An April Adventure

The one and only main road in Utila
Semana Santa (Holy Week) is one of the biggest holidays in Honduras so we volunteers get a few days off as well. Susan (my travel buddy to Guatemala) and I were ready for another short escape. So for the week, we went to one of the bay islands on the North Coast of Honduras called Utila. Utila is smaller than Roatan and a little less touristy so a lot more affordable than the bigger island. Utila is also one of the cheapest places in the world where you can get scuba dive certified. For $250 (including lodging), Susan and I took a three-day class and got certified to 18 meters!

Arriving to Utila!


Beach volleyball at the hostel

Getting used to being around Americans, Europeans, and other international people in general was rough for us in the beginning. Susan and I were used to going to bed at 9 pm and all of a sudden we are sharing rooms with people that don’t even get up until 4 pm to start their day! I definitely felt awkward and a little out of place in the night scene and was caught off guard when I heard people being openly rude or impatient to others during the day. That was quite shocking coming from a village of humble campesinos that would never treat people with a lack of respect that I saw some treating others. We were also surprised to find that even though it only takes about 45 minutes to walk from one side of the island to the next, there was a HUGE amount of traffic! It seems that everyone had a motorcycle, golf cart, or even a pick-up, and there’s only one road! Watching the cars try to weave in and out of the people and the other traffic made me wonder how people could think that was more convenient that walking? Or at least get a bike!

The bar at our hostel was packed every night with the same night owls. Drinking every night?! And I used to be like that??!! Utila was beautiful and, to our surprise, very affordable! It was fun walking around town and the scenery was amazing. I got tan, too! Although everyone back in Nueva Esperanza told me I looked “quemada” (burnt) and that they thought my whiter (more pallid, pasty) skin was prettier. Everyone here dreams of being white. <>


Susan and me on one of the only beaches


Buying jewelry from the local artists. (Possible pottery market?)


Celebrating getting diver certified!


Getting the wet suits on


Susan and I heading home after a dive


On the dive boat

Always value the good things we are given

Mercedes Gomez is the head of the pottery directive that I have been working with here and even though I have just recently gotten to know her, we have quickly developed a strong friendship. Mercedes doesn’t leave her house very often . . . or at all . . . so I was surprised when I was riding into Gracias on the back of a pick-up and saw her standing next to a pick-up pulled over on the side of the road half way to town. She looked a little preoccupied, but I did not think much of it. Later on, I found out that her husband, Marcelo, had a stroke and when I saw her, she was going with him to the hospital in Gracias. A few days later, I was devastated to hear the news that he didn’t make it. Most of the time, life out here is so pleasant and relaxed that you forget that you are living in a country that knows hardship way too well. But once in a while you get hit by the brutal reminder that it’s a life of difficulty and suffering which no one should have to face. When Marcelo had the stroke, other villagers went around La Campa looking for someone with a car that could take him into Gracias. In Nueva Esperanza, there are only four or five families who own cars. In La Campa, there are a few more. In the hospital in Gracias, they did not have the proper equipment or doctors who could attend to Marcelo, and so they said he must be sent to Santa Rosa de Copan, the next largest town an hour away. I’m not sure if they had to find someone else with a car to take him or if they went on bus which takes an hour and a half. Marcelo was attended to in Santa Rosa for a few days but, again he needed better care, which he could only get in San Pedro Sula, three hours by direct bus from Santa Rosa. Marcelo passed away on the trip there.

Michael and I went to his wake and were happy to find that Mercedes was able to keep busy providing coffee and bread for all the guests who came to mourn her husband. The night was gloomy but life must go on.

But even in this small community, as loved ones leave us to move on to a better place, we are blessed with the arrival of new lives that will share in the same love that connects us with those from before. One week before Marcelo passed away, my good friend, Genara, had a baby girl in the last week of March. There were complications, however, as Abigail was born with a severe cleft lip. Luckily, Abigail is able to breastfeed and Operation Smile will be coming through in the end of August. So, hopefully they will be able to operate on their baby.


Genara's baby Abigail

Milton turns three

Since Angela’s husband teaches during the week up on the mountain, he wasn’t home last year to celebrate Milton’s second birthday so they didn’t do anything. But since this year Milton’s birthday landed on a Sunday, they decided to go all out with tamales, cake, and a piñata. I helped Angela make over 100 tamales and popcorn to put in goodie bags for all the kids that were gonna come. Here are some photos of the party!

Anggie stirring the tamale "masa"


Angela making the tamales


Angela and me making TONS OF TAMALES


Sister Keimy with Milton


Milton cutting his birthday cake


Milton with father, Maximo

Healthy Smiles

The Youth Development project has a connection with Colgate to improve dental hygiene education. I have been waiting since last year to get my donation and finally it came! Becky came out to help me with a workshop for the teachers of three different schools and two kindergartens in my community and then I went to the schools to turn in two toothbrushes and one tube of toothpaste to each student. Every week, the teachers are in charge of giving a small lesson dental hygiene or general hygiene. Here is a photo of the kids learning to brush their teeth. I ended up collaborating with my friend, Alan, who is in charge of a healthy schools project and so we went around distributing multivitamins and giving fluoride to all the kids afterwards as well.

Ticks, bricks, and puppies!

My neighbor Angela, me, and the new puppy Randy


A flowering mango tree, mango season is starting! Yesss!!!


The same mango tree after the bloom and full of fruit(May 2009)

It’s the hot, dry season now, from about February to June. So everyone has started to make adobe (mud bricks) to make houses and to start any other outdoor construction projects. The best part about summer is that a cold shower doesn’t seem that bad. (Although I recently installed an “electroducha” which gives me hot showers). Also, there are baby animals all over the place! Baby cows, horses, goats, puppies, and kittens! Even baby opossums that Vanessa found! I was visiting a friend in her home and what I thought was a black dog came inside and as it passed I said, “Wow your dog has long legs like a goat.” Then I did a double-take . . . it was a goat! An adorable baby goat that pranced after me and wanted to follow me home!


Pastor Emilio's new puppy! He even has his paws together like he's greeting "Bendiciones" (Blessings) like the people do here.


Another not-so-exciting thing about summer. A giant spider that came into my house.


Baby horses in Olominas


A newborn calf



Vanessa's cat gave birth to five kittens! It didn't seem like a pleasant experience.
The bad part about summer means that it’s time for ticks, fleas, and invisible grass mites to come out and leave more scars all over my body. So since those furry little creatures are so tempting to cuddle, I’m back to shaking my sheets out and ironing and washing all my clothes. The dry season also means that fires on Celaque are very common. Every year, people sneak into Celaque and purposely light the forest on fire. And every year this will be a problem as very little, if anything, is done to find the perpetrator. At least there are lots of people here willing to go help put the fire out. Many people from various communities went to help fight the fires. This year was definitely worst than last year, with the fires only about an hour walk away from where Vanessa lives.


The view of Celaque from the road to Gracias


The mountain has been so dry the fire took the whole side of the mountain in one day


The smoke was so thick it was blocking out the sun and my view of Celaque

What a Way To Start the Year

January again which means that the first medical brigade that I translated for last year is coming back! I was so excited to see the doctors and nurses again as well as the West volunteers who I don’t get to see that often. From last year, only Becky, Kyler, and I were returning from last year. But two other volunteers from the new group of my project, Protected Areas Management, also came along. So it was a lot of fun to meet them and hear about their work.


PCV Kyler with a cute patient


PCVs Maggie, Kyler, Kate, nurse Aaryn, Becky, and me after a long day of work

One of the days of the brigade was also the Inauguration Day of President Barack Obama. The guy who helps organize this brigade every year went out of his way to find us a t.v. that got CNN in Spanish so that we could watch the Inauguration. When it was about to come on, we all gathered in the main room, gave all the kids coloring books and crayons, and watched the inauguration with all the other patients waiting to be seen. It was definitely a momentous occasion that we will look back on and say, “When this happened, we were united, doctors from various parts, Peace Corps volunteers, and local Hondurans, working to improve the quality of lives of some individuals.” The moment more than the speech, which was hard to follow as it was dubbed over in Spanish, brought tears to our eyes. This was one of the rare times that I have actually felt proud to be an American. And I am excited to finally be able to say with honor that I am a North American where our new president is Barack Obama. The feeling of hope was already evident before Obama’s inauguration; but I think that it’s even more so now because the whole world stopped to listen on this day.




This year we had dentists come down to pull lots and lots of teeth.


Maggie translating in triage


Me helping Aaryn clean wax out of an old ladys' ears. When she arrived she was so scared because she couldn't hear what we wanted her to do and she kepy getting dizzy with the water in her ears. When a marble-sized piece of wax came out of her ear though, she started shouting that we were a blessing from God giving her the miracle of sound again!

(October 2008) Time for a Break . . . in Guatemala!

Stove construction is off! I don’t know how . . . but once we started construction, everything worked as it was supposed to! All the parts fit, I didn’t screw up the first stove (too badly) and all of a sudden 36 women are trained and making stoves all over the place that I can’t even keep count of who has finished and who hasn’t! In the last two weeks of October, I was helping make two stoves a day, 6 days a week. In general, I helped make two stoves per group. The first time facilitating construction and the second time watching to make sure they for sure get it. So by the end of October, I was exhausted but in a good productive way. The way that makes you want a vacation but also feel like you really deserve it!

So my friend, Susan, (Municipal Development volunteer) and I decided to go to Guatemala for a couple of weeks after a Halloween party in Copan Ruinas. Unfortunately, I got my camera stolen and so photos of the trip are going to have to come later when I can get them from Susan.

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to visit an orphanage in Antigua, Guatemala. Susan has a friend who works in the orphanage and offered to let us stay at his place while we were in town. Our first night in Guatemala, he picked us up in downtown Antigua and after dropping our stuff off at his apartment, we went out to a bar to drink and chat. Orlando is head of the orphanage which is called “Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos” (Our Little Brothers). He has worked there for eight years and the orphanage has over 300 kids ranging in age from babies to adults. The great part about the orphanage is that it offers various workshops in carpentry, baking, and other activities so that when the children grow up and decide to leave the orphanage, they will be able to open a small business or have some experience to be able to find work. There is a basic school inside the orphanage as well and if the students want to continue their education, the orphanage pays for them to continue on to middle school or high school.

To my surprise, none of the kids can be adopted from the orphanage and, in general, it’s very hard to adopt children from Central American countries. I asked Orlando why it was so tough because, really, if families here don’t have the funds to take care of their children, there should be the option to adopt so the child can have a better life. I would have never guessed his response. Orlando explained to me that it’s dangerous to put kids up for adoption because . . . and yes, this reason stopped my heart too . . . people will adopt kids and then sell their organs on the black market. The next day, I found a Guatemalan newspaper and the front article was about an adoption agency that was a hoax. Basically, some people were claiming to be a valid adoption agency and had collected thousands of dollars from North Americans who wanted to adopt Guatemalan children and then disappeared with the money. It’s amazing what people are capable of and how much I’m still so naïve about.

(So I will try to get photos of the trip up as soon as possible. Sorry!)