Field Based Training in Yuscaran

After three and a half weeks in Zarabanda as a group of 53, it was time to break up for six weeks of field based training.  The Health group went to Via San Antonio (where many of them came down with sicknesses ranging from gripe to parasites that hospitalized them...), Water and Sanitation headed to El Paraiso (not much explanation needed based on the name alone...), and Business bused down to Yuscaran.  Just as we had established a routine and gotten comfortable with each other and our new environs, it was time to get out of our comfort zones once again.  While it was sad to leave my first host family and 2/3 of the other trainees, it was exciting to experience a new Honduran town, move in with a new host family, and really dive into the meat and potatoes of training.  The nerves that were present on our first day in country had returned, but in a different, more expectant fashion. 

Yuscaran is an old colonial town and serves as the capital of the department of El Paraiso.  With narrow cobble-stone streets, white-washed houses with red tile roofs, and a Catholic church looming over the central plaza, it almost felt like we could have been in a small town somewhere in the Spanish countryside.  But the overpowering heat quickly reminded us that, no, in fact, we were a whole lot closer to the Equator.

Quick 360 degree look at Yuscaran from the

roof of Erin's house, with my buddy Kelvin

The town sprung literally and figuratively out of the side of Montserrat, a mountain once full of gold and silver.  The mines have been shut for quite some time now, but Yuscaran continues to thrive, thanks to the largest employer in town - a factory that produces Yuscaran, the aptly named adult beverage that is the most famous brand of guaro in Honduras.  Guaro is more commonly known in Latin America as aguardiente and comes from sugarcane.  We got to tour the factory and taste the product.  I didn't think it was physically possible for me to grow any more chest hair, but Yuscaran proved me wrong...  The only downside to having a guaro factory in town is the lingering waft of sour-mash, which isn't so faint at times.

Typical scene of guy selling mangoes
out of the back of his truck by the park
(Photo credit to Ryan Gever)

View towards the park from the police station
It rains quite a bit here...
(Photo credit to Ryan Gever)

Being located on the side of a mountain, the views of El Paraiso are stunning and help remind a gringo that life has indeed changed, and if it looks like this, it's not such a bad thing!  The mountain also serves as an inviting physical challenge and there are several trails winding around and to the top of it.  For more information on the town of Yuscaran, please check out this website that the three Avanzados (trainees who came in with a really good command of the language and therefore didn't need to take 4 hours of Spanish every day like the rest of us) put together as their training project.  Kudos to Erin, Lacey, and Slater on a job well done!  From what I've heard, the people of Yuscaran, especially in the mayor's office, are proud of their new website and plan on building off of the platform provided to them.  For those who aren't masters of Spanish like I am (ha!), there is an English version as well.

Montserrat from the basketball court in our schoolyard
Our school used to be the town prison...

The view of southern Yuscaran and beyond into El Paraiso

The next several blog posts will be stories from our time in and around Yuscaran during field based training.  As there was no internet cafe in town, I was unable to blog and am having to back track.  Although, seeing as we got paid a whopping 58 Lempiras (around $3) a day during training, not having access to an internet cafe meant I could buy potable water and the occasional charamusca (delicious flavored-ice-in-a-bag).