El Presidente

This past weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to projecthonduras.com confernce in Copán Ruinas, where National and International NGO’s met to discuss the state of development work in Honduras.

This was a very interesting event, where I was inspired and motivated by all of the work being done in Honduras. Along with making some great connections, I got to meet some very important decision makers in the country.

Including President Porfirio Lobo Sosa and First Lady Rosa Elena de Lobo (please note this photo of Kyla and Me was taken after a long 3rd day of the conference):

September to Remember

This past September could have been one of the busiest months of my life!

To regale you all with the daily goings on would be so boring to read that I am not going to set down that path. 

To make it easier to here is my month long agenda:

August 27 – 29: Ok, not technically September but I consider this the kick-off of my month. I went up to Santa Rosa de Copán to celebrate Noche de los Fumadores, or an annual party that ends their fair that honors their factories and traditions of cigar making. Getting dressed up in cocktail attire was VERY different from my day-to-day jeans and worn in t-shirts, but definitely an interesting event.

September 30 – 3: Reconnect in Siguatepeque. This was a week long Peace Corps meeting with the Health and Water and Sanitation Projects. Here my days were filled with presentations and conversations about other volunteer’s work and advancements within our own projects.

September 4 – 5: Lake Yojoa. After our meetings had ended a few friends and I went to the only natural lake in the center of Honduras. We stayed at D&D Brewery, a volunteer favorite and the countries only Microbrewery, owned by a US ex-pat. To say this place is laid-back would be an understatement, as soon as you walk down the stone steps you feel your blood pressure immediately drop. The menu is filled with American favorites: food, soda, and of course beer. After eating myself into a coma, we were lucky enough to have a late night concert performed by the owner and 2 of my volunteer companions. 

If you are feeling a little lazy, as I was, you have some great activities close by. We elected to hike to the near Pulhapanzak Waterfall, the largest in Honduras at 140 feet in height.  You have the option of swimming in the pools above the falls, hiking to the bottom, zip lining across, or going under the water to hidden caves; my friends and I decided we had to go under. We were immediately approached by guides after our entrance into the park, and worked our way down to L. 60 a person to be guided under the falls. You have to hike down to the bottom of the waterfall and then hop a fence to get close to the water. By the time you are next to the base you can hardly see where you are going because of all of the mist flying at you. The only way to can go forward is to clutch onto the hand in front of you, when climbing through rushing pools of water and over boulders, handholding becomes almost impossible and the pace close to crawling pace.  First, you reach a large long cave first that is chest high full of water, where you are swaying back and forth because of the powerful water pouring over the rocks. The guide then gives you the option of going further, staying there, or turning back. My thought was “How could you go this far and turn back?” So I grabbed the guide’s hand, followed by only 2 of my friends and we stepped into the heavy cascade of water. I managed to hit my head twice on overhanging rock before the guide lifted me under the lip of a cave. Our reward was crawling up into a small cave on the far side of the fall and being deafened by rushing water. It was one of those examples of “It’s the journey not the destination” scenarios. There is no way to describe the power of the water beating down on our backs; it really leaves you in awe of nature.

September 6 – 12: Choluteca. After my adventures at the lake I head down to Choluteca to visit a fellow H16 health volunteer and to translate and work with an NGO. Sharefish, a small North Carolina based, educational focused NGO came down their third time this year to work with the small aldea El Carrizo. During this week we came to check-in on library and school maintenance. This was my first time to the South of Honduras and it definitely lives up to its reputation of being the hottest place in the country.  While I was wearing jeans down there I thought that I would pass out from the heat even in the shade. Despite the oppressive heat I was very exciting for this trip because it was also an opportunity to see my Aunt Nancy. I was able to catch up on life in the states and show her a bit Honduran culture. I wish that I had more time with her and that we were in a community that I knew, but I was so happy to have my first American visitor.

September 13 – 21: Ocotepeque! I finally made it home! This week was filled with moving apartments, my birthday, Honduran Independence Day, Ocotepeque’s 75^th birthday, friends visiting, and another bout of stomach illness. Not the rest I had been looking forward to!

September 22 – 27: Dad visits Ocotepeque to be my first American houseguest. I think that my dad was thoroughly unimpressed with my lack of running water and the opaqueness of the available water. It was more than a little funny when he would have to bucket bathe (dump small buckets of water over your head) and I would hear screams coming from the bathroom! When I offered to heat the water, he rejected and said that it was going to be awful no matter if it was warm or cold. American machismo if I have ever seen it. I then head up to Copán Ruinas for the first time. I timed it perfectly, just so that Tropical Storm Matthew was right over-head as I head to the park. Luckily the skies cleared, and left a completely empty park. The Mayan Ruins were absolutely beautiful and mystical. I plan on going back many times over.

I hope that abbreviated recap of my month was a good snap shot of my life right now in Honduras.

Now on to October…

Tournabe

Back in August I took a fabulous trip up to Tournabe, an aldea right along side of Tela on the North Coast of Honduras.

There are no words to describe how beautiful the North Coast is... so here are some pictures:

O-Face Killa

Sometimes down here people ask me what life was like in  United States. I normally talk about friends or family or how I miss chocolate chip cookies (I know that I can make them down here- but they never taste like Break and Break). I then am asked to regale them with a story, and most of the time I tell them some simple heartwarming moment, but occasionally I will spice it up.

Occasionally (actually pretty frequently) I have laughing fits- where I cannot stop laughing, struggle to breathe, and cannot stop matter how hard I try. These "fits" are normally brought on when I am trying to tell someone about something funny that happened in the past. The original story is probably not funny at all which just sets me off more. So, I decided to tell the nurses that I work with about a picture, that no matter how hard I try I cannot to tell anyone about, because I start laughing so hard. I am physically unable to describe this picture without breaking down in hysterics. When I told the nurses nothing had changed and I couldn't get through the story. So I just sat in the Health Center I drove myself to tears just thinking about this picture.

So... I have decided to share with the world the picture that makes me laugh harder than anything.

Judge me if you will, but just don't ask me to describe the photo for you.

Ps- Sorry O for posting this.

Workin It

Now that I have about run out of bizarre, anecdotal stories I figured I should let you all know about the actual work I am doing out here in Oco.

I have a few counterparts (local offices or organizations who work in the health field) in both Nueva and Antigua Ocotepeque. My “main” counterpart is a rural health center in Antigua, where I help the nurses and doctor on a daily basis, as well as working on my own projects. An average day there involves working in the pre-clinic, where I record patient history, temperature, weight and blood pressure in their file; along with helping in the pharmacy, where I provide medications and instruct patients on dosage and usage. In the center I also have two groups that meet monthly- a group for pregnant women, and regional health volunteers. During our meetings I normally give a charla (presentation) over topics like- anatomy, first aid, STI’s, cancer, or any topic that they have requested.  Monthly, I go out to our most impoverished aldea  (rural community) Polcho and talk to the school (20 students kinder garden to 6^th grade in one room) about common health problems and ways to avoid them. Last week I went out with one of the nurses and gave a charla about dental health and was able to give toothbrushes and toothpaste to all the kids. I am very lucky to have a supportive and active counterpart- we have a few more projects in the works but I will let you know once they come to fruition.

I am also working with an NGO called Organización de Desarrollo de Mujeres, which works on promoting women’s rights, avoiding domestic violence, and now women’s health. This was not one of my original counterparts, but I happened upon them and struck up a conversation with the new director one day. She wanted to start a health project for their members but was short on money and staff to start a new initiative. Because I am a free volunteer and have a pre-planned program about women's health, it seemed to be a perfect fit! I now have 5 women’s groups who are learning from the new Peace Corps Women’s Health manual. Things are just getting started and I have only given a few charla’s to the women’s groups, but so far things are going very well. I am also helping with some of their other projects- like forming a Departmental Women’s Support Network, which is something that is sorely needed.

My third counterpart is the Reicken Public Library, where I have a youth group with teenage girls. Once a week we meet up and talk about health and leadership topics. The girls are great and very active during our meetings, but have already completed the young girls Peace Corps Honduras program called "Yo Merezco" so I am inventing our lesson plans as we go. I am lucky to have access to information from other Peace Corps projects so I am able to find activities  in other manuals.

Finally, I teach 4 dance classes weekly! It originally started out as 2 a week, but Ocotepeque lacks after school activities and a million children (exaggeration) so now I have 4. I teach 2 ballet classes to young girls- ages 4 to 10, and two women's exercise dance classes. With the young girls it has been fun to give them their first taste of ballet and to see the progress that they are already making.  I try to teach the women dance steps and exercises that they can do on their own so that (hopefully) they will incorporate exercise into their daily lives. Exercise is not a very popular past time here in Honduras, so I am very excited that my students keep coming every week. 

Well, I hope that wasn’t thoroughly boring to read and gave you all some insight into what I am actually doing down here!  

Aliens

So far in Honduras I have had some strange conversations but this week I think I had the weirdest one yet. I was at my host Uncle’s birthday party a few nights ago and I was talking with all of my cousins, aunts, and uncles about relatively generic things. I covered the USA, work here, and the world cup, which seems to come up with everyone I talk to. But, as the cake was being served I was sitting next to my youngest uncle and after we covered all aforementioned topics, conversation became a little strange. 

He looked at me and said “Have you ever seen a UFO?” hmmmm… UFO or extraterrestrial conversation/ vocabulary is not in my Spanish language toolbox so I just shook my head no. He continued to recount his UFO sightings to me (in Spanish mind you). Supposedly the ships zig and zag over the mountains out here,  but cannot land in the valley. These aliens are much smarter than us, are either taller and green, or far shorter and brown, and come to earth all of the time.  He then asked if I believed in aliens, I couldn’t get away with a head-shake to answer that question. So I started to talk about how big the universe was and that it was possible for aliens to exist, but I probably wouldn’t be lucky enough to see a UFO in my lifetime. He then started to explain the ship to me, and how he could show me where he had seen his first UFO if I wanted. It was just then when my host mother told him it was a shooting star and started talking about a new baby. Saved! I have no idea how I would have continued that conversation without offending my uncle or sounding crazy myself. 

This conversation certainly made my day and definitely taught me some VERY useful new Spanish words.

Here are some pics of the valley of Ocotepeque... where the aliens flew over. 

Groundhog's Day Hike

So this past weekend I had two mini excursions both in my community, well they both happened to be to the same place… Aguas Thermales or hot springs. On Friday I had a training sessions with Regional Health Volunteers at my Health Center, because of the expected turn out we did not see patients that day. But, because it is Honduras less than half of the Volunteers showed up, and since we were a little light on attendance we were able to wiz through my talk and left with hours to kill. 

Surprisingly the Doctor suggested that we walk to the Aguas Thermales with all of the nurses. It took me about 2.5 seconds to say yes and get ready to leave… so we set off an hour later. (Punctuality is a learned skill here.) The hike/walk took us an hour and a half, because physical activity is not very common or popular with my co-workers. The hike was beautiful and gave me great views of the valley that I live in. It also let me hike past some of the aldeas that our Center serves.  When we got to the end of the path there were 2 main pools (one hot and the other cold with a waterfall) that were totally empty and picturesque. Because of our rapid decision to set off on this hike we were totally unprepared- I was in a polo, khaki’s and Chucks- we brought 3 bags of chips and no swimsuits. The latter fact stopped all of us, minus one, from getting into the water. Reina, the assistant in the health center, did not seem too concerned that she was wearing clothes and shoes, and went right on in the hot water. We sat soaking in the sun and the great weather for an hour or two before we started our slow decent back to the Center. I was so excited to go on a hike in our valley and to get some perspective on where I am living, but I was bummed that I didn’t get a chance to swim. 

On Saturday I knew that  a friend, Bryan, was coming into town to watch the soccer game, and I started thinking that he and my sitemates might want to go back. Kyle- one of my sitemates- had originally told me about the Aguas because he has been out there 5 or 6 times, so I know he would be easy to convince.  So, on Saturday after watching America being embarrassed on the international stage by Ghana (for the second time in just as many World Cups) we started talking entertainment options. A walk to the Aguas was thrown onto the table and immediately agreed upon. This time we all packed swim appropriate clothing, water, and snacks (though my snacks left something to be desired- American cheese slices, nacho chips, and random cookies)- we were extremely prepared, or so we thought. 

Once we had met back up storm clouds had rolled in and it started to sprinkle; a small hick-up that almost derailed our hike considering the only waterproof item we had was Kyle’s mini umbrella. I will admit it, I was a nay sayer, in my tee shirt and shorts I felt a little exposed to the elements. Thanks to Kyle’s unwavering persistence on walking up there and Bryan’s fence sitting, we avoided a costly trip to a near by water park, and started the hike to the Aguas. This time, because I was hiking with faster walkers (only slightly) we made it up to the pools in just around an hour. Throughout the rain stayed pretty consistent sprinkle and had not affected the conditions too much.

I was so excited to relax and warm-up in the hot spring, as I rounded the last corner I spotted the pool FULL of men. Oh great- just me, my friends, and a bunch of  Honduran dudes hanging out in some hot springs. (Men in Honduras are not covert when staring at women nor do they have much shame in saying exactly what they are thinking). After setting down our soaking backpacks it became clear that these men did not have much interest in me, but would more likely be staring at my two guy friends. It was a very unexpected turn of events. They were not too pleased with our presence at this remote relaxation spot, but it did not really deter them from continuing on with their... activities. 

After talking for a little with the men in the pool we decided (they convinced us) that starting off in the cold pool and switching back to the hot was the way to go. By the time we were ready for the hot water the men seemed even less interested in having 3 party crashers join them in the small pool, and suggested another hot pool farther down the path. We decided that this was the best option for everyone. 

The lower pool was much larger and hotter than the other pool, which left us very content in our decision to hike back down a bit. The hot water felt great, minus the sulfer smell and (for me) the occasional bite (ok it could have been a stick poking me, or a leaf, but it felt like a bite) we sat blissfully chatting for an hour or so. As the sun was setting and the rain letting up, we decided to hike back.

Despite my two trips in two days I had very different experiences each time and plan on heading back there soon. 

Trek to Teguc

I went and picked up my internet modem last week and so now I have the internet consistently and  I felt you deserved rapid fire blogs this week.

Last week I was released into the wild, and allowed to travel to Tegucigalpa for the first time since arriving in my site because of a meeting at the office. I first had to take a 6am bus for 10 hours to get back to the capital. This was not as awful as it might sound because after my first 5 hours I met up with my friend and fellow H16er Kyla. The next 5 hours passed much quicker because I actually had someone to talk to, it was great to catch up on everything that has happened in her site.

Since we both live so far away we came in the day before and had a free night. We decided to try and find the cultural hotspots in Tegucigalpa- quite the challenge. For dinner we found a great café called Café Paradiso that was only about a 10 minute walk from the office. There was this great beatnik feel when you walked in. With eccentrically painted walls, bistro tables, jazz music, and portraits of literary masterminds- I felt like I was in some small European town. We ate their version of baguettes with cheese and some sort of cake (we never could quite figure out the flavor). Full of conversation and non-tortilla carbs we turned in for a very early night... I am talking 8:30pm.

On the day of the meeting we had the morning to explore, so we set off to unknown destinations. I felt that the mall would have been a great place to walk around and get some creature comforts from home. But Kyla was a bit more motivated and convinced me to do a bit of wandering in our host country's capital. At first I was a little nervous about just walking wherever in a city our Security Officer had just spent 3 months scaring us about, but she is a very convincing lady. 

We walked towards the city center and stumbled upon a great bookstore. At first we thought that it was a Catholic store but soon found books on evolution, philosophy, poetry, and art. I have been in search of a map of Honduras and was able to find a great detailed map at this gem of a bookstore. After my purchase we decided to walk towards the peach colored church spires we saw in the distance.  We found St. Michael Archangel, a gorgeous and well kept colonial church right near the central square. Our time inside was spent sitting in the pews, looking at the alters and paintings. 

Down in this part of town there are beautiful old buildings that house parliament and the Art Museum.  Kyla and I were super excited about the latter and had to go inside. We paid the L. 30 entrance fee (equivalent to about $1.66) to experience the Honduran artistic voice. The museum held about 10 rooms, filled with modern paintings, sculptures, and artifacts. It took about 45 minutes to tour the whole museum and a definite must see in the city.

As our afternoon was winding down the Brazil v. North Korea game was about to start, so we were searching for a comfortable place to watch. As we got closer and closer to the PC office we spotted a lujo (luxurious) hotel and thought that their bar would definitely be playing the game. After sitting in leather lounge chairs for a few hours and watching Brazil’s first World Cup win, we set off for the meeting.

The meeting was uneventful but interesting to get insight into other project groups current dilemmas. It also let us meet up with experienced Teguc travelers and make plans for our evening. Kyla and I were both craving anything but frijoles and queso, and made sure to find volunteers going to an exotic restaurant. Kat and Liz fit the bill with their plans to go to sushi (!!!). I know what you are thinking- sushi in Central America??- but it was actually a very delicious un-Honduran dinner. I was in heaven sipping saki, eating some tuna and having great conversation. We had a few more drinks and a late night baleada mission, and finally went back to our hotel.

The next morning Kyla, Kat, and I woke up at 5am to watch Honduras play in their first game and to pack for the trip home. At 7:40am we made it to our bus station for our 8am bus, but stilled needed to procure some baleadas for breakfast. We checked in with our bus driver and went with the attendant to buy food a half block away. Feeling very content about getting food before our bus ride, we started walking back to the bus stop. As I was looking up the street I realized there was no longer a bus parked there, but it was driving up the hill and away from us. We immediately set-off running to try and get onto our bus (which had left 15 minutes early) but couldn’t catch it. So we jumped in a cab, with the attendant still with us, and told the driver to catch up to the bus. Because of traffic, construction, and awful Honduran driving we were pushed further and further away from our ride home. At this point I am trying to stay calm, Kyla is nervously laughing, and Kat is more than a little upset with the attendant who is no help. Kat called every office she could trying to get a hold of the driver, but no one seemed to care that we are not on the bus. About 15 minutes outside of Teguc we were 3 cars back from the bus, waving our arms and honking to get the bus to pull over, but were invisible to the driver. Eventually other drivers help us to pull the bus over. We ran up to the bus and finally got on.  Just then the bus the driver turns and says, “So you got your baleadas?” I almost lost it.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful but ended up taking 12 hours. The only good thing about that final ordeal is that it left me pretty content to stay in and/or close to my site for the time being.

"Its never to late too late to be who you might have been." -George Eliot


Every time I worry about what I should be doing in the US I like to think about this quote.


*Thanks night falls and towns become circuit boards

Baile

If you know me well (ok even if you have even met me once for 2 minutes) you know that I love dance. I love to watch it, talk about it, and most of all to learn it. Dance was one of the reasons I was so excited to be placed in a Latin American country. In the US dance is a well respected art form, but is meant for the studio, stage and left to the professionals. I had a weekly plea that my friends to go dancing with me, they occasionally appeased me, especially after a few drinks. But dancing in sweaty bars to 80's music always left me wanting more (do not get me wrong, I do enjoy Journey fist pumping sessions). The techno or pop "bouncing" in nightclubs (you know where you just kind of hop up and down to the beat of the music... don't pretend you don't do that) were fun but always felt so controlled and after a while boring. But, to venture outside of that understood dance would attract stares, circles around you, and creepy people approaching you. 

So when I came down to Honduras I went on a mission to learn all the different dances popular in the country, and my host sister in La Paz was a huge help in this. At nights we would practice Bachata, Merengue, Reggaeton, Salsa, and of course Punta. At first I was quite uptight to shake my hips as fast as I could in front of my host mom, that was until she got up and joined me. It is TOTALLY acceptable for a 4 year old to shimmy and "get low" in front of everyone- actually encouraged. It is literally a 180 from how dancing is beheld in the US and extremely refreshing. Social dancing here is getting into  to the music while moving your whole body to the rhythm. Men and women have grown up dance all the different rhythms and have no shame in trying to imitate their favorite Daddy Yankee music video. I jumped on the band wagon as fast as I could, and am right along side them trying to do a back bend while shaking my hips (it is as difficult as it sounds). To say that I am using my degree in dance would be a bit of an overstatement, but knowing how to move my body has definitely left me more comfortable in social situations with Honduran friends.  

The only problem is now I want to go dancing all of the time- with my family, out at night with my friends, and definitely alone in my room. Thank goodness I have about 2 years to dance my little heart out. 

Note to any future visitors: pack your dancing shoes. 

Life Update

Now that I have had more than 15 minutes to rest in one place I have decided to give you all a recap of my past 100+ days here in Honduras.


Zarabanda- First Phase of Training

This was the first phase of training when we first got in country with all 54 of H16 (my training class). These first few days were very stressful and filled to the brim with information. The normal schedule was daily from 7:30am to 4:30pm, and consisted of language class, CORE classes and some technical training. The CORE sessions were an introduction to rules, regulations, and norms here in Honduras. This time really gives volunteers an advantage that most people traveling into the country do not have, because we learned cultural differences that are not apparent on the surface. For example in Honduras you do not throw anything at people- keys, a ball, a pen- I did try to play 4-Square before I understood this difference, it proved to be a little difficult.

I think that these days were so stressful because you are not only adjusting to life in another country, but also meeting 50 other Americans who are thrown together, trying to develop friendships.

Highlights

1. Cultural Day- One Saturday the facilitators planed a mini tour thorough the cultures of Hondu. It was a chance to sample great food and learn about the different ethnic groups in the country.

2. “Socio Dramas”- a.k.a. when the facilitators would act out ridiculous scenes trying to make dry topics more entertaining.

3. Volunteer Visit- Where all of us lowly trainee’s were released into the wild for four days to shadow the life of a real life volunteer. I went to visit a wonderful health volunteer in La Esperanza, Intibucá and learned more about the life of a volunteer than I could have possible imagined.


La Paz- Field Based Training

Field Based Training is when we divided up into our respective projects- Health, Water and Sanitation, and Business. So the 18 of us health volunteers went to one of the hottest places in the country (only after the South) for 7 weeks. I was very nervous about learning about all the Health Projects, moving in with a new family, being with the same 17 people day in and day out. After all of my fears I actually had a great time in La Paz. My family there was amazing- my sister taught me all of the Honduran dances, my mom got me hooked on a telenovela, and my dad gave me all the free popsicles I could stomach. Along with just being wonderful people they took a great interest in helping me with my Spanish and would force me to practice every night with them. The community there was also very welcoming for how large (relatively) the city is and made it easier to start conversations with people on the street.

Highlights:

1. Going to thermal pools for Semana Santa with all of my aunts and watching Santa Fe perform Maté Gusano. (Side Note- Santa Fe is a very popular band in Honduras whose current hit Maté Gusano -- Kill the Worm -- started the dance with the same name and it is the raunchiest dance I have ever seen… but everyone does it including my 4 years old niece in La Paz).


2. Working on Saturday’s in the Orphanage- Right now there is a wonderful Health Volunteer in La Paz who is doing amazing work with the Hospital and Orphanage- among other places- who extended the opportunity to work with the orphans. Work consisted of carrying roof tiles/ children from an open field to a smaller room. It was far more enjoyable then that sounds!

3. Learning how to dance like a Honduran with my sister. One night out on our front porch, in front of all of the neighbors, my sister grabbed my hips and told me that is where Hondurans dance. We stayed out later than I had been up in 2 months- 11pm- listening to music and practicing all of the rhythms. PS- youtube a dance called the Punta it will illuminate this story for you.

4. Having a party for the orphans. In my language class we decided that we wanted to do a project during our time in class that would allow us to practice speaking as well. So we decided to fundraise to buy the orphans basic hygienic products: toothbrush and paste, shampoo, combs etc. and to give it to them during a party, and because it was a party in Honduras we HAD to make piñatas. Anyway the party was a great time for all of the volunteers and orphans because we also bought plenty of candy and cookies to keep everyone happy.

5. Site Announcements. May 5th was the day that all of the trainees had been looking forward to since first arriving in country. To say that our APCD (basically my boss) liked to build anticipation is an understatement. Every opportunity he had he liked to drop hints but would not respond to follow up questions. So finally at 4pm when we all knew where we were going there was this amazing sense of excitement and relief.

Nueva Ocotepeque-Service

So now I am in my site where I will live for 2 years, until May 2012. It is a really great city, with a population of about 25,000 and is very close to the borders of Guatemala and El Salvador. I also have 2 great site mates who I am very excited about knowing better over these coming months. It has far more amenities than I imagined I would have- like a place to buy peanut butter and a market for super fresh veggies. But with all of those benefits there obviously are some problems, first and foremost when you turn on the tap it looks more like chocolate milk then water you want anywhere near your body. I also (obviously) am still without consistent or reliable internet, which might maybe possibly be remedied soon if I buy a modem in Santa Rosa de Copan.


So, that has been my life in a nutshell while here in Honduras. Now I have to get to the hard stuff… real work.

ok so I can only ask so much of the internet. Here is my address (soon to be updated to the left)

Catriona Jones PCV
Barrio San Jose
Recomendado al Correo de Ocotepeque
Honduras
Centroamerica


peace, love, and parasites

Ch Ch Ch Check It Out

New mailing address
<--------------------------

Thank you all for the mail so far it has made life down here happier!




Ps- Keep it coming because in the last 3 weeks I have had stomach parasites and some other stomach issue which has kept me in bed for the week. Fun stuff!

No I am full is not an option

After a few emails and calls I have realized that you (my ever faithful readers) like it when I rant about food. So, to keep you happy I have the follow up to my food enemies about my struggles with expressing when I am full.

I have really been lucky and had wonderful host families my time here in Honduras. These host families have been understanding of my weird American ways- like not eating 3 pounds of beans everyday and not liking white bread as a side to my delicious Chinese food (you know how I feel about that).

But now that I am working in the community, I am faced daily with new people trying to feed me. It is a wonderful tradition here, when you go to visit someone they invite you in for a drink and a snack. Going around the community like this is a wonderful way to meet neighbors and friends, but it also leaves you vulnerable to sneak attacks from food enemies. Yesterday I had some pink juice that was sugar flavored and some vegetable filled pastry... interesting.

I normally am able to finish what is put in front of me, but a recent snag has made that close to impossible. I work with 4 nurses who love (LOVE) to snack, to buy me snacks, and to take me out into the community to visit people. There is no avoiding the food.  I tried telling them that I have a sensitive stomach or that I had a small appetite or that I had just eaten 7 pancakes or that I was flat out full, but nothing worked! So now, so that I don't offend them and don't explode from food, I eat teeny tiny meals and supplement  with snacks. I might need to resort to some of the tricks I implemented at the dinner table with vegetables.

This is a no win situation, I will get back to you if I develop any new coping mechanism.

The Big News

This news is big and its exciting... the only problem is, is that it is 2 weeks old. Never the less I know (and now live) in my site, my home for the next two years.

Now get out your maps and go west, more west, more west, ok if you hit Guatemala you are in the right spot... I live right on the border in a town called Nueva Ocotepeque (o-co-ta-peck-ay). It is a town of 25,000 people so pretty big in Honduras standards, it is in the beautiful mountains, and only a short 10 hour bus ride from Tegucigalpa. haha.

I will post pictures and more news soon. There have many fun stories that have happened during the end of my time in La Paz and our last whirl wind week in Zarabanda.

La Paz

Ok again this is not my picture... uploading pictures is coming soon, I just enjoy keeping you all in anticipation.

But, I thought that you deserved to see the beautiful church here in La Paz. Just in front of the church there is also a beautiful park and town square. The park was actually funded by a grant that a Peace Corps volunteer found for the city a few years ago. It is a great place to run in the mornings and to walk around at night. 

This picture does a great job at capturing the beauty of La Paz, but you need those heat lines emanating from the building to really get a sense of the city. Some days here I feel like my shoes might melt on the road. Thank goodness my dad here sells ice cream and popsicles! 

Comida China

Chinese food in Honduras should not happen. End of blog post.

For some reason Chinese Food, ok fried rice and “Chop Suey,” are a mainstay in the Honduran household. I mean I understand why they enjoy those foods, it gives them another reason to fry carbs. But, I do not know how it became so popular and how I can let my family know kindly that I cannot stand their version of Chinese Food.

Platos Tipicos… keep them coming.

(not my picture because if it was there would not be anything green and it would have hunks of bologna in it)

Sidewalks in Hondu

Every time I walk down the street in Honduras I feel like I am spurlunking- over, under, across all sorts of obstacles- there was definitely no forethought in their design. I guess I am hypersensitive to the condition and quantity of sidewalks in any given city because I am always thinking “Could I push my mom’s wheelchair here?” The answer in about 95% of the cities and towns in Honduras would be NO.

Each morning I am faced with the question, “Should I walk on the 6 inch sidewalk, over piles of burning trash, that at any moment could end or have a 8 foot holes for apparently no reason? Or should I walk in the street, where cars drive 90 mph and cannot see pedestrians, dogs, or other cars that might be in their path?” Because there is no clear choice I am stuck with a hybrid obstacle avoidance technique. I start off in whichever path has less immediate obstacles, then I continue on that path until something major deters me and I switch. In a 5minute walk I will change from street to sidewalk about 6 times, on average, I am keeping some pretty impressive stats.

Sometimes I try to watch how Hondurans walk down the streets, but they always seem to stop and talk with someone every 20 feet and so I cannot detect their path decision-making. The one thing about the sidewalks is that they keep the same walk interesting day after day because you are never quite sure what you might encounter. 

Culinary Adventures

If you know me well you know that my stomach is far from iron clad, so I was expecting the worst when coming to a third world country. However, I have been pleasantly surprised but how my stomach is faring. The basic diet of a Honduran is carbs, with a side of starch, something fried, and of course tortillas. I think the most common condiment on my food is grease. yumm.

So far I have complied the top 10 Honduran food enemies (yet again please excuse spelling mistakes)-

1. Chincaron- better known to the average american as pork rinds, however these are thicker and harder than the version we have in the US.
2. Mondungo- soup made with cow intestines... enough said
3. Oasmeal aka Oatmeal- aka sugary milk soup with a few oats sunk in the bottom. Oh yeah and it is the most intense whole milk ever.
4. Espegetti- This Italian favorite has come to Honduras and turned into a ketchup and sugar concotion that is horribly unpleasant.
5. Mantiquilla- Or their version of butter, which comes in a bag and is more like lard and sour cream mixed. They consider it a dairy product and thus see it fit to top EVERYTHING with it.
6. Tropical Soda Banana flavor- Imagine an orange bubblegum, sugar flavored soda. Awful.
7. Fried Bologna- In sandwiches, on tortillas, mixed with eggs, or plain. I. CANNOT. STAND. THIS. PROCESSED. MEAT.
8. Liver- When you bite into a meat and it tastes like chalk you know something is wrong.
9. Coffee with more sugar than coffee- I still drink it but I die a little bit inside everytime I do.
10. Being duped into thinking ketchup is salsa- everytime I hear that something is covered with salsa I forget where I am and get up set when my tacos come covered in ketchup. (Note- chismole is what the Hondurans call our salsa)

Of course there are other offenders but none that manage to make it onto my plate as frequently as the ones above. I will make sure to update you once I have made new food enemies.

PS- there is also a TON of Honduran food that I love, and so far my host mom's have kept me from being sick. Fingers crossed I continue to stay in the clear.

Movin and Groovin

Ok so this was going to be my big post with pictures and razzle dazzle, but alas I am paying by the minute for the internet and do not have the patience to wait for any pictures to upload. However you can go to my friend¨s blog http://www.sarahlagringa.com/ to look some pictures of my adventures, she was a photo-journalist and is more on top of taking and uploading pictures.

So, for the past month I was living in Zarabanda with a host family I adored. But, this past Sunday I moved with the Health Project to another city... La Paz. Before leaving Zarabanda I asked Rosa, my first host mom, what I should expect in the new city. All she could tell me was "La Paz is extremely hot" and she was definately right.

La Paz is in a valley up in the moutains near Comagua (I am making assumptions that you are all masters of Honduran geography by now). It is beautiful and sunny all of the time. I also lucked out by having another amazing host family. This family is much bigger- dad Pako, mom Digna, sister Idis, Brother Pakito, Brother Luis and niece Angie (who is 4 and amazing). My room here is also an improvement because I have screens on my windows and walls that reach the celling. It was so dark and quiet my first night here I couldn"t fall asleep! There are no roosters to wake me up in the middle of the night. But now I am sleeping like a champ despite the opressive heat in my house. Also, because of the heat the water in the tank is asways warm so I have warm showers everyday... amazing.

I have enjoyed my first week here but I also miss the other trainee"s in my training class. The business project is out in Ohohona and Water-Sanitation is in El Paraiso, and we will not meet up again until the second week of May.

Ok more soon I promise!

La Esperanza

Just another quick update. I am on my Volunteer Visit this weekend in La Esperanza and so far having a great time... mostly because I am eating delicious food (like brownies, oatmeal raisin cookies, fluffy tortillas, banana walnut waffles, and non-sugared coffee.

Today we are going to a drug awareness charla (discussion) at the local middle school which should be great. I will make sure to update more soon.

I miss you all!

I MADE IT

Hello all!
I made it to Honduras! I appologize this will be a short post because there is a long line of trainee´s trying to use the internet after me. We arrive in Zarabanda, just outside of Tegucigulpa, on Wednesday after a LONG day. I woke up at about 4 am, boarded our flight at 10am, had a very bumpy and scary landing, met our families and moved in to our new houses at about 4pm. Since then we have had class everyday, packed lunches and all! So far the most difficult thing to deal with is the ice cold showers I take in the morning.

The food is amazing and my ¨mom¨Rosa Maria understands that I cannot eat too much if I want to feel well later. I also have an 11 year old sister, Eva, who is very smart and helps me constantly with vocab, and a kind father named Cristo.

I will make sure to type more when there isn´t a line.
(Also sorry if there are typo´s I am getting used to the new keyboard down here)

a little more excitement

Because I didn't that going to Honduras for the next two years was exciting enough, I thought that I would go to New Zealand a week before I leave for the Peace Corps! No it was actually for my Aunt's wedding and a great way to see all of my family who live in the UK.

 So in the month leading up to departing for Hondu I drove for 28 hours back to Colorado, moved all of my earthly possessions  back to my parents house, and went to Christchurch for 7 days for my aunts wedding. So now I have 3 days left to finish my MASSIVE to do/ packing list.  However, I would not change any of it! I fell in love with NZ.

 The trip was one of the most amazing I have ever been on and the most beautiful country I have ever seen. It is summer down there right now, so the weather was perfect and there was so much to do outside. I went jet skiing, on trail runs, walks on the beach, and obviously celebrated my Aunt's wedding. Had I been in Colorado for the whole month of February I would be more anxious than I am already. I plan to get back to NZ as soon as I can... which will be in about three years.

Since I have about a million things on my plate I think the nest post from me will come from Hondu. Hold onto your hats everybody! 

Cookie Monster

After my last post I received many suggestions and offers for cookies, to my great delight. If all the offers to send me chocolate chip deliciousness are true I will be one happy camper. However, I have read stories about mail being lost or stolen, and I mean who wouldn't steal a box of cookies? Luckily Tracie, who spent a semester in Africa, told me making cookies was not as impossible as I thought it might be, that I just needed to find a recipe without eggs (because of salmonella). I though no eggs- no problem.

Here is a recipe I am going to try this weekend, taken from egglesscooking.com. I will make sure to let you know how it goes, since you will be sitting on the edges of your seats in anticipation.

Butter, softened – 2 sticks 

Granulated Sugar – 1/2 cup

Sweetened Condensed Milk – 1/2 cup 

Vanilla Extract – 1/2 teaspoon 

All Purpose Flour – 2.25 cup 

Baking Powder – 1 teaspoon

Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips/chunks  – 1.75 cups

Nuts – Optional 

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
2. Grease baking sheets or line it with parchment paper.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and creamy (for 5 minutes).
4. Pour in the condensed milk, vanilla extract and beat to combine.
5. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder and combine well.
6. Stir into the butter mixture, then add the chocolate chips, nuts (if using).
7. Combine it well using a spatula. Don’t beat it.
8. Take a tablespoonful of dough, roll it and flatten it using your fingers. Grease the tablespoon, so that the dough will fall off easily.
9. Bake it for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown. (The color check can be done if using all purpose flour only. Mine were done at 17 minutes).
10. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes in the baking sheet itself. Don’t try to remove it. It may look unbaked but it will become hard on the baking sheet itself.
11. After 5-10 minutes, using a spatula transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

missing something

Getting ready to leave for the Peace Corps, well actually the entire application process too, allows room for guessing and making assumptions. It is an innate quality that everyone seems to possess, it makes coping with the unknown easier. I know that I have been imagining/ fantasizing/ pretending about living in Honduras and what life will be like, because no matter how much I read I really wont know until I am there.

In the same vein I have tried to guess what I will miss the most while I am in Central America. The obvious--friends and family-- jumps to the forefront, but what little things will leave a void in my day to day?

Here are my top 5 things (I think) I will miss the most:

1. Chocolate Chip Cookies

People who know me will understand why this is my number 1. Regardless of the situation I cannot turn down a cookie (except oatmeal rasin- gross). Maybe I will be surprised and find all of the ingredients that I need to keep my addiction alive and well.

2. Seamless Web

Non-New Yorkers might be confused as to what this AMAZING website does, in reality it saved me from eating peanut butter out of ajar for 3 meals a day. It is an online consortium of NYC restaurants, that lists menus, hours, prices, and gives a user the ability to order food right from the website. I could go on about how much I actually enjoy seamless web but that might being to sound pathetic.

3. Long Showers
                                       

I like to consider myself environmentally conscious, and strive to have the smallest carbon footprint possible. But, I have a deep dark secret... I adore long showers. I find them extremely relaxing and a way to clear my head. I know that I will not have the ability to linger in the shower, which I am slowly coming to terms with.

4. Sushi

                                          

This is pretty self-explanatory, the type of food that I will miss the most is Japanese.

5. Trashy TV (no judgement allowed)

                                         

 I know you might not want to admit it but, trashy TV is great to watch. It doesn't require brain power to watch, there is no overarching theme to grasp, and the dialog can be understood my a kinder- gardener. It is a great stress-reliever and pick me up, all rolled into one.

Getting a little anxious

Right now I am 11 days away from packing up my apartment in NYC and lugging all of it across the country to Colorado. Despite how fun a cross country trip sounds, I do not think having a U-Haul as your means of transportation is part of that idyllic journey. Trying to move all of my junk cheaply has left me with no other option but to drive across 3/4 of America, luckily my friend Anne has decided to trek the 27 hours with me. We are looking forward to our pit-stops in Cincinnati, Des Moines, and Omaha, where we can....

What is actually is making me the most anxious is packing, because I haven't started.

Right now I am in the time period where I still need things day to day so I cannot pack everything, but I am slowly creeping up on D day and HAVE to have everything packed.

Instead of getting anxious about the drive, I think that I am going to look up exciting destinations in the mid-west  to stop. Anyone have suggestions?

Haiti

I feel so helpless watching the images of the Haitian Earthquake and have been trying to figure out how I can contribute to the aid going to our neighbor. The America Red Cross has come up with a great way to raise funds for Haiti relief efforts, by texting Haiti to 90-999 $10 will be donated and show up one your phone bill. Through this effort they have already raised more than $3 Million as of 9am.

There are other ways to help and find out information about the progress of the recovery efforts at http://www.whitehouse.gov/.

Send me packing

In an attempt to control the millions of things that I have to do before I leave for Honduras, I have tried to create lists of what to pack, do, and prep. Needless to say I know have a pile of lists to sort through. I think that every volunteer wants to pack perfectly and efficiently, but there exists a paradox when trying to conquer "the packing list."

The more research you do, the long your list grows.

I have read to pack: spices, voltage stabilizers, pots and pans, radios, ziplock bags, duct tape, computers, cameras, batteries, a headlamp, a money belt, Leatherman, small travel alarm clock and extra batteries, a pocket-size Spanish-English dictionary, an ipod, an external hard drive, a convertor kit, binoculars, water bottle, umbrella's, sheets, boots, tarps, sleeping bags... and that doesn't even include clothing!

Right now my list looks like I am going to live somewhere that stores have not been invented yet. I obviously need to make some edits and think about if I am really going to use an umbrella. Now I just have to figure out where to draw the line.


ps- knit one, pearl two