Checking In

:So I wrote this last week thinking I would be on the internet sooner than I was, but I hope it still is somewhat interesting:

Today I had a lazy today. Nothing going on at work, so I decided to stay home and do some stuff around the house. I was supposed to get a ride to buy paint for my bedroom, but my ride never called me back. As a result, I spent the morning just kind of screwing around.

The house is really coming along. I overdosed on painting in the beginning, so just the kitchen and my bathroom have been painted thus far. The paint really improves the way the house looks, so I’m hoping I get a “second wind” and make the final push for my bedroom and the main room. I lay awake at night thinking about what colors I want to put in the rooms. It’s kind of fun and I wish I had more options for decorating; money is kind of limiting.

I’ve been lucky that the couple of girls in the area who are leaving have been generous and given me a few things. I’ve inherited a table, bookshelves (planks of wood and cinderblocks), and kitchen supplies, including: peanut butter (!) and a waffle-maker!! So excited.

I’ve actually kind of taken to sweeping; just sweeping. There’s always dust in the house and I sweep a couple of times a day, which I would never have done before. After the sweeping Hondurans like to mop, but that requires the hand-washing of the mop afterwards, which I don’t find too exciting. One “upside” to the number of bugs that seem to invade the house is that it encourages you to keep the place clean.

So, after doing some sweeping and casual cooking, I went up to the Post Office to pick up my packages. Grandma Jackie and Grandma Jerry both sent me packages with chocolate. After reading the lovely notes and indulging in a couple of pieces of chocolate, I have to admit I got pretty excited about the tins that the chocolate came in. This is what my life has become: I get excited about tins, because they are so multi-purpose! So many things can be put in tins to keep the bugs from invading them! HAH

So we have a lot of fun coming up. The local carnival (feria) in Santa Rosa starts Friday. You get dressed up and pay a set price for entrance and then get food, drinks and cigars for the night. I think there are about 50 Volunteers planning on going at this point! I’ll be seeing a few of my very close friends for the first time in 3 months and I’m extremely excited! The next night we’re doing an “apartment crawl” for one of the girl’s going away party.

After Santa Rosa I head to a week long training with Peace Corps, where again, I’ll be seeing a ton of people from my group that I haven’t seen in a while. After the training I will swing by Santa Barbara to pick up my PUPPY! I’m so stoked. I already have everything bought for him! I’ve been looking forward to this training since the day I finished training and I’m afraid that once it’s over I’ll have nothing to look forward too and I’ll get really sad.

On a sincerely sad note, my computer has taken a turn for the worse. Today we have had a problem staying on, which has proved to be a problem. The cord has cuts in it and I’ve noticed that the connection to the computer is even more fragile. The on/off button has now completely collapsed into the keyboard and it takes about 10 minutes to get the right spot to turn it on. The other day I had to bring my computer to a meeting with the coffee cooperative I’ve been working with and the Director of ODECO was making fun of me because it took so long to turn the computer on and then another millennium for the program to open up! I’ll be really sad when this computer goes. She’s always given me problems, but I’ve written a lot of papers on this computer, done a lot of online procrastinating! Also, how will I watch movies alone in my house at night or do yoga without my computer! JUST FOUR MORE MONTHS! Hang in there viejita!!

About this coffee cooperative I mentioned: This meeting was really interesting. In order for them to maintain their certification and increase their name in the area, they have to comply with a whole host of rules. For instance, before they cut down a tree for wood (even if it’s dead), they have to ask permission from the local government. Also, a lot of coffee farms have temporary housing for the workers that they hire during the coffee picking season. In order to a farm to maintain its membership in the cooperative they have to commit to making certain improvements to the houses each year so that the workers are safe and cared for. It was interesting because every few months an auditor comes and investigates a few farms and then holds a meeting about what the cooperative needs to work on to maintain its certification. It’s serious business.

My part in this is with the GPS. They need a map showing the area and GPS points of each coffee farm in the cooperative. For the auditor’s visit yesterday we just did a map with all the houses, but in the future I have to walk through EACH coffee farm to take points to get their area. There are forty members and some of them have more than one farm. We’re talking some major work here. I don’t like walking through coffee. It’s annoying. There are so many bugs and so many rashes that come from coffee farms. Arggghhh. Yet, its nice knowing there’s stuff to do.

There’s not too much else to talk about. Really hoping my computer stays in touch. She’s stayed on long enough to write this blog. Somebody should visit soon so A) I can see someone from home B) they can bring me one of those new little computers! HAH

Love everyone. Miss everyone. Thanks Grandmas for all the lovely packages and cards. I’m going to make a collage of all the beautiful cards I’ve gotten to put on my wall; add some interest to the bare walls. You get creative with decorating in the Peace Corps.

Honduras Ikea: cinderblocks, planks of wood, broom sticks and nails … that’s all you need to furnish a house! You’ll see in the pictures after I clean the house!