The colegios (high schools) are taken by the students in protest to the recent education reform attempts by the government.  For most colegios it's been close to a month.

Wow, in just a few days I'll be completing my first year of service..it's kinda nerve-wrecking because it will lead to the official countdown.

August has been a very exciting month.  We started a new TEAM I course, 40 motivated elementary teachers from throughout the entire departamento (county). This time around, we sent invitations out to specific schools...the schools where the ENCAs perform their practicas (practices).  The communities range from nearby mid-cities to teenie-tiny aldeas (villages).   I am being more demanding with the course expectations and the results have been amazing! I want to aprovechar to the max given the great sacrifices they make in getting to class each week.  (Some travel over 1 hour on a "chicken bus" [retired school bus] each way.)

Conversation Comins after our lesson Greetings/Farewells

As you know, the TEAM I group graduated in July and is now the new TEAM II group.  There are 37 altogether.  They continue to grow, challenging me to incorporate new ideas in the lessons.  I recently had a mini-session on the Rick Morris clip chart and several of them are experimenting with the system.  I also shared the Above the Line behavior management philosophy and they are getting a positive response from their students.  Slowly they continue to mold their traditional ways into more positive and interactive teaching styles.  I'm looking forward to their next round of observations.  :)

Picture Story after our lesson on reviewing personal information questions

Victor, 1st grade teacher, showing off his homework  

The Youth Development program recently received new Trainees...15 soon-to-be volunteers.  The office asked for our collaboration in helping with training.  Heather and I facilitated a session on the education situation of the country.  Despite all the hardships, I think the trainees were left with hope for better times and ideas on possible projects.  Leslie and I facilitated a two-day TOT (Training-of-Trainers) on the TEAM program.  We started with an overview of the program, challenges/rewards, demo lessons, and basic lesson planning.  The Trainees were asked to teach a 50 minute class at the local elementary.  We finished the session with a program timeline and suggestions for an effective implementation.

Leslie leading a dynamica! 

Group of Trainees in their demo practica

In mid-August, I had a Trainee spend almost a week with me on her site-visit.  (If you remember, my site-visit took place in El Paraiso where I got dengue/malaria.)  Michelle helped out in my TEAM class and helped organize info sessions on the BECAS Semillas program at the ENCA. We kept busy all day but took the evenings to relax, cooking dinner and going for a walk to the central park most days.  She is a lot of fun and I'm glad we started a new friendship.

Michelle helping out with the TEAM 1 class..we're acting out the conversation model

 She is originally from San Francisco and has been trying to adapt to the new living situation.  One day she asked, "What was the greatest change in you during the first month of service?"  If I remember correctly, it was the fact I'd jump scared with every bug/fly/wasp/spider/ant/creature I'd see at the ENCA.  I was in complete disbelief the first few weeks of work.  We even had an episode of flying bats and wild horses running loose.  You tell me if I was overreacting.  Pues bueno, I got over that feeling quickly because when in doubt....in the words of another PCV....Honduras always wins!

A Honduran friend...yup, Honduras always wins!

Since our one-year evaluation meeting with the Program Director, I have been going to the CDI Thursday mornings to help the Tutors in lesson planning and classroom management.  This has been a very enjoyable experience.  Despite a lack in education, in some cases even a lack of teaching experience, they work hard to implement the new ideas.  I love hearing their success stories and watch them lose their fear of experimenting with the kids.  I plan to eventually step away from helping oversee them as I want Mary to take over in running the planning meetings.

Tutor showing off her name sticks:)

How cute are these!

I was invited last minute to help edit the volunteer newsletter.  After a long 3 1/2 days of hard work, check out the latest edition: Alli No Mas newsletter.  Yup, 33 pages my friends!

This past Friday, Mary and I volunteered for a medical brigade that was planned out when Anita came to visit.  It was a huge success!  Over 900 patients seen by over 50 doctors and nurses.  The brigade was organized by PLAN International.  We contributed with charlas as a part of the animacion (animation) team.  I led the first charla on hand washing....this included a cute song and demonstrations on the importance of using soap.  Mary took the lead on the self-esteem workshop including a dynamica and storytelling.  We received many compliments from the program staff. I'm very proud of our work together!

A little one showing off her clean hands after the Handwashing charla

Yup, we are celebrating our work with a little Starbucks!

A quick note on the population served in the medical brigade:  We ended up in the mountains of La Paz.  The people there are highly indigenous.  I felt as though we were in another country.  The sub-standard living conditions were obvious in their dress and person.  Despite their upbringing, the kids amazed us....actively participating in all the activities and willing to help out when possible.  (Check them out helping pick up trash!)  I love the warm fuzzy feeling one gets from working/interacting with these communities.

All I had to say was who ever picks up the most trash wins...and the count began!

Tonight we have our monthly Comite de Apoyo (Support Committee) at the CDI.  I'll be presenting the short video created to recruit personnel.  A friend, Pablo, was able to help out in putting the movie together.  His help saved me HOURS of work.  Plus, he did a WAY better job than I'd be able to create on my mini-laptop.

Bueno, the day continues..I was able to take advantage of the extra time to sit at the park, enjoy a capuchino, and catch you all up on the stories ;)

(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! 

Stronger each day....one year in country!

One year ago, I boarded a plane in agreement to dedicate two years to service no matter the assignment.  I felt comfortable going to Honduras given my experience in Latin America.  I was hesitant given the statistics...second poorest in the Western hemisphere and the most violent country in Central America.  Yet the excitement for new experiences and adventure ran through me.

One year ago 6/23/10 @ SFO airport

I am happy to say that I am loving my experience. =) I have been placed in one of the most beautiful cities & I work with very special people.  I love my local "familia" made up of hard working girls, generous volunteers, and dedicated teachers, plus many others that remind me to move forward in my efforts.

@La Princesita w/ the girls (Mary & Yani not pictured)

The last few weeks have been filled with observations.  Some of my favorite teachers proved their devotion is achieving great strides with their students.  In the words of one of them, "We are reading & writing in English!"  I continue to see the need for classroom management strategies.  In the most extreme cases you'll have a first grade class with 45 of the neediest children and a 19 year old teacher. (Sounds kinda like TFA in the States, right? Only we're in a third world country!)  I'm considering starting a pilot classroom management program with the same group of teachers.  To be continued.

Taking cover from the rain before class.

I did have some time to relax and get ahead on my lesson planning.  I ended up spending the Semana del Estudiante (Student Week) in town.  I spent a day at the pool...amazing views at the golf course!  I went down to Donkey Polo in Yuscaran during their Feria de los Gigantes.  Imagine the sight...20+ PCVs trying to ride donkeys while playing soccer polo. Let's just say the first match was something like 42 - 3 in favor of the Hondurans.  So much fun!

Donkey Polo Yuscaran 2011

I celebrated the closing of our abstinence program with the girls by hosting a ice cream & popcorn movie night.  The original gala dinner was canceled last minute...don't want to explain....erk :| I'm not sure what to do next, if anything, with this group.  They would like to have the boys join us but it would have to be geared toward self-management or developing their leadership skills.  I would love to start a creative expression group, maybe a reading circle or theater group.  They seem to really enjoy these activities.

Chayo, Mary, Vilma getting ready to watch The Princess and the Frog

I just got back from a mini vacation.  I was invited to join Jesse's family visit in El Salvador.  My first time visiting and I can't wait to go back!  The family was really great with me & made me feel a part of the familia. Aw!  My favorite few days this year by far.....much thanks to Jesse & Susy.   Susy ended up surprise visiting for a day on her way to Peru for her Masters travel program.  We had a great time together...lots of laughs & great memories!  I love catching up with friends....it's one of the things I miss the most!

Cafecito, platanos fritos con frijolitos y crema fresca....que rico!

La Libertad 2011 

Lago Suchitlan in Suchitoto

Only in Honduras.....

I love these moments.  Only in Honduras will your students celebrate your birthday 20 days after the fact.  One of the groups at the Normal had a piñata waiting for me yesterday morning.  They spent the last two week in their practica (practice) in community preschools.  Plus, since I haven't been going as often, yesterday we finally coincided. I'll ask them for the pics later.

I took the day off on my actual bday.  I spent the day spoiling myself with my favorites in the capital city.  This included a Denny's breakfast, shopping at the mall, enjoy a cafecito while reading a great book in the plaza, and ending with a sushi dinner.  Later that week, my TEAM (English class) students had a birthday surprise waiting for me in class, a huge cake, gifts, plus having them all sing the birthday song in English & Spanish.  At the end of the week, after a committee meeting, the girls from the hogar plus Mary & other staff members had a surprise of their own.  The girls had each made me a little gift out of the recycled materials they work with.  Each of the girls wrote me a letter thanking me for being a part of their life.  The staff members made me a slideshow of pictures and phrases/quotes.  It wouldn't be a Honduran celebration without a cake, they had a pastel de tres leches (sweet milk cake) for everyone.  I felt very special having so many different people show their appreciation for me all week.  

Prior to my birthday, I'd spent the week with my fellow Youthies in Valle for our last IST (In Service Training).  The topic was career development and the director had many organizations join us.  One of the groups served as our facilitators teaching us a ton of new dinamicas and team building ideas.  The group had mentioned creating a video to enter the Peace Corps Third Goal competition.  That's all that needed to get said to have the entire group work together in creating a rap music video on the use of condoms.  Before you knew it, we had a video director, music editor (yours truly), dance choreographer, costume designer, song composer, singer, dancers, etc.  It was so much fun I wish we had started this idea in prior ISTs.   We plan to soon post it on YouTube and become famous. LOL

Much of the group stayed a night in Teguz. I invited Mary and her sister to join.  We watched Fast & the Furious 5, had dinner and went out dancing.  The girls had a ton of fun!  I think it was their first time out to a nightclub in the capital.  Creo que he despertado una nueva pasion en Mary. (I think I sparked a new passion in Mary.) I invited her out dancing this past weekend for her birthday and again she agreed. :)  I'm glad we've been bonding more, she's a very special person and I hope we can continue to learn a lot from each other.  

My observations are going well.  I'm trying to finish everything this month & have jammed packed my calendar.  All in all, teachers mostly struggle with classroom management.  Some of them could be a lot stricter in their expectations of the kids' behaviors.  This is especially true in the most marginalized communities as the children need a lot of guidance.  

Next week is a school holiday, celebrating Student Week.  Plus, I'll be taking a week off in late June to visit a friend in El Salvador.  I'm very excited for this trip.  It will be really special to connect with someone from home since I probably won't be going back this year.  

I'm about 20 days away from my one year in country anniversary.  How time goes by.  The more days that pass, the more I want to extend my service here.  It makes me very happy knowing I am content with my work here and see myself growing even more from it.  However, my parents would be heartbroken if I extended.

Life.

   

This picture is the inspiration I needed to be motivated to post.  Time keeps passing and I was beginning to lose myself it in....losing track of why I am here...why I enjoy serving......and why I applied in the first place.

I had a similar reflexion in middle school when a good friend  passed.  She was full of energy and loved the quote "carpe diem".  I remember thinking that I would honor my friend, and those whose life were taken without a just cause, by living my life to the fullest.

Sometimes I find myself confused in this PC experience.  Doubts run in and out of my head, questions pop up often, and answers seem to be idealistic.

But this message reminds me that it's ok to be confused....  What is most important is that I am doing what I love...what I dreamed of...what is my passion...what opens me up to new experiences..what challenges my ideas to form new ones.  It reminds that this experience is more about the people and the shared experiences we now have....that sometimes success doesn't need to be measured....sometimes what we need most is to LIVE.  

Life is short.  This experience it turning out to be short.  My 27 months of service have been reduced to 16.  For a long time, I was looking for my niche in site...I'm still not sure if I have found it, but I am clear on one thing.....I have found a new place to call home.

My work here continues to grow and with this comes the formation of many more relationships.  Some relationships are simple...."bye teacher" is what I'll hear when passing in the halls or running into each other in town....other relationships are complex...leaving unanswered questions and tears after they decide to runaway, probably to never see them again.  In one way or another, all of these relationships have given me a new found sense of belonging.  PC calls it "community integration" but I come to find this connections is deeper than the phrase embodies.

For many PCVs, this sense of belonging will give them the inspiration that gets lost in the "PC roller coaster".  For me, this sense of belonging brings a new sense of urgency to the work that I do.  The faces of the people I work with/for, bring a sense of determination.  Beyond it all, it is the possibility of creating bigger/better things together that give me the energy to continue challenging myself in this experience.

So what has been my experience in the last month or so?  The closings of schools, for the (finally over teacher strike), gave me the time to help out with a dental brigade from the Univ. of Conn.  I was able to help run logistics (bc you know I love this sort of thing ;P ) and show the team of 22 around town.  They worked hard and saw over 300 students/family members from the community, worked on ~100 patients, took out more teeth than I ever imagined and filled as many cavities as they could handle.  The population they worked on included people from the mountain side (that walked over 3 hours to the center), students from a newly build tuition-free bilingual university, special needs students from a local orphanage, and perhaps some of the neediest from our community.

My TEAM class of 40+ teachers continues strong.  Their attendance was still at 100% even during some of the toughest days of the strikes.  I am so proud of this group of teachers for their dedication to our class.  I wish I could share their animal "longest-book-ever" projects....they are awesome!

My work with the Casa Hogar girls continues.  Our most recent loss, just this past Tuesday, was the running away of one of the girls.  She arrived at the Casa Hogar after having some rough moments at a local orphanage.  She's full of energy, very creative, and can express herself beautifully.  Lately, she had been speaking up about not fitting in with the other girls.  She's always had a strong independent side.  She expressed her concerns and wishes to the director and admin personnel the night before.  No one ever expected her to run away.  This experience is another that helped me realize one reason for why I am here....to help bring hope to the youth that have lost it...to help them realize that they have positive choices in their life....and people that want to support them in making these decisions.

Work at the ENCA is back in session....the students had two weeks of instruction prior to Spring Break and are in a week of instruction now.  Their midterm exams are next week.  In short, teachers are trying to have students cram over a month of content before the exam.  How anyone justifies this is unclear to me.

My work with the after school program at the local orphanage is taking a turn.  The orphanage is largely funded through donors from the States.  The economic situation back home is negatively impacting the donations received locally.  In addition, the local government recently passed new labor laws raising the minimum wages.  The director was forced to cut back on personnel and has asked the teachers of the after school program to convert to part-time employees.  In short, this will mean they lose their unemployment insurance and take a small pay cut.  I am hopeful most of the teachers will remain on board.

Earlier I mentioned Spring Break, which is actually Semana Santa (Holy Week) here.  My site is considered the most religious in the country and is considered one of the most cultural too.  Combine these two elements and you get a week full of religious processions and services.  The city was filled with tourists Thurs.-Sat. for the making/viewing of the "alfombras" (carpets made of colored sawdust depicting mostly religious images).

I hosted most of the H17 Youth Development volunteers...they came and went throughout the week...at most we had 10 people sleeping in my studio apartment.  We ended up spending a day at the pool of a local hotel, taking a day trip to the Pulhapanzak waterfall (the largest of Honduras), lounging around town, checking out the VERY crowded waterpark, and checking out the processions/alfombras.

I was one of the most interested in the city's religious/cultural activities (a bit disappointing).  The alfombra making started Holy Thursday after the 10pm procession with the reenactment of the "encuentro" (meeting).  Only three of us tried staying up all night to watch the alfombras come to life....we ended up walking a bit, popping into the club and dancing a bit, then continuing down the alfombra path.  The whole group was back out the next morning to check out the completed alfombras....again only three of us were interested in walking along with the procession.  We stuck it through and participated in the trampling over the alfombras...you see the whole purpose for creating an alfombra is so that the procession can walk over it, bless the sawdust that was used, and bringing the creators "bondad" (goodness) the rest of the year.  One of my favorite moments from the procession was when a boy gave me his collection of colored sawdust he was saving in a small glass jar.  I made small talk and mentioned that I was going to start my own collection.  We ran into each other later...and to my surprise he offered me his collection.  I tried denying it at first because I knew he was probably hoping to take it home for good luck...but he insisted.  What a sweetheart!

These are the stories that keep me here...

So what made me serve in the first place.  My parents taught me to work hard at helping others who are less fortunate.  I remember dreaming of joining the Peace Corps as a little girl.  I think I first heard about the program from a friend.  I knew I wanted to help others and add my bit to world development.  I started my first application to PC my senior year in college.  At the same time, I started my application to Teach For America.  I decided to go into teaching first because I knew I would be a more competitive applicant with a refined skill.  Plus, I had promised myself to dedicate part of my life to teaching in honor of the great teachers in my life.  I decided to push back the PC application.  After completing my TFA service, I stayed an extra year in hopes of completing my credential; however, things got complicated and I was laid off twice. As a result, I was unemployed for 6 months where I had plenty of time to reflect on my next path in life.  PC was calling me...lol.  I finished my application and within days I had my potential assignment.  A few months later, I was arriving in Honduras as a Youth Development volunteer.  :)

We had two really great weeks with the students at the end of February.  The profe and I co-taught.  We planned some exciting lessons for our English methodology course, including a short video compilation on second language teaching methodologies.  I was just getting into a rhythm of things when our March in-service training came up.

A one-week training on our abstinence, teen pregnancy prevention health program.  We were set up in Valle de Angeles at the same hotel.  It is always great getting together with the rest the project group.  The training facilitators did an awesome job.  The workshops ran smoothly and I stepped away with a ton of new ideas.  The discussion were very motivating because the counterparts played a huge part in this.  I invited Mary from my church counterpart and her participation got great compliments from other volunteers.  I'm really excited to be working closer with her, she'll be helping me facilitate the Yo Merezco group. We ended up hanging out with the counterparts a lot more this second time around.  I made some new friendships and really look forward to visiting them in their sites.  We had a really nice groove going when the training came to an end.

Several of us decided to spend a day/night in Teguz.  We ended up having pizza, watching a movie, and going out.  We started out the night at the most interesting "hole-in-the-wall" bar.  Ok, it really wasn't that since it's located in one of the most "fufuru" barrios down the street from the Peace Corps office but it certainly had the attitude of one.  Most people had an alternative style to them.  They were hosting an out of town DJ playing trance/dance music yet kinda had a reggae house feel to it.  We ended up closing the nighat at Sabor Cubano.  I have too much fun dancing salsa!

I took an extra day off and visited my host mom in Talanga. We were really close and always got along.  She had planned the usual Saturday routine from when I was living with her...visit church friends, pupusas in the park, and gossip while having coffee.  I wish I could visit her more often.

I was back home early Sunday and prepped everything for the week of work ahead.  To my HUGE surprise, the students had taken over the school when we arrived.  They were joining the local high school on strike to show solidarity.  I later found out that many large public schools around the country had organized to strike.  The students had designed a leadership committee and by that afternoon representatives for the surrounding high schools were meeting to strategize their next move.  They ended up stopping traffic on the main highway at the edge of town and marched to the main plaza.

As these activities unfolded I got the greatest sense that I was living in some twilight zone.  You see, the summer of my junior year of high school I attended a student leadership institute where I first learned of student demonstrations/walkouts.  I later worked alongside with one of the original Chicano heroes from the 60's Los Angeles high school student demonstrations.  All this time, especially after teaching in one of the  neediest school districts, I had come to accept that student demonstrations would not be a part of my history.  Now, little did I ever expect, that my Peace Corps service would introduce me to one of the most strike-driven education systems.  The students have taken over the school a total of four times in this first month of class and the teachers have had their share of strikes.

I took advantage of my "free time" to hold several meetings.  I was asked to help oversee an after-school program at a local orphanage. It turns out the church leader in the States is a director of a charter school network.  He has a lot of new ideas for the education program at the orphanage.  I will serve as the mediator between him and the program teachers.

My church counterpart asked that I attend the project's support committee meeting.  The Swiss volunteers also joined and somehow we all ended up becoming members of the support committee.  For the time being, we are helping design next year's work plan.  Somehow (because I haven't learned how to say no) I ended up responsible for synthesizing the project's goals/objectives.

Saturday at the proyecto was an exciting one.  Several of the girls from the casa hogar will be acting as tutores and working with the youngest kids.  They had prepped Friday evening and were ready for their first day as "teachers".  I'm really excited for them!  I held a short literacy lesson with the girl from the hogar that doesn't know how to read/write. Also, two boys are now staying at the home, one of which is a usual at the proyecto.  He's been working really hard lately.  He's now going to school daily and teaching himself English.  I was able to tutor him for about an hour.  He's doing really great with the program on his own.  I have to find him some additional resources so that he can expand his vocabulary.

We ended up planning for a week long dental brigade coming up in two weeks.  The proyecto will be hosting a team of 22 from the University of Connecticut.  We thought through all the details and distributed the work load.  I was really proud of my counterpart for taking the time to prepare ahead of time.

I was told that the teachers are still on strike tomorrow.  I'm not sure what to expect, but I can continue to use the "free time" for my other projects.  Since I've returned from my visit home, I keep feeling like I'm in a constant catch-up game.

PS I'm short on pictures because I don't have my camera with me.  Erk!

Back in Honduras...it's been a bumpy start back!

Over a month since my last post.

My trip back home was great.  I love the fact I was excited to see my family and very excited to return to Honduras too.  My trip started with a nice surprise...my friends picked me up at the airport with a welcome home gift.  I spent that first weekend getting spoiled by mom with her home cooked meals...mmm!  I ended up making the family baleadas...let's just say they weren't as excited as I was.  LOL My sister, mom, and I ended up at the salon one morning.  It felt great getting pampered.  My brother, sister, best friend, and I ended out dancing one night....first time the siblings had been out together in years.  In fact, it had been over three years since the whole family had been home together.

After dropping my brother off at the airport, the rest of my family and I drove down to LA for the next weekend.  I tried balancing between hanging out with my family and visiting friends.  I  had way too many delicious meals with great company.  One of my favorite moments was our visit to the LA Griffith Observatory and my Saturday brunch at the Cheesecake Factory.

After my trip, (and after way too many hours of travel), I arrived in Valle de Angeles for PCYD Reconnect.  The workshops were tough to get through the first few days.  We had seen a lot of the same material during training.  We later understood those days were focused on our counterparts.  I loved watching my counterpart come alive in discussions.  She is definitely going places.  The YD group had a lot of catching up moments.  Over all, I think most of us were feeling pumped after Reconnect.

I met up with el Profe each day for planning.  Transportation is always a headache to/from my site and my worksite so our days came to an end early.  We worked out a lot of details in our planning but we were left hanging in so many other details.  The school to this day has not held one teacher meeting.  The Secretary of Education released the school calendar last week (2 weeks into the school year).  Our campus admin handed out schedules this past Thursday (mind you they have to be re-done as most of them have major errors).  To top it off, we had two school student take overs in the last two weeks and will have no classes this coming Monday due to the teacher marches.  Yes, just another school year in Honduras.

I did my best to stay positive this past week, but I will admit it was especially hard.  I was feeling down and very unmotivated (which only made me feel worse) with all the work issues.  I almost forget to mention the Safety/Security meeting this past week.  Although I appreciated the staff's efforts to support us, it is never easy to digest the information we receive on volunteer incidents.  I keep reminding myself as we were told in that meeting...we are here because it is tough work.

With that said, I want to end on a positive note.....I am very excited to announce that one of the girls from the hogar...the one with the greatest learning needs, she doesn't know how to read or write....was saying she likes to write after hours of working with her.  Yay! I've decided to focus on her learning needs as my little Saturday morning project.  Day 1: build confianza and generate an interest for learning....CHECK!

My childhood "mentee"...one of the newest PCV trainees (Guyana, 2011-2013)...congrats!