Home Sweet Home

Last week, I officially moved into my very own apartment. The last 5 months have been filled with so much moving around and temporary housing that it has made a huge difference on my morale and mental "settling in" to finally have a place to call my home. The apartment is very nice, although the inside is painted bright pink (for those of you who know me well, you will understand how much this goes against my nature: I was the girl who ordered the hotwheels happy meals instead of barbie just to prove a point)....One of my friends here saw it and said she felt like she was in an eight year old's bedroom..haha. That being said, I really do love the place. It is the perfect size for me, and the shower is warm (very important). My neighbors all seem very nice, and have gone out of their way to offer me help with moving and to make me feel welcome. My favorite part about finally having my own space is that I have unlimited access to the kitchen, and don't have to feel like I'm in someone elses way everytime I try to make something. The only problem so far (besides the pink) is the fact that to cook you need utensiles (knives, cutting boards, pots/pans) of which I have none. I am slowly working on accumulating such tools...hopefully by the time my parents come visit I will at least have a pan so I can show them my bean making skills. All in all, life is great in the new apartment, and I can't wait to have some visitors to share it with!
As for work, projects continue to grow, and change. A big project I have been working on is as a new member of the Abstinence Team (Please hold all judgement against abstinence programs until the end of this explanation!). The A-team has created a manual designed to be used with groups of young girls as they meet on a regular basis. I had all kinds of preconcieved notions about abstinence programs (as per my work/life in the states) that were pretty negative. I remember thinking how ridiculous it was to see people prancing around screaming "abstinence ONLY!" to groups of teens in the states, many of whom were already having sex, and some of whom already had kids. What they needed was information about safer sex, because obviously they had already made the choice to start having it. That being said, I think this program is very different, and approaches abstinence from a different angle. First of all, it targets an age (hopefully) before sexual initiation. Ideally, this means we can equipe kids with tools to at least delay their first sexual experience for a few years. This is so important when there are such high rates of pregnancy in teens....and yes, I do think talking about contraception is really important too (I do lots of that in my community)...but let's save that for kids who are a bit older, or make it apart of different programs. The different sessions in the manual all have the underlying theme of empowerment, which I applaud. It gives girls (and boys; a male oriented manual is in the works) tools to improve self-esteem, communication, and decision making abilities. I think young women around the world (US included) are in desperate need of more programs encouraging them to develop strong self-identities, self esteem, and goals for their futures. So, I guess this is my way of doing my part! We will be leading a kind of conference in a few weeks to teach a group of Peace Corps Volunteers and their Honduran counterparts how to use the manual in their communities. It is certainly not a flawless program, but I am excited to be a part of the team who is working on it, and also to use the program in my community. I hope I did the manual justice in this explanation... :) we shall see!
What else has been happening here? Well, I still work in the Youth Clinic on thursdays...although the past few weeks it has been closed when I have gone in. I'm also still going every week to the Casa Materna to talk with the pregnant women about things like Family Planning and hygiene. This is still one of my favorite projects.... What I love about working with these women is that they are a genuinely captive audience; whether this is out of desperation for some form of entertainment, or actual interest is up for debate...but either way, they tell me that they love it when I come. They ask questions, and I can almost see the lightbulbs above their heads when we talk about something that is new to them. They care about their children and families very very much, and want to do the right things for them. It can be hard because there are certain things that have become such an innate part of everyone's lives and culture (ie giving husbands first dibs on all the meat), but I know they hear me when I say that they need to eat some chicken or cow too! I said something yesterday about how I know men work really hard on the land, but it's pretty dang hard to push a baby out too...so they need to keep their bodies healthy and strong as well (this earned me some giggles and smiles). Who knows if I am actually doing anything that makes a difference in the long run...but I am learning and growing so much here, and I'm pretty sure at least one or two people are hearing what I say and will maybe even take it and apply it in their lives; can I really ask for anything more than that? I'm content and happy.

Well, this was a long blog entry...but I hadn't written in a while and thought I should try to make up for it! I hope you are all doing well at home, with your yummy cheeseburgers and big leafy green salads.
Love love love to all

Baby weighing

I have officially begun the process of integrating and learning my way around my new community. In terms of living situations, I have all the basic ammenities; I have electricity (almost all the time) and running water (again, almost all the time). I have access to the internet, and plenty of restaurants to choose from if I want to go out to eat. There are also 4 other volunteers in the town (from different projects), so I have the opportunity to speak english and relax with them if I need to. It feels very different then what people picture when you say "Peace Corps", and that is something I have had to get used to. However, I do feel very much like Gracias is the place for me, and I love it here. Despite the fact that I have access to all kinds of services, the general situation in Gracias and the surrounding areas has many needs in terms of health (and other general) services. The department (like a small state) of Lempira, of which Gracias is the capital, is the poorest department in Honduras. In my area, there are high rates of malnutrition, problems with hygiene, lack of access to drinkable water, HIV/AIDS...etc. Which results in many work opportunities for me, other volunteers and NGOs in the area. This month, I have been dividing my time between various projects. It looks like I will be spending a significant amount of time working with the World Vision office on their baby weighing campaigns in the rural areas. Each community has one day a month when all the mothers are supposed to bring any of their children, who are under 5, to get weighed by the community workers. They are then supposed to recieve counseling depending on their childs weight, and whether they have met appropriate weightgain goals based on their age. Unfortunately, it is alot of work for the community workers and World Vision, so hopefully I can serve as an added body and resource in terms of both doing the actual weighing and the nutrition counseling. It is right up my alley and I really enjoy the time I get to spend out in the more rural areas in the mountains. In general there is alot of need here and just not enough services, although there are a number of organizations and groups of people who are working in the area. I am trying to learn as much as I can about these projects so that my work over the next two years can be a support and compliment to the things that are already being done. The nutrition work is definitely not my only project, but I want to try and blog about my different projects separately as they grow and I learn more about them. Hope this gives you all a better idea of my life here...
As usual, much love to everyone at home.
Letters/packages can now be sent to my new address here in Gracias (yes, it's true; there is no street address or number)

Voluntaria de Cuerpo de Paz
Gracias, Lempira
Honduras, Centro America

Pictures from the end of FBT and Swearing In

The first group of pictures is all from our Swearing-In Ceremony at the US Embassy. I have many, many pictures from the day...but these are some of my favorites. They are of:
1. The Health Men
2. Me and Sarah
3. Travis, me and Swish waiting for some food
4. Krisitina and I playing behind the head table
5. The group of us who lived in Yarumela (the Yarumelons)
6. The whole health group
7. Adam and I being cheesy
8. Me, Kristina and Katie being very proud new volunteers!

I decided to include a picture of the amazing (and giant) mango that I enjoyed on my bedroom floor. Yum. Also, a picture of a poster I made to use during my hygiene lessons...Im proud. :) ha

The rest of the pictures are from my going away party in Yarumela, It was very sad to say goodbye to my wonderful family! They cooked ALOT of food and we just enjoyed being together one last time. Then, the morning when we left, the entire town (or everyone who we knew) came out to the corner in Yarumela to see us off in the bus...it was amazing.

I'm a Volunteer!

The Friday before last was the official end of the Hondu 12 training cycle (hooray!) We all went in to Tegucigalpa in the morning, (dressed up very nicely, I should add) and spent the morning at the Peace Corps office getting more pre-service information and tours. After we were done, they took us to the US Embassy where we sang the Honduran and US National Anthems, introduced ourselves, and finally took an oath and became official Peace Corps Volunteers (to summarize). It was all very exciting, and followed by some excellent Tacos :) We also got to spend a few hours at the ambassador's house, although he wasn't home, we played some volleyball and swam in the pool. It was a really nice day...
After swearing-in, all that was really left to do was celebrate and say goodbye. It was sad to see some friends go, but I know we will all stay in touch. I'm really looking forward to being able to collaborate with my friends and other volunteers on projects in the future. Some of us are already planning a project together, so I know I will see them soon!
After finally arriving at my site, it was time to get oriented. Last week, I spent most of my time being taken up into little communities in the mountains (just to get acquanted), and wandering around Gracias trying to orient myself. I also spent a good amount of time trying to introduce myself to potential community partners, or others who might have work for me to do. I am very happy with my placement here, and can't wait to become more integrated into the community and start to work with the neighboring communities. There is alot of potential work for me here, and I hope to get myself as involved as possible in already exisiting projects, while also spending time developing some of my own.
I will try and be a more frequent blogger while in site...(this is per some requests from parents!) Thanks for continued thoughts and prayers. Love to everyone at home, and Happy Mothers Day to everyone (including pregnant friends/cousins!) Miss you all

Gracias

Yes, thats right, the name of my site is Gracias! I am very excited to be passing this news along, it was a long wait, but also very worthwhile. We were all incredibly anxious on Monday morning while waiting to find out our sites, and I got the distinct impression that our supervisors like to see us squirm, and therefore dragged it out even longer! :) But, we were each finally handed a manilla envelope with our name on it, and (on the count of three) all tore into them to find out what our lives had in store for us over the next two years. I was absolutely thrilled when I saw my site; it is in a region of the country that I really like, has lots of projects that I am really excited about, and is close to where a number of my friends were placed. Although, I do want to give a shout-out to those people who were placed farther away (they know who they are), because I will miss them very much...its sad to get split up after 2 months of being together everyday...but, it is for the purpose of finally starting our work in the communities, which is why we all came here :)
I am currently in Gracias, for a short site visit, learning my way around and meeting the counterparts with whom I will work. There are a number of projects I would like to get involved in, but we will see how things start out once I officially begin my service. Everyone here has been really nice and welcoming, and I can´t wait to move here and get started! However, there are some things that we need to take care of in Santa Lucia and Teguc. before our service can officially start. This week will be full of final training stuff, and our Swearing In ceremony in Tegucigalpa (hooray!). Then, next weekend, we all make our final and permanent move to our sites. I feel very ready to start my service, which is a testament to the training we have been giving. Its hard to imagine how you can make someone feel so prepared to start working in such a foreign situation, but somehow, they do it! :) Keep us all in your thoughts this week as we close our time together and take the big leap out into the unknown!

PS. Thanks to my parents for the packages and Sara, Troy and Rishi for the awesome card. Love you guys!

more pictures!

Thought I should post some more pictures for everyone! Hope you all enjoy, I plan on writing more next week when I find out my site.

The first two are just to give a glimpse of what life looks like for us here. The landscape shot is actually from Santa Lucia (where we will be returning tomorrow!)









The picture of food is my very first hand-made batch of tortillas! (yay me!) It's also a shot of a typical dinner here. Also thought I should include a picture from our very first Honduran rain storm. Joel and Kristina were nice enough to walk me home to shut my window...but we all got drenched in the process!

The last two pictures are of what happens when you make cookies here! haha Sarah, Kristina and I made a batch a few weeks ago, and they were eaten within 15 minutes. The last picture is from my cooking for our going away party. I had a whole herd of helpers for my chocolate chip cookie making, and again, they were a big hit! :)

Waiting Game

I feel like I have alot to catch everyone up on, so I will do my best to summarize what's been happening since my last post!
Last week, we had our final Tech Interviews with the Program coordinators who will determine our site placement. This monday, we will finally know where they are sending us to live out our two years of service. I am so excited to find out my new home, and counterpart agency with whom I will be working. Its almost time! :)

As much as I am looking forward to finding out my site, I also can't believe that we are almost done with FBT. Next weekend, we move back to Santa Lucia. It's going to be sad to leave Yarumela, my family is very sweet and the town has grown on me! The trainees who live in Yarumela have gotten really close, and its going to be odd to be all spread (geographically) out again in Santa Lucia, and then be split-up and dispersed throughout the country. Right now we all live within a block and a half radius of eachother, and spend many evenings sitting on the corner just chatting. The weekend before last, we went (with some of the rest of the group) to the river outside Yarumela. It was a great day of just hanging out on the banks, listening to music and eating mango sauce. The following work week was good, we had our training and practicum in Men's Health, which was interesting. I was actually really nervous before we had to do our practicum, which was a HIV/men's health presentation in a local agriculture school. I think I was nervous because I have never worked with large groups of men before. It's usually been kids, or women... But, the presentation went pretty well, and I actually enjoyed myself! These experiences are definitely teaching me not to make any assumptions about what I want to do, or will be good at doing, until I try it at least once.

Last weekend was a nice relaxing time. Saturday a group of us from Yarumela and La Paz spent the day at a pool in Comayagua. It was a beautiful pool and we had a great time spending the day in the water and sun. Sunday was a lazy day at home hanging out with the family...And then came Monday, which was the start of our last week of FBT! Amazing how time flew by. Yesterday, Sarah and I completed our Avanzada project at the Casa Materna of the hospital. We have given a total of three presentations to the women living there. We have discussed family planning, breastfeeding, and nutrition. Also, yesterday was our last meeting with the group from the hosipital who supports the Casa. They brought us food and thanked us for working with them. It was really cool because both Sarah and I really enjoyed spending time at the Casa, and I feel like it was a great opportunity for us to practice and learn about presentations and working with a population of pregnant moms. So, it was really cool to also hear the group say that they appreciated our help, it was definitely a situation that everyone seemed to get something out of! As for the rest of this week, we have our going away party with our families tomorrow, and so have been planning and cooking the last few days. I am making some dessert and fruit salad, hopefully everyone likes it!
I think that is about all I will write for today... I want to post more pictures soon, but for some reason things it's not working right now. As usual, Im thinking of everyone. I got my very first package in the mail yesterday, Thanks Mom! Miss you all, think of me as we go through the mixed emotions of saying goodbye and moving onto the final phase of training.
Much love to all.