Yesterday I had a few surprising moments that made me step back and reflect… this is one of them…

Since I’ve started working in Nacaome there was a boy, about 12 year old looking boy, with a captivating smile and bubbly personality, who came to the office once every 2 weeks or so selling random stuff. One day it was peanuts, the next time is was socks, the next toilet bowl cleaner brush thing-a-magies and I would buy things from him just for the simple fact that he was honestly trying to make a living. After seeing him a couple times, I couldn’t help asking, how old are you? Where is your mother? Do you go to school? Where do you live? I would see him around the streets a few times and have a quick “hello, how are you?” exchange and that was it.

Well until last week when I saw him at the park, it hit me that I hadn’t seen him for a few months now. We talked for a while caught up on life- however much you can “catch up on life” with a 12 year old, and then he asked, “Can I have 10 lmps? I promise I will pay you back, I know where you work, and I’ll drop it off on Monday”. Well, I have been told to be a very naïve person- I choose to think of it as being overly optimistic- and of course I gave him the 10 lmps. He said thanks and went on his merry way and I felt positively sure that I was going to see those 10 lmps again. Then, while walking away from our little interaction, I immediately snapped back to reality and thought, I will never see those 10 lmps again, oh well (totally not complaining about the loss of 10 lmps, it’s like 10 cents, I’m not that broke)!

So Monday came, and the boy and my 10 lmps had vanished from my memory. Another week passed by before I saw him again in the park and the first thing out his mouth was, “I showed up on Monday and you weren’t there! I don’t’ have pisto (money) now!” Me: figures! “It’s ok, next time I see you though, I better get that money!” and I left not giving much thought about the whole thing.

Well a few days pass by and I see him at the park…

Me: “aja?!” Boy: I have your money! Out comes the 10 lmpsBoy: Here you go!Me- AMAZED!!!! Boy: Thank youMe- AMAZED!!!Me: You’re welcome

I could not believe this 12 year old boy actually had the principal… the morality to pay me back the 10 lmps. I was appalled, filled with happiness, amazed… simultaneously! I walked away with a smile on my face. Just comes to show there is still hope!

Soooo, what the heck do you do Vanessa???

It’s been over a year now (13 months, 22 days, 13 hours, and 62 seconds from my swear-in date… who’s counting?) and I realize that many of you are pondering, so what the heck do you do Vanessa?! So here is a glimpse of what I'm doing in my community of Nacaome, Honduras.

First off, the main project I am working on is the development of tourism in the southern region of Honduras in coordination with the tourism office in the south (tourism office= Don Sergio Lovo, a member of the tourism office). I am currently working with two microbusinesses concentrating in the field of ecotourism. During these past months the tourism office and I have visited both businesses, implemented SWOT analysis, and applied some of our findings during the course of the year. My major contribution for these two ecotourism businesses is creating a brochure for each business. Although it does sound pretty easy, it has been quite a challenge and experience. First being, I’m not at all familiar with the “Spanish selling vocab” required for marketing and two, I’m just not that creative when it comes to creating… stuff. So throughout these months I have made several trips to each business, worked with the members of the businesses, and am slowly but surely creating their first official promotional material. I’ll be posting el producto final muy pronto… ¡si Dios Quiere! (:

I SEE YOU!!! STOP DOZING OFF!

Most recently, I have been working with the RED de Mujeres in Nacaome (Women’s group from Nacaome). I have always been working close with these ladies, on day to day activities, for example writing reports about their activities to send them off via email to organizations that fund them and assisting their seminars. One thing I noticed with these women was that they were so overexposed with charlas about women’s rights, women’s this and women’s that, that I thought it would be productive to do something empowering women and spark an entrepreneurial interest in these ladies. I had already been exposed to the art of wallet making out of snack bags (i.e. Doritio bags), but I never knew how to make them so I decided to take it upon myself and teach myself via youtube how to make these practical yet useful and fashionable wallets and in turn teach the RED de Mujeres how to make these wallets and begin selling them. Below you will find pictures of me teaching them how to make them.

On the side, I teach 2 English classes. One is to a group of about 8 kids in a program called Educatodos. Educatodos is a program for students of all ages who are not able to assist regular school due to work or other circumstances and is also a cheaper route for students rather than the traditional schooling. The other English group is for Intermediate to Advanced English speakers. This second group was formed by me after noticing that many people were interested in simply being able to practice their English.

So there is a synopsis of some of my work, just thought you all would be interested. Hope you enjoyed and below are a couple pics.

Hope everyone is doing well! : )Besos y abrazos!

Hi Everyone!!!

Sooo finally after about a month of being out of site I'm beginning to settle back into to the devil's den, Nacaome and start working/saving lives. :P What have I been doing this past month you ask?? Well, first my parents came to visit!!! I underestimated their bad- assness! The heat may have been a tad bit overwhelming, especially in my site, Nacaome and public transportation might have been... interesting, but they made it back home safe and sound!!!

Thank you parents for coming to visit! I had sooo much fun! Love you!!!

Here are some pics of their trip!

Central Park in Tegucigalpa, Honduras Mama Garcia at Breakfast Dad and I at Dinner Ready for some real food!!! YUM Dad: Interesting, Mom: HUH?? Old man Rivers: "mumble jumble mumble"- couldn't understand much, our guide had no teeth!

Copan Ruinas, Mayan Ruines

Hey all,

So here I am, "on sight" (I'm such an idiot, lol), during one of my work days in Nacaome, just one of the projects I am working on. Check it out.

On other news, life is treating me well, possibly taking a trip to El Salvador tommorrow for a few days! ( : AND my PARENTS are coming to VISIT in MAY!!! YAY!! SOOOO excited! I'll make sure to post some pics of their little vk.

Anywho, I really miss you all and I hope everyone is doing well.

At Tiffany's(friend volunteer site) island- Amapala

Us on our way back to Nacaome from Amapala- please admire the background... long story. Missed the last bus and had to hitch a ride!

On this! *picture taken right before it poured* lol. Good times

Keeping ourselves busy in Nacaome! Never finshed the freakin puzzle.

Joey being attacked by an alligator at the San Lorenzo Park

Me!

BANESA'S birthday cake from her counterpart

Friends from work :)

Oh YEEAAH! Cake numero dos for the day! Tres Leches too! Yummy! In the pic with friends Omeyda, Kenia, and ... baby Kenia. lol

Hi all,

Hope this finds you all well!

Soo after reconnecting with Anica all the way from China, she gave me a great idea... why not make a video! So here are a few videos to update you on my life here in Nacoaome, Valle, Honduras!

Miss you all dearly! :)

Joey- Thank you for the camera! I love you

My counterpart ADED- Valle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLsCcUVtQ_0

My counterpart ADED- Valle Part II:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEkSwixveP0

Get to know my host family:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTpUuNu6_qE

Welcome to my humble abode: (:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4ijOFUI2fM

The office

Nacaome's Central Park. Full of turtles and tiny alligators

El mercado

My host families house/ reason I may get Dengue :( JK :)

I made friends! :)

Kenia and I hanging out on the maca before our night out.

Omeyda and I. My first night out in Honduras : ) loads of fun

Some of the gals I teach English, Computer, and Business class to

Hope you enjoyed! :) Stay tuned, more to come.

Besos to all!

Hi All,

Mailing address for anyone that would love to send their fav person in Honduras a little somethin’ somethin’

Vanessa Garcia

Rdo Fundacion ADED Valle

Barrio el Centro 1 ½ cuadra al oeste del parque central

Edificio de Clementino Santos

2do Nivel

Nacaome Valle, Honduras C.A.

If you’re thinking of sending a package it’s a good idea to draw a cross on the package and/or “Que Dios te bendiga” … just a precaution.

Gracias

Please notice the ISU shirt!!!! It was FATE! She just so happened to buy the shirt a couple months ago. CRAZY!

Last night with the awesome host family. My host sister and Lourdes.

Yolandy! Amazing lady! Taught me so much... like how to make tortillas.

TAAAADAAAAA. Lady in action! wATcHA!

Doña Berta!! The second host mom. Only pic I took of her. She wasn't too fond of pic taking.

Dinner with Doña Berta. EGGS! YUM! ....NOT!!!

Lourdes' neice, Collet, adorable girl! :)

I’m back! Thank goodness the office is air conditioned; now I can comfortably type away and think. I don’t know how I am going to withstand the next two years with this melting temp, locals even complain about the weather and it’s only going to get worse!

OH EM GE!

Any who,

Along with this new position, I have a new host family, Aminda (mom), Darwin (dad), 2 teen brothers, and one niece. Last night I had a nice little dinner with them and… watched a movie. What movie you ask? Creiendo en Dios (Believing in God). Aminda asked during dinner what religion I was, I replied, Christian and she said, “Oh, we are Mormon, we have reunions every Monday night, this week we are watching a movie, would you like to join?” After attempting to come up with a quick lie and simply stuttering out some ridiculous excuse (I can’t even remember it was so ridiculous), I soon accepted knowing that my lame excuse was not enough to not participate in the Monday night family activity. Well anywho, I wasn’t really paying attention, I was too distracted from the overwhelming heat and sweat emitting from my body (mind you, we were sitting outside while watching the movie).

Besides the movie, they are really a nice welcoming family! Young couple, Darwin is 25 and Aminda is about 28 I believe, they seem like cool hip Mormons. Aminda was telling me how much she liked raeggaeton and liked dancing then she invited me to a dance this Friday…of course I accepted!!! How could I pass this opportunity up, I love dancing! Woohhooo!!! I think this will be the first time I am out passed 9:30 p.m. woohoo!!! I’ll let you know how it goes though, don’t want to set any high expectations. I hope it’s not a Mormon band or something like that. For the record these are the first Mormon people I have interacted with, I didn’t know what to expect, but they seem like very nice people. I was also invited to attend church with them on Sunday, and as much as I wanted to say no I couldn’t help but accept the invitation. : ( ugh! I kind of felt obligated. I mean how would it look that I accepted an invitation for a dance but not church? … Let you know how that one goes too.

The house I am living in is different from the others as well. My room is separated from the others which is ok because it gives me privacy, but at the same time it's harder to integrate with the family. We have a courtyard in the middle of the house with trees, plants, and just an open airy place which makes the house a lot more comfortable and cool. The courtyard is surrounded by rooms, kitchen, and bathroom. I’ll post pics up soon…

Anywho, all volunteers are required to live with their host families for 2 months and then we have the option of getting our own place!!! At first I was inclined to live with the host family for my two year service, but now I’m seriously considering getting a place of my own. Not because of the family, I would just like to experience living on my own sometime in my life… why not now? Nacaome is a safe place… I guess we shall see after a couple months.

Well, I’m signing off. Hope everyone is doing well!

Hi All,

I have some exciting news... I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer!!! I swore in at the U.S. Embassy on Friday May the 13th!!! I’m not going to lie it was a bittersweet day because although I’m glad training is over and excited to start my assignment, I’m certainly not happy to leave my new friends, host family, and the comfortable schedule. I feel as if we were babied for the past few months and now the training wheels have been taken off to be let out to the “real world”.

***

I am currently sitting in my counterpart’s kitchen typing away while drenched in sweat!

WELCOME to my new home, NACAOME, Valle!

(Valle is one of the departments of Honduras) It’s about 90 degrees F year around at this place, OMG am I going to have to get used to this. I woke up this morning with damp sheets from my own sweat (sorry for the details just trying to keep it real).

So what will I be doing for the next two years you ask?

My primary counterpart is Jesy Baralaga, the manager of ADED- Valle (Economic Development Agency of Valle). ADED focuses on creating and strengthening women’s micro business and income generation endeavors. My role as a PCV in the Nacaome community is to primarily assist Jesy in designing and presenting trainings to the leaders of these groups in business topics. I’ve had some time this weekend to get to know Jesy and she is definitely another strong woman making it work for herself. When talking to her I feel her passion for bettering her community and empowering women. I am really excited to start working with this organization and hope I can contribute in their efforts.

-OMG is it hot!!!! I’m slowly melting away!

Oook it’s way too hot to type or even think right now! I’ll finish this later….

I should have known better! It’s been about 2 weeks since I’ve written an entry and soo much has happened since then. I was sick last weekend and had to begin and finish a lesson plan during that weekend so I didn’t have much time for myself.

I can’t believe only 3 more weeks until I am back in Zarrabanda. I called Lourdes last night to catch up; she is excited to have me home again. : ) Who wouldn’t?! jk

*Side note*

“Excited” reminds me of a Spanish mishap I had the first day I was here in Honduras. - I was talking to Javier, this really nice bi-lingual trainer at our site, about how happy I was to meet my family and start this new adventure in my life- but in Spanish (you know trying to show off my Spanish speaking skills, haha) I told him “Si, estoy muy umm muy EXITADA para conocer my familia!” after an awkard pause and stare from Javier I asked… “Is that the right word?” He just looked at me, laughed, and replied, “no no no you shouldn’t say that, I know you are trying to translate “excited” in Spanish but it’s emocionada… “exitada” is a different type of excitement!” We both just laughed it off.

Darn tricky Spanish words!

Anywho

These past couple weeks I have been busy working on some independent projects. At first the “independent projects” were a little ambiguous but after about a week I was well aware of some needs in the community.

I am working with la Escuela and Coloegio de Ojojona and Colegio de Santa Ana (the next town by us). The initial contact with the principals was a little intimidating as all the information I was told was who to talk to and that they were expecting a Cuerpo de Paz trainee. My first week trying to meet with them was actually very interesting and made me realize the differences in American vs. Honduran culture. One of the differences being that working hours aren’t exactly 8am – 4pm Monday thru Friday… especially schools. Things are more laid back here; when I was able to talk to the principals and professors the meetings were not solely about work, most of the conversation was about life in Honduras, politics, “los un-I-staes”… anything but work, and they lasted for about an hour, not once looking at their watch; they are all very interesting, nice, welcoming people to talk to. Well anywho, after a week of tracking people down and looking for work to do, I finally was able to get an idea of how my next few weeks would progress.

***

This past week I finished working with girls ages 14 – 17 attending trade school (taller de Hogar). These girls are learning how to knit and sew so that in the future they are able to sell the articles of clothing they have made and in a sense have them start thinking about methods to begin their own micro- business in whatever skills they possess. As Profesora Lesbia and I were looking over the syllabus for the class, one of their assignments in the next couple weeks was to have the students begin their own micro- empresa with the product being the things they have made in class. Seeing as my background is in business we figured that this was a great opportunity for me to teach about the basics of starting their own micro- empresa. I taught 2 classes last week and I truly feel they learned a little something… even if it was the definition of a couple terms or the first couple things to think about when starting a micro- empresa… I had a great sense of fulfillment after teaching and not to mention I have earned the title “profe” from students! : ) Next week I will be working with la Escuela de Ojojona and revising the inventory system they are using for their school supply store, I have a feeling this will be a little more challenging.

As for our technical classes, they have also kept me pretty busy, but very interesting. The week before my charla with las chicas, I as well as the other trainees were assigned to shadow a local businesses in the community. I was assigned to a local pulperia (the Honduran equivalent of a convenient store) to shadow their business and develop a business plan. I really liked this activity as I learned a lot about local businesses and I feel more confident in my writing business plan abilities. : )

As far as my host family goes… it’s been going pretty well. It’s Berta and I now, and she has definitely warmed up to me, she’s more talkative now. In my prior entries I may have made it seem as if I really disliked my family and was just terribly unhappy with them but that’s not the case. It’s just taken some getting used to, they are really nice people. Berta takes care of me really well too; last weekend when I was really sick, her mom senses kicked in and she tried her best to make me feel better. Also, last week I kinda gave a little hint that I was missing fried plantains with my dinner/ beans because I had that in Zarabanda, well a couple days later I found them on my plate along with my beans and they were delicious. Yes, fried plantains for dinner! They are actually quite delectable, I thought it was a little weird and too sweet at first but it’s not bad at all.

Also, Berta has been a little more adventurous now and leaves the house to go the market alone. Actually she kinda peeved me off last time she went, because she said she couldn’t find anything to make for lunch so we had leftovers. Now, don’t get me wrong I don’t mind the leftovers; I ate them at home and wouldn’t mind them now, what I do mind is that she doesn’t buy good healthy food. I know, you may be thinking: but Vanessa they are poor, you have to understand if that’s all they have to eat that is all they have! Well I’m here to tell you, that the host families get reimbursed pretty well for having us in their house, actually they may be making a nice little profit off me since I don’t think I eat that much…. Yes folks, I have been cutting down on the food intake. : P

Anyhow, life is great. I’m glad to be here. Some days are a little more challenging then others but that’s what I was looking for… a challenge. I find out in about 2 weeks where I will be placed for the next 2 years of my life!! Aaahhh

Hope everyone is doing well. Keep on showing me love please! besos

P.S. Amor y Frijoles takes place in Ojojona! It´s a must see vid... just cause you get to see where I live. jk. it´s not such a bad movie...

Oh yeah, one more thing I miss! Going to sleep peacefully without a worry that a pesky bug might attack me!!! Last night I stayed up for about an hour listening to cockroaches stumbling around my garbage bag and eating my trash. Talk about paranoid! I haven’t felt really uneasy going to sleep but last night I was certainly missing my own bed. I guess I kind of deserve that little scare. Before I knew about my little mango incident I had ordered delicious homemade doughnuts for my host family to share as well, but after I found out about my mangos I decided to have the doughnuts all for myself. Haha, I know evil Vanessa! Well I left the package in the garbage for awhile and have a feeling that’s what the cockroaches were munching on last night!

It is 9 o’clock on a Friday night and I’m in bed. The electricity has been out for about 30 min now and before then went out 2 more times. It’s also raining for the first time since I have been here… a little eerie. This makes me think of the – what I considered- simple things in life or what I took for granted in the states, for example, reliable electricity or running water. Here, in Ojojona, the town gets running water about every 3 days; this means conserving water is essential around here. Typically Berta and I talk about rationing water at least once a day: how many more days till the water comes, if the water came today, are we running out of water, will we need to use the sisterna, is there any water in the pila… on and on.

Texting and calling in the states were also taken for granted. Here, I have to consciously use my saldo (prepaid amount) to communicate.

Just going on a little rant today… it’s pretty funny, I was a little peeved at first but I can only laugh now!

As I mentioned in my previous blog my intake of vegetables and fruits has become practically non- existent. I loved getting my daily intake of healthy food groups and now it has come to a complete halt… no, I lie, the only fruits I do consume are the ones made in juice that are loaded with sugar.

Fyi, everything is 10x sweeter here, including coffee. I’m starting to like it now, just took some getting used to.

I digress

It’s been a week now since I have been craving some delicious juicy sweet mangos and have been tempted to purchase some from the street vendors conveniently located everywhere in Ojojona. Monday I gave in and decided that I, as well as my host family were in need of some delicious fruit, specifically, mangos! So after class I took a stroll to the nearest street vendor and asked him kindly to give me 5 of his best mangos for my host family and I (surprisingly sold at 1 lempira each... about 10 cents). Well I get home and tell them I bought mangos for us and Berta graciously says thank you and sets them on the table.

***

Tuesday comes along and it’s time for lunch. Lunch is always a nice little surprise because rarely do I find a meal that is disappointing. As usual I setup the table and was helping prepare when suddenly a faint fishy smell hits me… I look at the stove a little worried and what do I see… sardines! Now I have heard some bad stories about sardines, so I automatically think the worst. I have never actually had sardines, and I am a firm believer in “you can’t knock it till you try it” attitude, so my host mom went ahead and prepared my plate with 2 sardines, an egg, and rice. Well, let’s just say I politely declined the second sardine… I tried and certainly knocked it! BLAH

Well after the disappointment I thought, what better time to eat my delicious mango then now. I went to the kitchen searching for my mango and just couldn’t find it, so I asked Berta where she had placed the mangos because I wanted to take one to school. She gasps, looks at me in shock and says, “awww, I ate the last one this morning!”… I was furious!!!! Couldn’t believe it, after I was served sardines for lunch I was robbed from my delicious sweet mango! Sooo upset!

I’m sure it wasn’t done in a malicious intent just a simple miscommunication or someone mistakenly didn’t do their math and forgot they had eaten two... whatever the case funny story now.

Soooooo this has been an interesting week, where do I start? Host family? They have certainly have been interesting! : /

To begin, my host mother’s name is Berta, she is 53 years old and ama de casa, I live with her and her dad, Don Tego, whom is 80 something years old and mute. Berta also has a 26 year old son named Nori who visits with his girlfriend… Mari? Marti?... Whenever I say her name I just say it quick and mumble…it’s too late in the game to ask now. Haha

The first day we met our conservation was the usual “getting to know one another” convo. It’s always interesting getting to know people and their background, but in my case there wasn’t a connection… and there still isn’t. I know I shouldn’t be comparing my previous host family with my current host family but it’s so hard not to. The first day Lourdes and I met sparks flew, a connection was made. Haha  Just kidding, but really, I truly felt comfortable with Lourdes, they made me feel apart of the family. There were little hints of things in their family that reminded me of my own family. For instance, Lourdes would always blast Latin music in the house, whether we were cleaning, making lunch, or it was early in the morning getting ready for the day, one of us would turn on the radio and belt out the tunes. Also, as I mentioned before Lourdes had a great sense of humor and loved to laugh much like my own family.

Anywho,

My current host mother stays at home 24/7, she rarely leaves the house, and if she does find a need to leave the house she is always accompanied. The last time she told me she left the house she said she paid her nephew to go with her to the market because she was afraid to leave the house alone! She always says she is afraid to do things and I truly feel sorry for her, yesterday I went to the pulperia (2 min walk) to purchase saldo for her phone because she was too scarred to walk alone; this is in contrast to superwomen Lourdes who commuted to Teguc by herself everyday till wee hours of the night. I try to make conversation when I come back from school, but when I ask her how her day was or what she did, her response is always, “oh, you know, the same”, or some variation of that. As you can imagine there isn’t much we can talk about and she tends to repeat herself constantly (really annoying). 6 more weeks…

On the upside, since my life is a lot more boring without tons of kids surrounding me… and Lourdes I have taken this time as a blessing in disguise and used it to focus on myself. For instance after class I jog everyday at the soccer field, I read more (currently reading 3 Cups of Tea), and not to mention will have more time to devote to my blogs. 

Life here in Ojojona is definitely a lot slower then what I am used to; I think this is an adjustment I will need to make if I want to survive in Honduras. Saturday, after a couple hours of T.V. we spent about 2 hours outside just looking at the chickens walk around the lawn, we talked a couple times but the time was mostly filled with silence, the chickens talked more amongst each other perhaps. Most other trainees and their families went out to the beach, to another town, shopping… did something! I’m not asking for much; just take me out for a walk to get to know the town and people. You know? Well since I wasn’t looking forward to Sunday becoming the same ol’ story I decided to spend most of the day with a couple of trainees, which ended up being a great time.

Food is not as great as Lourdes’ either, I don’t get enough vegetables and any fruit! Breakfast is the usual warm milk and cereal, which I thought I could get used to, but it’s not happening. Also, (I know I am being nit picky) Berta as well as Lourdes always fill the cereal bowl with milk FIRST then add the cereal, 1) I can make my own cereal! 2) Who starts a bowl of cereal with milk 3) Why drown the cereal? And 4) If I had leftover milk the first time wouldn’t you give me less the second time around, especially since I said, “prodia tener menos leche?” ….I digress

Lunch… ehh mas o menos

Dinner… I think I am beaned out! Good thing beans aren’t affecting me here like they did in the states! … yeah you know what I’m talking about familia!  With a plate of beans it’s typical to have mantequilla, which is a kind of like a sour cream substance. The first night she just added it on my beans without asking, I had to ask her to please place it on the side next time.

Berta really needs to step up her game!

On a more positive note, I can say that her homemade tortillas are the bombdiggity! Although they are made with mazeca they are still delicious.

As for technical classes, two other trainees (Brett and Allysun) and I are in the advanced Spanish class and will be participating in an independent project instead of having Spanish classes five days out of the week. This means a lot more flexibility and time management on out part. I’m still not sure of logistics, but I will be working with youth on subjects regarding business and computer basics, development topics, etc. Brett and Allysun are in charge of working with a local vocational school for young adults which is a very interesting opportunity as well. I think these next couple weeks will definitely be a challenge, but I am really excited!

Well this is my update so far! I have limited access to internet now, so I will only be able to answer emails during the weekend.

Next week, is Semana Santa so we have Thursday and Friday off! Woohoo

Hi All!

I’m still alive! I simply don’t have easy access to the internet like I used to. I have to use the internet café, about a 7 min walk away, but never get the chance to and I don’t really want to spend the money. But I’ll keep writing and then post as often as I can.

P.S. turns out Nori’s girlfriends name is Madi! Haha I’ve been calling her by the wrong name for over a week. Ooops!

Stay tuned

It’s been four weeks now!! I thought I would be a little more dedicated to this blog, but I’m just too tired by the time I get to bed, which is around 9…yes I know, way too early. I’ll try my best to keep this updated.

So here is a little update from Zarabanda, Honduras.

Weather = amazingly perfect. Anyone who knows me knows I despise cold bitter winter weather and would much prefer the nice tropical atmosphere all year around. : ) I am currently recovering from a sun burn due to underestimating the sun’s proximity to us. It’s actually quiet funny to think about it now, because as we- the trainees- first started at the Cuerpo de Paz (Peace Corps Honduras) training site we would all take breaks and lunch bathing under the sun and now it seems we have all learned our lesson and are fighting for space in the shade.

The weather has been especially nice during my 20 – 25 min. walks to the Zarabanda training site. I, and about 5 other trainees, walk together to the site. Imagine mountains, hills, trees, unpaved side walks- if they can even be called side walks-, walking through land mines (donkey/horse poop), and dirty dusty sandals by the end of the walk. I appreciated the scenery the first few days, now it’s just a pain. Jk. The upside of these “mini- exercises” of ours is on the way back home we always stop by tiny hole in the wall restaurants to try something new! I- being the great food coinsure/ fatty that I am- have made it a goal of mine, to try all the items in each restaurant before I leave the training site (4 weeks). : ) wish me luck!! Fortunately, two of the five in our walking group have a passion for food just like me, so I am sure we will make great friends through our food connection! Their names are Tiffany and Amina. Tiffany is from Atlanta and is the first girl I talked to in Miami and now lives about 30 yards from me and is in the Business program; funny, smart, spunky gal. Amina is another gal I have been able to get to know better as well. She is from Cali and is half Philipino half Chinese. She also lives walking distance from me and is in the Health program.

Training= intense; I come out of there mentally exhausted for some reason! For the past four weeks the 52 trainees and I have learned about the surroundings we will encounter in Honduras, for instance, culture, safety and security, transportation safety, health, socio-economics, Spanish, technical programs, etc. Spanish classes are about 4 hours too long; however I do feel more confident when speaking Spanish. As for the technical programs, in H-16 there are 3 programs: Health, Water & Sanitation, and Business. Negociosos training classes have been introductory subjects, for example, micro, small, and med businesses in Honduras, personally visiting local businesses, learning about non- formal education, etc. etc. I’m not going to lie; it’s been a little boring, constantly sitting in classes listening to lectures. Some topics have been interesting while other I find myself slowly falling asleep to.

Host family = awesome! I technically only have a host mother living in the house, but we constantly have people over, especially zipotes (children). My host mom, Lourdes, is an independent woman making it work for herself! “You go girl”! haha. Lourdes is a 35 year old single lady looking for a bachelor. Haha just kidding. She works from 9am – 4pm Mon- Fri as a colon therapist and afterwards attends Philosophy and English class in Teguc (capital of Honduras). She usually gets home by about 8:30 p.m. She is an educated hard working woman. She is also hilarious; her sense of humor reminds me a lot of my own mom which makes me feel better and more comfortable in her house. I have also become really close to her sister in-law Yolandy. Yolandy’s occupation is ama de casa (housewife); she is 26 years old but acts very mature for her age. She has two adorable kids and a husband and takes care of her house duties as well as Lourdes’ house. Yolandy makes dinner for me Mon -Fri so we usually prepare la cena (dinner) and eat together too. She was very shy at first but has warmed up to me a lot. She has taught me many things like how to make tortillas, hand wash my clothes, and cook… kind of. Haha. My host mom has tons of nieces and nephews coming in and out of her house so I am never alone - I currently have a zipote sitting by me watching me type away.

Sunday, the 21st of March, I and 16 other business trainees will be moving to Ojojona for seven weeks for Field Based Training (FBT). There, we will be learning more about small businesses, hands on training, and more Spanish. : ( This also means I will be leaving Lourdes and her family and living with a new host family!! Eeeek! I don’t remember being as nervous and scarred the first time I meet Lourdes and her family, it was probably because I had no expectations. I told my host mom about how I was feeling, but she reassured me that I would be fine…she said something like I am a person that can adjust to things easily and would be fine wherever I go. I hope so.

Food = Satisfactory. I had enchiladas for almuerzo (lunch) today! I was sooo excited to hear they were making me enchiladas for my last day here, but it turns out it was totally not what I had expected; it was more like a tostada.

Breakfast usually consists of toast and coffee, or warm (sometimes hot milk) with cornflakes (not good). Lourdes has also made me pancakes and baleadas - which are flour tortillas with egg, beans, avocado, and cheese… kind of like a burrito. Lunch is always good and a surprise, because my host mom prepares lunch for me in the morning and I take it to school with me in my little lunch box! Lourdes is pretty health conscience so she always prepares sometime of meat, tortillas, rice or beans, salad, and fruit for me. And as I mentioned before Yolandy and I make dinner. A plato typico consists of beans,, queso, avocado, eggs, tortillas, fried plantains, and sometimes chicken or someother type of meat.

Things I miss:

Warm showers – I have been one of the fortunate ones among the trainees that take a bucket shower with warm water, but it’s just not the same as an actual shower head and having two hands to wash with. One time, during a volunteer visit, I had to actually take a cold bucket shower for the first time; I definitely did not feel clean after that one. Haha The very next day there was running luke warm water and she luckily had an elctro- duesh (shower head) at her apartment … that was quiet possibly the best shower ever!

Gym – I can’t entirely blame it on the environment, I could possibly jog on the hilly roads with no actual sidewalk, but I just get too lazy.

Clean non- stiff clothes – Since I have been hand washing my clothes and hang drying my clothes they have been come out pretty stiff. Meaning I am not washing my clothes thoroughly enough and still leaving detergent on my clothes. My host family made fun of me for awhile because I didn’t know how to properly wash them. Haha. I guess it just takes time; it’s tiring though, my back hurts after about 5 min. haha

Food: McDonalds! Pizza! Chinese food! Jimmy Johns! Thai food!

And of course everyone back at home! Hope these answered some questions and you enjoyed. I’ll try to keep this updated as much as I can.

Miss you all. Besos

P.S. Pics coming soon