Quite a Year

I think the title says it all. :)

As you know, I have moved to Panama.. SO, I can't go about having a HollieInHonduras blog anymore. This is my last post here.. Please check out my new location, for a fresh start, at:


http://hollieinpanama.wordpress.com/


I started it a little while ago, but I thought it was not best to debut it until I had wrapped things up here. :)

Love you all, and thank you for following me on my blog. Over 4,000 views. Dang!

Talk soon, and stay in touch!!

hollie.roberts@gmail.com


(one of my last visits to Zurzular, Honduras.. The Honduran community of my heart :) )

My Despedida... Wow..

So, as I have mentioned, new job opportunity has come and my time in Honduras had to come to an end. Many of us are leaving/have left GB this season. I had a joined despedida (farewell party) with my friend John. Here are the details:

La Despedida de John y Hollie


Time
Saturday, May 28 at 6:00pm - May 29 at 2:00am

Location
Nuestro Apartemento y Habia Una Vez

More Info
ENGLISH
John and Hollie will be peacing out of Honduras next Wednesday, June 1st. Come say goodbye (or see you later) the right way this Saturday. We will start with drinking games at the apartments at 6 (BYOB) followed by our take over of Habia Una Vez around 10:00pm.

ESPAÑOL
John y Hollie ya se van de Honduras el proximo miercoles, el primer de junio. Ven a despedirse de ellos en buena forma (de fiesta!) este sabado. Vamos a empezar esta noche sabado con bebidas y juegos en nuestro apartamento a las 6 de la noche, y despues vamos a Habia Una Vez a las 10!


We actually hung out and played one game around 8 then headed out around 10:30PM/11PM. Habia Una Vez ("Once Upon A Time") is one of our favorite bars. There was a band that night, so the crowd was great. I felt so lucky to spend time with friends and have some goodbyes. :)

My friend Christina was in town visiting us (she worked for GB last summer), and she was kind enough to document the night and make sure I got pics with everyone. SO NICE! Thanks, Christina!

Found this on StumbleUpon.

DONE!

I just finished my last work day with Global Brigades. WHOAAA!!! What a crazy ride!

I don't know what to do with myself. I don't know how to be not glued to my computer... haha



Enjoy your weekend!

PANAMA!

It's time for a serious life update. Things are a changin', and I'm excited.

I am officially not working with Global Brigades after May 2011, however I just accepted a volunteer position with an organization called Niños de Azuero, which is based in Chitré, Panama. The organization does a lot of great health and environmental projects all over the area. I will doing hands-on work like I've wanted to do SOO badly all year. I'll be leading Charlas (aka lessons on health), and other small focus group sessions. We'll also be doing recycling projects and planting trees (the Oregonian me is very happy). Also, we work with sea turtle projects. :) All I know is that my Spanish should kick ass after this. I told the organization founder, Amanda, that I'm cool with staying through the summer and then we'll plan more from there. She wants me to stay through the end of the year if not longer.

Geography Lesson of the Day:
Azuero is the peninsula you'll see circled below


Here is a closer look at the peninsula. :) You'll see Chitré up on the top right. Circled here are all the communities we currently work in. ROAD TRIP!!


I'm also excited that people know where Panama is.. Well, I hope they do. Now hopefully people will know that I live in Central America and not South America..

IF - I live in Honduras
AND - I've never been to South America
THEN - Honduras is not in South America


Now back to Panama.. :) ... For all of the fam who is worried about my financial well-being. Housing and a stipend (to cover food and then some) will be provided.

This was a pretty sloppy blog posting, but I just wanted to keep you all in the know. More updates to come!

Have a great day!
Hollie

Plastic.. :(

This world issue just really gets to me. urg.

Public Health Brigade Video. WORTH WATCHING

Hey!

Every season here at Global Brigades we have DOZENS and DOZENS of groups come down and work with us on different projects. Be it Public Health, Medical, Microfinance, Architecture, Water, or Dental projects, all of these students make an impact in the communities. As well, these students are greatly impacted. Here we say "Students empowering communities. Communities empowering students." It truly goes both ways. In fact, I was victim of this. June 2009 I came down with Oregon State for our first Medical Brigade and I was hooked. Look at me now, working for Global Brigades in Honduras. This stuff is addictive!

Below you will see a video made by a Marquette student. Marquette has been volunteering with GB the longest. In fact, they were GB's first brigade ever. They volunteered with us this past March on a Public Health Brigade. See the video below for a great recap of their work.

Public Health Identity from Jordan Abudayyeh on Vimeo.

If you like this video and want to see a slightly more in depth and very moving discussion by Marquette student on Public Health Brigades, click HERE.

Have a great day!
Hollie

Personal favorite

“We are afraid to care too much, for fear that the other person does not care at all.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

My housemates keep getting packages..

Anyone feel like sending me something? I'm starting to feel left out. hahah....

No, but really...

Hollie Roberts
c/o Global Brigades Inc.
Colonia Miraflores 12 ave. B 49 fte.
En Frente del Convento Sagrada Familia
Casa 3715
Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.
Honduras, C.A.




Yes, I'm being greedy. Note: it can get expensive quickly to send things here.

I'm leaving here in a little over a month. The clock's ticking. ;)


Love,
your needy friend, Hollie

This photo just makes me happy ... :)

Beautiful Zurzular, Honduras ♥

St. Lucia

As my time with Global Brigades Honduras has come closer and closer to an end, we, some staff members and I, have created a bucket list. If you're not familiar with a bucket list, it is a list of things we each want to do before we leave Honduras. On the top of mine was "Visit Santa Lucia," a small town about 30 minutes outside of the city. This cute town is known for being safe with several coffee shops, a lake, central park, nice mountain view, and a few local stores.

For 11 limpiras each way (just over 50 cents), Christina and I decided to make a day of the little town.

On the bus ride there :)

The town was quaint, just as we imagined. We visited on a Monday, so there weren't many people around. It was quite a sleepy place. However, we had our fun. Especially when meeting local animals. Below, you'll meet the puppy we fell in love with. ♥

-Almost all photos taken by the talented Christina H.-






















easy, relaxing, lovely day. :)

Semana Santa to the island of Utila!

Hi friends,

So recently in Honduras we celebrated Semana Santa ("Holy Week"), which takes place the week before Easter. Basically all of Latin America goes on vacation. Some return to their homes or churches to experience a week of repentance, meditation, and overall spirituality, while the rest of the people go on vacation and let loose. I'll let you guess what experience I took part in..

My friend Morgan came down to travel with me. Morgan and I worked together for 2 years at Allann Brother's Coffee, "The Bean," in Corvallis. We've been very close ever since. I had in my sights to visit one of two places for the holy week: Guatemala or the North Honduran Caribbean Coast. Utila, a small island known for backpackers and your travelers, is an inexpensive get-away. After a few Skype calls before Morgan's arrival, we decided this would be the perfect exploration location for us. Follow our journey through photos below:


Ready to leave for the bus station at 4:30AM. We were on about 1 to 2 hours of sleep in this one. Not looking toooo bad. haha. My friend, Ever, had given us a great tour of Tegucigalpa the night before, so we were up pretty late. WORTH IT. :)


We packed lots of fruits and veggies, as well as pb&j, lychee juice, and cheetos. ;) YUM! grocery costs - about 500 limps ($25)


Let the adventure BEGIN! taxi to bus station - 100 limps ($5)


On the bus! Supposed to be around 6 to 7 hours. Ended up being around 8 1/2 hours. ugh. - 2 one way bus tickets to La Ceiba, Honduras - 480 limps ($24)


Our vomit machine ferry. We actually managed to NOT vomit on the ferry.. At least in this direction. One way ferry ride to Utila 450ish limps ($22.50ish)


Acting appropriately on the ferry ;)


Mango breakfast!


Our humble abode :D





BIKE RENTAL!!!!! Oh, how I've missed my bike! - Bike rental 'til 6PM - 100 limps ($5)


Awesome local kids, Stephanie and Lindsey. :) We played with them for a few hours. I translated. They were great. We played tag and told stories. :) Local experience - PRICELESS




Playing soccer :) :) :)



Bike ride adventures :)



Salamander in fruit vendors stand. haha



Daiquiris at sunset. This is the life... :)


CINNAMON ROLL!!! She was excited. haha


Life on a traveler's budget. haha. I've gotten used to it. ;)


The LOVE of my life, coconut water. Nature's gatorade with so many electrolites.


Beach volleyball!


Then we rented one of these!!! - 500 limps for the entire day ($25 each)




Found this awesome beach, with this awesome dog on it! Meet Shep!




This restaurant was called "The Jade Seahorse." Although it was not open when we stopped by, we explored it's AMAZING mosaic interior. I could have lived there, thus having the most amazing home of all time!







Norma ♥ . She owned our hostel along with her husband Will. She was 92 while her husband was 90. They were AMAZING and called us their second set of kids. :)


We stopped in La Ceiba on the way back and hung out with Ever (on the right) and his friends. We had a great night hanging out at their beach house, swimming in the ocean, and playing games.

Overall we had a great time! I definitely got a great Honduran experience (surprisingly one of my first times really seeing the country). I recommend this island to anyone. :D