The Same But Different

It's Sunday morning in Concepción. It's been raining all night, and for a good while there it was pretty torrential. All the roofs here are made of corrugated tin, so even a light rain sounds like a herd of thundering rhinoceroses (or rhinoceri for all you Hanauers out there). With a heavy downpour there is little hope of talking to anyone you may be with, so we've gotten pretty good at sign language.

Sunday mornings here are just about the most pleasant part of my life in Honduras. Our clinic here has not opened yet, so there is no hustle and bustle, no babies crying downstairs, no one telling me that the internet isn't working. The view from this back porch is immaculate; brilliant white fog burning off the mountains as the sun inches higher in the sky. It has been raining pretty steadily for about 6 weeks now, so the white of the fog contrasts nicely with the bright green of the newly refreshed plantlife that covers the nearby hills. A nice hot cup of locally grown coffee and some Avett Brothers coming through the speakers and I am about as content as can be. I remember really loving Sunday mornings in Bolivia as well...it's almost as if it's the only time anymore that I feel like is really my own. That sounds bad but I can't help but think it is true. Living in the same place I work with the people with whom I work makes it feel like every moment of the day belongs to Shoulder to Shoulder. By no fault of theirs mind you, I think it's a combination of there being so much work to get done and not too many other ways to pass my time. Throw in my "everything needs to be working properly" mentality and it adds up to a lot of time spent on Shoulder to Shoulder. Even our post-work conversations end up being about community development or how to improve this project or what would it be like if we started doing that...this creates the feel that we are indeed ALWAYS working, although we may not be sitting at our desks or distributing water filters or whatever. A good friend asked me the other day how I feel about being a "development professional." It made me chuckle a little to think of myself as a professional anything, but that has marinated a little bit and I guess even though we don't dress nice or have to commute or worry about TPS reports, we kind of are professionals. It's got me wondering whether this could be a "career" or not.

So that amongst other things is what is on my mind this lovely sunday morning. I am not sure if folks even stop by to check in on this blog anymore...with all the iphones and twitter and all that it's almost like a blog is passé, especially one that doesn't share news or opinions. Nevertheless, I want to start updating it more and hopefully develop a refreshed following. You all may start hearing more ranting and raving about work, but know that having this outlet to rant and rave perhaps keeps me a little more sane. I do have a lot of fun stuff to report on, including 2 weeks spent in Seattle, hanging out at a Honduran microbrewery and playing cornhole inside until my arm was sore. But for now I just hope you've been able to enjoy this Sunday morning porch as much as I have. Toodle-oo.