Do not pass go, do not collect $200

I'm not gonna lie, the past few weeks have been very difficult.  We are restricted in what we can do and have been getting limited information about the next steps.  We are being asked to leave this country that we now call home, without warning or closure.

In a lot of ways I feel like I just lost a game -- I picked the "go to jail" card in Monopoly, hit the snake in chutes and ladders, or drew Plumpy in Candy Land.  I've worked hard to get where I am in terms of work projects, furnishing my apartment, and building personal relationships, and now I am sliding backwards without reaching the finish, and unable to do anything about it.

Even within the context of this Peace Corps pullout, I got unlucky.  Many volunteers were permitted to take their pre-approved vacations, but since my visitor was a friend (not family) and we were traveling within Honduras (not to a safer country), we were forced to cancel our plans.  I also had to cancel a much-anticipated training with the staff of Plan, on a small business curriculum, since it was in La Esperanza and would require me to leave my site.  It was tough not being able to visit my office to say goodbye to my counterparts there.

The plus side to all of this is that I really do like my town, and aside from the above frustrations (which were plenty), I did not mind spending three weeks here.  We even made the best of Amy's vacation -- helped with a service event at Georgetown, played soccer with family, went to the President's birthday party, made tamales on Christmas Eve, picked coffee with one of the colegio teachers, and spent a VERY festive New Years with my host mom's extended family.  It was nice being in my site for the holiday season.

But overall it has been a whirlwind -- one minute I am running around town, the next I am infuriated, the next I am too sad to get out of bed.  Random things make me want to cry, and things that used to annoy me are suddenly endearing (except Rooster still annoys me).  Three weeks was a really awkward amount of time to say goodbye (a fellow volunteer described it as doing a slow waltz out of a burning building).  I stayed in denial for as long as possible, but it's finally time to leave.

We leave on Thursday for a closing conference in Tegucigalpa with PC Washington staff, and supposedly everyone flies back to the states on Monday the 16th.  I'll close with a photo journey of the past few weeks.

Esperanza puts on an annual event at her house where the Georgetown families donate clothes and toys to poor kids in the neighborhood.

Pepe Lobo came to town for his birthday, and we got to meet him again.

The high school had its graduation, and I went with my host parents to a student's grad party.

My host family took me and Amy to their milpa, or corn field.

They also taught us how to make tamales.

The family on Christmas Eve.

My host family also took us to the new water treatment plant, which boasts a great view of town.