Celebrating NYE with Jordan at the Justice show in Chicago.

Well I am happy to report that I am back in the land of fruit and sun after an amazing vacation to the USA for Christmas and New Year. While the actual journies to and from the US were hectic and exhausting, the trip itself was wonderful. I got to see all of my family, a handful of friends, and ring in 2009 with friends at the Justice show in Chicago. All of the excitement made me really sad to leave, even if I was absolutely freezing the entire time. Here are some pics!

Justice at the Congress Theater NYE

Back together and causing trouble as usual.

Winter wonderland in FA at my parent's house.

Kitty and mom model some Christmas gifts.

2009 has had its ups and downs so far, but I am looking forward to seeing what happens this year. My agenda is filling up quickly and in only 9 short months I will be finishing my Peace Corps service. Stay tuned.

This past week I spent a day in Tela for a PC meeting. After two weeks of rain it was a beautiful day overlooking the beaches of Tela and the ocean. We were situated on the top floor of a hotel overlooking the water. When we were dismissed for lunch I stopped by the room I would be sleeping in to drop off a bag and use the restroom. I reached for the handle to open the door to exit the bathroom and to my surprise it came off in my hand! I tried putting it back on and turning it again, but it didn’t work. Luckily, a coworker of mine was also in the room. “Jessica? Can you open the bathroom door from the outside?” She tried opening the door from the outside. No dice. “I’ll go get someone,” she told me. I sat down on the closed toilet lid to wait. In a few seconds a housekeeper showed up with a key and tried to open the door. Nothing. She told me to stay put, she was going to get someone else.

After a couple more minutes someone else showed up with a hammer. This guy starts to hammer the handle clear through the door over to my side. Loud pounding, hunger, and the general stress of the week were starting to build up on me. I started to feel claustrophobic. I jumped up on the counter and peeked out the filthy window that opened to the hallway. Jessica joked with me and told me that she could get me my lunch through the window if worse came to worse. The door handle came flying through to my side of the door. This was it! The man tried to open the door. Still nothing. The actual locking device was lodged in the opening and stuck in the door frame. Now what? After a few more minutes an older gentlemen showed up and all I saw through the circular hole in the door was a crow bar. Great. He started to pry the door. It didn’t move. He kept working and prying and at this point I just wanted to get out of there without splinters. Finally, the door came bursting open. I slouched back on the toilet raising my arms above my head in a V for victory. “Gracias por rescatarme” I said (thanks for rescuing me). But what I really wanted to say was, “ How the hell did I get trapped in here in the first place? What if Jessica hadn’t been there? What if I were stuck yelling for help out of the tiny bathroom window for hours? What kind of service is this to the hotel clients?”

Basically, I could not believe that it had just happened, but about two seconds later I was laughing about it. It was just one of many incidents that had occurred that week, but it felt like the last straw to me.

After 16 months in Honduras, I finally made it out to Copan Ruins for the annual Halloween festivities. After travelling all day and wanting to die from motion sickness in the mountains, we arrived at about 6pm to the chilley but adorable and ultra-touristy town of Copan Ruinas. Hardly a second passed when we didn't run into friends or other volunteers on the street and it was a lot of fun to catch up with volunteers I hadn't seen for a year or those I had never met.

The Saturday night of Halloween weekend in Copan is the night of the big costume party. Imagine a ton of extranjeros dressed up in costumes dancing around town and even competing in a costume contest. The local business owners put the party on every year and they do a fantastic job of organizing everything. Fun was had by all.

On Saturday during the day we went to see the actual archeological site and spent a few hours exploring the ruins and the history of the area. It is absolutely amazing to me that such structures could have been built during a time when construction technology was lacking. Although a lot of the structures have been restored and therefore are not completely original, it was still interesting to see the recreations of what the archeologists believe to have been there during the time of the Mayans.

Minutes before the rain at Playa Peru

Corn on the cob with lime and salt...a staple on any street corner in La Ceiba

Storm clouds completely cover the island of Utila

Two serious sand sifters

Chelsey, Brian, and Raul in front of the house

After more than a year apart I have been reunited with my best friend, Kellie! I am excited that Kellie was able to take some time to come to Honduras and visit me as well as go to Spanish school! So far it has been a lot of fun. Some of our activities include:

helping build a Habitat house

visiting families in need of housing improvements along the Cangrejal river

eating a ton of corn on the cob

making smoothies for dessert almost every night

playing some mean games of Give Me A Nickel ( I am winning the tournament so far)

More exciting news is that the families involved in the large housing project I am working on have come to a decision about the size of the project, so now I can get back to working on the plans for their new development.

In other news, rainy season is here! We have not had anything too serious yet, but there have been some pretty big storms. Its time to buy more candles for when the power goes out! Think of me in the rain and dark as you sip on every wonderful pumpkin-flavored fall coffee and beer. Also, on September 27th I celebrated one year in La Ceiba and 15 months in Honduras. It is crazy how quickly time is passing. How am I ever going to finish everything I want to do?

In La Ceiba, you don’t hail a taxi…the taxis hail you. No matter where you are going or at what time of day you will hear the honks of the taxi drivers asking you if you want a ride. In fact, there could be a line of four taxis driving down the street (there frequently are because there are what seems like a billion taxi drivers in this town) and each one of them will honk at you, even though you told the previous one that you prefer to walk. This is especially true if: a) you are a woman, b) you have more than one bag with you, c) if you are a foreigner. Super double bonus points if you fit all three categories, which I usually do. Unless it is raining. If it is raining good luck getting a taxi because they are all already full to capacity and will not stop to take on more passengers. The following is a very typical conversation with a taxi driver:

Me: Good morning/afternoon, I need to go to…(insert destination)

Driver: Okay, get in

At this point there is silence for a few minutes unless the radio is on in which case it is playing evangelical Christian music.

Driver: Where are you from?

Me: From the USA, but right now I am living here in La Ceiba

Driver: USA! What part? I have family/friends who live in …..(typical answers are Carolina del Norte, Nueva Orleans, Nueva York)!

Me: I am from Wisconsin, it is a state north of the city of Chicago

Driver: Is that close to...(Carolina del Norte, Nueva Orleans, Nueva York)?

Me: No, its in the Midwest.

Driver: Do you like La Ceiba?

Me: Yes, I am still here aren’t I?

Driver: But you speak Spanish very well.

Me: Well, if I didn’t it would be pretty hard for me to work here, right?

Driver: That’s true, but there are a lot of gringos who come here and don’t speak very good, where did you learn?

Me: Well I am a Peace Corps volunteer so when I first got here I had Spanish everyday for 3 months of training.

Driver: (really getting down to business) Are you married?

Me: (depending on the situation and the driver I sometimes tell the truth, but usually I don’t) Yes, I am married.

Driver: Does your husband live here or there?

Me: There

Driver: Well you need a Honduran man too. (at this point he usually smiles in the rear view mirror, implying that he is the perfect candidate) Do you go to church? (hoping that I say yes, because that means I am his dream girl while at the same time turning up the radio to prove how religious he is…funny how he is hypothetically asking me to commit adultery AND hoping that I am religious at the same time)

Me: I think I only need the man I have. No, I don’t go to church

Driver: Oh (looking really disappointed and sad that I am not his dream girl)

At this point we arrive at my destination and I pay

Me: Thank you

Driver: No, thank you. It was a pleasure and I hope that I see you again soon.

It is important to keep in mind that there are usually one or two other passengers in the taxi with you who get dropped off either before or after you according to how close the destination is and they are listening to the entire conversation with smirks on their faces… especially the men.

Which brings me to my next point: has anyone ever seen a female taxi driver in La Ceiba? Has anyone seen a female taxi driver anywhere in the world? I have been wracking my brain recently to remember if I have ever had a female taxi driver in my life, and I am not sure. Please let me know if you have!

The four of us enjoying a swim in Rio Zacate

Katie with the children at the feeding center

The way we roll in Honduras.

Sylvia's beach property

Cayos Cochinos

Working on a Habitat house

Learning to punta

Well, it’s actually more of a jogging route, but you get the idea. Let me start by saying that it is not common to go running in Honduras. Most Hondurans think it is a hilarious thing to see and are puzzled by why people would want to go running. In many places it can be very dangerous for a female (or male for that matter) to go running alone, so most volunteers end up running circles around the community’s soccer field. That being said, I live in a much larger, more liberal city and there are safe places to run if you are female. My options are still limited, but where I go running sometimes there are actually other runners and quite a few people who go walking, so I feel good about it.

I leave my apartment and walk to the pavement of the street I live on. The guard at the deposito, asks me if I am about to go running. The answer is yes. I start my watch and I am off. I make a left at the end of the street onto one of the main arteries of Ceiba. I pass a taxi car wash where the men inevitably shout things to me as I run by, sometimes offensive things, sometimes not. It is times like these that I wish it were safe to run with an ipod, but I would for sure get jacked if I did that. I usually don’t even look up and just keep going to the next corner where I pass the woman who sells grilled corn on the cob. I pass the gym, and laugh in my head about all of the people who pay 700 lempira a month to run on the treadmill while I run for free (who am I kidding I would go there too if I could afford it!). After about 5 minutes I reach the main circuit I run on, through one of the wealthier neighborhoods in town (it actually has sidewalks!) and eventually around the block of the Standard Fruit (Dole) research lab. The sun is always in my face for half of the trip and I pass all of the bikers and walkers going home from work. Most of them wish me a good afternoon, men on the back of pick ups profess their love for me, and children run along with me for about half a block and they are spent.

I see many of the same people. The woman who works at the place I go for laundry, the woman who sells fruit and snacks by the hardware store, an old woman and her granddaughter on their afternoon walk, the other regular walkers. Depending on how much energy I have and the weather I run around this approximately 1 mile circuit for about 30 minutes to an hour and then I head back to my apartment as the sun is starting to set.

The guard at the deposito asks me if I am tired when I get back. I say yes. Then I hold my breath as I walk by the trash can which is always full by Tuesday and pickup isn’t until Friday. At least there is trash pickup in my neighborhood. I make small talk with my elderly neighbor Don Angel, whom I’ve never seen with a shirt on, and I walk to the end of my block as a cool down. Then it’s back up the steps to my apartment, exhausted and sweating profusely, to drink some water.

Over the 4th of July weekend I was invited to participate in my first COLORS meeting and diversity activity and I think I am now hooked.

COLORS is a support group for Peace Corps Volunteers in Honduras to talk about diversity issues and a forum to talk about people’s experiences as diverse Americans in Honduras. Within the last couple of years the people in this group decided that instead of only talking about diversity within the group, they should start a charla (short presentation or talk) about American and Honduran cultural diversity.

The charla begins when the facilitator introduces themselves and brings in a very diverse group of Peace Corps Volunteers holding a piece of blank paper, only they are not introduced as PC or as American, and they don’t speak. The next step is to have all of the students get up and put an X on the papers of the people that they feel are American. This is where I come in…there has to be at least one “typical” looking American there. So of course the students all put an X on my paper and the papers of any other “typical” looking Americans. Many of the other volunteers don’t get any Xs on their paper. Then the facilitator asks why the students chose who they did. They all say they chose me because I have blue eyes and blonde hair and I am white. Next the facilitator asks all of the participants who are American to stand up….SURPRISE!!!...we are all American! Then they get a history of the US…a country of immigrants. This is just the beginning of the charla. After that we talk about Honduran cultural diversity, stereotypes of both Americans and Hondurans, the word gringo, etc. At the end all of the students make a promise to think before speaking, and to take into account cultural diversity when speaking to both Hondurans and foreigners.

I think it is such a cool activity and I believe it is a very positive way to channel some of the negative feelings about being a foreigner in Honduras, while at the same time encouraging the students to be sensitive about the cultures of foreigners and the different Honduran cultures. It is amazing because there are something like 9 ethnic groups in Honduras and the students many times are not even aware of all of them. Most can name 2 or 3 different groups, but hopefully after the charla they think about it a bit more and try to learn more about the diversity in their own country.

12 months in 15 months to go and still smiling.

Wow! One year ago, I stepped off the plane in Tegucigalpa, Honduras with no idea what to expect for the next two years. My mind was full of different emotions and I was confronted by the fact that my Spanish was not up to par. I remember all of the H11 trainees as we made our way on an old school bus up the mountain to Santa Lucia. No idea what to expect. We were handed a slip of paper with the information of our new host family and had about 30 minutes to imagine what they would be like before actually meeting them. And so it began...

12 months later, I am comfortable in my daily life in La Ceiba, Honduras. And although I will always stand out, I don't feel too out of place. Some highlights in the past year include meeting some great people (other volunteers and Hondurans), living in La Ceiba, exploring the Cuenca Cangrejal, working with about 600 families on a giant project, getting better at Spanish, and getting my open water SCUBA certification! There are really too many highlights to list, but I have definitely encountered many challenges too. Anyway, I am learning a lot and working hard. Hopefully the work I am doing is benefitting the people of La Ceiba in some way. In the next year I am looking forward to continuing the work I am doing for this big project, getting visits from family and friends, chilling in La Ceiba, and exploring the rest of Honduras!

Habitat for Humanity aka my counterpart organization in Honduras

Scuba Paradise

Thats me...just kidding.

The last four days I spent on the island of Utila located off of the north coast of Honduras. My reason for going in case you couldn't already guess was to go scuba diving! I spent four days working on my open water diver certification and it was a ton of fun. I learned a lot and saw a lot. I also got seasick and got to eat a ton of amazing food while on my vacation and I was sad to see it end. It was strange, but after living in La Ceiba for a while now, I felt as though I was in a different country when I got off of the ferry in Utila. It is a haven for divers from all over the world and there was not a lot of representation from the ladino culture of mainland Honduras. (But we did find one disco...lots of fun) My favorite spot by far was the Bundu restaurant that is located on the main street through Utila Town. Amazing breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Not to mention the hardest working staff on the island. I think I ate there three times in four days. No joke. So now I am back in La Ceiba recovering from my vacation and back to work as usual, wondering when my next diving trip will be!

Even though the Sex and the City movie has not been released in Honduras (as far as I know), I got the chance to watch it last night...it did not disappoint! I had been hearing all of these rumors that one of the characters died in the movie, but thankfully that did not happen. Seeing that fabulous life of the SATC ladies made me both happy and sad to be in Honduras, but as long as I can live vicariously through them I will be okay!

Finally I got the chance to write another entry and share some pics from the Carnaval. It was a fun weekend, but very busy. I also got the chance to shake the hand of Honduras' president Mel Zelaya! He was much taller and thinner in person that he is in all of the photos.The parade was amazing to watch and the celebration continued into the night with good music, food, and dancing. I left at 4am and the party showed no signs of slowing down!

Remember my previous iguana experience? Well now I have another! El Festival del Jamo is a festival that happens in the city of Olanchito, Yoro. A few of us volunteers went for the day to celebrate eating iguana, complete with parades, people in iguana costumes, and the first Harley-Davidson motorcycles I have seen in Honduras. It was a lot of fun and this time the iguana was great. I really enjoyed it and was not sick later on in the evening!

Jamo is a type of iguana reptile that people used to eat all of the time, but apparently they ate it into extinction. The people in Olanchito still call it Festival del Jamo, but it is actually just your average iguana that they are eating. Note: never try iguana eggs...I have heard some stories.

The folks walking to the site

Exploring the site

On Sunday the families of the first phase of Vistas de Satuyé got the chance to see the site where they are going to build their homes. I was completely impressed by the turnout of people. I guess that there had to be at least 600 people there. Watching them all walk down the recently made entrace was amazing. It was a dense group of people that stretched on forever. I could only think that the only person missing was Moses himself.

Not going to lie, I was choking back tears the entire time. It was moving to see them all there exploring the land they are going to live on and think about how many of them have never had their own homes. Everyone came including the local news and the governer of the department (Atlantida) that La Ceiba is located in.

The leather shop I visited with Miss Smithback

Kitty Cat and I hanging out

I have returned to La Ceiba after a trip back to the US and a visit to my family in the best state ever...Wisconsin. You know its true. I got to do some fun things while I was there...visit with family, talk to Miss Smithbacks class about what I am doing in Honduras, make a leather bracelet at the leather workshop (!), visit Minneapolis and see some good friends, spend oodles of time with my sister, and take hot showers. It was nice...but freezing. I think my fingers and toes were numb the entire time I was there. It is amazing how quickly you get used to the hot weather.

But even though my trip was great, I am glad to be back home again. 2.5 weeks was a pretty long time to be away, and I was happy to return, though I will miss my family and friends until the next time I see them. Hopefully it will be on my turf. So now I am back to business as usual...busy!

Here are some photos of the land that is being cleaned for the huge project Vistas de Satuye. I was just waiting for a dinosaur to jump out at me. It was like stepping into another world!

You can tell by the look on my face how overwhelmed I was! This project is different from most in Honduras by the fact that we are saving all mature trees during the cleaning process. This is going to have a very positive impact on the physical and social space in the project.

Remember a while back when I mentioned that the land for this huge project was going to be cleaned off? Well the machine is finally here...you have no idea how happy that makes me. So what if it is 30 years old and breaks down every other day? We are still moving along slowly but surely.

It is a monster!

So, they´re trying to fix it...again.

By the way, apparently being tall here automatically makes you "elegante". Hilarious.

The first door is the door to my apt!

Living room/kitchen

Kitchen/porchecito

View from porch

Okay, so finally I found an apartment. It is in a neighborhood close to the one that I used to live in except instead of everyone hiding behind their fences the people are out on the street interacting with each other. Also, it is a mixed use neighborhood, so I have a corner store and other little shops on my street! This makes me a very happy girl. After seeing the photos you might be asking yourself: "she is in the peace corps?" But it is true. Even though this apartment super nice I am still a peace corps volunteer. It all goes back to the fact that I was lucky with my site placement and the peace corps high standard for safety. This is not a normal PCV apartment. Most people live in houses that are in nowhere near as good of condition as mine, but because Ceiba is large and peace corps wants to make sure that I live in a good neighborhood and a safe place I got approved to live here. Now I will have to go furnishing it little by little from the moving in allowance that the PC gives volunteers. Unfortunately I did not replace anyone, so I did not inherit free furniture like many other volunteers do. It is okay though because in Ceiba there are some second hand stores where I can hopefully stretch the amount of money I was given.

Now all I need are people to come stay with me in my new apartment!

Have you ever eaten iguana? Well, as of last Tuesday I can say that I have.

My counterpart and I were traveling to a small community called La Leona which is an aldea on the outskirts of the city of Arizona. It is located in the foothills of the mountains along the north coast of Atlantida (my department/state).

We arrived close to lunch time to meet with the families about the upcoming project we will be doing with the community. These people are extremely excited to get out of their inhumane living conditions and have their own Habitat homes. Anyway, the families wanted to serve us lunch and since we were starving we agreed.

One of the women brought over a bowl of what looked like chicken in coconut milk flavored with something. It looked good, but then I realized it could not have been chicken. I told her it looked good and asked what it was. Iguana Gizada con Coco. Iguana? Iguana. Okay. So I thought this was hilarious because during my reconnect workshop another volunteer had mentioned that it was popular in his town. I remember thinking that I would probably not like it, though I will try anything once.

So I ate it. It tasted like chicken. Almost exactly like chicken except for the fact that the skeletal structure was much different than a chicken, which was a constant reminder that it was not chicken. The dish tasted pretty good, not something I would ever order though. Iguana is slightly controversial because people want to protect iguanas and keep them off of the endangered species list. But I figure "when in Rome". Not to mention that the families would probably have been a little hurt if I refused their food. A general rule in Honduras is that when someone offers you food (or anything for that matter), you take it. Even if you are full. Just take it to go. So I ate my first iguana, and without giving too many details I paid for it later on in the evening!

Time for an amusing story:

Last week I was in Tegucigalpa for a week long project workshop. It was great to see all of the other municipal development volunteers and see what they are working on as well as learn about other things that are going on with Peace Corps Honduras.

Friday morning we were scheduled to leave the retreat center after breakfast. I woke up, showered etc. and packed up my bags to leave. I then decided to clean out my ears like I normally would. Well, the cotton on the end of the q-tip fell off and got stuck inside my ear! I went to the bathroom to look in the mirror and grabbed my tweezer to try to take it out, but it was too deep and I couldnt even see the cotton! Luckily it did not hurt at all because that would have been miserable, but it was throwing off my equilibrium, so I wanted to get it out. Fortunately I was already in Tegucigalpa when this happened so I was only minutes away from the Peace Corps office and medical unit.

I got to the medical unit at the PC office and met with one of the doctors. I told her that I just needed her to take a skinny tweezer to reach in and pull out the cotton. It would only take a couple of minutes by my estimation. Sadly, the doctor informed me that just to be safe, they wanted to send me to the ear specialist they work with in the city. She made me an appointment and I got in a cab to find the ear specialist office. I got there and checked in. 5 minutes later I got in to see the ear specialist doctor. I explained to him what happened and he took a look. Sure enough I was right...he used a skinny tweezer and pulled out the cotton. It took about 30 seconds to do. Easy.

The best part was the lecture about cleaning my ears that the doctor gave me. I felt like I was in second grade. He then told me that Honduran produced q-tips dont have enough cotton on the ends and are too skinny. Therefore they go too deep into the ear and it wasnt uncommon for the cotton to slip off and get stuck. He told me that American q-tips are better because there is more cotton and they are thicker, not allowing the q-tip to go in as far. I thanked the doctor and went back to the PC office where I informed the PC doctor how everything went and she sent me on my way.

I talked with a couple other volunteers who were in the office and they told me that they had heard of this happening to a lot of people because of the Honduran q-tips. Apparently it happens all of the time! Lesson learned: buy q-tips from the states to clean my ears.

Im stepping through the door...and Im floating in the most peculiar way...and the stars look very different today...

Things are continuing to move along in La Ceiba at the Habitat for Humanity office. Finally, after months and months of hearing potential dates for the clearing of the land of our large project (Vistas de Satuyé), we have been given a formal confirmation that on February 2nd, 2008 SOPTRAVI (the national construction company) is going to begin cleaning off the property! This is great news for us as we have been waiting for what feels like a very long time, but I guess that is how things work in Honduras. What does this mean for Habitat? It means that finally we will be able to take the families out to see the site of their future community, something they have been waiting to do since November. Because of history in Honduras the people are always very skeptical about projects like this. They have put their deposit down and in the past they have been ripped off so many times that there is a general distrust of any promise until physical results are shown. Going to the cleaned land means for them that the project is going to happen and that it is okay to start thinking about their future homes. No more asking the people to put their blind trust in Habitat. It is also exciting because that means that construction could begin as early as April, and the first phase of homes (400) could be finished by August. Tangible results as a Peace Corps volunteer can be a very rare thing, so I am looking forward to seeing the result of all of the hard work we have put into Vistas de Satuyé.

On the recreational front, I went to see a soccer game on Saturday night between Victoria and Olympia. Victoria is the better of the two La Ceiba teams and their mascot is a crab, which in my opinion makes them even cooler. Olympia is the most popular team in Honduras and traditionally the best team...basically the Yankees of Honduran soccer. This makes me dislike them very much from the start, not to mention the fact that for some reason I am becoming a die hard Victoria fan. Anyway, I went with my friend Reina who is a die hard Olympia fan and we had a really great time. Victoria scored an amazing penalty kick, followed by a goal from Olympia. Victoria answered shortly after that with another goal. Sometime later Olympia put a ball in the net, but fortunately, for some reason that was not made clear to the fans it did not count. It looked like Victoria was going to walk away the winner but in the last few minutes of the game Olympia scored again and the game finished in a 2-2 tie. It was a very exciting game to watch and a great way to spend a Saturday night. I also bought a t-shirt so that I can wear my colors to the next game.

Just for a laugh...we all know the stereotypes of construction workers making cat calls at women in the states. Well apparently that is an international phenomenon because on my way to work on Friday I walked by a construction site...looking very ordinary, mind you...and all of the men on the site stopped working to stare at me. They then proceeded to applaud. It was kind of like the slow clap at a sporting event; someone started and eventually everyone joined in. I was obviously mortified and gave them a quick wave while trying not to run away. 30 seconds later I realized how funny it was and laughed my way to work, which is actually another funny thing because we all know how funny it is to see someone walking down the street laughing to themselves...well that was me.

Also, just so you know I have resolved to taking more photos and posting them on the blog. Honduras is a very visually stimulating country, I think mainly due to the extremes of poverty and wealth that occur here and I want people to have a better idea of that because I am not capable of explaining it in words. The natural beauty of Honduras, especially La Ceiba, is remarkable as well. I also think that I am going to make a coffee table book containing photos of the multitudes of abandoned shoes I see on the streets of Honduras, and especially on the beaches. There is a story behind each and every one of those abandoned shoes and I think about it every time I see them.

Reina, Doña Sylvia, Michelle (host sister) at Christmas

Reina, Doña Sylvia, and I at Christmas

Happy New Year to all of my friends and family out there! I hope that each and every one of you had a wonderful holiday season, and are recovering from all of the delicious food and lack of sleep. Still sticking to your resolutions?

I celebrated the holidays in La Ceiba with my host family and friends. It was a welcome change to be out of the snow during the holidays. I actually went to the beach in the nearby Aldea Perú on the 23rd to have my own holiday celebration in the sun. Though I will say that everytime I heard Bing Crosby sing White Christmas I got a little nostalgic! Over the holidays I was able to catch up with some fellow Peace Corps volunteers and eat a lot of tasty food, but we are back into the swing of things again at the Habitat for Humanity office.

On the 4th of January (Friday) our first international Global Village Team arrived to help two families work on the construction of their houses. This group is made up of 20 people from all over the US. They also range from their early 20s to mid 50s. Overall I have had a wonderful time with this group so far and will continue to do so until they leave on the 13th. The two leaders of the group also come from Wisconsin (near LaCrosse), and one of them is now living in the Twin Cities! So it has been fun to get all of the midwest gossip that I have missed out on. In addition to working on the two houses, the Global Village Teams get to do tourist activities in La Ceiba and vicinity. Yesterday (Sunday), we took them to a Zip Line Canopy Tour just east of La Ceiba in Sambo Creek. One of the perks of my job is that I get to participate in a lot of these activites. If you have never done a zip line tour make sure to do one before you die, it was so much fun! At this particular place you hike up through the rainforest to the starting point, you then get harnessed up and go on 18 different cables which take you back and forth across a beautiful valley, through the rainforest, and give you a great view of the ocean. Afterwards you go to a couple of geothermal pools for a little relaxation. It was such a great experience and I am looking forward to doing it again with other groups.

The lines move at varrying speeds and are of different distances. I felt extremely safe/secure the entire time and everyone enjoyed the trip...even the two people who were afraid of heights.

All in all it has been really cool and special to me to share my knowledge of La Ceiba and of Honduras with the people on the team. I realized that I have learned a ton of information since I arrived here in July, and I really enjoy sharing the city with them and I hope that they will like it as much as I do. Working with the Global Village Teams is going to be a really fun compliment to the other work that I am doing at Habitat...speaking of which I must get back to!

Besos!

This...great snorkeling

This...the island of Chachauate

And this...ME! (and maybe Brianna if you are lucky) Seriosly...I want people to come down here and see if for themselves. Lucky for all of you I will be here until September of 2009, so there is plenty of time. I just want all of you to start thinking about taking a vacation. The islands in the photos are of a little boat trip I took on Sunday to Cayos Cochinos (Hog Islands). It was a great day trip from La Ceiba, about a 45 minute boat ride away from sand, sun, great snorkeling, and great food. The Cayos Cochinos are a group of keys that are one of the few protected natural features of Honduras. They are also home to a Garífuna community and a whole lot of fish. I saw all sorts of colorful fish, coral reef, jelly fish of all sorts, and even a ray. I was surprised at how nice the snorkeling was actually. For lunch we ate the traditional coastal food of fried fish, tajadas, rice, and beans. It was a great day all around and it felt like I was on vacation even though I was still home. Also this week, my friend Brianna (see above photo) was in La Ceiba with women from her site (Ocotepeque- on the western border) for a workshop on training for the women who will be running the Municipal Office for the Woman (Oficina Municipal de la Mujer). The purpose of this office in each municipality is to be involved in just about everything women are involved in. From small business, politics, womens rights, and domestic abuse, the goal of the office is to support women and help them find resources. Unfortunately, not every municipality has one and some are not given the support they need from local government. This is due to the tradition of machismo (basically the superiority of men in all areas) and the lack of confidence/education/support/respect for and of women. The workshop was a very exciting event for everyone who attended and for many of the women it was the first time they had ever left their pueblos (towns or villages), husbands, or children in their lives. It is just not common for women to do things like this, though it is necessary and important to the development of women in Honduras, Central America, and the world if you want to look at the big picture. It was a lot of fun for me to meet some of the women and see how excited they were for this opportunity. One of the women had never seen the ocean before and so we took her down to the beach in La Ceiba. The excitement she showed was unbelievable. She had tears in her eyes and the expression on her face was that of a childs when they see something so great for the first time. She actually tasted the water so she could confirm that it did indeed contain salt. It was a really cool experience.On the work front, I had a very challenging week last week with a lot of deadlines and a ton of stress. At moments I did not think I would survive, it was the most challenging couple of days that I can remember in recent history and definitely the most challenging days I have had in Honduras to date. On the positive side, I was laughing about it already the next day. I am starting to understand why the Peace Corps slogan is The Toughest Job You Will Ever Love. Anyway, I am just glad to know that I can overcome challenges and look back on them with a smile on my face. I am sure that there will be many more days like these to come during my two years of service and during my life. It is crazy to me how fast Christmas is coming and generally how fast time is going in La Ceiba. It seems like I arrived to Honduras just yesterday, but I have actually been here a little over 5 months. It will be 2008 before I know it and in February the newest group of trainees will be arriving to begin their journey. Crazy. I also finally found an apartment that I like and it looks like I will probably be moving in the beginning of January. I hope that everyone is doing well and that some of you will seriously consider taking a trip to Honduras with your own personal tour guide (me)!

New Central Plaza in Siguatepeque...its so clean!

Central Park in Siguatepeque

This week I had to go to the city of Siguatepeque for a vaccine I needed to get. Siguatepeque is located about two hours outside of Tegucigalpa and it has a lot cooler climate than La Ceiba. When I stepped off of the bus I was freezing! This trip was also a chance to reunite with a couple of other volunteers from my training group because they were in town for the same shot. I have to say that I was quite impressed with the city. I am not sure of the population, but it is relatively large for Honduras. The downtown is super clean (something you cannot find very often in Honduras) and there is a surprising diversity in architectural styles. The city just finished the construction and inauguration of a new central plaza. It is amazing. It is an entire city block and just looks so new and clean. There are fountains, public trash bins, and a stage which will be used for all sorts of community activities. In addition to this plaza, there is also a beautiful central park. I was impressed and it was great to see my friends, even though I had to get a shot.

One of the streets in my current neighborhood. Usually the mountains rise up really high in the back, but a storm was coming in when I took this photo. This is not what a typical neighborhood looks like in La Ceiba...people in this area have some cash to invest in their homes.

This is what I see when I walk out the front door of my office. It is located in the old national railroad building next to the Dole fruit company offices just off of the central park. Ahh, the nostalgia of trains.

Our Thanksgiving feast...can I eat it again?

So even though Thanksgiving is not a Honduran holiday, it seems that a lot of Thanksgiving dinners took place yesterday to celebrate one of my favorite holidays. There are so many expats and foreigners living in La Ceiba that almost everyone I talked to yesterday wished me a happy Thanksgiving. At our house we also prepared a feast. Doña Silvia, her daughter, and I all helped to prepare a traditional dinner for about 12 people. We had a scare at about 3pm when we were putting the turkey in the oven and the electricity went out! Fortunately, Doña Silvias daughter still had electricity in her neighborhood, so Doña Silvia raced the turkey over to her house to cook. By the time the guests arrived the lights had come back on and all of the food was just about ready. It was amazing...I think I am still full. It had been way too long since I had eaten pumpkin pie. I think my pies turned out almost as good as my grandmothers. It was great to celebrate a family holiday with my makeshift family in La Ceiba even though I obviously missed celebrating with my real family in the US.