Imagenes de Santa Lucia, Honduras

A pet monkey we randomly found near an artesania



The parrot that wakes me up every morning yelling "Mama cafe!" ("Mom, coffee!")



My host grandma grinding garlic with a rock



A pretty flower that comes in pink and red, too.



The main street of Santa Lucia



Nayeli and Diego




Some ducks in the lagoon

^

A catepillar seen at the training office

Santa Lucia is a little town about half an hour away from Tegucigalpa. The Peace Corps office has been in Santa Lucia for several years and so the small town is used to seeing Americans around. Twice a year, a new group of PC trainees come to live with Santa Lucia families and the same traditions are somehow passed from one group to another. (For example, one woman who lives close to me makes the famous “Santa Lucia bread” which comes in flavors like cinnamon, cheese, carrot, banana, wheat, and garlic and only costs a little over a dollar for a loaf. She says its like Christmas when PC volunteers come because we always order a ton of loaves). Also, my friend’s host mom told me that because so many volunteers come through Santa Lucia, the town kind of has a protective eye over the volunteers. So, Santa Lucia is a great half-way step for us to make the transition from US to Honduran life.

The weather here is mild compared to other parts of the country. It’s much cooler in Santa Lucia than in Tegucigalpa and we see a lot of rain (perfect weather for me!) On sunny days, the temperature is in the 70s or hotter, but Santa Lucia also sees some very heavy rainstorms. Even as an Oregonian, I am impressed by the rainstorms we get here. Sometimes the rain is so loud on our tin roof that I can’t hear my host family speak to me! Also, the clouds pass by Santa Lucia faster than I have ever seen before, so it’s hard to predict what the weather is going to be like. One day, it will be sunny and I will be enjoying the warmth, doing my homework in a café. Fifteen minutes later, the blue sky has disappeared behind an ominously dark cloud and I have to race home to get my rain jacket and get my laundry off the lines before the downpour. Other times, I will be so sure it’s going to rain but the rain clouds pass by too fast before they can drop anything.