Transitioning to La Ceiba

January 16, 2013

I guess I should start this off by giving a small introduction as to why am I here in Honduras. Well more than 6 months ago when I was trying to figure out what to do with my life, I realized I wanted to take a small break between transitioning from my undergraduate career to my post graduate life which includes a bright future in medicine.
Two wonderful friend, Lucho and Marion Boddy, introduced me to the Bayan Association here in Honduras. Lucho and Marion are good friends with the program director Soheli Dooki and without further thought, I downloaded the application, applied, and waited for good news. By September I had already confirmed my flight to Honduras for a 6 month period of voluntary service.
Now the Bayan Association is a non-profit, Bahai-inspired organization that is dedicated to the social and economic development of Honduras. Bayan's primary focus is with an innovated educational system designed to permit youth in the rural areas to complete high school and acquire appropriate skills for sustainable living. I hope to be very involved with this program called SAT (sistema de aprendizaje tutorial).
I arrived in La Ceiba on Jan. 14, 2013 at 3:30pm. It was at a temperature of 82*F but super HUMID. It beats Davis weather anytime though, I feel like I am already started to brown up again into my summer colors. A member of the Bayan Association named Denis came to pick me up from the airport and explained to me a few of the details in regards to La Ceiba and safety. Regardless, I feel a lot more secure here in La Ceiba as opposed to being in Morelia, Mexico. In fact, majority of the Honduran population find Mexico to be at least 20x more dangerous than Honduras. I don't know why I got so scared from the stories I had hear prior to arriving in La Ceiba. Of course there are precautions that I need to take, which is the same that I would take walking through Compton in LA or getting out of the airport in Mexico City. Try to carry a small, non-visible purse or no purse at all, very little money or no more than $100 cash, no flashy jewelry, keep the tourist look on the down-low, and wear casual looking clothing (which I very much failed at doing).
As soon as I got to the Bayan Association which is in the area, Barrio Bella Vista, I finally met the people who I have been communicating with since I submitted my application online, Mr. Mario Miranda and Mr. Soheli Dooki. I spoke to Mr. Dooki about a few logistical issues and he then escorted me to my room to unpack and relax.

Later in the evening, Mr. Miranda took me to take out some money and buy some food for the evening and morning. The money system is in LEMPIRAS, and the currency rate right now is 1 dollar for every 19.99 Lempiras. It has been a bit confusing trying to convert everything in my head to see if it's a good deal or not. For example, today I bought a cell phone for calls and texts. It cost me 480 Lempiras which equals out to $24.
Overall I am still adjusting to the Honduran lifestyle and La Ceiba's heat. I am excited for the weekend that is coming so I can go to the beach. Yet I have a lot of work to do apart from filling out applications, to reading books that talk specifically about the SAT program, and looking for new friends to hang out with.

Thanks for reading!