A Gringa No Brasil

At the beginning of this month, I finally moved into my new apartment. There are still a few repairs left to be done, but the major stuff is all finished and it’s livable. I’m still working on getting all the necessary furniture, but in the meantime I was hoping you all could help me with the decoration. My walls are sad and empty and waiting to be filled with postcards from you! I’m stealing this idea from another volunteer because it’s a genius, cheap way to add some color and love to my new home. It doesn’t matter if you’re not going on vacation any time soon – just send me one from wherever you’re living. Doesn’t matter what the picture is either, as long as it’s nothing scandalous (these are getting hung up in my living room). For those of you that don’t have my address, you can find it on my Facebook page, or just ask me. It’s the same as during training, minus the “PCT” since I’m no longer a Peace Corps Trainee.

Other than the lack of decoration, I love my new place. It’s nothing fancy, but it works for me. There’s a front room that serves as both my living room and kitchen, and the second room is my bedroom. There’s also an outdoor area in back that is walled in. That’s where you can find the bathroom, clotheslines, and pila (big cement box of water that functions as my sink, washing machine, and dishwasher). It’s nice having my own space and finally being able to cook for myself. Buying meals from other people is a big drain on the limited allowance that I get every month.

This past weekend Cantarranas held its 15^th annual festival of traditional Honduran food. Five other volunteers came to check it out so I got to host my first house guests and party. We had a great time, and the food was delicious. My mayor, who loves everything Peace Corps, even arranged to get us free meal vouchers. Thanks Paquito! It was ridiculously hot, but that didn’t stop people from coming in droves from Tegucigalpa and other nearby communities. The temperature was probably in the mid 90s. Add to that hundreds of people and lots of stoves cooking up Honduran specialties, and the heat became oppressive. None of the Hondurans seemed too fazed by it, though. I, on the other hand, was sweating so much that it looked like I had just come from the town pool. I held out through the parade at noon and then went back home to nap in front of the fan until the town cooled off a bit. Technically I was a member of the festival committee and should’ve been helping out all weekend, but since my website and promotional duties were finished, I left the rest of the logistics to the people that have been doing this for the past 15 years. They were still nice enough to give me a certificate for my efforts though :) If you click over to the photo page, there’s a link to my Facebook album of pictures from the festival, and pictures of my new apartment can be found in the album “super tranquilo”.