La Paz, La Paz

I don´t know if I can truly descirbe my first week here in La Paz, but I will do my best. Here I am in my new and final site. Its quite amazing...and still hasn´t totally sunk in yet that I am here and that this town will be my home for the next two years of my life. My head has been spinning a bit this past week and a half as I sit with my thoughts about what all of this means. I wrote this blog entry one night - and on that night I was standing outside looking up at the stars. The sky was clear and I could see the stars for miles beyond . I was looking for Orion and not being able to find him in the sky made me realize just how far away I am from anything familiar in life. The people, the town, the language, the food...everything is new.

I received a call earlier this evening from my friend jerome, another volunteer who is just a short 5 hour bus ride away...you know those yellow school buses that we all rode to elementary school - they were all sent to honduras and that is our main cross country transit system! talking to my friend jerome made me realize just how much i miss being able to communicate in english. we take for granted the ease of communication and right now i am feeling like it would be great if someone were truly able to understand the meaning behind my broken words. i guess thats why i have been talking to myself alot these days. somebody tell me - is this normal for pc volunteers...steven? elise? help!

so almost two weeks down, and i have been to numerous meetings for projects that are part of the poverty reduction strategy - including organizing coffee farmers and artisans, building a new kindergarten and health center, remodeling a rehabilitation center, organizing community organizations, strengthening the transparency of public information, etc...i am also teaching english classes to about 80 primary school kids one afternoon a week and have been asked to redesign a park with the lions club. its all very exciting but exhausting all the same. with every meeting i am learning more and more spanish and also realize just how far i have to go. we spent one afternoon last week in the aldea of concepcion de soluteca where i made friends with a group of children playing outside while their families were conducting elections of the community organization on the other side of a wall to the one room school house. everything in life is a bit uncertain here. on our way up the mountain the truck we were in blew a tire out in the middle of nowhere on the side of the road. which is where the friendly hondurans come in to play. whenever in need there seems to be someone there to offer a ride or help fix a tire. so some of us went on the the meeting while the others went to back to a auto shop so we could get back down the mountain later that day.

i have been to visit artisanal shops and have had coffee with many people. women have asked me to stay and live with them and have offered me more than they have to give. standing in the kitchen of one women´s house in yarumela, she pointed out the houses of all her children which can be seen from her kitchen window. this had me missing my own family of course...but made me feel so fortunate that i am in a place with so much support.

last week was the central american independence, so we were amidst a mutlitude of parades and festivities. in addition this week marked the 6 month anniversary of the death of my host mother´s husband. after 20 years of marriage and three little boys, he committed suicide not far from the house, in the mountains that are a backdrop to La Paz. the week has been filled with prayer and singing and mass to remember her husband. the children, ricardo, 5, kevin, 12, and eybin, 15 are great...though it can be hard...as they often talk of their father. ricardo especially likes to talk with me and sometimes sits in my room with me while i work, just looking at my photos and books and things from back home. he now knows the names of all my friends and family and is especially fascinated with the photo of mom and dad´s house in virginia...because it is 2 stories and a lawn.

needless to say a lot is happening in my life here. when i stop to think sometimes it all seems a blur. i know that i will not be bored here, but i am trying to take the time i need to adjust and get myself settled in as i need. there are times when i sit through a meeting concentrating so hard and am able to understand all that is being said, and then don´t have to energy to respond in an eloquent way...just some spanglish dribbling from my mouth. for sanity i cling to my daily 5:30 am runs (i go to bed quite early, too) and my sunday conversations with mom and dad. i have photos of everyone from back home up on the wall in my room too! i read a lot and talk with every person i have the chance to...in the market, the post office, the bank, and i am making some nice friends. i often hear my name being yelled at me in the street, but its much easier for the community to remember the name of the one white girl in town than it is for me to remember every person i meet. though i´m trying!

in all, i love it here...its a challenge i knew that i was ready for but has presented itself to me in ways that i am still discovering. its hard to imagine what two years in la paz really means right now standing here in week two, but i guess i am ready to find out.

a former peace corps volunteer once told me, and i won´t mention any names since he has never actually run a marathon...but he told me this:

¨Getting through the Peace Corps has a lot in common with running a marathon. Pace yourself. Save some energy for the end - Because the feeling is incredibly gratifying.¨

Thanks, Steven!

a typical honduran market

the market in intibuca...its definitely not the Giant (for those east coasters) or the Ralph´s (LA people) or trader joes...but it will suffice for your supply of beans, eggs, platanos, avacado, and tortillas...

the vendors come in early in the morning from teh surrounding rural towns to sell everything from grains to vegetables to breads and coffee...its quite beautiful! good prices, too!

take a look at the mountains...

my trusty old horse...while he was having lunch, i took in the amazing view...if you squint you can see nicaragua in the distance

My family in La Esperanza, Intibuca

Me with Keyry, 10, and Mariela, 15, at the house in La Esperanza...Keyry liked to play cards and so I gave her a new pack of playing cards for her 10th birthday to replace the old ripped deck she was currently playing with - i think it was also missing a few cards... Mariela was in involved in a folkloric dance group called Isalaca. She taught me how to dance and I went to her presentation during the Potato Festival.

Horseback Riding in San Jaun, Intibuca...

Raul, Miriam, Jerome, Steph, and Erin...feeling a bit sore after just the first 2 hours of riding...we went for 5 hours and stopped from lunch at a waterfall!

A bit overdue...

It seems that with my last blog entry I left some of my readers wondering about my current state of spirits, so I want to clarify a bit in this entry...Since I moved out of my first house in La Esperanza, I have had a wonderful three weeks following. The transformation I had after leaving my first family really confirmed that it was a smart decision. I had great support from Peace Corps and realized what a negative impact that first week had on me. I ended up with a great family – grandma, 3 daughters, and 3 grandchildren. Fathers have been non-existent in my experiences thus far. My family was Lenca, and I got to experience the traditional folkloric dances as well as some pretty incredible food...
In addition to my family and cultural experiences, I was also working with the Municipality of Intibuca training staff in the use of AutoCAD, GPS, and how to read topographic maps. The sessions were productive and when we left, I felt like we had made a difference in the lives of a few people. They were going to be using GPS to measure the length of roads to be paved in town, and were very excited when they mastered the use of the GPS system.
I also worked with the Mayor and the Red de Patronatos (a network of concerned citizens) to talk about zoning regulations in Intibuca. Historically the zoning has only addressed height limitations, but the town is in the process of siting a new cemetery, discoteca, park, and market, and wanted some guidance on how to plan for this future development. The largest problem they are facing is how development will affect their natural resources. For example, they want to site a cemetery on a hill in a rural area of the department, so we talked about the implications this will have on their main water source, etc...It was a pretty interesting conversation and I think will be especially pertinent to my future project assignment.
Perhaps the best part of the training experience wasn’t related to municipal development at all...though we stretch it to include rural tourism (i.e. horseback riding through the Honduran countryside) We spent 5 hours one day on horseback, riding in the campo of San Juan, stopping at a beautiful waterfall for lunch. It was amazing. I have to say I wasn’t thrilled to be getting on a horse, since my last experience, but I had a great time! He listened to me and was very good at obeying my commands...In the end I let him run and held on tight...
In all, La Esperanza was a great experience. I continued to improve upon my Spanish, am enjoying the friends I have in my training group as well as in the community, and am feeling more settled in Central America. I am back in Santa Lucia now. Tonight I will make dinner for my family and give them my thanks before entering my last 2 weeks here. I will be learning my permanent site on Tuesday and then will travel with my “counterpart” to my site on Thursday. We swear in as actual Peace Corps Voulnteers next Thursday, September 7th, before moving out to our sites on Friday. Time is slipping by and I look forward to sharing my next bit of news with you all very soon...