New Digs! And Big Fish (sike)!

Hey Everyone!

I hope all is well stateside! Here in the country of Honduras it is our first “cold” day, and man was it ugly outside! Rain, fog, cloudiness, and cold. Very different from the norm lately, and it really caught me off guard! I found myself digging through my duffel bag for all the warm clothes I had, quickly put on every warm piece of clothing I found, and sat down at my laptop to type a journal entry to hopefully keep my fingers warm. Never thought I’d say this, but …brrrr! I’ve heard from weathered Peace Corps Volunteers (pun intended) that the months of November and December can be very dreary and depressing. I never thought I’d need my arm warmers to ride my bike in Honduras, but I may have them sent to me. And I’m definitely going to have to start warming up water to shower with, I don’t think I can handle my usual cold water bucket bath if the weather keeps this up. I probably sound like a big wimp to those of you in Montucky. Kate sent me some skiing pictures she had taken in Bozeman. I must say it sent a good jolt of jealousy through my body. But, as my Montanan friends probably remember, Stewie and I were big Georgia wimps when it came to the cold, all bundled up in every shred of fabric we could find laying around our dorm room. Brrrr.

Dad sent me a text message the other day asking me if I had felt any effects of the earthquake here in Honduras. I messaged back that I hadn’t felt a thing, and thought it must have been isolated to some other region in the country. Well, little did I know, that Santa Elena did indeed feel some trembling. I, however, didn’t feel a thing, because I was out on a boat fishing with a few friends. We were out on a small lake/pond that feeds into Lago de Yojoa from 3 until 8 pm and caught a whopping 3 fish! One small silversided fish which was swept into the boat on accident by the oar, and another two catfish that wouldn’t intimidate a mayfly. It was a pretty pathetic trip as far as catching fish worth eating, but we had a good time. We laughed a lot and almost tipped the boat a few times. Hopefully whatever internet café I use will be capable of posting the picture of Tony and our largest catch of the day (posted 17 Noviembre).

I got a postcard from Mindy in Belize and she says she’s coming to visit in late November with her friend/roommate. I’m totally pumped for their visit! It’ll be a lot of fun to show some people first hand what’s going on here in Santa Elena. She’s currently fighting the good fight to find a ticket here. She may be coming by boat since she’ll be departing from Belize. She’s been doing her student teaching there over the past 3 or 4 months. Can’t wait!

Oh! I´ve moved into my own digs! Definitely has its pluses and minuses. Pluses include privacy, being able to eat when I want, hot shower, liberty to play louder music, liberty to have visitors over for coffee, etc. Minuses include the loneliness of occupying an empty house alone, not having someone cooking for me, being completely pathetic at preparing plato hondureño, yard work, etc. It is a nice house though, no dirt floors or thatch roofs, so don´t worry. I found an old rusty bike wheel in the coffee farm behind the house and hung it up on the outside of my shower wall to give the place a little "sabor de Davíd." Don Ernesto let me take the hammoc and a bunch of good furnature (he´s an excellent carpenter). My house is also exhibiting Montgomery Art, Elijah and Stella Montgomery that is, my incredibly talented and creative niece and nephew. I have their paintings up on my walls as if it were a real art gallery, neatly separated at eye level.

Okay, I miss all of you people very much! Keep the emails and snail mail coming! Here´s the addy for those of you who misplace things.
Davíd Egetter
Voluntario del Cuerpo de Paz
Santa Cruz de Yojoa, Cortés
Honduras
America Central

Hasta Luego,
David