Volunteer Visit

OK guys!

So this post is a long time coming and I have a sick feeling it's going to take me forever to post this.  (It makes me sick to think of it because it's nearly midnight and these usually take me an hour to write and I am EXHAUSTED!)

So, last Sunday I did my first traveling around this country, alone.  Yah, alone.  I didn't wanna tell to much about it ahead of time because I knew it would be ok, but I know how some of you guys back home are! ;)  I mean c'mon, I've driven all of CA alone and traveled around Europe and to the US alone, what could Central America possibly throw at me that I couldn't handle?!  Exactly, NOTHING!

From my small pueblo, I took a mototaxi out to the main highway.  At that point I caught a bus down into the Capital.  From that bus I took a taxi to the mercado where the buses depart to other major cities.  And then it was on that bus that I rode for nearly 5 hours to a town called Sulaco.  The first part of the trip leaving the capital was on decent paved roads.  After that it was a dirt road into the town.  I had a window seat and it was uber hot.  Needless to say I arrived caked in dirt/dust and it was an interesting situation, to say the least.  Now I know!

Upon arrival in Sulaco I had to walk from where the bus dropped me off to where I was to meet the volunteer.  Needless to say, I was the only other gringa in this town (and they don't see many).  As I walked into town and near the central park, where I was meeting the other gringa, I had so many people staring at me it was definitely awkward!  All I could do was smile and laugh.  Could you imagine such a thing happening in the US?! 

I spent two days with the other gringa, shadowing her in her daily activities.  Monday we went in search of Internet as she had to do a report form that the PC requires every 6 months.  I got to experience some Honduran supermarkets and do some shopping.  Plus, banking here is insane!  Every time I pass a bank the line is ridiculous and I've yet to figure it out.  I went with the other gringa when she had to do some banking and we probably waited in line for about 10 minutes (in the mid morning).  [9-5 work here is very rare.] 

The following day I went with her as she taught English to 4th, 5th and 6th graders.  The first class was full of misbehaved kids, but there was about 40 of them, it's to be expected.  The classes after that were better behaved because they were smaller and the teachers were present.  In one class I received what the volunteer called my first "love note" even though it was from a little girl.  It was more an admiration note.  I will translate it for you: "Emily, thanks for coming to visit us.  I hope you like this place.  Emily, know that you are very pretty.  I hope that everything goes well for you in your travels.  See ya soon.  I hope to see you again."  This note made my day!  After seeing some things that left me unsure of certain aspects, this note made it all clear for me.  If I can reach just one little girl in a few minutes, imagine what will happen after 2 years.  This little girl touched me with such a simple act, it all became clear to me and I will always think of her when things get rough during my time here.

I believe I was sent to visit this volunteer because she has done work with some womens groups, which I had told my Business project directors, that I was potentially interested in.  Well, I certainly appreciate the opportunity to see what was going on because I'm not so sure that I'm still interested.  Motivation can be a factor and I'm not exactly a motivational speaker.  Not to mention I learned more about how everything works with help from the government, etc, etc.  Mind you, I only saw a one day glimpse of this, but needless to say I think I may prefer something more structured along the lines of working with a larger NGO come time to get down to my own work.

Visiting the volunteer was great though for different aspects of the PC life.  I saw that she was safe living on her own in a Honduran community.  She had many friends in her town and many people knew her name and greeted her as we walked around.  One afternoon we had free, we were able to visit the river and swim.  A very fun time!  Believe me, well deserved because it was probably nearly 100 degrees there.

Wednesday I returned back to the capital via a jalón (a free ride - more or less) from a friend of the volunteer.  He was nice enough to drop me off exactly where the buses leave for my current neighborhood, rather than drop me off on the edge of the city and make me take a taxi.  I got back to my cute little pueblo and we've continued on with the week since then!

Today was the last day of our normal routine in the training center.  It was also the b-day of two people in our group.  We had one last hurrah at a local restaurant, where about 30 of us showed up.  (Where were the other 24?!)  It was fun to go out with a bang, yet sad to say goodbye to the people we've been getting to know and been close with for 3 weeks now.  Come Sunday we leave to our Field Based Training (FBT) where we are split into three groups according to our projects, ie Business, Health and Water/Sanitation.  It's going to be great getting down to business (no pun intended!) yet, I will certainly miss some of the people I've gotten to know from the other two projects.  Oh well, these first 3 weeks have flown and I know the 7 of FBT will be the same.  I'm looking forward to it!

One last note!  I got my first package from home today!!!  I was waiting to make sure it arrived and that I had given the correct address before making it public.  So, I would really appreciate anything you guys may want to send my way:  non-perishable junk food, American mags, gum, anything creative you can think of...  (for now I have no specific needs/wants).  Better to use flat rate boxes from the post office!!!  Anyway, the address is as follows:

Emily Whitfield
Voluntaria de Cuerpo de Paz
Cuerpo de Paz
Colonia Palmira
PO BOX 3158
Tegucigalpa, Honduras 11102 

As far as I know that's just for packages!  If you want to send me some good 'ol fashion snail mail (which I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE) I will try to get that address too.

Well everyone, by now you know the drill!!  Thanks for reading and following.  (Try to follow if you haven't already!) 

Hasta la proxima vez...