As Christmas drew nearer, I wondered how to celebrate with community members and my PC friends. One day I got the bright idea to have a Christmas dessert party. While I love my community, I knew that it would be difficult to host the event in my home because most of my work friends don’t live here in Medio Santa Barbara (the center of Santa Barbara). Not to mention, my apartment can only comfortably hold about 15 people at best. So, why not have it at Benjamin’s site in El Dorado? El Dorado is a two hours bus ride from where I live, but worlds apart. It is beautiful with its cloud mountains, coffee plants, and tranquil and humble residents; it’s pretty much what most PC Volunteers imagined their sites to be.

So, I worked with Benjamin and another Volunteer, Alex on the logistics and started my prep work. First, I made invitations – that’s right, you read correctly, I made decorations. I used recycled paper of red, green and white. The ladies at my office helped me with the snowflakes and Benjamin helped with the text. It was a lot of fun. While I was working on them we had a cold front so it was extra nice to be inside working on a craft project with a hot cup of coffee.

Benja even helped to make ONE invitation. (He'll say I didn't let him because of his awful penmanship, but we all know the truth. :-)

We set the date of December 17 and made a menu and list of ingredients to buy. Most things had to be bought in my site because I have a small supermarket. El Dorado is not as developed; they don’t have cell phone service and potable water isn’t even sold there. Benjamin was tasked with delivering the invitations to our friends in El Dorado and generating excitement for the party – Dulce Noche de Navidad – Sweet Christmas Night.

I arrived at Benjamin’s a few days early and we started working right away. Our menu included:

Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

Banana Bread

Strawberry box cake with homemade vanilla icing

Oatmeal Apple Crunch

Hot Chocolate

Eggnog

This might not seem like a lot, but keep in mind that we were working with a small toaster oven, almost everything had to be make from scratch (we cheated with the cake) and Benja only has a small table fridge. Here's a look of our spread.

Alex was there to help and we even got a surprise visit from Owen, another Volunteer. I was especially nervous about the eggnog because I searched extensively for a recipe with cooked egg – I didn’t want to get anyone sick.

I must admit I was nervous people wouldn’t show. We’d asked a few if they were coming but they said not because they had pena. For some reason they were shy about coming especially if they couldn’t bring anything to share. As well, it had been raining for the last few days and no one likes to travel in the rain.

I am happy to write almost everyone made it. We even had people bring donuts, oatmeal drink and a cake. As they entered, I served then a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows. As well, we made a tree and each person had to make an ornament to help decorate it. The kids loved it and even the adults participated. We passed the time sharing the different Christmas customs in Honduras and the United States. Why do we have socks (stockings) hanging around our houses? Why do they have fireworks for Christmas? What food is popular during the holiday season? Of course we also ate. Everything tasted very good. I didn’t really eat that night because I was running around and trying to make sure everyone had what they needed. But I made up for it with the leftovers the following day.

A Christmas party isn’t the same without Christmas carols so I purchased a CD and downloaded the lyrics for the Volunteers. This didn’t go over so well. No one was interested in singing. That’s okay though; you can’t win them all. But we PC Volunteers did sing Jingle Bells for our guests.

I had such a good time. I was happy to share this night with my El Dorado family. It’s difficult to be away from family during the holidays, but spending time with great friends makes things so easier. One of the things I love about Christmas here is that it’s not about gifts (hardly anyone gets a gift); it is about spending time with family and friends. I hope you have as great a holiday as I’m having.

Happy Holidays!

This is a question my mother always asks me. It’s not that I don’t work; I just don’t enjoy writing about it. As we approach the last day of the year, most of my counterparts are wrapping things up including accounting, reports and organizing the office holiday luncheon and/or dinner. All of my offices will be closed from about December 22 until January 9, which is great. I won’t feel the least bit guilty about travelling because no one else will be in the office.

Okay, back to what I do. I work mostly with the escuela taller. An escuela taller is a vocational school for youths who have not received formal education. The school is entirely free; they are provided transportation, meals, medical care and supplies. This is a great opportunity for those that take advantage. There are five schools in the Santa Barbara area including: carpentry, junco (straw that cowboy hats and other accessories are made of), masonry, culinary, and cake and bread making. The first year they learn their trade in the mornings then mathematics, drawing, Spanish and art in the afternoons. The second year is a business incubation in which they learn business basics, write a business plan and sell their products. That’s where I come in. Currently, I am working with the 14 young women of the cake and bread making school. They have already completed a business plan for their bakery, Genesaret ("a garden of riches”); now it’s time to sell.

Unfortunately, their instructor quit or was dismissed in September and has not been replaced. Therefore, one of the students is now “in charge” which means they do nothing all day. A consultant was paid for 120 hours of work to help the group complete their business plan. When I reviewed the business plan, it was very well written, the math was correct and the ideas were well thought out and professionally presented. It was almost too good. So, when I met with the ladies I asked them flat-out if they’d done the work themselves and was told an emphatic, yes. However, upon working with them it was clear they received more aide than they let on.

I started with a simple task of calculating the costs of each ingredient for specific breads, the total cost of producing one unit and then whether there would be profits or losses based on the price they wanted to sell their product. This didn’t even include fixed costs such as rent, water, electricity, etc. This was supposed to be easy if they’d completed the advanced math in the business plan. For some it was easy, but others had major difficulties, including basic math. We spent a lot of time exploring the difference between .01 cents versus .10 cents, using the calculator, and conversion of measurements. This was made all the more difficult by a lack of enthusiasm and sometimes outright disrespect. I was frustrated. It wasn’t as if they are learning how to chart lines or calculate the area of a circle; this is math that directly relates to the work they are doing and will need to know to have even a small bakery run in their homes. I continue to be patient and think of new and creative ways to get their attention.

One of the calculations we completed was based on selling 120 semitas redondas (a bread eaten with coffee) for Lps. 2 each. For a full day's work they would earn Lps. 62 as a team not including other costs. Is it worth it? In comparison, I earn approximately Lps. 225 per day and that's still below Honduran minimum wage. This is the question I posed to them because it is for them to make the decision, not me. I wanted to share with them that they are not only at the school to learn how to bake bread, they are there to learn how to run a business. All too often Hondurans open businesses, sell products and work tirelessly without an understanding that they have to cover their costs. Trabajando por gusto. I don’t want the same thing to happen to these young ladies, so I am providing them the tools to make educated decisions.

One such way was to teach them how to make pizza. I love making pizza at home and it is really easy. Before coming to Honduras, making pizza consisted of me buying a readymade pie from the store or buying premade pizza crust. Not in Honduras. Here, I make my own dough, sauce (sometimes I’m lazy and buy sofrito) and chop toppings. Pizza is prepared here, but the taste is different. I’ve found the sauce to be sweet and while we all use quesillo (closest thing to mozzarella), they also use queso Kraft (yup, American cheese slices). I decided to teach the girls a new skill and share my culture. We divided the ingredients so each person contributed. The following day we made pizza, calculated the costs per slice and anticipated profits/losses.

It was loads of fun. I usually make the dough in a bowl, but this was a real kitchen so I used the table. We also followed the school’s rule and wore our hats or hairnets. My head is a too big for their hats, so I wore a hair net. We were able to make two pizzas and they were good. We needed a bit more cheese; but otherwise it was great. Hopefully this is something they can add to their menu.

Next year I will continue to work with the young ladies and start working with the other four schools. It’s a lot of work and with teenagers no less. I find the work challenging and rewarding. There are some who are just there to pass the time and I push them to work and learn, but it can be difficult. However, I can’t focus on only the negative attitudes of some, there are plenty who want to learn and are grateful for an opportunity to study. I have realistic goals. All of the girls will not open a bakery, they may not even make bread at home, but they’ll have the skills they can use in their everyday and the self esteem to push themselves to be great.

Just because I’m in Honduras, doesn’t mean I can’t make Christmas cookies. So, I decided to ask another volunteer and Benjamin’s mother for recipes. This isn’t an easy task because many ingredients that are readily available in the US aren’t available here and when they are, are rather expensive. As well, I do have an oven, a toaster oven. Last Valentine’s Day I baked cookies and it took over three hours to make about 30; I had no desire to repeat that experience. But, Benja’s mother was very helpful and sent me simple recipes including a few no-bake ones. Thanks Mrs. Rance.

So, Ben and I started the day with a nutritious breakfast of leftover baleadas. He then ran to the pulperia (store) store and purchased our bag of milk and oatmeal. What, your food doesn’t come in bags? Then we were ready to make peanut butter no-bake cookies.

It was actually pretty easy. The ingredients were simple, we only used a pot and large bowl, I hate washing dishes, and cleanup was a cinch (Benja licked most of the utensils clean). We had to cut a little cardboard in order to transfer the cookies into my mini-fridge, but that was easy. Half an hour later, we were enjoying our cookies.

A lady I work with invited us over for lunch, so we decided to bring a few cookies for us to enjoy. I was a little worried because Hondurans have very different tastes, but the cookies are sweet so that was working in our favor. We offered Rosa and her daughter Rosa Maria a few and….drum roll….they loved them. They told us, “Esas no son para café porque son blanditos. Son para comer después del almuerzo.” This means, “These aren’t for eating with coffee because they’re soft. They’re for eating after lunch.” As long as they liked them I was happy.

Side Note - There is always an appropriate time/way to eat things here in Honduras. Never eat cold liquids with soup. Never eat soup for dinner.

I think we did a great job. Confession - I don’t love peanut butter. I like it in a sandwich and that’s about it. But, this was for Benjamin, so I was happy to oblige. We plan on having a Christmas Dessert Party in Benjamin’s site with community members in about two weeks. I’ll be sure to let yall know how the other recipes turn out.

Here’s the recipe for those interested:

PB No-Bakes: 2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup butter, pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, full boil 1 minute.

Add: 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 cup peanut butter. Pour over 3 cups oatmeal. Drop on wax paper. Let cool 30 minutes. Can put in fridge to speed up process.

I spent last Thanksgiving with some of my best PC friends. We stayed at one volunteer’s house, cooked, played football and had a great time. This year, some went to other volunteers’ homes, some are no longer in PC, others I haven’t spoken to in weeks….what a difference a year makes. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy my Thanksgiving. I spent this year in a place I’d never visited, established new friendships, and had a few firsts (I’ll explain that later).

Our day started at 6:30am on Wednesday. Who is our? Well, I am currently in a relationship with another Volunteer, Benjamin. He’s a caring, nice, athletic young man. To let him tell you, he’s slim with a muscular build, but I just call him Flacito. We arrived at the bus terminal at 6:45 for a bus scheduled to leave at 7:00. Of course, once we got there we were told the bus leaves at 8:00. At 8:30 the bus finally leaves the terminal. We met up with Alex and made the hour and a half trip to La Ceibita. Ben and Alex were hungry so they purchased two baleadas (flour tortilla with beans and cheese) with suspect looking ground beef while we waited for the bus to Santa Rosa de Copan to arrive.

Unfortunately, we boarded a crowded bus in which the ayudante lied and told us there were seats. I didn’t mind standing; that is until this young man next to me started to look a lil wary. He had beads of sweat on his upper lip and his forehead. He started out leaning on the seat next to him, then moved down to resting on his knees and finally crouched on the floor. I asked him if he was going to vomit and he shook his head yes. Well, time to move down the aisle a bit. There is nothing worse than being sick on the bus. I could tell others had already been sick because there was dried vomit on the windowsill right below the window with the bullet hole. Luckily not too far along a few people got off and he was able to sit.

I’d travelled to Santa Rosa before and it’s an okay town. Pretty big and very developed with lots of stores and people. About 20 Volunteers or so were staying at a hotel with a kitchen. The hotel staff was nice enough to let us cook Thanksgiving dinner and use their pots and pans. Oh no, the dinner wasn’t only for us. We cooked for 60 girls who live in a nearby orphanage.

Once we got settled, we had a quick lunch then started to cook. The kitchen was crowded, but there was a great spirit of happiness and helpfulness. I was supposed to make mashed potatoes, but someone had already made eight pounds which was more than enough. So, I decided to make potato salad; my mother would be so proud. For lack of containers, I had to make it in a bucket, but I cleaned it really good beforehand.

We made our way over to the orphanage after all the food was done. The girls ranged in ages 2 to about 16 or so. I dropped off my food and got right down to playing. Many of the girls wanted to know my name and age, which was fine. They also liked telling me, “Que bonito su cabello y su color” how pretty is your hair and (skin) color. I get this quite often because there aren’t many people who look like me in that part of Honduras. Then we played around the world basketball and three little girls totally kicked my butt. It was quite embarrassing because even they pointed out how tall I am compared to them, but was still losing.

Dinner was wonderful. There was potato salad, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, salad, fruit salad, biscuits, green bean casserole, turkey, baleadas, cakes, pies and cookies. Most, if not all of the food was made from scratch and it tasted so good. Once we finished serving the girls and stuffing our own faces, the girls sang us songs to show their appreciation. Two girls played the guitars while the others sang and it was one of the most touching moments I’ve had while in Honduras. Their voices were beautiful. They were respectful, nice and happy to have us there. I didn’t cry. I wanted to, but didn’t want to be that girl.

That evening we played trivia games amongst the volunteers and continued to eat. Most other volunteers went out dancing, but I was too tired and the hotel had cable – a rare treat, so I went to bed.

Thursday, actual Thanksgiving Day, I awoke early to a delicious bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. I hadn’t had Cheerios in about a year and I love them! I proceeded to eat leftover apple pie then Alex and I went out for a cup of coffee.

For Thanksgiving myself, Ben and three other volunteers went to Gracias, Lempira which I hadn’t travelled to previously. It is only an hour or so from Santa Rosa de Copan, so we took advantage. The bus ride was awful. The bus broke down not once, not twice, but three times. But we made it. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the worse part of that day. We went to a museum which had a little park in the back. I came up with the great idea of playing tag. Alex was “it” and as I was running and looking behind me, I fell. Now, I’ve fallen before, but not this hard. Because I was looking behind me, I didn’t have time to brace my fall. I fell flat on my chest, hit my knee on a rock and smashed my shoulder on the roots of a tree. It took the wind out of me. Don’t worry, I just rolled over and laughed. Once I was sitting down I started to feel the pain. My clothes were dirty, my body was in pain, but it was funny.

That evening we had pizza – a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, no? It was quite good pizza. From the photo, you can see four Coors Light, but I didn’t drink that – promise. That night we just went back to the hotel and hung out drinking adult beverages.

I wasn’t feeling well Friday morning, maybe it was something I drank. So, I had a slow start. We finally made it out of the hotel and went to the hot springs which Gracias is well known for. It was really nice. We sat in the deep end, so there were fewer kids and I assume less urine in the water. The water was nice and warm which was nice after such a tough morning.

That afternoon the other Volunteers left. Ben and I decided to change to a nicer hotel with a hot shower, cable, no visible bugs and a fan. We went back and took a nap, watched some awesome cable and relaxed. That night was our first date. Now, we’ve been together for three months and we’ve made meals for each other. We’ve eaten at restaurants in my site and had ice cream in the central park. But, this was our first time going to dinner at night, just us…it was a date. We started out by walking around the Gracias’ central park then made our way to the restaurant. The food was good, a little pricey, but good. Then we went back to the central park and purchased beverages from a café. We sat on a park bench and he drank his chocolate while I sipped my tea. It was really nice. Nice but cold, so we went back to the hotel and rested.

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I was able to appreciate all the wonderful people I have in my life. Although I loved my date, the highlight by far was the girls at the orphanage. They didn’t want much, didn’t ask for anything and had the best smiles and brightest attitudes that I’ve seen in some time. Can’t wait for Christmas!

It was a normal Saturday afternoon. I had just finished eating my lunch of a tuna fish sandwich and carrot sticks. Since it was a hot day and I’d awakened quite early, I decided to take a lil siesta. Nothing helps me go to sleep like enjoying a lil television, courtesy of my laptop. So, I went to remove it from the kitchen table when suddenly it freezes. The sound reminds me of when a record keeps skipping and the picture as if it were paused. Like any other person, I decided to force shutdown the computer and restart. To my dismay, the screen goes dark, but won´t turn back on. At this point, I am not hysterical, but I can feel it coming.

Every time I hit the on button, it just blinks, but nothing happens. Now I know that the life of a computer isn’t that long and I live in Honduras, the dustiest place on Earth, so I knew this day would come; I just wasn´t prepared. So I decided to give it a lil break, even removed the battery. During my siesta, I was haunted with visions of that blinking blue light with no screen. I awoke about 20 minutes later, replaced the battery, said a few prayers and waited. NOTHING!!!! I kept pushing the button and hoped, no prayed, it would suddenly work. You don´t understand! As a PC Volunteer, my only escape is my laptop. The first thing I do when I awake is press that little button and then use the bathroom, knowing that by the time I get back it´ll be ready to go. When I come home, I put down my bags and check to see if the one hour television show I started downloading that morning has finally finished. In the evening, when I am ready for bed, I put on a movie and laugh away the bad experiences of the day. My laptop is my life.

I have a Honduran friend who works in a computer store. Not a Best Buy of any sort, more like a place that helps create signs, make copies and type papers for the people too lazy to do it on their own. I sent him an urgent text, ¨Mi laptop no sirve. Podria venir por aca para ayudame?¨ I anxiously awaited his response and received nothing, Twenty minutes later I hear the familiar thud of his Puma shoes. He couldn’t help me. He proceeded to do the exact same things I had already tried: remove the battery, hit the on button, CTRL + ALT + DELETE, nothing worked. But we took it to his job and his boss tried to help me. He also could do nothing. I watched him painstakingly clean parts and remove the back of my laptop. It got so bad; I had to remove myself from the room. He called a friend who has more experience and promised to get back to me later on; there was nothing more to be done at the moment.

On my way to meet two other Volunteers, I happened upon a friend and recounted my awful afternoon. He gave me reassuring words and offered to sell me his laptop. I broke down in tears. I knew I was overreacting, even being immature, but it was all I could do. What would be my new escape? How would I spend my evenings? It just all caught up with me and all I could do was cry.

This was Saturday, today is Monday. I haven´t heard anything from the computer dude and am almost too nervous to ask. I have decided that if it is broken, I will deal with it. My friend, Chino, was able to live without his laptop in Honduras for about six months. If he can do it, I can do it. I need to have a positive attitude, but I am not hopeful. But, this has happened for a reason and I will be better for it. Plus, I go home and June and there´s a Netbook waiting for me. But, life as I know it will never be the same.

So, I’ve been in Honduras for about 15 months and for about 12 of those 15 months I’ve been struggling with a very frustrating issue – my weight. Now, it could be that I’ll be turning 30 in just a few weeks, or it could be Honduras; I won’t have the nature versus nurture debate, but something must be done. I should take advantage of the Honduran standards of beauty in which it is okay to be overweight and in fact might even be considered sexy, but I’m just not there.

My clothes don’t fit. Stuff is jiggling. I am hungry all the time. Coffee hour is at 3:30 and is also accompanied with bread. Manteca (shortening) is my enemy. Something must be done. I used to walk in the mornings with my friend Oscar, but then he got a lil weird, so I started avoiding him. PC warns us that it is difficult to have friends of the opposite sex here in Honduras, and I have found this to be true. Luckily, he and I are now on the same page. Anyway, I used to walk, but it is getting hot and I am tired of Hondurans shouting obscene things when all I am trying to do is get a workout. Mind you, I wear a hat and am a hot sweaty mess.

All that being written, I have decided to get my life in order. I want to be healthy, look good and if I’m completely honest, I’ll be going home in June and don’t want people to say that I’ve gained weight. Now my mother, bless her heart, she’ll just come right out and say I’ve gained weight and I don’t think I’m prepared for that. So the other day I downloaded a Zumba video because it is an entertaining way to workout. I hate that P90X guy; just can’t do it. So far I’ve exercised Friday thru today and I really like it. As well, I have started a food diary. Maybe if I have a visual reminder of all the junk I put in my body I will cut down.

Here are a few things that will help me succeed in toning my body:

•Impending trip to the States in June.

•We are in Summer, so there are a ton of fruits in the market especially piña . So I’ve started making smoothies with orange juice, no sugar.

•I’m not getting any younger, so I can’t eat what I want and not workout. I don’t like this new reality, but I’ve accepted it.

•My skinny freaking friend Sherria walking around all cute in lil outfits. Love ya girl, but I’m coming for ya.

•One of my besties is getting married next year and I want to look good for her.

Promise to keep you posted and wish me luck.

I need to get back to this:

So, while TJ (another PC Volunteer) was recently visiting we happened upon a celebration. A elementary school was having games, food and fun in order to commemorate its fourth year anniversary. There were many games that reminded me of how we play in the US, but with slight twists.

Singing Competition – usually the performers sing on top of an instrumental track. Not here, the kids just lip-synced songs. When we arrived, the attendees were voting for a winner and it turned out to be a tie. So, the crowd voted to have them “cantar” or sing again. We were prepared to hear little Jose and Nelson give it their best, only to have them mouth the words to “Jesus es mi capitan.” How is this a competition?

Pie Eating Contest – hands behind your back, face in pie, and eat. But who likes pies in Honduras? Instead, let’s have a competition where the children race to see who can eat the most pan, mantequilla y fresco. Pan is bread. Mantequilla’s literal translation is butter, but it’s like no butter I’ve ever tasted. It’s a cross between butter and sour cream. Hondurans eat mantequilla with bread, platanos, pancakes, tortillas; pretty much anything. Fresco is soda.

So, the kids in the photo below are chowing down on the trio of doom. At one point, the young man squirted a blob of mantequilla in his mouth - I wanted to vomit.

Bobbing for apples – a bucket of water, apples, and kids willing to get wet. Apples? Who eats fruit in Honduras that isn’t mangos or oranges sprinkled with salt and pepper? So what is better to bob for? Well, how about a small plastic ball in a bucket of flour. Yes, flour. The kids dunked their head in the bowl and searched for the choking hazard, I mean ball. Why would this be fun?

In the end, they had flour all over their faces and clothes. Their mouths were caked in a gooey dough-like mixture and their nostrils looked like they had been out for a Saturday night at La Sierra (a local club, where not just alcohol is sold).

But this didn’t deter them from going two rounds with plenty of volunteers. Aren’t kids great?

But I must say, I had a wonderful time. They also played games such as potato sack race, and spoon and egg. Well, when they played the spoon with the egg game, the spoon was in their mouths instead of hands. But this is why I love Honduras. Only in Santa Barbara could I be taking my friend on a tour of my site and spend most of the morning enjoying food and games with a bunch of strangers. They treated us like we were alumni of the school and this lady even snuck a picture of us (yes, a Black girl and 6’ 5 White male are a rarity in these parts.) It was a great way to spend a Sunday.

When I return to the US, who wants to play these games with me?

I recently had a friend visit me in Honduras and provided him with a lil advice about traveling/visiting Honduras. I decided to share this in order to give a glimpse of how to prepare oneself for a trip to Honduras. I also included the things I wanted from the US :-)

TRAVEL ADVICE:

• Do not bring a whole bunch of stuff. You’ll need tee shirts and shorts mostly. You can wear the shorts more than one day. It’s pretty warm, but it might rain so if you have a rain jacket or something like that, that would work. You won’t need repellant or sun block and stuff because I have plenty of that.

• I have a medical kit full of stuff in case you get sick so don’t worry about that. Some folks like to bring activated charcoal because you will probably get an upset stomach..

• Try to pack a bookbag or a small rolling suitcase. Because we’re Black we won’t stick out as much, but we don’t want to draw too much attention.

• If you can, leave your cell phone home. You also don’t need a nice watch or anything with bling.

• If we choose to do the tours, you’ll need sneakers of some sort.

• The exchange rate here is (L18.90 = $1). Most of the places we go will accept cards. You can buy the money here, we can go to the bank here, or we can pay in dollars. But, don’t bring a whole bunch of cash. Check with your bank about foreign transaction fees and notify them you are leaving the county and might be using your card. I won’t know how much money you need until we know where were going.

• Bring a plastic water bottle of some sort.

• The sun is the worse part, so bring a cap.

• There is a $37 departure tax.

• You can bring a camera.

• You don’t need a huge wallet. You do need pants with pockets that have buttons if you have. Don’t worry, you’ll hide money all over your body 

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO BRING ME

• I will try and buy an external hard drive online for you to bring to me. I need your address for shipping.

• My cell phone and charger

• Spices: Tahini Paste, Brown Sugar, Sesame Seeds, CurryPaste, Seaweed (for making sushi) This stuff should be in Shopper’s

• A good book you’ve read recently

• Target trail mix – Archer Farms Cranberry Nut Trail Mix 12oz

• Disposable Camera-one of the cheap ones with flashes. Usually they come in packs of three. This is for when we do the outdoor excursions. They work great and you don’t have to worry about damaging them, especially for the zip-line.

• Grits – Quaker if they have

• Good chocolate –like from Target but the ones with fruit or something

I just finished a NY Times article about people being connected via their many electronic communication devices. Living in Honduras, I haven’t seen many of the new cell phones and have only seen an iPad in pictures and television. (Although, Tigo keeps sending me text messages that I could win one.) Anyway, this made me pondr how disconnected I am to my family and friends and basically, how much I’m loving it.

Now, I do have to add a bit of a disclaimer – I have home internet. However, I spend most of my internet time downloading things to keep me occupied during the evenings (I don’t have a radio or television). Recently, I found that I was on Facebook more than I would have liked and decided to take a break. Periodically, I take breaks from Facebook and have even changed my personal settings so that it is not one of my homepages and I am not automatically signed in. In this way, I have to make a conscious effort to avoid the awesome, albeit, sometimes annoying and time-consuming Facebook.

Here’s a picture of my cell phone.

I purchased it soon after I came to Honduras and it is nothing special. I think my grandmother has a better phone than I. It doesn’t have internet connectivity and all I can do is text and talk. Poor thing doesn’t even have a camera or games. This doesn’t me because I mostly text message for a few different reasons:

A. It is really difficult to understand Spanish speakers over the phone; I have a hard enough time talking face to face.

B. It’s cheaper.

C. It’s great practice writing Spanish. Unlike most of my Honduran contacts, I write in complete sentences while they write phonetically. This can be extremely frustrating because the language is already phonetically written and I’m trying to learn Spanish grammar. Let me show you a brief example of a text message I received.

Amiga: hola Michel

q tal?

Q c a echo

My translation: Hola Michelle

Que tal?

Que si a hecho?

Now that I’ve reread that text, I don’t know what she’s asking me after “How are you?”

But I digress. My basic phone is a blessing, not a curse. I carry my phone with me at all times, not because I am awaiting an important call, rather for security reasons. I don’t jump every time it vibrates because I know it’s probably a solicitation from my provider, Tigo, and because usually it’s not important.

How often do I use my phone? I don’t have a cell phone plan, it is a prepaid phone. There are no free nights and weekends or talk time within Tigo customers. I visit my local pulperia (think corner store but in someone’s house) to buy “recargas” or minutes from this lovely old woman. I give her my phone number, (s)he punches the numbers and some stuff into/her phone. I get a confirmation message that the money has been added then I pay. How easy was that? Weekly, I probably buy L25.00 ($1.32) which allows me about 20 text messages and a few minutes of talk time. This is more than enough for me. Because everyone here has a prepaid phone, there isn’t any talking just for the sake of talking. You call someone solely to convey a message. Once the phone rings and the other person answers, they play a game of beat the clock - who can talk the fastest, while successfully conveying the message. The word you’ll hear most often in the conversation is “vaya” which has many meanings, but here is like saying “okay.” Now, you can’t just say it once, you have to keep saying it so that the person hurries off the phone. “Vaya, vaya, vaya, vaya pues, vaya, vaya.” It’s fun. This might seem weird because the person called you, so why rush them off the phone, you’re not paying for it. But, there is a mutual respect for ones “saldo” or balance – you keep all conversations short.

I spend most of my cell phone minutes talking to my mother back in the La USA. I might even use my phone less if she had email access at home, but she doesn’t. I love the freedom. No one expects me to call them right away, if at all. No one calls me just to chit chat (well sometimes other PCVs will call me) but the call is limited to no longer than about 15 minutes (can’t waste the little money we make on “saldo”).

So, if you’re reading this and thinking you can’t put your phone down for even a day, try it. Leave your phone at home and you’ll experience a typical day in my life. Instead of sitting on the bus, typing away, I look out the window and cherish the beautiful view or even better, I talk to my neighbor. (Don’t worry, I don’t make it a habit of talking to strangers and if I get out of the mood, I just open my book.) I’ve not had internet at the touch of my fingers every waking moment for about a year now and to be honest, I’m better for it.

I recognize that I have been somewhat neglectful of this blog. It might be that I also journal, therefore, blogging seems repetitive. However, my journal is for my eyes only, this blog is for you.

Each Volunteer is peered with a host county counterpart. I have both a primary and secondary counterpart, ChildFund and Abriendo Puertas, respectively. First, let’s discuss ChildFund. The name of the NGO is actually, ADASBA, which stands for “Asociación de Desarrollo del Área de Santa Bárbara” translated means “Association for the Development of the Santa Barbara Area.” ChildFund (http://www.childfund.org/honduras/) works in an area for several years and then creates local NGOs to work independently to help its residents. There are over 3,000 Pate Plumas (residents of Santa Barbara) with sponsors from all over. The funds donated are used for nutrition, agriculture, youth development, health, and communication projects.

I work primarily with the Youth and Communication teams. Currently, there are six youth groups, each with small businesses. I am training the members of these teams on business basics including: Basic Math, Accounting, Customer Service, Leadership, Teamwork, and Personal Finance. All of the groups reside in the mountains or outlying communities of Santa Barbara (I live in the center); therefore, I have to travel to their sites.

In the Communication Team, I am helping them create a database with the 3,000 sponsored Pate Plumas’ data. To be completely honest, I am creating the database and then training them to maintain it. It would be great if I could train someone to create the system, but their knowledge of Excel is rudimentary at best. Currently, everything is stored in paper files and it isn’t unusual to see my colleagues writing lists and lists of children’s names; wasting valuable time and resources. Sitting behind a computer is my least favorite part of work, but it is necessary and will greatly help us provide the children the level of support the children deserve.

I also work with Abriendo Puertas (Open Doors) which is an NGO for people with

special needs. While I am closer to the members of this organization, they’re my friends; I get the least amount of work done here. This is mostly because most of the workers are volunteers so it can be difficult to motivate them and their skills levels vary greatly. However, we have an afterschool program for special needs children to give them extra assistance in their learning development. As well, there is a small silk-screening business in which two of the members work. I am currently creating a work plan to provide training eds in various topics including beginning a support group, personal finance, healthy living, self esteem and artistic expression. I believe this year we will get things done.

I’ve been in country almost a year and it’s taken me this long to get comfortable. I am confident in my language skills, even when children laugh at my Spanish, and have built ‘confianza’ with my colleagues. Confianza is a big deal here and can be described as trust, but it’s more than that. It’s their ability to talk openly, to discuss matters that may cause tension, to be a friend. Without building confianza, I could not effectively assist my counterparts. That’s my greatest lesson learned in working thus far.

When I first arrived in Santa Barbara, I taught HIV/AIDS prevention charlas for high school students. One of the professors at Tecnico Santa Barbara, Profe Hector, invited me to watch him and his group dance. I was told that during the first session I would simply watch. However, when I arrived, I was invited to dance. That was almost three months ago and I’ve been dancing ever since. We meet every Saturday from 3:00 to 5:30 or so in the afternoon (afternoon ends at around 8:00 here). Now, before you start thinking of La Bamba, Salsa, Merengue, Bachata or Regueton; that is not what we are doing. It is a group of folklore dancers and most of the dances are original of Santa Barbara.

Who is Bailarina Michelle? She is me, a young lady who loves her dance group. First, this was a great way to integrate into my community. At any given time, we probably have about 15 to 20 people there who love to dance as much as I do. Granted, they have been doing these dances for YEARS and I have a lot of catching up to do, but they are patient. Second, it is a great way to practice my Spanish. Third, it is a great form of exercise. To my chagrin, my dance partner loves to point out just how much I sweat. Dude, I already know I sweat like a man. Fourth, it is a lot of fun, plus I love dressing up. We dance just for the fun of dancing. This group has performed in communities throughout Honduras and even in Mexico. At times, schools or other sponsors of local events will invite us to dance.

Sunday, September 5 I had my very first performance with this group. It must have been 100 degrees that day and the sun was blazing. The costumes are the cheapest, shiniest material ever, Quentin would be appalled. It was “Dia de Cultura” for the community of Gualhocito, Santa Barbara. As you can see from the pictures, Oscar did my makeup and I look like quite the drag queen. The group danced about four different dances; I only danced one. I knew the others, but not well enough to dance in front of a crowd. Of course, for the introductions I thought they would acknowledge us all; I was wrong. I got a five minute shout out that I was a Peace Corps Volunteer and other information, which was very sweet. But, if I didn’t already stick out like a sore thumb (the only Negrita), I sure did then.

I love the people I dance with. For the group’s anniversary we went to a Balenario (pretty much a swimming pool) and cooked out. They are very patient with me when it comes to my Spanish and I’ve actually made friends. My favorite is Oscar David, the instructor. He speaks a little bit of English, loves Lady Gaga and anything American, calls me “Baby,” and has the biggest heart. Don’t worry; he is not remotely into me. That’s pretty much it. Please enjoy the short video of my dancing. I realize it is way too zoomed in, but my friend, Oscar Roberto, filmed it and I believe this was his first time using a digital camera. Enjoy!!!

(I am having trouble uploading the video, so I will get back to that.)

I facilitate classes regarding HIV/AIDS prevention/education and one of our activities is “Mito o Dato.” We read statements regarding HIV/AIDS and the students have to determine if it is fact or fiction and provide the reason. So, I have decided to play a little game of Mito o Dato on my blog. Hope you enjoy it.

1. If you buy a box of Corn Flakes and place them on the dining room table, they become communal Corn Flakes.

Dato. I purchased a box of Corn Flakes and my host mother has helped herself WITHOUT asking on several occasions. At times she tries to hide it and pour the flakes out the box really slow while I am in my bedroom, but these are Corn Flakes lady, I can hear that.

2. Hondurans wear shorts.

Mito. I have been here for almost six months and outside of small children, I rarely see people in shorts; especially women. Instead, the fashion is super tight skinny jeans, which can be cute but it is SOOOOO hot here. I have been advised that only loose girls wear shorts; however, I am going to burst into flames if I continue to wear jeans, so I have chosen to ignore this advice and andar con shorts on the weekends.

3. It is okay to pick your nose and belly button in public.

Dato. If I am not watching the men with their shirts off, picking their belly buttons, they are picking their noses. I get that there is a lot of polvo [dust] in the air, but stop picking your nose. GET A TISSUE!

4. Women and men can just be friends.

Mito. During our training we were warned that platonic opposite sex relationships are not recognized. I thought maybe they were being dramatic, but I have found this to be true. If I am seen having lunch, talking, walking or anything else with a man, people assume something is going on and I will definitely hear about it later.

5. Children complete their own homework.

Mito. Now, this of course is not true of all families, but of the families I have lived with, the parents complete the children’s homework assignments. In my work with the schools, I find an odd fixation on penmanship and neatness, almost perfection, when it comes to completing assignments. Content and imagination seems to take a backseat; it just really needs to look good. So, there are times the parents complete the homework because it doesn’t “look nice.” My host sister’s teacher actually called my host mom out and wrote on one of the homework assignments, “this is not Sarah’s handwriting; let her complete her own work.” Of course, my host mother’s response was to write the answer on a sheet of paper, erase her writing on the original assignment and then have the child copy. Somehow I don’t think this is what her teacher had in mind.

6. You can plug a USB drive into a boom box.

Dato. Okay, some of you may already known this, but I had no idea. Plus, I don’t think many Americans have boom boxes. But, most boom boxes have a USB outlet and even car radios too. In this day of iPods, I wasn’t aware this was even an option….who knew?

7. Lines do not exist.

Dato. This is one of the things that really annoy me. You can be waiting at the register in a store, about to board a bus, in need of a bathroom on whenever else there SHOULD be a line and there is none. Instead, everyone likes to cluster around and push. The worse is when you are next in the grocery store and some person comes up and just walks up to the register. Oh no she didn’t. So, I have taken to giving that person a warning stare and f that doesn’t work, I just push my way up….When in Rome.

Just this past week I participated in three days of medical brigades. The first was Saturday. One of the brigades was an optometrist from El Salvador and his two assistants. They offered free vision exams for residents of Santa Barbara, and if necessary, residents were able to buy glasses. I arrived at 7:30am and we worked until around 4:30pm or so. The doctor was able to examine 85 people, more or less, and all were satisfied with the level of care they received. It was a long day, but a great way for me to meet people of Santa Barbara.

As a side note, I have noticed that- if there is a group of Hondurans and I am there, they will ask the person I am with questions about me. Questions such as ¨Who is she?, Is she Honduran?¨ and because I am me, I kindly advise them IN SPANISH that they are free to ask me questions and don’t have to rely on the person sitting next to me for information. This usually startles them because they assume I do not speak Spanish. I find this to be so rude, I am sitting right there, at least attempt to talk to me first and if I give you that, ¨What are you talking about, ¨ look, then you can resort to my companion.

Anyway, the next medical brigade was to be on Monday with three pediatricians and a nurse from Canada. Another Volunteer advised me that two of the doctors spoke Spanish, but one needed a translator. Now, my Spanish is not great, but I can say ¨diarrhea, cough, medicine, headache¨ and the like in Spanish. So, we met in the center of town, went to the hospital and pharmacy and finally to an aldea in Santa Barbara.

When we arrived there were already many mothers with their babies. What I don’t understand and never will is…..Hondurans don’t believe in making lines. I lie to you not. In the stores, waiting for the bathroom, boarding a bus, whatever the case may be, everyone just bunches together and crowds the door. So, each family was given a ticket for each child with a number and the way we would have LIKED for this to proceed would have been for the mothers to just chill out in the grass and come to the door when called. This is preferred for a few reasons: 1. It is hot and when they crowd the door, we can’t breathe 2. We want the patients that are being seen to have privacy 3. I know it’s hot, so why huddle at the door? 4. With that many people, it is a lot of noise and that makes it difficult to hear 5. And the most important reason, it just makes common sense. Well, they all decided that rather than chilling and waiting to be called, they would all hold their tickets in their hands and crowd the door. Pucheca!

So, that day we saw a little over 80 children and there were a few who were in fact sick. However, the bulk of the parents were a term coined by the doctors, ¨Trick of Treaters. ¨ These are the parents who come in with healthy children but complain of a cough, diarrhea, headaches and the like just because they want medicine. More specifically, they want vitamins and anti-parasitic medicines. Parasites are common in children here, so the pills are distributed in the schools. Why a parent would want to give your child medicine he/she doesn’t need is beyond my comprehension. Maybe they are stockpiling, maybe they think the kids really need it, maybe they just don’t know any better. We tried to educate them, but this fell on death ears. The worse part is that the doctors wasted time on healthy children they had to examine when they could in fact be helping kids that really need help.

The biggest surprise for me was how emotional I would be. Now, I am not going to lie, even though I might not want to admit it, I can be overly emotional. During my two days with the doctors, we met a few children with terminal diseases. The one thing that helped was the doctors were extremely sensitive and respectful of the parents and children.

So this was a great experience and I will be participating in another Medical Brigade at the end of August with a few other PCV. We will travel to Ojojona, where we completed our Field Based Training, and translate for a week. It will be nice to assist other Hondurans and I wonder if it will be a similar experience.

Above you will see pictures of myself with the doctors. Dr. Fabian especially wanted me to post the picture with the Canadian flag (I am sure you can understand his reasons).

Vamos a ver!

Wow! I cannot believe that I have been in Santa Barbara for a month. All things considered, things are going well.

Work with one of my counterparts is kind of slow, but I think things are looking up. I have both a primary and secondary counterpart (as mentioned in an earlier post) for which I will work with while in Honduras. Things with my primary counterpart started out a little slow, but I think we are headed in the right direction. I spend a lot of time in the office of my secondary counterpart which is an organization that assists people with disabilities in the department of Santa Barbara. They have two “talleres” or shops – silk screening and wood crafting. I find that the people at this office are a little friendlier and this allows me to learn about the organization and practice my Spanish.

This past week I started giving VIH/SIDA charlas in the high school; I don’t know what I was thinking. I’ve already given three and I have six more to go. Each charla is two hours long and there are about 40 students. So, it’s hot, crowded, I was sick so I didn’t really have a voice, I have to speak Spanish, the teachers weren’t helping, and at times the kids were out of control – recipe for disaster. But, I also have a lot of fun. Now, kids recognize me in the streets and during the charla they ask really good questions and based on the post test, are learning a lot. It is hard work, but fulfilling.

Life with my host family is going well. My host mother makes really good soup full of vegetables which I am in love with. My host sister and I play around but I think that now she better understands boundaries and that I am not her new toy. My host father is pretty quiet but he has a good sense of humor. They are a pretty laid back family and are very active in the Catholic Church. Sometimes the hardest things about being in Honduras are the living conditions and food, so being with this host family has helped tons. This doesn’t mean I’m not tired of frijoles, but I do have more variety and healthier options.

Santa Barbara is still hot. I didn’t expect it to be this hot here and there are days in which you would think that I was a contestant in a wet tee shirt contest because my top is soaked with sweat. In time I know that I will get accustomed to this, but for now I am DYING. The center of town is about a 25 to 30 minute walk and I try to walk it because that is pretty much my only exercise, but by the time I arrive I am a hot mess. If I come home for lunch, I am really hot and then my host mother sits a bowl of piping hot soup in front of me – while good, it is HOT.

I FOUND AN APARTMENT!!!! I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to find an apartment because Santa Barbara is a little expensive and Peace Corps gives a limit on how much they will pay, but I was successful. I am living where the previous Peace Corps Volunteers lived which is nice because it already has furniture AND a hot shower!!! I am very excited to live on my own for privacy reasons and also to cook my own food, but I realize I might be lonely. Luckily,the apartment is a part of someone’s house (they are spitting distance) and they are accustomed to having Gringos and have done everything to make me feel comfortable. In fact, one of the PCV that lived there in the past married the landlady’s daughter. Of course, she jokes that I am going to marry a Honduran, but that is NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

El Mundial! Now, before I came to Honduras I don’t think I had EVER watched a futbol game. But, Honduras is in El Mundial, so I have been watching their games and pretty much every other game. It is really fun. I think Argentina will win, but we will see. By the way, the USA totally won that game; that was a crappy call by the ref. I must say, I actually like futbol and maybe one day I will play, but that’s a little difficult in Honduras because women don’t play soccer here and the men don’t want you to play with them.

Which leads me to my next issue – I AM GAINING WEIGHT. The other day my host sister took a picture of me and I couldn’t believe it was my face. This is weird because I eat healthier here than I did during training. I think the problem is a lack of exercise. The only exercise I get is the walk to the center of town and back. So, I keep telling myself that I am going to wake up early and run, but that still hasn’t happened. Thing is, I have to get up really early because it gets hot here by 7:30 or so. As well, I don’t feel safe going out and running alone for obvious reasons. I may have found a running buddy, but we’ll see.

I’ve made my first Honduran friend. His name is Oscar and I met him while I was at a training session. He is a student at the University, works and volunteers with The Red Cross. Now, before you all start hearing wedding bells, he is a child- about 19 years old and we will only be friends. He helped me find my apartment and is my Spanish tutor. Actually, he speaks English fairly well, so we’ll both benefit. It’s nice to know someone to learn about the area and have an outlet from my host family.

People here always ask me what I miss most and of course I miss my friends and family, but the other things I miss are: the food, Panera Bread, Target, wearing dresses, looking pretty, manicures, pedicures, and most of all- my independence. Here, I don’t feel safe to be out alone at night; I can’t just hop in a car and go where I want, I don’t even get to choose what I eat (life with a host family). It is especially hard for females because it isn’t safe to just be out and about on your own and things that would be fine in the US (having male friends, enjoying a cocktail, dancing, etc.) are considered only things that loose women do. That’s the hardest part, but it’s something I can live with.

I am going to try and take more pictures, but Honduras is not the kind of place where you walk around with a camera. In my site I feel safe, but walking around with a camera strapped around my neck is asking for trouble. I already stick out like a sore thumb. Oh and if you were thinking Hondurans look like the ones you might see on Prospect Avenue (as in they look Black) you are wrong. The Honduras in the North Coast look like me, where I am they look Latin and some even have blonde hair and blue eyes. So, in the streets when men are making catcalls I am “Negra” “Gringa” or “Negrita.” But, don’t think this is racism or anything, it isn’t unusual for people to refer to others by their physical characteristics here. For example, if a person has slanted eyes (I think that was the most politically correct way to describe this), they are called “Chino(a).” If you are fat, “Gordo(a).” If you are skinny, “Flaco(a).” If you are fair skinned, “Chela.” It’s just the way things are. I don’t mind if people in the streets call me by another name, but if I know the person, (s)he has to call me by my name – Michelle. The guys in the street blowing kisses and such I could care less about.

So, that’s it for now. I will make more of an effort to take pictures and write posts, but the days just fly by. It is hard to believe I have been in Hondruas four months; time does fly. I am very happy about the decision I made and while I miss the States, it’ll be there in two years. If you’re reading this, have a salad/cocktail/shower for me.

So, this is my first blog post as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Previously, I was an Aspirante/Trainee, but as of Friday, May 14, 2010, I am a Peace Corps Volunteer. It was an emotional, fun, and proud few days.

So, where do I begin? Well, Thursday, May 13 was our last day of training. I got my results back from my language interview, and I have reached the Intermediate Medium level (the level required to swear in as a Volunteer). I worked really hard to get to this point and I think with time, studying, practice, and patience I’ll reach the Advanced Level. That evening, the other Aspirantes and I went to a restaurant and then a bar to celebrate our Swearing In and a little early birthday party for Loren and me. I had a really good time that evening and gracias a Dios, I wasn’t sick the next day.

Friday, May 14 we met our new counterparts. A counterpart is a contact within the community with whom Volunteers work with. My counterpart is really nice, in fact he reminds me of my old supervisor, Jim, and it is his first time serving as a counterpart, so we’re going to work this out together.

In the afternoon, my counterpart and I ate lunch together then all the counterparts and Aspirantes travelled to the US Embassy in Tegucigalpa for our Swearing in Ceremony. Now, the best part of this should be that I was sworn in as a Volunteer, had the opportunity to say goodbye to all my friends, supervisors, language teachers and the like, but that wasn’t it. The best part was THE BATHROOM. It was like a bathroom in the US. First, there was no canister on the side of the toilet; you could actually throw your toilet paper in commode. Second, there was a powerful flush; I didn’t have to go to a pila and throw in a bucket of water to make it flush. Third, the water that came out of the faucet was hot; and I don’t mean kind of hot, it was actually hot. I was in Heaven.

The Swearing In Ceremony was really nice and sweet. Of course, I got really emotional and cried a few times, but that’s to be expected. I told myself that I wouldn’t cry, but I am going to really miss the folks that helped me along the way. Also, I’ve been with the people in my project pretty much every day for the last 11 weeks, and now they’ll be all over the country. Some I’m closer to than others, but the ones that are more than six hours away will be hard to visit. I’m going to miss them so much.

Friday evening a few of us went to a bar to say our last goodbyes. That was fine; although we did get ATTACKED by these crazy bugs. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t freak when I see a bug; but these bugs were the kind that liked to crawl on your body and get in your hair. It was absolutely awful.

When I got home I gossiped with my Abuelos and packed my bags. I was so happy because my counterpart drove his truck, so we didn’t have to take the bus to Santa Barbara (can you imagine me on a bus with all my crap?) but I still had a lot of stuff to take care of. Carrie came over and we chatted a bit; I am so going to miss her - she makes me laugh so hard.

Saturday morning my counterpart came to get me at 6:30 am and we stopped by a local area to take some pictures. His wife came down with him, so we went to pick her up then hit the road. At one point, we stopped to get something to eat and I was shocked to see my girl, Allysun. She is one of the people in my “clique” so I was really happy to see her. Then she left and we ate at the restaurant.

Only in Honduras…..as we are driving away from the restaurant, my counterpart goes to pass a bus and HITS A COW WITH HIS TRUCK. Yes, he hit a cow with his pickup truck. Now, the cow wasn’t too badly injured (I guess) because it got back up like nothing happened. But, hitting a cow is against the law here and we had to go through all this crap with the cow’s owner.

Once we got to Santa Barbara (about a three hour ride) we went by the office and they had a little party. It was a post Mother’s Day, Bienvenida for me, and Cumpleanos party. Everyone was really nice and the food was fine. They are laid back and are excited to have me as a Volunteer.

When we left, I met my new host family and home. The house is really nice and clean. They have a 7 year old daughter who is very nice, but wants to play ALL THE TIME. The bathroom is indoors, they have fruit trees in the back and the water is clean (I can actually see the bottom of the pila). I even had a chance to eat a mango straight off the tree which was really nice. Dinner was fine and then I went to bed early. About 11:00, I woke up with RAGING DIAHREA. I felt like crap, I didn’t get any sleep and used the bathroom far more often than I’d like to admit.

Sunday, I didn’t do much of anything but relax. Since I was up all night, I was really tired and my stomach was still very upset. I went for a short walk with Sarah, but got tired really easy so we returned to the house.

All in all, things are great. It is really hot in Santa Barbara compared to where I was before. As well, my family owns chickens so I hear them ALL NIGHT LONG. But, I like my new host family and I think I will do good and interesting work. I don’t know what I am going to do tomorrow, but I plan on exploring the town and seeing where things are. I’ll keep you posted.

Okay, it wouldn’t be any fun if I simply told you my site; I have to set the scene.

If you weren’t aware, I’ve been here since February, but all of this time has been both language and technical training. We have also completed technical interviews in which we talk about what we’d like to do at our site and where we’d like to be located. No, this decision is not up to me, but instead my two supervisors.

Anyway, Wednesday, May 5 was “Site Announcement Day.” We had class that morning and then entered The Salon where our classes are held. They created a map of Honduras on the ground with tape. Now, leading up to this moment, I was really nervous. I mean, I was going to find out where I’d be living and what I’d be doing for the next two years of my life. So, once I got to The Salon, I literally thought I was going to throw up.

First, Jorge described where the 18 sites are located in the country. As you can see from the map above, most are located in the West part of the country. They placed a white card down on the map and each represented where a Volunteer would be located.

Then, they started calling out where people would be going based on the geographic area. To be honest, I had some idea of where I would be going based on the technical interview, but you just never know.

So, they finally got to my site and…..drum roll please…..my site……that I’ll be living in for the next two years……is……..Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara. I am VERY excited. I’ll give you a little information that was shared with me about the site, but Google it as well.

Santa Barbara is a large town within a big municipality in the department of Santa Barbara, of which it’s also the department capital. It has a total municipality population of 29,000 people, with an estimated 15,000 living in the urban area and the rest in outlying areas.

Santa Barbara is a very hilly/mountainous terrain. It is the commerce center of the area so there are a lot of small businesses servicing the needs of the surrounding communities. There is a lot of coffee grown in the region (yum) and it is quite known for the artisans who make hats, baskets, mats and decorations from junco (reeds) and different grasses.

Santa Barbara is about an hour bus ride from San Pedro Sula (there’s an airport there and it’s cheap to fly into, much cheaper than Tegucigalpa) and four hours from Tegucigalpa.

Along with finding out my site, I was told about the work I will be doing. Each Volunteer is giving counterparts to work with, and Volunteers can of course create projects they are interested in. My counterpart works for an organization that (mas o menos) implements projects with an integral approach towards development that covers education, health, civic participation, work force preparedness and income generation projects all tailored so that they can work with youth. They support the community by training youth and with their business development in the beginning so that they can become self-sustainable. My agency also works with people with disabilities in several areas to promote awareness and political incidence for them and provide training in self employment and the creation of small businesses.

I am very excited about both my site and counterparts. I wanted to be in a large city and work in training and development (shocker). There are already some Volunteers in the department of Santa Barbara (a department is similar to a state and a municipality is similar to a city within that state) and in my group more are coming. This just means that I have to have a good balance because part of my role is to integrate into my community which is already challenging in larger cities, but even more so when you have other Volunteers near you. I plan on integrating, speaking Spanish and doing a banging job.

So, this Saturday, May 15 I leave for my site. My counterpart is coming to get me and I am praying he has a car because I can’t imagine lugging all my stuff on a bus for four hours. But if not, I’ll make it work. I am also going to live with another host family. We have to live with them for the first 60 days and may continue for the duration of our 2 year service, but I don’t anticipate living there past day 61; I want my own place. I’ll be in a large enough city in which it’ll be possible to find a place to rent.

So, for those of you who wanted to visit; now we know where I’ll be.

So, right now I’m still in training, but I have participated in some interesting projects:

• When I visited the current PCV, Erika, we helped her with the first day of her Colgate project at the escuela. The Colgate project teaches children about dental health and the proper way to clean their teeth. This was just the first day, so we helped her distribute the toothbrushes and paste that were donated by very kind and generous folks in the US. I had a really good time and above you see me helping the children draw their thank you signs. Erika’s going to do a great job helping them keep their teeth pearly white.

• In order to learn about artisans in Honduras, we visited a place where the clay is made. I had the opportunity to mold my own piece of artwork. If I may write so myself, I think I did a great job. As well, I helped paint a flower on this huge pot that someone is going to buy. I might have found a new career lol. This is an area in which I’m very interested in working in because there is great potential for the artisan shops to increase their market and become more profitable.

• The Aspirantes and I were taught how to give a HIV/AIDS education charla or presentation to Honduran youths. This was a very interesting and important topic because it affects so many people and many are either contracting HIV or becoming pregnant due to a lack of education. This assignment was a bit taxing because my audience consisted of young men who would rather make jokes and talk to their friends than listen. There were many who knew a lot of information, but the bad apples were a bit distracting. We only had two young women in the class, which was probably a little uncomfortable for them. Sex is a very taboo conversation in Honduras and many become embarrassed when they have to listen or talk about it.

Anyway, part of the presentation was a demonstration on how to correctly put on a condom using plantanos which was informative and the kids/young adults loved it. I find it interesting that people are embarrassed to talk about sex, but don’t have any problem exposing their body and selves to all types of diseases/infections; go figure. I really enjoyed giving this charla and would love continue to do so in the future.

So, that’s a taste of the projects I’ve been involved in during my short time here. I’m still in training so they were to expose us to new areas or teach us skills we’ll use at our sites. Of course, I still have Spanish class four hours per day and technical class for the remaining four hours, but I also receive hands on training and am giving the opportunity to work with those in my community.

In Spanish class, I also learned how to make pupusas which I don’t normally don’t care for much, but am willing to try them. They’re pretty much flour tortillas with cheese inside and then a sort of carrot and onion salad on top. I like the tortilla part, but not the toppings. Anyway, above you’ll see me cooking away on the fuegon which is pretty much an outside stove. It was a hot one, but they turned out really good.

So, as part of our training, we went to a beach. Because this was also a training activity, first we stopped at a restaurant/zoo/cookie factory/amusement park. It was a nice little place but I felt a little bad for the animals. Animals in our zoos which are huge and they are well taken care of are sad, so to see animals in small cages here was even more disturbing. I don’t think the owners are intentionally cruel or recognize that animals should be free to roam, and if you are going to confine them in cages, they should have sufficient room.

From there, we went to the beach which was also going to be the place where we ate dinner and slept. Now to be honest, I was not looking forward to sleeping on the beach, but once they told us we would have real deal tents with the plastic on the bottom and zippers and all that, things started to look up.

When we got there, I was on the cooking team so I tried to cook hotdogs in a freaking campfire which was a disaster. I just didn’t know what I was doing and the fire was really hot. Plus, I wasn’t so interested in cooking them because I refuse to eat nasty pork hotdogs; give me kosher hotdogs or nothing. We played the typical teambuilding sports which were surprisingly fun. There were so many little bugs though that bit the mess out of us. We also made smores which were the best freaking thing I’ve eaten in quite some time. Later, we played “Never Have I Ever” which was a lot of fun. You get to learn so much about other people that can be very surprising.

I went to bed pretty late knowing that we had to be up early the next day. Sleeping in the tent wasn’t so bad. Of course, I was up at the crack of dawn and decided to go for a walk which was nice and calming. I then decided to write “HONDURAS 16” in the sand which is the name of our team/group. We left the beach for another beach a little further away. Let me tell you, it was so HOT and not like a little hot, like hot as HONDURAS. Anyone who knows me, is well aware that I can sweat with the best of them and that I did. We took a small boat to the next beach and played a little bit. I tried to learn how to float but that was a failure. We visited yet another island and had lunch. Once we were done, we had to get back in the cramped 10 passenger van for the long ride home. I was hot, sore and exhausted; I couldn’t wait to get out. The worst part is that there weren’t any showers so I didn’t get to wash after the beach, rode in that hot car for hours and then didn’t have a shower to greet me when I got home, but instead my usual bucket bath.

As we arrived it was pouring, which it’s been doing lately. I had a really good time on the trip though and love my team members. Glad I had a chance to see other parts of Honduras and a little break from the host family. I’m confident I’ll be visiting other beaches while in Honduras.

So, Saturday, March 27 to Sunday, April 4 is Semana Santa or “Holy Week.” No, it’s not the week to celebrate Santa lol. So, here the kids are off for school, the government is closed and there are a lot of activities. I had a really good Semana Santa, here’s how it went:

Saturday, March 27 The Catholics make “alfombras” or carpets out of sawdust, coffee, sand and salt. The wake up early in the morning and begin working and at 9:00 the Catholic church has Mass and walks over the carpets as they follow Jesus on a donkey. I woke up early to view the carpets and stayed for most of the procession. Then, I had to get freshened up because it was going to be a hot day.

Later, Allysun, Brett, Te Jota, Julian and I went to explore our new town. I walked a lot, had a lot of back sweat and was so tired, but I’m glad we went. I also got my new favorite snack, a choco banano” which is a frozen banana dipped in chocolate; it is to die for.

Sunday, March 28 – I went to church with my family and it was nice. Kind of like a Baptist church to be honest. The first hour was singing and the last we had another speaker instead of my host father, the pastor. I rather enjoyed it.

Monday, March 29 – Tuesday, March 30 we had class as usual….nothing to report.

Wednesday, March 31 – American Cultural Day – So, each Aspirante had to make a Honduran dish to bring to the American Cultural Day. As well, each level of the Spanish classes had to make a presentation for the host families. It was a lot of fun. Of course it started late “Honduran Time” but the presentations were great. Some groups sang, another showed them how to play dodgeball and make Coke floats. My group…drumrolll please…taught them how to do the Electric Slide (I’m sure you know whose idea that was). First, we did it to a Honduran song “In Honduras” that they pretty much all knew and them I switched the CD and we did it to Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” It was so much fun. I was worried they all wouldn’t participate because this is a pretty religious town, but if they didn’t dance, they sang or clapped. I loved it. We then got to eat the delicious food and them went on our way.

That afternoon, some of the Aspirantes played futbol, but I wasn’t in. They were playing a Honduras team, a full 90 minute game and it was freaking hot out there. So, I just sat on the sidelines and cheered them on. They lost 4 to 2, but that’s pretty good for their first game.

Thursday, April 1 – I went to Teguz with my family (you’ve already read about that). That evening, Eben had movie night over at his place and we watched “Stripes” that was a really good movie and it was nice to just get away and relax with the Gringos.

Friday, April 2 – Alfombra Day again. This time, I didn’t just watch them make alfombras, I helped. I got there a little later than most because I made the family French toast, and we did a really good job. I stopped by Sherria’s later during coffee hour, 3:00 pm, and then went back to help them finish. Around 5:00 the procession started which this town had Jesus on a sort of bed and was really nice. We then went to this guy’s house for “refreshments” and to talk and that was really nice to chill.

But then……we lost power. Now, losing power here happens about once a week, so that’s no big deal. But, it’s usually during the day. Then…it started to RAIN! Now I’ve been here a little over a month and it hadn’t rained a drop. IT POURED!!! Which is a good thing because there is a serious drought going on. But, I had no way of getting home. So, it’s pouring and there is no power in the town, I’m wearing my new sneakers and my home is a good ten minute walk. Finally, we got a mototaxi and I made it home. I ended up hanging with my parents at my grandmother’s next door and that was cool.

Oh, I almost forgot, that morning I had washed a few of my clothes and hung them on the line. They were drenched and I was pissed.

Saturday, April 3 – I got up early to REWASH my clothes that had gotten wet from the rain and other stuff I hadn’t yet tackled. We still didn’t have power. One of my cousins invited us to a waterfall and lake. So, my mother packed a lunch and Sherria, her two brothers, Allysun, my 10 year old brother, my cousin and I set out for the waterfall. 45 minutes later, sweat drenched and tired, we arrived. Guess what? I GOT IN. This was a big deal because this was just some random lake with plenty of creatures lurking. You might be asking yourself, why do they have on such much clothing? Again, this is a very conservative place and you can’t just wear a swimsuit, you have to have a shirt and shorts on as well. But, I had a really good time and then we made the 45 minute trip back. We finally got power back at around 2:00, so I was able to take my bucket bath and relax. I was supposed to meet up with the others for a “beverage’ but I was too tired to move.

Instead, I went next door and hung out with my cousins and stuff. I ate so much junk food – cookies, coffee, cookies, tortillas, and so much. My cousins and I went for a walk but it was kind of cold. Then guess what? IT RAINED AGAIN. I mean it poured and once again, we lost power. So, I just went to bed.

Sunday, April 4 – This was a really rough day in Honduras. I didn’t quite understand the reason I was in a funk until I spoke to another Aspirante and she pointed out that this, Easter, is our first holiday without our family members. It was just another day in Honduras and I missed my friends and family.

Even if I wasn’t able to go home, I would have definitely been at Dobbin’s grandmother’s house eating some ham. Don’t get me wrong; my family here is great, but I really do miss the States. The other Aspirantes and I ended up spending most of the day together which I think was helpful to keep our spirits up.

All in all, I had a wonderful Semana Santa. It was tiring and class on Monday was a chore, but I got to do a lot of interesting things and spend time with the other Aspirantes. I don’t know what I’m going to do in about a month when I’m living at some site alone, but I’ll worry about that when I get to it. Todo Cheque!

Well, we’ve had our second language test and I’ve moved from a Novice High to Intermediate Mid. I’m happy with the results. Of course, it is much easier for me to understand folks than it is for me to speak, but each day it gets a little easier. I do need to stop speaking to the other Aspirantes in English. I have a little game going on with Te Jota or “TJ” that during the hours of 9 to 5 we can’t speak in English and if we do, we have to pay each other a Limpira. So far, he’s up by 4 Limps.

I’m having a difficult time writing and speaking English. Don’t laugh. You just get so accustomed to speaking in Spanish that there are some words I forget. As well, my grammar is going down the tubes. For example, the pronoun comes after the noun (case in point, I know there’s a word for “comes after” and I honestly can’t remember it and tried to use my computer’s thesaurus and that didn’t work-ugh) so I find myself saying “pencil red” instead of “red pencil” or stuff like that. The possessive is also a tricky one because in Spanish you’d say “the house of my mother” rather than “my mother’s house” and again, I find myself doing that in English.

I’ve also reread my blog posts and there are some clear mistakes. Please, forgive me and be patient. I’m usually rushing to write them, too tired to care, and my English is starting to….suck. Admitting you have a problem is the first step, so I’m going to work on it! For now, I’ll continue to watch CNN, write on my blog, send emails, and remain cognizant.

I have a new host family with whom I’ll be living with for the next six weeks or so. The dad is a pastor in an Evangelical church and the mom is a housewife. They have three children ages 13, 10, 6 and 7 months. At first, I was apprehensive about living with a pastor and small child, but things have worked out great. I practice my Spanish speaking with the children, the baby is adorable, and they have a lot of family in the town who look out for me.

My accommodations however, have changed. My room is pretty much two walls that were put up around the living room and I have a window that doesn’t open. I’m happy to have a window, but every now and then I could use some fresh air. The bathroom is outdoors. This might sound really bad, but it isn’t. There’s actually a courtyard and in that courtyard there is room with just a toilet, a room with just a shower, and a pila. A pila is a sort of well where water is held. We get water twice per week and use that water to cook, bathe, flush the toilet (you just take a small bucket and throw the water in and that’s how you flush) and everything else. Now, I don’t want to mislead you by the “room with a shower” because we don’t have hot water, I take bucket baths each day. I do boil the water first, but the people here that do take bucket baths use the water straight out of the pila. That water is freezing! I honestly don’t know how they do it. I miss my electroducha.

So, the food is also different at my new host family’s house, we’ll call them “The Crosses.” I eat a lot more and it tastes better, but my nutrition has plummeted. Part of the problem is that I am not getting enough fruits and vegetables. There are rarely vegetables on my plate except plantanos, and those are fried. We usually eat tortillas, frijoles, quesilla, queso and mantequilla. Now, most people hate mantequilla which is kind of like a mix between cheese and butter, but I love it here. I’ve been a little out of control with my diet and starting Monday, that is going to change. Before we sit down to any meal, the kids go to the pulperia and pick up a Coke or Pepsi. In the States, I didn’t even drink soda and now that I’m here, I have a few glasses a day. Most of the food is pretty heavy on the sugar. I mean there’s sugar brewed in the coffee, sugar in spaghetti (and I’m not talking about a little to cut the acidity) and all the cookies, cakes and ices one could desire. The only reason I haven’t gained a boatload of weight is because I do so much walking. This has got to change; starting…………now.

This past Saturday I went with the family to Teguz to visit my mother’s family. It turned out it was also a surprise birthday party for my sister and it was so sweet. My host grandmother made fried chicken, rice and potato salad; I was served first and got the most chicken which made me very happy. Then we had a cake with a lil fruit cocktail on top (yeah you read that correctly) but it was good. After that, they took me to the mall and I was able to buy TWO PAIRS OF SHOES. I went back to Payless and they had their BOGO sale going on (yup, even in Honduras). I finally have a pair of sneakers and casual shoes to walk around in.

My host father’s grandmother and aunts and stuff live right next door and I go over there to visit quite often. Of course every time I do, I am fed cookies, pan or coffee. See, that’s part of the problem. I also hang with my cousin, “Frank” and this has started chisme. Men and women here are rarely friends and so they make little comments as if I like him. Frank is 18, weighs 130 pounds soaking wet, his voice hasn’t even cracked, he has braces and, brace yourself, – he’s the same age as my NEPHEW. Umm, this aint gonna happen. Nice guy, but they’re tripping. I do speak with him often because it helps me to learn Spanish, he’s patient and even teaches me Spanish curses lol.

All in all, I love my new family. They take really good care of me, feed me, are attentive to my needs and I get to practice my Spanish. Of course everything isn’t perfect, but it never is perfect. But, I have a really good time with them and am glad I live with them. Last Friday, I decided to make them all breakfast of French toast and they loved it. I didn’t buy syrup because it was a little too expensive, so we ate it with honey. They were appreciative and now I’m gonna teach my mom how to make pancakes. Ummm, that’s right after I google how to make them from scratch!

So, I know I’ve been neglectful, so it’s time to catch you all up. I’m now in another city in Honduras for Field Based Training with my 17 Negocios colleagues. It was really hard saying goodbye to Mis Abuelos; but I will return to them in May. So, Pre Service Training in Zarabanas went well. My last weekend there, Carrie, John and I went to a restaurant with these crazy fun slides. I also realized I don’t like pupusas. People rave about them here, but I’m not a fan. I think maybe I wasn’t meant to eat tortillas with cheese and call that “good.”

I almost forgot- on Friday I went with my host brother to Teguzicalpa, the capital. As a reminder, as Aspirantes we are not allowed to travel to Teguzicalpa unless with our immediate host family members. I am in desperate need of a pair of sneakers, so I asked him to take me and although I’m sure he didn’t want to, he did. We went to the “Multiplaza” and it is just like malls in the US, down to the teenagers walking around and crowding the food court. My first stop was Payless. Before I got to Honduras, we were forewarned by other PCV that shoe sizes don’t run big. Now, my feet aren’t that big, but women’s shoes went up to a size 9. I made a bee line for the men’s shoes which luckily went up to a men’s size 8. Hondurans aren’t the tallest people in the world and their shoes reflect this. But, I didn’t want to settle for Payless, so I dragged Mi Hermano to other stores. Just like most men, he had no interest, but tagged along. I found nothing. If you’re in search of a pair of Pumas, come to Honduras. But, I needed sneakers to jog, play volleyball and soccer; Pumas just won’t do. I did find a store with cheap sandals; kind of a step down from Rack Room Shoes. It reminded me of that store I went to with Dobbins in Arlington with rows and rows of cheap sandals (Dobbins, I know you remember it ). Anyway, as soon as I walked in and asked the girl if they had ANYTHING in my size, she told me very few, but she’d check. Of course, they didn’t have much so I decided to go back to Payless. As I walk across the mall with Mi Hermano, I noticed that some of the stores have closed their doors and as I turn to the corner I see it….PAYLESS IS CLOSED!!! I wanted to scream. This was such a Michelle moment. Que mal suerte! The one time I get to go to Teguz, at that to the mall, and I waste time and end up with NOTHING. What mall closes at 8:00 pm? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I wasn’t the least bit happy. So, we went to the food court and I got the best thing ever – A SALAD. Seriously, you have to search FAR and WIDE to find a salad here and I tend not to eat them here because lettuce is really hard to wash and some folks don’t do it correctly; I can’t afford to get sick here AGAIN. The place was like “Chopped” and I tore it up. My brother got Popeyes. Oh yeah, Popeyes and Church’s Chicken are huge here. So, we went home empty handed but with full stomachs.

By the way, the pictures above are my washing machine and dryer. It takes me two hours to wash my clothes on the pila and ¨rock¨. This is my life!

So, today was my first visit to Teguzicalpa. Several other Aspirantes and I travelled to Honduras’ capital via autobus and taxis. The purpose of the trip was for us to acclimate ourselves with the transportation systems. At first, I was nervous because we’ve heard horror stories about people getting robbed in Teguz, but I loved it!

It was nice to be able to get out in about. Near our training center there are small municipalities (really 3) and they’re nice, but pretty much the same. I was in need of a change. First, we went to the hospital via bus and then had to take a taxi to one of the other bus stations. I was first up, so I negotiated the rate with the taxi driver which wasn’t any different than you would do with a gypsy cab, only in Spanish. Don’t worry, I was with two other guy Aspirantes. In the cab, I chatted up the driver about his family, location of his home, and the ever popular subject of futbol. However, at one point he asked if I had a husband which I of course replied no and then he assumed I was “enarmorada” with many guys. I shut that down real quick and told him I was “enamorada” with my job and Jesus. That seemed to work; he dropped the subject.

At the bus station we learned to question strangers about the formal and informal bus systems which I encouraged my colleagues to do because their Spanish is technically on a lower level than mine and they need to practice. Disclaimer: There are four levels of Spanish and I am a Novice High speaker while they are Novice Low speakers; I’m comfortable with Spanish, but I’ve got work to do. After, we walked around the block to one of the “malls” which wasn’t anything like Tyson’s Galleria, but more of a Landmark Mall experience. (Sorry, for my non DMV residents, I couldn’t think of other reference points.) There, some of us purchased cell phones, but I simply purchased a SYM card from Digecel.

Now, and this is going to seem confusing. Why would I buy a SYM card only and not a Digecel phone, you might ask. Well (again this might be confusing), the major cell phone carrier is TIGO, which has great coverage and cheap rates to call from Honduras cell to Honduras cell (local), but international calls are expensive. However, Digecel (a competitor) has great rates for calls to the US. Therefore, it is best to get a TIGO phone, which of course has a TIGO SYM card for local calls. But, when it’s time to call the US, take the TIGO SYM card out, place in the Digecel SYM card and then call the US. Please Note: The SYM card essentially tells your phone which numbers you’re using which determines your rates.

Again, you might ask yourself, why not just buy a Digecel phone (since I’ll be calling the US more often than local numbers) and then buy a TIGO SYM card for the rare local calls? Well, that would be easier, but you can’t do that. Most phones in the US are electronically locked, meaning you can’t just put another SYM card in, but it is possible to either unlock the phone with the carrier or buy a cheap unlocked phone. Here, Digecel not only electronically locks their phones, but they physically glue the battery into the phone (the SYM card is behind the battery) so you can’t replace their SYM cards (smart bastards).

All this is to convey, I have one physical cell phone, but two phone numbers. I anticipate keeping my TIGO card in most of the time and then putting in my Digecel SYM card to make calls to the US. If this all seems confusing, imagine how I felt. Just read it again and it might make more sense. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that all cell phones here are prepaid. You buy the phone and then can recharge the minutes at the supermarkets or even pulperias in the local areas. You go in, tell them how much you want, they send a text to the company with the amount and then you get a confirmation text of the added value. Yes, it is “possible” to get a service plan, but for expatriates it would be easier for me to finance a car then it would be to get a cell phone contract.

I digress; back to Teguz. So, I got the Digecel SYM card from the “mall” and then went across the street to add minutes to my card. Guess what was right next to the supermarket - BURGER KING. Now, it was 9:30 in the morning, so I didn’t get anything, but a few of the guys I was with did. I regret not getting anything so bad I could kick myself. After that, we took a taxi to a Mercado. A Mercado is like a mini supermarket but instead of aisles there are stalls of vendors selling “fresh” meat and fruits. I quickly bypassed the retched, hanging carcasses crawling with flies and made my way to the veggies. Here, I skillfully chose and negotiated some papas and plantanos. Thereafter, we made our way into the streets. Again, there were many vendors selling everything from bootleg DVDS to mangoes. I happened upon this guy selling pineapple that was too tempting to pass. Of course, I couldn’t afford a whole pineapple, so I just purchased a slice for 2 Limpiras. Note: A whole pineapple costs 35 Limpiras, which is less than $2, but I am trying to live like my local community, therefore, I couldn’t afford it. However, it was the best freaking pineapple slice on the face of the Earth; I get a lot of veggies in my diet and more bananas than I could ask for, but other types of fruits are a rarity.

After the street vendors we made our way to the Peace Corps office which is really nice and air conditioned (air conditioned being the most important part). There, I was able to see my team lead’s office and other PC leaders. There’s also a library which houses donated PCV books. I anticipate reading MANY books while here because (1) I’ll have a lot of free time (2) I probably won’t have a TV and (3) I love it. I picked up about five great books, but I haven’t started any yet; for now I have enough to keep me busy. We then left Teguz in PC vehicles to go back to our training center.

So, by now you must be complaining that I have provided you way too much information, but I thought I’d share my newest adventure. So, if you’d like to give me a ring – YOU CAN. Here’s the problem, I primarily update my blog at internet cafes and of course, my blog address is saved in the recent history. As well, my blog is open, so anyone can read it. Therefore, I am apprehensive about providing my phone number via my blog for fear that some sketchy person at the café will then call my phone. Therefore, if you want my phone number just send me an email at megreen@gwu.edu and I’d be happy to provide it.

So, it’s now Wednesday evening and I am feeling much better. I guess the medicines the doctors gave me are kicking it. It was a rough few days being in class, not feeling well and unable to eat most everything mi Abuela cooked.

Today, it was quite chilly. Don’t sneer, but it was about 70 degrees and for Honduras, that’s cold. There’s a bit of a cold front going through, so we should be over it soon. I’m doing okay, but my poor Honduran family is freezing. I’ll get payback when the weather is in the 100 degree range and I am sweating bullets, while they’re used it to.

I have NO IDEA what is going on in the world. I heard about the earthquake in Chile and other than that, I have no idea what’s going on. Now, if you’ve been keeping up, you’re aware that I do have a television, but I don’t watch it often and try to stay away from the news for a few reasons: (1) the local news here is GRAPHIC. If there’s a car crash, the station will show the dead bodies on the side of the road, murders are even worse (2) when I get the opportunity to watch television, it is an escape and the last thing I want to do is watch what is frequently bad news (queue Kanye West) stories and (3) I watch television with my host brother and he gets control of the remote. It’s scary and freeing to be unaware of what is going on in the world.

I should be getting a cell phone pretty soon which is cool. Honduras has three major cell phone companies with competitive rates; they are all pay as you go programs. Some even supply internet with USB stuff, but I don’t know if I need that right now. Internet cafes work just fine and I don’t feel a need to be connected at all times. I’ll definitely keep you updated once I have my number and share some best practices.

Notice: I am going to get into graphic details in this post. This is not to gross anyone out or illicit sympathy, but is almost…….therapeutic for me. If you have a weak stomach or would prefer not to read about my illness, don’t read this post.

So, of course the worse was NOT over. When I got to class Monday morning, March 1, I spoke with the PCMO and she requested a stool sample (I’ll spare you the details). By mid morning, I was feeling a little bit better. I had a piece of toast with jam for breakfast and a banana. This helped give me a little more energy. Lunch (which is provided by mi Abuela) was potatoes, carrots and a fruit (I don’t know what it was, but it was green). I ate all the veggies and some of the potatoes no mas. In the late afternoon, the PCMO called me back with the results and…….wait for it…….oh yeah this gets good…..I have a BATERIAL INFECTION. I am not happy. I probably got it from eating vegetables that weren’t washed properly. I can’t be upset with Abulea, because it might not have been food that she made. This past Saturday, I went on my first trip outside my site with the other PCVs to Valle de Angeles and had an adult beverage, cookies and little bit of a papusa. I will not be eating out of the street again anytime soon. Come to think of it, what was I thinking? Where the heck do they wash their hands?

Anyway, I have to take two medicines – Enterogermina and Ciprofloxacin for the next five days. I didn’t feel so bad during the evening. Upon return to my home, dinner was a Cup of Soup (yes, the same one we have in America) and you don’t understand how happy I was to have something I recognize. After dinner it was only 6:30 pm or so and I was ready for bed. I’ve been really tired, emotionally drained and the drained from today’s hot weather. I had to force myself to stay awake until 8:00pm because if I went to bed any earlier, I knew I’d be up at the crack of dawn. I talked with mis Abuelo and Abuela and then watched Man vs. Wild and Three and A Half Men. I then completed some of my homework.

I didn’t have a tough time going to sleep, but awoke frequently. I can HEAR my stomach grumbling. It’s not a quiet and fast grumble, but instead more of a liquid and insistent churning noise. I finally went to the bathroom and I still have diarrhea (it’s worse now).

I hate to complain and it could always be worse, but I feel like crap. I’ve been the Mom of the group and motivational person if you will and they’ve all been great, but it just sucks when you don’t feel well and you’re in a foreign place. I know things will get better, but I want my Ma. I know, I know, that’s really childish, but that’s how I feel right now. I know that when I start the day (it’s 4:00am Tuesday morn) I’ll feel better. And this too shall pass……..

So, PCV were warned that because we aren’t used to the bacteria in Honduras, we will most likely get sick. I got sick. I went to bed Saturday, February 27 and awoke at 3:00 with raging diarrhea. I thought maybe it was something that would pass, but by the third trip to the bathroom, I knew something was wrong. Then, I started to vomit. I was curled around the toilet and felt miserable. Once I’d vomited twice and then had chills, I knew it was time to get my Abuela. So, I went and got her and we called the PC Medical Officer (PCMO) for help. I was instructed to take this rehydration medicine, a powder you put in water and then she’d call me back. Of course, I took the medicine and couldn’t keep it down. Luckily mi Abuela had some anti-nausea medication. The doctor told me to take that medicine, but if I vomited within the half hour I would have to go to the hospital. While I wanted to get better, I had no desire to take the 40 minute ride to Teguz, where the hospital is located. Luckily, I didn’t vomit within the half hour, but had a small bowel movement. Fortunately, the PCMO said I could stay home. The hospital may seem like an extreme measure, but they take great care of us out here. I will never have better health insurance in my life.  It gives me comfort that PC is strict when it comes to illnesses and medical care.

My Abuela took such good care of me. She made sure I had plenty of liquids and even made soup. Although, I vomited the soup, it was good going down. I literally slept all day Sunday. I would wake up for about fifteen minutes and then go right back to sleep. The other PCVs who live nearby came to visit me and check on how I was doing. Carrie came by with los ninos, Ernesto and Mariella. She even offered to let me use her external hard drive because she had saved a bunch of movies. However, I didn’t have the correct program to view the movies, so that was a bust.

Although the day was awful, it did have its bright spots. Later in the evening, Carrie visited with Ernesto and Mariella and they had made me gifts. Ernesto made this picture out of stickers. Mariella and Carrie made me cards. It was so sweet and caring. I spent the rest of the evening watching TV. Yes, TV, we have cable with over 100 channels! I watched the season finale of Project Runway Season 1, Mean Girls and an episode of Private Practice (all in English). I try to avoid watching TV because I didn’t come to Honduras to sit in front of the tube, but I was tired of lying in my bed and too weak to go outside.

It was inevitable I would get sick and if it was going to happen, this was the best time. It was during the weekend, so I didn’t have to worry about missing training, my Abuela is really sweet and took excellent care of me, I have a private bathroom, and the other PCVs were great and made sure I was okay. It’s now 5:45 am Monday morning and I feel well enough to attend today’s training. I feel a little weak because all I ate yesterday was a granola bar, but I didn’t even want to eat that to be honest.

I hope I’ve had the worse of it and I’m done feeling sick, but if I’m sick again I know that between mi Abuela, the PC Medical Officer, my extended host family, and other PCVs I’ll be fine.

After the flight, we had meetings and I met my host family. I call them Abuela y Abuelo because they are older, about 69 and 70, respectively (check out the picture of us). Doesn’t mi abuleo look like the granddad in the movie “Up”? They are really nice and only speak Spanish which is great because I want to be fluent. I am really lucky, I am in a home with electricity at all times, a huge room, a bathroom in my room, cable television (I don’t watch it), a microwave, and running water. Trust me, this may seem like the bare essentials, but there are volunteers who don’t have this. Mi abuela feeds me dinner and packs my lunch. So far the food is good, but they love their frijoles and some PCV say their families put sugar in everything, but I haven’t had that experience. I haven’t really eaten meat which is great and fine by me. The only lacking food is vegetables. Here folks don’t really eat veggies, so that’s kind of odd. Who would have thought I’d miss vegetables of all things? However, I did have green beans with my lunch and Abuela makes plantanos fairly often.

Thursday, was my first day of training. It starts at 7:30 am and ends at around 4:30 pm. Doesn’t seem like it, but it’s a long, packed day. Oh, I am also lucky because I am only ten minutes from the training site. The van comes to pick me up at 7:10 am with four other PCV in my area. Some PCV are a little further out and the bus comes to get them at 6:40 am. I have to enjoy it while it lasts because I’ll only be with this family for three weeks and then with another host family for site training. I’m scared because I know I’ve been spoiled and I probably won’t these amenities at my next site. It will be in a rural area, right now I’m in the suburbs.

We have language, culture and security, and various other training classes. The language training is done in small groups at a training center. It isn’t held at a conference room at the Double Tree, instead we sit under trees and in classrooms with many windows (see picture). In the afternoon, we sit outside and enjoy the lunches our host families have prepared. Mi abuela does a good job of ensuring I have a fruit/vegetable with my lunch, so I am happy. I miss sweets. I haven’t had any pastries, candy, soda or the like. I don’t have a huge sweet tooth; but I am dying for a piece of cake.  I’ll have to visit a pulperia and buy a snack now that I have limpiras to spend.

All in all, I’m having a really good time. I spend my evenings with my neighbors and another PCV and UVA grad, Carrie. By the way, Lady Gaga is HUGE down here. It’s so funny because the kids don’t speak English, but they can sing a Lady Gaga song and for the most part get all the words right. It’s so much fun to dance and sing with them. Tonight, we had a dance party and I braided Mariella’s hair. Mariella has an older sister, Michelle, so they call me “Michelle Alta.” Today, we went walking to a mine (see picture) which ended up being a little further than I expected, but it’s all good. I also have a lil boyfriend, Ernesto, he’s the one I have my arms around.  He’s six and beyond adorable.

This evening was my first taking my Malaria medication. All PCV, no matter the country of service, are required to take a medicine to prevent contracting Malaria. Doesn’t seem like a big deal, but one of the side effects is weird dreams. The dreams aren’t supposed to negatively impact one’s life or have too harsh an effect, nonetheless, I was a little scared. We shall see.

So, I’m in Honduras. My staging in Miami was really good. I packed way too much luggage and STRUGGLED in Miami’s crappy airport. There is so much to write, I don’t know where to start. Well, my roommate from staging, Kyla, is awesome (check out the picture of us); it was as if we’d known each other for years instead of hours. I guess that’s what happens when you share something like leaving for 27 months with a stranger. After our Orientation in Miami, we went to dinner and I had the BEST paella EVER. I mean, I’m not a seafood person, but it was AWESOME (don’t mind the cervezas in the picture).

We had to be up at 5:00 am to check out of the hotel. That went smoother than I thought. I had to cart around my huge luggage (check out the picture). I wish I had packed a bit lighter because over 100 pounds of luggage is really heavy.  Our flight wasn’t until 11:40 am, so we ended up sitting in the airport for hours, not to worry, I kept everyone entertained. When I went into the lobby, I was of course very cheerful and ready to start the day. Some folks couldn’t quite understand the reason I would be happy so early in the morning, but as you may be aware, I love the mornings.

In fact, some of my PCV friends tease me because I constantly say two phrases, “C.Y.A. – Choose Your Attitude” and “Live in the moment.” Yes, I am still “Positive Patty” or “Iyanla” even in Honduras.  It’s nice having a great support system and I say those things not only for them, but to keep me focused and in a positive mood.

During the flight, I sat by Luis, a Honduran who was uber-nice and suggested places I should visit. I totally FREAKED during the landing. I mean, I freaked. I had read horror stories about the landing, I wasn’t feeling well, and I think my emotions got the best of me. My roommate, Kyla, really helped calm me down. I was a little embarrassed because I was crying like a baby, but I couldn’t stop. I got over it. Once we landed, it was the normal crowded airport, crazy customs lines and tons of people. The PC staff had lunch waiting for us, not tamales o burritos o frijoles, but Pizza Hut pizza.  We then boarded the bus to our training site in Zarabanda (see video).

So, I’m in Honduras. My staging in Miami was really good. I packed way too much luggage and STRUGGLED in Miami’s crappy airport. There is so much to write, I don’t know where to start. Well, my roommate from staging, Kyla, is awesome (check out the picture of us); it was as if we’d known each other for years instead of hours. I guess that’s what happens when you share something like leaving for 27 months with a stranger. After our Orientation in Miami, we went to dinner and I had the BEST paella EVER. I mean, I’m not a seafood person, but it was AWESOME (don’t mind the cervezas in the picture). We had to be up at 5:00 am to check out of the hotel. That went smoother than I thought. I had to cart around my huge luggage (check out the picture). I wish I had packed a bit lighter because over 100 pounds of luggage is really heavy.  Our flight wasn’t until 11:40 am, so we ended up sitting in the airport for hours, not to worry, I kept everyone entertained. When I went into the lobby, I was of course very cheerful and ready to start the day. Some folks couldn’t quite understand the reason I would be happy so early in the morning, but as you may be aware, I love the mornings. In fact, some of my PCV friends tease me because I constantly say two phrases, “C.Y.A. – Choose Your Attitude” and “Live in the moment.” Yes, I am still “Positive Patty” or “Iyanla” even in Honduras.  It’s nice having a great support system and I say those things not only for them, but to keep me focused and in a positive mood. During the flight, I sat by Luis, a Honduran who was uber-nice and suggested places I should visit. I totally FREAKED during the landing. I mean, I freaked. I had read horror stories about the landing, I wasn’t feeling well, and I think my emotions got the best of me. My roommate, Kyla, really helped calm me down. I was a little embarrassed because I was crying like a baby, but I couldn’t stop. I got over it. Once we landed, it was the normal crowded airport, crazy customs lines and tons of people. The PC staff had lunch waiting for us, not tamales o burritos o frijoles, but Pizza Hut pizza.  We then boarded the bus to our training site in Zarabanda (see video).

So, as I sit here - NOT SLEEPING, but mentally preparing for tomorrow's flight, I am overcome with a mix of emotions. I'm sad, happy, afraid and excited. I am sad to leave my wonderful friends and family who have all been very supportive and loving. However, I know this will be something that will not change my life, but more importantly change the lives of those in need.

I'm unafraid of losing touch with my wonderful friends and family, because it's 2010, we'll keep in touch. Even more so,I am confident they will do the same. I'm not worried about missing birthdays, parties or even engagements ;-). I WILL miss scheduled and impromptu phone conferences, lunches at Panera Bread, singing songs, 6:00 am phone conversations, and all the laughs.

I cannot believe I am actually leaving. WOW!!! Before I create a short in my laptop from all these foolish tears, I'll just say "see ya later," but never goodbye.

Hasta Luego

Sending Letters:

The mail service in Honduras is not as efficient as the U.S. Postal Service; thus, it is important to be patient when sending or waiting to receive written mail. It can take 4 to 6 weeks for mail coming from Honduras to arrive in the United States via the Honduran postal system. Also keep in mind that written correspondence sometimes wanes as my service progresses; this isn't a vacation.

Tip: Try numbering your letters so that I know if one has been missed.

Sending Packages:

Family and friends like to send care packages through the mail; I'm sure you're one of them. Unfortunately, sending packages can be a frustrating experience for all involved due to the high incidence of theft and heavy customs taxes. You may want to try to send inexpensive items through the mail, but there is no guarantee that these items will arrive. Costly items should not be sent through the mail. You may use the following address to send letters and/or packages until I inform you of a different one:

PCT Michelle Green

Cuerpo de Paz

Apartado Postal 3158

Tegucigalpa, D.C 1110

Honduras, America Central

It is recommended that packages be sent in padded envelopes if possible, as boxes tend to be taxed and opened more frequently.

Wish List:

- good books

- CDs

- Relaxer Kits - Mizani

- Travel games

Once I'm settled, I'll be sure to update this list.

I anticipate many questions, so below I have answered just a few:

*What do you hope to gain from the experience?

Peace Corps service will greatly influence both my personal and professional aspirations. Personally, I will have a greater appreciation for the things I am afforded simply by living in America. My PC service will provide a new lens to view life, which will impact the assumptions and decisions I make. I will learn new ways to interact with others and be a member of a team, as well as meet and exceed goals and expectations, all of which will positively impact my professional aspirations. In all of my professional experience, I have been successful due to my work ethic and positive attitude. I will continue to embody these values as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

*How will you adapt?

I don’t anticipate adapting to a new culture to be difficult. As a native New Yorker, I have been exposed to many diverse cultures. Recognizing and appreciating differences, identifying and suspending assumptions, and consistently inquiring and reflecting are just a few of the techniques I will use to adapt to my new culture. Our language, dress, norms, food, and much more, influence who we are; they should be understood and embraced, as the world’s differences make life exciting. Although we may hear the same conversation or view the same incident, our interpretations are altered by our assumptions. I recognize that assumptions are made, so I work to suspend them and maintain an unbiased view. These practices will help me better understand the reasons experiences play out the way they do and the ways in which I can affect positive outcomes.

*Why the Peace Corps?

I couldn't think of a better, more established organization to help me reach my dreams. I have decided to devote my life to serving others.

*How do you feel about leaving?

I'm scared, excited, nervous and have some emotions I can't even name. It would be so easy to stay in the US, but that's not the life I want to live. I'm willing to take a risk and do what will ultimately make me happy.

How can I stay in contact?

I don't know how much access I will have to email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Therefore, the best way is this blog. As often as I can, I'll update this blog with pictures, text and videos. It would be overwhelming to respond to emails from multiple persons, so I thought this would be the easiest way. Of course, if you have great news to share, feel free to send me an email.

In order to stay in contact and keep those who are interested abreast of my experiences, I have decided to create a blog. You may be asking yourself, "Why would I be interested in Michelle's life?" Well here's a reason - beginning February 22, 2010 I will be a Peace Corps Volunteer! I started this process well over a year ago and I am happy to announce that I will be living in Honduras working in the Business Development area.

I depart on February 23 for 2 days in Miami, FL. Thereafter, I fly to Tegucigalpa, Honduras for three months of training and in March I will be sworn in as a volunteer.