Change of Address

Hey everyone.. change of address.... If you would ever feel the urge to send dear little Kristina something (peanut butter-JIF x crunchy, foot pumice scrubber, hair clips- the silver kind flipping kind, febreeze or even just a letter with a picture of you in it!) I have a new address:

Kristina Cesa-PCV

Voluntaria de Cuerpo de Paz

Apartado Postal 1800

Santa Rosa de Copan

Honduras

America Central

I am having an excellent day-- minus the headache. I have taking up running/walking around the track at 7 am with my friends and by take up I mean I have gone once- this morning! But I am excited because there is this group of women who always go and I am going to try to start talking to them and then see if they want to be part of a womens group I can start here.. a women's exercise group/nutricion group. I think it sounds fun and an excuse to cook and chisme!

No one is in the office because the counterparts are off at a taller that they didn't tell me about so I have it all to myself! I was able to plug the computer into the internet and use my own laptop! I went and had some pizza and chocolate cake with some other volunteers AND tomorrow I am taking a mini- day trip to Copan Ruinas to see my loves Fernando and Linda... life is good!

Pics-- Me on swearing in day and then the whole health group.

Mothers Day

So Mother's Day here is like a national holiday... everything shuts down, kids get off of school on monday, every where you look people are selling big giant signs that say "Felicidades Madres" I had no idea it was this big of a deal here. I bought my host mom 2 roses from the guy on the corner and wished her a good day-- i feel that is sufficient. All the hoopla made me miss my mom at home though. I was nice to talk to her and hear that she was having a good day.

Finally a Volunteer

WOOOHOOO!! you are now reading the blog of an official volunteer. Friday we had our ceremonia at the embassy. IT was nice and it was really fun getting all dressed up--forgot what it was like to blow-dry my hair! oh the little things we miss.
I don´t think I ever blogged about my site. I am in Santa Rosa de Copan. It is really big and pretty. The climate if perfect... think spring all year long. GOogle it because it is a tourist place, so i am sure there is a ton of info on it.

i am here in my site now. it was rough to leave everyone. Right when I started feeling really close to everyone we are all seperated. I cried of course.. i am sure that doesn´t surprise anyone. When i got here i had a mini-panic attack because it is just so real now... this is it! no more training wheels...baby bird has been pushed out of the nest and now it is sink or swim time!! God it is kinda scary, but i know it will all be ok.

have had a headache today and yesterday*---i think the fumes in my room are doing it. the fam recently painted and it is a small room so it hasn´t had a chance to air out. need to go to my monthly job meeting now--ttyl

Correo- Mail

I LOVE GETTING PACKAGES!!!!
Absolutly makes my day. I got my first package from my mommy and it was great. It took a month to get here but it was well worth it (Vale la pena). I LOVE YOU MOM. thanks! Hope i get more mail too. Also got a post card from Kathy in Italy... that was fun too. And I am being sent election mail because I applied for an absentee ballot-- i will vote for anyone who campaigns all the way here in Honduras!

Also went swimming in a nice pool in Comayagua with Linda and the other Melons ( people living here in Yarumela with me). It was heaven-- didn't feel like I was in honduras or was in the peace corps.

I love you all so much.. wish me well.. i am getting nervous about sites.

PS-- Hondurans love to thanks god-- ALOT. it gets kinda over the top but i love it. when ever they start a story or make plans they say things like " 1st i have to thank god or god willing" and then they continue on blessing people and thanking god 5 more times before they actaully begin answering the question or telling their story. They have alot of faith and are very religious... at least that is how the mid-wives are.

Almost done with FBT

I can´t believe that in about 2 weeks that FBT will be over and I will know my site. They will be announcing the sites on the 21st so keep your eyes peeled for the info. I am excited and nervous because this determines where I will be going for the next 2 yrs. I have really been enjoying training so far... it has been really informative.
Yesterday we had a session where we talked to sex workers. It was very interesting to hear what they had to say about their jobs and what they thought of the americans here on the army base in comayagua. Many of them have some kids fathered by americans because the guys refused to wear condoms or took it off in the middle of having sex. I had never talked to any commercial sex workers before.. they are very blunt and funny. They definitly aren´t embarassed to tell their stories and I am glad we had this experience to hear it straight from their mouths.

I´ll keep yáll posted as to any new info I have as far as sites go.
-Kristina

Semana Santa

Where to begin… sorry I haven’t been more of an avid blogger. It has been brought to my attention via other asprirantes that I should try to step it up because I am leaving my friends and family back home hanging. I am going to try to be better… we will see- I make no promises.

OK- so I feel like so much has happened. I last wrote you before Semana Santa. Well… it was very fun. Semana Santa is the whole week long Easter celebration here in Honduras. It is based off the Catholic Church and consists of a week of church processionals, mass and people dressed up as Jesus doing the Stations of the Cross. On the Friday before Easter Sunday a lot of the major cities make these giant “alfombras” or rugs made of colored saw dust. They design them and make them all night Thursday going into Friday morning. It is very impressive. The rugs consist of many things… mainly the Stations of the Cross but also verses from the bible and pictures of Jesus and the family. They basically tell the whole story. It is so cool to see these people work so hard to make these extravagant works of art. We actually got to help a little because my Tulane friends Mary and Kendra were helping to make one! After they are all made then the procession comes and walks all over them and ruins them. The procession stops at each Station, reads the part in the bible and sings. Then the band plays the hymn and they continue on. Very neat!

It has been very hot here… so it was nice to go swimming in the river. I was a little weirded out by it at first. But, it seemed pretty clean and I was hot so Oh well!
Last week we have a cold front and by cold front I mean it was like 75-80 not the usual 95-100. Yea.. La Paz it hot.

I kinda got a cold thing going on. Sore throats are never fun, but I am on meds and getting better. My mom here won’t give me anything cold because they believe that when you are sick you shouldn’t eat anything cold because it will harm you. Very different from what I am used to because when I have a sore throat all I want is a popsicle! I have convinced her that it is ok and I will be just fine if I don’t have a steaming bowl of hot soup for lunch on a nice hot summer day when I feel crappy! They like to eat soup for lunch—I love soup, when it is cold- not when it is 100 degrees outside. We have made some compromises here…. instead of eating it for lunch, I just eat my soup for dinner when it is cooler outside (which is really weird for them because they also think that it also will hurt me).

I love learning all the different cultural things here… just learning about all the different beliefs they have is interesting. Alot of the main differences are the beliefs when it comes to illness...things you can and cannot eat. Very interesting. I try to come into it all with an open mind because these are their beliefs and I want to respect them. I am sure that there will be TONS more learning experiences to come.

Above pictures are:

#1-rug made of saw dust

#2-teaching the fam to color eggs at cultural day

#3-kids acting out the 3rd station of the cross

#4-little Jesus

Bienvenidos a FBT!

Hey everyone!! I am here in La Paz for FBT! My family is REALLY nice and I like it here a lot. My town is smaller and all the people are really nice. It is VERY hot and sunny. I am actually recovering from a burn I got this weekend. Hopefully it turns to a nice tan soon so I look less gringa-like.

I am excited to go swimming in the river for Semana Santa… I feel like everyone in my family is inviting me to go with them places so that should be fun. I don’t think I am going to get to go to Comayagua to see the alfombras but I will hopefully get to see some pictures. Apparently they make these giant rugs out of colored saw dust in the streets for the Friday before easter and then when the procession comes they ruin them all. Hopefully I get to go sometime in the 2 yrs I am here.

One thing that I noticed here in La Paz is that there is an over abundance of little ants. Those suckers seek out any and ever ounce of sweetness and attack. They are all over the place! I bought a jar of peanut butter and hadn’t even opened it yet and the nest thing I know they are all over it. I understand why families here don’t really stock up on food. It is more of a buy food on a daily basis or for the next few days. I am used to going to the grocery once every couple weeks and just having lots of food in the house. I think that is going to have to change.

I am starting to think of places I would like to work… we have technical interviews in addition to language interviews this week so I will have to talk to the bosses and see what they have in mind.

I am going to try to post some pics of my new house and fam.. so hopefully the internet connection isn’t too slow!

PS- new favorite fruit is MANGO! So good and so messy. Me encanta the mango!