Illness count as of December 08

7 bacterial infections
5 viruses (of which 1 I thought was dengue fever)
3 bouts with Giardia
3 really bad colds
2 instances on a bus where I really thought I would die of nausea
1 case of pinworms
1 case of head lice
1 case of "oxiuros..." still not sure exactly what that is but it was not pleasant
1 pink eye
1 fainting spell (at the high school, embarrassing!)
1 EColi infection
1 chronic allergy to dust and mold and perhaps the country of Honduras

And a partridge in a pear tree!

Kittens!!!! again

I have mentioned that I have kittens. I still have them and they´re still as cute as ever, and unfortunately I will be giving them away in a few weeks to an older couple in the city who will hopefully take care of them better than a San José family (who would likely starve them to death within two weeks, no offense to San José families but it´s true). As an homage to my little kittens who will soon no longer be mine, here are a few shots of Zarca and Sasha

If I were to send out a Christmas card it would be with this picture in front.

I didn´t want the kittens in my room and my bedroom door has no functioning doorknob. Genuis that I am, I thought tying a string between the nonfunctioning doorknob and a pole about 5 feet away. Thought it was a good idea... but alas the kittens just played with the string and it looked ridiculous to have this long string in my living room
Rossy, however, simply took my quickdry towel and wedged it in the door...


Problem solved!!!!! She´s smarter than me!!!!


Kittens caught in half-embrace

Kittens playing/fighting/scratching each other

A favorite pasttime, getting up on their hind legs like two little meerkats to look out the front door.

Lounging on the bed

Clausura

Last week was the sixth grade graduation/clausura, which I attended and was invited to sit at the principal table as a GUEST OF HONOR, ooh la la! They called me up, I sat next to the mayor, then I gave out a few diplomas to the students of my English class with the highest grades, and THEN had the class all sing “Head shoulders knees and toes” with me (the song I taught them), and in front of the adoring crowd. I think the song was the high point of the entire graduation, as our performance ended with a roaring applause. It was a ROARING applause! I and my friend were also asked to be godmothers to her two cousins. Now, the godmothers and godfathers of sixth-grade graduations in Honduras are not of the Mario Puzo variety. Really the only thing that being a godmother entails is giving the godkid a gift, taking a picture with them at graduation and going back to their house for dinner and cake. The two kids ended up eating their cake at my house since their house was far away from the center of town and it had no electricity, so my house was apparently a more happening place and more apt for cake eating. It was a good time had by all, overall. Here are a few shots of my dear “godsons.”

Happy day!!!!

Me with the kiddies

Rossy with the kiddies

Exon and Marlon with their fancypants framed diplomas

Kids, looking wiped out

Med Brigade

I helped out at a medical brigade earlier in November, a group of around 80 doctors and nurses who would be spending 5 days in the Comayagua area doing hearing tests, prosthetic fittings, community health, medical consults in various communities, and even surgeries. Lucky gal that I was, I got to help the eye doctor assess candidates for surgery, and later helped translate for the doctors and nurses in the operation room and PAC U!! (post-anesthetic care unit) It was a really terrific week, even in spite of my coming down with a nasty virus (so typical of me and my pathetic immune system). It was really eye-opening to get to see actual surgeries, C-sections, births of babies, hernia operations, the removal of spleens and gall bladders and uteri, oh my! It was so interesting to see the patients groggily coming out of anesthesia and the silly things they sometimes do (screaming, thrashing, vomiting, whispering bizarre things like “Where’s Oscar?” and “fear,” just the word “fear,” and one little girl even came out smiling!). I loved watching the nurses and doctors at work, the nurses knowing exactly how much morphine to give to calm them down, inundating the little kid patients with juice and Cheese Nips and beanie babies. It was really neat in my position to talk to the patients, as many were just looking for someone to talk to and since I had no responsibilities but to translate the most important things from one language to another, I was able to relax and listen their often-long stories. Finally, it was awesome to meet all theses wonderful doctors and nurses coincidentally from Arlington, VA, and hang out with other fellow PCV translators, and stay in the Comayagua Golf and Country Club and eat delicious American food prepared by their own COOKS, which they brought down with them! Again, I still ended up horribly ill, but it was seriously the best five days I’d had in a very long time. Hurray for med brigades!

Brrrrrrrrrrrr

Honduras has had a rough few months weatherwise. First came the hurricane season which was a little worse than normal this year. Then at the tail end of the season came a bad rainstorm (or a hurricane depending on who you asked, news tends to get a little garbled in San José) which triggered mudslides, flooding and quite a few bridges being washed away—including MINE. Yes, unfortunately my bridge going into Taulabé collapsed and floated downriver due to the heavy rains (luckily we now have a hanging bridge built, and right now the bus is fording the river with little problems, though I doubt that doing so will do any good to the bus).

Then came the frío. This cold spell started about a month ago, let up for about a week and a half, and now is back with a vengeance. It is COLD here. I’m not talking about it being in the 20s and snowing. However, it’s in the 50s and rainy and the shoddy construction of Honduran homes leads to the temperature always being the same whether you’re inside or outside. In essence, you can never get away from the cold. This I do not like. I don’t feel like taking cold bucket baths or even bucket baths with heated water because it still meant taking off sweatshirts and scarves and being cold for a few excruciating minutes. Washing clothes is out of the question because nothing ever dry. My pants were on the line for almost 2 weeks before they got semi-dry, and they ended up smelling like mold (thank God for my imported Febreze). With the added rain, electricity posts fall down and for awhile the power went out pretty much every day for at least 3 hours.

Luckily the weather turned sunny and beautiful for about three days before it went back to cold and miserable, so there were at least a few good days to wash clothes and air out the moldiness of the house. I swear, after these two years, I will never ever take for granted again the joy of a hot shower, insulated housing, fireplaces and central heating. Anyone reading this who possesses any of the abovementioned items, know that you’re lucky as hell.