(Written while enjoying a veggie omelet and latte.)

July brought another great friend, Anita!  She spent part of her summer vacation living like a PCV and helping me out with all of my work.  MUCHAS GRACIAS AMIGA! 

Anita has arrived! :)

  

Front of our beautiful catedral!

I picked her up from the airport in time to help finalize all the details to our TEAM (Teaching English And Methodology) course graduation.  We have officially graduated the first group of TEAM I trained teachers, 44 all together.  My counterpart, profe David, and I started planning this last September when I arrived in site.  We promoted the course through November and held the induction session in December.  Finally, we started the course with an orientation at the start of this school year in February of this year.  This group will be a special one because I will be in site to see them through TEAM level III.  Plus, I pretty much consider them all familia.  J 

With two of my youngest teachers, Maritza from the local school district, and my counterpart profe David. 

Really, I was not about to use the microphone.  

The graduation was a great success!!  Ana played a huge role in getting this event finished and kept it running smoothly because I was locked into the “mesa principal”.   We were joined by the director of the local school district, the coordinator of the pedagogical technical unit, Peace Corps’ director of training, and my program director Sandra.  I was the happiest to share all of our hard work firsthand with the Peace Corps familia.  The students had lovely things to say about my work and our class.  J

I am so grateful that I get to now share my life in Honduras with someone from back home.  I don’t think others realize how important this is to the work we do.  At times, I felt my service was empty because I can’t fully share my experience with family/friends via a blog, phone calls, and pictures.  I am sure it will never compare to actually visiting, meeting the people, and seeing the work firsthand. 

I'm so glad we got to hang out with my sitemate. 

Ana rode alongside the bus rides to the Normal, met my TEAM class I’m been so passionate about, hung out with my CDI girls, got to contribute to the future work of a quasi-counterpart, supported our training session with new volunteers, enjoyed a cafecito along with my sitemate at my favorite cafe, and walked the streets (in fear at times) around town. Not to mention, joined me for every meal I cooked up. J

Taking a break at the cafe, you can see the City Hall behind us. 

Anita with our video star actress :) 

Umm, one of my favorite recipes yet!

Taking advantage of the weekends, we got to do some exploring of Honduras.  We made a quick stop at the Pulhapanzak waterfalls and had a late lunch at Lago de Yojoa.  I almost couldn’t have the fish because as soon as we asked what was on the menu they insisted on showing us the fresh fish in the freezer.  On our way home, we got caught in a tropical storm….got soaking wet! This marked the beginning of many adventures to come. 

No need to jump in when standing next to the waterfall had us wet in seconds. 

We went up to Copan Ruins and saw the ancient Mayan city.  I think we both fell in love with the town of Copan.  Ana was having trouble digesting the idea of Hondurans in sombreros listening to Mexican rancheras all over town. LOL 

Next to the ball court. So glad it rained after we finished our tour.  

Ladies night out in Copan...lol

 On the way home we had brunch in Santa Rosa de Copan.  We literally arrived, ate, and continued on our way back.  Unfortunately, the bus had tire issues in to San Pedro Sula making us miss the bus to site and having to spend the night in town. 

Searching for a good restaurant in Sta. Rosa de Copan

Ana’s last weekend was spent in Trujillo.  We spent ten times longer getting there and back than in the actual beach but it was SOOO worth it.  I fell in love with this village-like beach town.  Sin querer quriendo (without expecting) we met up with the local PCV and had a great time out at the beach, eating seafood, and dancing the night away.  A must see again!

Since Ana’s visit, I started the TEAM level II course.  This came after Sandra’s one year evaluation meeting with my counterparts including Maritza from the local school district.   Sandra was joined by the Director of Training from Colombia.  I am so excited about meeting him.  It turns out that the PCVs in Colombia will be working in Barranquilla, Shakira’s hometown and the site of her Pies Descalzos foundation. My jaw dropped when he told me this.  You see, I’m highly considering working as a program trainer for Peace Corps.  Guess where I hope to be if I seek out this type of opportunity…yup, Colombia!

I’ll be starting a new TEAM level I course this coming week.  In total, I’ll be working with 70+ teachers on a regular basis.  This opens the doors to all kinds of opportunities such as our abstinence program, HIV prevention, our career planning program, youth leadership development, and promoting parent involvement.  Very exciting!