Time for Part 2 of Training!

Hola! Today is our last day of the first part of training. We move tomorrow, to a new town, a couple hours away, for field based training. Youth Development (me!) goes to one town, Municipal Development to another, and Protected Areas Management to another. We will be split up in our groups for 7 weeks, doing more hands on training, then we come back here, and hopefully, if we've met all the qualifications, we get sworn in as official Peace Corps Volunteers.

We got a sheet of paper with information about our new host families. My host mom supposedly is a teacher, i finally will have my first host dad (time to see what the machismo is all about), i have a 13 year old host sister, an 11 year old host brother, and a 2 year old host sister. We supposedly also have to dogs, Capitan and Preciosa. Wish me luck! My family here has been so wonderful... so i am hoping the next one is just as welcoming. (according to the sheet, i will have a real SHOWER!!)

Last week we went on volunteer visits. I went down south to a city called Choluteca, its the biggest site that YD volunteers get sent to, and the girl i visited is leaving in september and will be replaced. I wasnt crazy about how big her site was, but her counterparts were wonderful, and she does some pretty cool stuff. I sat in on her sex ed class with a group of 6th grade girls (i cant wait to do that!), and we did some dental health stuff with preschools. She also teaches teachers how to teach english to their classes. We met other volunteers who live outside of Choluteca for lunch (they were also hosting trainees).... guess where we went.... PIZZA HUT. but no. it was like a 5 star restaurant. there was a host who greeted us at the door, they sold alcohol, served you at your table, and it was the kind of place you dress up to go to! it was bizarre. i didnt tell the Hondurans that Pizza Hut in the states isn't so fancy...

Overall, it was a really good opportunity to get to see what life as a volunteer is like.. of course, everyone has a different experience... you can't really compare...but it answered a lot of my questions.
We have our next interviews with out project managers in a few weeks... they MIGHT ask us if we have a preference for site size or location, but the reality is we will be placed where our skills best fit the community's needs... although at this point, i think i would rather give up some amenities for a smaller site, where everyone will get to know me and help me shoo away any creepers or bolos (drunks).

Last weekend i went to Santa Lucia, a cute little town, with my host cousins. They were excellent tour guides... it was so cute, it reminded me of spain. There was a little library there, and my cousins told me it was the closet one to them ( they said there arent many libraries here), and you cant take out books (as they dont have a lot of them). So you have to go there and stay to read.


Here is one of my roomates, my little Gecko friend.
The first time we met, i freaked out and got my host mom. She laughed at me. I guess he eats the mosquitoes, so i let him stay.

I miss and love you all, thanks for following! I will let you know how the new family is, wish me luck :)
love, lisa