| Lauren Greenwal... 的个人资料Lauren's Travels!照片日志列表 |  工具  帮助 |
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2月28日 Honduras, Feb. 28thHi Everyone!
Well I have been in Honduras now for almost two weeks. We got snowed in while at pre-staging training in DC and ended up there for a week instead of two days. It was actually really nice to be there for that long because we all got to know each other pretty well during that time and we had time to hangout in Georgetown and DC. There are 51 of us volunteers. I would say 95% are under 30…most being 22-26. We have one 40 year old volunteer and 4 married couples in their 20s. It’s about 60% girls-40% guys. Everyone is really nice and I already have some great friends in my group.
Well we flew into San Pedro Sula a week ago Sunday…that is the first and last time that we will be there since San Pedro Sula is a banned city in Honduras for Peace Corps volunteers (PCV) since it is as dangerous as Colombia. We took a four hour bus ride to a beautiful little town outside the capital, Tegucigalpa.
I am living with the best family! We live in a cute house, with rooms open to an outside patio. I have my own room. I am lucky because they have a washing machine, while the other volunteers have to hand wash their clothes using a “pila” and we have an Electroducha, which is a shower with hot water…which is REALLY nice because we are in the mountains so it gets really chilly here at night and in the mornings. Our town is basically a beautiful resort town outside of Teguc so it is probably nothing like where we will be placed after the first 3 months of training…but we are loving it here for now. I have gotten no mosquito bites yet and the weather is perfect. The locals are used to having Gringas here so it feels very safe. My family has three children…Marcio is 20, Iris is 17, and Jairo is 16....and a bird named Polly. The mom, Sandra is wonderful. She is so sweet and works so hard around the house...her job title is Ama de la Casa..which is like Heart of the House =) She cooks me all vegan food which is absolutely amazing!.......By the way Mom and Vida...she got eggplant in Tegus last weekend and made it for me today!!!!! I was so excited!
I get up at 5:00 in the mornings to go running with a few other volunteers. We have classes at our training center from 7:30-4:30 Monday-Friday. We have been placed in Spanish classes based on our language level. I am at Intermedio bajo so I need to go up one more level before I can be sworn in as a PCV in 2 months. I have forgotten pretty much all of my Spanish from my four years off so I am behind most of the volunteers (who studied or lived abroad)…but I’m hoping it will come back pretty quick. We are put in classes of 3-5 PCV per Spanish teacher so we have a lot of support. We have language classes all morning, then our “moms” walk our lunches to the center everyday….which is so nice. In the afternoons we have other classes about safey & security, honduran culture or specific to our projects. The 51 of us are in 3 different projects…business, water & sanitation, and health. There are 20 of us in the health project. Three of my closest friends are in the health project with me so that’s really nice. We are getting really great training on STIs, AIDS, etc. We had a doctor from USAID come talk to us last week which was really interesting.
After classes and during the weekend we have been exploring the town, hiking to see the sunrise, sunset, playing futbol (soccer), hiking, going out, studying, hanging out with our families…(Iris, Jairo and I watched the Notebook with Spanish subtitles on my laptop the other night so that was fun!) This weekend I am going with my good friends Kyle, Chris, Regina, and Leah to hike at a National Park. On Sunday my mom is taking Kyle and I to the market and mall in Tegucigalpa. We are all getting cell phones…and it is FREE (no minutes used) to receive calls so I can receive calls from the US easily! I will email my number when I get it!! Well that’s all for now…I could write all day but I don’t want to bore anyone too much.
Please keep in touch!
En Paz
Lauren
By the way my new name here is Lorena =) 2月17日 DCHey All,
Well we were suppose to be in Honduras last Wednesday...but when we got to the airport our flight was canceled because of the ice. Usually it takes 6 months for Peace Corps to get 51 people on one flight, so they thought the soonest they could get us all on a flight would be Tuesday. But they ended up getting half of us out today and the rest of us (including me) are leaving tomorrow, Sunday. I have really enjoyed my time here in DC. We have had alot of time to get to know each other. Our group is really great and I know I will end up good friends with alot of them. On Thursday, a group of us went to the National History Museum and the Holocaust Museum and spent time in Georgetown. Today, the 25 of us that are still here are going to lunch with some returned Peace Corps Volunteers who lived in Honduras..so that should be fun and informative. It sounds like it is going to be really busy our first 3 months so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to get to the internet, but I will try to update this blog as often as I can.
Hugs,
Lauren 2月7日 Positive Pelham Article 1For as long as I can remember I have longed to travel the world, help where I am needed, and experien  ce other cultures. International volunteer work is my passion. I graduated from nursing school last May. I have been working on a pediatric floor at a hospital in Georgia since then. I went to Ghana, West Africa from September - November this past fall with Cross Cultural Solutions. There, I volunteered in a children’s ward and ran free blood pressure clinics in twelve villages.My experience there was very fulfilling because I was able to focus on my favorite aspect of medicine, public health. I believe everyone is capable of improving his or her own health when empowered through health education. For instance, most people I met in Ghana with extreme hypertension had no idea that diet and lifestyle play a major role in determining blood pressure. After learning to decrease their salt and palm oil intake, we saw improvements in there blood pressure, which really validated our clinics. In the U.S., we often take for granted internet access, books, and our many sour  ces of education. We are lucky that we live in a country where this information is so readily available. Also, I believe that healthcare is a basic human right; sadly, I have seen how few people in developing countries actually have access to health care. In countries where there is insufficient money to fund basic healthcare, the next best thing is to provide them with education on basic health promotion and disease prevention. My trip to Ghana was life-changing in that it changed my perspective and showed me how loving and generous people can be, even when stripped of their health, security, and worldly possessions.In one week I will be embarking on a new journey. I will be serving in the Peace Corps in Honduras for 27 months. I am part of the Health Program and have been nominated for HIV/AIDS educatio  n and child survival. I am hoping to pursue my passion for public health by educating Hondurans on how to improve their own health when access to healthcare is limited. I will be writing articles for Positive Pelham as often as I am able to get on the internet. I look forward to sharing about my life in Honduras, and I hope you enjoy experiencing Honduran culture along with me!In Peace, Lauren Positive PelhamI have been asked to write articles for an online news website while I am in Honduras. This website focuses only on the positive things that happen in the world. Considering all the negative, sad, hate-filled news stories we are constantly bombarded with each time we turn on the TV, I find this website to be very refreshing.
I am going to post my articles on this website, along with my journals, but I encourage you to visit Positive Pelham to read about some of the inspirational and uplifting things occuring throughout the world. There is also a free newsletter you can sign up for to be notified when the website is updated with new stories.
You can sign my guestbook and post comments through https://www2.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7600742&postID=8036042794277898761
Thanks!
Lauren
Peace CorpsI leave February 12th for the Peace Corps in Honduras!!!!!! |
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