Read and comment on this excerpt from the Pantagraph that Stephanie Budzina says being an American in Honduras right now hasn't been a problem for the Illinois State University grad student who's been a Peace Corps volunteer in a town of 10,000 since September 2000. Another ISU Peace Corps volunteer, Ogden native Katherine Farnsworth, hasn't encountered any hostility in Romania, where many citizens there support the war and where the government gave the U.S. permission for a temporary military base on the Black Sea coast. Read the story at:
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Students: Life abroad no problem
By Kelly Josephsen Pantagraph staff NORMAL -- Stephanie Budzina fools no one in Honduras.
"People can tell from a mile away I'm a Gringa," she said, but being an American abroad right now hasn't been a problem for the Illinois State University grad student who's been a Peace Corps volunteer in a town of 10,000 since September 2000.
"People constantly approach me to give their thoughts on U.S. policy and lament the plight of the poor children of Iraq," said Budzina. "But Hondurans are very friendly, and I have traveled to other parts of Central America, and it's fine."
She's living her life abroad as college officials back home, fearful of growing anti-Americanism since the start of the war, debate whether to let international programs go on. ISU hasn't canceled any summer courses overseas, but Illinois Wesleyan University has.
Budzina, of Chesapeake, Va., faced just one incident in Honduras -- even though most natives oppose the war. But she was more amused than shaken. The town drunk, she said, "used to stand outside my apartment and shout how he hated Gringos and was for Osama."
One day, "He took out his switchblade and waved it around and said he hated George W. Bush. But that's only when he's drunk or high. Other than that, he's quite nice and polite."
Another ISU Peace Corps volunteer, Ogden native Katherine Farnsworth, hasn't encountered any hostility in Romania, where many citizens there support the war and where the government gave the U.S. permission for a temporary military base on the Black Sea coast.
"I have not experienced any hostility due to the war, but it is generally the first thing people comment on when they discover I'm American," said Farnsworth, who has been living overseas about a year. Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL
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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Honduras; COS - Romania; Safety and Security of Volunteers
