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, May 30, 2007

My 25th Birthday!

Birthdays here are pretty special. I spent my birthday last year in the states so I didn´t really get to experience it last time. I got so many calls and hugs and "congratulations!" here that it was really nice. On Saturday Lester and I drove to Copan Ruinas and had a nice relaxing time there...it´s such a cute town and so close to Dulce Nombre and feels like another world! Lots of Americans and Europeans walking around, great restaurants, good music, fun shopping. We went to Via Via to say hi to my friend Eric who´s bartending there for 2 months before he leaves with Justin on a Central America trip, and then we went to a restaurant and got this huge shishkabob to share with all the sides, and I splurged on a piña colada with millions of calories. He gave me my present which was a nice pair of jeans - the "latest fashion" he said. Can you imagine an American guy daring to buy a pair of jeans for a girl? I can´t. But they are very cute. Sunday we had a great breakfast at Via Via and then I bought some souvenirs to take home with me - I want some stuff in my Baltimore place that remind me of Honduras. I got a pretty flower vase and two mugs and a colorful fabric. Sunday we just drove back and had a chill day...Kito and I spent several hours reading in my house and periodically playing with the pup.

Monday, which was my actual birthday, I got up imagining I had nothing to do but get ready for a workshop the next day. I got a phone call from a young woman up in Barrio Morazan asking if I was still planning to go to the kindergarten that day. I had completely forgotten I had agreed to go! So I called up Kito bc I wanted her to meet the kinder people and we went. It turned out to be a birthday party for me put on by the teacher and moms and kids. It was so cute! The kids are the most adorable things you could ever see. There was another little girl Cecilia turning 5 the same day so we shared the party. I got lots of hugs. They had a piñata, food, a cake, and goodie bags! It was really nice of them. The rest of the day was pretty relaxed. Vita will be making me a birthday dinner later this week because she hasn´t had a night free.

Yesterday we had a workshop I had been looking forward to for a long time. Paul´s friend, Devana from Chile, agreed to come and talk to a group of 25 women about gender, women and work, gender differences, domestic violence, and how women can work together. It was a great workshop. The NGO Asanog helped us out with snacks and lunch for the women. The women really liked the topic I think and we had some good discussions. It got me fired up to work in that area, creating some kind of safe house in Dulce Nombre for women and setting up a Municipal office for women...but I am leaving. It´s up to Kito to keep it going if she decides to. I hope the group stays together....many women who came don´t usually attend workshops and aren´t used to working together...women from different statuses, political parties, religions. So it was incredible to see them doing skits together yesterday, playing cames, having discussions.

Well I gotta go. I just wanted to tell a little about my birthday week. Lots of love to you all!

1 Comments:

  • At June 11, 2007 at 9:55 PM, Blogger Jason Anthony said…

    Hi Lauren,

    I found your blog today by accident, but I'm really glad I did because of an amazing coincidence. I have a blog called PositivePelham.com, and a good friend of mine named Lauren is blogging about her experience in the Peace Corps in Honduras on my blog. She is working with HIV/Aids awareness as well.

    Maybe you two have met. If not, you can read some of her posts on my site.

    Happy belated birthday as well...

    Best Regards - J. Anthony.

     

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