7 weeks in Honduras!

My first time milking a cow, I drank some unpasteurized milk as well, so frothy and delicious! I have so much more appreciation for farmers (campesinos) and their livelihood, I definitely have a lot to learn here.

Washing clothes by hand in the pila (a concrete well/reservoir where we store water. We have no running water and the pila water needs to be rationed throughout the day). I've never encountered a better arm workout.

This is our health group! H-18 Salud has 17 people from all over the U.S., we range in age from 22-29 and have diverse work backgrounds. Here we are receiving the key to the town of Villa de San Antonio from the mayor. We have been doing field-based training in this town the last few weeks. We will spend 6 weeks here helping the community with various health projects and improving our Spanish and health knowledge.

One of the charlas (lessons) I gave about puberty and anatomical changes. The kids (boys aged 9-11) were so cute and bashful and we had fun making the drawing of "Mario" change as he hit puberty.

Peace Corps Training...Zarabanda, Honduras

I have been in the beautiful country of Honduras for almost a month now, and am just now making it to an internet cafe! Life here is relaxing, and I am definitely learning more about myself and how I adapt and react to challenges. A typical day for me is to wake up at 5:45am, make my bed, shower and get ready for the day, then have breakfast with my amazing host family around 6:15am. Breakfast often consists of beans, tortillas and cheese, or toast and beans, or fresh fruit, and I have even recently been allowed to use the kitchen to make eggs. There is also the infamous ¨mantequilla¨which is this white sauce similar to a mayonnaise/sour cream mix and it is put on EVERYTHING for EVERY MEAL. I´ve even seen people here put mantequilla on fruit...it is definitely an acquired taste. After breakfast, I meet up with 4 other volunteers that live close to my house and we make the 10 minute walk to school, passing by people on horses, donkeys, children playing soccer, mothers cooking in outdoor ovens, dogs and cats and roosters every few steps. It is certainly rustic as we walk along paths and skirt around piles of horse dung and critters, meanwhile saying ¨Buenos Dias¨to every passerby.

Spanish classes begin at 7:30am, and I am in an intermediate level class, so we have been doing lots of practice talking and using the correct verb conjugations as well as learning tons of new vocabulary. I feel that every day, I learn 200 new words and probably retain about 10, so at this rate, I hope to be able to speak less broken Spanish in 2 years. :) We have lunch with all the other volunteers and it is always a fun hour, discovering what was packed for you by your host family. My lunches are always fantastic, usually including rice, some kind of meat and fruit as well as juice. Others aren´t as lucky and this has spawned a ¨Lunch finishers Club¨of hungry volunteers (usually guys that don´t get enough food) who will eat leftovers/unwanted food of other volunteers so that none of us throw any food away.

After lunch, we have project training which consists of learning about the health issues in Honduras and the various projects and initiatives Peace Corps has to address these health issues. We have just finished the Family Health unit where we learned how to lead charlas (lessons) in nutrition, common illnesses including diarrhea and pneumonia which are the leading causes of death in children under 5. We also planted a garden, helped build an improved stove, and learned to teach a healthy cooking class and also visited a local health center. Next week, we will move on to HIV/AIDS topics and move to a different site where we will be doing more hands on training.

I walk home after class around 5 and play with my 3 host sisters and 1 host brother...they are all under the age of 8, so you can imagine the fun we have with balls, games, frisbee, you name it. They are all in a bilingual private school so we also practice language and I ask them how to say words in Spanish and vice versa. We then have dinner around 6pm, do homework after, and go to bed around 8:30pm. It is nice to have a consistent schedule every week and not have to worry about bills or transportation or making meals. It is also frustrating to not have the freedom to go watch movies with new friends or choose what I eat for each meal. I am really loving my time so far though and have nothing to complain about, I am certainly excited for all the new possibilities of my life here.

As for some other interesting things that have happened here...I have gone to Catholic church every Sunday with my family, although I haven´t taken communion yet. My family also took me to La Tigra national park where I got to ride a horse and eat the famous ¨Mondongo¨soup which is a soup of vegetables and tripe, muy delicioso! I have attended 2 birthday parties, gone to a karoake night with all the other volunteers, and also taken the chicken bus to the capital and haggled for better prices for avocados and guavas (I could eat these two things every meal). I have already made some incredible relationships here and learned a lot about this country and I can´t wait to share more with you as time goes on. Please update me on your lives as you get a chance and keep in touch!

I will post pictures next time, hope you all have a wonderful rest of the month and Happy Spring Break!

Peace Corps Staging - Atlanta

I made it safe to the hotel in Atlanta and have since been busy with orientation and getting to know the 52 other volunteers. It's so great to be around other worldly people who all have similar aspirations and goals in life. No one here questions "why" we're here, but rather "how" we can improve ourselves and share with our counterparts once in country, it's very refreshing! We come from all walks of life, many of us recent graduates from college, some of us putting family and/or careers on hold, there are four married couples--one of whom are in their 60's and have already served two previous stints in the Peace Corps. There is even another Oregon Duck here that I knew in college and was neighbors with Sophomore year; imagine my surprise when I saw a familiar face at the hotel! Most of us have traveled extensively to other countries, and many have lived in other countries for a long period of time. Though we are not a racially diverse group, many of us speak another language fluently. I am definitely excited to get to know this wonderful group of people as training proceeds in the next three months and build some lasting friendships.

I feel that I have found a group that will become like family down in Honduras and help with bouts of homesickness and loneliness. Though I am thinking of you all and missing you already, I truly feel that I am making the right choice by taking this step into the unknown. Please keep me posted on your lives and how things go for you these next few years and I will keep you updated on things here whenever I get a chance.

Mom and Dad, thank you for the beautiful card...it speaks to me perfectly, my roommate here even shed a tear over it. I will share it with our group and hopefully it will be an uplifting reminder of why I'm here on low days.

Well, We wake up in 3 hours to fly out, I suppose I should try to get some sleep. Let's hope for a safe flight to Tegucigalpa, home of the Toncontin International airport, aka sketchiest runway in the world. I'd advise NOT looking at youtube videos of plane landings. :) Enjoy the snow in Eugene

Taiwan, my homeland!

It's been over 5 years since I last visited Taiwan where I grew up as a child. So many fond memories came flooding back as soon as we stepped into the airport, and after Europe, I certainly had a bit of culture shock. I also found myself viewing my childhood homeland from different, adult lenses. What a great experience it was and I certainly hope to live here again someday and spend more time with my family.

This little tyke came to meet us at the airport. It was my first time meeting my two baby cousins! Here he is getting a piggy-back from my Grandma.

Our first breakfast in Taiwan 台灣, we of course went to get hot soy milk 豆槳 and some breaded goods 包子, 饅頭, and 油條

A traditional meat market, they also have cages of live chickens...you pick out the chicken that fancies you, and "chop", the vendor takes off its head and defeathers it so you have a fresh chicken to cook for your meal... I did not document this with photographs for good reason :)

One of the many temples in Taipei, I used to go with my great-grandmother when I was young to pray and burn incense in honor of our ancestors.

Hot pot or 火鍋 that my family prepared. Everyone sits together, and puts into the pot whichever side they want, be it meat, vegetables, eggs, noodles, etc. The food then cooks in the broth on the hot plate and everyone enjoys the different flavors and foods with a dipping sauce.

Chicken feet!! Yes, these are the feet of chicken. Simmered in a spicy soy sauce, one eats these by gnawing on the skin and cartilage, a lovely delicacy that is one of my mom's favorites!

Tea-leaf eggs or 茶葉蛋, these are eggs that simmer in a black tea leaf and soy broth and taste absolutely delicious. You crack open the shell to reveal a boiled egg that has been browned and flavored by the broth. These are sold all over the place in convenience stores, 7-11s, etc.

Mom and I went to visit the Taipei International Flora Exposition, Taiwan's first international expo that cost millions of dollars for the 6-month exhibit. It was absolutely phenomenal and I don't think I've ever seen/smelled so many wonderful flowers, what a breath of fresh air to have in the middle of bustling Taipei city

The expo was in the middle of several parks, one of which included traditional Chinese houses and architecture

Can't forget the public toilets! One squats down to use these, and hopes that it is clean and has a functional flush. An almost spotless one here!

Four generations of family! From left: me, my mom, my grandma, and my great-grandma. I am so lucky to have such strong women in my life.