Saludos Amigos!

Welcome to November! The last few weeks have been lots o' fun, very busy, and at times a bit harrowing, and I'll get to all of that in a minute, but first I'd like to say something about the election. As anyone who knows me even a little bit is aware, I'm not shy about discussing my own political beliefs. Though over the past few years my views have become a bit more to the center than they once were, I'm still, and always will be, a liberal at heart. And I don't mean "liberal" in the way that Fox News means it (pagans who kick puppies and eat babies). Watching and listening to this election from afar has been both interesting and inspiring to me, and whats more, I have gotten so much feedback from the people of my town who have said the same. The newspapers here have covered the election almost as closely as US papers do, and many times Hondurans knew of campaign developments before I did. I have heard from so many here that they hoped Obama would win, that he seemed to have a genuinely balanced and insightful perspective on many world issues. I have to agree. I feel that I have been incredibly lucky to not only have the perspective of an American, but to also have the perspective of one living abroad, who sees the day-to-day effects of American policy on the rest of the world. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, other than to say that I am proud of Americans for looking past the cheap shots, the moral attacks, race, and scare tactics to elect someone who gives many Americans and many global citizens an infinite amount of hope. And sometimes I think that matters more than anything else.

The morning after the election, I was getting breakfast at a restaurant that I often eat at. There was a Honduran paper with the first 6 pages devoted to the election, and a giant photo of Barack Obama on the front. I have to say, I got pretty teary-eyed when I saw it. The owner of the restaurant came out and gave me a hug, and asked me why I was crying, and when I told her, she smiled and said that she was proud of America too.

I know that there are many people who do not share my sentiments, and they are entitled to their opinions. But for me, Tuesday was a day that I will never, ever, ever forget, and a day that has made me proud once more to call myself an American. Oh, and though it is posted at the bottom of this blog, I feel I should say it again here "The opinions stated in this blog are mine alone and do not represent the opinion of the United States Peace Corps or the United States Government." You know, just in case.

Ok, on to other things -

For Halloween, I went to Copan Ruins to the annual PC Halloween extravaganza (I would estimate there were around 100 volunteers there) and had a great time. Below are some of the less incriminating photos from the weekend, others are posted on Facebook.

Copan is a beautiful town, with lots of touristy stuff to do, lots of backpackers and ex-pats. There are some really beautiful hotels, restaurants, and shops. Unfortunately, most are off limits on a Peace Corps budget, which is why I will be dragging my parents there when they come to visit.

To be honest, I don't have much more to report right now. The next few months will be busy, but not with anything incredibly work-related. I'll be in Florida (yay!) at the beginning of December, and then will be traveling in Honduras for Christmas and New Years, then am taking some vacation time at the beginning of January to go to the islands with some friends. However, after that I will be back on track with actually doing some things here.

Greetings! As you can see, I'm really, really, really trying to do the whole blog thing more often. Last week I went to Paso Viejo, and aldea in the mountains surrounding Quimistan, about an hour's walk from the Guatemalan border. It was a two-day visit, and we discussed family planning, women's health, and a sundry of other things as well. The second day I was there, we were with just a group of men. We discussed family planning and did an activity that visually displays what happens when someone doesn't do any family planning and then doesn't have the resources to take care of all of their children. Honestly, it is an activity that is usually done with teenagers, but I thought I'd try it out. I think it went well - we received a lot of good feedback. Below are some photos from the two days:

And some of the views from Buenos Aires, a community halfway between Quimistan and Paso Viejo:

We also did a condom demonstration with the Paso Viejo hombres, which actually went pretty well. I was a little nervous, being that I was with men 18-60 in a little campo town, and that most of them get super embarassed by stuff like that. However, they asked lots of questions and all faithfully put their condoms on their bananas. And speaking of bananas, if you've ever wondered what happens to all the bananas we use for condom demonstrations, please see below:

Also, as we were cooking our fantastic condom bananas, the electricity went out, hence the fashionable (can't live without it) headlamp.

Top with some mayo-ketchup and salt, and you have a great Honduran meal.

I'm currently in San Pedro, came in to town today to buy some gringa groceries (i.e. soy to make soy burgers, bagels, cream cheese) and pirated movies (Atonement, the new Batman, and Kite Runner for 5 bucks!) And am now comfortably seated in Espresso Americano, sipping some coffee and enjoying the very fast, very free internet.

On the bus to San Pedro today, I met an orthodontist that works in a clinic in the mountains of Quimistan. He and I were discussing the absolute disparity between rich and poor in Honduras. While I am incredibly lucky to live in a country that is developed enough that I have a cell phone, the internet, and if I really wanted, cable tv, that country only exists for a very small population here. The others, the campesinos, live without basic medical care, clean water, or electricity. This is something I have been struggling with lately, for many reasons. I have been asked to give some talks next week in Paso Viejo, an aldea on the border between Honduras and Guatemala (my municipality borders Guate) on personal hygiene and reproductive health/family planning. While I am happy to give these talks and do truly believe that everyone should be educated about birth control, condom use, the advantages of family planning, proper hygiene, etc., it is at times difficult for me to really believe that this information will change their quality of life. I am there to stress the use of family planning methods such as birth control pills, but our health center has been out of them for at least a month. I am supposed to encourage toothbrushing and clean drinking water, but many of the people I will be speaking with don't have the money to buy either. I guess I wonder if knowledge really is power, when the resources needed to put such knowledge into practice are so scarce. However, I will continue to soldier on, and hope it makes a difference for some.

On another note, I thought everyone might like a lesson on how to make tortillas (the easy way) and so am posting a how to guide:

You can start by A) growing, drying, and grinding your own corn, or you can go to your local super and pick up a bag of corn flour - you can see which one I have opted to go with here.

Add water,

Form the masa into little balls of dough,

and use your trusty tortilla make to mash them into tortillas. During the fateful tripped that included walking to Tegus, we spent an evening with a family that one of the other volunteers knew. I struck up a conversation with the abuelita (grandma) and told her that my tortilla making skills were incredibly lacking, and the I had been smashing the masa between two plates because I couldn't make them by hand. Before we left for the night, she gave me this tortilla maker to help me be a better Honduran cook. To be honest, I got a bit teary-eyed. And every time I use it (which is often) I think of her.

After masa has been smashed into a tortilla shape, transfer to a comal (piece of metal on stove) or in my case, a skillet, and cook. And the finished product:As you can see, I still need to work on my tortilla making a bit more, but I'd say I'm well on my way to becoming a fantastic Honduran cook.

Have a great weekend!

So much has happened since my last blog entry, I'm not quite sure where to start. So here are some of the more exciting moments of the last few weeks:

The Day We Walked to TegusAt the beginning of September, Kristina (another volunteer) and I headed to Tegus to do an HIV workshop with the new trainees. Kristina took the bus from Santa Rosa, and I met her in San Pedro. From there, it was a smooth and tranquil 5 hour trip to Tegus. Or at least thats what was supposed to happen. However, about 4 hours into our journey, our bus came to an abrupt halt. This happens occasionally here in beautiful Honduras, as the roads seem to have been constructed out of sidewalk chalk and kindergarten paste. Kristina and I chatted for about an hour, then realized we still hadn't moved. Not an inch. We were going to be late to meet the other facilitators in Tegus, so we decided to call Juan Carlos (our trusty security officer) to see what the deal was and if he knew when we would be moving again. Unfortunately for us, two semis had collided further up the mountain we were on, and there was major traffic backed up on both sides. We had two choices: we could wait for who knows how long to get someone to move the semis out of the way, or we could give our Chacos some much needed pavement pounding and walk (ding ding ding!). We grabbed our bags, got off the bus, and started up the mountain. The scene was very R.E.M Everybody-Hurts-style – people getting out of the buses, walking between the cars, etc. We walked for awhile up the mountain, and were finally able to get a jalon with a couple of guys in the back of their pickup. We went a few miles, then even the shoulder that we had been riding on was jammed, so we got out and started walking again. We walked to the accident, which was pretty crazy – one of the semi cabs had at some point been engulfed in flames, and all that was left was the cage. I'm hoping there was no one stuck in it. After we got to the other side of the accident, we found some trusty street vendors who were selling assorted yummies to the crowd, and mauwed down on some quesadillas (here, quesadillas are little bread things filled with spicy cinnamon filling.) and took a rest. While Kristina decided to wander around the cemetary we had stopped at, I tried to get us another jalon. Of course, the first guys I flagged down were in the scariest rape van ever – white van, no windows, two men in front. Then they opened the side door, and there's just one giant man sitting in back, beckoning us to come in. I politely turned them down, and am thus here today to relate the whole story. We eventually found another pick-up to ride in, and took it to the edge of Tegus, where eventually a PC staff member picked us up. We got to our final destination a little over 12 hours after we started traveling. To be honest, I felt like a real Peace Corps volunteer tromping up the mountain, which is something I don't always feel like here. I also have photographic evidence of these events, but alas, they are currently in Kristina's camera, so will have to be posted some other time.

10 Thoughts About Honduras:

Always, always charge your phone. The day you let the battery run down is the day the power goes out and stays out for the next 2 days.

If you bat your eyes a little and say “regalame” (give me) people will actually give you stuff that they would normally make you pay for. This has so far worked for moto taxi rides, ice cream, and assorted produce.

Always, always look inside your pila before getting water out, or you may end up with a rabid lizard bite. See said lizard below:

Ironically, my town (and thus my house) has no running water during the rainiest part of the rainy season.

Ants can indeed build colonies underneath book shelves. See photos from the great ant holocaust 2008. Those tiny black flecks are the ants that invaded my house, after they were doused with a healthy dose of Raid.

Some of the best Honduran food can be bought on the buses to the West. What was once suspect and feared for its possible diarrhea-inducing properties are now delicacies to be enjoyed while bumping along on your local chicken bus.

The nurses in my site love margaritas and pina coladas. This was a fantastic revelation, and one I will be making the most of. A cocktails and ticucco (honduran food) making party is in the works.

Being a girl and strolling around town with a machete is a great way to meet new friends.

It is possible to read a 900+ page book in 3 days.

Somewhere, there is an amazing Bon Jovi cover band who can sing Bed of Roses in Spanish. I heard them today from the neighbor's woodshop while washing my clothes. My neighbors also enjoy playing Bryan Adams, Mariah Carey, a little Total Eclipse of the Heart, and the occasional disco tune. Classic.

Ode to Mantequilla

I would like to take a moment to tell you a little about one of my favorite foods/condiments in Honduras: Mantequilla. Though the actual translation for mantequilla in English is butter, the mantequilla here is more like some creamy goodness that can only be described as the most amazing thing to ever come out of a cow. PCVs are divided into two camps: those who absolutely hate the Mantequilla and think it is evil incarnate, and those who recognize its smooth satiny texture as a little piece of perfection in an imperfect Honduran world. You can put it on beans, on tortillas, on fried plantains, and as I have recently learned, in spaghetti sauce. If I could find a large enough pila and a willing dairy farmer, I would bathe in mantequilla. And it would be amazing.

My favorite recent quote:

“Lay off the teat, Leala!” One volunteer to another volunteer (Leala) after learning that she had been drinking unpasteurized milk straight from the udder. That stuff will kill ya.

My New House

So I am now moved in to my new house, and couldn't be happier. I miss my host family, but I love living alone and doing whatever I want, whenever I want. Below are some photos from around the casa:Kristina in my state of the art kitchen.

Thats its for now, another blog with actual work updates will be posted soon, es una promesa!

My regular blog writing has obviously gotten off to a rough start. It seemed like July was packed from start to finish, and I have been out of my site quite a bit.

July started out great. For the 4th, a few volunteers and I went to Gracias and found a swimming pool, some pizza and beer. We spent the weekend in Gracias, which is a backpacker-touristy town, with beautiful views of one of Honduras' tallest mountains, Celaque. We made plans to climb it before our service is over. We'll see what happens with that.

The month continued with the start of the Encargado de mi Vida classes at the colegio here. However, I'm not sure how much longer these will be going on. Myself and the other teachers I am working with agreed to have two teaching teams, each team having 20 students per class. However, the first day I came to the school to teach, it was only myself and one other person and 40 kids, and has continued this way. I thought I might be able to handle that amount of kids, but the activities in the program are designed for smaller groups, and I'm not sure the kids are getting anything out of it. There are a lot more worthwhile activities I could be doing in the community.

Towards the end of the month, I went to Tegus for a week to participate in a workshop about “Yo Merezco,” the new course on abstinence that some PC Honduras volunteers have designed. The workshop was great, we learned a lot, and I can't wait to start the program in my site.

I've also been a little bit sick, so spent a few days in Santa Barbara getting lab tests and speaking with the doctor. At first, we thought I had some sort of bacterial stomach infection, but it looks like I just have an irritated stomach lining, so am now taking medicine for that. Things are much better now, and I'm definitely better off than some of the other volunteers who've had dengue, parasites, etc.

I also wanted to give you guys an example of one of my days here. I've been home for a few minutes, and feel like I've had a really productive day. I'll let you be the judge:

8:00 am – Get up (I'm not working at the clinic this week, so have been sleeping in.)

10:00 am – Go to my new house. Help clean up, prepare for painting, etc.

12:00 pm – lunch.

12:30 pm – 4:00 pm – Got to the elementary school, help Red Cross Youth Group give their play and presentation about Dengue to 40 elementary schoolers. Passed out ABATE (larvacide for the mosquitos that cause Dengue) to the kids. I was super proud of the kids, they did a really good job.

4:00 pm – 4:30 pm – boy's 10-year-old birthday party. Cake. Yum.

Stopped by the health center on my way home to chat with one of the nurses, scheduled appointment to go to the CAI (HIV clinic in San Pedro) for Tuesday. Ran some errands.

5:00 pm – arrived home, started writing this blog.

This was an incredibly long and exhausting day. However, when I look back on it, it doesn't really look like I did anything. I've heard this from a lot of volunteers, that your expectations and definition of a productive day change during your time here. The things I accomplished in an entire day would be what I would do after a day at work in the States. However, when you're walking everywhere, waiting for people, chatting with friends along the way, and taking breaks due to the heat, a lot less gets done. Even so, I feel great about the work that got done today. I really like hanging out with the kids from the Red Cross, and am hoping to do the “Yo Merezco” program with the girls in the group.

Plans are still in the works for Pregnant Mom's (starting August 13th) and Men's Health (grant application in progress.) More on these when they begin.

So I know I promised a story about the circus, and here it is:

My Honduran friend and I decided to go to the local traveling circus one evening, and it was an experience I won't soon forget. The circus here is more like just the main act of a circus in the States. You pay, enter, find a seat, and while you're waiting for the show to start, small children try to sell you cokes, mango verde, and enchiladas. The show starts, and while its hard to explain a lot of the acts unless you've lived here for a while, the one that I think translates in any culture was the midget-in-the-barrel routine. About halfway through the show, the ringmaster and little person come into the arena and go straight for a barrel full of water that had been sitting at the edge of the ring. The little person got in the barrel, the lights went out, and the ringmaster proceeded to set the barrel on fire. Apparently, there wasn't water in the barrel, but gasoline, and the entire thing went straight up in flames. The little person was supposed to slap out the flames with his arm before popping out, but he didn't quite get the job done, and when he popped out, his head was in flames. At this point, I was absolutely terrified, but as I looked around the arena, the Hondurans were loving it. Luckily, the ringmaster pushed him back underwater, put out the flames, dragged out the little person, and took him backstage to roaring applause. I did see him later, with a baseball cap on, and he seemed to be fine. Smelled a little smoky, but fine overall.

Thats if for now, I'll let everyone know how the new house turns out. Thanks to everyone for the emails, letters, calls, etc. Its been great to hear from so many people!

As promised, I am doing my best to write a little more often now that I am at site. The last two weeks have again flown by, but I'll try to fill you in as best I can.

This week was quite a full one. There is a medical brigade from Cure, International in the neighboring town of San Marcos, and I spent several days this week (Monday, Tuesday, and Friday) translating for them. I walked in the first day terrified, afraid that my Spanish would be stretched way past all of its limits. I was pretty excited to find out that not only did I not crack under pressure, but my Spanish has improved by leaps and bounds. It felt great to be a bridge between the Cure volunteers and Hondurans. I realized how much I have adapted to Honduran culture as well. Hondurans tend to use a lot of language to say something when they really just need a few words, and it takes quite a while to get to the root of a message (anyone who has been to any sort of organized event with even a few Hondurans will agree with me) I found that at first the American volunteers were being a little brisk with the patients, and not speaking with them enough, and then I realized that they were just being American, and I have started to adapt a more Honduran way of speaking. Or maybe I've always been like that, and just realized it here... Anyways, it was a great experience, and I met some fantastic volunteers who were willing to come and give their own time and money to help the people here. The brigade came with physical therapists, dentists and orthodontists, pediatricians, family practice doctors, and other services. Really a class act. My favorite part of the entire experience was actually a comment from a dentist (who by the way, is a great guy, and helped me with a little orthodontial issue I had), who said to me after translating for what felt like the 1,000th patient of the day, “wow, you really care about the people here, don't you?” I hadn't really thought about it until then, to me they're now my neighbors and friends, my co-workers and surrogate family. I realized when he said that to me that I do care, I care because this is my community. I don't feel like I am separated (to a point) into “me” and “them” from the people here. It has become, at least in my eyes, Us. That's a great feeling to have. I also continued to work on the Pregnant Mom's Circle for the Health Center. July 16th is our first class, and it is rapidly approaching. I finished creating all of the handouts and have planned all of the activities for our first session, and have started working on the second. The first session handouts include tips on having a good pregnancy (nutrition, rest, exercise, etc.) and common problems during pregnancy (indigestion, nausea, lower back pain, swelling, etc.) if anyone would like to take a look at them, I can send them your way via email. One of the things I love about working at the health center is talking with the midwives from the aldeas, and Wednesday we had an all-day meeting with them. We discussed the upcoming diarrhea season, which actually includes June, July, and August. With the increased amount of rain, mosquitoes and flies, its prime time for disease. Midwives are a great way to get health information to the outlying communities, so the monthly meetings are not only used to get information (i.e. New pregnant women, number of children in the community, how many look malnourished, how many have diarrhea, etc.), but also to send information back. I also had the opportunity to tell them about the Pregnant Mom's Club, and received a really positive response, with lots of questions and comments about the number of pregnant women in their community. Below is a photo of some of the midwives leaving after the meeting. I have some other good ones, but of course I am having problems loading them...

Work with the High School here has also continued. I had a meeting with the parents of the 1st grade (about the age of 8th graders – just different names for grades) regarding Encargado de mi Vida (In Charge of My Life) which we will be teaching to the kids for the next 14 weeks. The meeting went really well, but I was disappointed with the turnout – about 35 parents from a class of 180 kids.

I have somehow also gotten roped into working to support the new Red Cross for Youth group, so we had our first meeting tonight. I think it could actually turn into something really great, so I'll keep you filled in. This weekend we have a medical brigade coming to Quimistan to give mammograms, pap smears, rapid HIV testing, and counseling services. I'll be working with the Red Cross on educating women on breast self examination and STIs. I'm pretty excited about this, as we have 6 paps on file for the last year for our entire municipality (approx. 38,000 people.). And this will be an opportunity to check a lot of women. Cervical Cancer and Breast Cancer are big problems here, because there is little education (see a theme?) and little early detection. Enough with the boring work stuff, here's some quotes from the previous weeks to make you chuckle: Me going to the circus in town with a Honduran: Me: So will there be animals at this circus?” Honduran: “No, there's a law against animals at the circus.” Me: “Oh, like an animal cruelty law?” Honduran: “No, its because they get loose and eat people.” Me: “Oh...”

After an especially bitter battle with a mosquito: Abuelita (surrogate grandma): “The mosquitoes are happy you're here.” Me: “Why?” Abuelita: “They like the sweet white gringa meat. They're going to take it to the market and sell it.” Me: “Well thats great, I hope they get a good price...” Thats it for this week, I have a pretty good story about the circus, but I think its going to wait until next week. I will give you this teaser: it involves a midget (little person?), fire, an oil drum, and my complete shock and disbelief. More next week.

So, I have two very important things to write about in this post – rainstorms and healthy moms and babies. As I think I mentioned in the last post, we are right now in rainy season. It should be “tropical monsoon/get my chacos (and feet) all muddy/flood my room” season, as rainy just doesn't really do it justice. However, it does make for some beautiful picture taking, and is awesome weather to sit in a (sheltered) hammock and read a book/drink some coffee. included are pictures from yesterday outside of my house and along the main drag of town: And now on to something much more important: Healthy Mommies and Babies! I'm excited to report that my first project with the health clinic here has taken off. We are creating a pregnant women's circle! I'm really looking forward to this project. A little background on why this is so important: we currently have 2 doctors in our clinic that each see approximately 40 patients everyday. Thats 40 patients from 8:00 am until 11:00-12:00. So, if you do the math, that leaves approximately 6 minutes for each patient. This is only going to get worse, as one of our doctors is leaving in a week, and the Ministry of Health is sending no one to replace him. There is no time to educate patients, especially pregnant women, about how to care for themselves and their babies. This is the gap the circle will attempt to fill. We are in the midst of designing a curriculum that will include sessions on women's nutrition pre and post pregnancy, childhood illnesses, birth plans, family planning, breastfeeding, and women's health. We believe we will be able to secure funding to provide nutritious snacks for the ladies, and will also have take-home information for each session. Now, here is the MOST exciting part: YOU get to help!! We would also like to reward the women for attending all of the classes – give them a certificate and a small gift, like baby clothes, a receiving blanket, cloth diapers, etc. We do not have funding for these types of items at the moment, so I am asking for your help. We would like to get a good supply of baby clothes (can be newborn or within the 1st year) receiving blankets, booties, cloth diapers (no disposable) and any other assorted baby products you would like to send this way. The only things that we can't use are anything bottle related (we really try to discourage bottle feeding here.) This would be a great way for you guys back home to get involved, and I know everyone here (especially me) would really appreciate it. I know shipping gets a bit expensive, but if you get a group of friends together to chip in, it's definitely doable. Please spread the word to other friends and family! For those in the Lafayette area, I may have a friend from Lafayette coming to visit in August, so if you would like to send an item or two, email me and we can make plans on how to get it down here. Packages can be sent to my new address:

Kathryn Wooten, PCV Supermercado Coquim Quimistan, Santa Barbara Honduras, CA

Thanks in advance for your help – I will of course post photos of the circle when it starts (mid-July.) Also, if you do plan on sending anything down, I could also use old issues of Maxim, FHM, or anything else with scantily clad ladies. We are starting a Men's Health initiative, and I need some racy photos for the activities we have planned. (And don't worry, I'll post photos of that as well.)

Thats it for now, feel free to email/call/carrier pigeon any questions/comments about the above (or anything else you want to know about Honduras) and I'll answer promptly (or when the electricity comes back on.)

One more thing!!! Tonight I killed my very first Honduran cockroach. I didn't run and get my host parents, I didn't pretend not to see it scurry into my bathroom, and I didn't scream like a little girl (more like a frightened adolescent.) I just got my copy of Mother Jones (thanks mom and dad) and chased it around the room. Me = 1. Cockroach = Muerto. Only 5 billion more to go.

Saludos Amigos!

I have finally settled in to my permanent site in Honduras. I am now living in the town of Quimistan, located in the department of Santa Barbara. It is in the northwest part of the country. Location-wise, I have a great site. I am 40 minutes away from the biggest city in Honduras, San Pedro Sula (which, by the way, has an international airport for those of you who would like to come visit) 2 ½ hours away from the north coast, and 2 hours away from Copan Ruinas (the two biggest tourist attractions in Honduras). My municipality is the biggest area-wise in my department, though Quimistan proper probably only has 16,000 people. It has pretty much all the amenities I could ask for (internet, a grocery store, a couple of small restaurants, and an ice cream shop.) My counterparts here are the local Health Center and High School. The people in this community are some of the friendliest I've ever met. Everyday on my walk to work I get greeted by at least 15 people (its about a ¼ mile walk). I'm sure part of this is because I am new and the only gringa in Quimistan, but whatever the reason, I enjoy it. My first few weeks here have been incredibly busy – I came to Quimistan in the midst of the national vaccination campaign, so have spent a lot of time in the mountains around Quimistan helping the nurses and giving charlas to the mothers about diarrea and breastfeeding. It was a great opportunity to see the outlying aldeas here in Quimistan. My first few days here, I questioned the reasons why I was in this community – there is a lot of wealth (by Honduran standards) and a lot of good organizations here. However, after meeting with so many people who live in rural areas where there is still no electricity or purified water and marginal access to healthcare, I understand why. The nurses and doctors in my health center work very, very hard, but there are just not enough resources to accomplish all of the things that should be getting done. !Alert! I had to stop writing for a couple of hours to help get the water out of the house today – I hope the video I took comes out. There are two balconies on the second floor, and both of the drains in them overflowed, meaning that the water flooded the second story and was pouring onto the first story. Lots of sweeping and mopping commenced. The electricity is currently out, and probably will be for the next few hours (or until sometime tomorrow) so luckily I charged my laptop battery! Below is video of the rainstorm – if you can't hear what I'm saying, I'm basically explaining that its been really, really, really hot and dry, until this week when the rain started. Now it rains everyday, and the electricity is out a lot more frequently. And it is still hot. Ok, onward. I have only been to the local colegio (high school) 3 times due to the vaccination campaign, but starting this week I will be there twice a week. I have been doing some HIV/AIDS charlas there, and will be starting a 14 week program with the 8th grade class (180 kids) about leadership, self-esteem, reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS in a few weeks. I'm a little intimidated by this, but am also pretty excited. The other project I will be starting work on is with the Health Center – we will be working on a program to educate/test pregnant women for HIV. Its really convenient for me to be so close to San Pedro Sula, but it is also a threat to this community – San Pedro has the highest concentration of HIV in the country, and people from my community are constantly traveling between the two cities. This means that there is probably a much higher rate of HIV here than we know of, yet there is no reliable testing or counseling here. Besides that, things have been great. I have definitely learned to laugh at myself over the last few weeks – bumping down mountain trails with 9 other people in the back of a pick-up truck will do that to you! I've also drank a coke made in 1994 (I didn't realize that until I was halfway done and read the bottle) it still tasted pretty good. Oh, and people here definitely aren't shy about commenting on any part of you. I get the requisite blue eye comments most days, but at least 3 times a week I get a comment about, well, about my big ass. I'm sorry, its genetic, and there's nothing I can do about. I think most of the comments have been compliments, but sometimes I'm just not so sure. Probably best I'm still working on the language...

There's a lot more to write about, and now that I'm settled in I'll have time to write more regularly. Also, thank you too all of those who have written letters, sent cards and emails. Each one of them brightens my day! A BIG thank you to Cindy and Mindy – I loved the package!!! Girl Scout Cookies and anything beauty related are always appreciated. Thanks for thinking of me, and it really meant a lot to me!!! Also, thanks to my parents for the mountain of stuff they've sent to me – You have no idea what a good bag a trail mix can do to raise your spirits on a bad day. I've had questions from others regarding packages – I'm going to keep my address as is for now (the PC address) and if you really want to send something, travel packs of tissues, any sort of kitchen spices, chocolate (individually wrapped is best) and music/used books that you think I should listen to/read are perfect. And, to be honest, a letter is just as good as a package as far as I am concerned.

I hope all of you are doing well and I miss you all very, very much.

And, I'm sorry, but I couldn't get the video to load. I will try to load it when I go to another city where there is faster internet!

Happy Spring everyone! I heard that its warming up in the Midwest (yay)! Its still about 98 here everyday, but I just try to imagine that I'm in a really nice sauna somewhere. Sometimes it works. I know its been quite awhile since I have written on here, so I'll try (to the best of my ability) to recount everything that has happened over the last few weeks.Sunday, March 23 – Saturday March 29We started our HIV/AIDS Training of Trainers workshop, and it was fantastic. We were presented with the Peace Corps' HIV/AIDS manual, which includes A LOT of activities and information. After two days of training, we split into groups and went to a local high school to give the charla (presentation) to high schoolers. It went amazingly well, and was lot of fun. Most of the kids in the school had received a lot of the information before, so it was a good environment for the trainees to practice in. One of the things that I really love about Peace Corps' approach to education is making it interactive and fun. We do dynamicas (ice breakers) and lots of games and activities that reinforce and review our message, and in between those, talks about the topic at hand. The kids (and adults) get really into it, and its a lot of fun for everyone. And, after looking at the post-evaluations compared to the pre-evaluations, it looks like the kids really learned something too. I vaguely remember getting the good old anatomy/sex talk in school, and it was embarrassing, awkward, and pretty much a disaster. I think that if some of the activities we did here were implemented in the States, it wouldn't be such a taboo topic. Oh, and if anyone has any questions, I am now an expert at putting a condom on a banana in front of a class of 25 high schoolers, so I can pretty much tell you anything you need to know about that. After our HIV/AIDS component, we started “Yo Merezco,” which means “I deserve” in Spanish. This is a pretty new program for Peace Corps, an abstinence initiative that is focused on girls between 10-13 (I think I might have mentioned this in a previous post, as it was what the volunteer I visited was working on.) I think most of the trainees before this training (including myself) just rolled their eyes at the thought of an abstinence program. Most of us, especially those who have been through one, think that they DON'T WORK, and I am one of them. However, this abstinence initiative is so different from the way abstinence is taught in the States. It is a 12 week course where the participants are taught not just about abstinence, but about self-esteem and self-worth, and what goes into finding a good partner and relationship. There are not a lot of opportunities for girls here, especially in rural communities, and for most of them, they haven't thought past grade school, or for those lucky enough, past high school. A lot of them find a boyfriend and end up getting pregnant at a young age. This initiative addresses much more than just being abstinent, it also encourages them to think about their future and what they want out of life. I was super impressed with the program and hope to implement it in my community. On Friday, the PCMOs (PC Medical Officers) came to give us another vaccine (yay!) and Juan Carlos (the head of safety and security) came and talked to us about Sexual Assault/Rape Response. It was pretty sobering, but in reality, what it came down to was making smart decisions and not putting yourself at risk. I'm glad we went over it, and the PCMOs and Safety and Security have a very thorough response plan in place.On Saturday, we went to Tegus and applied for our Residency Cards, which came later in the week. So, I am now on Official Honduran Resident. I was able to use my card a few times yesterday when I was in Comayagua when I was asked for ID. Pretty exciting stuff.

Sunday, March 30 – Saturday, April 5

I started the week off right by going to my first cockfight. Yes, thats right, a cockfight. I was super excited to go, and went with several other trainees. One of the trainees' families is apparently a big name in the world of cockfighting, so he goes a lot and was able to navigate us through the seedy underbelly of Honduran cockfighting (my words, not his). The energy when you first get in is huge – there's a lot of men (and a few ladies) around this big wooden fighting ring. There are cages of chickens everywhere. The owners of the chickens are there, and you can definitely tell who the big players are. There was one that definitely ran the show, and if you can imagine Benicio del Toro a little older with a large mustache, a big white cowboy hat, and a pistol in his belt, that's what this guy looked like. Badass. I wish I had some photos, but alas, I do not. The trainers (I'm not sure if the chickens are formally trained in the art of cockfighting, but I have this image of all of them in tiny little gray sweatsuits running up stairs a la Rocky Balboa) kind of rile the chickens up and then tie razor blades to their legs. After the chickens are sufficiently riled up, the fight starts. This part was not what I expected. And yes, I know I was at a cockfight, and yes, I knew that it was going to be somewhat cruel and bloody, but actually seeing it is much different than thinking you know what will happen. The first fight ended really quickly, with lots of blood and a dead chicken. The next one lasted a lot longer. Many times, the chickens lose a lot of blood and are tired and don't want to fight, and then the trainers intervene, pick the chickens up, put their beaks/heads in their mouths, and suck out all of the blood. This was something I was definitely not ready for. After this, myself and the other female trainee decided it was time to gracefully exit. The guys stayed behind and watched a few more fights, one of which ended with the disembowelment of a chicken, or at least that is what I was told. Ick. I'm really glad I had the experience, but I don't think I'll be going to another one.

Now onto things a little less gross...we learned about Maternal/Child Health this week, which included Nutrition, Vaccines, Breastfeeding, and AIN-C (Integral Attention to Children in the Community). This is a national program to monitor nutrition/malnutrition and educate mothers on proper nutrition and on common illnesses. This isn't really what I want to do for my service (I think its a pretty widely known fact that babies are scary and make me uncomfortable, so I won't go into it again here) but depending on the needs of the community I end up in, it might be a possibility. Friday was my birthday, and it was, from start to finish, a perfect day. In the morning, my host mom gave me three hugs, one from her, one from the family here, and the other for my parents at home. I got a little teary eyed and managed to mumble a “thanks.” I also got some homemade birthday cards from the other volunteers, which I thought was super, super nice. That morning, we went to an aldea up in the mountains to weigh babies. Though the whole “weighing babies” thing wasn't really great for me, the trip up and back was fantastic. It felt like what I have a feeling a lot of us pictured when we thought of Peace Corps service and/or International Development work. Us in our white Land Rovers, going up winding, dusty, sometimes washed out mountain roads, seeing the evidence of the recent coffee harvest laid out on the mountain around us. When we arrived at the aldea, we were split into groups, and started weighing babies. Unfortunately, the majority of babies that my group weighed were either a bit underweight or hadn't gotten to their target weight. We counseled the mothers on proper nutrition and what they could do to help their child gain weight. On of the things that was really obvious was the amount of blond/light-haired children that were there. Here in Honduras, as I'm sure most of you realize, most people don't have blond hair. The majority are dark-complected with dark hair. Light hair in these kids is a sign of malnutrition, and it was disappointing to see so many of them with it. After the baby weighing, we made our way back down the mountain. Patrick, one of the other volunteers, really put the day into perspective for me: “Wow, you are so lucky. When people ask you what you did on your 27thbirthday, you get to tell them you weighed babies in the Peace Corps.” And he is so right. The trip back was pretty surreal too: A group of 8 of us sitting in the back of a Land Rover, bumping down a dusty mountain road, singing Bohemian Rhapsody (it was on the radio) at the top of our lungs, laughing and having a great time after a morning of doing something good for someone else.After the baby weighing, we went to Comayagua to do some activities for our language classes. I had lunch with a view of the other trainees, and then we went to the park to meet up with the rest of the group. There, I was surprised with a birthday cake, which was chocolate with yummy icing and lots of sprinkles. A BIG thanks to Sarah and Anna and Kristina for the cake, it was perfect, and so, so, so appreciated. We all had cake, then headed to the museums in town. We learned a little bit more about Comayagua, which is a bit of a touristy town here in Honduras. Palmerola (the American Military base) is nearby, and Comayagua has also invested a lot into preserving its colonial heritage, and parts of it are pretty picturesque. We were also able to see a lot of really beautiful religious art and artifacts. After the visit to Comayagua, we went back to La Paz and met up with most of the trainees at a Mexican Restaurant where more celebrating was done, and I'd just like to say that I could not ask for a better groupof people to work/volunteer with. They really made me feel special and loved and it was great to spend time with everyone. After that, it was back to Yarumela, where I fell asleep writing in my journal about what a great day it was. All in all, about as close to a perfect birthday as one can get I think. Also, a big thanks to everyone back home for the birthday wishes. As I've said before, sometimes its difficult to write to everyone individually, but it really meant a lot.

Onward...

Saturday, a group of us went to the rio again, which was a ton of fun. It was also a study in what volunteers can do to occupy themselves in the face of the possibility of extreme boredom. We invent games, (throw the rock at the (some object) game) hone our survival skills, (can YOU make a fire without lighter fluid and matches?), and investigate the local ecosystem (tadpoles are SO cute). It was a good day. After, we watched The Thomas Crown Affair, and were in bed by 10:30, like the good little trainees we are.**********************************************************************************Ok, I know this is a lot of writing to take in at once, so if you need to take a little break, get up, stretch, make a little snack, and then come back to it, go right ahead...

Sunday, April 6 – Saturday, April 12

This past week we learned about Women's Health, which, much like Maternal/Child Health, really doesn't interest me much. However, it was good to have the information, and if it is a need in my community, I will certainly do whatever is needed. On Tuesday, my Spanish class gave the first of several charlas we're giving to local polytechnical and grade schools. I thought it went really well, and reinforced that even though my Spanish is far from perfect, and I can stand up in front of a room and impart information that people will actually understand. The rest of the people in my Spanish class are all great, and I thought we worked together really well as a team. We will have the opportunity to present most of the same material this Tuesday, so I'm pretty excited about that as well.

On Wednesday, I had my 3rd Technical Interview, which I thought went amazingly well. From what the Director/Training Manager said, I think that they will try to place me somewhere where I can do what I really want, which is helping to create support groups/networks for people living with HIV/AIDS. There are currently a lot of initiatives to stop the spread of the disease, but there is little to no support for people who are living with it. There is a lot of discrimination against those who are positive, and many people, once their status is public, lose their jobs and cannot find other employment. I am incredibly excited about the prospect of doing this kind of work. I know it will be difficult (as Helmuth, the director, said, I will probably fail and get knocked down a lot before I have any success) but I think I am definitely up for the challenge.

This past week we also received the TOT for Men's Health. I initially had mixed emotions on this topic. Part of me really liked the idea, but the other part of me was a bit uncomfortable with it. The charlas can get pretty risque/vulgar, and I wasn't sure how I would be received, being a woman and trying to impart this information to men. However, on Friday we gave the charla to a class of young men at IN-FOP (an agricultural school) and I thought it went well. I actually enjoyed myself and enjoyed working with the guys, and think I will try to do more activities like it at my site. The charlas are designed to get the men to really examine their own behavior (many are promiscuous and few here use condoms) and also to see how quickly the disease can be spread from one person to another. The training is focused again on HIV/AIDS prevention, and there are no NGOs in Honduras that are currently working on Men's Health initiatives, even though this population participates in incredibly risky behavior, so it is exciting that we are doing this work. On Friday afternoon we went to Rancho Victor (a really nice hotel outside of La Paz) to process the Men's Health activity. A little note on Honduran homes/buildings: most of them are incredibly open, and flow from outside to inside with few walls/doors, which means you're never really “inside.” Well, apparently someone decided that Friday afternoon was the perfect day to have a monsoon in the middle of Honduras, and as we were trying to finish our activity, we were pelted with lots of rain and wind and dust. So basically, it was a whole lotta fun:

Saturday, I went to Comayagua and bought ingredients for the dishes I'm making for the despedida on Thursday (thanks Mindy for the black bean salad recipe, I'm making that!) Its so nice to have a city nearby where I can find food to cook (with a few exceptions – whipped cream, sour cream, tahini, and actual stick butter are SUPER hard to find here – a trip to Tegus has to be made for that stuff) I actually saw gouda, brie, and WINE at the brand new store that just opened up. Hopefully I'll be lucky enough to live near a city where I can splurge once in a while.

I think that I've pretty much covered everything that's happened over the last few weeks – time has been flying here, and we only have one more week in Yarumela/La Paz, then its back to Santa Lucia for 2 more weeks, then off to our sites. This time next month, I'll be living in my permanent site! Yay!

Have a great week!!!!

So I need to start out this blog with a major confession: I am on the meatwagon, and I love it. Carne Asada, pork loin, ground beef, shredded chicken, as well as some unidentified meat items have all been incorporated into my diet. I was terrified about how this would all go down with the old G.I. System, but it hasn't been any worse than the normal G.I. Issues I've had off and on since I've been in country. I thought that there would be an intense internal moral debate about the almost-life-long vegetarian going back to her cave-woman instincts, but its all so amazingly delicious, I really haven't worried about it. It started when I realized that no matter how hard I try, until I live on my own here, I'll never be able to be a vegetarian. Most Hondurans don't really understand what a vegetarian is, so you end up getting served a lot of meat anyway, and then don't want to be rude by telling them no. I finally figured that if I have to eat it, I'm going to love every minute of it, and I have. I'm sure that once I move into my own house, I'll try to keep up the vegetarian lifestyle thing, but right now, I'm loving anything served on a skewer.

This week has been an incredibly full week, and I'm working on an actual blog post to send out – I'll try to do this ASAP. Until then, I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

So, first of all, I´m so sorry for taking so long to post another blog...I´m currently living in a teeny, tiny town with no internet, and no grocery store, and well basically, no nothing. It´s called Yarumela, and has a population of approximately 1,500 people. 8 of us are living there, and the other 8 in our health group are living in La Paz, which is where I am at the moment, using the amazing, fantastic technology called the internet.

Things are going pretty well here, but it is definitely a different world than Santa Lucia. Our host families in Yarumela haven´t hosted any ¨gringos¨before, so I think it has been an adjustment for pretty much everyone. My host family calls me ¨la princesa¨(I don´t think I need to translate that), and won´t let me help with any of the household chores, which makes me feel pretty bad. My host mom and I also don´t have the best communication, I don´t understand her Spanish, she doesn´t understand my Spanglish, so its been a bit frustrating. An example of a conversation:

Host Mom: What would you like for dinner tonight?

Me: Whatever you´re making for the family is fine for me.

HM: No, I want to make what you want

Me: Um, I´m ok with whatever you make.

HM: But tell me what you want me to make.

Me: Well, I´m not really familiar with the food here, and you´re a good cook, so whatever you´d like to make is fine.

HM: But what do you want???

And it goes on from there. This pretty much happens for every meal, and for every time I leave the house (when would you like me home? whenever you´d like. What are we doing tomorrow? Whatever you´d like to do.)

Besides that though, the family is super nice and have been great to live with. They put up with my garbled Spanish and gringo need for privacy, so I appreciate that.

This week is Semana Santa, so we have had 4 days of glorious, glorious vacation. We have been able to do a lot of fun stuff, so I´ll run down the week with you:

Wednesday: Cultural Day in La Paz with our families; they cooked all of the food and we brought the finer points of American Culture to Honduras, such as the Electric Slide and Easter Egg Dyeing. Fun was had by all, and the food was delicious. Photos have been posted on flickr.

Thursday: We went to the rio, where there was swimming and barbecuing and general hanging out. I felt like I was back home, and loved it. Later in the day, we were witness to a time-honered tradition in Yarumela: The Running of the Jews. No, not kidding. Flashbacks of Borat were running through my mind, but thank goodness, none of them laid an egg, so I guess we´re safe for another year. In all honesty, I was torn between being completely appalled at something so offensive, and also having fun running from them as they chased us and, of course, demanded money. I guess this is what they mean by adapt and integrate.

Friday: The best day, by far. The Yarumela trainees were able to score a bus to Comayagua, thanks to Sarah´s, another one of the trainee´s, family. They drive one of the buses between La Paz and Comayagua, and though the buses normally don´t run during Semana Santa, they gave us our own private tour. Pretty sweet. Its a tradition in a lot of Honduras to create alfombras (carpets) out of colored sawdust on Holy Friday, and then have the stations of the cross throughout the town. Comayagua is famous for theirs. We had a great time, and then went and had Pizza Hut after, then watched I Am Legend (yay for pirated movies!!!). All in all, a fantastic day.

Saturday: In the big city writing to all of you, will hopefully buy some fruit to take back to the fam this afternoon, and who knows what will happen tonight...

I´ve also had some requests for care package ideas lately, so if you´re thinking about sending one my way, the following are ALWAYS appreciated:

Magazines (The economist, paste, national geographic, mother jones)

burned cds and dvds (any new music that you love is most welcome)

girl scout cookies

books, books, books - anything you loved that you have laying around the house is perfect

travel packs of tissues

single use packs of hair conditioner (the kinds you find at Sally Beauty)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!

Hi All,

First of all, congrats to Cindy for figuring out how much I”m making! It's right around $3 a day. Which, to be honest, is ok, because our housing and food is being provided right now. However, it is a little tough when we are expected to get cell phones and other items that cost about a week's worth of pay. Most of us brought some American dollars with us, so that has gone to the extra stuff. This past week, we had our volunteer visits, and mine was incredible! Myself and another trainee were place with a volunteer in El Negrito, which is located in Yoro. Each trainee is supposed to have their own volunteer, but the original volunteer I was assigned to had a family emergency and had to go back to the States. Kristina, another one of the Health Trainees, was kind enough to share her volunteer with me! We got to El Negrito on Sunday, and just walked around the town with Krista, the volunteer who is currently serving there. She has been in country for two years, and will end her service in April. El Negrito is a town of approximately 13,000, but with the surrounding aldeas, it might be more. The people that we spoke with were all really nice. This was also the first time I really had to deal with piropos, which are just dirty things that men yell at a lot of the women here. Think about walking through one giant construction site all day long. It's not bad here in Santa Lucia, but it was bad at the bus stops along the way. They especially like to single out the gringas, so that's an added frustration. Krista is currently working on several projects, one of which is an abstinence initiative funded by money from PEPFAR. She is working with several other volunteers to create a course designed for girls ages 10-13. The hope is that once the project is finished, it can be implemented on a national level. I was a bit skeptical at first, but after reading through the lessons, the project is so much more than just abstinence education. It also addresses self-esteem, good life choices and independence, which are all themes that the women and girls in this country need. Krista scheduled a charla (class) for us Tuesday morning, so Kristina and I were able to help her teach a class to 6th grade girls on reproductive anatomy. It was actually a lot of fun, and the girls were really enthusiastic and fun. Krista is also working on bringing a public library to her town. She is working with a committee made of school teachers, and they are in the process of completing the building and fundraising for books. They have put a lot of work into this project, and it is really exciting for the community to have a place to actually read books. Right now, the kids in the schools don't really have any resources to do research or write reports for their classes, so that will be a big help. We also were able to visit a local nutrition center for malnourished kids – it was a lot of fun to play with all the kids, and they're really really sweet, but it was difficult to see them so sick from things that are completely preventable. I have a lot of pics from the nutrition center, but don't feel too comfortable posting them here, so I'm just posting this one, which is my absolute favorite. I fell in love with this girl the moment I met here, she is just a really great kid. If you want to see more photos from the visit, just let me know and I'll be happy to email them.

*Note - I couldn't get the photo to upload, so I'm just going to try to put it on my flickr page...sorry!*

It was also really great to get some American food during the visit – I love Honduran food, especially the food my host mom makes (she's a GREAT cook!) But after a while, you just want things from home. We had brownies with ice cream, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and made calzones one night. Yum. Today we leave for FBT in La Paz, I am really excited about this, because we'll actually be doing more hands on work. I'll be living with a new family in a small aldea outside of La Paz. Oh, and a BIG thanks to Mom and Tom for the apple pie recipes – I kind of mixed them together and baked one yesterday – I think everyone liked it, because there's none left today. That's it for now!

Hi all! first, a big thanks for the comments! If I don't reply to them, please know that its just because internet here is expensive and pretty slow, so I don't get to spend a lot of time on here, but I love hearing from people back home.

It has again been a pretty full week, but I'll try to stick to interesting stuff here:

We recieved more vaccinations this week, and for some reason, I have needed ALL of them. In the past two weeks I've received vacs. for Hep A, Hep B, Rabies, more Rabies, Typhoid, Tetanus, Polio, HPV, Flu. I know there's more coming up next week, but I think my poor arms really need a rest. We have also started taking our malaria pills, which you have to take on a weekly basis throughout your Peace Corps service. They're supposed to give you some pretty crazy dreams, but I haven't had any yet.

On Sunday, a group of us went to the top of Cantogallo, a local mountain that has a radio tower on the top. It was a tough climb, but the view from the top is just amazing. I still haven't gotten over what a beautiful country this is, and that it is actually my home. Cantogallo is the mountain in the background - I took this photo on my way home the other day.

On Monday, we went to one of the markets (Mercado Jacaleapa) in Tegucigalpa as an assignment for our Spanish classes. We had to buy certain items for for our familias, note the types of items being sold, and the hygiene of the market. There have been many times since I have been here that I have been thankful that I'm a vegetarian, and the market visit day was definitely one of them. There were lots of meat/animal products out with no refrigeration, and lots of flies. Ick. We were supposed to negotiate to buy some grocery products, but apparently the market has some sort of monopoly on avocados, because no one would bargain with me. I felt a little bad when I was only able to bring Carmen two avocados instead of three, but she's pretty understanding. She also told me about a trainee that stayed with her a few years ago that wanted to get the best price for her for bananas, so ended up buying 30 and bringing them home. At least I didn't do that.

Tomorrow we leave for our volunteer site visits, and I am incredibly excited about this! Myself and another Health trainee will be traveling to El Negrito, which is in the department (state) of Yoro. We will be there for 3 days to observe, ask questions, and see how the volunteers live. Its also supposed to be hot there, which I'm super excited about, since its been a bit chilly here. (Actually, I guess chilly is a relative term, and I shouldn't be saying that to those of you in the midwest...)

Thats it for now, I hope everyone has a great week!

A lot has happened this week, but I'll try to keep this as brief as possible. Some of the highlights in no particular order are:

- Learning how to wash my clothes in a pila.

- Finding a cafe in town with one of the most incredible views I have ever seen.

- Playing soccer with other trainees and locals.

- Getting to know more about my host family.

- Going to “cultural day” at our training center on Saturday.

- Sunday, I learned how to wash my clothes with a pila. A pila (prounounced pee-la) is sort of a large outdoor sink to hold water. Hondurans use pilas to keep their water, since they do not have the same type of pipe system that we have. Depending on where I live, a pila could be my only source of water. Most pilas come with a sort of counter that has a washboard attached to it. To wash your clothes, you just get them wet, rub them with soap, and then run them over the washboard as many times as it takes to get them clean. My nine-year-old neighbor, Stefanie (spelled different in Spanish, but I'm not even going to try) showed me how to do it. By the end, she had taken over and washed the rest of my clothes. I felt a little awkward about this, but she seemed to be having a blast. It's strange to have a kid teaching you to do things that are so basic. After, Steph wanted to help me clean my room, but we ended up just having a dance party instead, which was a lot more fun.

- Sunday, some of the other trainees and I went to a cafe called El Pueblo. It has beautiful views of the mountains surrounding Santa Lucia and a great view of Tegucigalpa, and when you're sitting outside of the cafe, you feel like you're at the top of the world. I've posted some pics of the view on Flickr. It is a very surreal feeling to just stop in a place like that for coffee whenever you would like, and it is just one more thing that I'm already growing to love about Honduras and Santa Lucia.

- Today, I played soccer with some of the other trainees and locals. This was my first game ever, so I never actually kicked the ball, though I did block one with my ribs, so I guess that counts as something. The locals who played with us were great, and put almost everyone to shame.

- I've also been able to spend more time with my host family, especially my host mom, Carmen. She's incredibly patient with me, and answers all my questions. We walk to the training center together every morning (she works there) so she has to field about 30 questions before 7:30 am everyday, and answers each one. The woman is a saint. My two host brothers are also really nice. Tonight, my 12 year-old host brother Carlos looked over my Spanish homework for me. He said it looked good, so I'll keep my fingers crossed. I found out yesterday that his favorite class is drawing/art, and that he really likes his new school (the new school year just started on Monday, and Carlos started his first cycle of colegio – basically he started middle school.)

- The other highlight of the past week has been the cultural day that we had on Saturday at the training center. Representatives from many of Honduras' indigenous groups came and gave presentations about their cultures. I never realized how many different cultural groups there were in Honduras. There were 7 represented during the day, and I am not sure if there are more. Hondurans have begun to realize how important these groups are, and have started implementing strategies to support these different communities and preserve their heritage and languages. We were able to dance with the Garifuna (Afro-Caribe group from the north coast of Honduras) and try food from different groups, like the Islenos and Lenca. Our host families were also invited, so it was a great day to get to know other Hondurans and trainees.

So much more has happened over the past week (technical training and language classes have begun, we have started to receive our vaccinations (fun!) and we have also been learning “life skills” like how to make sure you have clean drinking water, etc.) that it is difficult to put it all here at once. I hope this gives you a taste of life here – its been amazing so far.

Hola! I have made it to Honduras in one piece. We arrived a few hours late yesterday, so went directly home with our families so we could eat dinner and go to sleep. My host family is wonderful. The parents are Carmen and Francis. Last night was Francis' birthday, so we had cake and he opened presents. Their children (my host brothers) are Luis and Carlos. They are 18 and 12. Luis attends the University in Tegucigalpa, and is really friendly, so I think that will be a big help with my Spanish. The whole family is outgoing and fun. The house is also great. I have a large room in the back that you get to by going outside and walking through a patio area. I also have my own bathroom in my room (this is rare, I am a lucky girl!) And the bathroom has a warm shower. I was also really surprised when my host brother turned on the TV and Mythbusters was on! Many of the families here have cable, and mine is no exception. My family has a lot of pets, most of which stay outside. They have 3 dogs, Lucky, Rocky, and Scott, 3 birds, 2 rabbits, and one cat named Tonvil that is currently sitting next to me on my bed as I write this. He is no Sofia, but is still a sweet cat. My family also has chickens, which are conveniently located under my bedroom window. One would think this would be a great wakeup call, but as a I found out last night, chickens never sleep. The food has also been good – all my favorite things, and it is a good thing that my house is a 20 minute uphill walk to the training center. Last night we had fried beans, tortilla, avocado, cheese, fried plantains, and some scrambled eggs. Today for lunch my house mother made me rice with fried onions, and something that tasted a lot like green bean casserole (yay!).

The training so far has been long. We're still in the introductory/housekeeping stage, so it is a lot of introductions and paperwork. Tomorrow we will have interviews to determine our Spanish proficiency and what class we should be in, and formal Spanish classes will start on Monday. We have also had one of many medical orientations, and tomorrow we get to start taking our malaria pills. Next week we start the vaccinations, but I know I already have had several, so hopeful I won't need to get all 14 of them.

We briefly split into our project groups today as well (water sanitation, business, and health) and discussed our objectives. Formal training for our projects will start on Monday as well. We will spend the next 3 weeks in Santa Lucia (where I am now) then we will be doing Field Based Training (FBT) for 6 weeks, so I will be living with another host family at the Health FBT site, La Paz. We have a few more weeks after that, and then we will be sworn in.

This has been a great experience so far, and I could not have asked for a better group of people or a more beautiful country. I'm sure during the next two years I'll doubt that statement at times, but right now, everything is great.

First, I would like to get a little sentimental with everyone - I want to thank everyone who came to see me off on Saturday night - it was a great way to leave town, and made me realize how much I will miss Indiana. Thanks to all the people who have been so supportive over the course of this process, you have made it much easier. My family, especially my parents, have been so incredibly supportive of this decision that there is no way I could ever thank them. They never once questioned my decision, and have helped in every way imaginable to get me here. So, a big thanks to all, and I love you!

I arrived safely at staging on Monday, with much of my luggage in tow. One bag did find its way to Detroit (apparently it was a little nervous about going to Honduras too) but it was returned to me last night, and all is well.

The Staging experience has been much different than I expected. The orientation we have received over the past few days has been informative and pretty entertaining. We have discussed cultural adjustments, objectives, and safety quite a bit. The other volunteers have also been great. There is already a really positive group dynamic, and all of us are anxious to get on the plane tomorrow morning and start our adventure!

I hope everyone has a great Valentine's, and I'll keep you posted!

Today I have been checking out the Peace Corps Honduras site, and when I checked the blog page (a collection of blogs from many Peace Corps volunteers) I noticed that mine had been added - I'm not quite sure how that happened, but I'm pretty excited to count myself among them. If you're interested in other PC Honduras experiences, go to www.peacecorpsjournals.com/ho.html. www.pccatrachos.com is also a site devoted to Peace Corps -Honduras Volunteers.

My final dental clearance should come through this week (after I get the multiple fillings my dentist has required), and after that, the packing starts!

After almost two years of applications, interviews, medical exams, and a variety of delays, I am finally going to serve in the Peace Corps! I will be leaving February 11th, 2008 and will be serving in Honduras as part of the Peace Corps' health program there. This blog will serve as a way to communicate with family, friends, and whomever else would like to read about the adventure. So, if you're interested in learning about another part of the world, what it is like to be a volunteer, or if you just need some laughs (at my expense, I am sure) feel free to check in from time to time. I'll try to update as often as I can!