So alot has been going on in this last month. I am finally getting back to normal here and tying up loose ends with my house and issues of security. By the first of the year I hope to have all the problems behind me and able to move forward.
I am continuing to work with World Vision and this past month went to five communities meeting with people that will be helping me with my next project. I am planning to work in eight communities weighing and measuring the children to see what kind of problems in terms of nutrition they are facing. From there I will be able to evaluate what will be the best way to help and increase the health. I have also helped out a friend with a project of improved stoves in a number of communities. The stoves are called "fogones" and I plan on posting the pictures soon, if not today.
I have also updated the photos that I have and posted alot of Morazán and plan to put all that I have when I find the time, and remember to bring my camera.
The weather has been really bad lately. For the last week it has rained non stop here and I mean non stop. Alot of the buses are not running because of the amount of rain we have had. It has finally cooled down, but definately to the extreme. I did not think it was possible for Morazán to get this cold. In the days it is in the 60s and 70s but the problem and issue that is difficult to explain is the building structures. There is no real form of insulation and the windows are completely differe and never completely close they are like permanent blind; so in saying all of this it is very cold especially at night. And it has really affected me in terms of health because everyday I have a sore throat and problems with my nose. I hoping this will pass soon because I am tired of sneezing!!
So that is all for me now, until next time.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Time in the good ole` US of A
Alot has happened since the last time I was on here. I will do my best not to leave anything out.
First and foremost Erin and Ryan got married and it was a beautiful wedding. I was honored to be a part of it and it also gave me a great reason to go home for awhile and visit everyone. So I went home August 7 and was supposed to return on the 14th to Honduras. My stay of one week turned into almost 2 months. The day before returning I woke up and couldn´t walk on my right leg, I went to the doctor and come to find out had a superficial blood clot. Because of this traveling was out of the question. I was finally medically cleared on the 20th of September and returned to Honduras on the 21st!!!
Since I have been back I have been given a site mate. Her name is Ana, she´s from Missouri but has lived all over, and she is working with Youth Development. I am excited to have another volunteer in Morazán and hope that we are able to colaborate with our projects.
Things with my house are a continuous work in progress. I have decided to stay in the same house and hoping to be able to have all of the modifications required by Peace Corps, for security purposes, finished soon.
Work is finally starting to come in thankfully. I am going to start working in six communities helping with the nutrition programs and giving talks to parents about some of the better ways to help get nutrients to their childrens diets. I am looking forward to this program and it appears as though this six communities will be my responsibility solo. I have also been teaching english once a week at one of the World Vision offices. I must say it is not my favorite thing to do, but after the class starts I have alot of fun, its just all of the preparation that is no fun at all, and I never thought it would be so hard to teach a language that I am fluent in. It looks as though we might be starting an HIV/AIDS support group also, but that is a very very slow process and I am not sure if it will really take off or not during my time here.
Ok I think I might be done with the update, it didn´t even take as long as I thought it would. I hope everyone is well on the homefront. I am sure the weather there is alot better than here. We are in the middle of the rainy season so just about everyday it rains atleast once. Unfortunately I happen to live in one of the few humid areas in Honduras and because of that the rain doesn´t tend to help with the sweat. I sweat non-stop here. I bought an inside thermometer for my house while I was in the states and I have it in my kitchen, one of the coolest spots in my house, and it amazes me that I still have not seen it get below 75 and that is at the coolest time of the day. The funny part is that I am completely comftorable when it is 75 in my house to me that is cool and I look forward to it. Another volunteer told me that October and November are supposed to be the worst months for hurricanes and that people in her town said that we should expect 5 more before the season is over. Oh yeah and supposedly the department of Yoro is the only one in the country that has earthquakes!! Oh what luck I have. I have actually not felt anything although there are other parts of this area that have had a couple of house fall to the ground.
That is all for me right now. I love you all, keep me posted.
First and foremost Erin and Ryan got married and it was a beautiful wedding. I was honored to be a part of it and it also gave me a great reason to go home for awhile and visit everyone. So I went home August 7 and was supposed to return on the 14th to Honduras. My stay of one week turned into almost 2 months. The day before returning I woke up and couldn´t walk on my right leg, I went to the doctor and come to find out had a superficial blood clot. Because of this traveling was out of the question. I was finally medically cleared on the 20th of September and returned to Honduras on the 21st!!!
Since I have been back I have been given a site mate. Her name is Ana, she´s from Missouri but has lived all over, and she is working with Youth Development. I am excited to have another volunteer in Morazán and hope that we are able to colaborate with our projects.
Things with my house are a continuous work in progress. I have decided to stay in the same house and hoping to be able to have all of the modifications required by Peace Corps, for security purposes, finished soon.
Work is finally starting to come in thankfully. I am going to start working in six communities helping with the nutrition programs and giving talks to parents about some of the better ways to help get nutrients to their childrens diets. I am looking forward to this program and it appears as though this six communities will be my responsibility solo. I have also been teaching english once a week at one of the World Vision offices. I must say it is not my favorite thing to do, but after the class starts I have alot of fun, its just all of the preparation that is no fun at all, and I never thought it would be so hard to teach a language that I am fluent in. It looks as though we might be starting an HIV/AIDS support group also, but that is a very very slow process and I am not sure if it will really take off or not during my time here.
Ok I think I might be done with the update, it didn´t even take as long as I thought it would. I hope everyone is well on the homefront. I am sure the weather there is alot better than here. We are in the middle of the rainy season so just about everyday it rains atleast once. Unfortunately I happen to live in one of the few humid areas in Honduras and because of that the rain doesn´t tend to help with the sweat. I sweat non-stop here. I bought an inside thermometer for my house while I was in the states and I have it in my kitchen, one of the coolest spots in my house, and it amazes me that I still have not seen it get below 75 and that is at the coolest time of the day. The funny part is that I am completely comftorable when it is 75 in my house to me that is cool and I look forward to it. Another volunteer told me that October and November are supposed to be the worst months for hurricanes and that people in her town said that we should expect 5 more before the season is over. Oh yeah and supposedly the department of Yoro is the only one in the country that has earthquakes!! Oh what luck I have. I have actually not felt anything although there are other parts of this area that have had a couple of house fall to the ground.
That is all for me right now. I love you all, keep me posted.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Almost at the 6 month mark!!!
It's been about a month since I last updated this site. Honestly alot has happened in a month so I will do my best to give a brief overview.
In the beginning of July I moved into my own place, which was wonderful! Its a cute little house with 2 bedrooms a bathroom, kitchen, dining area and living room.... definately not the exact thought of a peace corps volunteers life. Slowly but surely I have been filling it with the necesities. There is a lot more to go, but I will get there.
This month I also started working with a 5th grade class in one of the aldeas near by. I am giving classes once a week for an hour about self esteem, good decision making, sex education. A few weeks ago proved to be quite a challenge.... funny story: the teacher decided since I was there he would be able to go to the doctors, well he left me with 50 fifth graders and lets just say as soon as he left all hell broke loose. They all started going crazy. Between the fighting, screaming, running, etc... I thought I was going to have a nervous break down. I began screaming and when that had no affect I tried the opposite, I told them I would wait for everyone to quite down before we started.. well that never happened either, so I dismissed everyone early and I returned to Morazan to cool down. This was not an experience I hope to relive in the near future.
Another project that I have started helping with is distributing medical supplies in the local aldeas with one of the ladies I work with. This has proven to be very rewarding as well as sad. I have been able to see first hand a little of the poverty in this country and the amount of help that is truly needed. Many children are malnurished ( not sure if I spelled that right) and deprived of the basic necesities.. we see alot of childeren with skin problems from bathing in the rivers, the little things that each one of us takes for granted is what is most needed here.
English classes have begun.. :( I put it off as long as possible but it was inevitable. I have only had one class but it is going to be a once a week project.
Last weekend I got sick and ended up in the hospital for 2 nights. Turns out I had a bacterial infections. Not fun at all... puking uncontrollably on top of diarrhea (spell check). I am better at this point.
I have also had a security scare. A man got into my house and was hiding in my kitchen. Still don't know how he got in or how long he was there for. Apparently he is known in the town as the peeping Tom. I screamed when I saw him and he took off running. I called friends and they came to my rescue along with neighbors. And that brings us to the present. I am in Teguc (the capital) and have talked with the country director along with head of security, who also came to my site for two days to go over everything. I was given many options and have decided to stay in my site because I have truly grown to call it home. I plan on changing houses just for the sake of not having to reenact the event every time I enter the house. Peace Corps has been absolutely wonderful through everything. I do not want anyone to worry, I know that is a hard thing to do, but I really am well and am just thankful that nothing else happened.
I will be coming home Aug 7-14 so if anyone wants to see me let me know because I want to do as much as possible in this short period.
I believe you are all filled in on my life thus far!!!
In the beginning of July I moved into my own place, which was wonderful! Its a cute little house with 2 bedrooms a bathroom, kitchen, dining area and living room.... definately not the exact thought of a peace corps volunteers life. Slowly but surely I have been filling it with the necesities. There is a lot more to go, but I will get there.
This month I also started working with a 5th grade class in one of the aldeas near by. I am giving classes once a week for an hour about self esteem, good decision making, sex education. A few weeks ago proved to be quite a challenge.... funny story: the teacher decided since I was there he would be able to go to the doctors, well he left me with 50 fifth graders and lets just say as soon as he left all hell broke loose. They all started going crazy. Between the fighting, screaming, running, etc... I thought I was going to have a nervous break down. I began screaming and when that had no affect I tried the opposite, I told them I would wait for everyone to quite down before we started.. well that never happened either, so I dismissed everyone early and I returned to Morazan to cool down. This was not an experience I hope to relive in the near future.
Another project that I have started helping with is distributing medical supplies in the local aldeas with one of the ladies I work with. This has proven to be very rewarding as well as sad. I have been able to see first hand a little of the poverty in this country and the amount of help that is truly needed. Many children are malnurished ( not sure if I spelled that right) and deprived of the basic necesities.. we see alot of childeren with skin problems from bathing in the rivers, the little things that each one of us takes for granted is what is most needed here.
English classes have begun.. :( I put it off as long as possible but it was inevitable. I have only had one class but it is going to be a once a week project.
Last weekend I got sick and ended up in the hospital for 2 nights. Turns out I had a bacterial infections. Not fun at all... puking uncontrollably on top of diarrhea (spell check). I am better at this point.
I have also had a security scare. A man got into my house and was hiding in my kitchen. Still don't know how he got in or how long he was there for. Apparently he is known in the town as the peeping Tom. I screamed when I saw him and he took off running. I called friends and they came to my rescue along with neighbors. And that brings us to the present. I am in Teguc (the capital) and have talked with the country director along with head of security, who also came to my site for two days to go over everything. I was given many options and have decided to stay in my site because I have truly grown to call it home. I plan on changing houses just for the sake of not having to reenact the event every time I enter the house. Peace Corps has been absolutely wonderful through everything. I do not want anyone to worry, I know that is a hard thing to do, but I really am well and am just thankful that nothing else happened.
I will be coming home Aug 7-14 so if anyone wants to see me let me know because I want to do as much as possible in this short period.
I believe you are all filled in on my life thus far!!!
Thursday, June 28, 2007
WORK
So it appears as though I might end up doing something here after all. Everything is definately a process here and finding work is no exception. I am going to start working with a 5th grade class next friday and this week I started going to the aldeas (small communities) to help with the weighing of children and distribution of medicine. From this I think I am going to get alot more work, because there appears to be a real need for education of nutrition and hygene.
I am taking it all one day at a time. Every day is completely different in terms of my emotions. But I am pushing through it and the people that I work with have been great in supporting me. I move into my own place this weekend. This will be another big change for me, it is going to be great I know but going to take alot of getting used to because I only know how to live with families in this country.
I am good, I love you all and appreciate all the support that you have given me.
I am taking it all one day at a time. Every day is completely different in terms of my emotions. But I am pushing through it and the people that I work with have been great in supporting me. I move into my own place this weekend. This will be another big change for me, it is going to be great I know but going to take alot of getting used to because I only know how to live with families in this country.
I am good, I love you all and appreciate all the support that you have given me.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Countdown
Went to Tela this past weekend to see what I have been missing not living on the beach. Well it started out crazy with me missing my bus so I had to wait most of the day and then went to Ceiba with a girl from the office. I spent the night in her house and the next morning went to Tela to meet my friend that lives near by. We hung out on the beach and then had lunch on a restaurant on right there on the beach, after about a half an hour a guy strolled by on a bike and stole my friends wallet. She started running after him, but didn´t have any luck, from there we went to the police station. When all this was over we just hung out like bums, went to dinner and then went to bed early. The next day we hung out on the beach for a few hours until the heat was just unbearable and I decided to head back early to Morazan... What an adventure!!
So far my time in Honduras has consisted of:
*1 bus ride where a child puked on me
* billions of tortillas
*7 books, 5 of which were in May and the other 2 in June (didn´t read during training)
*2 trips to Pizza Hut
*1 trip to Tela
*3 packages that were sent to me but that I still have not received
*1 year 10 months and a few days till I move back to the states... that is not exact but close enough
and I know there is much more but I have had a brain freeze...
The heat is incredible here and that is not in a good way. I wish I had a thermometer (or whatever that thing is called that tells you the temperature) to know exactly what I was dealing with here. Sweating has become my favorite past time. ITS HOT HERE. I don´t think it gets this hot in the states. I´m really not exaggerating.
So far my time in Honduras has consisted of:
*1 bus ride where a child puked on me
* billions of tortillas
*7 books, 5 of which were in May and the other 2 in June (didn´t read during training)
*2 trips to Pizza Hut
*1 trip to Tela
*3 packages that were sent to me but that I still have not received
*1 year 10 months and a few days till I move back to the states... that is not exact but close enough
and I know there is much more but I have had a brain freeze...
The heat is incredible here and that is not in a good way. I wish I had a thermometer (or whatever that thing is called that tells you the temperature) to know exactly what I was dealing with here. Sweating has become my favorite past time. ITS HOT HERE. I don´t think it gets this hot in the states. I´m really not exaggerating.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
JUST NOT THE SAME
Almost 2 months now since arriving in my site. Everyday is different, some good, some bad. There is not a moment that goes by that I am not asking myself what in the heck am I doing here. That is not to say that I am regreting my decision to be here or that I want to go home, all I am saying is, wow this is a different experience.
I am in the process of finding a place to live and it is turning out to be quite a task. I am working with World Vision as of right now, but it is more like I spend alot of time in the offices with not so much work. The phrase poco a poca comes to mind right now, which signifies, little by little. It is such a hard thing to be patient and realize that everything is a process. I am still trying to adapt to certain parts of the lifestyle; like how you are to say hello to every person that you pass on the street or you appear rude, when you go to someones house you stay for hours just talking, and of course time is of no importance here. In the states we are so used to everything being on time and having a schedule, that just does not translate here.
I miss everyone like crazy and wish that you could share this experience with me because I can´t put it into words what it is truly like here. I am becoming very independent and at the same time realizing how much I need people in my life. Life is just nothing without people to share it with. I am really trying to make friends with the people around me, but trust is a hard thing within another culture that I still do not fully understand. Everything in time
I am in the process of finding a place to live and it is turning out to be quite a task. I am working with World Vision as of right now, but it is more like I spend alot of time in the offices with not so much work. The phrase poco a poca comes to mind right now, which signifies, little by little. It is such a hard thing to be patient and realize that everything is a process. I am still trying to adapt to certain parts of the lifestyle; like how you are to say hello to every person that you pass on the street or you appear rude, when you go to someones house you stay for hours just talking, and of course time is of no importance here. In the states we are so used to everything being on time and having a schedule, that just does not translate here.
I miss everyone like crazy and wish that you could share this experience with me because I can´t put it into words what it is truly like here. I am becoming very independent and at the same time realizing how much I need people in my life. Life is just nothing without people to share it with. I am really trying to make friends with the people around me, but trust is a hard thing within another culture that I still do not fully understand. Everything in time
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
1 Week Down
So I have been in my site going on 2 weeks now and gradually things are getting better. Last week was pretty hard for me in the beginning, I was on the verge of quitting just because everything was so new and the fact that I am the only "gringa" in the town doesn´t help much either. This past weekend was Mothers Day here. Unlike in the states it is a huge deal here. Kids get out of school on thursday and friday to celebrate the entire weekend. On Sunday I was awoken at 4:30am by youth from the local church singing to my host mother for Mothers Day. There are parades, parties and alot of food in celebration of the mothers here. And yesterday I went to the health center and ended up going to one of the aldeas (small small villages) in search of children that had yet to recieve their vacinations.
It was very sad the living conditions that I came across on this trip. Everyday I learn alittle more about how truly poor this country is. The picture that you see on tv are not exagerating about poverty. For along time I thought that I would like to live in a country like this for the rest of my life, but as of right now 2 years looks to be sufficient. I have come to realize how much I appreciate the life I have been blessed to have and after this journey comes to an end I think I will be more than happy being the person that supports other people in this effort to help others because it is just too much for me.
Ok so that speal just came off as though I hate it here, and that is not the case, it is just something that I am truly adjusting to at a slow rate and the more I become involved the hard it becomes. Don´t get me wrong, I am happy to be here and eager to help I am just starting to realize that this is not the life I envision for myself forever. These 2 years should be sufficient. Who knows in 6 months I might feel differently.
Until next time, I am getting better at keeping you all posted and I have also updated my photos there are like 300 new ones or something like that. Enjoy!!
It was very sad the living conditions that I came across on this trip. Everyday I learn alittle more about how truly poor this country is. The picture that you see on tv are not exagerating about poverty. For along time I thought that I would like to live in a country like this for the rest of my life, but as of right now 2 years looks to be sufficient. I have come to realize how much I appreciate the life I have been blessed to have and after this journey comes to an end I think I will be more than happy being the person that supports other people in this effort to help others because it is just too much for me.
Ok so that speal just came off as though I hate it here, and that is not the case, it is just something that I am truly adjusting to at a slow rate and the more I become involved the hard it becomes. Don´t get me wrong, I am happy to be here and eager to help I am just starting to realize that this is not the life I envision for myself forever. These 2 years should be sufficient. Who knows in 6 months I might feel differently.
Until next time, I am getting better at keeping you all posted and I have also updated my photos there are like 300 new ones or something like that. Enjoy!!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Morazan, Yoro
Sorry that it has been so long since my last time I updated my site. My life has been a complete rollercoaster the last few weeks. So I´m going to start with where I left off!!
The tenth week of training we recieved our sites and I have been assigned to Morazan, Yora in the the northern part of Honduras. I went on my site visit Thursday 26 -Saturday 28. It was a bit overwhelming but a good chance to see a glimpse into my life for the next 2 years. After the site visits everyone returned to Santa Lucia for a closing of training. We all had to go through the immigration process and recieved our resident cards, we had our final spanish interviews and just reconnected with the other 2 groups. It was great to get a chance to catch up and hear all of the different stories people had to share. On Thursday the 3rd was the swearing in ceremony at the U.S. Embassy and after we all went to the Ambassador´s house to swim in his pool. All in all it was a good day with the exception that I lost my cell phone at the Embassy and had to go and buy another one. I talked with the ambassador after the ceremony and found out that he is from Dayton, Oh which I thought was very interesting. Me and my friend Molly ended up eating lunch with him and his wife just talking about the states and Honduras, it was nice to be able to talk to someone that was familiar with the area.
On Friday all of us began our journey to our sites. A few of us made a pit stop in the capitol for the night and than traveled on Saturday. On Saturday afternoon I arrived at my site. Since than my emotions have definately been up and down. My main counterpart here is World Vision and the Health Center. With World Vision I am going to be working in the promotion of HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, honestly I am not sure as of now what that entails. Next Monday I am going to the health center to talk with them about what I can do to help them. Yesterday I walked around the town to know it a bit better and I also went to the local high school and saught out a teacher that can help me even more with my spanish. I am going back today so we can talk more today and set something up. I also went in search of a place to rent for myself. I came across one house but I am going to continue to look before I make my decision. I am not allowed to live on my own for 2 months so I have to time and I need to buy everything to furnish the house so I need to be very wise with my money!!
I think you are all up to date now!! I am going to make a serious effort to do better from here on out. I have access to computers in my office so it should be easier from here on out. Thank you so much to everyone that has sent me emails I love recieving messages. I am sorry that sometimes I can not respond to each message individually but I want you all to know that I am reading each and every one. Thank you all so much for your support and make sure that you continue to keep me updated.
By the way I have yet to recieve any type of package or letter in the mail. I am very dissappointed in you all!!! J/K.
The tenth week of training we recieved our sites and I have been assigned to Morazan, Yora in the the northern part of Honduras. I went on my site visit Thursday 26 -Saturday 28. It was a bit overwhelming but a good chance to see a glimpse into my life for the next 2 years. After the site visits everyone returned to Santa Lucia for a closing of training. We all had to go through the immigration process and recieved our resident cards, we had our final spanish interviews and just reconnected with the other 2 groups. It was great to get a chance to catch up and hear all of the different stories people had to share. On Thursday the 3rd was the swearing in ceremony at the U.S. Embassy and after we all went to the Ambassador´s house to swim in his pool. All in all it was a good day with the exception that I lost my cell phone at the Embassy and had to go and buy another one. I talked with the ambassador after the ceremony and found out that he is from Dayton, Oh which I thought was very interesting. Me and my friend Molly ended up eating lunch with him and his wife just talking about the states and Honduras, it was nice to be able to talk to someone that was familiar with the area.
On Friday all of us began our journey to our sites. A few of us made a pit stop in the capitol for the night and than traveled on Saturday. On Saturday afternoon I arrived at my site. Since than my emotions have definately been up and down. My main counterpart here is World Vision and the Health Center. With World Vision I am going to be working in the promotion of HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, honestly I am not sure as of now what that entails. Next Monday I am going to the health center to talk with them about what I can do to help them. Yesterday I walked around the town to know it a bit better and I also went to the local high school and saught out a teacher that can help me even more with my spanish. I am going back today so we can talk more today and set something up. I also went in search of a place to rent for myself. I came across one house but I am going to continue to look before I make my decision. I am not allowed to live on my own for 2 months so I have to time and I need to buy everything to furnish the house so I need to be very wise with my money!!
I think you are all up to date now!! I am going to make a serious effort to do better from here on out. I have access to computers in my office so it should be easier from here on out. Thank you so much to everyone that has sent me emails I love recieving messages. I am sorry that sometimes I can not respond to each message individually but I want you all to know that I am reading each and every one. Thank you all so much for your support and make sure that you continue to keep me updated.
By the way I have yet to recieve any type of package or letter in the mail. I am very dissappointed in you all!!! J/K.
Monday, April 16, 2007
ALMOST THERE!!!
My experience has really taken off here. I feel like I have been here for so long. Alot has happened since the last time I was on here. Training is extremely stressfull, long, and full days. Everyday seems like a week because we just pack them with so much.
So the whole week before Easter is called "Semana Santa" and it is a BIG deal here. We got out of having class on Thursday and Friday because of it. Everything shuts down. On Saturday there was a huge processional with 14 stations to stop at. I went and walked the town of La Paz for 3 1/2 hours. I wanted to experience this event to its fullest. I have met some friends here and they are a great outlet to vent and just get away. I will be posting pictures from the processional when the computers here decide to download them for me. The week of Semana Santa was good. We went up into the mountains and learned how to work with health workers that monitor the weight of babies within a community. Mothers walk for hours every month to get their babies weighed to gage if the child is healthy and if not to find out what needs to be done. In a lot of communities it is utilized because the parents do not have the money to take the children to the doctors or the means to get them there. Another day we went back to the mountains and learned how to build improved stoves with mud and bricks. It was one of the coolest things for me so far, I want to add one to my house here when I get it. And we also learned how to make gardens.
This past week we worked with parteras (midwives) and gave charlas over hemorraging. So many things we take for granted in the states as common sense are what the people here need the most help. There will be some photos of me on a table looking like I'm pregnant soon, it is from the session with the parteras, I was the demonstration! It was a good time and really opened my eyes. During last week we also learned more on communication skills and support groups for people living with HIV. The reality is that alot of us in my group will be working with people living with the disease so we need to be prepared and equipped for that type of work.
I also met with the PCMO's ( peace corps medical officers) the other day. Of course I have problems. I had to go to a local clinique the other day because I have a urinary tract infection ( not fun). And then with the pcmo's i had to get my allergy medicine changed b/c mine is not strong enough here. My allergies are ridiculous, I think alot of it is because of the dust. And finally I have bug bites all over my legs and they are really red. They have been there since we arrived in La Paz and refuse to heal, so they told me it is because of my allergies and they gave me cream. I can't go anywhere with out having some sort of problem I have realized!
Last week I had my third technical interview. It went well, I was able to give some input on the work that I would like to do in the next 2 years and things that I would like to get from my site assignment. Next monday, April 23 we get our site announcements!!!! During the interview we also talked about my spanish and how I am doing during other training sessions. I got really positive feedback which was great and is helping me stay positive. My spanish is improving slowly but surely. People have commented on my improvement but I think it is easier for other people to notice than it is for myself. One of my boss's told me that I am a perfectionist and that he has noticed that I am way to hard on myself. I think he is probably right. I have pushed myself so much and just want to do the best job possible.
The other day they had mail call and of course I did not have anything once again. GUYS you need to get on that. I want to get some fun stuff too!!!!
Everyone take care and continue to send me emails. I am going to try and do a better job of writing things down as they happen so I can remember when it comes time for me to write them on here. If anyone wants my phone number to call me just email me. I would rather not post it on this.
This past weekend one of the girls in our group was robbed. She was on the front stoop of her boyfriends house here and as I understand it 2 men approached her with machetes and made her give them everything she had. Now I know that machetes sound horrible and they are but its not like an uncommon thing here like it would be in the states. In saying all of this I do not know many other details, but I have decided that I will not be out after dark here anymore. She was pretty shook up and I feel really bad for her. Although what I just explained sounds horrible everything with me is great. I just wanted everyone to be aware of all sides of my life here. I did not tell anyone this to worry them.
I love and miss you all!!
So the whole week before Easter is called "Semana Santa" and it is a BIG deal here. We got out of having class on Thursday and Friday because of it. Everything shuts down. On Saturday there was a huge processional with 14 stations to stop at. I went and walked the town of La Paz for 3 1/2 hours. I wanted to experience this event to its fullest. I have met some friends here and they are a great outlet to vent and just get away. I will be posting pictures from the processional when the computers here decide to download them for me. The week of Semana Santa was good. We went up into the mountains and learned how to work with health workers that monitor the weight of babies within a community. Mothers walk for hours every month to get their babies weighed to gage if the child is healthy and if not to find out what needs to be done. In a lot of communities it is utilized because the parents do not have the money to take the children to the doctors or the means to get them there. Another day we went back to the mountains and learned how to build improved stoves with mud and bricks. It was one of the coolest things for me so far, I want to add one to my house here when I get it. And we also learned how to make gardens.
This past week we worked with parteras (midwives) and gave charlas over hemorraging. So many things we take for granted in the states as common sense are what the people here need the most help. There will be some photos of me on a table looking like I'm pregnant soon, it is from the session with the parteras, I was the demonstration! It was a good time and really opened my eyes. During last week we also learned more on communication skills and support groups for people living with HIV. The reality is that alot of us in my group will be working with people living with the disease so we need to be prepared and equipped for that type of work.
I also met with the PCMO's ( peace corps medical officers) the other day. Of course I have problems. I had to go to a local clinique the other day because I have a urinary tract infection ( not fun). And then with the pcmo's i had to get my allergy medicine changed b/c mine is not strong enough here. My allergies are ridiculous, I think alot of it is because of the dust. And finally I have bug bites all over my legs and they are really red. They have been there since we arrived in La Paz and refuse to heal, so they told me it is because of my allergies and they gave me cream. I can't go anywhere with out having some sort of problem I have realized!
Last week I had my third technical interview. It went well, I was able to give some input on the work that I would like to do in the next 2 years and things that I would like to get from my site assignment. Next monday, April 23 we get our site announcements!!!! During the interview we also talked about my spanish and how I am doing during other training sessions. I got really positive feedback which was great and is helping me stay positive. My spanish is improving slowly but surely. People have commented on my improvement but I think it is easier for other people to notice than it is for myself. One of my boss's told me that I am a perfectionist and that he has noticed that I am way to hard on myself. I think he is probably right. I have pushed myself so much and just want to do the best job possible.
The other day they had mail call and of course I did not have anything once again. GUYS you need to get on that. I want to get some fun stuff too!!!!
Everyone take care and continue to send me emails. I am going to try and do a better job of writing things down as they happen so I can remember when it comes time for me to write them on here. If anyone wants my phone number to call me just email me. I would rather not post it on this.
This past weekend one of the girls in our group was robbed. She was on the front stoop of her boyfriends house here and as I understand it 2 men approached her with machetes and made her give them everything she had. Now I know that machetes sound horrible and they are but its not like an uncommon thing here like it would be in the states. In saying all of this I do not know many other details, but I have decided that I will not be out after dark here anymore. She was pretty shook up and I feel really bad for her. Although what I just explained sounds horrible everything with me is great. I just wanted everyone to be aware of all sides of my life here. I did not tell anyone this to worry them.
I love and miss you all!!
Saturday, March 31, 2007
SO HOT!!!
Well first off, I am sorry that it has been so long since I updated. This will probably be a long one b/c alot has happened in 2 weeks. So it might not all be in order but I will do my best.
Last week we all went to the Police Academy in La Paz and gave charlas on HIV/AIDS and safe sex. We broke up into 4 groups and prepared the lectures, each one of us had our own part to present. I was in charge of lengua de los hombres ( guys language), basically I had to start of with teaching them a dynamic to loosen them up and then had them pass around papers with different words such as penis, vagina, homosexual, etc and have them write words that mean the same thing but in slang. After that I had them explain why some words are funny and why others are not. And then we tried to have a brief discussion about the words. My session was about 20 mins. In all we were there for 4 hours. In the time we did condom demonstrations with bannanas and talked about the transmission of AIDs, and so much more. Oh yeah did I mention that it was all in spanish!
The same day we had a Honduran man come and talk to the group about his life living with AIDs, it was really hard to understand but what I did catch made me want to cry.
Another day we went to a near by village and participated in a charla about diarreah and washing hands. We went to the health center and talked with mothers. It was a good experience.
We have had volunteers visit us that are near the end of there service. The other day a married couple came and shared a bit of their experience as health volunteers in Honduras. Deb has spent 2 years working with midwives and had an enormous about of knowledge to share with us. More than that I truly enjoyed the projects her husband Jon has worked with his during his 2 years. He has dedicated his time to the HIV/AIDS awareness campaign. By incorporating art into his work he has been able to have the community help him with his efforts. He created a story with the art that helps explain how the disease is not about statistics but real people. It was truly touching and inspiring all he had to share.
My spanish class went 2 days ago to a local elementary school and taught the kids some games and than gave a message associated with the point of the game at the end. I was so pumped at the end of it because the kids understood everything I was saying!! That was a huge thing.
Spanish is a continual struggle here, but it is something that I have no choice but to work at. This past week a few people from the main office came to visit, and one was the spanish facilitator. I pretty much had my first break down since being in country. I think the stress that goes along with training had finally caught up with me and it all came out on him. I cried, and complained about training, spanish, life and pretty much anything I could think of. He was so awesome and listened to everything and than gave me the encouragement that I needed. Things really are good here, but I was stressed and made things seem alot worse. Training is definately intense and there is a continual push to learn and perfect the language. At times it seems to much to handle, but at the same I want to be here and love the work, so I plan to try and focus on the positive things that I am experiencing.
I am getting to know the country better and the people that live here. There are some things that I don't think I will ever get used to such as the machismo, but there are other things like the weather that have become a part of my life. La Paz is extremely HOTTTT basically all the time. I just sweat. Since La Paz is not in the mountains I do not experience the luxuries of a nice breeze all day.
To answer your question Jess I get free time at night and most weekends. During this time I try to spend with my family here b/c it helps alot with my spanish, I do homework for language class and if anyone in the health group decides to do anything I try to spend time with them. I go to bed the majority of the nights at 8pm or close to that, but I get up at almost 4:30am because the roosters do not permit much more sleeping than that. Life is at alot slower pace here. I am still getting used to not always doing something, but the heat definately helps slow me down.
I hope everyone is well and look forward to hearing from you all. Love and miss you.
Last week we all went to the Police Academy in La Paz and gave charlas on HIV/AIDS and safe sex. We broke up into 4 groups and prepared the lectures, each one of us had our own part to present. I was in charge of lengua de los hombres ( guys language), basically I had to start of with teaching them a dynamic to loosen them up and then had them pass around papers with different words such as penis, vagina, homosexual, etc and have them write words that mean the same thing but in slang. After that I had them explain why some words are funny and why others are not. And then we tried to have a brief discussion about the words. My session was about 20 mins. In all we were there for 4 hours. In the time we did condom demonstrations with bannanas and talked about the transmission of AIDs, and so much more. Oh yeah did I mention that it was all in spanish!
The same day we had a Honduran man come and talk to the group about his life living with AIDs, it was really hard to understand but what I did catch made me want to cry.
Another day we went to a near by village and participated in a charla about diarreah and washing hands. We went to the health center and talked with mothers. It was a good experience.
We have had volunteers visit us that are near the end of there service. The other day a married couple came and shared a bit of their experience as health volunteers in Honduras. Deb has spent 2 years working with midwives and had an enormous about of knowledge to share with us. More than that I truly enjoyed the projects her husband Jon has worked with his during his 2 years. He has dedicated his time to the HIV/AIDS awareness campaign. By incorporating art into his work he has been able to have the community help him with his efforts. He created a story with the art that helps explain how the disease is not about statistics but real people. It was truly touching and inspiring all he had to share.
My spanish class went 2 days ago to a local elementary school and taught the kids some games and than gave a message associated with the point of the game at the end. I was so pumped at the end of it because the kids understood everything I was saying!! That was a huge thing.
Spanish is a continual struggle here, but it is something that I have no choice but to work at. This past week a few people from the main office came to visit, and one was the spanish facilitator. I pretty much had my first break down since being in country. I think the stress that goes along with training had finally caught up with me and it all came out on him. I cried, and complained about training, spanish, life and pretty much anything I could think of. He was so awesome and listened to everything and than gave me the encouragement that I needed. Things really are good here, but I was stressed and made things seem alot worse. Training is definately intense and there is a continual push to learn and perfect the language. At times it seems to much to handle, but at the same I want to be here and love the work, so I plan to try and focus on the positive things that I am experiencing.
I am getting to know the country better and the people that live here. There are some things that I don't think I will ever get used to such as the machismo, but there are other things like the weather that have become a part of my life. La Paz is extremely HOTTTT basically all the time. I just sweat. Since La Paz is not in the mountains I do not experience the luxuries of a nice breeze all day.
To answer your question Jess I get free time at night and most weekends. During this time I try to spend with my family here b/c it helps alot with my spanish, I do homework for language class and if anyone in the health group decides to do anything I try to spend time with them. I go to bed the majority of the nights at 8pm or close to that, but I get up at almost 4:30am because the roosters do not permit much more sleeping than that. Life is at alot slower pace here. I am still getting used to not always doing something, but the heat definately helps slow me down.
I hope everyone is well and look forward to hearing from you all. Love and miss you.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
La Paz, La Paz
Hola Hola!!
I hope that everyone is well. I am wonderful! I am now in La Paz, La Paz, and everything is going great. I can already tell that it is going to be alot more intense than the training that I have become accustomed to. We have spanish in the morning from 7:30-11:30, lunch, than 1pm-5pm we have tech training. So far this week we have not done a whole whole lot, but I still really tired. Yesterday we had 2 guys come and talk about there program. They lead youth in different projects. The one the emphasized was a radio station that the youth produce and talk about what ever topics they feel to be relavant, such as sex, love, violence etc. It was interesting but really hard to understand. The whole thing was in spanish and they both talked really fast so I understood the jist of what they were talking about but am sure I missed alot of the details.
Today, a volunteer whos site is actually here in La Paz came and talked with the group about what she has been doing here and helped explained a projected named "Encargado de mi vida" (In charge of my life). Former volunteers created this program and it is used to go into schools and teach sex ed and promote abstinence to 5th and 6th graders. That might seem young, but it is customary(or not uncommon) for boys to have there first sexual experience at 13 here and girls by 15.
Tomorrow we are having a guest speaker come in and talked about domestic violence and than another come and talk about commericial sex workers (CSW) and a former csw will be talking with the group also as I understand it. On thursday and Friday we are doing training for mens health and traveling to the police academy in town and giving charlas (lectures) to the men about mens help. Everyone needs to be thinking about me on friday because it has to be in spanish and I am basically petrified right now.
I think that is about it for right now. My family in La Paz is really nice and I have an amazing house. I will try and take a picture so I can post it and show everyone. I am sure that I am forgetting something, but right now I feel out of things to talk about. Please continue to email and call me. I love hearing what is going on, because I am definately pretty disconnected from everything in the states. Take care.
I hope that everyone is well. I am wonderful! I am now in La Paz, La Paz, and everything is going great. I can already tell that it is going to be alot more intense than the training that I have become accustomed to. We have spanish in the morning from 7:30-11:30, lunch, than 1pm-5pm we have tech training. So far this week we have not done a whole whole lot, but I still really tired. Yesterday we had 2 guys come and talk about there program. They lead youth in different projects. The one the emphasized was a radio station that the youth produce and talk about what ever topics they feel to be relavant, such as sex, love, violence etc. It was interesting but really hard to understand. The whole thing was in spanish and they both talked really fast so I understood the jist of what they were talking about but am sure I missed alot of the details.
Today, a volunteer whos site is actually here in La Paz came and talked with the group about what she has been doing here and helped explained a projected named "Encargado de mi vida" (In charge of my life). Former volunteers created this program and it is used to go into schools and teach sex ed and promote abstinence to 5th and 6th graders. That might seem young, but it is customary(or not uncommon) for boys to have there first sexual experience at 13 here and girls by 15.
Tomorrow we are having a guest speaker come in and talked about domestic violence and than another come and talk about commericial sex workers (CSW) and a former csw will be talking with the group also as I understand it. On thursday and Friday we are doing training for mens health and traveling to the police academy in town and giving charlas (lectures) to the men about mens help. Everyone needs to be thinking about me on friday because it has to be in spanish and I am basically petrified right now.
I think that is about it for right now. My family in La Paz is really nice and I have an amazing house. I will try and take a picture so I can post it and show everyone. I am sure that I am forgetting something, but right now I feel out of things to talk about. Please continue to email and call me. I love hearing what is going on, because I am definately pretty disconnected from everything in the states. Take care.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Moving On !!!
Hey everyone,
So the other day I posted a blog about the hospital visits. I was not trying to freak anyone out. That actually happened 2 weeks ago, but do to my lack of computer knowledge, I thought that I posted the blog correctly, but I was obviously wrong. So anyone I figured it out yesterday and did the copy and past bit!
So life is great. Last weekened I went to Orocunia, Choluteca, which is in the southern part of Honduras. I went to visit a volunteer that has been there for about 6 months. It was good to be able to see what it is like to be a volunteer (right now I am still and aspirante). On Friday I was able to basically follow her around. She is in Youth Dev. and is currently working with a group that helps educate children with after school programs, on Friday the kids we doing a 2 part lecture with a man from unicef where they were able to learn more about public speaking, interviews, and they had and HIV/AIDS lecture. I had a lot of fun. The kids even did a live broadcast from the local radio station. That night we went into the town of Choluteca and got a few hotel rooms. We met up with other volunteers in the area and aspirantes. It was a lot of fun, I even learned a few new dance moves (at least I tried)... I can´t spell them.. they are some sort of latin dances!!!
The rest of my time the last few weeks has been training, training, training, and did I say more training. Everyday I have spanish, followed my some other form of training such as technical. I am learning so much it is crazy. It is non stop around here. I can´t say anything but good things about my experience thus far. It has been so wonderful. Every day I am exhausted after training but at the same time wouldn´t change a thing. I love all of the other trainees and enjoy getting to know everyone a bit better.
Tomorrow we are all parting ways, well atleast we are dividing by projects. The health group will be traveling to La Paz, La Paz for 5 weeks. This part of training is considered field base training (FBT). This is considered the time when we really get serious about our projects and get more hands on experience. I am looking forward to this opportunity but at the same times have a few reservations. First off, my spanish needs alot more work, the group of 51 will soon be 20 (that how many will be with me), I am going to have to start giving presentations for people in spanish, and I have to leave Santa Lucia which I have grown to really like. In saying all of that, I am excited and know that it is going to be a great time.
I have posted a like on the side to web photos, this is the only way I have figured out to post pictures. I hope you enjoy them all.
Love you and miss you all..
Adios from Honduras
So the other day I posted a blog about the hospital visits. I was not trying to freak anyone out. That actually happened 2 weeks ago, but do to my lack of computer knowledge, I thought that I posted the blog correctly, but I was obviously wrong. So anyone I figured it out yesterday and did the copy and past bit!
So life is great. Last weekened I went to Orocunia, Choluteca, which is in the southern part of Honduras. I went to visit a volunteer that has been there for about 6 months. It was good to be able to see what it is like to be a volunteer (right now I am still and aspirante). On Friday I was able to basically follow her around. She is in Youth Dev. and is currently working with a group that helps educate children with after school programs, on Friday the kids we doing a 2 part lecture with a man from unicef where they were able to learn more about public speaking, interviews, and they had and HIV/AIDS lecture. I had a lot of fun. The kids even did a live broadcast from the local radio station. That night we went into the town of Choluteca and got a few hotel rooms. We met up with other volunteers in the area and aspirantes. It was a lot of fun, I even learned a few new dance moves (at least I tried)... I can´t spell them.. they are some sort of latin dances!!!
The rest of my time the last few weeks has been training, training, training, and did I say more training. Everyday I have spanish, followed my some other form of training such as technical. I am learning so much it is crazy. It is non stop around here. I can´t say anything but good things about my experience thus far. It has been so wonderful. Every day I am exhausted after training but at the same time wouldn´t change a thing. I love all of the other trainees and enjoy getting to know everyone a bit better.
Tomorrow we are all parting ways, well atleast we are dividing by projects. The health group will be traveling to La Paz, La Paz for 5 weeks. This part of training is considered field base training (FBT). This is considered the time when we really get serious about our projects and get more hands on experience. I am looking forward to this opportunity but at the same times have a few reservations. First off, my spanish needs alot more work, the group of 51 will soon be 20 (that how many will be with me), I am going to have to start giving presentations for people in spanish, and I have to leave Santa Lucia which I have grown to really like. In saying all of that, I am excited and know that it is going to be a great time.
I have posted a like on the side to web photos, this is the only way I have figured out to post pictures. I hope you enjoy them all.
Love you and miss you all..
Adios from Honduras
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Hospitals and More Hospitals
I am sorry that it has been so long since I last updated. Alot has been going on. Everyday I am at the training center from 7:30 am to at least 4:30 pm. Usually in the morning I have language training for up to 6 hours and than project training. It makes for along day.
I am not really sure what to tell everyone, because everything happens so quickly. So if anyone has any specific question, feel free to ask me.
Yesterday has been probably the most eventful day for me yet. The health project had a field trip into the capital, Tegucigalpa. We went to the oldest hospital in the Country. We met we the director and she gave a lecture explaining the health programs in the country. It was very interesting. After the lecture we were given a tour of the hospital and than taken to the maternity ward. It is so different than in the U.S. I can not even begin to explain. A small group of us were actually privelaged enough to be able to watch a live birth. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life! I was ten feet from the woman. I felt very bad that I was there, but did not want to miss the oppurtunity. It is not like in the States. Nothing is private. The labor part is basically a lonely process. The nurses are only at their side if necessary and during delivery. When the woman is ready to deliver they take her into an open room and it all happens within 2 mins. The woman here are not given the oppurtinity to have an epideral. It is all natural. So everyone be thankful that you have options. No one is allowed in during the delivery ( the husband, or family members). All in all it is a very lonely process. After birth the woman must remain there a minimum of 12 hours and no more than 24 hours. There are 20-25 women per room, so you can seen how not private the whole thing is.
After we returned from the hospital I began feeling pretty bad. My whole body started tingling and I had a really bad stomach ache. I was sweating pretty bad and expecting to get sick. They called the doctor for me and ended up driving me back to Teguc to a different hospital. It sucked. I was there all alone, and having language difficulties desctibing my problems. They put me on an IV and I had an ultra sound and x-rays of the abdomen. The doctor was trying to rule out apendicitis (spell check). My test came back normal and the way I understand it, there was probably a reaction to one of the vacines I have received along with the basic stomach problems that go along with being in a foreign country. They wanted me to stay the night but I begged to go back home, and in the end I won!! I got back home around 7:30- 8 pm. Everything is ok now. I am feeling so much better and don´t want anyone to worry. They took very good care of me.
I am going to try and post some pictures from here, if I can figure it out, so I hope it works. One is of me and Molly ( my kentucky buddy) at the airport on the first attempt to come here, some are of people in my group at lunch when they did not know, and the other 2 are of the view from my house. Everyone enjoy.
Miss you bunches. And yes Andrea, to answer your question one of the sons is a hottie!!
I am not really sure what to tell everyone, because everything happens so quickly. So if anyone has any specific question, feel free to ask me.
Yesterday has been probably the most eventful day for me yet. The health project had a field trip into the capital, Tegucigalpa. We went to the oldest hospital in the Country. We met we the director and she gave a lecture explaining the health programs in the country. It was very interesting. After the lecture we were given a tour of the hospital and than taken to the maternity ward. It is so different than in the U.S. I can not even begin to explain. A small group of us were actually privelaged enough to be able to watch a live birth. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life! I was ten feet from the woman. I felt very bad that I was there, but did not want to miss the oppurtunity. It is not like in the States. Nothing is private. The labor part is basically a lonely process. The nurses are only at their side if necessary and during delivery. When the woman is ready to deliver they take her into an open room and it all happens within 2 mins. The woman here are not given the oppurtinity to have an epideral. It is all natural. So everyone be thankful that you have options. No one is allowed in during the delivery ( the husband, or family members). All in all it is a very lonely process. After birth the woman must remain there a minimum of 12 hours and no more than 24 hours. There are 20-25 women per room, so you can seen how not private the whole thing is.
After we returned from the hospital I began feeling pretty bad. My whole body started tingling and I had a really bad stomach ache. I was sweating pretty bad and expecting to get sick. They called the doctor for me and ended up driving me back to Teguc to a different hospital. It sucked. I was there all alone, and having language difficulties desctibing my problems. They put me on an IV and I had an ultra sound and x-rays of the abdomen. The doctor was trying to rule out apendicitis (spell check). My test came back normal and the way I understand it, there was probably a reaction to one of the vacines I have received along with the basic stomach problems that go along with being in a foreign country. They wanted me to stay the night but I begged to go back home, and in the end I won!! I got back home around 7:30- 8 pm. Everything is ok now. I am feeling so much better and don´t want anyone to worry. They took very good care of me.
I am going to try and post some pictures from here, if I can figure it out, so I hope it works. One is of me and Molly ( my kentucky buddy) at the airport on the first attempt to come here, some are of people in my group at lunch when they did not know, and the other 2 are of the view from my house. Everyone enjoy.
Miss you bunches. And yes Andrea, to answer your question one of the sons is a hottie!!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Finally in Honduras!!!
Hey everyone, I am sorry that it has taken me so long to update my website. It has been fairly hectic the last week. On Saturday I arrived in Honduras with 25 other volunteers, the remaining 25 flew in the following day. After the flight and going through customs we finally left the airport in San Pedro Sula for Santa Lucia; the bus ride took 4 hours. Around 8pm we finally arrived in our new home for atleast the next 4 weeks. Our host mothers were waiting outside in the rain for us. Up until that point I was completely fine and honestly no nervous or homesick at all, but all of a sudden it hit me what was happening. It felt as though I had just found out that I was adopted and now I was going to meet my birth mother for the first time 23 years later. It was an extremely scary thing for me, but I was strong and did not shed a tear!!
My host family is super nice. I live with an older couple and 3 of their childeren and 3 grandchildren. In the house is one daughter, Odina and she is 35 and works for in the local municipal building; and they have 2 sons. One name Hugo and he is 29 and is head of the total education department in Santa Lucia, and finally there is Felipe and he is 24 and attends law school in Tegucigalpa. Odina has 3 children and I can not begin to spell their names!! Two boys 15 and 14 and one daughter that is 12. Everyone has been very nice and helpful. I live in a small bedroom that is not attached to the rest of the house. I have a bed, desk and a few shelves. It is clean and that is the most important part. I use a bathroom that is also not attached, not so much an outhouse because it is made of concrete or cinder block. I have to take bucket showers because my family does not have running water. They only have a pilla which is a place to store water that comes every 8 days in the city. I use that water to bath and flush the toliet. Right now everything is working out well for me. On saturday I get to learn how to wash my clothes by hand, it will prolly take all day because I have alot of dirty clothes at this point.
Training has barely begun. Because we did not all arrive until Sunday, they are trying to catch us up on the days we were supposed to already have. Pretty much every other day we get vaccinations. I think in total there is a possibility of getting 13, that depends on what you had before you got here. I need at least 10 I believe, but not positive on that one. Sunday I recieved the polio shot, Tuesday I had the first rabies shot and typhoid and tomorrow I get the first for hep a and b. Spanish classes thus far are 5-6 hours every day of training, plus homework. The rest of our time thus far has been based on gettting to understand the culture, safety and security, and lectures about what to expect.
Everything is great and I do not think I could be much happier. Thanks for all of your emails. I truly do appreciate them. And mom, why did you not call yesterday, I gave dad the house number. If you get this it is best to call between 8-9 pm (ohio time). I can only talk for 30 minutes, that is a rule, and once a week. Love you all!!
Oh yeah, the family also has a pet squirrel named Julisa!!!!
My host family is super nice. I live with an older couple and 3 of their childeren and 3 grandchildren. In the house is one daughter, Odina and she is 35 and works for in the local municipal building; and they have 2 sons. One name Hugo and he is 29 and is head of the total education department in Santa Lucia, and finally there is Felipe and he is 24 and attends law school in Tegucigalpa. Odina has 3 children and I can not begin to spell their names!! Two boys 15 and 14 and one daughter that is 12. Everyone has been very nice and helpful. I live in a small bedroom that is not attached to the rest of the house. I have a bed, desk and a few shelves. It is clean and that is the most important part. I use a bathroom that is also not attached, not so much an outhouse because it is made of concrete or cinder block. I have to take bucket showers because my family does not have running water. They only have a pilla which is a place to store water that comes every 8 days in the city. I use that water to bath and flush the toliet. Right now everything is working out well for me. On saturday I get to learn how to wash my clothes by hand, it will prolly take all day because I have alot of dirty clothes at this point.
Training has barely begun. Because we did not all arrive until Sunday, they are trying to catch us up on the days we were supposed to already have. Pretty much every other day we get vaccinations. I think in total there is a possibility of getting 13, that depends on what you had before you got here. I need at least 10 I believe, but not positive on that one. Sunday I recieved the polio shot, Tuesday I had the first rabies shot and typhoid and tomorrow I get the first for hep a and b. Spanish classes thus far are 5-6 hours every day of training, plus homework. The rest of our time thus far has been based on gettting to understand the culture, safety and security, and lectures about what to expect.
Everything is great and I do not think I could be much happier. Thanks for all of your emails. I truly do appreciate them. And mom, why did you not call yesterday, I gave dad the house number. If you get this it is best to call between 8-9 pm (ohio time). I can only talk for 30 minutes, that is a rule, and once a week. Love you all!!
Oh yeah, the family also has a pet squirrel named Julisa!!!!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Almost There
After spending four hours in the airport on Wednesday we ended up back at the hotel and yesterday afternoon found out that we will be splitting up into 3 groups. Two groups fly out on Saturday morning and one group on Sunday morning. We have switched airlines and will redirected through Atlanta instead of Miami. So far the extra time in the states, although cold, has been good because it is giving a lot of us a chance to get to know each other better. I am looking forward to finally arriving in Honduras and getting the ball rolling. I fly out at 7 am on Saturday morning and arrive in country at 1:45 central time. Hope everyon is well and enjoying the snow!!! ( Julie, go sledding for me!)
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
D.C. might be longer than expected!
So here I am, sitting in my hotel room in D.C. on my roommates computer waiting to find out what happens next... Maybe I should back up and explain the situation up till now.
On Monday I arrived in D.C. and met 50 other soon to be Peace Corps Volunteers. We had to go through the registration process and than all gathered in a conference room to meet one another for the first time. Let me tell you, up until this point my emotions were all over the place. Most of you know that the majority of my anxieties stemmed from meeting all the other trainees. That issue was shortly put to rest. Everyone has been completely amazing, and of course I expected everyone to be open, and excited, but it has been more than that; everyone is genuinely nice and so easy going. I have been placed with an extrodinary group.. there are even parts of me that question my place among this group because they are all so accomplished and well educated individuals. In saying all of that I feel very honored to be given this opportunity and I plan to run with it!!!
On Tuesday we had pre service training all day starting at 8:30 to 6. It consisted of team building excercises, cross-cultural information, open forums for questions, and a lot of time to get to know one another. I have decided that I am horrible at remembering peoples names. I have spent alot of my time asking people what their names are, only to find out I already had that exact conversation only 20 minutes earlier with them. Last night I went out with 5 other people to a concert featuring a band named 'Apples and Stereo' (I think that is their name). It was alot of fun, and gave me the opportunity to get to know people that up until that point I had not had too much interaction with. We got back to the hotel between 11:30 and 12 and I went straight to my room for a nice hot shower. After that I spent alot of time packing my stuff, while trying to be super quiet because my roommate was asleep. I finished everything at 1 am and decided that a power nap was in order. I laid down and at 1:30 we recieved a wake-up call. At 2:00 the whole group checked out of the hotel and at 3:30 am left for the airport. Once at the airport we discovered that our flight was cancelled and we proceeded to wait for 4 hours before we were able to head back to the hotel. During my time at the airport I learned how to play hearts and had a lot of fun, considering that I had been awake since 7:30 the previous morning. Some people sat and talked, while others decided to utilize the time and get as much sleep as possible. All in all the group was really patient and willing to go with the flow. We got back to the hotel around 8:30 and many went straight to bed, I went to the hotel restaurant and ordered breakfast. After breakfast I went to bed for 2 hours. Right now I am just basically running on fumes and hoping that I am able to get a good 8 hours of sleep soon. I guess I will just have to wait and see!
At 3:00pm we are meeting to discuss the flight situation. As of right now the outlook is not so good for us arriving in Honduras tomorrow, so D.C. remains the only part of training that I have experienced.
Hopefully I will be able to update everyone as soon as I find out what is going on. I love you all and miss you very much.
On Monday I arrived in D.C. and met 50 other soon to be Peace Corps Volunteers. We had to go through the registration process and than all gathered in a conference room to meet one another for the first time. Let me tell you, up until this point my emotions were all over the place. Most of you know that the majority of my anxieties stemmed from meeting all the other trainees. That issue was shortly put to rest. Everyone has been completely amazing, and of course I expected everyone to be open, and excited, but it has been more than that; everyone is genuinely nice and so easy going. I have been placed with an extrodinary group.. there are even parts of me that question my place among this group because they are all so accomplished and well educated individuals. In saying all of that I feel very honored to be given this opportunity and I plan to run with it!!!
On Tuesday we had pre service training all day starting at 8:30 to 6. It consisted of team building excercises, cross-cultural information, open forums for questions, and a lot of time to get to know one another. I have decided that I am horrible at remembering peoples names. I have spent alot of my time asking people what their names are, only to find out I already had that exact conversation only 20 minutes earlier with them. Last night I went out with 5 other people to a concert featuring a band named 'Apples and Stereo' (I think that is their name). It was alot of fun, and gave me the opportunity to get to know people that up until that point I had not had too much interaction with. We got back to the hotel between 11:30 and 12 and I went straight to my room for a nice hot shower. After that I spent alot of time packing my stuff, while trying to be super quiet because my roommate was asleep. I finished everything at 1 am and decided that a power nap was in order. I laid down and at 1:30 we recieved a wake-up call. At 2:00 the whole group checked out of the hotel and at 3:30 am left for the airport. Once at the airport we discovered that our flight was cancelled and we proceeded to wait for 4 hours before we were able to head back to the hotel. During my time at the airport I learned how to play hearts and had a lot of fun, considering that I had been awake since 7:30 the previous morning. Some people sat and talked, while others decided to utilize the time and get as much sleep as possible. All in all the group was really patient and willing to go with the flow. We got back to the hotel around 8:30 and many went straight to bed, I went to the hotel restaurant and ordered breakfast. After breakfast I went to bed for 2 hours. Right now I am just basically running on fumes and hoping that I am able to get a good 8 hours of sleep soon. I guess I will just have to wait and see!
At 3:00pm we are meeting to discuss the flight situation. As of right now the outlook is not so good for us arriving in Honduras tomorrow, so D.C. remains the only part of training that I have experienced.
Hopefully I will be able to update everyone as soon as I find out what is going on. I love you all and miss you very much.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
The count down.....
I started this site as a way to stay connected with everyone in the states while I'm in Honduras over the next 2 years. I am down to 3 weeks until I leave and I can't begin to explain what I am thinking at this point. I am definately looking forward to the challenges that I am about to face and excited to see how a new culture and location impact my life. Over the next few years I plan on updating this site as one of the primary ways of staying in contact with most of you. I am sure that individual emails will be few and ar between from me, as I expect I will not have alot of down time, at least in the beginning. I encourage everyone to post comments on the site and it will be a great way to make sure and answer any questions that anyone might have. Hopefully I will be able to download pictures, that is if I am able to figure it out!
So far I am still not completely positive what I will be doing. Alot of it has to do with the needs of the village that I am placed in after training. My official title is a Health HIV/AIDS Educator. I fly from Columbus on Feb 12, 2007 to Washington D.C., while in D.C. I will meet all of the other volunteers that will be in my training group. We will stay in D.C. until Feb 14, 2007 for Orientation. On the 14th we fly from D.C. to Miami and from there onto Honduras. The flight plan on the 14th does not appear to be a fun one. AT 2:30 am everyone must be checked out of the hotel, at 3:30 am the bus leaves for the airport, at 6:05 am we fly on American Airlines to Miami, from there we have an hour and half layover and at 11:20 am we depart for Tegucigalpa, HN!!! At 12:40 pm central time we arrive in Honduras!!!
At this point all there is for me to do is spend alot of time with friends and family, pack, pack, pack, and wait...
Hopefully I will be good about updating this site. Check it regularly if you are interested in what is going on with me!
So far I am still not completely positive what I will be doing. Alot of it has to do with the needs of the village that I am placed in after training. My official title is a Health HIV/AIDS Educator. I fly from Columbus on Feb 12, 2007 to Washington D.C., while in D.C. I will meet all of the other volunteers that will be in my training group. We will stay in D.C. until Feb 14, 2007 for Orientation. On the 14th we fly from D.C. to Miami and from there onto Honduras. The flight plan on the 14th does not appear to be a fun one. AT 2:30 am everyone must be checked out of the hotel, at 3:30 am the bus leaves for the airport, at 6:05 am we fly on American Airlines to Miami, from there we have an hour and half layover and at 11:20 am we depart for Tegucigalpa, HN!!! At 12:40 pm central time we arrive in Honduras!!!
At this point all there is for me to do is spend alot of time with friends and family, pack, pack, pack, and wait...
Hopefully I will be good about updating this site. Check it regularly if you are interested in what is going on with me!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
