Mountains and beaches and floods, Oh My!

*****2009 is upon us and if my time leading up to it and the last 9 days are any indication of the coming year, I am in for lots of fun, challenges, progress with my projects and the most beautiful natural landscapes I have ever laid my eyes on. The first two pictures were taken about a month ago when we received inches upon inches of rain in about a day. At some depths it was up to my thigh. The family pictured is the family of Caloi, a man who works for Susan and Scott, a missionary couple who lives here in town. The most amazing part of the experience had nothing to do with the water level, but the strength of the people who were effected. We did what we could to get everything off of the ground and to block the water where we could, but then, as you can see, we made lemonade with those soggy lemons, busted out the canoe and row row rowed the boat gentley down the street.

*****The next set of pictures were taken at a waterfall on a river called Rio Zacate. After about an hour hike just into Pico Bonito the jungle revealed the steaming falls as the light shed through I felt like I was on a movie set, it was just so unreal. We swam for a bit, had a snack, soaked up the glorious view and headed back through the lush green forest. The pictures tell the story far better than I ever could.

*****The motley crew after the waterfall pics are some friends who visited over the holiday season. Chilling on the beach, swaying in some hammocks, enjoying each other, I couldn´t have asked for a better way to ring in the new year.

*****Speaking of chillin on the beach, as you can see I really hated swimming and soaking up some rays on Christmas and New Year´s Days. Definately something I have never done and will not soon forget.

*****Next, Santa and Mrs. Claus, aka Susan and Scott caught on their way to spread Christmas joy with some Hondurans. They do incredible things for El Porvenir and other aldeas all over this region of Honduras from helping the fishermen build forest friendly boats to running 10 feeding centers. I don´t know how they do it all, I am half their age and they run circles around me.

*****The remaining pictures are from a half day hike I did up Pico Bonito. A Honduran guide took me and showed me the flora and fauna, including some tucans. Being quite the nature guy, at one point my arm brushed a cocoon which had natural defense spineys all over it and the pain shot through my forearm. Although I´ve never been stung by a jellyfish, for some reason I feel like thats how this felt. He jumped into action, sliced open the cocoon with his machete until it oozed a clear liquid which he slathered onto my arm where the pain was. Immediately the pain was relieved, good thing he was there. At one point I commented that the mosquitos were biting pretty bad, in no time he tracked down a specific plant, ripped off some leavesl, smashed them up and then handed the mash to me to spread the natural repellent on my body. Deet free and a a fresh woodsy scent, who needs Off??

*****As for work, it´s really starting to take off. I gave my first English test on Thursday and they did really well. Coming up we are having a community meeting to discuss the uniform exchange program. School is going to start back up at the beginning of February so we will start the Healthy Living Program where we go into each classroom with puppets, games and activities teaching the kids about oral hygiene, general healthy living and HIV-AIDS. Also, I can´t wait to work with the already existing environmental groups in the schools to really concentrate on getting a workable recycling program going in our town. After a fun and restful holiday break I am so ready to sink my teeth into the meat of my work here.

Feliz Navidades

It was about halfway (maybe a little less, in my defense) through training and we were scheduled to have a meeting with the safety and security guy from Peace Corps. He had been on leave as his wife had recently given birth to their second child. I was all set to properly bestow upon him the proper wishes for such an occasion, a very heartfelt Congratulations. I wanted to be the first one to say it (what am I in first grade?). He walked in and I blurted it out, Feliz Navidades! His cheeks flushed a little and then his face told me the ah ha went off in his brain and he graciously thanked me with a slight giggle. Of course my fellow trainees were not as forgiving, the entire room erupted into laughter, then my face went beet red. One of my friends explained that not only had I wished him Merry Christmas, but Merry Christmases! It was an honest mistake, congratulations is felicidades, I just merged the two words for Merry Christmas. What a rookie I was (hopefully this is a past tense and I have advanced at least a little past rookie status). As such, I wish you all Feliz Navidades and Happy Holidays from the bottom of my heart. May you enjoy this time with good friends, loving family and happy hearts. I have found new friends and family here in Honduras, not to replace the old ones, but to add to my classic collection.

Hogar dulce hogar

I can hardly sleep, I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve that has already peeked at my gifts and now am imagining all of the possibilities how to play with my new toys when they are actually in my possession tomorrow (not that I would know what that feels like Mom). I move into my new house tomorrow, my very own Honduran casa, complete with mango and coconut trees! My host family has been and will continue to be precious to me, just as the other two were, however it has been more than 5 months since I moved to this wonderful country and I have lived with generous families ever since, it´s time to spread my newly grown Honduran wings. Not only is this the first time I´ve lived out of my own country, but it´s the first time ever I will be living alone, wooohooo! At this moment I have exactly zero furniture, not a bed, not a stove, not even a chair or a pot to you know what in, but the whole echoing place is mine, all mine I say! There are three bedrooms, only two of which I have access to as the owners are storing something in the third (only in Honduras, right?). Worried at first that it might be bodies or drugs I was relieved when the realtor revealed the owner was a doctor and stores medical supplies there. The house is in a really safe neighborhood complete with watchman riding around on bikes, not to mention the necessity to unlock three locks before you can even step foot in the house. Did I mention there is also a 15 foot concrete fence surrounding the perimeter, very Fort Knoxish. The yard is huge with lots of shade from trees, a seemingly perfect spot for a vegetable garden, however seeing as I have never grown a vegetable in my life stay tuned for the result of this theory. I am looking forward to making it my own with a little paint and a lot of thrifty imagination. Any money saving tips on furnishing and-or decorating would be greatly appreciated. Does anyone have experience making furniture out of paper mache?

Going postal?

Being patient and flexible has been crucial to my success thus far in Honduras. Things are constantly being changed, people don`t show up when they say they are going to and things take 10 times as long to get done here than I`ve ever experienced. I am surely rolling with the punches. The most recent jab was received last week when I went to the post office (aka the house of a women named Yolanda where the mail for my town is delivered from a nearby larger town). She came to the door and began, ¨Fijese que...¨ which in Spanish translate to something like,¨Here´s the thing...¨. She proceeded to tell me that after 14 years of providing this service to my town of El Porvenir that it will no longer be provided. So, not a big deal, I have rented a PO Box in the La Ceiba, so I do have a new address for you to continue sending all of the wonderful things you have been sending. Yesterday I got the announcement of my best friends new son, last week a dear friend sent fall leaves pressed in wax paper to give me a taste of the Northeast Ohio autumn I missed so dearly and a few weeks ago I received 18 individual letters from my friends classroom of students asking some great questions about what I am doing here and Honduras. Thank you so much for all of the great mail. I received some good news today that I may be able to move into my new house as soon as this weekend and when I do I can`t wait to decorate my walls with all of the beautiful pictures I`ve received. Here`s the new address:

Jessica Dillworth

Apartado Postal #911

La Ceiba, Atlantida

Honduras, Central America

Don`t worry about the letters and packages currently in route, they will get to me. Believe it or not my Spanish is good enough that I was able to go to the post office, explain what I needed and that I was still waiting for mail going to my old address and rent a PO box! This patience thing is really paying off!

We are family!

When the Peace Corps matched me up with a host family in El Porvenir I think they did so based on my picture because I really look like I could be one of them. Here is a picture of my host brother and sister at the river. The other evening my host mother and I were doing some front porch sittin when a neighbor pulled up on his bicycle to shoot the breeze. I followed most of their conversation up until the part where he gave me the ol´ lip point and asked if I was Mariza´s niece and she shook her head yes. Certainly I had misheard . When the conversation was concluded and the man drove off I asked Maritza if she had told the man I was her niece. She said yes! She explained that I looked so much like her niece Lora that lives in the states that everyone just assumed I was her. She just went with it, why, I am not exactly clear. I told her that as soon as I open my mouth people know I am not Honduran. She explains to people that I have lived in the states my whole life and I am just visiting here for a couple of years so that’s why I don`t speak Spanish very well. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone, why on earth is she telling people this? When I asked that question she said something about it just being easier and more private. I think the reason may be that she thinks they will become a target if they know a Gringa is living there because we are all filthy rich don`t you know! They were supposed to make me feel like one of the family, but I think this is a bit much! Here is my host family playing cards.

¿Scooby Doo, donde estas?

Some things just dont translate. The other day I brought home a jigsaw puzzle to do with my family. There are lots of days when everyone just kind of sits around not doing too much, especially with all of the rain recently, so I thought this would spice things up a bit. Wanting to share a little of my culture I thought, this is the kind of thing we up north might do on a rainy day, right? At first they didn´t know what it was, then once I got the box opened they informed me that they call it “rompe cabeza”, literally translating to “break head” because, apparently, that’s what such a brain teaser does to you when you are trying to figure it out. We were off to a great start; my host sisters and brother were really into it as I guided them through how to start. First we flip all of the pieces face up, then we look for all of the pieces with a flat edge to work on the outside first. It took us a while but the first couple pieces were matched after a couple of minutes to which I said jokingly, “Only 498 more to go!” at which my host mother gave a hearty chuckle. Being able to make jokes in the language you are trying to learn is so encouraging. Sarcasm and making people laugh is something I thrive on in my “normal life”, but those are the kinds of things that don’t translate exactly in Spanish, so its fun figuring out how to make it work. So we are sailing along with this puzzle, which by the way is a fall scene of a little house on a lake with the autumn colored leaves reflecting on the water, (sniffle sniffle, makes me miss home a little, but thanks to my friend Joy, I miss it a little less after receiving her the beautiful fall leaves from NE Ohio!). I start to notice that not only is my younger sister jamming the pieces to make them fit no matter what (seriously, her face was all scrunched up while she was doing it as if saying “I am going to make this thing fit if it’s the last thing I do”, I think she was even grunting a little bit), but parts of the outline that had already been put together are completely wrong. Boy was the rule following , coloring within the lines anxious ridden person I normally am being tested. I gently encouraged my younger host sister to be a little more kind to the poor puzzle pieces and politely showed my older host sister how the pieces on the outside didn`t quite match up. After about an hour everyone gave up and I optimistically suggested that our brains just needed a break and we could try another day. The next day I came home and the puzzle was boxed back up and put in my room.

Lifes a Beach.

A land lover I have never been, at sea is where I would rather be any day. Of the many beautiful, natural attributes El Porvenir has to offer, I must say the Caribbean Sea is #1 for me. Growing up on Lake Erie I have such fond memories of Edgewater Park and the beaches all along the northeast coast of Ohio. Happily I report that I am right at home with the sea a few minutes walk from where I live and work. Angela, Marvin and I took a walk to the beach the other day and I touched the water for the first time since I have been here, ahhh, what a refreshing feeling after all of the gloomy days we have been having this rainy season. Angela and I hiked up our skirt and pants respectively, flung off our shoes as fast as they would drop off our feet and hand in hand ran down the surf as small waves crashed into our feet and legs. Que rico! Que rico Jessica! (how refreshing) Angela said about a billion times. Uncertain whether she was simply enjoying our time together or if she never does this I made mental note to take advantage of this type of outing with the kids more often. Sand castle building contests, beach volleyball and skipping rocks have made their way to my agenda. Marvin found some other boys to play soccer with on the beach while Angela and I screeched at every wave that splashed us and dug our feet deep into the sand like little clams. We came upon some beautiful driftwood, half buried in the sand, the other half protruding from the ground. When we started heading back up the shoreline the way we had come Angela wanted to race, we ran to our shoes giggling like little school girls the whole way, at least Angela has an excuse, she is 9. What a beautiful day, I cant believe how lucky I am.