FOTOS!!

Hi All!!

Pues, yo se que estan esparando las fotos...entonces aqui estan...miranlas y disfrutan!!



This is my
COLGATE program with one of the teachers givig the charla...the kids are cute.

This is my birthday...the three little girls all made me things out of flowers and wrote my letters. lol.

This is also my birthday...when I went to my friends house in another town and we made the srawberry cheescake!! It was SOO good...I def. had a theme of red for my birthday with the clothes, the cheescake and then my friend got my a strawberry pinata...lol!

Playing at the soccer field in Camalote...with the Amigos de Americas. This guy is one of them...Roberto or Robert.

Excursion...beautiful view!! Yes, I spend most of my time walking up mountains going on excursions with the youth...I can not complain about life. lol

The Amigos de Americas...another help organization, but with high schools and me!


Las Marias...these ladies are awesome! They make the best bread or pan in town...I am always searching them out as my sweet tooth is ridiculous.

Making bread...the quick and easy way in the horno. It takes like 5 or 10 min. in this thing because it is incredibly hot and efficient.

Some of the girls in the youth group...on the excursion to Camalote otra vez y siempre.


This little guy is so cute brushing his teeth...he is really enjoying himself! Good for him...keeping those teeth clean!

Hope you enjoyed,
Victoria

UPDATESSSS

Hello!!

So, things have been going well in the community...getting busy. Right now, I'm working on COLGATE (dental hygiene) as always, the two English classes, helping the library get a reading corner, starting with a reading club in the elementary school, and finally starting the HIV/AIDS/abstinence program with the high-school kids.

I still haven't moved into my new house...but, still considering it and getting excited!! I'm excited to start cooking really. Speaking of cooking, I'm officially involved with a healthy eating/sharing recipes/vegetarian club...it's through the Peace Corps. I'm not vegetarian, but I do love my veggies. Speaking of veggies, I'm in Teguz right now and I have the BEST lunch ever. I have a salad with oil dressing and a broccoli, cream cheese, walnut sandwhich on a toasted french baguette with a banana and passion fruit smoothie!! How great does that sound. I love coming to Teguz to eat good food!

Also, I've observed some other cultural things that I'm sure you all will appreciate. Since the 3 Amigos de Americas have been here (other American volunteers that are high-schoolers) they've really opened my eyes to things that I guess I've been taking for granted and just gotten used to. BUT, here goes:
1. The men love to lift up their shirts and rub their bellies.
2. They don't have lawnmowers...they use machetes. They use machetes here a lot actually. It was scary at first, but now it's quite normal for a man to be carrying a huge knife. lol.


Things I've learned:
1. learned how to make my own earrings courtsey of my PC friend, Anna who has a little factory in her house (exaggeration). lol.
2. Some men can be trusted and should be because they're nice to talk with and cute. :)

So for right now, just working...have plans to possibly see monkeys soon, go to Guatemala in November and Nicagaragua also and of course home for CHRISTMAS!! YAY!!! ALSO, still waiting for mother to confirm her trip here to Honduras next year. :)

Hope everyone is doing well...recovering from surgeries...losing weight...exercising...eating good American food, etc. Will post more pictures and videos soon. I just brought my memory disk, but these computers don't have a port for the disc. Anyways, next time!

LOVE YOU ALL,
Victoria

A day in the life of a volunteer

Well, I guess, it should more appropriately say in my life instead of a volunteer´s life…because this really does depend what country you go to, where you go in the country (city or country) ,who you´re working with (how many organizations you´re working with) and what project you´re working on.

For me, I´m in Honduras (more developed than some places, but still less developed than the U.S.), in a small town/village with 5,000 people in all and only 2,000 that actually live in the area I´m at because my town has like 12 outlying communities or other villages. Therefore, it´s pretty small, but not the smallest it could be. Also, I´m working with 3 counterparts-the high school with around 300 students in all the 6 grades they have! Also, I´m working with a youth group and a Culture and Tourism Group.

With those 3 groups, I´m actually quite busy….so my day goes something like this:
6:30ª.m.-wake up after hitting snooze at the 6:15ª.m. alarm/baby crying/rustling in the family household / possible music playing loudly.
7a.m.-Get myself together, have a bible study (still working on this).
8ª.m.-Take shower, eat breakfast (tortilla, beans, cheese, avacado, maybe eggs-normal, also I might have oatmeal, pancakes (rare), or cereal (that I supply myself because I LOVE it!)
From here on is where it gets a little crazy…different every day! But, usually, I have 2 things in the morning and 1 or 2 things in the afternoon that could include meetings with groups to plan activities, English clubs and class with teachers, projects (HIV/AIDS, Dental Hygiene, etc.), visiting families, using the computer, etc.
ALSO, I find it very interesting that almost every lunch here at my host familie´s house includes rice, a Little meat, veggie and fruit juice. Very interesting…I´m def. noticing this pattern.
5p.m.-usually I go home around this time and eat dinner, read, do some planning for the next day, maybe watch some t.v. in the “living room area” (I say this is in quotations to not decieve you into thinking this is something luxurious as it is also used as the dining room and we don´t have couches…which is sometimes a Little sad for me) is not occuppied by other viewers.
9:30p.m.-10:30p.m.-Go to SLEEP (of course I sleep past this time, this is just the hour usually when I fall asleep)

Pictures to come and look at my facebook...there are so many new photos on there!

Love,
Victoria

What's Going On!?

Hope all is going awesome with everyone back in GA!! Can't wait to visit for Christmas...another reason to look forward to the holidays! lol.

Anyways, many a thing have been going on these days...Spiritually, in life in general, etc.
Spritually, I feel like I've been struggling about getting involved with my church here, being generous, etc. BUT, after reading a great and hard book to read, Crazy Love, I've realized (with the leading of the Holy Spirit) that I need to get more involved with the church here(not just because it's a rule or anything, but because I feel like somehting's missing in my life if I don't). I definitely have been feeling lukewarm and I DO NOT want that...so, that has been hard because the reason I didn't want to get involved is because I will be leaving in 1 yr. (if God allows) and I didn't want to get too involved and then have to leave...AND, deep down I was actually scared that I would like it and the Lord would ask me to stay in Honduras.

I have mixed feelings about this...I struggled with this quite a bit (crying and all) because naturally I have my own desires and plans...BUT, the Lord's will is number 1! That is SOOO hard to say, but it is true. But, anyways, another part of me thinks that not getting involved in the church for fear of the Lord asking me to stay was just a plot of the enemy so that I would become lukewarm. BUT, anyways, just pray for me all that I would be able to accept what the Lord has for my life and NEVER be lukewarm.

Also, some other updates:

1. I'm officially having laser hair removal done for my underarms, legs, and other areas (don't be nosey-lol). Anyways, I'm SOO excited, cause it's working!! I have less hair under my arms and it's awesome...I feel more like a warm!!

2. In July (next month), I should be moving out to my new home...still living with people, but a whole lot less people so it should be more quite, I'll have more space, my room will be nicer ANDDD...I'll get to cook for myself-every single meal!! I'm so excited, I'm already planning for my cooking adventures!!

Work:
Did a Spelling Bee and working on a program for preventing HIV/AIDS, still working with the dental hygiene program, have 2 English classes going right now, and other stuff not to mention lots of other non-work, but fun things coming up...Mushroom Festival, Corn Festival (tal vez), my BIRTHDAY, etc.

Quote of a lifetime---God is good-Life is good!!

Here are some pictures for your purusing...

This is actually just a week ago on an excursion with the youth...


This is during Easter- Monica is french-braiding my hair. lol


These are "apples"...they're actually hollow inside, but sort of similiar to regular apples.

Talk with you soon...still need to upload videos!!
Victoria

A Week in the Life of Semana Santa!

Hello!

Semana Santa is a big week here in Honduras...and in many other places too, but it's a celebrated a little differently here.

So first, for those who are wondering...Semana Santa means Holy Week and it's the week of Easter. As you know, Honduras is a pretty Catholic country and Comayagua in particular is a very religious city in Honduras as well as big and beautiful. Therefore, about 10 or more of us (Peace Corps Volunteers) went to Comayagua to see the festivities, swim, enjoy each other's company, etc.

The weeks festivities:
Monday, April 18- traveling 2 &1/2 hours to Comayagua by bus. Arrived to see Monica and friends and went to the pool where it was beautiful, peaceful, basically on us there and quite hot. I got a nice tan and we had an awesome sandwich with good cheese and ham and mangoes (yes, I have eaten mangoes quite a bit here despite my supposed allergy-side note-I was told by a friend that possibly not eating the skin would be better). After leaving the pool, we walked around and went to Wendy's to eat where I had a GREAT salad with blue cheese, cranberries, chicken and fries (on the side) OMG I was SO excited to eat American food! :) After that, we went to the big central park and saw a procession in the large catholic church...

Tuesday-This day, we went to the lake/waterfall. It was very beautiful and large! The waterfall was about 2 hours away in different buses with beautiful views especially since you have to walk sometimes to get to the different buses-it was like walking through a random Honduran ghost town almost! We went to the park where we saw a lizard, lots of vegetation, and got a little soaked by the waterfall on the lookout deck. Some friends went behind the waterfall and jumped off! So, we watched them, hung out, played in the water, and left to hitchhike randomly with some nice gentlemen. Afterwards, we went to the Princesita which has HUGE baliadas-flour tortillas with beans, cheese and other things inside. It was a little struggle, but we managed to scarf the thing down...

Wednesday-We went shopping for clothes at the used american clothing shops and I found a great flowy skirt por FIN!! Then, we ate at Dunkin's Donuts and then we went to a Chinese restaurant where we had GREAT sweet and sour chicken and fish with boiled rice FOR FREE (friends know the owner who is a Chinese lady that's been in Honduras for 38 years)!!!

Thursday-Some friends got there hair braided at a local Garifuna's salon-I just got a french braid by a PCV friend. lol. After, we went to a waterpark with dinosaur statues...there were TONS of Hondurans and we were the ONLY Americans. Later, there was a pretty cool concert with dancing and music. They had cute little competitions with the children and others for singing and dancing. Also, in the back of the park, we got to pick some fresh mangoes off the trees. We figured out the technique finally on how to get the fruit off the trees. Also, I realized today (after seeing others with them) that I want a sarong, they are quite useful. Then, we rested....ate and went to a bar/club which was quite sophisticated (lol) and hung out on the couches and watched tv and talked with another volunteer and her father who was visiting from the states. It was interesting seeing and hearing how he was viewing the culture...can't wait for Mom to come!! Later, we waiting for the procession which blesses the streets before they make the rugs and took pics and hung out more to dance a little and see the start of the rug-making. Went to sleep around 2:30a.m. All in all a GREAT night.

Friday- Woke up early to go see the rugs and watch the procession in the streets that tramples the rugs and goes through the 12 "stations" of the Christ story with him being betrayed by Judas up to His resurrection. Ate at a GREAT restaurant with air condition...had a sandwich with awesome sauce and a greek salad. Then, later, we went to dance and enjoy the environment by the pool.

Saturday-Went shopping for foods and went HOME!!!

Deja Vue and New Things Too!

Hello!

These past weeks have been interesting since there have been strikes for the last three weeks here in Honduras at the schools…so there hasn’t been any classes for almost a month (starting when I was in the states). So, many projects that I was going to do are difficult to get started with the teachers doing there own thing (fighting for there rights, etc.). Right when I got into site (literally the first day, my town was having its feria…it’s festival to celebrate its saint) I was enthralled in activities…possibly a good thing to forget about the sadness of being away from home once again. I’ve included some random pictures of the past weeks-mostly of the excursion (more info. farther down). I tried to load the video...but, virtually impossible~ BUT, do not fear...I posted them on Facebook! :)



BUT, we are doing some things in my site such as COLGATE, a dental and personal hygiene program with an elementary school and a kindergarten in a nearby community. It’s nice to get out and do something, even if just for only one time a week. We talk about how to brush your teeth and why it’s important…and LOTS of fun activities! Also, we’re working more with the youth group to go out and do excursions to document the nearby places that are touristy and we go and play games and bring lunch and they bathe in the river (I don’t because I’m suspicious of the dirty rivers especially with children…I know they’re peeing in the river). But, we just had our first one this past Saturday and I think it went very well…it was SOOO tiring, but it was good exercise and bonding time with the kids and it got them out of the house since there hasn’t been school in so long!!

That’s pretty much all I’m doing right now…and working so hard to get more projects off the ground and applying for grants and things for the projects because we have so many things we can do so I want to use my time wisely! But, right now, I’m in Tegucigalpa…about to go to training and then for Holy Week (the week of Easter) I believe I will be going to Comayagua to participate in the festivities! AND, Monica told me that we (PCV’s) will actually get to help with making some of the street rugs out of sand…I’m REALLY excited!!

YAY! That’s all for now…talk with you all soon,
LOVE, Victoria

Honduras to U.S. and Back Again (We'll not quite yet)

Well, well, well...it's been about a week and a half that I've been visiting in the states, and............... I LOVE IT!!! lol.

Yes, well, maybe that wasn't a surprise, but anyways, I have gained a new appreciation for the United States and GA in particular. I love my state. Also, I love my family and friends-they showed me so much love while I was home, I cried one time even. lol. I think I went out to eat with friends and family almost every day I was home. Also, speaking to my Christian friends and family was really encouraging
as they helped me to realize that my experience in the PC might be hard, but I'm there for a reason and I'm doing good. It was very nice to see how so many people are supporting me outside the PC and inside the PC! It's quite amazing...I feel very blessed with all the support and love I have.

So, coming back home for the first time after 8 months was definitely interesting. I asked many Peace Corps friends how they did it, how it felt, etc. to prime myself before leaving and coming back. BUT, I must admit, I was not really overwhelmed. I did not have a panic attack...even though, I definitely understand how that is possible. But, no, everything seemed pretty normal except a few things:

>There was ALWAYS toilet paper in the bathrooms...I felt so spoiled. In Honduras, if you don't bring your own toilet paper, well, you won't have any.
>DIVERSITY!! I got to see so many different people...Asians, African Americans, whites, etc. I was SO excited!! :)
>I got to ride in my OWN CAR! You don't understand...usually if I do get to ride in a car in Honduras, I'm not on the inside. I ride in the back-it's quite sad.
>The bathroom is inside the house and close by...I did not have to walk through the house, down the stairs, and outside to get to the bathroom! It was so nice.
> I get to choose the temperature of my water everywhere I am...in the faucet, in the shower, etc. In Honduras, everything is one degree...pretty cold. lol.

One thing I did miss however, was my friends that I've made in Honduras and speaking Spanish. I actually enjoy speaking Spanish now. But, I will get plenty of that when I go back in like 5 days.

So, for now, I'm enjoying home cooked meals..I actually did eat collard greens and cornbread (Alicia)! lol. I also have had Godiva chocolates, Dip 'N Dots, sausage balls, biscuits with honey, spinach and bacon quiche, amazing sushi, etc.
Also, I went back to Emory University and saw the new updates and a couple of old friends. And, I got to meet new people and new places. ALSO, I did not plan this...but, I actually came back to celebrate 2 holidays (Mardi Gras and St. Patrick's Day). Although Mardi Gras is a heathen holiday, it was fun creating mini floats. Anyways, I'm so excited about coming home and soaking up the U.S. and will go back to Honduras ready to work again and wait to come back for Christmas...this whole journey is going by SO fast, but I'm enjoying it and I know the Lord is using this time to teach me more about the world and myself.





Thank you all for everything!
Victoria :)