a year in review...

Well, since I’ve been getting harassed by some of my favorite readers, I thought that it was about time to update this blog. Seeing as it has been almost 5 months I am not going to pretend to share everything that has happened in this time, but here is an overview – because you all deserve to know that I am still alive and well here in Honduras.

photo of all the volunteers in the la paz region, we received 5 new volunteers in la paz + comayagua this june.

On September 8th, I completed one year of service in La Paz, so it’s a good time for reflection as I analyze what I have accomplished during this first year and prepare myself to realize new goals for work, personal life, and my Spanish level in this second year.

I will say that this one year mark has not passed without a heightened level of stress. I’ve had some emotional ups and downs which I attribute to the Peace Corps’ defined “mid-service crisis” when a volunteer at the mid-term mark is so comfortable in their community that they become "vulnerable" causing a shift of balance in the volunteers life. So I should be on the upswing again! Also, my Aunt Barb has been ill with cancer, which in the last few weeks has spread pretty aggressively. I hadn’t realized what a stress this had been on me, but it is hard to be far away from home when family members are sick. Barb is an amazing woman – she has been a real strength in our family, so I’m praying for her that she pulls through! She has plenty of love and support from her family and friends, and since my dad’s retirement in March, he has been able to spend more time with his sister, which I know has been very important for both of them. Fortunately I have a few days available and will be visiting with her and my family this month. Under the circumstances, I am still really looking forward to this trip home – eating some good food, going shopping with mom, and visiting with Jen and her 1 yr old, Isabella.

My puppy Mia all grown up at 10 months old.

As for my health update, I’ve had a good few months, minus one horrible week in June with Dengue Fever - a tropical disease spread by a mosquito bite. Some really bizarre symptoms, too: terrible eye pain, high fever, body aches, and a not so pretty full body rash and terrible itching on hands, feet, and elbows (who comes up with this stuff?) I spent a week in bed in the dark, not able to watch TV, read, or have conversation because of the eye pain. I also had to delay my vacation back to the US until the doctors would clear me to travel. But I am up and running again…

On another note, I continue to be very successful in my work here in Honduras. In addition to completing projects in my own community, I continue to assist other volunteers around the country, I have been involved in the training of new volunteers, and have been working with the administration to update the goals of the Municipal Development project for better collaboration between Peace Corps and the communities we serve in Honduras.

Stephanie and Adrienne during a charla at the health fbt in La Paz. No we didn't plan our outfits, We're just that good!!!

As for my work…

The multi-use structure I designed in Camasca with Mike Landis was completed in May. The structure serves as a market, basketball/futbolito court, and public meeting space. I visited the project in July with my project manager and was happy to see how the built project fit onto its awkward sloping site. From a mountain top above the town, the project has changed the skyline of Camasca (though no matter how hard you squint, its still not New York). I think the most important aspect of the project is how it has changed the social life in town. It reminds me a bit of Margaret Crawford’s “Everyday Urbanism” in its flexibility of uses and in the manner that kids have found to use the space, adapting it and making it their social center.

The completed Centro Rehabilitación Integral Paceño (CRIP) was inaugurated during a ceremony in August. Some of the kids who have benefited from the center’s work participated in an exhibition of movement exercises. In the photos you can see the new ramped entry which was an integral part of the project so that the patients could enter the center of their own ability. The green spaces on either side of the building will need some time to fill in, but are cleaner now, and the removal of the Ficus Trees has stopped the damage to the surrounding sidewalks.

We also completed a Centro de Salud in Tierra Colorada, La Paz. This small 3 room structure serves rural communities in the Montecillos mountain range. In the photo are the Mayor, Project Engineer, and Regidores (town council members) in front of the completed structure.

So I reached one year successfully, marked by my second Central American Independence Day and the mayor’s 41st birthday! I celebrated the festivities with the mayor’s family, friends, other volunteers, and Roscoe the resident monkey in La Paz. We watched the parades, grilled out carne asada, and had some drinks at Amy and Jorge’s house before going out dancing. As I look back at this first year, it’s more than I ever imagined my life to be at this point in my service and I know this second year is going to go by too fast: I have wonderful friends, I can speak Spanish, I take an aerobics class every afternoon with a group of Honduran women, I have a family that cares for me when I am sick, I have continually challenging and rewarding work experiences, and I feel part of a really great community. On to the second year…stay tuned!!!

This is in Comayagua's central plaza...me with my girlfriends Amy and Gladys and their girls on the night of Dia del Nino!