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