Roatan

So, there haven’t been very many updates, because I haven’t done too much lately and my flash drive kept deleting everything that I wrote, but, now that I am back from vacation, here is my update.

Our vacation started on Saturday early morning when we called some taxi friends to drive us to the bus station, where we took an 8 hour bus ride to La Ceiba. Upon arriving, we found out that because of the hurricane in Hattie, the ferries to the island would not be running. One of our friends heard that we could take a plane, but it would cost a little bit more. We figured it would even out because we would lose our hotel money from the island, and then we would have to pay for a hotel in La Ceiba, so at 2:15, we drove to the airport to make it to the 3:00 flight to Roatan. After fighting with the guy behind the counter about prices, we finally managed to get on some small cargo-esq planes. After a 20 minute flight, we made it the island, more than an hour ahead of scheduled time. We got settled into our hotel/lodge and went out searching for dinner because we were starving. We found a small baleada place, and even met some locals who told us some good places to go. That night, we explored the town and beach to seek out some fun things to do the upcoming week.The next morning, we started out bright and early (because I seem to have lost my ability to sleep past 6 am) by chilling in our hammock, lying on the beach, playing cards, and basically just relaxing. We took a bus/van to Coxen Hole to get our groceries, and then hung out on the beach some more.  We took a hike to find Gumbalimba Park, the park filled with monkeys and parrots where we wanted to go the next day, and along the way, we met some fellow Americans who were just looking for jobs on the island. We ended up being in West Bay and it was getting dark, but a guy offered us a ride back to our side of the island, West End, so we took it, went out for dinner and hung out a bit more.

Monday was rainy almost all day so we hung out inside, but we decided to go to a nice bar restaurant for dinner as a whole group. Everything at the restaurant was great! The whole restaurant is just actually on stilts in the water, so we got to watch the sunset while we were eating our dinner. They even had dessert, something that is quite rare for us to see. After dinner, it finally stopped raining, and we set up our plans for the following day.

Tuesday was our expensive but AWESOME day! We started out the morning by going to Gumbalimba Park where we got to play with some monkeys and parrots. Since we were there before the cruises showed up, the guides were super friendly and even called the baby monkey down for us. It was super adorable! The parrot named Josh got to sit on our shoulders and eat seeds from the guide while we took pictures. The guide then took us across the Pirate Bridge, where we could look into the lagoon below and see tons of sea creatures and lots of turtles (aye, sea turtles). We then walked through a garden where lizards and other land animals were sun bathing. After walking back through the caves to get to the other side of the park, we hung out by the pool until lunch time, where we all got nicely fried. After lunch, we took a taxi to a water reserve where we got to swim with dolphins. It was a two part trip. First, we got to meet the dolphins and get pictures with them in the shallow water, and then they let us go out and snorkel with them in the deeper water.  The dolphins were so playful and loved chasing after grass that we could throw. The reef below was teeming with different colored fish, too, meaning there was always something to see.

Wednesday was just a beach day when we got to go snorkeling on the second my beautiful reef in the world. Christina and I even found a sunken submarine! It was a bit scary at first not being able to breathe normally, but after a while, I got used to it. We took some kayaks out and looked at the reef from above the water, which you could still see a ton of stuff. After kayaking, Melanie and I went out snorkeling again and we were just coming in as the sun was setting. Our whole group got together to cook spaghetti and we had a communal dinner on our beds, just talking about all the things that we have loved so far (and I got to talk to Kooba, so I was extra happy). We decided to stay a few extra hours on Thursday so we could snorkel more and spend more time on the beach.

We took the ferry back to La Ceiba, and met up with another student at our hostel and then we explored the city for a while. Friday morning, we walked to the sea so she could see it, and we saw this old falling apart dock, which, being the adventurous college students we are, we climbed on and met a bunch of local fishermen. Upon getting back to our hostel, we took a truck to the cabin in the woods part of our hostel in order to white water rafting. Rafting was amazing! We even went through level 4 rapids, and almost made it without falling out. Our guide, Angel, decided to take us “surfing” but our raft just folded underneath us, and we ended up in the water. Our group laughed the whole way down the river. At the halfway point, there are three rocks that you can jump from, and of course, we picked the highest one, 10 meters (about 30 feet). It was so scary the first time, but quite the adrenaline rush. After our rafting, we came back, and jumped off the rocks again, when I slipped and hit my head on the rocks, but thankfully, somebody caught me before I fell off the edge. We ate a community dinner and then just hung out on the porch/bar until past midnight. We took a super crowded bus with all of our luggage in the morning, and then made it back home safe and sound.

Nicaragua!!!!

I just got back from a crazy 4/5 day, jam-packed, awesome-filled adventure to Nicaragua! I had such an amazing time and did so many remarkable things that I couldn’t even imagine doing before.  Here’s a little run down of what we did.

Monday: Our day started bright and early as we girls from Jacaleapa gathered at our stairs at 5:3o in the morning and climbed into the taxis that were waiting to take us to school. Right at 6, our bus pulled out of the parking lot to begin our 5 ½ hour drive to León. Our breakfast, Baleadas, consisted of tortillas and Juan Angel walking around with a container full of cooked/mashed beans and some cheese. Turns out, Baleadas are not a good thing to make while on a moving bus.  After breakfast, we all settled our seats back to get a few hours of sleep before our real adventures began. We arrived late morning and got settled in our hotel and then prepared ourselves for our first city tour. We saw touring cathedrals, decaying ruins, and peeling murals displaying the Nicaraguan history. Our guide took us through museums to learn as much history as we possibly could in a four day span. For dinner, we were given money in groups and my group found this quaint café where we ate Panini’s or, in my case, a waffle with real syrup, We even had enough money left over to buy ourselves some dessert and even though my cheesecake was more cheese than cake, it was my second real dessert since coming to Honduras. After our dinner, our whole group went out to celebrate someone’s birthday. We met a group of Australians who taught us how to play some games involving a quarter and pushups and one where you are supposed to untangle yourself from a mop handle. Either way, it was a really fun night out.

Tuesday: Back on the bus at 6:45 to drive to Managua. On the way, we stopped at a cathedral where the indigenous people believed that a crab would appear and show them the way to El Dorado. Although our quest never led us to gold, we did find a sheep. Finally, after two more hours in the bus, we made it to the Nehemiah Center- a school/Christian Agency that helps people use their faith in their own city. We ate lunch with the teachers to learn even more about what this group was trying to do. One teacher took us out around late evening to see Peace Park, a park in which all the weapons are buried underneath the ground to stop the fighting. We could see a lake or sea or ocean (not really sure which it is) and the whole city of Managua, including two active volcanoes. Finally, we went back to the center to eat dinner (with mashed potatoes) and chill in hammocks, play cards/dice, or talk in some rocking chairs. It was so quiet and peaceful because we were located in the middle of a jungle far away from the street. I slept great, despite how hot it was.

Wednesday: We packed up our things at once again 6:45 to head to yet another city of Granada. Our hostel was a great place for college students and I even got to have a conversation with some girls from the Netherlands (in Dutch, of course). After locating our bunks and putting our suitcases in our lockers, we headed out to the Masaya volcano and climbed all the way to the top (with a little help from a shuttle). We could look down and see a wall of rock and then a huge smoking abyss. It was breath-taking (literally, no one could breath with all the sulfur), so we climbed back down the volcano to find explore some caves. We felt so rugged in our helmets and flashlights- well that is until we got to the caves themselves. They were dark and damp (in retrospect, that makes sense), but it was really creepy. Our cave was called the cave of bats, and you guessed it, there were bats flying all around us. Our guide told us a story of how the people who used to live there sacrificed a child in order to make the gods of the volcano happy, making it even creepier. Even though the caves were much cooler that the 90 degree air outside, I still was sweating more than even. Upon leaving, a few girls and I walked to the ridge while we waited for the other group to come out of the caves and the view was amazing. We could see everything. When we got back to the group, our guide told us that where we just were, they had found a snake over 3 meters long just two days before! Yikes! We had our first hour of real free time after getting back to the hostel, so a bunch of us crammed into the small pool- which was so refreshing after being sweaty for three days (well, at this point two months) straight. We then got out having a tour of the city of Granada. Our guide was actually bit off her rocker and would sing national songs to us while wearing her folkloric dress and carrying a basket with nothing in it. We stopped and had pizza as a group, and as we were leaving, somehow we get split up and my half ended up being with the crazy guide who took us on yet another tour and would randomly sings songs about things that we saw. After almost 45 minutes of trying to get back to our hostel but being stopped to admire yet another house in honor of William Walker, we made it back and passed of our guide to our professor. We then went back out to explore the city for real and found a cute Beatles café with amazing homemade mango bread. It was delicious, moist and rich (yeah for my sweet tooth). We walked around the outdoor markets and made some friends with a Japanese/Nicaraguan/American guy who showed us how to make some wire designs. Back at the hostel, we stayed up swinging in our hammocks and talking about anything and everything.

Thursday:  We finally got to sleep until 7 so we could head out to the canopy tour at 8:30. We first got there and got fitted with harnesses, helmets, carabineers, and gloves- the usual zip-line gear. We then took a little caravan up the mountain to get to the tree line in the coffee forest which is not only organic, it is also fair-trade. We received instructions from our guides and started zipping through the forest. It was amazing! We learned about how to pick the coffee beans and the process of how to make it into actual coffee and about the area because we could see everything from our perch. We took 6 or 7 lines throughout the forest until we got to the games ledge. We pulled ourselves up to a different tree using only our hands, swung across like Tarzan, and did a tightrope walk as well. It was super fun, but my arms are still sore. After two more lines, we made it to the final platform, but the only way to get down is to take a freefall, and hope that the guide stops you with the rope before you hit the ground. The three (four) instructions were 1. Keep your hand down. 2. Spread you legs apart. 3. Don’t close your hand (and pray). After making it down in one piece, we all headed back to the city of Mesaya where we spent several hours at an artisan market. There were so many bright colors and different people to talk! I loved it because I like bargaining! We all met up for dinner again where we ate in the open air, watching an Argentinean dance performance within the market. It was amazing to see how coordinated and flexible they were. We finally went back to the hotel where we watched Naufrago aka Castaway and went to bed.

Friday:  Breakfast at 7 and left at 8 to head back home after a week of tons of adventure but very little sleep. We stopped for lunch around 3 after getting stuck at the border for a while. I got home close to 6 and managed to stay up until 8:30, when I finally crashed. 

My five day weekend

The way out

If you know me, you know my favorite “holiday” is actually Cutlerdays. I love the atmosphere and carnival food, and little crafts that break in a day. I think maybe I just found a holiday that I like more- Honduran Independence Day!

Trying to get up the stairs

                My 24 hours of adventure started the night before at a soccer game. We got to the game around 9, when I tried to order a hamburger to eat. We are not supposed to eat the vegetables at restaurants, so one of our friends offered to tell the worker what my problem was a get a new hamburger. They then gave me the same hamburger doused in mayo, which I hate. So, I sold my burger to someone else and bought some fries. We then went to a restaurant and danced and talked until almost 2 in the morning. I slept at another girl’s house and three of us shared a bed. At 7:00, I left the house to walk to Christina’s house so I could go to the parades with her and her family. We walked 20 minutes to the mall where we met up with some of their friends and then we walked for almost two hours to get to the stadium. There were thousands of people in the streets watching the parade. From our perspective, it was an opposite parade. We walked past the people dressed up with instruments while they stayed in one place. We finally reached the stadium and tried to make our way through. The pictures pretty much show how impossible it was to get through. Our “family” would link arms and shove our way through the crowds. The first spot we were in was at the end of the line so we couldn’t see very well, so we left the stadium to get back in another side. Christina’s uncle’s shirt even got ripped in the process. We watched the parade from the stadium and saw the parachuters and the supersonic jets, and people dressed in crazy costumes. The parade finally ended and we made our way back out through the waves of people. Afterwards, I ate with Christina’s family and went to bed quite early because I was very tired from my exciting day of adventure.

Parachuting 

                Yesterday, Christina, Tessa, and I decided to buy some thread to do hair wraps. We stopped at a store in the neighborhood by us and the woman told us it would be 50 Lempiras (~2.50) for 1 color. I told her that was too expensive and we walked to a different store. After waiting for someone to help us, the guy told us it was 50 Lempiras for each color as well. We decided it was only a few bucks each. Tessa asked if we bought 5, could we only pay 200. The guy looked at us as if we were crazy, but said if we really wanted to, that was fine. We went up to pay the cashier and she told us 9 lempiras. We then realized it was 50 cents, and not 50 dollars. We felt very dumb- but the guy got a chuckle out of us.

                Things are a-changing. Today, I am moving to my new house and getting to know my new family. I am nervous and excited- fragulous, if you will. My new mom seemed really nice, a bit nervous to meet me, but still really kind. I will have two sisters, both younger, so that will be an experience for me. I figured I will at least be on the same level of Spanish as them. I haven’t met my dad yet… My room doesn’t have a bed, dresser/closet, or desk yet, but I am getting them today in my Winnie the Pooh room. My old family was very nice, but they had different schedules, leaving me to eat on my own. There are two ways to do a semester abroad, living in the dorms, or living with a family. The Honduras program is family based, but I never got the family feeling, making me wish I was back at Calvin living with my friends. So, here goes my new family. 

La Tigra

Walking to find the entrance 

My day trip to la Tigra (a rain forest national park approximately an hour and a half away that is home to tigers)

6:00 am- My alarm goes off- time to get ready for our hike.

6:10 am- I try to take a shower and realize that we have no water. Thus, I just started the day out sweaty.

6:50 am- I meet the girls in my neighbor at the corner by the “watcheman” and we reach our school at

7:20 am- where after reading our guidebook as to where to catch taxis, buses and entrance fees. We learn that that if we don’t make the last bus at 3:00, we have to walk 4 km to get to the next bus stop. We are now very motivated to make it on time.

7:30 am- The twelve of us pile into three taxis.

7:50- The other taxi gets lost, and then we arrive at the bus station, but some guy tells us that it is not the bus station, so we take the taxi to a store about fifteen minutes away.

8:05- we get lost.

Our truck ride on the way up the mountain

8:30- we finally arrive at the correct bus stop.

8:40- I really have to go to the bathroom, so inside of this grocery store that is more like a inside market, I search out the bathrooms. We find them and a woman tells me I have to pay two lemps in order to user her bathroom, but she wouldn’t take my two because it was ripped. Finally, I just went and gave her the two.

10:00- 11:30- The bus, which is actually just a school bus, comes. There were plenty of open seats, but Eustian decided he would sit next to me. Now, I have never met Eustian before this trip, but he lives near me in Tegus and apparently gets to see us all walking to school every day, and so he was excited to finally talk to one of us. I now, also, know many details of this man’s life, despite just wanting to look out the window to avoid being car sick. Either way, it was a pretty ride up a mountain.

11:30- Our bus driver tells us to get off at a field/abandoned barn and walk down the set of stairs and we will be at the Tigra. We walked down the longest set of stairs I have even seen, which dumped us on to a mountain road, which we just kept walking on because there was nowhere else to go.  After walking a mile or so, we came across a town.

Recommend Calvin.... in a CAVE! 

11:50- we asked some women who were working how much longer walk it would be until we got to the Tigra, and they told us it would be an hour and half hike up the mountain to get to entrance of the park, where if you remember, we were planning on hiking in.

12:00- some man in the town offered to drive us up the mountain in the back of his pickup truck. We then spent the next twenty five minutes driving up the mountain with sudden drop-offs, steep banks, and crazy switch backs. They told us they would be back at four because a bus came at five.

12:30- We finally made it the Tigra welcome center- which was more like a house on the side of the road with a picture of animals that lived in the forest. We signed in, paid our fees (70% less because we said we lived in Honduras), and got a map. By this point we were hungry, but the “cafeteria” couldn’t handle twelve people, so a couple girls ran down to small store and bought some bread, chips, and water to share.

1:00- we finally started our three our hike.

On our little look out post. Thank you Canada

1:30- we realized we had been walking the wrong way for the past thirty minutes, and we turned around.

2:00- we ended up on the correct trail and started hiking. It was so beautiful! I had an amazing time. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. We discovered an abandoned cave, a look out post built by Canada, and an assortment of bugs. It was so much fun!

2:45- we turned around only to realize that we counted all the time when we were lost, so got back very early.

3:25- we ordered some food from the small store down the road. We ended up getting rice, fried bananas, eggs, and beans, a very typical Honduran meal, but it was so delicious!

4:10- “Hom” (short for hombre because we didn’t actually know his name) came with his truck and brought us right to the bus station because he wanted to make sure we were safe.

4:45- it starts to rain.

5:00- it starts to pour.

5:45- the bus comes.

Our truck ride back to the bus. 

6:45- we arrive at the gas station and get in three more taxis.

7:15- Home!

What a crazy, fun-filled, adventurous day!  We only ended up actually being in the park for approximately two hours, but either way, it was a great day. 

First day of school!

Since being in Honduras, I have gone to three different church services. First church service- we took a bus/taxi up this crazy steep mountain and then walked across this field to an abandoned bunker overlooking an amazing mountain view. Obviously, the church service was in Spanish, but there were no written words for the songs, so I felt very lost. Second week, we were in Cusuna and went to the Garifuna church in Spanish and Garifuna. There was dancing and singing and jumping around- completely opposite of the first church. This week, I went to Gran Comision, a type of mega-church (similar to Mars Hill). I really liked it because I knew some of the songs and there was a bulletin to follow. Good news- I have a church now!

On Saturday, we went shopping at a megamall near the town center. There was a payless shoe store, but in comparison to the rest of the prices, it was more like pay-more shoe store. While we were walking in, we saw a group of gringas and we ended up talking to them for a while. They are teachers at the bilingual school so we may get a chance to see how that school is run.

Monday, was the first day of classes. I am taking things like Spanish phonetics, Culture/ Language classes, Poverty and Development, and Cultural Contact. I only have class four days a week (Hallelujah!), but it seems like we are still getting just as much homework. The classes are obviously all in Spanish, meaning that if I zone out at all, I am completely lost. But, I am sure that it will get better.

Strangest food that I have eaten so far: tortillas with beans, cheese, and ketchup. I also had pink mashed potatoes. They tasted good, but pink?

Most delicious: fried bananas with salt

One of my many language blunders: I told my family that I was going to go to my notebook to go to bed, when I meant my room (Cuarto vs. Cuaderno) Christina tried telling them she was going to her four (cuatro).

Movies: I have a tv in my room with cable and since I am up at 5 everyday, there are a bunch of strange things that I have seen. There is this belt you can wear that jiggles your tummy fat and shocks you so you can pretend you exercised. It is pretty funny to watch the actors pretend to be happy while they are being zapped by this belt. There is a pretty good selection of movies as well, so I have seen Cars, Enchanted, Toy Story 2, Sweet Home Alabama, Paranormal Activity (which is still scary, even if you don’t know what they are saying), and many more. Of course, they are all in Spanish with voices that sound so funny to me.

My closet: My “closet” is a metal structure with four shelves and a bar to hang my clothes. My problem is that the shelves are just four metal rods running lengthwise, so the things I have on my shelves keep falling through to the floor. The whole contraption is covered by a sheet.

My bed: The sheets on my bed get changed every three or four days. But, if you have ever shared a bed with me, you know that I don’t ever stay in one place. My bottom sheet is too big for my bed, so I always end up having to put it back on in the mornings. Who knows where my comforter ends up! Well, this time around, I came up to my room to find I have a fitted comforter. If you hate making your bed, a fitted comforter is the way to go. Just flip it over the top of the bed, and there ya go.

Malaria Dreams: If you’ve ever taken Malaria pills, you know that they give you super crazy dreams. My dream last night was that I was part of a sleeping experiment, so I was watching myself sleep and taking notes on how I slept. But, I was sleeping in the bed, and I was standing in my metal closet-y thing at the same time. I woke up in my dream and talked to myself in the closet, only to realize that I actually had gotten up and was talking to my closet.

Those seem to be the adventures of my last week. I have classes for a whole six more days, and then we get a break for Independence Day! I am really looking forward to going to the fair and eating cotton candy (“sugar something” in Spanish), checking out a bunch of Honduras trinkets, and spending a day with my family. 

Final week of orientation

Shopping experience:

On Tuesday, we took a trip to the Government building of Honduras. We met so many people who were honestly trying to do a good job of changing Honduras for the better. I still wasn’t feeling 100%, so it was very hard to pay attention to all the things they had to say in Spanish. One lesson that we learned was that we are supposed to be careful while in Honduras, but not live in fear while here. I think this is really good advice for everyone. We do have to be careful, but not so much an extent that it cripples us. I have never really been into government things, but they were very proud when they showed us how far they have come in the past few years, especially along the lines of technology. They now have a voting system that lets votes remain anonymous if it comes to that. When I first found out that we were going to go to the government building, I assumed that it would be this gorgeous building, but it was less magnificent than I expected, but I think that made me feel a bit more content that the government isn’t using the money to fix their building that already has water and electricity, but maybe are going to use it to help those that really need it, like our guide said. When we were done with our tour, we walked out the main entrance and I am not sure if there was a protest going on, but there were people shouting things in megaphones and some Honduran soldiers with shields and guns. It was actually pretty scary just walking in between rifles, even though they were probably just for protection.

Wednesday, we had class again where we got to discuss finer points of grammar (YEAH!). I love learning about how a language work, so it was a really fun class for me. Afterwards, Tessa, Christina and I walked to Little Caesar’s Pizza and split a hot and ready. I was the one who ordered and when I said I wanted the four cinnamon sticks, she though I wanted four orders of eight cinnamon sticks. I was wondering why it was so expensive when she realized what had happened. Afterwards,  we went to La Colonia, a small grocery store on the way home from school because I had to buy an umbrella, a tank top (because my dog ate mine), and some rehydration liquid (think something along the lines of Pedialyte). So we  walked in the store, looking for the medicine isle. We found it, but turns out that everything is in Spanish (surprise surprise) and I don’t know any of diseases that these drugs promise to help. So, a kind woman offers to help us find what we are looking for. She told us that we had to go to the pharmacy instead, so we walked over to the pharmacy. I didn’t actually know the name of the medicine that I was looking for, but I knew it was Pedialyte for adults, which I told the woman. She just laughed and got me what I needed. Christina then asked for the same plus some Pepto Bismol. She laughed again when I told her we were new to Honduras. I’m guessing she figured that out already.

Thursday, we took a trip to the US embassy and it was the first time we were allowed to speak English to anyone. It was so weird being able to understand EVERYTHING! Now I know where to go if the police are after me or I lose my passport or something like that happens. Many different people told us what they were doing to make a difference in Honduras and how they were working so hard, but it always seemed like no matter what, the US was the one who benefitted. One person even said that the sweatshops are good for the Hondurans because it teaches them how to have a job- how to get up on time and work hard. I just wanted to tell her that most Hondurans wake up at four or five in the morning, and work their butts off until late at night and earn very little. I was actually pretty upset that she thinks that by the United States taking advantage of people, we are doing them a favor.

Well, a little bit of random non-Honduras news. Kooba and I have changed the wedding date to August 19, 2011. I have a lot of planning to do and a lot of things to figure out, but will do most of that when I get back from the Netherlands. So far, I have the colors, flowers, dress, and a reception hall and that seems pretty much like it.  

Cusuna

Cusuna Weekend 

Our group spend the weekend in the Garifuna* village of Cusuna, one of the poorer villages in Honduras. They don’t even have electricity. This weekend was my favorite so far and was the first time I was truly happy here. We spent the days (after 11+ hours in a school bus) swimming in the sea with the locals, learning about the Garifuna culture, and sharing our culture in return. Here are just a few stories from this trip.

Sketchy (M)otel

By the time we started getting closer to the village, it was too dark to navigate on the steep, twisty-turny, water covered roads, so we stopped at this super shady motel. We were all so exhausted and hot and were looking forward to a good night’s sleep in our small rooms. The set up was a double bed and a twin bed- between four people. Because everyone turned on their air conditioners at the same time, we shorted out the fuse, leaving us in tiny saunas to sleep. Someone came around with fans for every room, but our room’s outlets didn’t work. After everyone in our room showered (sharing two towels), we got ready for bed- leaving the door open because otherwise it was completely miserable. One of us started to laugh at how completely ridiculous the night was turning out to be when a girl from another room came over saying they had frogs and cockroaches in their room so they were going to sleep outside. Which made us laugh even more. And then someone else came to tell us the air was working in their room, so we should try it. We tried to plug it in, and Heather prayed “God, please make it do something.” We plugged it in and a light came on! We were so excited. Then it started emitting this high pitch beeping noise and blinking lights at us. We finally just ended up lying on the sketchy sheets and falling asleep to the sounds of everyone else laughing at what a crazy night we were having.

Community Show

The community put on a show to show off their culture. There was dancing and singing- things that Dutch people can’t do. We all sat in a small school room and tons of little kids crowded around behind us watching the two shows- the dancing and the gringos. One little boy sat on my lap, clapping to the beats- a feat which I couldn’t quite master. The girls and boys could dance so well- even Pablo and a few others in our group got up and showed off their stuff. I didn’t really understand the words because it was in Garifuna, but it was still really cool to see.

Shoes

I thought I only brought four pairs of shoes to Honduras. But, I have four pairs of shoes more that some of the people in Cusuana. The majority of people wear the type of flip flops that you can get at old navy or Wal-Mart- plastic and cheap. Then, there were those who couldn’t afford even that and ran around their village barefoot, even though there was trash everywhere. Those who didn’t have shoes would come and watch us eat, but since we didn’t have enough to give to all of them, we couldn’t share. It was really heart-breaking to see then with their little fingers poking through the slits in the windows.

6-year-old mafias

One night I was just sitting on a log, reading my Bible and writing in my journal. These two six-year-old girls came up to me and demanded that I give them a dollar. I didn’t have a dollar, so they told me to give them my Bible and my journal. I told them that it wasn’t nice to go to people and demand things. They told me they would wait while I got a dollar. I then told them to go hit up the others.

Church

In order to get to church, we not only walked and took a bus, but we also took a couple huge lanchas*. It was really tippy, but it’s okay because we read from Jonah, just to be safe. Walking up the road, we could hear drums and singing. We walked in a did the “I’m gonna clap along and sway bach and forth because I don’t know what else I am supposed to do” dance. Then the women started pulling us all forward, and we all ended up sweating and dancing together for the same great God. We sang a couple songs in English/Spanish for them as well- some of which they knew in Spanish/Garifuna. The sermon was translated into Spanish from Garifuna for us, but by this point I was so tired I had a hard time telling which one was which. After the church service I was feeling a bit dizzy, and then a lot dizzy. Someone got me a chair, which we tried to move to the shade, but before we made it to some shady destination, I hit the dirt. The next thing I remember is that someone was giving me this gross candy and coconut water- which I hate. By this point a group of Garifunas had gathered and was watching me. Then the combination of feeling so dizzy and the coconut water made me sick, so I just threw up in front of all these people. I felt better and then we ate “espegheti”, my favorite food. After resting for a bit, we all walked to a gorgeous Catholic cathedral, took our boats back to our village and went swimming.

Beetle in my pants

The last night, after swimming again in the medusa*-filled sea, our group of 30 ate at an outdoor restaurant. After we were finished with our chicken or fish, we went and danced in the streets where a few guys were playing loud music. After a while of dancing, another girl and I had to go to the bathroom so we went in searching. We didn’t actually find a servicio*, but we did find a bush. When drove back to the houses we were staying at, and as I changed into my pajamas, a beetle fell out of my shorts- and it was still alive. Now I know, always check for bugs before you pee in someone’s backyard.

Return trip

The question that constantly kept going through my mind through this trip was, “Is this really happening?” Well, the return trip was no exception. First, we drank tang- the Honduraño equivalent to orange juice. We made a stop for bathrooms, and one girl got stuck in the bathroom for almost twenty minutes. Some men finally came and just broke down the door for her. We stopped for dinner at this really cute restaurant, which was relatively normal (and delicious). A few hours later, we stopped again for bathrooms. I started getting dizzy again, so I bought some juice. Just as we were about to get back on the bus, I realized that I was going to be sick. So, I ran back in with Pablo yelling “Estás bien?” No, I was not bien. I slept for twenty minutes on the bus, but then we got stuck in a traffic jam. At this point two other girls started throwing up. I had to get off the bus, and then I started throwing up on the side of the road. I got back on and couldn’t stop throwing up for the last hour of the bus ride. I started shaking and then I couldn’t feel my body, which was one of their weirdest sensations ever. People kept asking me things, but I didn’t know what language they were speaking and I just wanted to sleep. We finally got back and took a taxi to our houses, where I just went to sleep. I stopped throwing up, but then I got diarrhea around midnight. So, it was just a really long night for me. I am ready for a new day, but still, I had the best weekend. I am just so joyful that I got to have an amazing time learning about the Garifunas and the people in my group. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

A song that sums up the weekend- we sang it at church

Estoy Alegre (I’m joyful)

                ¿Porqué estás alegre? (Why are you joyful)

Estoy Alegre (I’m joyful)

                Cuénteme porque. (Tell me why)

Estoy Alegre (I’m joyful)

                ¿Porqué estás alegre? Eso quiero yo saber.(Why are you joyful? I want to know)

Voy a contarte. (I’m going to tell you)

                ¿Puedes contarme? (Can you tell me?)

La razón de estar algre es asi Haleluja Gloria (The reason to be happy is this)

Cristo un día me salvó y mi alma transformó (Christ saved me and transformed my spirit)

Y eso quiero algre estoy. (And for this I want to be happy).

               

Garifuna= a person of African ancestry who lives in a segregate community on the coast of Honduras.

Lanchas= large canoes, that are not really stable with twenty people.

Medusa= Jellyfish

Servicio= bathroom