Ya me voy ahorita!

My passion for this phrase began after waiting 3 hours for a haircut that was then interrupted by a perm. I played it over and over in my head. How could I have so badly miss translated a phrase that I was sure meant “Yes, I am already coming to you right now, this minute!” ? Three hours and a perm – maybe that woman had said I need a perm “ahorita” with a different silence on the H or roll of her R! I must solve this mystery – but no.
Instead I wait until 10 for milk that was coming “ahorita” at 8. I wait for my friend to babysit so I can teach classes. She said she was coming “ahorita” - but that meant after she washed her laundry (and I think we have clarified that takes more than pushing a button). Kids say “ya, me voy” - “I am already on my way” - when they haven't bathed or eaten... in fact no one has hauled in the wood, to start the fire, to cook the meal. If they have to say, “I am coming right now” - it means they are not because they are in the middle of something.... and every something here takes awhile. It is like they don't understand that things take time. Actually it is like they don't understand that there is time. Like, “right now” - is different than “later.” I am the only type A person for 2 hours in any direction so I am the only one ever or frustrated it seems. Apparently, parties are starting “ahorita” when someone still has to drive a half an hour to get a speaker system and load it on your motorcycle, and parades start when you drive a half an hour in the other direction to get the marching band – that by the way - has to hitch a ride, and we only get about 12 cars a day up here. Church is always starting “ahorita” - much later. That is ok with everyone.
Today, when I went to buy eggs from my neighbor, she said she didn't have any right now, but they were coming “ahorita.” So we chatted for a bit and then things fell silent. I began to wonder if we were waiting for her husband to bring them from the chickens in the other field, or her daughter to gather them after breakfast, or maybe her mother was bringing them from her house, as I knew she sometimes does. I was wondering what his ahorita was going to look like. I was actually planning on doing something with those eggs today... for breakfast rather than dinner. So I finally broke down and ask. “When exactly will the eggs come?” “Ahorita” --- a few more minutes... and then I asked how they would get there. She looked at me like I was an idiot, and then explained that we were waiting for the chickens, there in her front yard to lay them – that is where eggs come from gringa. Of course, I was the idiot here – it wasn't like we had anything better to do then sit around and wait for the chickens to lay there eggs!
Time is not worth money here. There are no jobs, no other options, if you don't get done today what you were planning on doing – tomorrow's schedule looks exactly the same – and you cannot hurry the chickens.
So, I still don't understand what the phrase means, but I have decided I am going leave, “ya me voy ahorita.” It is two weeks away but I think it is appropriate. Normal time is over. The packing has begun, the forward thinking is in full swing, email and plans for the future and recap of the last year is taking more and more time each day.
So, to the people of Urraco - “ya me voy Ahorita.”
The rains have begun, making swimming dates and church schedules unreliable at best, and at worst, each time could very well be our last. “Ya me voy ahorita.”
I am cleaning out the fridge, and eating mountains of leftovers and pastelies. No more time for baking cookies for the kids and cooking classes with friends. “Ya me voy ahorita.”
No more time for watching movies and shelling cacoa with visitors. “Ya me voy ahorita.”
No more time to learn Spanish and devote every waking moment to the impossible task of understanding Honduras. “Ya me voy ahorita.”
It is apprapo... though I know not what it means. But I need to quit writing and make dinner “ahorita”.... because Jarod said he'd be home “ahorita”.... but just a forewarning to those to whom we come – “right now” means nothing to us anymore.


a group of the kids after a special music class in the library


a group of the kids durign a special photography class given by GUARUMA at the library


Jude "carrying" a sack of coffee

It's been a busy week :)


Oh yeah... and we aren't that organized anymore either. Therefore I cannot upload our Thanksgiving pictures which include everything from the butchering of the chicken, digging of the sweet potatoes, wheelchair races, and coconut chopping.