I have been here for almost two months and it feels like two weeks.  Spanish is coming along nicely and I have lucked out twice with host families, so at this point I have no complaints.

Spanish isn’t an extremely difficult language to learn although it is a little challenging when you need to do it in three months.  It has been on mind 24 hours a day 7 days a week, literally – I had a dream the other night and parts of it were in Spanish.  I often worry that I am not picking it up fast enough, although, I did have a light bulb moment the other day while sitting in Price Mart (Costco in Honduras) with my host brother.  I realized that, while eating the same hotdog that any American enjoys on a typical Saturday morning run to Costco, that we were having a real candid conversation about the biggest problem his city has.  This was an oddly reassuring thing and at that moment I realized that if I was somehow abandoned in the center of the city I could get home, a trip which can be pretty confusing since the city doesn’t really have a uniform set of streets or addresses.  I also realized that I have learned a lot in two months.  On to the nightlife…..

The other night was movie night – I know please refrain from leaving comments that are too degrading – and we watched The Hangover.  The town that I am in has rules, and one of them states that certain businesses, specifically places that serve alcohol, are to close by 6:00 pm, so you have to be creative.  After prepping my family about the content of the movie, so as to avoid any of the younger ones from seeing anything that could scar their long term development and removing one of my host nephews who has a habit of trying to watch things he’s not supposed to, a few of the other trainees, two of my host brothers and me watched The Hangover.  This was a difficult call as The Hangover has a lot of content that does not translate into English well, a fact that is apparent when watching the subtitles on the bottom of the screen.  At the end apparently this wasn’t an issue, as it seems that awesomeness translates well into any language.

After learning Spanish, the next biggest concern for me now is where I am going to be placed for the next two years.  This process carries as much mystique and secrecy as the Masons did in the 60’s.  At this point my fellow aspirants and me have had two “interviews”.  During these interviews we review the information that has been presented to us to insure that a tangible amount stuck and we are also asked questions about our interests and the type of community that we would like to live and work in.  Most things are open for discussion but one might receive particularly icy responses if too many probing questions are posed about specific sites or statements are made about the likes and dislikes of certain types of climates (i.e. ¨I really like it when it doesn´t get to hot¨).  Any tangible information about specific sites that an aspirant may receive usually comes from an outside source.  This information is third hand at best and the validity is negligible but it serves as one of the only ways to try and maneuver your way into the spot you want.  For instance I learned that there are at least two sites open for the type of work I am interested in from a volunteer that visited.  I cross checked this information with another visiting volunteer and it turns out that both of the sites open are right up my alley.  I have one more interview left before I have to stand before Jesus, literally his name is Jesus, be judged and receive my destiny, so I suppose I should start strategizing.