23. January 2009 by Fortunato Velasquez.

Four weeks to go.  I am in process of squeezing my life into two check-in bags and one carry-on bag.  Moving day is February 14th: all my belongings to be shoe-horned into a 10 x 12-foot storage locker.  Departure date is February 24, 2009.

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20. January 2009 by Fortunato Velasquez.

On this, my new president’s inauguration day, I give thanks that the forces of reason, intellect, integrity and competence have prevailed over the past eight years of small-minded, ignorant, mendacious and self-serving pseudo-patriots who have plunged my country down a reckless path of economic uncertainty, disrespect for the rule of law and our constitutional heritage, abrogation of human rights, and downright corruption of the political process in an effort to pursue their nefarious ends.  With a long-forgotten sense of pride I will reach my new posting in Honduras motivated to promote those ideals for which our country has served as the vanguard of liberty and democracy and as a multi-racial beacon to the law-abiding world.  Let freedom ring!

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17. January 2009 by Fortunato Velasquez.

My initial plans for posting in-country may be complicated by erratic internet service.  I have learned that ATT Worldwide Gobal Satellite Wireless Internet provision (the only provider available from within the U.S.) excludes the country of Honduras.  That leaves me with the options of relying on WiFi internet cafes or other WiFi sites, and pay-per-use internet sites.  I have traveled in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula several times and pay-per-use sites were all over the place for very nominal fees.  Everything depends, of course, on where my permanent posting will be.  If my assignment is in a rural, outlying area where the Peace Corps tells me they will provide me with a horse or a donkey to see clients, my posts may not be weekly.  There is, however, another possibility.  I may be able to locate an ISP after I arrive in Honduras.  Our training class of 50 new volunteers will be stationed in Tegucigalpa, the capital, for three months to prepare us for language training and the transition to a new culture and environment.  This is definitely a challenge I will address as soon as I hit the ground.

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14. January 2009 by Fortunato Velasquez.

Learning how to maintain my new website under my daughter Andrea’s tutelage is an exercise that will require much instruction over the five weeks before I leave Seattle for my assignment.  It will be necessary for me to absorb all this new info in small chunks.  All my resource persons will be here and I will be there so I must learn to be as self-reliant as possible.  Today - writing posts and transferring all the info in my old computer onto my new Lenovo X60 ThinkPad.  My next lesson will be learning how to post photos from my new digital camera.  This Peace Corps assignment is definitely an enhanced learning curve in more ways than one.  Just what the doctor ordered.  Thanks Dr. Menzies, thanks Dr. Simpson, for helping me through the rigorous physical and dental examination processes.  The Peace Corps’ qualification and selection process is demanding.  Only about one in three applicants becomes a trainee; and 9 out of 10 trainees successfully complete pre-service training and are sworn-in as Volunteers.

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14. January 2009 by Fortunato Velasquez.

It begins! … December 23rd, the day. You have been assigned to Honduras, the Peace Corps Placement Specialist informed me on the day before Christmas Eve: welcome news after 14 months. I would like my readers to accompany me on a two-year journey sure to stimulate a thinking person’s interest. My plan is to blog narrative and one photo weekly as I begin my duties with the Honduras Ministry of Health. As a member of a public health team I will be addressing the issues of HIV/AIDS education and prevention as a Health Educator: estimated date of departure from the U.S.- February 24, 2009. My family is, of course, inherent to all my steps. Welcome as well, the accompaniment of friends, and colleagues at Seattle’s Pike Market Medical Clinic, Swedish Medical Center, HealthPoint Community Health Centers, Seattle-King County Public Health Dept, and California’s Tulare County Public Health Dept. To all reading this blog: Welcome.

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