 kiwigal_1's Tela Travelogues | | | | Title [Click to view] | Travel Year | Pictures | | TELA | 1994 |  10 | | AFS - TELA | 1994 | |
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| Page Views: 759 Last Visit to Tela: 1994 | AFS - TELA by kiwigal_1 - last update: Mar 7, 2006 |
This is an essay I wrote about my experience for the scholarship I recieved to go to Honduras. I would like to print it here as it tells about my experience in the words of an 18 year old first time traveller.
Looking back over my year with AFS in Honduras I have achieved more than I thought I would and gained so much confidence and self-esteem at times I hardly recognise the "new Rhianon". I am sitting in my bedroom in Tela, Honduras, a small town situated on the northern carribean coast of Honduras in Central America. I am sick for only the second time since I arrived here and have been using the time to think about my past in New Zealand and about the time I have spent here and the effect it will have on my future plans.
My first days were spent in Tegucigalpa (the capital) on an orientation of sorts where we were all too overwhelmed and tired to really absorb anything. This was followed by a six hour bus ride to Tela the next morning. Tegucigalpa is in the mountains and is cooler at nights and we were departing at 4am so I was dressed in jeans. I had no idea that the bus trip was going to take so long and by the time we arrived in Tela I was very hot, thirsty, hungry and tired! We were dropped off at a merendero which is a snack bar. There was no representative waiting for us, contrary to what we had been told in Tegucigalpa. We started out joking about the situation but after two hours of waiting we were getting a little scared of being left in this strange place alone. Finally our representative turned up full of apologies that we understood more for her blushing than her words. The other two students were taken to their host families but there seemed to be some confusion over me. We were taken to a restaurant where an English speaker explained that there was a problem and that I was going to be taken somewhere new. I was shocked as I hadn't been prepared for this but I decided to make the most of it. The next three days turned out to be the worst I would spend in Honduras. The living conditions were unhygenic, I was given food I hardly managed to swallow, had to sleep on a cot-like bed in the "mothers" room and was made to wash the clothes, sweep the house and wash all the dishes after just arriving!! Talk about major culture shock! I believe that they thought I was to be their maid for a year! |
I moved house on the third day, my birthday, and was placed in a lovely home with my 72 year old host mother Dona Emma. Emma was the owner of a pulperia which is like a small convenience store. A maid also lived with us and we shared a small room overlooking the Carribean Sea. My host mother liked to enjoy her life and encouraged me to make friends and go out. I learned the value of independence as I noticed that many other students weren't allowed the freedom I had.
School was at Triunfo de la Cruz high school from 7.30am to 12 midday. I would go home for a cooked lunch and then had the afternoon free. For awhile I did community service in Tela Hospitals' Pediatric ward. I was looking forward to helping with the children but ended up cutting and drawing medication cards for hours! After a month I got bored and stopped going.
As part of my studies I had to do 200 hours of social work. The organizing teacher got us to work on several projects during the last half of the year. These projects included:
* The clearing of the back yard of a kindergarten and planting vegetables for the children. We also had to maintain the gardens (watering and weeding regularly).
* We listened to a speech from a local dentist on child tooth care and then formed our own speeches in groups with diagrams and went to different schools in Tela to give the speech on looking after their teeth.
* We fixed library books in my school and wrote signs on cardboard, posting them around the school about reading and caring for books.
* We made a cabinet for the school Science laboratory.
* We made signs to inform students to look after school property, especially desks and followed it up with speeches in all the classrooms.
* Finally we formed seedlings/cuttings from trees in the school grounds (over 400) using sawdust, water and aluminium foil and later planted them on a stretch of highway just outside Tela. |
During my time in Honduras as a student I was lucky enough to do a bit of travelling. I visited Trujillo and La Ceiba (two northern coastal towns), San Pedro Sula (the business capital of Honduras), El Progreso and La Lima (two cities on the way to S.P.S. from Tela), Mezapa (a tiny village on a river), Copan (home of the Mayan ruins) and The Bay Islands the little Honduran paradise in the Carribean Sea). |
I was really lucky to have been placed in Tela. It is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places in Honduras. It has miles of beaches stretching out as far as you can see with palm trees and white sand. There is a much friendlier atmosphere in this town unlike in the larger cities. There is less street crime although the beach is dangerous at night.
The things that struck me the most when I first arrived in Honduras were the little horse and carts in the streets all the time and also the rubbish that people freely threw into the gutters. I was struck by the open air markets where people sell meat and fish with a mountain of flies around! The mosquitos also drove me crazy at first. I soon learned to use repellent and not scratch them because my new found tan left a little white mark if I did. At one stage I had legs with lots of white splotches. Not very nice!
The number of bicycles in Tela was quite incredible. It was definitely an essential purchase for me. There are obviously very little road rules here or drivers don't bother to observe them because the driving here is pretty bad! The buses here are old American hand-me-down school buses. It isn't unusual to be stuck in one for hours when it breaks down! There are a few owners who have fixed up their buses but generally the seats are small and uncomfortable with no leg room (that's if you get to sit at all!!) and full of rust. I've had to travel with chickens squawking, babies screaming and the conductor yelling out the stops and destinations while asking for money (there are no pre-paid tickets) with over 100 people crammed in! That is why these buses in Central America have a reputation as "Chicken Buses".
There are many unsealed roads in Tela and when it rains everything turns into a complete bog! One time, it rained so much that the main streets of Tela flooded for a couple of days. I saw cars trying to drive through it all and then fall down the drain hole that is at the side of most of the streets! |
Everyone washes dishes in Honduras under a cold water running tap without putting water in the sink and use a special bar of soap. This was very culturally different to New Zealand and I thought it was weird at the time. I also had "fun" learning how to wash all my clothes by hand. It was very hot and hard work and took me over 3 hours at times because I left the clothes to pile up for too long. In the end I found a cheap laundromat and every 3 or 4 weeks I got my clothes washed because that was when they started to run out.
Tela is home to Lancetilla the second largest botanical gardens in the world. They are very natural (rather than cultivated) and contain native plants and tropical fruit trees. At the end of a long road is a river where you can swim that is so beautiful. |
On the Bay Islands I went snorkelling over the second best coral reefs in the world. I saw beautiful coral formations and the most amazingly colourful tropical fish. |
In Copan all of the AFS students united for the trip to see the Mayan Ruins. I have an interest in archaeology and found it quite a fascinating trip. I do remember however the hotel that we were put up in and expected to share double beds between two or three of us. That was certainly a strange proposition for a bunch of teenagers. I remember also the cockroaches...need I say more? |
My year in Honduras coincided with major electricity problems nationwide. The major dam El Cajon was in a bad state with little water so major power rationalisation ocurred over the country. Our power was cut at first for over half the original hours and now in November although I have more hours of power the situation is still bad. I have had to get used to using candles for light and cooking on gas cookers. The sound of generators in the commercial streets is deafening but has become a part of everyday life.
During Semana Sanata (Easter) Tela became a popular holiday destination. The beaches were incredibly crowded. Consequently the water got a little contaminated and I ended up with an ear infection. The discos and restaurants all put their prices up for the month too because of the influx in tourists. A big group of my friends had a bonfire on the beach ( fogata ) one evening and for a whole week we went dancing in the discos and tanning on the beach! The streets were filled with stall holders who sold cheap jewellery, hair and body products, clothing, music cassettes, shoes and make-up. The people lived in these huts for about a month around Easter and it quite shocked me to find out that they don't actually have homes, that they just travel from city to city selling their items and sleeping under the tables of products.
Tela has a large Garifuna population close by in Punta Sal. Some live in mud huts with coconut palm rooks and an outside toilet. They cook on open fires and often spend the day fishing and cook coconut bread which is delicious! Obviously not all Garifuna live like this but it is the way of life typical for their culture. In Tela there is a Garifuna Museum that you can visit and learn more about them. A few times I had the pleasure of watching a Garifuna Punta (dance) Display and even got pulled up to try it out!
In Tegucigalpa I was shocked to see the cardboard shelters perched on the cliffs and hillsides that the poorer people live in. It is incredible the contrasts that I have seen because without a doubt there are some very rich people in Honduras.
The days are passing quicker now and soon I will be heading back to New Zealand, my family and friends but my life won't continue as I left of. Honduras has changed me and also my natural family who have had to cope in their own way with my absence. It will be interesting to start again with them, almost like another AFS experience because we all have to learn to live with each other again.
Honduras has also changed my future goals. I was planning to go to University where I will study for a BA in Geography and Spanish. I'd like to get a job with Foreign Affairs and Trade and when I have enough money saved my ultimate dream would be to return to Tela. I would like to open my own English school there and build a recreation centre and encourage sports for girls here. Plans always change but these are my goals for the future. Maybe some are just dreams but I hope that i will be able to realise these someday.
I would have to say that a year on AFS is one of the most educational experiences someone could have. It takes strength and determination to get through the year. I often experienced feelings of loneliness and frustration but everything is a challenge and the things I have gained from my year here far out-weigh the negative aspects. Thank you to everyone involved for making my dreams come true and giving me this amazing experience |
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| kiwigal_1's Tela Travelogues | | | | Title [Click to view] | Travel Year | Pictures | | TELA | 1994 | 10 | | AFS - TELA | 1994 | |
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 Comments for kiwigal_1 about Tela | | | | |
calcaf38 Tue May 5, 2009 00:25 UTC
Wonderful page, Rhianon. I enjoyed your memories of Tela a lot. Thank you for sharing. | moiraistyx Mon Apr 6, 2009 20:38 UTC
Looks like you enjoyed your time here as a student. | catracho13 Fri Nov 2, 2007 15:16 UTC
i was surfing about san alejo n i saw this.i went to san alejo amreican school .and i was wondering what was your friends name maybe she was my teacher.i have also been to alncetilla like 10 times n i still like going there | Vivianlino Sat Mar 3, 2007 07:34 UTC
Thanks for info, is quite detailed. I am considering visiting Tela in two months, Tela, is closer to San Pedro's Airport, I dont want to too much and Tela seems to have everything I looking for.. beach, warm weather and relaxation.. Gracias |
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