7 months in Honduras!

Last week I went to visit Erica in her pueblito of 300 people, up on a mountain in Comayagua! It was fun to see the difference between rural peace corps life and urban peace corps life…. both have their positives and negatives of course. Everyone in her community knows her, she walks around and gets invited in for a snack, and she has breathtaking views. Certainly not everyone in MY community knows me, I walk around and usually see familiar faces but don’t exactly go from house to house, but I have a lot of resources available, and my views are still pretty nice! It was really good to see her, though, and to get a taste of life out in the campo.

And now, I’m just getting back from Reconnect! Which is kind of like a right of passage for new volunteers I feel…. We’ve accomplished the first 5 months of service, and our “freshman” status is starting to wear off… of course we will still be the babies until the next training class comes….. but they come at the end of the month!

What is Reconnect? When PCVs from the same project get together for a weeklong workshop that includes partial training with Honduran counterparts, then the rest of the week is spent with the Youth Development team, including volunteers from the group that came in the year before us. The first part of the week focused on reading strategies for primary schools, including how to read stories (sounds basic to us but necessary for our work partners), fun activities to promote literacy, and overall how to get kids excited about reading. Then we went into dental hygiene, which we all already did in training, but it was more for our counterparts. After they left, we switched gears and spent the rest of the time sharing ideas and talking about projects. We met the new Country Director (each country has one, a US citizen that is, more or less, in charge of the Peace Corps program for that country)… I got really good vibes from her! She talked to us like co-workers, and really sent the message that we were all working for the same team. And we also met the other “senior” youthies, which was nice, they had a lot of wisdom to bestow upon us newbies.

I walked away from this workshop with a mobile library in a box that included 75 books, 2 puppets, and some games, 130 toothbruses and toothpastes, 24 english manuals, and a cute pink construction paper pig puppet I made!

It was absolutely wonderful to see the other YD volunteers though… we are such a diverse group, but they are my family here, and I couldn’t imagine getting through service without them. I am so lucky to have met such FABULOUS people, who are there for me even if I carry the whistle Juan Carlos gave us around my neck, and who will humor me by wearing “COMO ESTAN MUY BIEN” necklaces that I made for them out of paper.

And now I am working with my counterparts to come up with a plan for the next few months…there is a lot to do, and I have a lot of ideas…. Hopefully we can ponernos de acuerdo!

I also bought a hammock! And my landlord helped me put it up, and it’s a much more pleasurable experience to write a blog entry from a hammock than it is from a bench or a bed!

Sending all my love to snowy new england, miss you all!
love, lisa

We are the world.

There comes a time
When we head a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all





We can't go on
Pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of
God's great big family
And the truth, you know love is all we need




Send them your heart
So they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

2010 certainly brought a lot of wonderful things to my life, though it took it’s emotional toll as well. Good things: I got into the Peace Corps, went to Disney World with Courtney, graduated college, became a Peace Corps volunteer, moved to Central America, met a lot of awesome people, came to appreciate everything the United States has to offer, improved my Spanish, and surprised my family for Christmas! Not so good things: lost my beloved puppy Bailey, spent way too much time at the dentist, had to say goodbye to my family and friends for 2 years, suddenly lost my uncle (one of my favorite people in the world) way before his time was up….
All in all, it was a year of change, growth, and new experiences. I’m anxious to see what Honduras has to throw at me in 2011… bring it on!

How was my first Honduran Christmas, you ask? Well… it was spent in the US! Though I had planned to spend it here, about a week before Christmas, my Auntie Rita emailed me and asked if I would be able to come home for Chrismtas… given everything that had recently happened she thought it would be a good way to lift everyone’s spirits as we all try to make it through without a very integral member of our family… she offered to buy my tickets and suggested we keep it a surprise! I got the ok from Peace Corps and landed in Boston late on the 23rd, where I utilized our outstandingly clean and safe public transportation system to go out of the city and meet my aunt and cousin. We decided rather than surprising everyone so late, we’d wait until the morning… and that we did… we waited until 5am before we headed over to my parents house (who were convinced my aunt showed up so early to give them a puppy for Christmas!)… we forcefully woke them up with jingling bells and Christmas carols, then we decided on how to surprise my sister who recently moved into her own house. We all drive out to where my sister lives, megaphone and all, and I start singing Dominic the Donkey outside her bedroom window… after 20 minutes she finally comes to the door! For a reenactment of her eyes popping out of her head, watch the video I posted on facebook!

It was a wonderful holiday… so much fun surprising the rest of my family! They laughed, cried, screamed, poked me to make sure I was real….. I extended my originally short (3 day) trip by a few days thanks to the giant snow storm we got, and was able to stay through New Years. Ohhh the snow…. How magical!!!! I’ve always loved snow. I’m so glad I got to be snowed in for a day. I got to see my sister's new house, meet my new beautiful snugly baby cousin Anna (congrats again, Pat, Lynne and Michelle!), eat, drink and be merry! Aaaannnnd the night before my early flight back my sister barges in my room and turns on my light at 12:30am (my alarm was set for 4 so I could get to the airport on time… I thought she decided she wanted to drive me in and that I had overslept or something) TO SHOW ME HER ENGAGEMENT RING!!!! Yay Gina!!!! And Mike!!!! A perfect way to end a perfect trip home.

So… being back in the states after living in a developing country for 6 months…. Overwhelming to say the least! But I realized all I’ve taken advantage of over the years… public transportation, public restrooms, public services in general, customer service, not guarding your house with a giant wall/gate/bars/etc, dogs inside houses, safe drivers (that’s a big statement to make since I’m from Mass where we are called massholes mostly for our horrid driving… but its nothing like being in a mototaxi here in Honduras, believe me), good roads, hot water with excellent pressure, fresh clothes from the dryer…. I could go on, but I won’t bore you listing all of the things you see and do everyday… when I walked into a grocery store for the first time my sister had to move me along because she was embarrassed as people were staring at my pure awe…

But! I am glad to be back in Honduras, ready to get back to work, start new projects, and hopefully leave my mark on this little town :)

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday, and I wish you all luck in the New Year!
All my love,
Lisa

The one with the Cold Front in Honduras (?!)

Yes, that’s right… ITS COLD IN HONDURAS! (not all the time though, as shown by this photo, taken mere weeks ago) But what does it mean to be cold here? It means is actually isn’t that cold, maybe 50/60 degrees… but…. Nothing is insulated, houses and buildings are usually missing part of the roof or maybe lack a wall, and this girl didn’t come prepared with proper cooler weather clothing! Don’t take my experience to mean that its “cold” all over the country… actually… it’s not… most parts of Honduras are hot all the time… a lot of my friends from training are still sweating buckets every day… but out west where I am, we experience a more “fresco” climate… which is much more pleasant and bearable that hot all the time with no escape (just like there is no insulation, there is also no air conditioning).

I went to a Ropa Americana store last week to get a few scarves and another sweatshirt… the sweatshirt is great, I’m pretty sure it was part of a two piece set that perhaps someone’s grandmother wore to go power walking in… its velvety, and I thought it was pink, which is why I chose it, but in some lights it looks more red… Oh, and thanks to some wonderful people back home (mom and Courtney) I’ve received some warm pajamas. Thanks! I do also think that my blood has thinned out since being here... a girl who grew up in the frigid winters of New England shivers along with her Honduran neighbors saying "que frio!" when it's 60 degrees? Excuse me?

This have been going well, a bit more tranquilo since its “summer break.” I’m still working on building the support group for pregnant adolescents, trucking through Yo Se Leer, which is going slower than anticipated because you can’t teach sounds to kids if they can’t identify the letters, but that’s ok, I’ve got time and they need the basics. Funny how the usage of the phrase “the basics” gets put into perspective when you’re working in a place like this… not just syllables and vowels… but literally, one letter at a time. My English class ends this week- I can’t believe how much I have enjoyed teaching adults English… I have to admit I wasn’t thrilled about the idea in the beginning, but I had a blast! And it was great practice for when I give the course to teachers in a few months. I was also approached 3 times last week for "psychological" advice... because i'm a psychologist, right? Well,I told all three of these people that per PC rules, I can't give medical advice, because I'm here as a Youth Development Volunteer, not as a psychologist, however I would certainly talk to them "informally." It went well, I was so happy these people trusted me enough to confide in me.... ayy i thought maybe this experience would help me narrow down what I want to do with my life, but it seems to be giving me more ideas instead....

World AIDS day was December 1st, there was a parade (I marched with the Youth Center) and presentation at the park. HIV/AIDS awareness is all over the place, which is good, because out of all of Central America, I believe I read the Honduras has the highest rate….. basically you have to preach protecting yourself, and fidelity. However with the teen pregnancy rates, it’s clear that not everyone is practicing safe sex.

Working with my counterpart from the youth center has been wonderful... i am the third volunteer she's worked with, so she understands Peace Corps goals, and is a well-educated, super responsible, motivated person... the Youth Center hasn't had a YD volunteer for a few years too, which is nice because although they reference past volunteers, it was a while ago so i am not continuously being compared to former volunteers (i know a lot of PCVs have trouble with this, especially when they are sent to replace a former volunteer). It is, however, becoming more evident to me the misconception of what international aid should be when I am working at IHNFA. They have not had a long term volunteer, ever. It's a challenge to explain WHY i need to be working WITH personnel at the organization rather than working so someone else doesn't have to. Its normal here for international aid groups to come in, give money or donations, and leave. While that's wonderful if you have the means and you want to give, it doesn't help the long term development of the organization, nor the overall functioning of the country. Its not sustainable. I need to be training and collaborating with Hondurans so that when I leave, hopefully some aspect of their organization will have been improved and will continue to improve in my absence. THATS why Peace Corps service is 2 years.

Que mas! My hotel is all decked out for the holidays, I really appreciate everyone’s contributions from home! My landlady gets a kick out of the things you all send me. I think her favorite was my sequenced Santa Claus sweater that just arrived…. But when I showed it to her, she asked if it was ME!

There was a nice concert at an abandoned church this past weekend…. It was an orchestra and choir from one of the Universities and they did some of my favorite classics, silent night (noche de paz), little drummer boy (nino del tambor), and glooo- ooo ooo ooo, oo oo oooo o ooo, ooo oo o o oooooria. This picture is me and my friend from Argentina (whose here for 2 years working as well) at the concert, with candles for silent night... notice the scarf... and thats my new used sweatshirt! Looks red, right?
And this week the bilingual school is going to have some sort of Christmas show in the park! I’m psyched for that!

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season…. Is it snowy?? I don’t suppose I’ll see a white Christmas this year… maybe next year…. Just remember, THE BEST WAY TO SPREAD CHRISTMAS CHEER IS SINGING LOUD FOR ALL TO HEAR! (I over-quote that, I know, but it speaks the truth!) Speaking of singing…. My site mates, and the other volunteers I’ve asked, have NEVER heard Dominic the Donkey…. ?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Tell me if I am wrong to think it is a fairly popular Christmas song….???

The best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singling loud for all to hear!!

The one with all the Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!! So… my first big holiday celebrated away from home as come and gone… it was… different. Actually, it was lovely- I couldn’t have imagined a better way to spend it if it had to be spent in Honduras. My site mate’s hosted a lovely gathering, with just a few other volunteers from my training class who live near by, and a whole bunch of volunteers that I met for the first time (and a few random Americans who happened to be passing through). There were two turkeys, stuffing, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, green bean casserole, a few pies, a cake… all the trimmings! Well, almost all the trimmings…. No NHS football game, eggnog, mulled cider, scrambling to feed Nana before her blood sugar freaks out, chewing like grampy, or pictionary. But, I made “Indian” feather headbands and pilgrim hats for all who chose to wear them, we ate lots of food, we played my trivia game (complete with 4 categories- Thanksgiving, Honduras, Peace Corps and Christmas), and I met lots of awesome people (it’ll be a miracle if I can remember all of their names). OH, and I guess it’s pretty cool that my town is called Gracias (thank you), and that is where we celebrated Dia de Accion de Gracias (Thanksgiving). It was an appropriate location, for sure.

Last week I hosted my first visitors! Monica and Anna (from my Youth Development group) and Anna’s friend who was visiting from the states came and stayed with me for a few nights. It was so much fun to shout COMO ESTAN and get a proper response! We went to the hot springs, and went hiking up Mt. Celaque, the highest peak in Honduras. Yes, we made it to the tippity top….. no… just kidding… we made it to… rest area numero dos… but it was still fun! We took Freckles, my site mate’s puppy and he had a great time! Their visit gave me a chance to figure out the best places to go out to eat in Gracias (I haven’t eaten out much since I’ve been here)- We found a charming little place that also sells hand crafted pottery made right here, and met a super nice lady that makes homemade bread.

Yo Se Leer is off to a good start! I hope the older kids stay through the school vacation- they just had their graduation, though I imagine if they’ve been coming the past two weeks since school ended, they’ll continue to come until the end of vacation. Speaking of graduation… I was invited as a special guest to attend the graduation of the preparatoria class at the kinder located next to IHNFA. These are the kids I did my pre-basica English class with. What a show, it was! Presentation is everything in this culture, from decorations, to graduation caps and robes, fancy invitations and diplomas…. WOW! And, unbeknownst to me, I was invited to sit at the “mesa principal” (principal table, up on the stage, with all the important people). They called my name at the start of the ceremony, and up I went! I got to shake the parents hands and everything!

I’m also starting a support group at the youth center for young girls who are already pregnant. We’ve been doing our prevention campaign, but the reality is that girls are already pregnant, and they have to deal with it. They need support, as mental health resources are far and few between in this country. The doctor we were working with at the Adolescent Clinic called me last week and asked me if I could come to their next pregnant women’s meeting because there was such a rise in teenage attendance. I went, and invited anyone interested to come to the youth center next week for the first meeting of the support group. About 12 young girls (ages 14-20) signed up… we’ll see who shows up this week!

I went hiking the other day to find some other hot springs, and both my phone and my camera died. Completely died. It was sad. I found a cheap phone for 350 lempiras, which is maybe 15 or 20 US dollars…. Lost a bunch of numbers that weren’t saved to my SIM card, but my number is the same! As for my camera…. At least it wasn’t stolen, so I didn’t lose all the pictures on my memory card. My site made lent me her old one to use until I can replace mine, which is WONDERFUL! I am so grateful for that, as I am kind of obsessed with photographing EVERYTHING.

Jorge, our landlord, took my site mate Emina and I to his brother in law’s coffee farm… it’s about an hour away, in the department of Intibuca, out in a little aldea. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by a freshly killed chicken hanging upside down from a tree branch. We also got to pick coffee! And I got bit a lot by some little black flies that left me little blood spots all over my legs. Any photos you see from that day should be credited to the artistic work of my site mate Emina.

Oh, happy CHRISTMAS SEASON 2010!!! My Honduran nook is all decorated and ready to go- bulbs hanging from the ceiling fan, garland on the door, lights in and out of the room…. I was making some construction paper/glitter glue decorations and shared the wonder of glitter glue with my landlady Imelda, and the trabajadora Bety (a young girl that lives/cleans here… they call her the “muchacha” but I find that a bit derogatory.. Hondurans either say trabajadora or muchacha as the job title)…. They had never used it before! Cheers to Peace Corps goal number two- to foster a better understanding of Americans on the part of the people’s served!

That’s about it for life in Honduras! It’s weird to be in a tropical climate this time of year… no fallen leaves, no early morning frost, no making donuts out of your breath! It makes it hard to remember that it’s almost December… the changing seasons really keep you on track about what time of the year it is, but now I have to rely on my gut instinct that it IS in fact an appropriate time for Christmas carols and candy canes.
Love, Lisa

2 Months in Site!

Hola! I write this blog entry from my new home, a little nook in the corner of Gracias! I finally made it through five months of host families, and now I can sleep late on the weekends, mosey around and make coffee in my pajamas, and not be embarrassed about it. Little by little, I’m making my room into my home, adorning it with pictures, Christmas decorations, and awesome artificial fall leaves (thanks Mrs. Wooten!!).
Last week marked 2 months in site as an official Volunteer! They both flew by! My counterpart was saying how it feels like just yesterday we were in Teguz for the swearing in ceremony. People tend to say that life as a volunteer has its ups and downs, and sometimes time goes by like *that* but other times it crawls... I think keeping busy helps with making the time go by. Only on the weekends do I usually have hours at a time to do nothing, at which point I welcome the free time (with open arms!).

Things have been busy…. We’ve reached almost 600 high school kids with our campaign against teen pregnancy. With final exams coming up, I think we’re done with the schools until February, but we might expand to Church groups over the school vacation (the school year here starts in Feb, ends in Nov, and Dec/Jan is “summer vacation”). After the last section I did, almost have the group, about twenty 15, 16, 17 and 18 year olds swarmed me for hugs… HUGS! FROM HIGHSCHOOLERS!!! I was SO happy, I know little kids hug all the time, but to earn a hug from a teenager is quite an honor.

A local youth group at a church here in Gracias solicited my help… they sent a letter to the youth center requesting the support of the “psychologist” from the Peace Corps (I've let that one go... so they all think I'm a psychologist, it could be worse). I went last weekend to talk to the older kids about setting goals and making decisions about their future. It was a lot of fun, and at the end one of the girls stood up to formally thank me on behalf of her classmates, and told me that a lot of people come talk to them, but this time, she thinks they will actually apply what I taught them to help themselves in their futures. It was a great bunch of kids, and they meet every Saturday at this church- some are from here in Gracias and others are from outlying aldeas (rural communities). Next weekend I am going back to talk about basically the same topic, just with a younger group.

I’ve been getting all my materials ready to start Yo Se Leer next week! Thinking about how these 6 year olds can’t write their name, or even identify the letter A, puts the lapse in the education system here into perspective. These kids go to school, they just don’t learn because they are not properly taught. I am not saying I know how to teach- far from it! But I do know that memorization and regurgitation won’t get them very far. This isn’t to stereotype all Honduran teachers, I am SURE there are some wonderful teachers, who teach with their hearts. But the reality here is that teenagers can graduate from high school at 17 and be certified to teach when they haven’t themselves had adequate preparation. I love the program I’m about to start because it’s all about early intervention. Even if I only reach a handful of kids, if they are successful in the program, they will go on in school with (hopefully) less difficulties (at least in reading), less frustration, and a higher chance of staying in school longer. The longer they stay in school, the better shot they have at a better future, and the less likely they are to hang out in the streets all day, get involved with gangs and drugs and the like.

My project director is coming next week for my first site visit! Every project has a director in country, and we get periodic visits to see how things are going. I get along well with mine so I’m not too worried, but I’m a bit nervous because it’s like my first Peace Corps test! Eek! It should be fine though, being the first visit, they just want to see that I’m integrating well, and have some sort of plan for the coming months. Please note the book featured in this photo- Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day! My mom sent me some children's books in Spanish! Thanks Mom! This one was one of my favorites growing up... I made the kids at IHNFA shout terrible, horrible, no good, and very bad each time those parts came up (in Spanish, of course). They loved it to pieces.

Oh!!! I want to thank everyone from home for all their support (again)… yesterday I got three packages, filled with awesome supplies that I can use in all my projects! Thank you to everyone whose thought of me, either with a package, letter, card, email, or even a simple facebook check-in- I really appreciate it! And yes, this is a goat, hanging outside the youth center... just... chillin'. No leash. I've seen him around the neighborhood though, I suppose he must live nearby!

That is all for now... miss and love you all! OH! And if you've sent me a card at any point, please know that it has been taped up to the back of my door! :)