And I Thought October Was A Great Month…

Well, another month comes to an end in the 27 months of my Peace Corps story.  I feel fairly certain that for the first time in my 18 months of being a volunteer this is the first month in which I’ve done zero reportable work for my VRF (volunteer reporting form – what every Peace Corps volunteer fills out worldwide and is sent back to Peace Corps HQ in Washington DC).  So why is it that despite not working at all I still had a great month?  There are so many reasons!

The first five days of the month my best friend from the US was still here visiting and it was great to have a friend around with whom I have a history – someone with who I can use names when telling stories about people back home, laughing over old inside jokes and reminiscing on all the good times we had in college.  It was just amazing to fall into that old familiar groove.

Having been here for 18 months already makes me quite a veteran of Peace Corps service.  Where we go on six month cycles of one group comes in and another leaves, that now makes my group, H-16, the oldest group still serving here in Honduras.  In the department of Francisco Morazán there is only one other H-16 volunteer and it’s a guy – therefore I’ve dubbed myself “The Matriarch” and him “The Patriarch”.  That being said I decided to make a Welcome Party happen for our region of the country, since in my 18 months there hasn’t been one in Francisco Morazán.  I opened up my house to host the party, not just for our three new girls from H-19, but the rest of us as well.  The party was a ‘Stace Bash’ theme so everyone was rocking facial hair or made a mustache out of duct tape.  It was a great time and Amor and Frijoles (my cat and dog) loved all the attention!

As everyone knows November is also the month of Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday!  The Peace Corps tradition is that a few volunteers across the country will host a dinner and other volunteers will show up – and the food is usually really close to authentic to that of an American Thanksgiving.  There was not a shortage of options this year: a pig roast, a dinner on the island of Amapala, a dinner with orphans in not one, but two cities, and yet another where a girl had been raising two turkeys to kill.  Having done one of the big dinners last year, I just wanted to stay close to home this year and spend the day with two of my besties in PC: one being my new site mate and the other my H-16 girl who lives about 10 hours away by bus.  It was easy to get my site mate on board since she’s new and their group has crazy travel restrictions.  Then, after some talking her into it and convincing her how much cooler it would be, I convinced my H-16er to come down to Tegucigalpa as well.  It was by no means a traditional Thanksgiving, but one of the best I’ve ever had for that very reason (much like the Thanksgiving I spent with two friends at Disneyland back in college).  Once at our hotel in Tegus we downloaded new music, movies and shows and watched a little bit of the NFL games.  After watching the sunset and enjoying some gas station hors d'oeuvres on the hotel roof with the two H-16ers (veterans) and the two H-19ers (newbies) we headed to dinner at TGI Fridays.  A turkey plate was on special for the day and was supposed to come with a carrot cake dessert (which they had run out of by the time we got to dessert and I was ticked!).  It actually wasn’t half bad for being TGI Friday’s version of Thanksgiving dinner.  As we were wrapping up our dinner we noticed some other Americans sitting across the restaurant and they noticed us as well.  It was a hodgepodge mix of guys who were Marines, ex-Marines and State Department workers who were also missing a good old fashioned dinner with family back home.  So, what did we decide to do?  Go dancing!  With the suggestion of some locals in Tegus we found this club that seemed to play lots of old 90s music, in English!  The throw back was a blast and it was a good way to dance off those Thanksgiving dinner calories. :)  Friday we had brunch at Denny’s and then headed to the mall where we watched Breaking Dawn.  It was a great American couple of days.

So, I’ll admit it: I may not have reportable work, but I’m constantly working here.  There are three goals of the Peace Corps after all.  The first being that interested parties in the respective countries get the help from educated men and women, the second is that host country nationals learn more about the American people and our culture, and the third is that the American people learn more about the culture and people of the country where we serve as volunteers.  Yes, I’m lacking in my goal one work – but my community has to play their part, which they frequently don’t.  Goal three I’m doing right here – blogging: getting my story of Honduras out to other people.  The Saturday after we got back from Thanksgiving I went to a sixth grade graduation ceremony with my best friend in site.  She teaches in a very small community about half an hour outside of the main part of town.  As we were waiting for our ride out there she had me explain what Dia de Acción de Gracias (Thanksgiving) is.  I gave her the brief history of pilgrims and getting to America, how they killed the Indians and later felt bad – is this even right?? – then decided to have a shared dinner being thankful they’d made it across the ocean and repenting for having been mean to the Indians.  Then she asked why we eat turkey and I couldn’t tell her!  Can anyone help me?  Anyway, so we get to her school and it’s a one room school and she has about 30 students from first through sixth grade.  I’d had the privilege of working with her in that community about three times: twice with the students and another time doing a presentation for the parents.  Due to my experiences in the community she invited me to form part of the mesa principal, or table of honored guests is the best translation I can give it.  She graduated six kids and I got to turn the diplomas over to two of them.  For years to come I’ll forever be in the photos hanging in these families homes and it’s such an honor.  At one point my friend, the teacher, opened the floor up to the families to share special words with the kids.  As one parent was speaking, she pokes me in the ribs and asks “You’re going to say something, right?” in a way that wasn’t so much a question as a statement.  I tell them it’s been a pleasure to work with the kids and parents, that I always feel very welcomed in their community and tell the kids that they can achieve anything they want to – even up to studying in college.  The sad part is, that’s just me being very optimistic and having a positive outlook on things.  The truth is most of the six kids won’t even be able to afford to come into the city here next year and continue with their 7^th grade education.  However, I reminded them that, “Sí, se puede” – “You can do it.”  I’m not the best motivational speaker, but hey here’s hoping someone takes it to heart.

Aside from my few amazing days the other days I just pass here at home or hanging out with “Bessie”, my site mate (that’s not her name, just a nickname we have for each other).  She’s a great girl and I’m glad I got someone so awesome here in town after the last equally awesome girl had to wrap things up.  Bessie was musing just the other day how quickly you can become really good friends with someone in the Peace Corps and asked me if I could believe it – I just smirked a crooked grin and nodded as she realized who she was talking to.  The friendships we make in Peace Corps are special, amazing and powerful - both with fellow Americans and HCNs (host country nationals).  While some of my work projects will fail, I know that my relationships won’t and that is probably the very thing that keeps me going through this difficult endeavor.  So, to touch on giving thanks – I’m so thankful for the special people that are in my life here: who will laugh with me, cry with me, commiserate with me, celebrate with me and love me no matter what.  Thank you Lord for brining these people into my life.  It’s been a real blessing for me! 

And since this is perhaps the longest I’ve written in awhile, I’ll wrap it up now.  Thanks for reading.  Just five months and eleven days to go as a Peace Corps Volunteer!  OMG…

Hasta la proxima vez…