Holidays

Long time no talk, let's get caught up on things. Currently it is January 1st, 2010 and I am finishing up a two week break back home in California. Tomorrow I fly back to Honduras until June to complete the school year.

I think I stopped blogging a couple weeks before our Christmas break and so let's pick up there........those weeks consisted of tests, projects, and getting progress reports turned in. In the final days before the break, however, we enjoyed pre-Christmas parties, a Secret Santa gift-exchange, good-byes to our short-term volunteer and my roommate, Danielle, and last but not least, a Christmas show.


The Christmas Show was a reinactment of the birth of Jesus, complete with a manger scence, student actors, the entire student body singing Christmas carols, and a live donkey.

We used a gym in town and decorated it for all the parents to sit, eat and enjoy. The kids did well in the reinactment and songs, and I think the parents enjoyed it as well.

They even let me accompany the student body with my guitar while they sang their songs.

So the time before the break was good, but all of us volunteers were more than ready to get back to the states to see family and friends (and enjoy the pleasures we had been missing since we came to Honduras like showers with hot water, home-cooked meals, etc.) This picture is of the day I arrived back in San Francisco. My folks, Michael and Kathy and her folks had lunch and chomped some chocolate.

Back in Santa Rosa, I spent my days doing things I consider "vacation"...running in Annadel State Park, sleeping in, seeing friends and family, and did I mention taking hot showers :-)

Christmas was great and New Years was as well. We had some close family friends come up to visit. Here's Elizabeth (long time family friend and now girlfriend of my older brother Kevin) making Bailtini's (Bailey's made into a martini)...too strong for my taste.

The ladies (my mom, Emily, Madeleine and Amy) having fun while cooking.

And boy did they cook!

And then on News Years Eve we hiked some more in Annadel State Park.

We discovered some redwoods along the way. Here's lumber jack Ben...

and the hiking crew trying to stay in frame.

Our time together wasn't without some minor gliches. Here is Elizabeth's car at Les Schwab's after the breaks went out....no accident luckily.

But that didn't keep our spirits down.

After the break incident, we grabbed some lunch...

up in beautiful wine country, Healdsburg,

and then went wine tasting!

(sorry about the format). I learned that when people swirl the wine in their glasses they are letting it "breath" instead of seeing who can make the coolest whirlpool effect :-)

Salud!

Later that night Emily and the rest of us enjoyed Ed's guitar playing....

food...

presents.... (my older brother Kevin)

(more presents)... (Steve and Amy - my god-parents and longtime family friends)

converstation....

and each other's company. (The Karbousky's, Duncan's and Gallagher's)

Actually it was a double celebration because it was Steve's birthday ... he was turning 25 :-)

We ended the first decade of the new millennium playing "The Game" (similar to the game telephone but only using written word and pictures).

And what better way to bring in the new year than Ed playing his bagpipes in his full Irish regalia.

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Leaving for Honduras tomorrow, I already know I will miss my family incredibly. However, this vacation, like all things, will pass and life goes on. We just have to learn to live in each moment and cherish the memories.

Hope your holidays were wonderful and your new year is full of joy and love.

(next entry will be from Honduras)

A Honduran Thanksgiving

In case you were curious how a handful of North Americans might celebrate Thanksgiving in Juticalpa, Honduras, allow me to explain how we did it.

The morning began with a few of us going for a run.

That's right...Juticalpa Turky Trot 2K9

Then we cooked all day. It was a potluck. My house brought roles and veggies. Carlos, one of the Olancho Aid staff had to go the capital, Tegucigalpa, three hours away to get the turkey (pavo). In this picture is Annie, our principal, Sarah, the pre-school and kindergarten volunteer and me. The turkey cut like butter!

Carlos pointing out his personal touch to the food table to Kate, the 4th grade volunteer.

It was quite a feast!

Cheque (the common term used in Honduras to mean just about anything you agree with).

We sat around, talked, ate and later played some Apples to Apples.

Here we all are...happy and thankful.

Hope your Thanksgiving went well too.

Las Cuevas de Talgua

We volunteers have spending a good amount of time making lesson plans, grading papers and doing the things required of a teacher. We thought it would be a healthy idea to get away from it all and so we asked one of the administrators here at Olancho Aid, Francisco, if there was anything we could get out and do. So Francisco came up with an idea...hiking the caves in the nearby town of Talgua.


Here is Francisco with his girlfriend, Roxanna...




and this is Francisco's family's front porch...I could get used to that.



Arriving the at park where the caves were.



A nice trail...


next to a beautiful river...


surrounded by a beautiful forest



Into the depths...


the ceiling was not very tall...

although it was great to look at...


really cool to look at.

There were even little caves within the cave...


and intricate stalagmites (estalagmitas)...


The guide (guia) led us to "The Cathedral" which earned its name because of the high ceiling and and numerous stalactites (estalactitas). It was quite impressive...


as were the walls further along on our exploration.


Danielle.


Those must have taken a long time to form...


in fact, at the farthest point into the caves we came to a place where the guide told us that just a little farther up the path was an ancient grave yard for the people who used to live here 900 B.C.

It was kind of eerie...especially when the bats flew by us, which I couldn't get a picture of. But the scariest thing of all was

just kidding.

We then followed the river back to the entrance of the cave.

We made it!

This was the visitor center...check out the growth on the roof.

There was coffee growing outside.

That about wrapped up our trip to the caves, although we took a minute to dip our feet in the river. The girls being silly on the card ride home.

Dia de los Muertos

Today was Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) or All Soul's Day here in Honduras (and I believe all over Latin America). This is a day when families go to the cemetery to spend time with their deceased relatives.

They bring flowers...

to decorate the graves with.

The families make the cemetery look lively.

This is Annie, her husband and family as well as Danielle, another volunteer.

The families might spend a good part of the day here.

They chat, eat and straighten up their relative's grave.

There were quite a number of people.

Just hanging out on Dia de los Muertos.