Time for an Update

Well, I have recently started helping with a research/survey project with my organization, Providence World Ministries. We started last week by going through the neighboring community of Aguas del Padre to conduct interviews at each house in the community. We have already done 130 houses so we're off to a good start! One of the purposes of the survey is so that Providence can discover what children are in the community to determine who will be eligible to enter their school next year. We are also asking questions about the living conditions in Aguas del Padre, such as whether they have water or electrity, if they purify their drinking water, or what type of materials their houses are made out of, in order to learn about their needs in this region. It has been a very interesting experience, although I have not actually been the one doing the interviews. My Spanish has greatly improved since being here, but I am not at the point where I feel comfortable conducting interviews!

I am also excited because next week is Honduras' independence day and I am looking forward to being a part of the celebration. There are normally marches in every city in Honduras as the children from each school march through their town or city playing instruments in celebration. However, I have been told that because of the political situation (which is still unresolved!) the celebration will be much smaller. Apparently they are not allowed to have the big marches because the authorities do not want large gatherings of people, since that is usually when problems arise. So I am a little disappointed about that, but I am still looking forward to the smaller celebrations that I will be able to be a part of.

Wow, Talk About a Trip!

Well, the past two and a half weeks I have been traveling around Honduras with two amazing friends, Jenna and Faith, doing about every activity imaginable! We went into the jungle in La Ceiba to go white water rafting and horseback riding. We actually ended up doing two rafting trips, one which were class 3 and 4 rapids and another which were class 4 and 5 (intense!)! We then headed off to an island in the Caribbean called Utila where we went through a four day coarse to become certified scuba divers! After, we headed off to Copan where we walked through Mayan ruins and then did zip lining. Then, since we had an extra day and we were so close to Guatemala, we decided to take a six hour bus ride to hike a volcano! And all along the way we met amazing and crazy people from all over the world! It was such an incredible experience and something that I will remember for the rest of my life!

Our jungle cabin in La Ceiba

Getting instructions for our first white water rafting trip!

First we jumped off some rocks on a river hike and then got in the boat for rafting!

We lost Faith on this one! (Well, we lost her from the boat I mean!!)

Our guide, Sonny, trying to flip our boat! Ha, nice try!

We were all told to go to the front of the raft and paddle full on toward this rapid! I'm not sure Jenna quite enjoyed it, but Sonny did!

Horseback riding on the beach, amazing!!

Class 5 rapids, here we come!!

We had a couple scary moments, but it was so fun!

Our guides Janet and Daniel!

The beautiful Caribbean

Scuba diving

We actually went back to La Ceiba for a day on our way to Copan and we went rock jumping. It was very high.

The Mayan ruins at Copan

Zip lining in Copan

Jenna doing the Superman!

Our day trip to Guatemala to hike the volcano. It was raining the whole way up and we had to turn around five minutes from the top because we couldn't see a thing!!! Sad day! The rain was hitting the lava and producing a thick cloud of steam so there was absolutely no visibility. But it was still a blast and on the way down the clouds cleared a little and we could see some of the lava flowing down the side! Still worth it!

Pictures!

So here are the pictures that it has taken me forever to post! This is a small glimpse into what I have been doing the past three and a half weeks!















This is the dining hall and school at the Providence campus up in the hills of Siguatepeque, where I will be interning later this summer.
















With friends at the Providence dining hall for a community party with the children from the school and their families. On the left is Elizabeth Holliday, the sister of my supervisor, who will be here all summer. In the middle is Bethany who was an intern as well but who had to leave last week due to the political situation.
















Lake Yojoa on the way to San Pedro Sula from Siguatepeque.
















A view of the countryside right down the street from my host home.
















A guard dog, perhaps?
















Horses walking down the middle of the street, a common occurance!





















I was able to go to a beautiful waterfall with one of the mission teams before they had to leave and it was incredible! We were able to go down under the waterfall to go swimming and rock jumping!























































After going to the waterfall we went to this amazing restaurant/hotel and while we were waiting for our food we walked around and took pictures.



































It was so beautiful!!































With Elizabeth and Jorge, who works for Providence as well, on a rickety bridge with the breathtaking mountains in the background!
















With Cindy at a church baptism and picnic.
















Karaoke, of course!