So are they Quimistanians?

Saludos Amigos!

I have finally settled in to my permanent site in Honduras. I am now living in the town of Quimistan, located in the department of Santa Barbara. It is in the northwest part of the country. Location-wise, I have a great site. I am 40 minutes away from the biggest city in Honduras, San Pedro Sula (which, by the way, has an international airport for those of you who would like to come visit) 2 ½ hours away from the north coast, and 2 hours away from Copan Ruinas (the two biggest tourist attractions in Honduras). My municipality is the biggest area-wise in my department, though Quimistan proper probably only has 16,000 people. It has pretty much all the amenities I could ask for (internet, a grocery store, a couple of small restaurants, and an ice cream shop.) My counterparts here are the local Health Center and High School. The people in this community are some of the friendliest I've ever met. Everyday on my walk to work I get greeted by at least 15 people (its about a ¼ mile walk). I'm sure part of this is because I am new and the only gringa in Quimistan, but whatever the reason, I enjoy it.

My first few weeks here have been incredibly busy – I came to Quimistan in the midst of the national vaccination campaign, so have spent a lot of time in the mountains around Quimistan helping the nurses and giving charlas to the mothers about diarrea and breastfeeding. It was a great opportunity to see the outlying aldeas here in Quimistan. My first few days here, I questioned the reasons why I was in this community – there is a lot of wealth (by Honduran standards) and a lot of good organizations here. However, after meeting with so many people who live in rural areas where there is still no electricity or purified water and marginal access to healthcare, I understand why. The nurses and doctors in my health center work very, very hard, but there are just not enough resources to accomplish all of the things that should be getting done.

!Alert! I had to stop writing for a couple of hours to help get the water out of the house today – I hope the video I took comes out. There are two balconies on the second floor, and both of the drains in them overflowed, meaning that the water flooded the second story and was pouring onto the first story. Lots of sweeping and mopping commenced. The electricity is currently out, and probably will be for the next few hours (or until sometime tomorrow) so luckily I charged my laptop battery! Below is video of the rainstorm – if you can't hear what I'm saying, I'm basically explaining that its been really, really, really hot and dry, until this week when the rain started. Now it rains everyday, and the electricity is out a lot more frequently. And it is still hot.

Ok, onward. I have only been to the local colegio (high school) 3 times due to the vaccination campaign, but starting this week I will be there twice a week. I have been doing some HIV/AIDS charlas there, and will be starting a 14 week program with the 8^th grade class (180 kids) about leadership, self-esteem, reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS in a few weeks. I'm a little intimidated by this, but am also pretty excited. The other project I will be starting work on is with the Health Center – we will be working on a program to educate/test pregnant women for HIV. Its really convenient for me to be so close to San Pedro Sula, but it is also a threat to this community – San Pedro has the highest concentration of HIV in the country, and people from my community are constantly traveling between the two cities. This means that there is probably a much higher rate of HIV here than we know of, yet there is no reliable testing or counseling here.

Besides that, things have been great. I have definitely learned to laugh at myself over the last few weeks – bumping down mountain trails with 9 other people in the back of a pick-up truck will do that to you! I've also drank a coke made in 1994 (I didn't realize that until I was halfway done and read the bottle) it still tasted pretty good. Oh, and people here definitely aren't shy about commenting on any part of you. I get the requisite blue eye comments most days, but at least 3 times a week I get a comment about, well, about my big ass. I'm sorry, its genetic, and there's nothing I can do about. I think most of the comments have been compliments, but sometimes I'm just not so sure. Probably best I'm still working on the language...

There's a lot more to write about, and now that I'm settled in I'll have time to write more regularly. Also, thank you too all of those who have written letters, sent cards and emails. Each one of them brightens my day! A BIG thank you to Cindy and Mindy – I loved the package!!! Girl Scout Cookies and anything beauty related are always appreciated. Thanks for thinking of me, and it really meant a lot to me!!! Also, thanks to my parents for the mountain of stuff they've sent to me – You have no idea what a good bag a trail mix can do to raise your spirits on a bad day. I've had questions from others regarding packages – I'm going to keep my address as is for now (the PC address) and if you really want to send something, travel packs of tissues, any sort of kitchen spices, chocolate (individually wrapped is best) and music/used books that you think I should listen to/read are perfect. And, to be honest, a letter is just as good as a package as far as I am concerned.

I hope all of you are doing well and I miss you all very, very much.

And, I'm sorry, but I couldn't get the video to load. I will try to load it when I go to another city where there is faster internet!