Honduras at last!

Buenos dias!

So here's my first update from the beautiful country of Honduras!

I told all of you I would be in Tegucigalpa for three months of training, well I lied... I'm in Santa Lucia which is approximately 20 km north of Teguc. It is a nice suburb and is apparently safer. There is a Peace Corps training center here and I live about 10 minutes (walking distance) away from it.

My home is awesome! I could not ask for a better homestay family! My family consists (mostly, not including close relatives who are often over to visit) of 4 grandchildren, one son, and the matriarch, Dona Eva. The grandchildren are so much fun, it's a lot like having Stella and Elijah over all the time. Josue (1 1/2 yrs) always has some funny phrase he says all the time. Genesis (5 yrs) is a mess and loves to dance. Daniel ("Dani," 8 yrs) is very polite, but is still a boy; chasing ducks, getting into fights, etc. Sarai (11 yrs) is patient w/ my Spanish and helps me a lot with vocab, running errands, cooking tamales, etc. Luis (24 yrs), the son of Dona Eva, is a maestro de educacion and enjoys singing along w/ the radio/TV. And Dona Eva is a great cook (I've cleaned every plate) and has a warm smile. The family definitely makes me feel at home and I was proud to have them around at the first Peace Corps fiesta last night.

Training is going well. It's certainly overwhelming to look at all the stuff that is going to occur during the next 2 yrs, especially all the Spanish I need to learn. However, after a week, with practically no Spanish at all, it has been going extremely well. It's also interesting thta now, outside of the academic atmosphere, I enjoy studying Spanish. When I get free time I pull out the Spanish texts the P.C. has provided and I write out words/phrases I wanted to use during my day, so next time I'll be prepared.

Honduras is beautiful, lots of green! The view from my front porch (where lots of bailando take place with the kids) is great, it overlooks Teguc in between two large/green mountains. At night the lights of Teguc shine bright.

I have 5 more weeks here in Santa Lucia before I head to Catacamas for FBT (Field Based Training) for PAM (Protected Areas Management) technical training. I'll spend another 5 weeks in Catacamas (NE Honduras) with another homestay, then I'll return to Santa Lucia for a final week with a swearing in ceremony on September 7th and depart for my site on Sep. 8th. I'll probably know the whereabouts of my site by about the 3rd to 4th week of FBT. More to come.

Okay, that's probably more than most of you wanted to know. Thanks again for all your love and support as I set out on this journey. I look forward to keeping in touch with you all during my Honduran Sojourn. Just give me some time to figure out the whole communication with los Estados Unidos. If you decide to mail a package, think twice, don't send anything expensive, and use FedEx or UPS. I'm also working on getting cell phone service, which according to current PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) is a must.

Hasta Luego,
David