La Unión: my new home

It has not taken me long to realize that I am truly living in a rural, third-world-country village. I am certain that as much as I thought I was prepared for this – mentally and physically – with any previous experience or advice or through readings, I had no idea how much I was lacking until I arrived in La Union. Every detail comes with a subtitle or fine print to further tell me how it really is. This was my impression after my first 24 hours here:

• my house has running water, but that water may be brown or not come on always
• I would be a fool to drink tap water because not even the Hondurans drink from the faucets
• a lukewarm shower is the biggest luxury I can think of, except I have yet to have one
• my house has electricity, but it takes the light in my room a good 5 minutes to fully turn on
• we have streets in this town, but hiking trails in the States are in better condition
• I am lucky to have an adobe roof because during the rainy season, a tin roof is a curse
• I won’t be the one who makes the mistake of flushing toilet paper down the toilet
• we use cups and plugs to keep the creepy crawlies from emerging from the drains
• I am lucky to have an oven, a couch, a fan, and pots and pans
• there is trash absolutely everywhere; we may live in beautiful surroundings, but I have never seen a dirtier place. In fact, the only thing they do with trash is burn it in the streets
• I can find foods that I am used to, but the milk is powdered, there is only one kind of cereal in the whole town, most everything in a box is already expired, and the fresh produce is limited
• the kids have a chance at a quality education where I am teaching, but the school lacks any kind of good book to teach from; sometimes there isn’t even a book for the teacher

I could keep going, but I don’t want to sound depressed about my situation. It simply is eye-opening to how blessed I am to have come from the United States and the lifestyle I had. I will be learning how to live like these people, but will still have a slight advantage. In the surrounding areas, about 93% of the population lives on less than a $1 a day. Can you imagine that?

I do have a funny story from my first night. I did not realize how frequently the water came on and off in our house, or how much of an issue pressure is with the water. So, in the middle of the night I woke up startled because my toilet was making outrageous noises; the best way I can describe it is that it sounded like my toilet was in a fight with itself or someone had tried to flush a rock. I was freaked out because I never knew a toilet could do that! The water kept coming in and out, and the pressure was really off so the pipes in the tank were spurting water and bubbling. I crept out of my bed afraid that either someone was in my bathroom destroying it, a giant bug or snake had found its way into my toilet, or my toilet was going to physically explode. I carefully turned on the light...hesitantly lifted the lid...and waited...nothing. I was practically shaking when I had to take the cover off the tank and immediately the pipes and pullies and what not started going crazy! Thankfully there was nothing too terrifying in the toilet, but I have learned to shut the water off for the toilet each night.

Besides that, this is where I live! I am living in a house with another girl who works for a micro finance company that partners with coffee farmers in the area. Our house is connected to a house of a Honduran family with a door in the middle of our two houses; the nice thing is that we can go into their side but they cannot come into ours unless we open the door, so they have to give us our space and privacy. I met the grandmother, Francisca, and her daughter, Senovia, who live there and they are both very pleasant and super nice people.
I am hoping that they will teach me how to make some traditional Honduran meals! My bedroom is bright pink and camp equipped with a twin bed, a standing closet (with hangers!) two tables, a fan, and a bathroom attached. I am living in probably the nicest house out of all the teachers because it is already furnished with couches, tables, and chairs, and our kitchen has pots, pans, silverware, and appliances. Everyone else has been shopping for those all week. My rent is $75 a month and I will be paying the ladies next door $7 to do my laundry for me. Oh, and good news! I have not seen any horrendous bugs yet! I feel safe from the bugs going to bed each night.

I am not sure why this is crooked, but my house is the yellow one,
the pink side is where the Hondurans live

My house is right in the center of the town square, and the Honduran men have figured out that the gringas live there so they kind of like to hang out in that area a lot (don’t worry mom, I’m very safe in my house). The other American teachers live just a few houses down so we are all super close and like to hang out together. It takes us about 15-20 minutes to walk to the school.  I have wifi at the school and the church, but no internet at home or tv. So far I have spent my nights reading or watching movies on my computer and then going to bed by 9:30.

I will have to cook breakfast and dinner for myself, but thankfully I can pay someone about $2 a day to make me lunch and bring it to the school! The girl I live with has already been giving me some good recipes to cook with our limited ingredients. I will become quite the bookworm and chef while I am here!

Please be praying for me through this transition. It can feel overwhelming at times, but I am not defeated by it. Pray that I will stay encouraged and be able to keep my chin up. I feel like it is not really fair for me to complain here because this is only temporary and I have the luxury of choosing to not live like this. Pray that I keep a positive attitude and adapt quickly to my new home.