I’m not gonna start with any Honduran news because I talk about it on the new Podcast episode. A new one is up in the iTunes store under Podcasts (search Peace Corps or La Vida Hondureña). Or you can click here and subscribe to it on the audio site by looking in the bottom right hand corner for the iTunes logo. And of course, it’s free. If anyone you know is interested in Peace Corps or wants to learn more about the life we live here, lead them in that direction.
Okay, so, what’s been happening? Well, Elisabeth, some friends, and I rang in the New Year at a place called the Omega Tours Jungle Lodge. It’s a little lodge nestled into the jungle of Honduras near the North Coast. We river rafted one day and did a lagoon tour the next where we saw monkeys and ate lunch on the beach. It started dumping hard rain the last day and a half but we still loved it. It was a great time.
I returned back to work after about 2 weeks of taking it easy and things are picking up again. I am doing some graphic designs for Peace Corps and fellow volunteers who need help getting promotional materials for their various organizations. Also, Volker, my good German friend, and another worker from the office went on an Aldea survey that was really great. We did it all in one day, going around asking people in the small towns of the municipality about their pueblitos and what resources they do and don’t have.
I love projects like this because its getting out there with the people, seeing what their needs are, and getting ideas for new projects. My NGO mostly helps the urban areas of town so its nice to help out in the rural areas where people really need some resources and help with new skills.
Now its 2010, a new year, and the new year has always made me reflect on the last year and think about what’s to come. I landed here in Honduras 11 months ago. It’s been one roller coaster ride with some huge ups and downs. But now, the ride is smoothing out. I think back to why I came here and I can do nothing but smile.
What I have realized is that the present is the best place to focus on, and the present me is what I am coming to love. And in this present time, I continue to be fascinated by this land and culture. I continue to reflect on who I am as a person, and what I can do to be a more peaceful, aware me. And when thinking about the New Year, it is so reassuring to say that I did it; I came down here and lived this experience...the one I wanted to have.
It’s nice to say that I love this experience. I love doing work that means something to me. I love learning more about other people, and where they have come from and what makes them the way they are. The cultural exchange is simply awesome. I love learning more about myself while continuing to grow as a person. I am so grateful and appreciative that I even have the opportunity to do this, and amazing friends and family to support me the whole way. What more do I need? What a life…what times.
It’s a New Year, and I’m feeling new already.
…Until next time
