4.29.08 ¡El Negrito!

Wow...time must really be flying considering I have not written a blog since the beginning of the month. I apologize to all my loyal readers (aka my mother) I will try to make more frequent updates.

So to summarize the past month…went swimming in the river every weekend, awesome goodbye party in La Paz, finished FBT, tearful goodbye with my family in Yarumela and a happy reunion with my family in Santa Lucia, moved up to Advanced-Low Spanish level, 2 people in the health group went home, got site announcements and went on visits…and here we are, less than a week away from Swearing In!!

Honestly, sometimes I thought this week would never come. I remember when our project went over the COTE (Calendar of Training Events) and I thought how long it was and that swearing in seemed a lifetime away. But it went by so fast. This Friday we will all be trekking to the US Embassy to swear in as –official- Peace Corps Volunteers!

As I mentioned, we got site announcements…and I will be in El Negrito, Yoro! It is a town of about 12,000 (about 35,000 in the whole municipality) so it’s a medium sized site. It is about 5 hours north of Tegucigalpa and only 2 hours from the beach!! My main counterparts (organizations I am paired to work with that are already in the town) are WorldVision and the local Health Center. I am only the 2nd Health PCV to be placed there so while I have some big shoes to fill, there is a lot of work to be done which is really exciting. Emelina, a Water-Sanitation PCV is going to the same site which is pretty cool. We are close, but we both want to be independent and do our own thing so I think she will be a great sitemate. Last week, one of my counterparts, Doris, came to Santa Lucia to meet me and take me back to El Negrito with her for a visit. I spent 3 days in my new home, getting to know the town and the people a little bit. I loved every minute of it. I stayed with new host family who are all very nice. The last volunteer left her house for me, so in 2 months I will be moving in there. The prospect of having my very own house is incredibly exciting! I saw the outside and it looks wonderful (more reasons to visit!) Everybody that I met was so welcoming and friendly, they are all so excited to have me there and ready to put me to work! Some future projects include: nutrition education and monitoring the weight of babies, hygiene education and charlas, HIV-AIDS charlas to local high schools, forming a support group and micro-businesses for people who are HIV+, creating HIV testing at the health center, meeting and educating local midwives, working at the nutrition center with malnourished children, helping out at the bilingual school, and much more I am sure. There are also a decent amount of projects that Emelina and I can collaborate on which is exciting too. I am in Santa Lucia this week finishing up training and will be in El Negrito permanently May 3rd.

All in all, I am really happy with my site.

4.7.08 ¿No hay agua?

On Saturday, I woke up early to do some yoga before Karen and I took off for our fieldtrip to Comayagua. I was a bit sweaty and looking forward to my cold shower. I stepped in, disrobed and turned the faucet on. I looked up at the hose that sticks out of the wall and nothing came out. Feeling confused, I turned the faucet off and tried again. Suddenly, a light bulb flashed on in my head…”there’s no water.” I know it sounds naïve, but I was genuinely amazed at what was happening. Never during my 23 years in the U.S. and even my time in Chile did I feel truly thankful and privileged to have running water. I mean, yes, I’ve said it before but until you don’t have it…you never really appreciate it. Luckily, my mom went across the street to the church and brought back a nice big bucket of water, which I used to bathe.

What I had failed to realize until that very moment is how different life is here…how different =my= life is now. So as everyone sits in their comfy computer chairs and reads my blog and giggles at my stories of having no running water and riding in the back of pick-up trucks…this is my reality, this is the reality of this country. We are so privileged in the United States yet so many of us fail to realize that. The thought of a life without Internet in our house, a plasma tv and dreams of a new Benz never crosses our minds so why would a life without electricity, running water or basic healthcare?

I read in the newspaper that 69% of indigenous children in Guatemala are malnourished…and overall, almost half the children in country don’t get enough food either. Sixty-nine percent…that number is overwhelming to me. Yet our government is spending trillions of dollars on a useless war and the citizens of my home country consume and waste more food in one day than the people here could ever imagine. It makes my heart hurt so much to see and hear about these things…yet most people turn their heads and ignore the injustices that are going on all around us. Even worse, they don’t take the time to be grateful that they never have to worry about where their next meal will come from, simply for luck of birth.

I’m not trying to preach to anyone and I’m not saying that I am suddenly enlightened or high and mighty. But we are all humans and we are all living together in this world and I think we all need to take a minute and think about what we can do to become global citizens and make a positive impact on this world.

4.1.08 Cockfights and enchiladas

Sunday was an interesting day. A group of us went to La Paz to see a cockfight. I figured I wouldn’t be too entertained by the whole thing but that it would be a good cultural experience. Well it was definitely an experience…I was probably 1 of 5 women in the whole place which I expected but it was still weird. And the cockfights are really gruesome…more so than I expected. It was really hot that day and all the sudden, I started feeling dizzy and seeing white spots so I went outside and sat down, pretty close to fainting. Whew…a bit scary but all is well. Eventually I came home and made delicious beef enchiladas for my family, which they loved!

Here are some more pictures of my adventures…

Bottom to top (sorry, they got pasted funny)

1. My town, Yarumela
2. Awesome family planning sign at the Health Center in Yarumela
3. Elementary girls surrounding gringos at the Cero Basura presentation
4. The truck we rode in the back of to go swimming with Sarah’s family
5. The organizers of El Dia Cultural
6. Karen & Josue playing A Pescar
7. One of the alfombras in Comayagua
8. The cockfight

3.30.08 Abstinence, Wendy’s & Swimming

Sunday marked my half way point of FBT which I am pretty surprised about. These past 3 weeks have flown by, especially compared to the weeks spent in Santa Lucia! I had a good weekend…hung out with my sobrinos a lot…I really adore them and am determined to steal them for a weekend when I am living at my site so they can come stay with me. So last week ended quickly, we spent Thursday and Friday talking about the Abstinence initiative and doing some practiums surrounding it. Now, I definitely had a preconceived [negative] notion of abstinence education. Having received abstinence education in school and also my experience as a health educator has taught me that it is not only ineffective, but also unrealistic. However, I can honestly say that my mind has been changed after listening to the A-Team [as they call themselves] talk about the initiative. It is geared towards girls who are 10-14 and doesn’t exclude girls that have already had sex but wish to be abstinent. There are a total of 13 lessons that can be given once a week and while the first one focuses on abstinence, the rest are about empowerment and self-esteem. It’s a really positive program and I even think I might want to do it at my site. I was very impressed with the work they have done and the new spin they have put on abstinence education. In a country that is so machismo at times and where a lot of girls only look for a husband so they can start having kids, there need to be more programs like this one to led young girls know that they have other options.
Saturday all of us plied into a van and took the short trip to Tegucigalpa to do immigration paperwork. We got to be reunited with the other 2 projects, which was nice. I spent the majority of the time talking with Luis, the training site director in Santa Lucia and we had a really nice conversation. So I will have a national ID card and be officially Honduran sometime this week! Yay! Then we got to eat at Wendy’s which was completely glorious. When I got home, I immediately changed and went to the river to swim with my niece and nephew. We had such a good time, the water felt so good because it was =so= hot that day. I am trying to teach Karen how to swim so that is fun. At one point, I was listening to music on Josue’s cell phone and this song I love [el cielo esta llorando] came on and Karen and I were dancing and singing and I realized in that moment how beautiful and precious the little things in life are. I am happy and every day that I spend here is such a blessing.