Happy Holidays (belated)

I know, people are complaining that I never update my blog...despite all my best intentions of posting regularly, I have always manage to find something else to do while online. I apologize :)
So, here's an update:
The holidays have come and gone, I hope everyone had a wonderful time. I know I did.....
My Thanksgiving was spent with two other volunteers vacationing in Guatemala. We hiked an active volcano, jumped off some waterfalls, held tarantulas, went to Mayan ruins, and just generally had a great time. Guatemala is a beautiful place, and it was amazing to see how the culture varied so much from Honduras, even though they are such close neighbors.
Christmas was also wonderful. My friends in the US (who I really can't thank enough) gave me the best present ever: a plane ticket to come home. I got to spend a week back in the states hanging out with friends and family, I even got to build a snowlady! It was a great trip and I felt so lucky to have a chance to see everyone for the holidays.
New Years I was back in Honduras in an apartment style hotel complex with some of my friends. It was beautiful and sunny (quite the switch from the blizzards in Michigan), and we spent our time just laying around and swimming in the pool.
So there you have a brief rundown of my holidays.... the last few months have really been flying by, so I can only imagine how quickly April is going to arrive when I have to say goodbye to Honduras and move back to the states. There are really no words to describe how it feels to know that I am almost finished with my time here. In a matter of 3 months I will be saying goodbye to the place that has been my home for 2 years, and return to my life in the USA. It's exciting and terrifying all at the same time.
In the next months, I will be working on finishing up my ongoing projects. My favorite project right now is the girls group that another volunteer and I have in a local village. Twice a week, I head up the mountain and we do a class/session on a health topic. It's been alot of fun, and really exciting to see the girls open up and feel confident to ask us all kinds of questions that they might not be able to ask anyone else. Our plan is to finish with the group before February when school starts again, although the coffee harvest has started so attendence is already being affected as the girls have to help their families with the picking. It's been alot of fun working with them though, and I will be sad to see the group end. Hopefully, we will be able to keep up some sort of meeting time throughout the school year, even after I leave.
So there you have it. My last few months summarized in a few paragraphs. I really hope everyone enjoyed their holidays, thanks for all the messages and cards, it's always wonderful to hear from people at home.
Also, let's keep the people of Haiti in our thoughts and prayers. It's horrible to see the devastation of that earthquake in a place already so devastated by poverty.
Peace