Yes everyone, I am still alive, and well in fact. It has been a while since the last post; just over a month, but it sure doesn’t feel that way. I think that’s a good sign. So I guess a recap of the time elapsed since then is due. I have made some really great friends amongst the other trainees. My Spanish improves everyday little by little and my English worsens everyday at the same rate it seems. The days have been long and full. There have been Spanish lessons, cultural lessons, medical stuff, technical training (which has only now really just begun in full), and so much more. Included in all this has been our favorite scare tactic sessions where we are told how many bad things could and “are” going to happen to us. This is a very dangerous country indeed (sorry mom!!). We’re talking about the highest homicide rate in the world. What they don’t say is that the vast majority of these incidents are related to the drug trade. I got a good head on my shoulders though and am no longer “blindly trusting every person I meet” (that’s right to those of you with warnings of my character flaws).
Beyond all that this is truly turning out to be a wonderful time. I have done some traveling. I have been to the capital on multiple occasions and went to the very south of the country for a three-day volunteer visit that went great regardless of how amazingly hot it was. During breaks we practice soccer and occasionally I steal a guitar for a few. Some great friendships have been kindled in such a short amount of time and after the first three and a half weeks the three different projects that are represented here (health, business, and wat/san) have since been separated. This was not however before we all celebrated a fellow trainee’s and my birthdays just a little early before we all went our different ways.
Starting on Sunday the 21st of March, myself and 16 other Water and Sanitation trainees took off for my current location of El Paraiso. It is so unbelievably beautiful here. Mountains absolutely full of coffee farms and other fruits surround the city. My project is also, in my opinion, the best one amongst Peace Corps volunteers in Honduras. I often get to work outside with my hands on solutions to the ever-growing problem in this world that is water. However small my efforts may seem in the grand scheme of things, in many cases they will be concrete. If this feeling in any way matches the sense of pride I felt after finishing a construction project in full then I am in the right place. Being in El Paraiso also means that I’m in Field Based Training (FBT). I now just spend the majority of my days learning Spanish and learning the ins and outs of my future job first hand. Needless to say everyday is different. Everyday has different challenges. And little by little I inch closer to becoming a volunteer. No, I still have no idea where I will be living for the next two years, which is a little exciting, but not nearly as much as it is nerve racking. I will not know for another 5 weeks either. All I can do is relax, take in the process, and await a life of greater personal agency.
I want to thank everyone that managed to send me some type of birthday wish whether that was on Facebook or in e-mail. I was able to check all that, but I rarely get the Internet. Itss just not convenient and often costs money. No matter how large or small the message was I was smiling ear to ear after reading them all so thank you very much.
Too much to say, not enough detail, I get it. I will try to get better at this blogging thing. I have been taking plenty of pictures though don’t yall worry. I’ll try to throw a few on here as well. Take care everyone.
Peace,
Jesse
