hn37.

there's this guy in my community who i always thought to be a little off, in the head that is. i've chatted with him a few times in jalons, at the cooperative, and he never really said anything more than observational statements, and in a way that made me always tend to walk away slowly, nodding in agreement. but after a few times i realized that the dude just never had a real education, and that at least his intentions were good. and today, well he totally gave me a whole new respect for mankind and honduran campesinos. so i get out of this pickup truck at the entrance to my town, which is about 2 k from my house uphill, and it turns out that the guy, let's call him bob, bob was riding in the front. and so we're walking, and i'm thinking, man this is going to be "fun" [that's sarcasm by the way]. we are walking down the hill when we pass this piece of wood in the middle of the road. i don't think anything of it, but bob stops, picks it up, and throws it into the gulley on the side of the road. without a word he continues walking, and i think, well he's considerate. and then he says:

-man, it's really important to be intelligent right?

-sure, i say, of course (i didn't really know where this conversation was going, so i just smiled and nodded).

-because, not anyone would have picked up that piece of wood, and someone could have gotten really hurt. imagine riding on a motorcycle with your amiguito and all of a sudden you slam into that? and some people just dont think about that kind of stuff

i didn't know what to say. i hadn't even thought of that. and here's this guy, who only finished 3rd grade, can't read or write, and he's more socially responsible than i am. it made me feel awesome, and humble at the same time. the funny thing is that the guy recognized that intelligence was the key, that it was something worthy. most people here spit on education, they leave as soon as they can. of the 9 grades available, many only go to 6. and altough, in some cases its for good reason, especially since your family is starving and you're the only one around who can work, but for many it just doesn't hold any appeal. with my amiguito (that's what he calls me, even though he knows my name) bob, i'm pretty sure it was a necessity, so i respect him for it, even though he's a little behind. but although his demeanor does not exhude genius, i can proudly say that i think bob is smarter than me. and i have a bachelors. what do you say to that, rutgers university?

part 2: evangelical wedding

so i was invited this saturday to my cousins huge evangelical wedding, to be held in corquin at the experimental center of IHCAFE (they have two big conference halls, so...) anyway, i was called early saturday to come help out and receive the gifts for the family, which made me feel pretty damn integrated. at around 6pm, when the wedding was supposed to start, i was standing guard by the present cart, waving people into the hall and awaiting the ceremony. only problem is, punctuality is not a cultural norm here, so when the wedding was supposed to start at 6 30 at the latest, it was 7 30 when finally everyone took their seats. except for me. i made a discovery in my attempts to help that kinda blew my mind. so for a wedding of about 150 people, the family had not hired anyone to serve drinks or food. all they did was call one of the aunts and put her in charge of everything. now I dont know if any of you have experience with banquets, but doing that alone (well, not exactly alone, she had 1 assistant, and another aunt came to help) or even in a group of 3, not possible. so i was upstairs pouring champagne into 150 glasses (which is weird because evangelicals don't drink, so that all went to waste), and setting up the tables when the bride and groom were saying their vows. and when the people took their seats, i served them their food. i think i brought plates to def over 100 people. no serving trays, nothing. 3 plates at a time. running around like an idiot. and the people talking to me like a waiter. do i look like a fucking waiter (to be honest, i was kinda dressed like one, so it could have been confusing, but come on!?) i guess its all part of being a volunteer. :p. however, now, my aunts are all absolutely in love with me, i don't think they've seen many gringos do what i did last night. hooray for non traditional integration techniques, take notes all you volunteers that read this. lol.