Quick Update

So, here’s a quick update about what has happened since the last time I wrote, which I know has been a while. Sorry! I split it up by good news and not so good news (cause really there’s nothing that’s really bad) so you can decide what you want to read first.

Good News:

1) I am working closely with a woman named Midaevis Lopez who works for PRONADEL (Promoción Nacional del Desarrollo Lenca, or National Promotion of Lencan Development) the NGO that is going to fund my improved stoves project. So far, we are just working out the kinks in the project before sending the grant proposal to Tegucigalpa. Midaevis told me that at this point it should take about a month, depending on how fast Tegucigalpa decides to support us. It’s nice to finally have someone helping me with this project that has done this type of work before. The stress level is definitely a lot lower since Midaevis and I started working together.
2) I have a house! I finally have found housing in Nueva Esperanza. The only thing about this house is that it is not completely built yet. It still is missing floor, finishing on the walls, a bathroom, a pila, water, electricity, doors, and windows. That sounds like a lot . . . because it is I guess, but hopefully it will be done by mid-March. I told the woman I’m going to rent from to tell me when they are going to begin construction because I want to go help do whatever it takes to keep the process moving along.


My house!





3) My friends from the University of Puget Sound are coming to visit! Sam and Chanel are coming March 29th and staying until April 6. I can’t wait to see them, but I also hope that my house is done by then so that we have a place to stay!
4) My former host mom’s baby was finally born on February 6th! We all have been waiting for this baby boy for months. Idania, my host mom, had to have a Caesarian but out came a healthy 8 pound baby GIRL!! I guess the doctor was wrong about the gender and so to all of our surprise, there is a new baby sister. They still have not picked out a name yet and luckily a lot of the clothes they bought for the baby boy are unisex colors like green and yellow.


The newest member of the Lopez Mejia family. Although unnamed so far.

5) I made tortillas and my friend, Genara, couldn’t distinguish mine from the others that were made by the Honduran women. Woohoo!
6) My computer is fixed and in my hands! It was actually fixed almost two months ago but I could only just get it from Tegucigalpa in the end of February.
7) I bought a guitar and am slowly teaching myself how to play.

Not So Good News:

1) I have scabies . . . again (for the fourth time!), but really at this point I’m so used to them that it’s not that big of a deal. I just put my cream on and wash my clothes in hot water. Truthfully, the worst part about it is that I’m not used to washing my clothes in hot water and so I accidentally have mixed colored clothes with my white clothes twice and have stained my white clothes red the first time and blue the second time.
2) My friend, Martin, here from Nueva Esperanza lost his grandmother on Thursday, February 28th to a sudden heart attack. Martin is always smiling and in a good mood so it was hard to see him sad.
3) I have acquired a bad cough which either is left over from the last time I was sick or from all the dust that is in the air since it’s so dry here. (The dust is inches thick on the road. In some parts, I feel like I’m walking through snow. I wear my sunglasses everyday not to protect my eyes from the sun but from the cloud of dust that engulfs me when the cars go whizzing by.)
4) Well, I got my computer from Tegucigalpa. But I accidentally left my cell phone there. So for a few weeks at least I will be without that.