House Guests

Soooo... everyone loves the occasional stop by from visitors. I have alot of them in my house...Matt, Sarah, Katie, Anna... the list goes on! Well, this morning I had quite the unexpected visitor! Recently it has been very cold in Santa Rosa and rainy -- for the last 3 days, but thanks to the warm long sleeved fleece PJ's my dad got me for christmas, I have been able to sleep nice and warm...... and apparently so has another. I woke up this morning around 6am and i felt a little scurry along my arm.... i open my eyes to find that a MOUSE has been sleeping IN MY SLEEVE!!! I immediately freaked out-- called my parents in the states to see what I should do. A MOUSE... IN MY SLEEVE!! SOOOO GROSS!I am still in disbelief! I mean everyone wants a cuddle buddy but I am sorry little brown 2 inch long creatures aren't exactly my type.
I noticed that he had run down under the bed so I assumed he was living in my suitcase. I closed the door so he couldn't get out of the room-- i figured better if I know where he is than let him wander around the house. I took all the suitcases out and nothing... no mouse! I moved all my clothes around and little bags... nothing-still no mouse. I then decide to check the mattress to see if there is a hole in it, in which he could have escaped into.... I lifted the mattress to find my furry house guest sandwiched between the mattress and the boxspring- worst yet, he was still alive. I tried sitting on him, jumping on him but because the mattress is soft he was still alive. I finally called in the reinforcements-- my host sister Michelle. We devised a plan of her lift the mattress, I cover him with a plastic yellow bag and then she smush him with a hard book. After some failed attempts-- due to the nerves... we finally had him covered with the yellow bag with the book on top and now we just had to squish him. I didn't want to kill him, but sadly enough it was the only way it could happen. After the smush... I grabbed him with the bag by the tail and threw him out the gate.
Poor guy (at least I hope it's a guy and there aren't any baby mice around here)...at least I know he had a good last meal from the half eaten Reese's Cup I found the other day-- that is what you get for eating my Reese's little friend... don't mess with a girl's chocolate stash!

The Aftermath!

February Already!

Hello everyone... so I am still trying to get over the fact that it is 2009, but it is even harder to believe that I have been in Honduras nearly a month (Feb 13th makes 1 yr exactly). Crazy how fast time flys. It has definitly been a hard year, adjusting to life in Honduras, working/trying to start projects..... but all in all it has been a successful year. I think one important thing that have learned in this past year in Honduras is more of what kinda of person I am. Alot of inner-reflextion. I have lots of time to think and just be myself without the influence of anyone else. It is a constant learning process and I have a whole year left to process it all.... but you sure do learn alot about yourself when you are ripped away from all things familiar and forced to survive in a foreign land without a familiar face in sight. I am constantly surprised at the things I am able to do now on my own.. things I never thought I would ever be doing (homemade bagels and making all sorts of food from scratch, spend hours doing absolutlely nothing but not even be bored, washing my entire wardrobe by hand, rediscovering my love for books, forget about the television and just disconnect from the world....etc). It is tough to be so far away from everyone and sure there good and bad days-- but it is just one big learning experience and I think it is important to take the time to sit back and soak it all in. I feel like alot of the time in the states we never give ourselves a minute just to reflect... to think about who we are as individuals and what kinda of person we are trying to be. Just to pause for a second and look inside- back on life and the events that have happened.... to give yourself 5 or 10 minutes just to process it all. I have had lots of time to do this and sure.... I think that sometimes it confuses me more but the more and more I am able to relax and give myself a moment just for me-- i am able to discover things about myself I didn't even know existed. You all should try it.... just look back on your day or week. What happened? How did you handle the day? Why did these things happen? Are there things you would do over--why and how would you do it different? Just take a minute, breathe, relax and reflect. Sometimes we have to step back and work on us a little bit.

Fotos from xmas

Finally some pictures from Mom and Dad's trip!

Christmas Dinner with the Host Family

The jam-packed bus that I put mom and dad on.... I swear they stopped to get EVERYONE!

Moto-taxi ride!

Fresh off the plane... when the car broke down- typical Honduras!