So here´s a recap of all the work I´ve done since being here in Field Based Training here in Moroceli. I would write more, but unfortunately I seem to have been struck by another illness (most likely Dengue) and have no energy. I can´t go to the hospital again because there is a huge strike in Tegucigalpa and no one can enter or leave the city, so I have to sit here and sweat it out (literally). The last two weeks have been pretty eventful, so I wanted to at least give everyone a little taste!
1. Went to the immigration office and am now an official resident of Honduras!
2. Got to go to the mall in Teguz and eat some wholesome american fast food and icecream...yum!
3. Went to another soccer game in another town close by-this time the guys were playing so we got to make fun of them like they made fun of us (unfortunately one of them scored so we couldn´t laugh very much).
4. Built to latrines in two afternoons! Learned how to mix cement, use a hoe, lay bricks, level a toilet seat, and mucho mas!
5. Spent a morning working with my host dad on the farm-when I say working i really mean he let me do only ten minutes of light labor because he didn´t want to hurt my soft hands. But I got to ride a horse there and back, which was fun and gave some entertainment to the town!
6. Built a family garden with the local elementary school-it´s amazing how well those ten year olds know how to use a machete!
7. Went on a field trip to Hoya Grande where we spent the day with a local farmer constructing live and dead barriers. This included planting trees and beans, and making a 100 foot rock wall! We decided to go for beers (1 each so we don´t get a bad reputation) and baleadas (tortilla with beans and eggs...yum) after and they tasted so good!!!!
8. Taught fifth graders what international development is and how they can help-don´t think they took much in, but at least they paid attention.
9. Went to Danli (bigger city about 45 minutes away) for the festival de maiz (corn festival). This is third largest festival in Honduras and thus it took us about 2.5 hours to find a ride-all the buses were jammed pack. But once there, we had a great time, eating local food and catching up with the other training class who also came in for the festival. We even got to go to a supermarket, which was pretty awesome!
10. Was taught how to dance by my next door neighbor-basically i tried to dance while everyone else laughed at me.
11. Went to the farm again to pick corn which we used to make a local dish-it was quite a process!
12. Went to a cigar factory where I learned all about the process-it´s pretty intense!
ok gotta go-love to all-wish me luck with whatever illness this is I have!
besos-alice
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
I´ve made it a month!!!!!!!
I have officially been here in Honduras for five weeks!!! I can´t believe it-the time seems to fly by but at the same time I feel like I´ve been here for ages!
What´s new...? The biggest news I suppose is that I survived my first hospitalization-WOOHOO!! I had what we have affectionately named Lempira´s revenge-a nasty virus that gave me diarrhea and made me throw up anything i ingested. It wasn´t that serious but since I couldn´t keep anything down and the Peace corps doesn´t like to take chances in terms of health and safety, so I was taken to the hospital Tuesday afternoon. After hooking me up to several IVs and sticking me several times trying to draw blood, I was taken to my own room. The hospital was really nice, although I have been told that it is the nicest hospital in Honduras and since the PC gives them so much business, they treat us Volunteers pretty well. The director of the Hospital even came to visit me the next day to make sure I was enjoying my stay and that I liked the view from my room. I left around one that day, fully hidrated and feeling much better. The best part is that my host mom here can´t give me any fried food for a whole week!!! I love it but she´s having trouble finding anything to give me besides soup.
My family here in El Suyate is really great. They call me their hija and are very protective of me. In fact, they are a little over protective, but it´s nice to know they care. And the town is interesting-I´ve never lived in a town like this. The gossip is ridiculous-I think the whole town knew I was sick before I had even left my house. And I hear things about the other trainees hours before they tell me. It´s funny-we are beginning to feel like celebrities. Finally I know how Paris Hilton feels!!
We got to play soccer this past weekend with the girls team-Las Bambis-which was really fun!! A big dumptruck loaded us all up and took us to the next little town over-El Campo-where we played their women´s team. It was great-a lot of the town came out to watch so we had plenty of cheerleaders. I´m not gonna brag about my soccer skills but the other gringas did really well. The only problem was that when I would run along the side of the field, all the guys would yell ¨hola gringa, my love, i love you¨. Made me feel a little awkward and thus i decided to play on the other side of the field after half time.
So it´s been raining a lot hear. It´s great-it makes it a lot cooler and the trainees who are in the bigger town Moroceli can finally take a shower. The town hasn´t had water the whole time we´ve been here. There was a really big storm right before we came that broke the pipes and they still haven´t been fixed. So the kids in this town are beginning to smell a little rank-jk. My extended family, which is like half the town of El Suyate, has been filling the back of their pickup trucks with barrels of water to take to Moroceli to sell. Hopefully it will get fixed soon, although I´ve heard that a hurricane might hit Honduras next week, causing all sorts of problems.
All right gotta go...this has been kinda random, but it´s been a long week. I´ll try to upload some more pics next week. I´m gonna research some recipes now for some american food cuz we are going to cook for our families this weekend.
Hope to hear from you all!!!
xoxo-alicia
What´s new...? The biggest news I suppose is that I survived my first hospitalization-WOOHOO!! I had what we have affectionately named Lempira´s revenge-a nasty virus that gave me diarrhea and made me throw up anything i ingested. It wasn´t that serious but since I couldn´t keep anything down and the Peace corps doesn´t like to take chances in terms of health and safety, so I was taken to the hospital Tuesday afternoon. After hooking me up to several IVs and sticking me several times trying to draw blood, I was taken to my own room. The hospital was really nice, although I have been told that it is the nicest hospital in Honduras and since the PC gives them so much business, they treat us Volunteers pretty well. The director of the Hospital even came to visit me the next day to make sure I was enjoying my stay and that I liked the view from my room. I left around one that day, fully hidrated and feeling much better. The best part is that my host mom here can´t give me any fried food for a whole week!!! I love it but she´s having trouble finding anything to give me besides soup.
My family here in El Suyate is really great. They call me their hija and are very protective of me. In fact, they are a little over protective, but it´s nice to know they care. And the town is interesting-I´ve never lived in a town like this. The gossip is ridiculous-I think the whole town knew I was sick before I had even left my house. And I hear things about the other trainees hours before they tell me. It´s funny-we are beginning to feel like celebrities. Finally I know how Paris Hilton feels!!
We got to play soccer this past weekend with the girls team-Las Bambis-which was really fun!! A big dumptruck loaded us all up and took us to the next little town over-El Campo-where we played their women´s team. It was great-a lot of the town came out to watch so we had plenty of cheerleaders. I´m not gonna brag about my soccer skills but the other gringas did really well. The only problem was that when I would run along the side of the field, all the guys would yell ¨hola gringa, my love, i love you¨. Made me feel a little awkward and thus i decided to play on the other side of the field after half time.
So it´s been raining a lot hear. It´s great-it makes it a lot cooler and the trainees who are in the bigger town Moroceli can finally take a shower. The town hasn´t had water the whole time we´ve been here. There was a really big storm right before we came that broke the pipes and they still haven´t been fixed. So the kids in this town are beginning to smell a little rank-jk. My extended family, which is like half the town of El Suyate, has been filling the back of their pickup trucks with barrels of water to take to Moroceli to sell. Hopefully it will get fixed soon, although I´ve heard that a hurricane might hit Honduras next week, causing all sorts of problems.
All right gotta go...this has been kinda random, but it´s been a long week. I´ll try to upload some more pics next week. I´m gonna research some recipes now for some american food cuz we are going to cook for our families this weekend.
Hope to hear from you all!!!
xoxo-alicia
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