Earthquakes, hurricanes....what next!

Hi all! Well the title was just meant to scare you a bit. A tiny tiny earthquake happened the other day and I didn't know that it was actually one until later, that´s how small it was. When I asked someone where the epicenter was, they said...in Guatemala and El Salvador...so apparently there were TWO centers to this earthquake :) And then their's Tropical storm, formally Hurricane Adrian coming to play. It's starting to get pretty windy and cloudy here so Pri and I are going to walk home in a bit. I thought it hit last night, because we had rain all night, but apparently that wasn't it. PC Emergency Zones were activated and every volunteer got a phone call telling us to expect heavy rains and to try not to travel if possible. It's funny, in the states I would be glued to the television, know the exact location of a storm coming and the mph of the wind, already seen pictures of it in other places....here all you can do is look at the sky and wait and see. I am just expecting a lot of rain and mud, nothing serious. So today I did my first hornilla demonstration! Up til know I have been watching Pri give the demonstrations. But today she had me do it and she helped me hear and there if I left something out in my explanation or didn't know a word in Spanish. I showed them how to lay the bricks, put them together with the mud and other materials, explained why this type of stove guards the heat better and thus allows one to save firewood, and how the smoke leaves through the chimney. It took about 3 and a half hours with all the explaining and construction put together. I had a few roadblocks but overall it went pretty well for my first one! I was glad Pri was there to back me up. Some of the women in the group didn't have much "animo" or motivation/energy, so we had to really work to get them participating and learning. After we do the demonstration, we form the women into small groups of 4 or so and then they help each other make each other's stove. Pri got the funding and provides the materials to the women (chimney, iron stove top, metal sticks, bricks), and they provide the mud, ash to fill inside, water, some tin cans, and ceramic tiling...basically all the cheap stuff. We wait a couple weeks to give them time to make each other's stoves, and then we come back and look at each one to make sure it's working properly and to repeat how to maintain and clean them. This supervision is probably the most important part of the project. As I said before, this stove project is very important to the health of the community. Many houses are filled with smoke, and many many small children come into the health center every week with serious respiratory problems. So it is a great project, which also empowers the women in this community as they construct their own stoves...not many Americans can say they made their own oven/stove that they use every day with their own hands, now can they? I should have done this a lot sooner, but I sent my mom photos a while back and she put them online. It occurred to me that some people aren't on her email list so if you'd like to see the pictures from my first three months, click on these links. Sorry I don't have descriptions of each picture...they more or less go along with my blog entries from the first months though. Enjoy! Kodakgallery.com Browse Photos1 (Honduras Training 1) Kodakgallery.com Browse Photo2 (Honduras Training 2) This weekend will be pretty chill, no traveling this time. Tomorrow I am doing some yoga with Pri...she is like my personal trainer, and I am considering planting some seeds in her back yard...some cilantro, basil, onion and some other things my mom sent me. We'll see though...the grass is pretty much my height back there and I have no experience cutting grass with a machete yet :) Sunday if things go as planned I am traveling to the coast to the city of La Ceiba to go to a 2 day workshop with my counterpart, La Profe Mirian. We are either staying with her sister there or in a hotel. I wanted to take the opportunity to see my friend Michael up there, who lives down the coast an hour or two away, but I don't think it will work out since he is injured and can't really travel to meet up with me - I'd go out to see him after the workshop but I have to be back Wednesday and Thursday for some important meetings. We are hoping to start a latrine project in the next couple weeks because Pri finally received the funds she applied for a long time ago. So we will have meetings to organize the community members who need latrines and set the project up.

Well time to go...love you all and I hope to hear from you all soon! Seriously...keep sending me letters. Thanks for all the birthday cards mom and the rest of the family, and the seeds as well! One week til I am the old age of 23 :) Or in Honduras, almost 17 years old....haha.