Cheque Leque

I decided I am sick of thinking of titles for my blog entries so from now on they might just be random words or slang I have learned here and have no relation to the content of the posting. Cheque means cool or alright. Just for your information :)

I hope you are all doing well in the states. I have started hearing from a few people for the first time in emails and letters which I love. So don't worry if you haven't sent me any notes up til this point...you can still start! Hehe.

This week was busy but fun. I am feeling good about life. On Wednesday I went to a workshop for the morning in Santa Rosa to learn about how to cook rice and beans in a healthy way. It was put on for teachers and mothers that prepare snacks and meals at the school in the hopes they will use two of the most common foods in Honduras by feeding them to the kids in a healthy manner. It was intersting...I learned all the nutritional content and some good recipes I plan to try. The idea is that I can incorporate the information I learned in some nutrition talks one day. That afternoon I went around Santa Rosa looking to buy a refridgerator since I had a pickup truck at my disposal. I finally found a place that sold them much cheaper but I have to wait til next week to get it as they were all out for the recent Mother's Day. It will cost me about $125 since they come in from the states and other countries. After the fridge on my list is a toaster oven and a sofa and paint for the inside of my house.

Thursday it was Nurse's Day. Pri and I made little gifts for the nurses at the health center and then went to a lunchtime party for the nurses and also to welcome the new doctor in Dulce Nombre. The doctors here have to do a year of social service before they graduate from medical school by working in a small town or aldea for a year. So we will have this guy for the next year. At the parties here they often cover the floor with pine needles so that the room is filled with a fresh piney fragrance...it is cool to dance on too. We had a nice lunch of soup, chicken, tortillas of course, horchata to drink, and salad...then the furniture was cleared away and we started to dance. Everyone can dance here...they are amazing. It's sort of natural somehow...but if you try to teach them a new step, it is very hard to teach them. So they were pretty impressed that I could pick up the merengue and other steps after a few seconds. I had a good time and they were laughing with me and we got quite sweaty. It's always good to bond with the health staff. I even got a charla out of it...I plan to go to the colegio (high school) with 2 of the nurses in a couple weeks to talk to the kids about teen pregnancy.

Friday I left my house at 6 am and met up with Pri and we walked out to a faraway town of Orimillaca. It's about a 2-3 hour walk from Dulce Nombre, up and down hills and mountains, across a river ravine over a hanging wooden plank bridge (when I told Pri I was worried about falling through she said don't worry, if it breaks you'll hear a cracking noise and you can grap onto the sides...gee, thanks, how comforting), then up the other side of the ravine to finally reach the isolated town. Once there though I was impressed by the niceness and neatness of the people. We did another hornilla demonstration from about 9:30 to past 3, when we finally started back. Getting home at 6 I was exhausted, but content. It really is a beautiful walk and I plan to take my dad along when he comes because I think he'll enjoy getting way out there with me. So when Pri suggested we go to Santa Rosa this weekend and relax, I said of course. It's hard to pass up internet, the PC crash house with cable and videos and dvds, grocery stores, friends, great food, and speaking English for hours on end. Ahhhh, this is the life.

Well that's the facts of the last week, and as far as the more inside stuff, I am feeling good these days. I still pine away for the comforts of home and my boyfriend and my family and friends at times, I am feeling like I am slowly getting used to the life here. Every day is fodder for new discussions, new things to ponder, reevaluating assumptions you previously had. I still periodically get frustrated with my Spanish but every day I improve, even though I may still not understand people when they talk rapidly to each other or get people's jokes. I get tired of stares on the streets from men, but I try to remember in this culture staring isn't rude. I just call out my, "Adios", "Buenos Dias", or "Hola", and continue on my way. I am enjoying the opportunity to read lots of good books...so keep sending me magazines, newspaper articles, and books please...I really enjoy them. I am out of the loop though...I hardly ever get news or current events or about new music or movies...so let me know if anything big happens :) I like the pace of life here though...how you can just walk down to the corner to buy your vegetables for the evening meal, or spend an afternoon "paseando" or just chatting with neighbors or people you pass on the street. There are high expectations of me but I hope I am up to them...it'll be interesting to see how things go after Pri goes on her way in a month and I am on my own. I like cultivating new friendships using another language...there are roadblocks along the way but is rewarding when you finally make a connection.

Well Pri is done with internet so I need to wrap up. Please keep in touch people...I still feel far away sometimes and need that contact from you guys. I love you all and hope you have a great weekend!