Cows and chickens and goats, oh my!

Thursday, June 26, 2014

We had an outing planned today to the agricultural school. I was looking forward to this and I was feeling better. 

The Agricultural School, located outside of Tegucigalpa in Talanga, is home to 60 boys in grades 7-9. The 240-acre farm is a very quiet and pastoral setting, with views of rolling mountains. After graduation, some continue on with schooling or get jobs, and some go back to their own communities to teach sustainable principles to other local farmers.

We were on our way by 9:00 am.  We saw quite a variety of scenery along the way.

Houses on the side of the road.

Houses in the mountains.

We arrived at the school about an hour later. Raul handed us off to Miguel who was going to give us a tour of the facilities. It would have been a little easier if he spoke English (or we spoke Spanish), but hand signals go a long way.

Our first stop was the volunteer house. Yes, they have one here also. Service teams can apply to stay at the farm for a week.

Our next stop was the fishery. They farm tilapia here. There are four ponds total that each hold 4000 fish.

Tilapia pond.

They also grow a variety of produce. There are cows, chickens, goats and my favorite, the pigs.

We got introduced to the students, which was followed by a lunch of chicken tacos.

Some of the students at the agricultural school.

After lunch we headed back to Tegucigalpa, but first we had to make another stop. We were having a hankering for ice cream. So where to go? Why Walmart of course.

Ice cream. 98 Lempiras was about $5.

Eggs. We could not figure out why they were not refrigerated.

Medicines.

Coffee and rice was sold out of open bags.

When we got back to El Hogar we got a quick tour of the children's dormitory. They have one building with 4 dorms for the different age groups. Three dorms for the boys and one dorm for the girls.

Dinner was spaghetti. Yes, regular spaghetti with tomato sauce. Not 5-star, but palatable. Then we finished out the evening with the last dorm activity, music lessons and the English class.

Bamboo airplanes were tonight's project.

Later, back in the volunteer house, we broke out the ice cream which was enjoyed by all.