Nuttin much

I figured it was time to give the ol´ blog an update, even if all I have to post is that there isn't much to post. Following the theme from last time, I guess I could talk about my cat. Man, am I really writing about my cat on the internet? I need help.

There isn't that much to say I guess, just something specific that happened with her. A couple weeks ago I put her out for the night as usual. Although I think she was finally learning to use the sand-filled pail, I didn't quite trust her yet. Around midnight I was woken up by her cries, which is sort of normal on a given night as she is quite the crier. I heard a special note of what seemed like desperation in the cry, but I was too semiconscious to pay it much mind. She quieted down after awhile and I drifted back to sleep.

The next morning, I couldn't find the cat around the house. I figured she had gotten hungry and wandered off to the neighbors' or something (which she'd already done once), which was probably why she had been crying. I went about fixing breakfast, frying an egg, then grabbing my coffee pot to take it outside and rinse it out. Suddenly, I found my kitten.

Floating in the water barrel.

I gasped in horror and then sat down heavily on the back step of my house, then cried for quite awhile. Sometimes, I really don't like myself very much. I'm not talking about suicide thoughts ¨I hate myself I want to die¨ crap, but I just get so mad and frustrated about being a fuckup. That week was one of those times. I buried my cat and went back to life as normal within the same day, but it still hurts when I think about that poor little kitty who trusted me and liked me an awful lot drowning, and me within hearing distance not doing a goddamn thing. Well, that's the drama that my life was lacking I guess. Most if not all members of my family have already heard about this, but I felt it should be recorded here because I am probably going to save all these blog entries after my peace corps service for of a history of the experience to have when I get old and even more forgetful than I am now.

Since then, things have been pretty quiet around Agua Fría. I've been planning a lot for what I want to do next year with the schools, because with all this free time to figure out how I want to spend the rest of my service I'm feeling most interested in schools. I want to teach environmental education (which would be the project-oriented side) but not just that, any science education I can incorporate, trying to get these kids thinking critically and problem-solving and becoming more observant of the world around them in general.

The one other event that I guess has some significance was the meeting to wrap up the year of Maestro En Casa work. Myself and two of the three other teachers in our school went to Choluteca to meet with the people who direct the program there and do an evaluation of the year, discuss problems, and put forth some ideas for the coming year. It turned out to be more of an excursion slash meeting because we got on a bus and went out to Cedeño, a beach on the Gulf of Fonseca near Choluteca and had the meeting there. Not too shabby a locale, if I do say so myself. I had heard that the gulf beaches were substandard, but for my own personal tastes I would beg to differ. Now, I don't know about the swimming... the water was pretty turbid and one of my fellow teachers Denis told me he was almost run-over by a leviathan turd last year that he saw at the last minute as it bore down on him riding the crest of a wave. I'd stay out of the water, personally, though I'm not much for swimming in saltwater anyways. But the view was actually pretty awesome, you could see volcanoes in El Salvador and Nicaragua as well as Isla Del Tigre (an extinct island volcano in Honduras) and it was cleaner than I expected.

We spent a couple hours on the meeting, then ate lunch and lounged around for a couple more hours. I had a fun time visiting with my fellow teachers Nancy and Denis, who are some of the few educated Hondurans that I get to interact with on a regular basis and thus are important friends for me.

Today I'm in Choluteca planning my trip with mom. Looks like we're going up north a little bit to Lago de Yojoa to check out that area, and might spend Christmas with some Honduran friends somewhere in Siguatepeque or Tegucigalpa if it works out. I'm more or less in vacation mode now because this needs to be planned carefully. Transportation around the holidays in this country is a real mess. If you've never seen it, imagine the holiday rush in the States, and then double the percentage of people travelling, make 90% of them use public transport instead of private cars, and subtract 75% of the paved highways and you'll have some idea.

Merry Christmas! Grandpa, if you're reading this, I'm thinking of you!