My New Home

Today I said goodbye to the dorms and moved into my permanent room. I feel like I'm a freshman in college. Two varones/males lived in this room before me, so I had to do some mega cleaning. I swept, I mopped, I painted my desk and chair, I dusted, I cleared out cob webs, I bleached everything in the bathroom. It was a long day. However, I can now say that it was worth it as I'm lying in my new bed with my mosquito net draped around me. The room is painted blue and yellow. It definitely needs some personal touches. I have the room to myself tonight. My roommate arrives tomorrow. Her name is Monica and she's from Seattle. She'll be volunteering as a nurse. I'll let you know how that works out. I have to admit I'm happy I'll be living with an American :)
This weekend, the old volunteers had their "despedida"/going-away. We all hitchiked (yes, hitchiked...all the volunteers do it) to Tegucigalpa and had checked into the Nan King. It's a hotel in Honduras that the volunteers go to quite often to get away from the ranch. It costs 80 lempiras a night (5 people/room), which is about $5/person. They choose this hotel over others because it has cable tv and hot showers. We got dolled up and met everyone at a Mexican restaurant called Taco Taco. Funny that they call it Mexican, because it's really not. I ordered vegetarian enchiladas. The waitress responded that they did not have vegetarian enchiladas, so I asked for enchiladas without meat. That she could do. Strange. Anyways, I received two tostadas with cabbage, sauce, and cheese. Not what I expected. But, according to others that's typical for Honduras. There was a group of about 30 of us. Old volunteers, new volunteers, ranch employees and ex-pequenos. After dinner we headed to Bamboo, a discoteca. We danced the night away to reggae, salsa, reggaeton, and hip hop. It was hot, crowded, and sweaty. All in all it was a fun night. The next morning Anamaria and I woke up early and ran some errands in Tegucigalpa: went out for breakfast, internet cafe, grocery shopping.
Sunday afternoon I met up with Cynthia (8) and Paola (7), who are pequenas on the ranch. They are the first two pequenas I met, as they were in the pick-up truck that came to get me at the airport. For that reason, I feel closer to them than others. Their mother, Mirna is an ex-pequena. She's around 30-years-old and is in the final stages of cervical cancer. She's staying at Casa Pasionista, which is a hospice center for people with AIDS. I told Cynthia that I wanted to meet their mom, so Sunday we went to Casa Pasionista for our visit. It was a nice visit, she was very happy to have a visitor. In fact, when Paola and Cynthia had to return to their hogar, Mirna asked me to stay and have dinner with her. We watched Spanish television, chatted for a bit, had dinner, and I helped her with her meds. She is a wonderful woman. She came to the ranch when she was six-years-old, having lost both of her parents.It was a special night. She told me about how the ranch had changed since she was a pequena 11-years earlier and how much she had suffered since leaving the ranch. She asked me to come back, so I hope to do so soon.
Monday was my first day of work. I met with my supervisor Saily, introduced myself to teachers, etc. This week at the school they are celebrating English Week. So each day there is an assembly where the kids participate in some sort of English activity. For example, singing popular English songs (i.e., Like a Prayer by Madonna), spelling bee, etc.

** Questions from Courtney**

What do you miss the most?
Asides from my family and friends, I miss the internet. I miss being able to lie in my bed at night and surf the web. I miss variety in food. Here it's whatever is available at the ranch (i.e., beans, rice, eggs, platanos, tortillas). I like the food, but I miss having 3 different meals a day. I also miss Bally's. Even though I do a lot of walking here, I miss power flex and spinning classes.

What do you love the most so far?
Going to my hogar every night. All the volunteers say that that's their favorite thing and what they remember most here on the ranch. I'm getting to know the girls more and it's a great way to end the day. Also, the scenery. No matter where you go, it is absolute beauty.

Are you itchy?
While my legs are covered in little bites, I'm actually not that itchy. I do put on 98% deet every morning though, as the bugs are worse during the rainy season. I have my mosquito net now, so we'll see how that goes.

How are things working out with SKYPE?
I've used it only twice. I can only use it if I'm the only one in the computer lab, as it kicks off other users. So, it's not as easy as I thought, but still a nice option.

**Questions from Kristin**
Who are you feeling closest to friendwise?
As of now I am feeling closest to two volunteers: Anamaria from Minnesota and Vanessa from San Francisco.
Anamaria is 23 and works as an English teacher. She has been to the ranch twice before with school and church groups, so she knows a lot. She's a good person to go to just to talk. She's been here since January and she's trying to extend her stay at least another 3 months.
Vanessa is 27 and also works as an English teacher. She's a total hippie. She found a stray kitten that was soooo tiny, so she and I were taking care of it together. Today she gave it to the family that's here volunteering, so she was sad.

Any cute boys? (had to ask)
Not really. In my group there are three guys: Doug from New York, Ryan from Wisconsin, and Daniel from Austria. None of them are that cute, although Hondurans call Daniel Brad Pitt. Ryan has super bright red hair (seriously, it's neon). The kids call him "hijo del sol"/son of the sun. He's super friendly, but can be annoying. In regards to guys on the ranch, there a few cuties, but I don't know them that well yet.

How are you feeling physically? stronger, tired, sick, all of the above at different times i am sure!!
The first couple weeks, I was really tired. Orientation was really tiring: walking, sitting, listening...doesn't sound too bad, but day after day of that was tiring. I'm feeling better now...getting into my routine (and still able to fit in a nap here and there). I've gone on a couple runs, but it's harder here...rougher terrain, higher altitude. I've also done my yoga DVD a couple times, which feels good after a long day of walking and hiking. I get sore from weird things...today I'm sore because I was doing laundry for an hour and a half by hand; so my arms are really sore. I was sore after going to the cascadas, because I had to climb out of the waterfall and trudge across a bunch of rocks. Some days I feel fine, others I have stomach aches that come and go. But, from what I hear and observe, even experienced volunteers have stomach issues!

I love all of your descriptions of the food (animals that will become the food)...what are the smells like?
Well, the farm smells like a farm. Honestly, I can't say that there is a distinct "smell" here. Like Kristin said in reference to Hawaii, maybe it will take me leaving and then coming back to recognize the "smell". The food here is very bland on account of the kids, so you don't smell all the spices and flavorings of home cooked meals.