Coming Full Circle

Hi everyone! This past week has rewarding, frustrating, redemptive, and refreshing. Here are some of my musings:

School this past week has led me to some frustrating realizations. I got a midterm back from my Latin American Reality class, and did quite possibly the worst I've ever done on a test. Please note, during the entire test there were loud speakers about 100 feet away blasting Lady Gaga (I've learned not to ask why anymore). As much as I love her music at the right time, she doesn't help me remember what factors influenced Simon Bolivar's liberation of South America. Obviously, the Spanish element adds some difficulty, but in addition, the academic culture here is distinct- there are other methods of teaching, taking tests, grading and studying here that just aren't the style I'm used to, so even thought I studied, I didn't study the right way. A lot of our class time is spent reading and summarizing material, whereas I'm used to hearing a lecture and discussing or analyzing things as a class. My plan is just to work my butt off for the next 2 months, be extra diligent about asking questions, and hopefully pull off a B.

On the other hand, I found out I have an A in my Central American history class- which I've never been so relieved to hear. We are starting to write our final research papers in all classes (so far I've got three 15 pagers on the to do list!) and I'm excited because I secretly really love writing research papers and I think it's how I learn best. For one class I'm thinking about investigating the role of liberation theology in Central American revolutions. For another, I'm going to research "brain drain" that occurs as a result of educated and skilled Nicaraguans migrating to the United States, Costa Rica, and the handful of other places they seek out to improve their economic opportunities, but at the expense of Nicaraguans back home who are left with a shortage of doctors, engineers, and teachers.

On Thursday I helped lead the workshop on sexual health for women at Mujeres en Accion. We had about 9 women come, and I felt it went pretty well. They were mostly interested in learning about protection from STIs, so that is what we talked about. The interesting, and sad, thing (in response to a comment about the last post) is that these women are at high risk for STDs, yet most of them are married, so preaching abstinence isn't really practical. Why, then, are they so susceptible to sexually transmitted infections? Thanks to machismo (which exists throughout Latin America, but is especially prevalent in this country known as the "most unfaithful country in Latin America") means that a majority of men cheat on their wives. The male-dominated culture accepts it as normal, but of course women are held to a double standard. This double standard is so bad that if a woman, who assumes her husband is unfaithful, asks to use protection, she can be accused of being the unfaithful one, and with multiple kids to take care of, she isn't in a position to make demands of her husband. This isn't the case with all marriages, but with all too many. However, through organizations like Mujeres en Accion, which empower women to work together and support each other, women are finding ways to deal with the challenges of being female in this society, and realizing that they don't have to be passive victims to this system. Still, the struggle continues, and it is great to see the hope that women have when they come into our building.

Speaking of hope, last weekend I went back to Tegucigalpa, Honduras to visit the place you could call my second (or third? or fourth?) home. I can't believe that two years have passed since I lived there for a summer, teaching kindergarten at AFE. I toured AFE and marveled at the improvements, went to worship at the new building of Pastor Jeony's church, hung out with Rey, Elise, and Elijah, spent time my old friends Roger and Susan, and said hi to lots of (slightly older-looking) kids that I had built relationships with. I also baked cookies, ate frozen yogurt, did yoga, and felt cold- all things that I had not done for a long time. It was a wonderful, beautiful experience and I'm going to do everything I can to go back and spend Thanksgiving with them.