hellooo!
I have internet for the day and thought that a new entry definitely had to happen, as it’s been over two months since the last post. So very sorry to anyone who checks this regularly for updates-you should probably stop. :)☺
I am currently sweating profusely and wishing with all my heart that I had a fan in my room, as we’ve now entered the hellacious summer season, where even the native Floridian and lover of sunny weather wants to kill herself.
Ok, so since last time (holy mac, since Thanksgiving!), I celebrated my first Honduran Christmas, vacationed on the North Coast for New Years, participated in a medical brigade, and fell more in love with my beautiful little pueblo.
So Christmas. A little bit different than how I’m accustomed to celebrating, but beautiful nonetheless. I’ve grown up in a family of Christmas fanatics. 12ft tree, lightup Santa and sleigh on the roof, nativity scenes in every room, special Christmas china, even holiday specific shower curtains. And I love every bit of it. Thus, celebrating away from home was bound to be difficult. And though I very much missed all of the aforementioned, the warmth and love that I received from my community was such an affirmation that despite the occasional hardship, getting to live here is such a gift. I ate nacatamales ‘till I was sick, and then moved on to my new fave food-torejas, basically French toast, but drenched in syrup. I received lessons on how to make each, because my host mom still hasn’t lost hope in my learning how to cook. Here in Alubaren, you basically just house hop, eating and chatting at each destination, which was amazing. We finished off Christmas with a Catholic mass and dancing for all us heathens. ☺
So, after that, I packed my bags and left to visit my bud Sarah in El Paraiso, where we hung out with the Boy Scouts, ate delicious baleadas, and then left to visit our old host families in Talanga. It was wonderful to see Dona Dulce and the gang. I have been so unbelievably lucky with my host family experiences. They’re ally doing well and were superexcited that I had come to visit. After spending a day there, we left yet again and headed up to the North Coast for a big gringo New Years in La Ceiba! It was absolutely fabulous to see friends that I hadn’t heard from since training and to catch up. Annnnd seeing the beach after having withdrawals for the past 6 months was also incredible. Sooo new years, surrounded by good friends and sandy beaches, was a beautiful thing.
Que mas? Ah! Medical brigade! The fabulous volunteer before me had put me in contact with a woman in a nearby aldea whose son had a club foot. The club foot brigade arrived in mid January, so off we went hoping that Lester would be eligible for the surgery. We definitely had adventures in Teguz, as she had seen the capitol one other time in her life and my Spanish is still intermediate at best. There was fear over riding an escalator, refusal to eat fried chicken because Church’s doesn’t provide tortillas, and laughter every step of the way. Lester ended up not needing the surgery, as his case was supermild in comparison to the other kids, but they gave him orthopedic inserts and we’ll head back in 4 months to make sure that he’s improving.
Playing soccer on the women’s team here has been such a blast. We recently had a game, the highlight of which was being announced as the “gringaaaa peligrosaaaa” (dangerous American girl). This time, one of the nearby towns came to Alubaren to play and to prepare the field, we swept it. With brooms made of tree branches. For two hours. I should mention that our field has no grass, but has an abundance of giant rocks, cow manure, and small pebbles. Haha yayyyy for new experiences!
I also just got back from RECONNECT, a weeklong training where I got to see all of my favorite youth volunteers. It was so much fun to see everyone but at the end, I was ready to get back to Alubaren. It really feels like home. I got off the bus and was immediately invited into a friend’s house to eat delicious rice, toasty tortillas, and coke and then was greeted with shouts and hugs from the neighborhood kids. Life is good. ☺
There’s so much more to tell, but that’s the downside to posting every 3 months. I’ll try to write again sooner, now that I have somewhat steady internet.
Love you guys so so very much. Come visit!!
Love,
margaret