No, they used to ROAST dad because they thought he had a sense of humor about himself...

...but he doesnt and neither do you.

Hey everyone, I just broke out the old Arrested Development DVDs for the first time in a couple months (this is why my entry titles have been hurting lately) and came across one of the Christmas episodes...how fitting. I have nothing poetic or profound to say here but I did want to tell you all (except for those of you who I dont know) how grateful I am to have friends and family like you. But thats about as mushy as I want to get. I will be here in my site for Navidad and then who knows where for the new year--if I do something cool I'll be sure to bring mr. camera along to document it. Otherwise, I want to wish everyone a merry christmas and happy new year! Take care of yourselves and enjoy being around your friends and family! Much love from Honduras.
Joe

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

Its been a brief bit of time since my last entry but in lieu of writing a novel I thought I would bridge the gap with some pictures. Ok, the first few come from that village I described feeling very peaceful at, the one where the church (where I slept) overlooked the soccer field which overlooked valley below...

This is an afternoon shot...

...and this one is bright and early in the morning.

This is an image of the village itself, and you can really see the majority of it here:

And then finally some sunset shots I couldnt pass up...

The next few come from a study I was doing for another village, this one six kilometers to the east of Victoria. Unfortunately the fuente, or water source, for their system is another five and a half kilometers to the north of my town. And because of the massive hills in between, there is no cutting a shorter path between the two points; five and a half km from fuente to Victoria, then six more to their town. This past week we were only able to finish the first leg but it is the harder of the two--anyway, more later. Now the pictures...

A field along the way to the water source...

This is us cutting a path and taking measurements as we slowly work our way back to my town...

...and this is a great shot above Victoria one day as we were returning.

Its been a strange and hectic few weeks since my last entry. First off there was Thanksgiving and while my sitemate Gen and I were out of town celebrating that with friends in different towns, her house was broken into. Not fun at all. The day she found out and returned to Victoria her dog had eight pups, so there was that going on at the same time. She is much better now but was understandably in a bit of a haze for awhile there, not really wanting to do much of anything. Right after that happened I had a rush of work things come together and for three weeks straight was in three different villages, either making repairs to existing topo study problems or initiating studies. It was great to be so busy and get some very good work done but I am glad to be at home in Victoria doing computer work this week. OK, thats it for the moment--I have to run but will say hi again before Navidad! I hope everyone is well.

Joe