I have a guardian angel in my bedroom. He´s got leathery-beige lizard skin and the wicked grin of the Guy Fawkes masks in V for Vendetta. More importantly, he keeps the mosquitos and roaches (the bane of my existence in Santa Lucia) at bay. This is a good thing, as one of my Spanish class companeros was laid out for five days last week with the dreaded Dengue. I would trade that for a dapper gecko buddy and day of the week, especially since he chirps like a little bird.

Last week was Holy Week, or Semana Santa, and so we got five days off to celebrate with our host families. This consisted of much hanging out, eating and walking around Sabanagrande. One night I did Tequila shots with my host brother and his friends... at the mayor´s house. This was quite an occasion, as I generally would not allow myself to be seen drinking more than two or three beers in public; ¨moderation¨and ¨drinking¨ are unrelated concepts here. Other days I went out for walks and coffee with Peace Corps people. There was a live reenactment of crucifixion (no lambs of god were harmed in the production) and a procession over a portrait of Jesus made of painted sawdust. It struck me as being similar to Tibetan Buddhist mandalas, not only in the materials and methods but also in the creation-destruction-rebirth meaning. Then we went to the beach in Choluteca, which is two hours south of Sabanagrande on the Pacific coast. The black sand was excruciatingly hot (Choluteca beaches are not as nice as those in neighboring Valle or on the North coast), but the plump Tilapia I washed down with a few cold beers was fantastic. Fish is generally served as a whole fish here -head to tail- which makes for a much more visceral dining experience.

Last week I implored people to send there love, but neglected to provide an address. So without further delay, here ´tis:

Voluntario del Cuerpo de Paz
Andrew Savoy-Burke
Apartado Postal 3158
Tegucigalpa, D.C. 11102
Honduras, Central America

Central America. Ain´t that just nifty?