The Youth in Asia and other tales

First story: Its been an interesting week, to say the least.On Monday morning, we took Lucy to the vet in Villanueva, a suburb of San Pedro Sula. Her neck has been all inflamed and weird lately, and we decided that it was time to get some x-rays. On Tuesday, Crystal went up to the vet to pick her up, but came back alone. As soon as I asked her were Lucy was, then saw her blotchy eyes, I had my answer. It turned out that Lucy had some rare form of bone disease that could not be fixed and that was causing her a lot of pain, therefore we had to put her down. Along with being sad, it was really frustrating, as we took excellent care of her, but just couldn’t beat genetics. The house has been really sad and lonely this week without her. Losing a pet is always like losing a member of the family, which in many ways, Lucy was for us.
Second story: Our town has a series of children whom subsist as street beggars. This isn’t done out of boredom, but out of need to survive, and it is often a difficult encounter, as we always want to help, but lack the means to do so in a fashion that is productive and healthy. Yesterday, on the way to baseball practice, one of our street children asked me for shoes, which I really can’t provide (my own shoes having been stolen the previous month aside, but more on that another time). Instead, I allowed him to tag along to baseball practice, where he had a great time playing with the other kids and chasing after balls. Actually, he can throw pretty well! It was nice to finally offer something to what must be a real dismal existence. Today he saw us walking in the street, and gave each of us a piece of candy, which was a touching and appreciated display.
Third Story: Today is our municipality’s (which is pretty much the equivalent of a county government) anniversary, and in accordance there are a bunch of celebrations today. We were invited to a luncheon held by the mayor, and were presented with an odd situation that has happened a couple of times. These events come up from time to time, and we always show up wearing t-shirts and ripped jeans, and end up talking with the real brass of the community, each wearing designer suits and jewellery. The rest of the community was treated to free plates of beans and rice in the central park, while the community elite ( and by our position as peace corps volunteers, us) were whisked off to a lunch of filet minion. Being as sensitive to social-economic class as we are, these little lunches always make us feel out of place and a little self conscious, as they lare bare the drastic differences in class as found in the developing world. Truth be told, we have much more in common with the people that were at the steak dinner in terms of mentality, backgrounds, and aspirations; but we tend to feel more comfortable with the crowd that eat with their hands on the street, even if they have never read a book or don´t appreciate our different views.

sorry that we have been slacking off on the posts lately, we will try to get back on top of this blog business. Blogs are kinda wierd, in that you always evaluate the ¨blogability¨of your experiences, and that makes it a little harder when you have no idea whom is reading your ramblings. Granted, we have a lot of stuff to talk about, like getting robbed, moving houses, and our trip to Guatemala, but those will come another day soon....
simon