Yes....I´m alive

On Wednesday I woke up a few hours after going to bed.....exhausted from having an 8pm English class with 20 high school teachers. Of course, as soon as class was about to start, a torrentual downpour began thus delaying the start of class. When you´re teaching in a brick building with open windows and a tin roof, its hard talk over the rain. So all I could do was wait until it subdued a bit. At first I didn´t know what was going on...drowsy from sleep and remembering the heavy rains I thought it might be the wind. Then logic set in. The entire house was swaying, outside the earth was roaring...we were experiencing an earthquake. I didn´t ever think that Honduras had them....until I was visiting in Anahiem and talking to a former co-worker who told my old roommate Nick that we sometimes get earthquakes from the volcano San Miguel in El Salvador....which geographically is fairly close to where I live. About 50 miles. We had assumed that this one came from there. It wasn´t until a little later in the morning when I went to Deyvis´s house to see the news that we realized how strong it was. 7.1....that´s a big one. We felt it pretty strongly where I live which is furter south and near El Salvador, I can´t imagine what it was like for my compañeros further north. Luckily there wasn´t any real damage where I live and everyone here is safe. Deyvis´s found a new crack in the house and their house in Tegus also recieved a few, but things are just the same.

Besides that things are going well. Just got back from the states last week and had a good visit. It was good to see people. It wasn´t too strange to be home, but we´ll see how if feels in another year and a half when I come back for good. I do miss a lot of things about the US but at the same time I was ready to come back to my boyfriend and dog. And good tortillas.....yummmm.

So now that I´m back I´m finally starting to get rolling on some projects. I currently have 3 English classes going with the teachers in my community. Two level 1 classes and one level 3. I really enjoy doing those classes. I always drag my feet on the lesson planning and feel like I don´t want to go, but once we get started I have a blast. Especially with my high school teachers, which I have about 20 of in class. They´re all laid back and like to joke around. I just hope they stick with it. They´re looking for more pronunciation and to improve the little that they know. These classes are designed to teach teachers to teach their students. Honduras has started with the requirement that all students must be taught English starting in 4th grade. Which is great, but its hard for the teachers when they don´t know any of it either. So in the HS, I´m glad they´re attending, but its not specifically designed for them. They´re welcome to attend, but I´m just afraid they´ll get bored or expect something else from it.

This week I´m also starting a program that teachers kiddos the first steps of managing money/business basics. We´re doing it with 4th, 5th and 6th grades. It might be a little advanced for the younger ones, but we´ll see how it turns out. Also, I´m helping out the 7th, 8th and 9th grade teachers with an HIV/AIDS/STI session. And....we´ll be starting a Colgate dental health program with the kindergarden class. All this is happening at my centro basico which is located about 45mins walking from where I live. I just hope that the work will keep up.

So all in all things are all right. Still bored sometimes. Starting to train Lola a little better...trying to get her to run with me, but if she can just walk nicely I´m happy. It seems like when I want to run I´m almost dragging her as she just wants to sniff around. Then when she´s ready to run I´m tired. Or she goes waaaaay too fast for me. Deyvis says he´ll be taking her out more. He can run faster and a lot further than I can. He´s currently training for a competition at the end of July. A 9 mile race I do belive. Its through the University...and if he wins he gets to go to Panama! He won last fall, but at that time the universities hadn´t been connected to do something outside of Honduras with the winners. Something with the Centeral American Olympics or something. Hopefully he´ll win so we can take a trip to Panama in the fall!

That´s the majority of what´s been going on. I hope all is well and that everyone there is having a great time! I look forward to seeing everyone in the fall of 2010!

Life Without Internet

So I know I haven´t been in much contact with anyone lately....I´ve been hiding out in my little mountain town without internet for a few months now...if I didn´t tell you we lost internet in my pueblo. Well, the pueblo didn´t necessarily but the library did and that was the only place with internet. The HS is telling me that there´s a government grant and they should be connected in April or May, but some people are still skeptical that the gov will follow through. We shall see....in the mean time I travel to town every 10-15 days to check my email. But I´m alive and doing well....things are finally picking up work wise.

We started an early stimulation program in the library in Feb and the first week was great, second week had about half the kiddos/moms come back and since then....its been pretty much just me...maybe one other kid shows up. So we´re gonna send out invites again and hope for better results. I was also filling in as an English teacher at the HS....but only did like a week of classes. Right after I started I got sick with a bacteria that knocked me out. I didn´t eat for 4 days....blah. Don´t worry though, I´m not withering away....I just spent the majority of this week in a little resort town for a training and took full advantage of not making or paying for meals. We did sneak out last night to go to a new Italian resturant which was amazing! Italian food isn´t so common here....and when Hondurans make "spaghetti" its like the Chef Boyardee outta the can stuff. I saw some beautiful eggplants for sale in the market in Marcala and I instantly thought of eggplant parmesean....but then I remembered I don´t have an oven. So now I´m on the look-out for little pans that fit inside my toaster oven so I´ll never have a sadness like that again.

I guess there was a few things that happened...including the Feria (4 days of activities and parties at night). It was interesting....and thanks to Reykha warning me I wasn´t completely alarmed and thrown off when the marching band started playing around 430am on Thursday morning. I think my favorite part was the Show de Fuegos Artificales (Firesworks) which included the Toro de Fuego (Bull of Fire). This Toro de Fuego is a man that is under a wooden contraption that resembles a bull and he runs around as it sparks, flames and shoots fireworks. And I thought that an eletric shower was dangerous! Here´s a clip....hehe.

I did find a trantula in my bathroom the other day....granted it wasn´t huge, but it still wasn´t welcome in my house. Deyvis had just left for the mt and I didn´t quite know what to do so I shut the door and put a towel outside the door hoping that it would stay where it was until Deyvis came back. It didn´t move....but he did laugh at me for being afraid of such a small tarantula.

Besides that things have still been slow but school finally started (a month late) and I´m looking forward to having a bit more to do. I just finished a training this week called Joven a Joven (Youth to Youth) which is aimed at 14-28 year olds to think about job skills, emoloyability, character, personality....etc and help them to decide if they want to continue studying, work or start their own business. This topic really interests me and I´m excited to see how it works out in my community. Before accepting my other AmeriCorps position in Orange County, CA I was called about a job in CA in the desert working with youth transitioning out of the foster care system and teaching them independent living skills....something I might look into when I get back or at least keep in mind. I´m glad that I´m working with teens here b/c it gives me the chance to see if this is something I´d like to persue more in the future without a lot of pressure.

Anyways....I will be home in approx 41 days (or at least in the States) and I look forward to seeing everyone and eating TONS of fruits and veggies....and I mean a lot! I want my poo to turn colors! Haha.....strange, but very true statement. I miss you all and love you much! I´ll probably post again with more photos soon as I´ll be traveling in April for Semana Santa (Holy Week/Easter) then for my birthday for the weekend.

Lola

I would like to introduce you all to Lola! She's the cute little German Shepherd pup I picked up yesterday from a Senor in Marcala for a very good price ($53 USD!) I had been going back and forth when I found out about the puppies. But after two weeks I was still thinking about them, so I figured I had to do it! I wasn't planning on getting a larger dog here, but I have the space both inside and out and I do really like the breed. Then when I found out the price I got really excited. I had told my friend Amira that I would only get one if he had a female left and she was black. Well, I went to check them out on Monday while passing through town. He had 4 females and all 9 puppies were mostly black!

So far Lola's been pretty laid back. Lots of sleeping still...she's just a few days under 2 months. Like all new puppies in a new house, I've been cleaning up some messes, but she's learning pretty quickly. And luckily she didn't cry much last night when I shut her out of the bedroom. She has quite a bark for being young...Deyvis walked up the house last night making noises which made her go off...then hide under the coffee table when he came in! She had been around him earlier, but didn't quite know what to do this time.

I think she'll be quite happy here...lots of doggie friends around and tons of space to run. So here's Lola...her first day in Florida!

Its been awhile....

So I was online twice during the entire month of December...definitely incommunicado for awhile, partly by choice. It has been incredibly boring without school...I have been able to spend some time with the youth from the church so that has been good.

December started with me going on a hike with the church to some hot springs. It wasn't a hot spring in the sense you would think...or at least like I thought. Instead of a pool of water it was more like a little waterfall coming down into a river. But it was nice, hot water. I didn't want to leave... (Here's some of the girls from the church enjoying the hot spring) I also got my face eaten by some barbed wire. I got a nice little cut running across my lip and upward, a gash under my nose, a cut inside my nostril as well as a small scrape on my cheek. The gash under my nose is still healing more or less...and I'll have a nice raised scare to remind me of the hike.

I also helped to harvest beans...what work that is! And its not like the nice flat fields in Michigan. Its literally on mountain sides...with rocks, trees, spiny plants and tarantulas. Okay...I only saw one tarantula, but if there's one there must be more. So the way they harvest beans is they leave them in the ground until they're dried. Then you go around pulling up the vines from the roots and collecting them until you have a pile. You put the pile on the ground and repeat. (The Padre has 6 acres!) Later you come back and pick up the piles of beans and carry them to a plastic tarp where they get beat with sticks to knock out all the grains. I think total we got about 8,500lbs of beans. Pretty good for 10 days of work...though it was hard and I wanted to cry. I had about 1.5hr of walking one way to get to the field. I definitely learned that I was a lot tougher than I thought...though I also learned that I'm not nearly as tough as I thought I was. Don't know if that makes sense or not.

The library closed down on the 21st and just reopened today...part of the reason I haven't updated. Which also gave me absolutely nothing to do besides hang out. Christmas Eve was a little sad...Deyvis had left for the mountains to finish some of the corn harvesting earlier in the week and didn't get back until later in the day. Between me with the beans and him with the corn we didn't see each other a lot for a couple of weeks. But the 24th he came back and I went over there to visit with his family before going to my host family's house for dinner. I had already met his youngest brother and sister and his two middle brothers had come into town to spend the holidays. Wow...do they all look alike! His whole family is super nice and really friendly...I enjoy them a lot and they've been good company. So I went to my host family's house for dinner and had tamales, coffee and sweet bread. Along with a shot of coffee liquor that is actually made nearby. There was a dance that night, but Deyvis worked the first shift and said it was pretty dead so we watched a movie instead and called it an early night. Christmas Day here is really nothing special. I went to Deyvis's house around 11 and we watched x-mas movies on tv most of the day. Ate another tamale for dinner, played some basketball and that was the extent of it.

The 27th the library put on a Festival de Cancion (Festival of Song) with a dance afterwards. So once again, gringa busted some moves with the boy.

For New Year's I convinced my friend from Choluteca (one of the bigger cities) to come out and visit me in Florida. It started with us just planning to go to the capital for a movie since neither of us had work to do. Then with the promise of Smores I got her to visit here. So I took off on the 30th and we watched Madagascar 2 and hung out in the mall. Ended up going to Chili's for dinner around 9ish. God...did that rip me up! I think I'll be sticking w/ beans and tortillas next time. We travelled back to Florida on New Year's Eve and meet up with Deyvis and his siblings a little later to go check out some festivities. They have this Toro de Fuego (Bull of Fire)...which is a man running around with this wooden contraption made to look like an archaic bull over him. So this man ran up and down the streets while this "toro" shot off rockets in random directions. Not the safest thing for the runner nor the observers. Unfortunately, neither of us brought a camera to caputre the action. There was also a dance going on...where it was basically just us dancing.

A neat tradition here is a type of scarecrow they make for New Years which represents all the bad things that happened during the year. Then at midnight it gets burned to represent the starting new. I wish I would have taken pics...2009 I will do better!

The 1st was quiet...we slept in a bit then went to the feria (festival) in the next aldea but it was pretty boring. We waited around and watched Deyvis's soccer game then left to eat. We also played with giant leaves... Later in the night we built a fire, made Smores and chatted...Here's Deyvis with his first Smore! He enjoyed it, but thought it was too sweet. Next time, he doesn't want the chocolate! In this photo you can see above me the coffee plant and above Deyvis the mandarin tree in my yard.
Just wanted to let everyone know that I am alive and well...December was a little rough. Between the lack of things to do and being away for the holidays...but much thanks to Deyvis. He's such a wonderful guy and has been more help than I think he realizes. I guess that's about it...I'll try and upload a few more photos soon...the house, Florida, etc. But since it takes awhile to upload photos I'll leave off with one more of Deyvis and me. Because we're that cute...

Goodnight Stars, Goodnight Moon, Goodnight.......SCORPION

Yes…that’s right. A scorpion. I was not too excited to see that when I got in. I had been at Deyvis’s house watching tv (telenovelas…I swear I’ll master Spanish by watching them! Oh...and Deyvis is the guy that I met on the bus last month and quickly became a good friend with). Anyways, I went home at midnight and discovered this little guy in my room. My host parents were sleeping and I didn’t feel it was necessary to wake them. I called Deyvis and he told me to kill it…but the problem is that I can’t. I have a hard enough time killing bugs. I don’t like the thought that I’m taking a life and smushing the insides of the poor things. Then you have to clean up the intestines afterwards. I’m okay sucking them up in the vacuum or flooding them down the drain, but I just can’t smash 'em. Since I couldn’t kill it Deyvis told me to cover it and in the morning ask my family to kill it for me. I went inside to get a pot (with a handle!) to cover it with. But the bastard was close to the wall and I risked the chance of it moving while I was closer that what I would have liked. During this time I’m calling my friend Amira…b/c I don’t want to deal with it alone. She’s yelling at me to just put the pot over it and I’m freaking out about having it come near me or move. So I start slapping a flip-flop on the floor hoping it’ll move just a smidgen. It didn’t. Then I start swing my flip-flop hoping to create some wind to move it. Nothing but a flinch from the dirty potlicker. So I thought that maybe it was dying. I went outside to get the lime-pickin stick which is about 5’3. Apparently it didn't like the stick b/c it took off running (I scream a little) and went under the stand where I keep my clothes. I thought that maybe it would stay there till morning so I got my flashlight, made sure my mosquito net was completely covering my bed and put on a movie. About an hour later I went to check...I searched the floor around my bed then carefully got up and turned on the light. It was gone...and I still can't find it. I'm hoping that it left the way it came in.

I used to eat ketchup on my eggs and now I use hot sauce

Okay...that's not a change due to Honduras, more a thank you California. But over the last few months I have thought about how much I've grown and changed in the past 1-1.5 years. I went from being in a relationship to where I thought I'd be having kids by this time to really taking some time to rediscover myself and some of the things that I possibly want in life. Though I still don't know about either of those sometimes. California definitely helped to shape me and make me a stronger more secure person. It still kind of amazes me when I think about how I've grown since graduating 3 years ago. I look forward to the transformations that Honduras will have on me.

I often think and wonder if I'll ever figure it all out. But do we ever? It seems like everytime I feel like I have my footing the rug gets pulled out from under me. Admittedly...its usually my own doing. I can't seem to stay in one place for too long, but maybe b/c I just haven't found the right place. Or maybe its not just the right time yet.

I have had a few small "Oh my god...what am I doing?!?" freak outs. Minor. 27 months is a long commitment. 4 down...23 to go! Sometimes I get caught up thinking about all the things that I'm missing or will be missing. Basketball, concerts, nice long hikes, The Food Network! Then I started thinking how in a month I'll be living completely alone, which I've never done. I shared a room up until halfway through my sophomore year of college for pete's sake! I've always had somebody else in the house...so it will be a little different completely on my own. I think I may sleep with the lights on the first night or two...haha. I've had a couple of people offer to keep me company that first night and reassure me that I'll get used to it, which I'm sure I will...

Its still a lot of changes and adapting. I feel like I've been in this constant mode of transition for a couple years now...as soon as I do start to settle everything changes. I'm doing good though. Sometimes a little sad...often kinda bored. Just part of readjusting to life in a small town. I'd forgotten what it was like when everyone not only knows your business but will definitely be talking about it too!

If you feel like sending any packages they are more than welcomed! I can always use crafty type supplies like markers, stickers, glitter, beads, etc. American candy is always appreciated...haha. That and a cute card to decorate my walls with or even better is a hand-drawn picture telling me how much you love and miss me! Haha...that's it for the pensive post...see below for a little more of an actual update!

I got the Blue Screen of Death on my laptop today...I'm hoping that it doesn't cause too many problems. Though before this, something happened with my drives. I can only access my external hard drive through the auto play, and my C drive...when I try to open it, it asks which program I'd like to use...so I can't get to it. I haven't spent much time trying to figure out what happened. I might just transfer a few files and roll it all back. But now...I can't access Word. It asks if I want to open it in Safe Mode then fails. And then asks to Detect and Repair...and fails again. I don't know...grrr.

I am alive and surviving my first rainy season in Honduras. I didn't realize how long it had been since I'd done laundry until I realized I had 20 pair of underwear hanging on the line. Who even has that many? And I wasn't completely out either! Besides that things have been good. Slowly getting busier, but classes end the 15th of November, so it might slow down again. Starting to make a few friends and have a couple of people to talk to in town, but still few...and some are teachers who don't live here during the break!

I had to jalon for the first time. As much as people would think that soccer is the national pastime, I strongly argue that jaloning is. A jalon is a hitchhike...normally in the back of a pickup truck (since thats what 98% of the population out in the campo drive). It can be planned or it can happen unexpectedly. There may be as few as 2-3 people or as many as 20. Babies and young children are not discriminated against...the more the merrier! Most of the time its free, but sometimes you may get charged a small amount. It could be for a few miles...or a few hours.

So I went to town last Tuesday to go to the bank and the post office and pick up more (powdered) soy milk from the grocery store. Traveling can be a little annoying here. There are 3 times that buses pass to go into town. 5:15am, 6:30am and 7:15am. After 7...no more buses. If you want to go you need to find someone with a car that is going. So I got on the last bus into town and another guy from town that I had seen once or twice got on and sat next to me, so we were able to talk the whole way. He was nice enough to pay my fare (which was about $2)...its nice to make friends! The post office ended up costing me 1/4 of my monthly pay...argh! But it was worth it. I sent a small package to my sister and bought a stamp which cost $25 and spent another $25 to rent a PO Box for a year. Just having my mail closer to me will be a benefit...instead of waiting for the Peace Corps office to forward it once a month...and once it is forwarded I don't exactly have mail service in my town. There's a guy that goes once every 15 days to pick up mail. My host dad goes to Marcala once a week so I can always send the key along with him and have him pick up my stuff.

So I got done what I needed to do and ate some lunch before getting on the bus back to Florida. The 12:00 bus didn't show up...but there was another bus going past my town for the border that normally leaves at 11:30...so I went over there; it was waiting around longer b/c of the other bus not showing up. So we take off about 12:30 and about 20 mins outside of town is where we turn to start climbing up the mountain. The bus couldn't make it...so we all got off and started climbing then got back into the bus. As we started taking off again there was a horrible noise...the tire broke (I think something with the axel) and we were told that we'd have to wait for the next bus...which doesn't pass for 4 hours!

The first truck that passed by everyone ran for...there was about 20 people in the bed...so I decided it was safer to wait. I ended up being on the side of the road with one other high school boy from town for almost an hour before somebody finally passed by. Luckily, it was a man from town. I hopped in front with them and we took off. It took almost as long as the bus between picking up people and the driver stopping to chat along the way. But he didn't charge me...and I scored a free bag of organic coffee that is produced by a woman's cooperative in town!

I can't seem to travel anywhere w/o something happening...buses breaking, my bags leaving on the bus w/o me, national police officer losing his gun, etc. Excited to find out what else could happen...waiting for a flock of chickens to crazily fly through the bus....haha.

I Live Where the Mountains Touch the Clouds

Well, its been a month and a lot has been going on. Since I last updated we finished Field Based Training in Talanga and I returned to Las Cañadas for the final two weeks. And an interesting two weeks it was. It started with leaving for a site visit to my new home for 3 days (which I am at now), followed by wrapping up spanish classes and training. I got bit by my family's dog my last week of training...and a nice bruise to show for it. It was quite sore...and still is around the puncture wound...and its been 10 days. But classes finally finished...thank god! They published an article about our swearing in ceremony: ARTICLE. The only thing is that they said we were in training for 11 months instead of weeks! The first pic is of our Youth Development group...the second is the 2 of the 3 teachers I spent most of my time with. These were the two who were with me during the 5+ weeks of Field Based Training so we were able to get pretty close.

So now I'm in my site and its kinda slow this week. I haven't yet been able to meet with all my counterparts to figure out a schedule. The high school is on strike...and soon a lot of people will be away because the coffee harvest is about to start. So I've just been hanging out at the library...here's the website which has some cool pictures of my town! Its hard to get settled in and find my place. I definitely need to find a few friends or else I'm going to get really depressed really fast! I love my site though...its very cute and quaint. And like my subject says, I'm tucked away up in the mountains and its absolutely amazing!

But enough about that...I don't really have anything thoughtful or inspiring to say....just wanted to show off my killer bruise ;o)

More updates to come....

Almost done with Field Based Training!

These past few days have been exciting. Besides finding out what I’ll be doing we had some fun last week. Wednesday night the mayor invited us to his house for a couple hours so we did a little talent show, made hot chocolate and enjoyed ourselves. He wants to invite us back for a longer evening (we were there for less than 3hrs) and said he’d make carne asada for us. Then Thursday we had a mental health break and got to leave Talanga for the majority of the day. We went to the next region over called Olancho to a town where we had Spanish “outside of class” in this little cabaña place that had a restaurant and a pool. All the teachers came and we played games and activities that made us use our Spanish but after that we had our free time to eat lunch, use the pool and just relax. Friday when we got out of Spanish class in the afternoon there was a Peace March starting so we joined in the with Catholic missionaries that are here (and our age) and marched to the park. There’s a whole campaign promoting peace and to stop the violence against children that the Catholic Church is put on throughout the weekend so it was pretty interesting.

I was kinda sad and bummed out a few weekends ago…just sitting around being bored and having too much time to think, but I’m feeling better. We’re into the 9th week of training and I’m ready to be about done! The last week or two we’ve gotten a lot busier with Spanish and doing things out in the community. We have school projects we’re I’m working in an aldea school just doing some activities and charlas (talks/workshops). So we went three times last week and we go three times this week…which is a lot of hours! My group was stressing out b/c the teachers asked us to give a charla about sex education…but I think it went rather well…especially seeing that it was for 4th-6th grades. We broke them into 4 groups and had 4 different, but related, topics and they spent about 30mins with each of us. I was surprised at how well behaved they were! Especially since when I was in the 4th & 6th grade classroom (they’re combined) on Monday it didn’t go so well. All the kiddos were really respectful, didn’t make jokes and didn’t even complain when we went past their recess/snack time! I took on the task of doing masculine and feminine anatomy…whoo…but it went really well. A little hard for the 4th grade to understand, but I made it interactive enough that they were at least able to get a little something out of it. Today we’re meeting the parents at the school to talk about what we’ve been doing with their kiddos and maybe give a little parenting advice. Tomorrow is the last morning at the school and I must say that I am a little relieved…a lot of times I feel like we’re wasting their time and ours by being there.

Things are wrapping up in Talanga. Monday is our last day here…we go back to Zarabanda/Las Cañadas on Tuesday morning, but we won’t even be spending my time there. We get back to our first host families house to freshen up…then go to the training center to meet our new counterparts (or at least a few). We’re supposed to have lunch and dinner with them. Then Wednesday morning we travel with our counterparts to our new site for the rest of the week. We return on Sunday to Zarabanda and finish with 2 more weeks of training…then on the 26th of September I will be sworn in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer!

What will I be doing for 2 years in Honduras????

I found out my main counterparts and the projects they’d like me to be doing! I’m really excited…sounds like I won’t have a lack of things to do. Here they are:

1. Riecken Library: Here´s their website...They have a lot of programs at this site including teen clubs, early literacy and reading programs and a mobile library—my first thought was a bookmobile. But no—it’s literally the librarian walking out to the aldeas (little tiny, smaller than villages places where people live) with books to read to the kiddos. They also have baseball equipment and would like to start a team, so I can do that if I want to. AND an exciting perk with this particular type of library is that they use satellite internet…which means that not only will I have internet access in my site…I probably won’t have to ever pay to use it somewhere else. I might just have to find a house to rent within a few hundred yards of the library! ;o)
2. High School (Colegio in Spanish): My main counterpart here would be the counselors working on improving their programs concerning reproductive health, values, self-esteem, etc. That whole slew of workshops that they give dealing with all things related. The colegio also said that it’s possible to get involved in their sports teams if I was interested.
3. Catholic Church: Most people are afraid of working with a religious organization…and I had my preconceived notions, but I’m actually more okay with it than some people. And what this church does is really unique. The current (newish) priest is apparently really young and active and involved in the community. So there’s a building attached to the church where there’s room for some of the HS youth to stay during the week in order to attend school. The youth that are there are from really poor families out in the aldeas. They have a small screen printing business and would like help improving that or coming up with other small business ideas in order to generate more funds to be able to provide housing for more students. They are aware that we’re Youth Development volunteers and not Business or Municipal Development and don’t have much (or any) business skills, but they’d still like to see how we can work something out. The main thing at the church would be working with the youth on afterschool activities and doing some workshops on self-esteem, life skills, etc.
4. Centro Básico: This is a school that serves 1st-9th grade out in an aldea with about 300 students total, so a good sized school. It also has Kinder, which I can get involved in but I’m not obligated to. It sounded like they wouldn’t be one of my main counterparts, but would be excited for anything I could do. They’re open to a lot of things and would appreciate any time I could spend there. One thing they definitely wanted was to start a school garden and teach kids (parents?) how to have a home garden. Other projects they mentioned was parenting school, English with the teachers, environmental education, sports and dental hygiene. It sounds like if I wanted there’s a lot I could do there! The only drawback is that it’s not right in town. I was told it’s about an hour walk one way…but on the bright side they told me the walk has great views. And they did mention it would be about 30 mins on a bike…which is good news. Because of funding cuts, not everyone that wants a bike will get one paid for anymore. Volunteers that needed one for transportation were able to ask for the funds…now its being more limited based on real need. So it sounds like they’ll be buying me one!
5. Health Center: Lastly…a health center! Which I’m excited to work with…I was hoping to be tied to one somehow. They want me to start a Pregnant Women’s Club (I was told that most would be adolescents). They’d really like me to do more than just prenatal health, etc…especially since these women are more than likely pretty young. They’d like to see some sort of activities that would be fun and encourage the mothers to still do things that are fun and they like…that just because they’re pregnant/a mom doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy things. My other though is some sort of crafts like t-shirt making, jewelry, maybe some sort of knitting/sewing/handicraft something. I heard of another volunteer that started a women’s exercise club, which would be good to do some sport of physical activity with them…then have a club for after the babies are born. I can imagine how they feel about their bodies afterwards, so it would be a really cool thing to do.

I’m pretty excited by the sounds of things. I didn’t get much more information nor did I bother to ask. I figure I’ll find out in a few more days. Other people dug for information about what part of the country, if it’s a big or small site, how far away is the closest volunteer and/or city, etc. I’m not too worried about that stuff…I’m just glad to know what I’ll be doing. It also helps prevent me from trying to guess where I’m going; then be wrong. There’s already been one person who had convinced herself that she would be in the west up in the mountains. Another was sure that she was going to a certain site…then I got some info from the volunteer I visited last month and it’s not. As I was telling her the first person was in the car with me and realized it was her counterparts and job descriptions…so both were a little upset b/c they had their minds set on these other places. Some people have a pretty good idea between the description, counterparts and talking with current volunteers and are able figure it out. I welcome the surprise on Monday.