Lauren's Peace Corps Experience in Honduras

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed and experiences described in this travelogue are mine personally. Nothing written here should be interpreted as official or unofficial Peace Corps literature or as sanctioned by the Peace Corps or the U.S. government. I have chosen to write about my experience online in order to update family and friends; I am earning no money whatsoever from this endeavor. Please do not copy or forward any of these contents without my permission.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

I miss my house

Hi guys!

Well it has been an interesting week and a half here, but above all, inconvenient. Peace Corps is highly interested in our safety, which is a good thing, but sometimes it can be like an overprotective parent that you wish would just get off your back (sorry PC!). You might remember that I mentioned some safety concerns? Well my boss decided that it would be a good idea for me to go to Santa Rosa for a few days to get away from the situation, even though the problems were happening outside Dulce Nombre, no matter. It was the last thing I wanted to do because I had a full week of appointments and promises that I had to cancel at the last minute or handle over the phone, which is not fun. So I left last Wednesday and staying in Santa Rosa until Saturday. They are still making me spend this week with my counterpart at night, so I haven't spent the night in my house for a week now. My cat is angry at me. I am not allowed to go into the communities where I am doing the latrine project, so I have been managing it through notes sent on the bus or with a little boy who will walk out there for me. It's hard enough to do these projects when I can go out there and talk with people and iron out the details, but it's a lot harder through notes. Well the project probably won't go as efficiently or smoothly as I would have liked, but I really didn't want the people to have to wait any longer. But needless to say, I have been stressed out (as stressed as you can get here in Honduras) and haven't been sleeping well. I guess I am enough of a perfectionist that I want my projects to be very successful. It's just frustrating. I don't blame PC, but I have to say I am frustrated anyway...I hate disappointing the people; when I say I am going to show up somewhere and do something, I really want to do that.
Other than that I am fine. Hurricane Wilma shouldn't do much down here, so don't worry. It has been really chilly and windy though today, probably because of the storm. Sarah, Rachel, and Heather sent word that they were coming in March for 8 days and already bought their tickets, and I am so excited! I am of course excited for my parent's visit in just 2 short months. Time does fly down here - I really feel like I just graduated from college, when it's been a year and a half already...sigh. Still enjoying the people down here a lot, I have family and friends down here. I am well loved by the kids :) A little tooooo loved...they are always knocking on my door actually, which gets a little old sometimes. The weather has been cooling down I have noticed...the coldest months here are December and January. I already wear my fleece or rain jacket most nights. My kitty Piropo is getting big, but like I said, angry at the world since I haven't been able to cuddle him at night. I've started letting him out in the garden with me sometimes, fleas be damned, since he really seems to like it.
Well not much else to report here. New pictures should be going up soon. I send my love to all and hope to hear from you soon!



Monday, October 03, 2005

Pictures!

Well with the help of my mom and dad I finally have more pictures online to show you all. In order, they go from:
- Swearing in in Tegucigalpa with the ambassador and my other PCVs
- Arriving to Dulce Nombre, my host family (living with Carmen) for my first 3 months, riding horses, scenes around Dulce Nombre
- Going out in Santa Rosa with PCVs and the Peace Corps house
- Working with Pri (the former volunteer) and my counterpart
- Playing with kids in the kindergarten
- Going to the aldeas with Pri
- Going to Carmen's coffee farm on muddy roads in a pickup truck
- Making stoves with women
- Presentation by the library foundation, Rieken
- Our adventure walking to Copan Ruins with Pri and Sim
- Making latrines
- Pri's goodbye party
- 4th of July with PCVs in Trujillo (the beach!)

So here is the link: hope it works! And enjoy :)
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=7hg3l67.vvq40x7&Uy=ojgaqd&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0