Natural Resources:
Alison Lyon [Holloran]
Andrea Becht [Cowles]
Angela Martin
Bill Jackson
Christy McCain
Dan Kjeldsen
Darryl York*
Gina Harris [Espinoza]
Heather Henry
Jason Beason
Jennifer Collingwood [Chavez]
Jen Smith [Tripathy]
Kerry Noonan
Randy Farnum
Sam Fieldling (website)
Steve Woerner
Wendy Robertson-Woerner

Environmental Education:
Adriana LaCorte [Maher]
Amanda Austin
Amy Cahill*
Ben Harris
Bill Grandi*
Chris Holcomb
Gail Fox
Josh Millard
Kim Hanley
Marlo Cohen
Mike Smith
Mindy Habicht*
Nathan Nebbe*
Peggy Kokesch [Eiden]
Scott Worland
Shari Davis*
Tanya Stiers

Primary & Special Education:
Erin Roche
Leslie Lazar
Lorena Reyes
Luis Velez Cruz*
Maria Anderson [Sanborn]
Mary Andrade

Health:
Jane Wiedenboerner*
Susan Bacheller

*Need Contact Info!!

Community Meeting of Moskito & Pech Peoples at Christy's MOPAWI Hut in 1996
Las Marias, Gracias a Dios, Honduras

Website Purpose:

(a) Get back in touch with our old friends
(b) Find out what everyone is up to 10 yrs later
(c) Reunion: July 3-6 2009 (Pictures below)

Hi ya’ll—I hope you are all doing well and that this finds you enjoying life. I have recently spent time with Leslie Lazar who lives in Albuquerque, and just got back from a trip to Paonia, Colorado where I saw Kerry Noonan, Jason Beason, and Jen Collingwood [Chavez]. We talked about old friends & experiences, and were inspired to try to contact everyone and hear what they are up to. Plus it would be so fun to see all your faces at a reunion slated for 4th of July weekend 2009 for those that are interested.

So I will start this off. What am I doing now? I finished my PhD a few years ago studying mammals on mountains in Costa Rica and have pursued the academic track, which means that since PC Honduras I have lived in 3 countries, 3 different US states, and am practically destitute! But I thank my luck stars—I just started at the University of Colorado, Boulder as an assistant professor in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, and as curator of vertebrates in the CU Natural History Museum. This job couldn’t be more perfect for me, so I super happy! I still play soccer, but am more of a runner these days. Other fun things I do when not working: hiking, backpacking, tai chi, drawing, reading, sports sports and more sports, eating, drinking and being merry. What I am hoping for in the future: time for peace and reflection; moments of ecstasy and freedom; a few more pints of Guinness; and to see all your smiling faces again and hear all your new stories.    [July 2007]

********************************************************************************

Peace Corps has been on my mind a lot these days as I'm taking my family down to Corpus [Honduras] for 10 days at the end of August. I can't wait. I've been back once, but this time will be pretty different since I'm taking my 2 1/2 year old and 1 year old with me. Should be interesting.What can I report to you on my end? I have settled (finally) this past year in Napa, CA. Before that, well, let's see, where to begin? After Peace Corps I ended up in Des Moines, IA (of all places) working at a domestic violence shelter as a court advocate for battered immigrant women. Fabulous job. I was very lucky to fall into it and find a true passion. Why Iowa you may ask? I moved there to be with Peter (who you may have met when he came down to Honduras to visit me). He had gotten a job with the Iowa Democratic Party during the presidential campaign, and I figured, why not? I had nowhere else to go.

After 2 years in Iowa we moved to Andorra, Europe to "teach English" and basically travel around Northern Spain and Southern France and ski and just have fun. We hooked up with the school in Andorra through Erin Roche. After a year there, we moved to Washington, DC. I continued my work with domestic violence, now on the national level, working at the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence in their public policy office. Very cool, very interesting, and very frustrating. After 2 years of that I headed to law school at Temple Univ. in Philadelphia. Peter headed to business school at Kellogg in Chicago, Kellogg in Chicago, so we spent the next 2 years apart. Law school was great. I know , nobody says that, but I loved it for some strange reason. I also loved living in Philadelphia. It's a great city, I highly recommend it as a place to visit. I organized a trip to Cuba while in law school, which was amazing. And I spent one summer working at a fabulous civil rights/defense law firm and another summer doing the big firm thing.

Marlo Cohen & Family
mcohen@legalaidnapa.org
Location: Napa, CA
Cell phone: 707.205.7111
Home phone: 707.256.3465

Peter moved to Philadelphia during my third year of school, after his graduation. We got married Peter moved Philadelphia during my third year of school, after his graduation. We got married (finally, after knowing each other for 12 years) 2 days after my law school graduation. Fabulous low key wedding in Vermont. We rented out a B&B in the mountains and had about 30 people hang out up there with us over the Memorial Day weekend. I spend a year as a law clerk for a Federal District Court Judge in Philadelphia after graduation, then I stuck around the courthouse and clerked for a Third Circuit Judge. Both amazing men and jurists, it was a great experience.

Peter had been working in Marketing on baby products at Johnson and Johnson all that time, and in 2005 he decided he'd rather be marketing something he was passionate about -- wine. So after an extensive jobsearch he landed a job here in Napa. We moved here in January of 2006.

Probably the most amazing thing that has happened to me during all of this is the fact that I have 2 beautiful kids. Our daughter, Ilenia, was born on October 20, 2004 during my second year of clerking. She is incredible, an adorable and precocious preschooler who is just so much fun. Our son, Elias, was born on May 12, 2006, about 5 months after we arrived in Napa and after I started my new job. He is a full on toddler now, and all boy. I never thought I'd say something like that, but it is true. What a different little being than his sister.

The past year has been crazy. We moved out here, I started a new job at Napa's "largest" law firm of 25 attorneys, 5 months later I had a baby, 2 months later I took the CA bar and then we bought our first house in February. The past few months have not been the best. My mom died suddenly on May 1 of this year, so that has been difficult to deal with (to say the least). My parents live in Florida, so it is now very hard being so far away from my dad.

So, that's me in a nutshell (sort of). Life has been pretty fun since Peace Corps, no complaints. I love the idea of a reunion. Folks are always welcome here in Napa. I'd love to host anyone interested. [July 2007]

Update Jan. 2008: On January 14, 2008, I will be starting a new job at Legal Aid of Napa Valley where I will be wearing many hats, serving the organization as Staff Attorney, Pro Bono Coordinator and Development Director. New contact info for me at Legal Aid: Marlo Cohen, Legal Aid of Napa Valley, 1001 Second Street, Suite 335, Napa, CA 94559, Work phone: 707.259.0579, Work e-mail: mcohen@legalaidnapa.org

******************************************************************************

Contrary to the prediction in the survival handbook, I never did become an organic mushroom grower..... Upon returning from Honduras, I worked as a seasonal biologist and carpenter for a few years while picking up miscellaneous science and math classes at a community college.  I then got a certificate in wetland science and management from the U. of Washington and discovered that I really like wetland work.  Unfortunately, the economy has rendered me unemployed in the last few years.  I have just set up my own consulting company - Red Wing Environmental - but have mainly been a 'craigslist carpenter'. I will enter a masters program this coming September and plan on doing a thesis related to amphibian ecology.  It has been interesting to see what everyone in our group has done since Honduras -- a lot of accomplishments and cute kids!
[July 2007, updated May 2009]

Chris Holcomb
onca90@yahoo.com
Location: PO Box 8611, Lacey, WA 98509
Cell: (360) 305-1453

******************************************************************************

Hi Everyone, Well I stopped having nightmares about being in Guayape about a year ago. I live in Sebastopol CA, and feel very lucky to have bought a house there. I have been married to my wife Alynn, for four years and we have a beautiful girl Anna, who is 20 months and we have one due in September. After I left the Peace Corps I traveled through Central America surfing for six months and then went to Europe / Denmark for six months. Came home and started working for an Environmental Restoration Company where I met Alynn. I started a Biological Consulting Business in 1998, with my Dad who retired from teaching and now works for me. Our business is doing great. I still surf as much as I can and we go to Mexico every year on a surf trip. I was in Surfer Magazine in an article about surfers in the Peace Corps a few years ago. My new passion after my wife and Anna is fishing and abalone diving!! I have fish on the brain, I love to fish, and can’t think about anything else. Peace Corps changed my life, and I always think about my experience and friends that I made in Honduras. I flaked on Kerry and Bill’s weddings, my only regrets in life- sorry. [July 2007]

Dan Kjeldsen & Family
dkdogballs@yahoo.com
(707) 544-3091
Location: Sebastopol, CA

*******************************************************************************

*******************************************************************************

Hi all, it's been fun to read what everyone has been up to - keep them coming!

In 1997 I married Matt Sanborn and we settled in the suburbs of Chicago. I taught bilingual Kindergarten for 4 years and got my master's in curriculum and instruction with an endorsement in bilingual and ESL in 2000. I then took a job as an elementary teacher and Spanish teacher at an environmentally focused charter school (Prairie Crossing Charter School) and worked there for four years. We moved across the street from the school to this great little conservation community called Prairie Crossing in Grayslake, IL. I've kept in contact with the school and have been interim principal two separate times in the past couple of years when they have needed some help.

I am now a stay at home mom (yes, I drive a minivan and love it). We have 3 kids - Nathan is 4, Macy is 2 and Henry is almost 6 months old. We also have a crazy black lab, Bentley, who is 10 years young, with no signs of slowing down. I lead the typical suburban life and will go back to work someday when the kids are older, but am now enjoying watching them grow up. We do want one more child and I'd love to hopefully go back to school for a degree in Speech Pathology. We'll see what happens...

I have not been back to Honduras since I've left and probably won't get back there. The peace corps was a great time in my life and I was fortunate enough to make some great friends there. Before kids we used to meet up with Mike and Katie and Peg to go camping every summer in MN. Leslie and Christy even met up with us about 9 years ago, remember? Peg and I went to Leslie's wedding celebration (must have been 7 years ago) in New Mexico and Matt and I went up to Peg's wedding two years ago. We were also able to see Mike and Katie a few years back before they moved to Germany, so it's been a while! I'd love to catch up with everybody again. [July 2007]

Maria Anderson (Sanborn) & Family
sanborn97@att.net
Location: Grayslake, IL

************************************************************************

Hi all! I currently live in Western Colorado in a beautiful small town called Paonia. I’m teaching Spanish at the high school part time after taking 2 years off. Those 2 years off were spent having 2 babies (not at the same time). Milo is almost 2 ½ and Ellie is going on 8 months. They are tons of fun.

After Peace Corps, I moved to San Diego to be with my honey, and then we got hitched in 99. We took a year honeymoon and traveled to Philippines, Thailand and Nepal. I wish life could be carefree like that again! We then decided to settle in Colorado, shopped around for a town, and got jobs. I worked for the Forest Service awhile, but then I just kinda fell into this teaching job. I really like it. I’m the only foreign language teacher grades 9-12. Steve worked for Chaco sandals for awhile, but now has quit his job to start his own business.

I took a trip back to Lancetilla in 2003 and it was bittersweet. Things have really changed there, some of it good, some of it bad. I went on my own as a gift to myself for getting my teaching license. Shortly after I returned, Kerry Noonan and Jason Beason moved to town which has been really fun. Plus we both had baby boys one day apart – Milo and Otus.

I saw Christy last month and it was really fun, it would be great to have a reunion. She’s awesome for organizing this. Goodbye for now! Jen. [August 2007]

***************************************************************************

Hi everyone!  Wow, this is awesome!  I have thought of you all so many times, and the 10th anniversary of returning to the States has really tripped me out... I can't believe it has been that long.  I remember Honduras so clearly that I think it can't possibly have been 10 years, but then I look at all that has happened in my life since then, and of course it has to be that long ago.  It still feels like a bit of a time warp, though!

I extended my P.C. service by 3 months, and then spent another month on Utila getting my Dive Master SCUBA certification.  I returned to my dad's house in L.A. in April of '98, and waited to see what would happen with Brian, my high school sweetheart whom I'd left in '94 to go to Hondolandia.  Long story short, he proposed around Thanksgiving, I moved to San Diego and we got married in September of '98 -- 11 years after we started dating.

I also landed my dream job:  I've been doing environmental education as a bilingual Educator at the San Diego Wild Animal Park for over 9 years!  I work hands-on with about 25-30 animals, including parrots, owls, alligators, an aardvark, African porcupine, opossums, wallaby, and snakes.  It's the perfect mix of working with animals, teaching people of all ages, and doing administrative stuff like staff and program scheduling.  I frequently do outreach programs where I take animals to schools, or to retirement facilities for our animal therapy program, and I've appeared on the local news several times to show off an animal and promote the Park.   My only complaint is that it's hotter than heck in the summer - over 100 degrees - so from July through October it's absolutely miserable!  Just like the weather in La Florida, Honduras! HA!
I visited Honduras once with my dad in January of 2001 and it was great. My town now has telephone service in people's private homes, and some people in La Entrada even have email service now!  Amazing.  Of course, some things had gone downhill rather than up which was a bummer to see.  I hope to return again sometime, this time with my family.  As for RPCV's, I saw Jen Collingwood once in San Diego when I first got back, met with Kim Hanley in Northern California, and have seen Susan Bacheller multiple times - here and in Washington D.C. She and Andrea Becht were both at my wedding, and I've also kept in touch with Mary & Daemian, and a couple of other volunteers from other groups.  I'm SO grateful to have this website now to catch up with everybody else! 

And *MIKE* - I'm tripping out because my husband GREW UP in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia from the time he was 3 years old, because his dad got a job with the oil company (Aramco)! He probably attended your elementary school!  And Christy told me that someone (is it Alison?) is living in Laramie, Wyoming, which is my hometown!!  Such random coincidences!!

*******************************************************************************

After leaving Peace Corps Jason and I took a job studying Bald Eagles in Arizona and fell in love. Two years later we were married in Montana. We spent about five years working seasonal bird jobs together in the winter and I would follow my true passion and work on a friend’s organic farm in Missoula, Montana in the summer. After 5 years of moving around the west I decided to get a teaching license in New Mexico and Jason got a full-time job working for Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory in Brighton, Colorado. After getting my teaching license in New Mexico I joined Jason in Fort Collins, Colorado where I taught bilingual 5th grade for 2 years. Although we enjoyed Fort Collins we longed for a smaller town. So when the opportunity presented itself we moved to where Jennie Chavez and her family live in Paonia, Colorado. I had visited Jennie in Paonia on my move to Fort Collins and loved it. I got a job teaching 3rd grade at Paonia Elementary and Jason was able to work from home for the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory. We have been in Paonia for 3 years now and LOVE it! Our son – Otus - was born the day before Jennie’s son – Milo - 2 years ago. They are so cute together and good buddies. We are expecting our second child this December. Our other big news is that we bought a 10 acre farm 2 ½ years ago and I started my own farm business. We call our small organic farm Rain Crow Farm after the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. We hear cuckoos calling along the river while we are working the fields hence the name. So when I am not teaching I am farming and when Jason is not doing bird work he is farming along side me. Of course Otus is always “helping” mama in the field too! [August 2007]

*******************************************************************************

Randy Farnum & daughter Kate
randyfarnum@gmail.com
Location: Somewhere in Iowa

*******************************************************************************

Hello to all!
I can't believe so much time has gone by since we departed from Honduras. It is funny how over the years, I will hear or smell something and it takes me back to our days in Honduras.

Since returning, I have been teaching in Minnesota. I taught in a Minneapolis suburb for 3 years and then
switched to teaching in a middle school in Minneapolis. I have managed to travel a bit through Europe and Costa Rica. I actually volunteered to chaperon a group of my 8th grade students on an educational trip to Costa Rica!! It was an amazingly good time.

I got married in 2005 on the north shore of Lake Superior. On Feb. 7, 2007 we were blessed with the
birth of our twins- Hazel and Oliver. It was a drama-filled pregnancy as I spent 3 months in the hospital on bedrest, no sitting, no walking.... Although the babies came early, we are so fortunate that both were born healthy. I have the opportunity to stay home with them this year, so now I am finding baby classes for us to do.

I am excited about the idea of getting together next summer. It would be great to see everyone! [August 2007]

******************************************************************************

Hello from the East Coast! I’m still a die-hard Pennsylvanian, working for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection as an Air Quality Specialist (think: environmental gumshoe/police officer/public informer). To make what would be a very long story short, I enforce the Clean Air Act. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would find passion and purpose in the context of boilers, turbines, tank farms, and every other industrial process you can wrap your brain around, but here I am! With the recent Supreme Court decision – yes, CO2 IS a pollutant that can be regulated by the EPA – I am really excited for the future!

Since living in Honduras, I have been all over the map. I worked on organic farms in New York and California, which just fueled my obsession with good food. I got a Masters degree/teaching certificate and thought I wanted to teach, but in reality, getting eaten alive by a school of sharp toothed piranhas is a more appealing idea to me than being in the classroom with those vicious kids! My hat goes off to all you teachers out there; you are far braver than I.

Through all the changes, my fervor for plants and fresh, locally grown food has remained rock steady. The plethora of farmers markets around these parts brings me to my knees with the cooking possibilities. Goat cheese artichoke pasta with Liberty Farm’s basil and organic heirloom tomatoes anyone? I still love food and cooking it and eating it and will resume growing it when I move into my soon-to-be newly purchased home in historic Pottstown, Pennsylvania!

Well, enough blathering on about my life. I’d love to get together next summer for a reunion and actually see you all outside of cyberspace. Let’s make it happen! I nearly had a cardiac arrest with a flood of positive emotion when Christy called me! Oye, I’m feeling ferklempt!
[August 2007]

******************************************************************************

Here's my story:

Upon arrival home, I immediately took off for a crazy guy-trip to Spain and Morocco (where Cognac was $40 a hit in the mid-90s!). I settled into a teacher-run school in La Villita, one of Chicago's massive Mexican neighborhoods. There the kids taught me the tu form and how to sing the endings of my sentences a la a Guanajuato accent. Sadly, vayapues disappeared from my mind and was replaced by Mande. I taught six years seventh and eighth grade with lots of fun projects-- kids painting murals on the CTA train station, writing and painting retablos about their harrowing life experiences, and making chessboards and playing chess to learn math.

Then Paula and I met at an education conference. I was presenting with a friend/colleague. He didn't respond to Paula's serious follow-up email. I did and the rest is history! We now have two wonderful spuds, Connor and Lauren. We live in a creaky 120 year old row house on Chicago's Near West Side. It's one of Chicago's few integrated neighborhoods-- across class and ethnicities-- with friendly neighbors. With Paula's library from her kindergarten classroom, Connor thinks that every 3 1/2 year old has a bedroom with 500 books stacked to 11 foot ceilings!

I've been a principal at Ravenswood School for just over three years. It’s a tough school with mostly inspiring, caring teachers. We’ve gone from losing enrollment to a waitlist of over 50 for the kindergarten! It’s also been enlightening to see school functions from an administrator’s perspective. I continue to realize how critical it is to develop MANY leaders in the school to get all the things done that need to get done. [Ravenswood School, 4332 N. Paulina, Chicago, IL 60613 (Public tours the 2nd Tues of each month at 9:15am) ]

And I still get to travel a lot-- Mexico, western and central Europe, and Bolivia, but not yet to Santa Rita de Copan. Gotta get back there.

Marlo and I are still in touch. Lorena and I were for a while but I’ve been terrible the past few years. If you’re in Chicago, give a call or stop by Ravenswood or home. I’d love to talk. It would be great to see everyone at a reunion. If the date falls right, we’ll be there! [September 2007]

Sam Fielding & Family
email: samcfielding@yahoo.com
Location: San Francisco, CA

Jaki is a nurse at SF General Hospital, I work as a Planner performing Environmental Review in the Strategic Transportation Section of San Francisco's Municipal Transportation Agency. Daniel is 10 years old, in 5th grade and learning to play the Clarinet. Anabel is almost 5 and enjoying art and music in Pre-K. Both kids love Sponge Bob and reading books...when they are not watching Sponge Bob.

We had a great family summer vacation this year spending two weeks in Honduras visiting all of Jaki's family, cousins, aunts and uncles in Olanchito, Coyoles, Armenia and Campo Nuevo. We did lots of swimming....swimming in rivers, hotel pools and the ocean. It was great to eat
pescado frito in Trujillo, finally see Copan Ruinas for the first time and after Hurrican Dean raced by, do some snorkeling at the Marine Park at West End, Roatan Island.

It's great to read what all the RPCV's of Honduras 1996 are doing. I'm looking forward to getting together and seeing everyone again at the great reunion that Christy is planning! -Sam   [October 2007]

What a great idea!  A big thanks to Christy for being the organizer extraordinaire…

My life has been a continuing adventure since Honduras.  When I got back, I spent a couple of months reconnecting with family and friends in Rhode Island (and catching up on all the sports I missed out on!).  Then I got a job as an environmental educator at a great non-profit called Nature's Classroom and worked with school groups in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York.  The program was tied to the school schedule, so I was able to take some extended trips in the off seasons wintering in Florida and driving cross country and backpacking around Europe in the summers.

After that, I followed the inspiration of Tanya and Amanda and got a job as a seasonal park ranger with the National Park Service.  I worked first at Big Bend National Park in West Texas.  Almost immediately, I knew that this was what I wanted to do.  After another seasonal stint at Acadia National Park, I was hired permanently at Big Bend.  After four years there, I moved to Cape Hatteras National Seashore on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  And last summer, after three years in North Carolina, I transferred to Everglades National Park in Florida.

I still love to travel and have had great trips to Costa Rica, Panama, Greece, and Alaska in recent years.  I also went back to Honduras about two years after we left.  It was crazy!  I was supposed to fly into Tegucigalpa three days before Hurricane Mitch hit.  Needless to say, I postponed the trip and went six months later instead.  The devastation was still painfully obvious.  The ride to Olancho involved driving across rivers where the bridges were still out.  But thankfully, all my friends were fine and I had a fantastic trip.

I have loved reading (and seeing!) what you are all up to!  Peace Corps opened up the world to me and you were all a huge part of that.  I hope we can make this reunion happen to catch up in person!    [October 2007]

Gail Fox
email: Gail_Fox@nps.gov
Location: Everglades National Park, Florida

Well, I just got off the website and thought…I gotta get on the stick! Hello everyone. Long time no see! While reading through everyone’s updates I thought…good Lord my life if boring! So, boring or not, here is what I have been up to over the years.

After leaving Peace Corps I moved back home for a few months and then moved out west to Ft. Collins, Colorado. After working a few wildlife tech jobs I got in the University of Wyoming’s Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit masters program….so after about 6 months in warm, sunny Ft. Fun (as it is known) I moved “over the hill” to Laramie, WY, where I still am today. Although I am still living in the same cold, wind beaten town, I suppose a lot has happened. I spent 2 years in to Coop Unit and received my masters in Zoology and Physiology looking at the “Potential Effects of Gas and Oil Development on Greater Sage-grouse” (Mike and I could have some interesting conversations!). During that time I met my husband Matt (who was also working on a sage-grouse research project). After graduating I worked for a while as a research scientist for the University and then took a job with Audubon Wyoming as their Conservation Coordinator. I am still with Audubon today although I now manage five employees, oversee the budget, run the various conservation programs and clean the office toilets. I am a jack of all trades I suppose!
I did not plan to stay in Wyoming as long as I have but like I tell everyone, Laramie grows on you like a fungus….it is not a bad town really, just not the tropical weather I so love! What has kept me here??? Well, in September 2001, Matt and I got married, bought a house and he began his PhD research further investigating the impacts of gas development on sage-grouse (we have a lot in common). On March 30, 2004 we had our first little girl, Sage. She is now a vibrant 31/2 year old…how time flies! Almost 3 years to the day we had our second girl, Willow on April 11, 2007. Both of our girls are the light of our lives….just wish more sleep was part of the deal! So besides watching my girls grow, I work for Audubon, teach Pilates and strength training at our local gym (in a vain attempt at getting some sort of body back after kids), cross country ski, run (walk), and garden with a passion.
As for travels after Honduras: I spent 3 weeks in Ecuador with a great friend from grad school and in 2003, floated the Grand Canyon for 2 weeks with the same friend. Matt and I went to France and Andorra for a couple of weeks in 2005 for the “World Grouse Conference” (yes there is such a thing) at which Matt presented. We don’t have many travel plans in the future expect to go back to the east coast for Christmas! Well, like I said, it is an exciting life but one I really enjoy!

I hope that we do have a 2008 reunion…it would be great to catch up with everyone that I have lost touch with!
Just in case you were wondering….I have not eaten a bean since returning to the states either!

PS – Please excuse typos and grammatical errors….I blame it all on lack of sleep!    [November 2007]

******************************************************************************

Does anyone remember The Peace Corps Hotline, that job listing that was sent out to us when we got home from Honduras? Well, I got a job out of that listing as soon as I got home. I moved to California to work at Slide Ranch, an educational farm in Marin County. Upon arriving here Kerry Noonan was doing an apprenticeship in organic farming at UC Santa Cruz and Sam Fielding was arranging for Hegla to come over to SF from Honduras in time to deliver their first child, Daniel! It was a great time to move here and be close to some Peace Corps buddies. I am still here and get to see Sam and Hegla (now called Jackie) regularly. I got inspired by Kerry and did an intensive apprenticeship on an organic farm in the Sierras, then ended up farming with seniors at a retirement community in Mill Valley, Ca for a few years. Since then, I have gotten married to Vic, who I met at Slide Ranch, and got my master's degree and license in Marriage and Family Therapy. I am currently the Program Director for a Senior Center.

My husband and I just had our first child, Sunil, 8 weeks ago and we are so excited to be parents. He is a lot of fun. It is great to see all of your updates. I will update more soon. Love to all of you and thanks for sharing your stories!!      Jen      [December 2007]

Jen Smith [Tripathy] & baby Sunil
(pic of husband and Sunil below)
email: yenismith@yahoo.com
Location: Marin County, CA

******************************************************************************

Hello to all - saludos - not many days go by when I don't think back and reflect on those Peace Corps days. The PC experience was perhaps the most pivotal point in my life - being a father and husband among other major defining life moments. Shortly after returning from the Peace Corps I started grad. school at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins. Since graduating in 1999 I've been working with either the Bureau of Land Management or US Forest Service primarily in Colorado save for a 9-month stint in Alaska and a 6-month stint in Washington DC where I met my wife. My responsibilities lie within the realm of outdoor recreation management which encompasses trails, wilderness, ski areas, campgrounds, permits, etc.......anything to do with people using the forest for enjoyment in a sustainable way.

My current Forest Service job is in Gunnison, CO which lies on the west side of the Continental Divide about 30 miles south of Crested Butte. Gunnison is one of the coldest spots in the US which is okay by me because partly due to the PC experience I don't really like humidity or heat or bugs - I still have a real issue with mosquitoes and if one happens to find its way into our house I will not sleep until it is dead and splattered on the wall. My dad and his wife live down in St. Lucia (Eastern Caribbean) and I think I spent half the vacation tracking down and swatting mosquitoes
- I believe they won in the end however.

I married Cheryl Burlingame in April 2003 and we have a daughter, Cora, who was born in December 2005. Cheryl is a RPCV (Mali, West Africa, 1998-2000) and teaches French when possible. This year she is working mostly at a childcare center where Cora attends for free. Cora is a happy little girl who simply amazes me with her attention to detail and love of travel. She loves airports, airplanes and hotels and is just really fun to be around. We spend a fair amount of time skiing so this year we got Cora some skis and she's had fun riding the chairlifts and skiing down the hill with me holding on to her between my legs.

I have not been back to Honduras but since leaving I have traveled to Guatemala (4 different times), Panama, Peru, Mexico, St. Lucia, Martinique, Dominican Republic (2 times) and the Philippines (family reunion trip). Wow, that's where all my money went! A few of these trips were work-related for the Forest Service, Dept. of Interior and a friend's ecotourism company, Emerald Planet.

It's been great reading all your updates - please do not hesitate to pay a visit. We would love to have you. Also, look forward to seeing some of you in July.   Cheers, Bill         [February 2008]

After the Peace Corps, I married Ursula Martinez, a native of Santa Lucia who was a great friend all through my service.  We have two boys, Daniel and Benjamin.  After returning to Massachusetts, I worked as a construction materials inspector for about seven months before landing my current job as a geologist for an environmental firm.  Although most of my early work was at sites in the States, my familiarity with Central American culture and knowing Spanish has opened opportunities to work on sites in Panama and Ecuador.  The first Panama job was funny since our client was ENRON, but some how we managed to get paid.  Currently all my time is spent managing sites in Latin America; Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, and even Honduras (went there in December).  I was recently designated a Certified Professional Geologist by the American Institute of Professional Geologists, which has more of an international significance than state value.  I have not returned to school yet, but that is only a matter of time.  For now, the order of the day is keep the family dry and with full bellies.

Ursula and I return to Honduras every two years.  She spends the summer with the boys so they will know their family and become bilingual, and I go for about three weeks.  The country has become much more violent and dangerous over the years, but Santa Lucia is still the oasis that we all remember.  However, much of the farms have been replaced by houses.  A couple of years ago, we came across an opportunity to buy a house in Santa Lucia for a price that we could not pass up.  It is above the church with a view that sold the house.  I look forward to lazy afternoons drinking coffee and watching the view, especially the beautiful sunsets when the burn season comes along.

During a business trip to Honduras last December, I was glad to see that there are some independent recycling companies in Tegucigalpa now that take in plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and steel.  In addition, the government has passed pollution laws and even done some enforcement.  Of course, they have not improved the infrastructure enough for the proper management and disposal of trash to be available to everyone.  My suggestion is to build an incinerator which will produce dispose of the trash in a controlled environment, provide a commodity in the form of electricity, and give an incentive to collect the trash.  Instead there are plans to build another hydro-dam that will destroy countless acres of wilderness and disrupt the delicate ecosystem. 

I have been fortunate that Ursula always finds a worthwhile project for us to support, and I have been able to help in a direct way rather than giving my money to large organizations that give a ridiculous amount of that money to their CEOs.  After Hurricane Mitch, we did our first clothing and food drive.  It was a logistical nightmare, but it allowed us to feel like we were doing what we could to help an insane situation.  With Ursula's family in Santa Lucia, and good friends along the north coast, the whole week was devastating as one horrible story after another came out of the country and we could get no information about the ones we loved.  Fortunately, the only thing that died was the house where Ursula and I were married, no one was in it.  Since Mitch, we have helped people through school, and to buy their own businesses.  Now, they are helping others do the same.  It is very rewarding and I highly recommend it. The latest project involves a water supply system in Flores.  Through this project, I have met a sanitation volunteer who was in Honduras a couple years ago.  It has been fun to hear how different the Corps has become, and I am glad we were there in the early 90's.

As you can see, I have never completely left Honduras, and so I think of the Peace Corps quite often.  I do not think I appreciated fully what a gift it was to be free of responsibility.  Life is fuller now, but my head is also greyer.

Hope to see you all in a year. Nos Vemos, Josue  [February 2008]

Lots of stories since returning from Honduras in '96. Has it really been almost 12 years? I was able to return to Honduras in '97 at the tail end of leading a 1-month ecotourism/sustainable community trip through Costa Rica. It was a blast to visit Olanchito,Yoro, and have so many wonderful people run up to talk with me. I have unfortunately not maintained contact with the extraordinary group of teachers with whom I was fortunate to work. I hope to reconnect with them soon.

Until 2000 I worked at an environmental education center outside of Eugene, Oregon. It was there that I was able to get my hands dirty with sustainable agriculture, architecture, energy and community. It was a good place for me to transition, as well as increase my skills base. I knew, however, that my role was more to interface with mainstream culture…and to teach in a high school. With our lives loaded into my '85 Toyota truck, my girlfriend (soon to be wife) and I moved to the East Coast and settled into the progressive community of Brattleboro, Vermont.

From 2001-2003 I pursued an MS in Environmental Studies, including high school biology teaching certification, at Antioch New England Graduate School (now Antioch University New England) in Keene, New Hampshire.

I am now happily married to my wife Iris. We have a wonderful daughter Julia, (turning 4 in July), and we live on 18 acres in western Vermont. I'm on my 5th year teaching at a private school called the Long Trail School in Dorset. I enjoy my classes which range from 12th grade Advanced Environmental Science to 8th grade Human Biology. My Peace Corps slideshow is a perennial part of my teaching and my students love to hear about my experiences. I've climbed up the ladder to becoming science department chair and I have been involved with some great science research opportunities through the University of Vermont. Check out this video taken from a high altitude balloon launch that I conducted with my students: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xLR-tHfyDI

Like many teachers, my summers are spent working to pay the bills. Last summer I worked for my brother as an orthopedic sales consultant- dawning surgical scrubs and delivering medical equipment from Miami to Fort Lauderdale. As a biology teacher, it was great to see hundreds of surgeries including tissue transplants for ACL reconstructions to rotator cuff repair. Thanks to that work, we now have a new roof on the house! For this summer I received a grant to study water quality in the Lake Champlain watershed. I look forward to the cooler Vermont summers- especially after surviving south Florida last year. Kudos to Christy for her work on the website!!!        Best, Scott [May 2008]

Lorena Reyes (pictures coming soon)
 email: Lreyes4@lausd.net
(323) 221-7942 home
(310) 508-9423 cell
2310 Holgate Square
Los Angeles, CA 90031

*****************************************************************************

Hola a todos!

It’s really great to see what’s happening with many of you. Everyone has done so many incredible things. I’m honored to have been (and hopefully will continue to be) a part of this special group of (returned) PCV’s. As for me, after returning from Honduras I returned to Arizona but could not take the HEAT!! I moved back to LA and returned to the education field. I’ve done many different things in education. My good friend tells me that I should get an award for the most positions in the district (LAUSD). I coordinated a couple of programs, one in providing health and social services for students and their families, another one was coordinating ESL classes for adults and providing child care to allow parents to attend classes. I’ve also directed and taught a Family Literacy Program (preschool age 3-5 yr olds) taught ESL classes in Adult Education, taught parent education classes (family literacy, parent and child together, parenting the preschooler and school age child, etc). I did most of the parenting classes before I had my daughter, now I really know what it’s like to be a parent!! At present, I am back in elementary school.  I taught one year in a Resource Specialist Program (Special Ed), and now I am teaching Kindergarten (love it!).  My ultimate goal is to be a principal or director of an Early Education Center.

I don’t know if you know this about me, but I have always had a “thing” for Jews. Well, my attraction to Judaism and the Jewish people led me to become one (I converted to Judaism in 2001) and to marry one.  I married my old flame and love of my life Todd in 2001. We had our beautiful daughter, Hadassah Perla Reyes-Matzner, on October 14, 2002. I truly love being a mother and wish I could do it full time. Our daughter is a bright, beautiful, bouncy, bilingual child.  My husband is a fluent Spanish speaker, so we spoke to our daughter only in Spanish for the first three years of her life. However, last year she started preschool and seems to be loosing her Spanish.  Does anyone have any tips or ideas for maintaining her Spanish (Leslie? Maria?)? We will probably send her to a dual-language immersion program starting in Kindergarten, hopefully that will help.

I did a lot of world traveling before and after getting married, however, since the birth of our daughter (she is 4 and a half), we have not traveled as much as we would like to. My husband has two daughters from a previous marriage; his older daughter graduated from Berkley last year, is living in India and will be attending Harvard in the fall, and his younger daughter is completing her first year at UC Davis.  I’ve had ups and downs throughout these last twelve years (12 YEARS?!?) as I’m sure all of you have had, but overall my life has been a blessing mostly because of my husband and my daughter. I’m looking forward to seeing you all next summer!      Lorena [May 2008]

 


Andrea Becht (Cowles) & kids Nicolas, Rachel & Hannah
 email: barefootmasseuse@yahoo.com
Los Angeles, CA

******************************************************************************

Hi Everyone! It’s so wonderful to see all of you again and hear how your lives have developed. Mine has been a long convoluted road, but all of us Peace Corps veterans are fighters, right? At 42, after many difficult struggles, I have finally reconnected with my former path of discovery, challenge and adventure! After coming home from Honduras (and kissing the USA ground not a few times!), I began seeking a program to earn my masters. Well, I got side tracked from my career goals when instead I married and had three beautiful children, Nicolas (8), Rachel (7) and Hannah (6). I am now a single mom, and quite busy with them as you can imagine. So, for the sake of simplicity, I pursued my second love - health and wellness. I became an esthetician and massage therapist and, as some of you will remember, continued as a fitness instructor as well. Now I am teaching medical massage as well as physiology and anatomy at the same career school where I earned my massage, physical therapy aide and chiropractor assistant certificate. I love it! Teaching is definitely in my blood, and now that I feel my life is back on track, I will soon earn my masters and teach community college as well. But that’s it - the work I invest in my children shall always be priority for me. I love being a mom (who would have guessed?) and it’s their turn to shine!!

It amuses me how so many of us ended up in Colorado. All three of my children were born there, but when I separated from my husband, I moved back to the LA area to have the support of my family. I long for the mountains again! It will be a wonderful treat if I can make it to the reunion. I hope we all can! See you then.
Andrea [March 2009]

Gina Harris (Espinoza) & Family
email: espinoza@charter.net
Ashland, OR

******************************************************************************

Hello, everyone! I've enjoyed catching up on your lives and adventures.

Here's my story in a nutshell: After Peace Corps, I moved back to southern Oregon and got a wildlife tech job with the Bureau of Land Management. I worked there for a while before I found my "dream" job at the National Wildlife Forensics Laboratory in Ashland. Over the four years I was at the Lab, I worked as an Evidence Technician, QA/QC Coordinator, and finally as a Forensic Scientist in the Morphology section, which was my favorite position. But it wasn't meant to be . . . the deputy director of the Lab and I fell in love, so I quit my job (the government's not fond of nepotism) and Ed and I have now been married for seven years. After I left the Lab, I went back to the BLM for about a year, but decided I had had enough of the endless seas of poison oak, flat tires at midnight on dirt roads in the middle of nowhere, and late hours, so I left them again. I then found a job teaching Spanish for a few hours a week at Willow Wind, a small school that supports the home-schoolers in the area.

Now I'm at home with Aiden, our almost 3 year-old son, and love being able to spend so much time with our sweet and wild little guy. Ed is originally from Chile and has spoken only Spanish to Aiden since he was born. So Aiden is bilingual right now, though he prefers to speak English. Hopefully we'll be able to reinforce the Spanish in other ways as he grows up. Ed also has two older children: Alex, an F/A-18 pilot with the Marines in San Diego, and Jesica, a lawyer in Portland, Oregon.
They are both awesome "kids" and we all get along really well. Alex's wife is pregnant, so Ed and I will become grandparents (and Aiden an uncle) in August. Crazy!

I've been fortunate to embark on some great foreign and domestic travel over the years: Russia, Spain, Chile and Argentina for our honeymoon, Botswana (absolutely amazing!), Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and numerous road trips around the western part of the country. Our next big road trip is to Colorado this summer and I'm really looking forward to seeing you all at the reunion. I visited with Jennie, Kerry, Bill and their families in Paonia, Colorado a few years ago, and that was a blast.
Ashland is a great little town in a beautiful area of southern Oregon, almost on the California border, so if you're ever driving by on I-5, feel free to visit!      Gina   [March 2009]

Ben Harris & Family
email: jalbch@yahoo.com
Arlington, VA

******************************************************************************

I have been enjoying reading everyone's updates and figured it was time to send something about my family.  Two things have inspired me to write this- making reservations for the reunion this summer and a random phone call last week.

Last week the phone rang at 9:30 pm and I almost didn't answer it, but decided to.  On the other end was someone speaking Spanish, not completely unusual, but they asked for me by name.  It was Calin, a boy who spent lots of time with me and Mark Shelton (other PC person in Ocotepeque).  If you ever visited me in Octotepeque you probably met him.  He is 25 now and works in the fields in Lempira somewhere.  He was calling from his cell phone and the reception was horrible (how many cell towers can there be in rural Lempira?).  Anyway, it was a sign that I needed to go see you all this summer!

I am now living in Arlington, VA.  In 1999 I married Jenny Lindenauer- who I met through my job.  She was living in Tela basically at the same time we were there- but never met her while I was there.  Jenny is a teacher and is now running a family literacy program in Arlington.  We have two beautiful daughters- Lucy (7) and Julia (5).

Quick version of my life since Peace Corps: came back worked part time in a school, part time at a small nonprofit.  Didn't know what I wanted to do next, traveled a bit in the summer.  Went to visit the kids at the nonprofit and was offered a job directing the nonprofit.  Did that for 5 years.  Went back to school got my MPA.  Started working for another small nonprofit involved in community development in a local immigrant neighborhood.  Switched to working with the local county government (tired of writing grants!) basically doing the same thing.  Got an itch to go overseas and joined the Foreign Service and was posted to Guadalajara, Mexico.  We had 2 great years there, but decided that that lifestyle wasn't the best for our family.  Now working again for Arlington County gov't.

Look forward to seeing everyone in July!       Ben   [May 2009]

[picture coming!]
Amanda Austin & Family
email: amandab@mtaonline.net
Healy, AK

*****************************************************************************

Coming Attractions: Angela, Steve & Wendy, and YOU!

ADD YOUR PICTURE, CONTACT INFO, AND WHAT YOU ARE DOING NOW by sending a jpeg picture and the text of your blurb to me at christy.mccain@colorado.edu.

******************************************************************************

Reunion: Snow Mountain Ranch, Colorado on July 3-6, 2009

RPCV Attendees: Erin, Leslie, Peg, Christy, Dan, Ben, Sam, Gina, Bill, Tanya, Gail, Maria, Angela,
Marlo (& daughter Ilenia), Jen (& son Milo), Adriana, and Jaki (Sam's wife).

Most of the 50+ attendees: Dan and daughter Lilian, wife Alynn, Ben's wife Jenny, Ben, daughters Lucy and Julia (below), Peg's son Oliver and husband Patrick (behind Ben), Peg and daugher Hazel, Anabel (Sam's daughter below Hazel), Marlo's husband Peter and daughter Ilenia, Marlo and son Elias, Anna (Dan's daughter below Marlo), Erin and son Conner (behind Marlo), Erin's wife Paula and daughter Lauren (behind Jen), Jen Chavez & kids Milo & Ellie (below), Christy, Sam, Angela's husband Mark, Angela, Maria & son Nathan, Tanya & partner Susan, Gina, son Aiden and husband Ed, Leslie's son Isaiah, husband Scott and son Levi, Leslie, Gail, Bill's daughter Claire (behind Gail) and wife Cheryl, Bill and daughter Cora, Adriana (family off camera: husband Brian, kids Brendan and Evelyn), and Sam's son Daniel & wife Jaki.

Waterfall Hike: Susan, Angela, Tanya, Gail, and Mark                                                Horseback Riding: Isaiah, Bridgett (Peg's niece), and Leslie

Leslie, Isaiah, Levi, and Scott                                                                                          The view from Snow Mountain Ranch

                                                                   Christy & Angela on the Continental Divide Trail


******************************************************************************************************************

Kerry's Rain Crow Farm

Heather after hiking the White Mountains, NH with her Brother!

Sam's wife, Jaki, and daughter, Anabel

Gail in her National Park Service uniform!

Kerry & Jason's Xmas baby girl

Josh Millard's boys Benjamin & Daniel

Randy's New One: Andrea Kelly (born 1- 13-08)

Scott, Iris & Julia celebrating Julia's birthday

Adriana's kids: Brendan and Evelyn

Mike's Family II

Maria's Kids

Marlo & Kids on return visit to El Corpus, Honduras in August 2007

Dan & his daugther Anna

Cute Butts of Milo (Jen & Steve's) and Otus (Kerry & Jason's)

Vic Tripathy (Jen's husband) with their new baby

Bill & Cora shredding on the slopes of Colorado

Bill's wife, Cheryl, with their new baby, Claire
(born 14 Aug. 2008)

Andrea, Derek and son Nicolas