Time's Flyin'!

December Already! Geez! When did that happen........ I guess somewhere between workshops, coups, support group, elections, mantas, and World Aids day. I have been one busy lady lately!

Most recently we commemorated world aids day here in Santa Rosa the 1st. Alot of places suspended their activities until the weekend because of the elections that took place the 29th. Not here! We had a march down the main drag of town, information booths in the park and games about HIV and a fundraiser... we got about 8,000 lempiras! (400 dollars!) We are excited we got that much considering the economic state of the country... although it is about 1/2 of what we collected the last time we did it in 2007. This money along with the money we get from the embroidered kitchen clothes goes to help the support group members in moment of crisis. If they are hospitalized we buy them supplies--- as the hospital here doesn't give them anything (not even TP!), if they need extra tests or exams we can help pay for it... even when they pass away, we can help with funeral costs. If anyone back home would like to donate to the group please let me know and we can work something out! Every little bit helps.

Now I am onto my next task... planning the national workshop for people living with HIV/AIDS. This workshop is set for Dec. 8th-11th in the beach town of Tela. We are expecting around 45 participants from support groups around the country and the PCVs that work with the. The topic is Healthy Lifestyles-- should be a very good time!

I cooked Thanksgiving here for the 2nd year! It was really good and very delicious. A small group of volunteers came over and we had a really great day. I am very thankful to have such nice people in my life!

I am starting to apply for jobs back home-- only 5 more months in Honduras. It is crazy how fast 2 yrs has gone by and I am starting to freak out about it all. Parents come down in December to meet my boyfriend so that should take my mind off things for a while. hehe

That is it for now.. i will try and post some pictures of thanksgiving and World Aids Day!

Back in grade school...

Hello everyone!

So I am sure you have heard that here in Honduras we are dealing the this whole political crisis once again. This past August and September, things have been pretty calm. Nothing really going in regards to the coup... life returned to basically normal. I had started working on planning my last few Peace Corps projects and in general have been doing pretty well.

This Monday that all changed when Mel snuck back in the country causing a big giant muck in the capital. Because of all of the vandalism and craziness the government has been issuing daily curfews. We had curfew from 4pm Monday, All day Tuesday until 10am Wednesday. Being that I live in a larger town, we observed the curfew. Shops were closed, groceries were closed, the market was closed..... the town was silent and I couldn't leave my house. Today we were finally able to leave and buy food and tomorrow they say that things will be back to normal again-- but we will have to see what happens. I feel like a kid again...kinda funny.

Below I posted a link to the BBC website that gives a good explanation of the course of events over these past few months for anyone that might not be up to speed on the situation.

Well, as for now I think I am off to bed...all this walking around town today has got me pretty beat.

Adios!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8124154.stm

Feria

Hello all! So it is already September and that means almost my birthday! August went by soooo fast because there was so much to do since it was feria. The whole month of August we celebrate our local fair here in Santa Rosa. The whole thing kicks off at 4am august 1st when a man in a truck drives all around the city blowing off loud firecrackers to wake everyone up. It isn't my favorite tradition and didn't really appreciate being woken up that early but it did mean it was the start of a whole lot of fun. The main feria events happened at the end of the month with the Coronation of the queen of the feria, queen of tabacco and child queen.


The last 2 weeks of the month we had the "Feria de los Llanos" which consisted of different restuarants around town selling food in a fairground setting. People were also selling artesania.. i bought some cool earrings and a wallet made out of chip bags. The last Friday of August was "Noche de Fumadores" or smoker's night which was an event to celebrate the Tabacco industry which has been such a part of the history of this region. There were tons of PCVs that came to Santa Rosa just to go to this event which was soooo much fun. We danced, ate, smoked cigars and basically had a whole lot of fun. There was a woman from the factory hand rolling cigars right up in the front which was pretty neat to see.

The following day there was the "Tarde con Aroma de Cafe" which was an event where the coffee producers from the area come and give samples or their coffee and the local coffee shops make cappuchinos. This year we were lucky to have Guillermo Anderson, a famous Honduran singer/songwriter come and perform for us in the park. It was a great day and a great concert. His music is rooted in honduran culture and the lyrics celebrate things that are very honduran in nature. All in all it was a very good feria, very well planned by the feria committee and a good time was had by all.

I am happy to have things back to normal but sad because it was my last feria :( I won't be here this time next year-- time flies!

Wake up call

Hello everyone... sorry for not updating recently. I tried to one time and I wrote this whole long entry about the coup and then when I went to post it my internet went out and I lost it all-- maybe it wasn't meant to be.

So yesterday I had a big eye opener here. As most of you I have been working with the support group for people living with HIV/ Aids. This past week we had a workshop on income generation and one of my support group members came from a surrounding community. She has been really sick lately but was feeling better enough to come to the workshop. On the last day of the workshop she started getting sick again and sent for me to get her dinner and bring it to her room. When I got there she was burning up 102 degree fever, chills, shortness of breath-- i was really worried. I told the peace corps staff that were incharge that she was in bad shape and we ended up taking her to the hospital where she was admitted. It was really upsetting for me because I have watched her deteriorate over the last 6 months and she is just sooooo skinny now. Now the doctors are talking about how they want to do a cat scan on her brain because she has severe headaches all the time, in addition to chronic diahrrea. The test itself is 3500 lempira.... basically a month's salary for her and her husband so there is no way she can afford it. Thank god we have the support group fund and the Manta business because with that money we are able to pay for the test, but depending on what comes from this test-- who knows what the costs will be.
It is just so difficult sometimes because I work with these people every month and for the most part they are in good health (we have been lucky) so it is easy to forget that they really are sick...until something like this happens and is a quick reminder that these people really do have a serious illness and being sick is unfortunately something they have to deal with way more than the average person.

Sorry this isn't a cheery update...maybe next time I will have a little more uplifting news.
-Kristina

My work

Hello everyone! I hope you are all staying warm.. i hear it is pretty cold back home. Well if it makes you feel any better I am freezing here too! I don't know what is up with the weather lately but it has been crazy.... March and April are suppose to be the hottest months, but yet i find myself wearing 2 long sleeve shirts and wrapped up in a blanket.

So I am not sure if I have ever blogged about what exactly it is that I do here. My main project that I am working on is the Santa Rosa Support group "Fe and Esperanza" or faith and hope in english. It is a group that meets every month for people living with HIV/AIDS or PLWHA for short. The group itself was started by my counterpart 3 yrs ago and since then has grown to be quite a large group... every month we have about 25 people show up plus children. We meet the last friday every month and discuss all sorts of things!

The health project has a manual for working with PLWHA developed by the PVVS team which I am also a member of. Of the course of the last few years the team has been developing and editing the manual so that it can be more useful and user-friendly for Hondurans and who ever else would be using it (mainly volunteers). Well anyways, every month we pick a few activities that are related to an overall theme.... for example in December we talked about adherence to treatment because we have had a few members who want to go off their meds. So we did lots of activities explaining what exactly the meds do in their body and how the virus affects their immune system and how if htey verve off their treatment course then they can develop a virus which is resistent to the medicines we have available.

Also with the support group we have started a little mini-business of making mantas.... which are little knitted or embroidered clothes that people use here to wrap up tortillas and keep them warm. Every month support group members take 4 clothes that have various pictures drawn on them and work all month long making their mantas. At the monthlymeeting they turn all them in and we sell what we have made. With all the funds we raise from the business we help members of the support group in case they get sick or need to go to a special doctor or get special tests. Because their immune system is compromised they are very suseptable to infections that maybe not affect someone with a healthy immune system.. so just an average cold can get pretty serious for them. We have had people in the group who develop cancer's and need biopsy's which require a trip to SPS... so we use some of the $ from the business to help pay for the transport to SPS. Because of the discrimination and stigma associated with HIV many of them can't get jobs or are fired from their jobs so they are very poor.
Manta

Selling Mantas in the park with a volunteer from Canada.

Thanksgiving activity. Members wrote down on their turkey reasons they were thankful.

The group is fun and it is great to see all their wonderful faces every month. Recently we have been talking alot about how the group has helped them deal with their situation. Most of them come to us very depressed and lonely, feeling like they are the only one dealing with this... but after a few months you can really see the difference and see how much their spirits are lifted. It is a constant up and down but that is why we are there.... we cry together, laugh together and most of all have a good time together. I feel like in some way they are part of my Honduran family here and it feels good to walk into a room where I know I am loved.

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!

Mom and Dad in Honduras!

Hello everyone! Happy New Year! I hope this year brings nothing but the best for all my friends and family.
I had a great treat this holiday season.... my parents came all the way to Honduras to visit me and celebrate the holidays Honduran style (fireworks and all!). It was great being about to show them where I live and what I do... although we didn't get to actually do any HIV work because everyone was on vacation, I think they now have a better understanding of my life here. And the best part about it all was that I didn't kill them or get them sick! They made it back to the US of A in 1 piece and with many many stories. I am sure you are all going to here my father talk about the state of the roads and the driving in this country for YEARS to come!
Highlights of the trip... spending xmas here in Santa Rosa with the host family and stuffing ourselves full of tamales (a traditional Honduran christmas food).. checking out the Mayan Ruins-- way cool and huge!..... relaxing in the hot springs of Gracias and getting to the beach in Roatan (we barely got back!)
So minus being jammed in little vans full of campesino's in need of showers and almost getting puked on, car's breaking down and travel confusions and last minute changes of plans.... I would say the trip was a success and that nothing out of the ordinary for Honduras happened (maybe out of the ordinary for life in the states.. but ya gotta remember we are in Honduras here-- asi es la vida (this is the life)). I am so proud of my parents for coming here and opening their minds to this very different/interesting culture- Good job Mom and Dad!

World AIDS Day

So.... world AIDS day in Santa Rosa came and went unnoticed by most people. It was pretty much a bust on our half. I had made this whole big plan, including a parade, activities in the park and a play/candle ceremonyin the evening. But when it came down to it we weren't able to do anything!
The day prior to world AIDS day was the primary elections here in Honduras and because of this the government decided that the 1st would be a public office holiday. My counterparts used this to explain to me that we couldn't do anything in the park because there would be a poor circulation of people (i find that hard to believe cuz if they aren't at work where else are they going to be-- hanging out in the park like every other weekend). Well, in addition to this, there was also a public ordinance that it was prohibited to have any sort of public demonstrations before 3pm. So the parade and and gran bulla we had planned was a no-go. In addition to all this, the head people in teguc of my counterpart organization (organization dedicated to HIV work) decided to have their national conference the day following, Dec. 2nd, making it that much harder for us to do anything considering we have to travel 7 hrs to get to the conference(meaning leaving at 4am on the 2nd to get to teguc in time).
So seeing as we had to travel early in the morning to make the conference and the fact that it was a holdiay and the park activities were a no go due to the ordinance... they decided to cancel the event all in all. I was pretty disappointed because I really was looking forward to using this activity to show the counterparts the good work I can do, but I realize that I can't make anyone do something they don't want to do and if I am the only one who is really trying that it isn't going to work.
We were suppose to have a make-up world AIDS day tomorrow, but that also has fallen through.
I still really want to do something and so do the teenagers that work in the office with me, so we might try to plan something super fun and educative on our own. It is just hard for me to believe that the largest city in the west did not commemorate the day at all and I feel like we need to do something and do it ya!
At least I was able to stop by the festivities in Quimistan.. exposida in the park and a movie! Good work Katie! I am proud of your AIDs day activities and happy I could be a part of them.
eh...Life is difficult and frustrating. It is just one of those days! It really is "the toughest job you'll ever love"

The whole turkey day album

Here is the link to my thanksgiving day pictures. Finally finished up the left overs today!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2282996&l=36def&id=12301925

Thanksgiving- PC style

My yummy plate of food-- yes I ate it all... no help from my cousin Emily this year!

The family

The bird and suffing after cooking in the toaster oven for 4 hours

Key products I was able to find in Santa Rosa and San Pedro

The star of the show cooking in the toaster oven!

All in all thanksgiving was a great success. I was so happy to have most of my friends over and to spend the holiday with good company and good food. I am so very thankful for each and everyone of them and all the opportunities I have had to get to know all different kinds of people, from the states, from Honduras and from ther countries too! It was great that we could all come together to give our thanks and enjoy some delicious food! Good god.. i still feel full from all the good eats!

My savior these days!

At the waterfall!

The Waterfall

The whole gang taking a lunch break

Walking to the waterfall... right after this pic was taken my sandal got swept away in the river! Thank god Fernando was able to catch it!

View from the Cabins at the Girls Camp.

Welcome sign in Garifuna

The girls and Leala listening to the session.

HIV tot in San Jose with the local HS students.

Pretty picture I took at the cemetary in San Jose. All the graves were decorated for day of the dead.

I have recently feel in love with my space heater. I just got back from a trip to the coast helping various volunteers with their projects.

I first went to San Jose where Matt had his HIV tot. It ended up being pretty difficult and the kids at the HS were a little hard to handle because it was a night school and they were all riled up. All in all it after some yelling and constant asking them to listen the newly trained students got through their practica successfully and now hopefully understand how difficult it is to be in front of a group of students talking about HIV and sex.

From there I left pretty early in the morning for Tornabe where Jennifer and Amanda were having their abstinence girls camp. It was super fun and interesting to meet all the girls from various Garifuna communities (Tornabe and Sambo Creek). I gave a charla on friendship and taught them all how to make friendship bracelets. It was lots of fun and I can't wait to have a similiar type of activity here in Santa Rosa. And it was on the beach so that was a plus.

After the camp, I made my way to Sonaguera to see Mary's site and work on the monitoring and evaluation section of the new PLWHA tot. It was definitly a little toasty out that way especially since there was no ocean breeze to cool you off at night!

After M&E work, I made my way over to Santa Fe...a Garifuna community by Trujillo for my buddy Fernando's bday! It was super fun... we hiked to a waterfall to go swimming. AMAZING! I can't believe we actually live here sometimes.

After all that time in the sun and sweating my butt off... I finally came back home on Sunday-- just in time for the COLD FRONT! Apparently it was nice and wamer while I was gone... but now it is absolutly FREEZING-- hence my new found love of the space heater! I kept waking up lastnight shivering with my little nariz as cold as an ice cube! I need some more blankets. Brrrrr!

Yes... it is 6 feet tall mom

So mom doesn't believe me that my tree is 6 feet tall... so I need

to put a picture up that puts it all in perspective.

O' Christmas Tree O'Christmas Tree

Sooo.. I found a xmas tree at the super market. I am so excited about it and yes, I have alrady put it up... I think it adds something to the apartment.

yumminess

Yep... made those from scratch! Sooo delicious! I have become quite the baker here...i attribute it to boredom mostly.

Electric Water

So seeing as it is freezing here I am extra thankful that I have access to hot water..... via the electric shower....well it is more of a love hate relationship. I love that I can wake up in the morning and hop in the shower and soak in the warmness.. however I hate the constant threat of that morning being the end of life as I know it due to being eletrocuted. I actually don't think I am in any real eminent danger of electrocution, but ya never know... the electrical current isn't exactly the most regular thing here (for this we use regulators). But I don't think I should complain because I know many volunteers here who don't have hot water and have to bucket bath with boiled water. I'll take my electroducha over that any day!

When the rain falls

So it all started a coupld weeks ago when the tropical depression hit honduras. We had about 1 week of straight rain. It was miserable, everything soaking wet, mold starting to grow and clothes that wouldn't dry! The Peace Corps began sending us advisory messages about using caution when traveling due to flooding and land slides. This continued for the week. It is very sad because due to the intense rain we have had many smaller aldeas have been destroyed by land slides...in fact one PC volunteer was telling me about how an aldea of her town fell into the river... the entire aldea gone... all those homes and people's entire lives gone! Other places have turned into refugees camps, housing those who have lost everything they owned from the flooding.

These rainstorms have helped usher in the cold... due to the fact that I am in the mountains it has been quite chilly.. actually freezing. It all started with the rain and now i hear it is going to continue like this until December! Most morning it is hard to get out of bed and I spend my evenings bundled in sweaters and blankets. Thank GOD I brought back my scarf and mittens! I need some more swaet pants.. well actually I don't have a single pair-- only yoga pants and cotton PJs(not so warm) I also wish I have some close-toed shoes. I have tennis shoes but they are light and the mud here is crazy! so I resort to wearing my chacos or my wellies. I am going to have to invest in some better foot wear. I never would have imagined my life in Honduras like this.

PS- during this time most Hondurans go around dressed as if they are going on a trip to the frozen tundra... heavy winter coat, gloves, hat, scarf, sweater... and this is indoors seeing as we do not have heating.

More links

This link is to just some random pictures from having people in town, bdays, and going out.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2271714&l=c95fc&id=12301925

There is the link to Noche de Fumadores fotos... it was a celebration during the feria celebrating the Tobacco industry here in Santa Rosa. Note: Mother-I do not smoke... but I felt for the event the need to partake in the cigar smoking... i know very bad... but when in rome.... do as the romans do!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2270652&l=7c6b3&id=12301925

Training pics... oh the memories of FBT
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2253431&l=b6ce9&id=12301925

Host Family pic from Yarumela
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2253409&l=e9fdd&id=12301925

Ok I think that is it for now.. I will keep you updated as far as my facebook photo postings go

Posting Pictures

So I have been posting a lot of pictures of various things on Facebook. Here is a link to one of the albums.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2271714&l=c95fc&id=12301925

Just some pictures of the feria and things that have been happening in the park!