So definitly just got caught in a torrential downpour and am currently hovering over this computer at Cyber Alex--which by the way is a phenomenal name for an internet cafe--- furiously typing away with wet dog hair and soaking khaki pants. Im thinking that the hot pink underwear was not such a hot idea given the fact that my pants are now 100 percent see-thru. Oh well, i guess you could say at the very least im keep these Hondurans on their toes
First and foremost Id like to extend a very heartfelt and gracious thank you for the warm birthday wishes. And, boy oh boy, what a birthday it was. Who knew you could have so much fun without alcohol??? haha, just kidding mom
so i awoke at approximately 630 am, a full 15 mins before i actually had to get out of bed, to the sounds of Spanish Happy Birthday. My lovely host brother, Tito, thought hed so generously lure me out of my deep slumber with the sounds of an old spanish man screaming Feliz Cumpleanos. Not only that, but by the grace of god the song managed to last a good 10 to 15 mins. It was truly unfortunate.
Then, of course, I had to be serenaded at school, only this time i finally put my foot down and cut them off after verse 3. Some of my friends circulated a bday card they bought at the pulperia (basically honduras version of CVS, only on a drastically micro scale...) that looked a little worn and tattered, prob because it had to of been sitting on the shelf for at least a few years collecting dust. It is totally awesome, I read it every night before i go to sleep and each time, never fail, it makes me laugh. School sucked, per usual, but afterwards we got a group together of about 10 to 15 ppl to head out for a couple beers, which was also very nice because, lets be honest, we all know how i thrive on being the center of attention. As much as I wanted to stay and hang out I had to get back to my house by 630 for my special birthday dinner.
Now let me preface this part with a brief history-- so I live in a two floor apartment, and the bottom floor is basically a bunch of rooms that branch off of an open air mini-plaza. Its actually really cute and quaint. But moral of the story, all the neighbors can peek their heads through the wire fence, so to speak, to chat, theres a very communal feel to it all, not to mention that fact that basically everyone living within a block radius of my house is somehow related to the family. So in summary, theres this Japense exchange student, Satoru, living with the family thats across the plaza from us. And, lucky me, hes taken quite a liking to me (WARNING--note the sarcasm). Not to worry, hes way too awkward and horribly oriented with the Spanish language to approach me about this. Rather, he relies on his host mother-- who i believe is somehow my cousin-- to make awkward comments about how pretty I am... yeah, real uncomfortable.
So fast forward back to the birthday, so this Japanese man decided he wanted to cook me dinner, came over the night before and spent 3 hours cooking me an elaborate curry. So that was quite awkward because he brought his whole family over to stare at me while I ate it. One word--uncomfortable, but in a really hilarious way. Then some other family came over for brownie-cake my host mom made, of which i ate approx 7 pieces. it was awesome. if only i could of gotten my hands on some milk that didnt come out of a pouch. woof.
so that was the bday in a nutshell. good times.
In other news, we found out the other day that our project group will be heading to El Paraiso for Field Based Training, which means well be heading out there in a little less than 2 weeks. EL Paraiso is right on the border of Nicaragua in the south of Honduras, which means, yup, you guessed it, CRAZY HEAT AHHHHHHHH. im in no way prepared for that seeing as it gets nice and cozy here in the evenings, around 50s, which makes snuggling up with my sleeping bag the highlight of the day. Field Based Training will last for 6 weeks, well spend most of that time putting into practice all the boring theory and info that theyve been shoving down our throats for the past 2 weeks. Whoooooooooooooa! After FBT we return to Santa Lucia for a week to wrap things up, and thats when they finally tell us where were going to be living for the next 2 years, what kind of projects well be working on, etc...
So thats the update here. Im hoping ill have some more fun and interesting stories to share once i get out in the field. For now my awkward encounters have been confined to the walls of my spanish class, where we discuss such topics as How to let down (gently) the creepy Japanese man who may or may not be in love with you. Awesome.
BESOS!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
One week down...
One week down, only 26 months plus 3 weeks to go...
Well im finally starting to settle into life in santa lucia, which on its own is truly no easy feat. Its difficult to describe how, but life here is WAY diff than in the states. lets see if i can think of an example-- everywhere i go, ppl stare, and its usually not the kind of stare youd want to solicit like youre looking particularly attractive that day, rather its more along the lines of i have something stuck in my teeth or i have a third limb. ive eaten more corn tortillas in a week than i have in my entire life. As a woman im STRONGLY discouraged from a) consuming alcohol in public 2) going to a place in public where alcohol is consumed and c) appearing to be have any amount of fun whilst in public (haha, only kidding... sort of).
on the bright side, my spanish is banging, which i have to admit most def caught me by surprise. today during my four hour spanish class we walked into town to visit --la casa de los abuelitos-- which is basically a safe hour for elderly ppl to go to to eat lunch and charlar, which means to chat. in true peace corps fashion, we arrived to find one elderly hanging out, don pedro, which made the whole interviewing process kind of moot, but nonetheless we learned that elders are basically IMPOSSIBLE to understand when they speak spanish, esp when they talk like their mouth is wired shut.
training for the most part of miiiiiiiiiiserable, and when i say miserable i mean to imply that its way too much time, aka 8 horas, of sitting and listening to ppl talk at you about development and what it means to be in peace corps. kill me. additionally theyve imposed all these really cute rules for trainees, eg--were pretty much not allowed to leave santa lucia without a member of our familia accompanying us, which is purely for safety reasons (tegucigalpa, the capital which is about 30 mins bus ride away, has the highest murder rate in all of honduras, whew!) but by the same token its made passing free time a bit difficult. that being said, a typical day here starts at 645 am when i wake up and scarf down breakfast before booking it to the training site, about a 10 min walk, by 730 am. were in training until 430, i go home for dinner, and by 9 pm im passed out in my sleeping bag-- SUCH a good call, GL. so at the very least im giving my liver a break.
for the most part i would say i still have a fairly favorable outlook on the future as a peace corp volunteer, but each day we get more debriefings about the safety risks and whack medical diseases floating around this country that def make you stop and think about the vastness of a 2 year committment to peace corp. all i can say is hopefully i make it through training sans malaria slash scabies. ewww
if you all are looking to send packages of swedish fish, trail mix, mini packs of crystal light or emergen-c, reeses peanut butter cups (because they dont selll those here... not cool...) or any other goodies you can feel free to, in fact i more than welcome it, but please be adivsed that the peace corps staff have told us that its best to send things in smaller padded envelopes instead of large boxes AND to send it to the Apartado Postal address. apparently theres a much better chance of me actually receiving the package if you send it there. so if you need the address again just send me an email or call mama tish and it can be relayed to you.
hope all is well with eveyrone, cuidense, and keep the comments coming, theyre always a source of amusement. paz y amor.
Well im finally starting to settle into life in santa lucia, which on its own is truly no easy feat. Its difficult to describe how, but life here is WAY diff than in the states. lets see if i can think of an example-- everywhere i go, ppl stare, and its usually not the kind of stare youd want to solicit like youre looking particularly attractive that day, rather its more along the lines of i have something stuck in my teeth or i have a third limb. ive eaten more corn tortillas in a week than i have in my entire life. As a woman im STRONGLY discouraged from a) consuming alcohol in public 2) going to a place in public where alcohol is consumed and c) appearing to be have any amount of fun whilst in public (haha, only kidding... sort of).
on the bright side, my spanish is banging, which i have to admit most def caught me by surprise. today during my four hour spanish class we walked into town to visit --la casa de los abuelitos-- which is basically a safe hour for elderly ppl to go to to eat lunch and charlar, which means to chat. in true peace corps fashion, we arrived to find one elderly hanging out, don pedro, which made the whole interviewing process kind of moot, but nonetheless we learned that elders are basically IMPOSSIBLE to understand when they speak spanish, esp when they talk like their mouth is wired shut.
training for the most part of miiiiiiiiiiserable, and when i say miserable i mean to imply that its way too much time, aka 8 horas, of sitting and listening to ppl talk at you about development and what it means to be in peace corps. kill me. additionally theyve imposed all these really cute rules for trainees, eg--were pretty much not allowed to leave santa lucia without a member of our familia accompanying us, which is purely for safety reasons (tegucigalpa, the capital which is about 30 mins bus ride away, has the highest murder rate in all of honduras, whew!) but by the same token its made passing free time a bit difficult. that being said, a typical day here starts at 645 am when i wake up and scarf down breakfast before booking it to the training site, about a 10 min walk, by 730 am. were in training until 430, i go home for dinner, and by 9 pm im passed out in my sleeping bag-- SUCH a good call, GL. so at the very least im giving my liver a break.
for the most part i would say i still have a fairly favorable outlook on the future as a peace corp volunteer, but each day we get more debriefings about the safety risks and whack medical diseases floating around this country that def make you stop and think about the vastness of a 2 year committment to peace corp. all i can say is hopefully i make it through training sans malaria slash scabies. ewww
if you all are looking to send packages of swedish fish, trail mix, mini packs of crystal light or emergen-c, reeses peanut butter cups (because they dont selll those here... not cool...) or any other goodies you can feel free to, in fact i more than welcome it, but please be adivsed that the peace corps staff have told us that its best to send things in smaller padded envelopes instead of large boxes AND to send it to the Apartado Postal address. apparently theres a much better chance of me actually receiving the package if you send it there. so if you need the address again just send me an email or call mama tish and it can be relayed to you.
hope all is well with eveyrone, cuidense, and keep the comments coming, theyre always a source of amusement. paz y amor.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Arrivals
Welp never thought id actually say thing, but im sitting in an internet cafe in honduras. finally. getting here was no easy feat. a 230 wake up call brought us to the d.c. airport at around 330 where the staff of american airlines proceeding to defy the laws of logic with their incomprehensible incompetence. i cant even get into the details of their stupidity, but lets just leave it at many ppl in the group were stranding waiting inthe check out line for approx 1.5 hours and had to run to make the 7 am flight. to make matters worse, our flight was delayed over an hour in miami becuase, apparently, american airlines has some secret personal vendeta against me. we finally arrived in teguc around 330, drove to santa lucia, a tiny hamlet town inthe mountains surrounding the city about a 30 mins drive away, where we met our host families and went back to their homes for dinner, decanza (rest), shower and bed. i was mmost def conked out by 830.
this morning i awoke at a casual 645 am to make it to training at 730, which lasted for EIGHT HOURS. during that time i had the pleasure to acquire a handful of knowledge about things i never thought id be an expert in, like dengue fiver (there are four strands and in severe case you CAN die from internal bleeding, fyi)
my host family is rockin. i live with maribel and her husband, cristobal. they are prob in their mid 60s and have been hosting peace corp volunteers for almost 20 years. they ahve a son, tito, whose married and has a 2 year old named adrianna (who, it pretty much can go without saying, is obsessed with me). tito his wife and daughter all live with us so its a full house.
theres so much more to say but a) im pooped and 2) i dont know how much this costs per min so im gonna try to cut my losses before im forced to walk out on a bill and start to make some real enemies in this town of approx 200
paz y amor.peace and love. more TK...
this morning i awoke at a casual 645 am to make it to training at 730, which lasted for EIGHT HOURS. during that time i had the pleasure to acquire a handful of knowledge about things i never thought id be an expert in, like dengue fiver (there are four strands and in severe case you CAN die from internal bleeding, fyi)
my host family is rockin. i live with maribel and her husband, cristobal. they are prob in their mid 60s and have been hosting peace corp volunteers for almost 20 years. they ahve a son, tito, whose married and has a 2 year old named adrianna (who, it pretty much can go without saying, is obsessed with me). tito his wife and daughter all live with us so its a full house.
theres so much more to say but a) im pooped and 2) i dont know how much this costs per min so im gonna try to cut my losses before im forced to walk out on a bill and start to make some real enemies in this town of approx 200
paz y amor.peace and love. more TK...
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
So it's 11:13 on a Tuesday night. Do you know where your children are?
What else would I be doing with my time besides sitting at a computer in the basement of my hotel feverishly typing, trying to put together the right words to describe what i'm feeling, which is essentially panic-stricken excitement mixed with a mild to severe urge to wet my pants slash vomit. More or less.
today was the second and final day of staging in Washington, D.C., which means I ship out for Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in approximately 3.5 hours. tndeed, if you should need to contact me at 2:30 am, I can be found schlepping my bags across Reagan Intl Airport.
final meals have included a chipotle salad, an entirely way too large serving of thai food that included fried tofu (while it's a luxury i'm fairly confident will not be at my immediate disposal in teguc, my estomago is still not too pleased with that decision), some starbs (obvi) and of course, what would a trip to College Park be without a little natty lite?!
final television show in english was, I'm extremely proud to say, America's Got Talent, and as if the german music videos weren't evidence enough of his pure, raw artistic genuis, David Hasselhoff's performance is truly nothing short of brilliant, esp when he wears button down leather shirts because who wouldn't be impressed by that.
I sort of felt like an inmate calling from deathrow as I made my final calls after dinner to say bon voyage once and for all to friends and family. I can't tell you how strange it is to say "Welp, gotta run, don't know when I'll talk to you again" to your best friends and family. still haven't really come to terms with the idea that in less than 24 hours I'll be in teguc, prob sweating like a man child because i'm a freak, speaking only spanish and living in someone else's home.
So far everyone I've met who's involved with Peace Corps, whether they're volunteers in my training group or staff members, have been absolutely wonderful, and I'm legit not just blowing smoke here. I suppose there's something about the principles of Peace Corps that attract all the right people. Like me, for example.
Apologies in advance for the mindless psychobabble that is occuring. I literally cannot focus on one thing without thinking of 1209340384 other things and then having a mini nervous breakdown. Hopefully i'll calm down and successful center my chi with the help of my totally sweet neon blue yoga mat strapped securely to the 10-year-old north face that got me through high school when it was cool to having a hiking backpack at school. Yep, i'm that kid. and if you're reading this then you're prob a blood relative--because no one else cares to read about my neurotic existence, which means you're lucky to be biologically linked to this tool box.
Must press on to the cama and re-attempt a quick 2 hour power nap. But do not fret, more TK...
What else would I be doing with my time besides sitting at a computer in the basement of my hotel feverishly typing, trying to put together the right words to describe what i'm feeling, which is essentially panic-stricken excitement mixed with a mild to severe urge to wet my pants slash vomit. More or less.
today was the second and final day of staging in Washington, D.C., which means I ship out for Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in approximately 3.5 hours. tndeed, if you should need to contact me at 2:30 am, I can be found schlepping my bags across Reagan Intl Airport.
final meals have included a chipotle salad, an entirely way too large serving of thai food that included fried tofu (while it's a luxury i'm fairly confident will not be at my immediate disposal in teguc, my estomago is still not too pleased with that decision), some starbs (obvi) and of course, what would a trip to College Park be without a little natty lite?!
final television show in english was, I'm extremely proud to say, America's Got Talent, and as if the german music videos weren't evidence enough of his pure, raw artistic genuis, David Hasselhoff's performance is truly nothing short of brilliant, esp when he wears button down leather shirts because who wouldn't be impressed by that.
I sort of felt like an inmate calling from deathrow as I made my final calls after dinner to say bon voyage once and for all to friends and family. I can't tell you how strange it is to say "Welp, gotta run, don't know when I'll talk to you again" to your best friends and family. still haven't really come to terms with the idea that in less than 24 hours I'll be in teguc, prob sweating like a man child because i'm a freak, speaking only spanish and living in someone else's home.
So far everyone I've met who's involved with Peace Corps, whether they're volunteers in my training group or staff members, have been absolutely wonderful, and I'm legit not just blowing smoke here. I suppose there's something about the principles of Peace Corps that attract all the right people. Like me, for example.
Apologies in advance for the mindless psychobabble that is occuring. I literally cannot focus on one thing without thinking of 1209340384 other things and then having a mini nervous breakdown. Hopefully i'll calm down and successful center my chi with the help of my totally sweet neon blue yoga mat strapped securely to the 10-year-old north face that got me through high school when it was cool to having a hiking backpack at school. Yep, i'm that kid. and if you're reading this then you're prob a blood relative--because no one else cares to read about my neurotic existence, which means you're lucky to be biologically linked to this tool box.
Must press on to the cama and re-attempt a quick 2 hour power nap. But do not fret, more TK...
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