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The contents of this Web site are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Happy Holidays!

Tomorrow I will be on my way out to Ocotepeque to celebrate Christmas with some friends. People keep asking me if I´m sad not to be at home, and the honest answer is that right now I can´t even believe it´s already December! It´s defenitely sad when I think about people at home celebrating together and getting to see eachother, however, it is very hard for me to truly think of it as Christmas here because it is about 70 degrees and sunny...I´ve never lived in a place where there is no snow during December! I´ve tried to get some spirit in my apartment with lots of xmas music, a mini tree and lots of cookies, but it still feels a bit false. Maybe we will do some caroling in Ocotepeque? :)

I hope everyone at home is having a great holiday season! I miss everyone....
Happy Holidays!!
love,
me

Monday, December 15, 2008

Some pictures of life as a PCV

What!? Another blog post already? This must be a new record for me! Well, people have been requesting more updates and pictures...So here are some pictures of random things I have been involved in over the last few months. Enjoy!





1. The Copan ruins. We were there for a big (unofficial) PC Halloween party. It was great fun, and the ruins are beautiful!


2. The Abstinence Team. This is us at the workshop we organized and facilitated earlier in the fall. It was very fun and an overall success!



3. At the workshop, giving the anatomy lesson.


4. Just a picture of beautiful Tela on the north coast. I've been there twice in the last two months...and can't wait to go back!




5. This is Matt and the midwife from Gracias at the Midwives workshop we had. It was put on by the women's health team, of which I am a part.

6. The midwife who Matt brought to the workshop...she was the sweetest, most amazing woman!






7. Women's Health Team (minus Laura) at the workshop...taking a break between sessions!!

8. Sarah and I sorting beans to cook :)






Friday, December 12, 2008

Thanksgiving and Visitors

I realize that is has been an abnormally long time since my last blog post...but the last few months have been incredibly busy. I would try to catch everyone up on everything that has happened in the last two months, but it would take too long. Instead, I want to summarize the two weeks of wild and crazy adventures my parents had here with me (by "wild and crazy" I mean pretty average by Honduras standards) :)
They flew in the week of Thanksgiving, and we spent the first few days of their visit up on the North Coast (yes, Honduras has a north coast, look at a map) trying to enjoy some sun and snorkeling…unfortunately it rained the entire time so what we really ended up enjoying was our hotel room. I am still really dissapointed that we didn't get to do the wildlife tours and things, but I think my parents were just so excited to be here, and overwhelmed by all the new sites that it didn't really make any difference to them what we did.
After the days of rain, we came back to Gracias to celebrate Thanksgiving, and prepare for World Aids Day. Our Thanksgiving celebration involved mashed potatoes, chicken and pumpkin pie….it was delicious, and my parents were very great and patient with me as I had to be running around town preparing stuff for World Aids Day (which was December 1st). They also tried very hard to use Spanish and improve their vocabulary (I will refrain from making any jokes about this…they did good). They got to see me do a number of different projects and presentations, and participated in our World Aids Day activities; which included a march around town and a testimonial given by a women living with HIV. In a side note, I must say that I was generally impressed by how well everything turned out for the Aids Day activities, it never ceases to amaze me how things can get planned in what can only be described as veryvery last minute preparations…and yet turn out spectacularly well.
As for the rest of my parents visit, we tried to see all the important sights around town here, and took a trip up to a town in the mountain where they make traditional pottery. Although I didn't take them to many places around the country, I really enjoyed being able to show them my life here. It’s very weird having a life here that people at home have never seen, having visitors come down creates a cool bridge between two very distinct parts of my life. (That being said, I should also add a quick thank you to Maureen for making the trip down a month ago, I can’t begin to explain how much it means to have people from home come here.) It was sad to see each of them leave, but very satisfying trips all together.
If you want more details, or want to hear about the trip from my parents' point of view, I'm sure they would have some interesting thoughts! Hopefully they feel like they got a good feel for life down here...and I don't think they were just teasing me when they said that they hope to come back!

Other Important News in my life:
I will be in DC in January! Sarah, Matt and I decided that the inauguration was just too exciting an event in our country’s history to miss. We are flying in for four days to celebrate with the 4 million other people who will be in DC. If anyone is planning on being there, let me know! Im going to try to have a prepay cell phone or something that I can be reached at. Yea!!

Christmas/birthday wish list: Granola, granola bars, chocolate, art supplies, dried fruit, movies, magazines, books, candles, lotion, nail polish…. (stay tuned for more updates)
My address (as a reminder) is as follows:

Voluntaria de Cuerpo de Paz

Gracias, Lempira

Honduras, Centro America