, as told by Kathryn, about when we were locked in a cage and left figure things out for ourselves (a sometimes difficult task when you are new to a language and country).
Part of FBT (Field Based Training) is working 4 days in an Aldea (mini village or large neighborhood of a larger existing town)organizing activities for the youth in the community. I was originally in a team of 5 but it was broken up into a team of 3 and 2. 2 people went to work with an Evangelical group and C, D, and I went to work for a Catholic youth group.
We were dropped off at the house of the group leader by our tech trainer and they just left us there. We looked at each other and entered her home. She greeted us and pulled out some chairs for us to sit on. We sat. We looked at her and she looked at us.
"So why are you here?", she asks.
"Well we´re here to help you with whatever you need. Youth groups, we can give charlas, we can organize a soccer game, etc.", we say.
"Well I have a youth group that meets on Saturdays and Sundays after church."
"But we´re coming here on Tues and Thurs", I say.
"Well what can you guys do here then?"
We all sit there for almost 5 minutes in silence. I´m looking at Delfo because he has a quick mind and the best Spanish and hope he comes out with an answer. At that same time, he´s looking at Crystal and me with the puzzled look on his face.
But that didn´t compare to the look on my face! I sat there and had a nervous smile on my face. Looking back, Delfo said that my face reminded him of old cartoons when a character is portrayed as a fool and their face changes into a "Sucker" or a donkey and returns to the smiling face.
A few more minutes pass. D finally says, "Well we can give charlas"
"About what?" she asks.
"Anything you want. We know everything!", D says. (foolishly)
C chimes in, "¡Si, todos!" (Yes, everything!)
So now you have a smiling jackass and we all appear to be know-it-alls in all under 15 minutes.
According to our tech trainer, she wanted our help and asked for it, but once we were there, she had no idea what to do with us.
We stand around looking at her outdoor area. "Can you show us the town?", Delfo asks.
(It´s raining out by the way.)
"OK." she says.
She makes Lenca pottery for a living and was working on various projects. C picks up some pottery and says, "My sister makes pottery in the U.S." and the lady just stares at her. She begins making rosary beads for a gigantic rosary (that she is probably using now to pray for our souls). A neighbor comes by and she goes out to talk to him.
C, D and I look at each other and start to freak out. "Is this what it´s supposed to be like? I´ve never felt so stupid in my life!"
She comes back after awhile and says "Let´s go to the Catholic Church."
We walk to the church with her 3 legged dog that had been hit by a car twice and watched as it ran out into the road and almost got hit again! (Is this really happening?)
The church was fine and we start to walk back as it begins to rain. This poor woman is wearing a light fleece and flip flops so she was soaked by the time we get back.
She pulls out the three chairs and places them in the cage where she stores some of her pottery for sale and says, "You can wait here until your car comes". Our car isn´t coming until 3:30.
"But it´s 2:40", D says.
"That´s fine", she says. Then she pulls out a chair and puts it in front of the cage and sits there, stares down the road and waits for the white Land Cruiser to pull up and get us out of there.
We sit in the cage and look at each other. School lets out and kids pass by the cage and look at us. Yes, COME AND SEE THE BAD GRINGOS SIT IN A POTTERY CAGE!!! They walk by slow and stare. So this is what it feels like to be in a zoo....
After awhile we finally accept her offer of coffee and she disappears for 25 mintues. But she has a neighbor sit in her chair to make sure we don´t get loose (?).
Then Crystal made the call of the day, "Watch the car pull up as she´s bringing out our coffee."
And that´s exactly what happened. Delfo was adamant about having the coffee (But so were Crystal and I). We sat, drank the coffee, ate some crackers, and continued to sit in the cage. Finally the car came back. We got into the car and once we sat down, the three of us laughed so hard we started to cry. Telling the story only made it more hilarious/embarassing.
So that´s how we were placed in a cage and made fools out of ourselves. You gotta love it.
Part of FBT (Field Based Training) is working 4 days in an Aldea (mini village or large neighborhood of a larger existing town)organizing activities for the youth in the community. I was originally in a team of 5 but it was broken up into a team of 3 and 2. 2 people went to work with an Evangelical group and C, D, and I went to work for a Catholic youth group.
We were dropped off at the house of the group leader by our tech trainer and they just left us there. We looked at each other and entered her home. She greeted us and pulled out some chairs for us to sit on. We sat. We looked at her and she looked at us.
"So why are you here?", she asks.
"Well we´re here to help you with whatever you need. Youth groups, we can give charlas, we can organize a soccer game, etc.", we say.
"Well I have a youth group that meets on Saturdays and Sundays after church."
"But we´re coming here on Tues and Thurs", I say.
"Well what can you guys do here then?"
We all sit there for almost 5 minutes in silence. I´m looking at Delfo because he has a quick mind and the best Spanish and hope he comes out with an answer. At that same time, he´s looking at Crystal and me with the puzzled look on his face.
But that didn´t compare to the look on my face! I sat there and had a nervous smile on my face. Looking back, Delfo said that my face reminded him of old cartoons when a character is portrayed as a fool and their face changes into a "Sucker" or a donkey and returns to the smiling face.
A few more minutes pass. D finally says, "Well we can give charlas"
"About what?" she asks.
"Anything you want. We know everything!", D says. (foolishly)
C chimes in, "¡Si, todos!" (Yes, everything!)
So now you have a smiling jackass and we all appear to be know-it-alls in all under 15 minutes.
According to our tech trainer, she wanted our help and asked for it, but once we were there, she had no idea what to do with us.
We stand around looking at her outdoor area. "Can you show us the town?", Delfo asks.
(It´s raining out by the way.)
"OK." she says.
She makes Lenca pottery for a living and was working on various projects. C picks up some pottery and says, "My sister makes pottery in the U.S." and the lady just stares at her. She begins making rosary beads for a gigantic rosary (that she is probably using now to pray for our souls). A neighbor comes by and she goes out to talk to him.
C, D and I look at each other and start to freak out. "Is this what it´s supposed to be like? I´ve never felt so stupid in my life!"
She comes back after awhile and says "Let´s go to the Catholic Church."
We walk to the church with her 3 legged dog that had been hit by a car twice and watched as it ran out into the road and almost got hit again! (Is this really happening?)
The church was fine and we start to walk back as it begins to rain. This poor woman is wearing a light fleece and flip flops so she was soaked by the time we get back.
She pulls out the three chairs and places them in the cage where she stores some of her pottery for sale and says, "You can wait here until your car comes". Our car isn´t coming until 3:30.
"But it´s 2:40", D says.
"That´s fine", she says. Then she pulls out a chair and puts it in front of the cage and sits there, stares down the road and waits for the white Land Cruiser to pull up and get us out of there.
We sit in the cage and look at each other. School lets out and kids pass by the cage and look at us. Yes, COME AND SEE THE BAD GRINGOS SIT IN A POTTERY CAGE!!! They walk by slow and stare. So this is what it feels like to be in a zoo....
After awhile we finally accept her offer of coffee and she disappears for 25 mintues. But she has a neighbor sit in her chair to make sure we don´t get loose (?).
Then Crystal made the call of the day, "Watch the car pull up as she´s bringing out our coffee."
And that´s exactly what happened. Delfo was adamant about having the coffee (But so were Crystal and I). We sat, drank the coffee, ate some crackers, and continued to sit in the cage. Finally the car came back. We got into the car and once we sat down, the three of us laughed so hard we started to cry. Telling the story only made it more hilarious/embarassing.
So that´s how we were placed in a cage and made fools out of ourselves. You gotta love it.
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