Princesa

There is a new addition to our family. She is small and loud and she arrived last week.   Yes, we have a new pet—a chicken named Princesa.  She is not a particularly special or cute chicken…  she looks to me like any of the ones on the street.  Somebody apparently gave the chicken to Allison (who is 7 months old) as a gift.  I have never heard of someone giving a baby a pet chicken as a gift before, but then again there are a lot of things that happen here that I would never expect.  Like going a month without getting new water, eating cow intestine soup, or having kids come to the library begging for me to let them do math.  When we first got Princesa, I was not her biggest fan.  All she did was walk around the house, poop on the floor, and scare me periodically.  The other day I was walking upstairs to my room, in the dark, and she must have been perched on the railing of the stairs because she flew practically into my face.  Of course I screamed, which made my whole family run over and start laughing, and my little brother Paolo (who is 6) announced, “Women are like birds: they scare really easily.”  I still don’t know where he got that line.  I am slowly warming up to her though, and she seems to be making an effort to be nicer to me.  If there’s one thing I have come to expect here, it’s that my days will not be predictable. 

On a sadder note, two of my Danish friends are going home today.  Marie and Anne have lived here since around the time I got here, and I am thankful to have gotten to know them over the past few months.  I don’t have a whole lot of friends in Honduras, and now I will have two less.  I am happy for them to be able to go home to “the happiest people on earth” though. :)   And I know that more volunteers will always come, so I have that to look forward to. 

I also want to say thank you to everyone who has been sending me snail mail!!  It’s always such a good feeling to know that people are thinking of and praying for me, and to hear an update on your lives.   So THANK YOU, I really appreciate it!

Two weeks ago I was in Guatemala for a Central American MCC retreat.  I had an amazing time there, seeing old friends and making new ones, as well as learning a little about the Guatemalan culture.   At the end of the week we had a talent show, and our Honduras team sang two songs—one was a song about Honduras by Polache.  The other was a rendition of My Favorite Things, where we made the words fit to our lives in Honduras.   Here are the lyrics we came up with, if you are interested:

Mountains and beaches and Copan Ruinas

ceramica Lenca, aves y leechas

gente amable que nos da amor,

this is what I came to Honduras for.

Pineapple, mango and fresh avocados

frijoles, chuletas y ricos licuados

baleadas abundan a diez lempiras

estas son mis cosas favoritas

Se fue la luz-- no viene el agua

vienen ladrones ya!

I simply remember my favorite things

and they I don't feel "tan mal"

¿Que onda loco?  -- Todo masizo!

Que barbaridad que no tengo pisto.

Pucha, que basura, vaya pues, cheke leke,

these are a few things catrachos say.

MCM y Proyecto MAMA

donde trabajo cada mañana 

ASJ, CODESO, ACDIM…

partners are some of my favorite things.

Huracanes,  inundaciones

team Giardia,

I simply remember my favorite things 

and then I don't feel "tan mal"

 

 

A lot has happened since my last post, so I guess it's time for an update! 
I spent Christmas in La Paz with some extended family.  I won't go into a lot of details but you can look at my facebook pictures if you're interested.  It involved a lot of good food (including a GIANT pig leg that we carried on the bus with us), good company, and lots of fireworks at midnight.  

Then, Sam came to visit!  I tried to show him all the places I normally go like the Centro, Villa Olimpica, the campo where I run, the mall, the school where I work, etc.  We also took a little 3-day road trip to the beach in Tela, where it rained a lot but had the best views ever.  New Years took place during the time he was here, so we both got to ring in the new year Honduran style.  For my family this meant having the La Paz family over to our house, eating dinner at 11:00pm, eating plato tipicos (beans, dry cheese, chismol, avocodos, 2 kinds of meat and tortillas), and burning the "old man 2011" (basically a scarecrow stuffed with rockets and fireworks) to the ground at midnight.  Kids do this on just about every street corner, and I found it both entertaining and terrifying. It was a bit sad to say goodbye to Sam on the 5th, but all in all I don't think the week could have gone any better. 

 And finally, tomorrow I head to Guatemala for a week-long messo-america retreat! I can't wait to see my Honduras team again, as well as all the MCCers in Central America.   I don't really know what to expect, but I'm hoping it will be a fun and eye-opening experience.  Starting at 6am I have a 14 hour bus ride ahead of me... your prayers for safe travels and good health are appreciated. 

Again, thank you for all the support-- via email, facebook, and snail mail.  It means a lot. 
Feliz ano nuevo. :)