yellow.

on the way to el paraiso last week, we drove through a valley filled with trees out of a dream. they were leaf-less trees with huge bombas of yellow flowers. as a dear friend of mine will recall, yellow is very simply the happiest color. these were the happiest trees i have ever seen in my life.

i should highlight something i have failed to discuss about honduran transportation. i briefly mentioned riding to training on a yellow school bus but certainly did not give enough details. the "mass transportation" here are pimped out, old-school (and simply old) yellow school buses from the states. pimped out? they are fitted with chrome grills, wings and usually have an after-market sub system. picture to follow..

i have spent the last week learning more spanish, hiking and doing field studies in these beautiful coffee mountains and getting to know my new host family. i am living with a mother, her three children (23, 21, 16) and two 16-year-old girls who rent out a room to go to the nearby catholic school. my host mother has years of being a watchful mother and has taken me in as one of her own.

what's next, you may ask? i will be here for 6 more weeks at which point i will find out my permanent site. (this cannot be understated - i obsess with finding out where and with whom i will be placed for the next two years.) i will then return to las canadas for one week with the entire training group before our swearing in ceremony the following friday.

also, thank you for all the comments, emails, letters and packages. they provide more support than i could ever begin to describe.