"You can't have Thanksgiving without turkey. That's like Fourth of July without apple pie, or Friday with no two pizzas."

Thanksgiving takes on a whole new meaning after living in a developing country. This experience has taught me so much about life, people, priorities and myself… my perspective is greater, my understanding is real and my ideals are grounded.

I came into this experience like many other Peace Corps hopefuls, wanting to “change the world” and “make a difference.” I cannot change the world- but I can make small changes in people. The differences I make will not alone drive a country into sustainable development, that would be absurd if it were that easy. But in the small town, in the small country in the small part of the developing world where I have been placed, I can touch lives. And I have. Well, I think I have. I hope I have.

For my birthday, one of my counterparts knit me a pink and yellow scarf so I’d be ready for the “cold” season. It took me a while to realize though, that the yarn she used was the same yarn I brought back to her after my trip home in August. I had a big thing of yarn and she went nuts over it, saying they don’t sell it where we live, and she asked if I could get her some when I was at home. This woman has looked after me as if I were her daughter so I had no problem bring her back 4 big things of colorful yarn I picked up at the Salvation Army. When I realized that she had made the scarf out of the yarn I gave her, I first thought that maybe she felt she “owed” me, but that’s not it. She wanted to give me something nice because she loves me, and didn’t want me to be too chilly when the “cold-fronts” arrived. She probably didn’t think twice about the fact that she was giving me back the gift I had given her. But the gesture was so sweet. She had taken something from a developed country, added her own touches to it, and made it real. In an annoying, I-can’t-believe-I-am-turning-my-birthday –scarf-into-a-metaphor-about- life kind of way, that scarf sums up my entire Peace Corps experience. I came in with my own ideals and views on life, Honduras slapped me in the face and said “Girl! You can’t change the world! But you sure can try!”


Fun fact: she drowned the scarf in some crazy strong Grandma perfume so it’d “smell nice” for me…. My room smelled like a fancy Grandmother for weeks.

So anyways, back to giving thanks…. Although I am always so grateful for my family and my friends and the outpour of support people gave me when they thought I was going to live in a “poop hut” with my own goat (that’s what you all imagined, right? When I said I was joining the Peace Corps?- it’s ok, I did too)…. Right now I want to express my gratitude for the last year and a half (and hopefully the next 9 months as well!)…. Honduras is not for everyone. It is not safe. It has awful roads. Minimal infrastructure. Political corruption. Drug trafficking. Gangs. Machismo. Bland food. BUT, it also has wonderful selfless people who might not always be on time for work or show up to your meetings, but at the end of the day, they accept you as family. Honduras is real, and it is willing to teach you a thing or two about life if you let it.

Now I need to go board a plane…. I am still on med-evac which means my parents bought me a ticket home for the weekend so I wouldn’t be alone on Thanksgiving! I’ve got two and a half weeks left in DC, and then should be able to get back to Honduras (just in time to board ANOTHER plane for my already-planned Christmas vacation).

Gobble gobble, everyone! :)

You know you're a Republican/Democrat if...

I would like to share some very clever, funny-because-they're-true, political jokes showing the extremes of both sides. You'll laugh at the one about the other party, and then probably laugh harder about the one that represents your party. These are a few of my favorites. And though it seems these kinds of jokes would fuel bipartisan politics, I think the fact that you can laugh at the ridiculous truthfulness from both sides brings both sides closer together.

You know you’re a Republican if…you wouldn’t mind if the Commonwealth of Massachusetts seceded from the Union..
You know you’re a Democrat if…you wish the Republic of Texas never became a state

You know you’re a Republican if…you prove your racial sensitivity by saying Gracias to your gardener.
You know you’re a Democrat if…you’re strongly committed to racial equality even if you don’t personally know a single person of a different race.

You know you’re a Republican if…you write to your congressmen in defense of the interest income tax deduction for vacation homes.
You know you’re a Democrat if…you write to your congressmen and suggest a $1 tax return check off for endangered jellyfish.

You know you’re a Republican if…you liked high school. You studied hard enough to get into the college you wanted to attend. You had a girlfriend with nice hair.
You know you’re a Democrat if…you couldn’t wait to get out of high school. You either were a feminist or dated one. You studied your brains off. You joined the debate team, or the school paper, or better yet, both. You wore black.

You know you’re a Republican if…you got a “B” on your Western Civilization midterm paper. You also got a date with the girl who sits next to you. College is even better than high school!
You know you’re a Democrat if…you got a “B” on your Western Civilization midterm paper. You plan to spend the weekend revising it and on Monday will beg the professor to let you resubmit it. You’ll need to break your date with that doofus who sits next to you. What were you thinking?

You know you’re a Republican if…you have a home aquarium. The big fish kills the little fish. So you get another big fish. They fight constantly. “Animals are like that” you think.
You know you’re a Democrat if…you have a home aquarium. The big fish kills the little fish. You hold a funeral for the little fish. You are at a loss for what to do. You give away the big fish. You put the empty aquarium in the attic. “Whew, no more fighting,” you think.

You know you’re a Republican if…you’ve never seen a government social services program that you thought was worth increasing your taxes for
You know you’re a Democrat if…you’ve never seen a social program that you weren’t willing to pay other taxpayer’s money on

You know you’re a Republican if…you thought your college professors were flamingly liberal.
You know you’re a Democrat if…you are a college professor.

You know you’re a Republican if…you want to stem the tide of illegal immigrants getting into the U.S…. but then again somebody’s got to mow your lawn….
You know you’re a Democrat if…you sort of sympathize with undocumented workers (“illegal immigrants” sounds so, well, harsh) but the unions want the borders closed and… oh, shoot…you’re just so confused!

You know you’re a Republican if…you think every Democrat is a closet Communist.
You know you’re a Democrat if…you think every Republican is closeted.