Now that I’ve been home for over 2 months, I’ve had a chance to reflect back on how these months have helped me to adjust back into my life in America. I would say it took about a month for me to adjust being back home, with home meaning being in the American culture and home meaning living at home with my family and reconnecting with my friends. The first day back I went to the mall with my family to get a new phone. I stepped into the mall and walked slowly down the hall, just kinda taking it all in. I had been to malls in Honduras, but that was a treat when we went. I was tired and overwhelmed that day as well, which didn’t help things.
I was delighted that I could now drink water out of the tap and that I could throw my toilet paper in the toilet. If there was a trash near the toilet, I actually had to think twice about not putting the paper in it! I had reliable wireless internet whenever I wanted, consistently hot showers, carpet, couches and big comfy chairs and no abnormally large bugs to worry about.
Another aspect of my life I had to get used to again was being able to drive myself…in a car. Literally for the first week I don’t think I touched a steering wheel. I slowly drove more and more often and it’s just like riding a bike: it comes back to you pretty quickly. Seeing my old form of transportation on the highways around the US (buses) made me gag a little in my mouth.
Not hearing Spanish everyday was one thing I had to get used to as well. I actually miss it and prefer to be hearing it everyday. Whenever I’m at work and hear people speaking Spanish, I try to see if I can understand what they’re talking about. I’m setting goals for myself to keep up on it while I’m here, whether that’s through my job, volunteer opportunities, or just studying/reviewing things myself.
An additional thing I’ve noticed is how I handle crowds. When I was at the mall, in Chicago this summer, and at a Jack Johnson concert I experienced some crowd anxiety. There were just too many people around me, taking over my personal space; I wasn’t used to being with so many people in one place and it kinda freaked me out. I just wanted to get away and be in open spaces.
Connecting with my family and friends again was actually probably the hardest part. It’s difficult to describe. I felt like they in some ways didn’t understand me, the way I viewed life in the States, certain issues seemed more important to me after living in a developing country, and just readjusting to the flow of daily life here. I hadn’t physically seen many of my friends and family in months, so having a face to face conversation with them was different. The fact that I had to be dependent again on my parents for a vehicle, a place to stay, letting them know my schedule was hard to adjust to after being independent in Honduras for a year. Granted there I didn’t have to worry about a car, health insurance, and all these other things that come with living in the United States as an adult. But after about a month, I grew comfortable in my surroundings here again, and life was back to ‘normal.’
Sometimes I miss the pace of life in Honduras. Time isn't so rigid. This was great for me and not. I am often just on time or slightly late, so telling me to come somewhere at 7 and its ok to show up 15 minutes late is fine with me! But then schedules aren't predictable either. A bus may say it leaves at 4pm, but then may arrive early...or an hour late. People visit with family and friends, stop working to have a conversation, yet work very hard to provide. The pace of life in Villa Verde was especially refreshing; being able to look out over the valley every morning, enjoy the sound of the river, climb/run Celaque, play with the neighbor kids, and just relax. Its an interesting tension being an American in a country that lives at that pace. In one sense, its great because it taught me to slow down, think, talk, relax, just be. But in the other sense, certain things Americans/Westerners are used to having done quickly and efficiently, aren't always done that way there. A few examples: lines at the bank, bus schedules, meeting someone somewhere. Those things got to me and made me miss the way those things were done in America. I believe experiences like living in Honduras though can teach me to take back a piece of that culture back here: taking time to just be, have a conversation and not be in such a hurry all the time.
I knew coming back from Honduras was going to be awesome and difficult at the same time, and I was right.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The End and Another Beginning
Friday, June 25th
Today has finally come. Back to the United States after six straight months in Honduras and ten months total. We all got up, met for breakfast, took the shuttle to the airport, did our airport taxes, went through security, waited for our plane, and boarded. When we arrived in Houston, I was almost tempted to kiss the floor. I was again amazed at the diversity of people in America, the fact that I could drink from a drinking fountain, and flush my toilet paper down the toilet. Tad, Jake and I found our gate, called our families, and got our first meal back in the States of Panda Express for dinner. We left for Chicago soon after, arrived and made our way down to the luggage area to see our families. I just had to keep reminding myself that I was back, for good, not just for a few weeks. My mom and Tad’s parents met us and gave us big hugs, helped us load our luggage and made the three hour ride back to West Michigan. Finally…HOME.
More reflections on my experience in Honduras, re-entry, and being back in the States soon. Thanks to everyone who has prayed for me and followed me on this adventure by reading this.
This blog is just as much for me to remember the things I've done and gone through and I hope that in some way you gain something from it as well. Keep coming back to here about my current life adventures and musings!
Today has finally come. Back to the United States after six straight months in Honduras and ten months total. We all got up, met for breakfast, took the shuttle to the airport, did our airport taxes, went through security, waited for our plane, and boarded. When we arrived in Houston, I was almost tempted to kiss the floor. I was again amazed at the diversity of people in America, the fact that I could drink from a drinking fountain, and flush my toilet paper down the toilet. Tad, Jake and I found our gate, called our families, and got our first meal back in the States of Panda Express for dinner. We left for Chicago soon after, arrived and made our way down to the luggage area to see our families. I just had to keep reminding myself that I was back, for good, not just for a few weeks. My mom and Tad’s parents met us and gave us big hugs, helped us load our luggage and made the three hour ride back to West Michigan. Finally…HOME.
More reflections on my experience in Honduras, re-entry, and being back in the States soon. Thanks to everyone who has prayed for me and followed me on this adventure by reading this.
This blog is just as much for me to remember the things I've done and gone through and I hope that in some way you gain something from it as well. Keep coming back to here about my current life adventures and musings!
Last Days in Honduras
Wednesday, June 23rd
Today consisted mostly of packing, cleaning, and hanging out with Paola and the other neighbors all day. The US had a World Cup match versus Algeria in the morning in Honduras as well as England playing Slovenia. The US had to win and I think England had to lose or tie for the US to advance. Tad really wanted to watch the game, so him, Paola, and me went down to town early and had breakfast at Don Juan’s (nice hotel/restaurant) to watch the game. We treated Paola to breakfast; she could pick whatever she wanted and she chose the typical Honduran breakfast haha. She’s so cute! The game was super intense and we were being kinda loud when there was a missed goal or something. It was still 0-0 at the end of regular playing time, so they added their additional minutes. In the 90th minute, Donovan from the United States broke away and made a goal!!! It was amazing and Tad and I were yelling and clapping and then settled down a bit when we realized how loud we were being. But it was a great game nonetheless and we got to hang out with Paola, too.
We did some things in town and then headed back up the mountain. The girls had left the house pretty clean when I got back yesterday so I just had to pack up all my clothes and things in my suitcases. The problem was trying to figure out what to bring home with me and what to leave there since I knew LB was coming back and she could use some things. That pretty much took me all day, between packing, organizing all that stuff, cleaning the bathroom and the frig out, and making sure everything was ready to go and where it needed to be since I was the last one in the house. Sonia made me and Tad a going away dinner of barbecued pork chops and beans and some other stuff; it was really good! Then again, Sonia makes really good food, too! Since I was mostly packed after dinner, I spent time relaxing at the comedor with the Melgars, Paola, and Tad, saying some of my goodbyes before I had to leave tomorrow. Tomorrow it was off to San Pedro and then United States on Friday!
Thursday, June 24th
This morning was sad. We had figured out the direct bus to San Pedro left Gracias a little after 9am, so we got up at a decent hour, finished packing, and started to say our goodbyes. We wanted the direct bus to avoid having to take all our suitcases off one bus and put them on another and the direct buses are nicer. Anyways, Tad and I said goodbye to the Melgars and the kids. It was hard to say goodbye to Paola, especially for Tad since he lived with her. She was crying and burying her face in our chests and hugging us. Sonia and Dona Angela were teary-eyed, too. After we pulled ourselves away, Juan Carlos and Samuel brought us to the bus stop and helped us to find the right bus. We said our goodbyes to them as well, our faithful mototaxi drivers. Tad and I were stoked because not only did we get the direct bus, but it was a nice, fairly new bus, too! We settled into our seats and the trip to Santa Rosa began. We were both on cloud nine realizing this time tomorrow we’d be on our way to the US after six months of being away.
There were three stops the bus had to make in Santa Rosa. During the second stop, a girl selling stuff turned to me and asked me for change for 100 lempiras. I didn’t have it on me, it was in my backpack above my head across the aisle. I pulled my backpack down and realized the zipper where I had my wallet, passport and ipod was open! My heart raced; I started shaking and crying and frantically started searching for my wallet. Tad was immediately like “What’s wrong?” I kept thinking, ‘This can’t be happening, maybe it just fell down somewhere else in my backpack or something…” but no, my wallet AND ipod had been STOLEN!!!! I started freaking out, crying, shaking, asking as best as I could in my Spanish if anyone had seen the person who did it. One lady said she thought it was this guy who had sat behind me. And as I thought back to this guy she was talking about, I realized I had noticed him moving seats during the ride. He had been in front of us, then across the aisle (sitting in the seats under my backpack) and then moved to the seats behind us. He must have seen where I put my wallet when I got change for my ticket back in Gracias and so he knew where it was. ALL of the money that had remained in my Honduran bank account (around $500 USD!!) was in my wallet as well as my license and two credit cards. I had been stupid to carry around that much cash in one place because I didn’t need it all that day; that was my fault. All these should’ve, could’ve, would’ves went through my head.
After this lady said that, I ran up to the bus driver and told him and asked if there was anything they could do; not very helpful. The next stop a little up the road a policeman got on and so I went up to him and explained in Spanish, crying, what had happened and then tried to understand what he was telling me in Spanish to do. I was so flustered that it was hard for me to understand but I think he had told me he was going to tell his friends who were around there to come and help me search for the guy and they were on their way. So after he had communicated that to the dispatcher person and the bus driver, the bus stopped on the corner of the road by the gas station. The bus guy told us to follow him and said they had to keep going, helped us get our suitcases out from under the bus, put them on the side of the road, said something like God will take care of it. Then there Tad and I were: on the side of the road, with all of our suitcases, I had no money or way to get money, Tad had little money, and I wasn’t exactly sure what the policeman had said about the other police coming and when. I completely lost it and started bawling. I wanted to crawl into a hole, disappear, start the day over and go back to America. I DID NOT want to be in Honduras at that point; I despised Honduras at that point. Tad comforted me as best as a person can in that situation and we just sat on the road, waiting to see if these other policemen were going to show up. Thank God, the guy hadn’t taken my passport or my phone, but I didn’t have a lot of money left on my phone and neither did Tad. I called my parents and told them the very short story of what happened and to cancel my credit cards. Tad called Mr. Lara and let him know the situation and if there was anything they could do to help us out. By this time it was about noon and we HAD to get to SPS that day because our flight left for the States late morning on Friday. A
fter about 20-30 minutes of waiting, here comes this four door, flatbed white pickup with 8 policemen, fully decked out and each one of them had a gun; not just a handgun, a GUN. It was almost comical. They asked us what happened, threw our stuff in the back, let us sit in the cab, and took off. I think that was the safest I had ever felt in Honduras haha. But they kept asking what had happened and again, the language was a barrier, especially with my stress clouding my mind. I tried to explain what happened and the urgency of it. But like typical Honduras, they had to go to this building to drop off some food for their buddies, then they took me all the way into Santa Rosa to the police station there, AWAY from the bus station where my stuff had been stolen about 45 minutes ago. I knew the more time passed, the less likely it was I would have any chance of seeing my stuff again. We got to the police station; I went in to repeat my story again to these women who were in charge of something; and they told me to wait for this guy who was like an undercover cop or something to take me BACK to the bus station and look for the guy. SO frustrating the lack of efficiency and urgency in the system here!! Meanwhile, Tad is making phone calls to his friend Mike, Mr. Lara, and Jake to try to figure things out of how we can still get to SPS that evening. I took off with the undercover cop guy and we checked out all the bus stops and stations in Santa Rosa; I went into a bunch of buses to see if the guy was there and nothing. We rode around the area and downtown Santa Rosa and nothing. I had basically lost hope of recovering my things.
Back to the police station, I sat around for a while, wondering if there was anything else I could do or should. Tad had been amazing calling people and found out Jake and his parents were staying in the same hotel we were that night, so they were willing to pay for our hotel and meals in SPS; thank you God. And Mr. Lara called us to tell us that Mr. Rodrigo (bless his amazing heart) was willing to drive us in his truck to SPS directly to the hotel. We just sat there then at the police station in Santa Rosa and waited for Mr. Rodrigo. I was completely spent and done…with everything. Mr. Rodrigo finally came, loaded our stuff, and we were off to SPS. He tried talking to us and we did our best to respond, but we just had no emotional strength left. He took us straight to the hotel entrance and we met Jake and his parents there. They paid for our hotel and our dinner that night and then everyone turned in early.
Today was probably the worst day I had in Honduras; the second was the day I came back from Lake Yajoa; our bus broke down; and we had no running water when I got back to Villa Verde. But I digress. Looking back on the day, while it stunk to high heaven to have all that crap happened, God provided through all the people in my life: Tad making calls and being there for me, Mr. Lara helping, Mr. Rodrigo bringing us there, Jake and his parents paying for our hotel, meals and our airport fees tomorrow. In spite of the violation I felt from having my HARD-earned money and ipod stolen from me, God had still been there, looking out for me in various ways. Tomorrow…finally back home to America.
Today consisted mostly of packing, cleaning, and hanging out with Paola and the other neighbors all day. The US had a World Cup match versus Algeria in the morning in Honduras as well as England playing Slovenia. The US had to win and I think England had to lose or tie for the US to advance. Tad really wanted to watch the game, so him, Paola, and me went down to town early and had breakfast at Don Juan’s (nice hotel/restaurant) to watch the game. We treated Paola to breakfast; she could pick whatever she wanted and she chose the typical Honduran breakfast haha. She’s so cute! The game was super intense and we were being kinda loud when there was a missed goal or something. It was still 0-0 at the end of regular playing time, so they added their additional minutes. In the 90th minute, Donovan from the United States broke away and made a goal!!! It was amazing and Tad and I were yelling and clapping and then settled down a bit when we realized how loud we were being. But it was a great game nonetheless and we got to hang out with Paola, too.
We did some things in town and then headed back up the mountain. The girls had left the house pretty clean when I got back yesterday so I just had to pack up all my clothes and things in my suitcases. The problem was trying to figure out what to bring home with me and what to leave there since I knew LB was coming back and she could use some things. That pretty much took me all day, between packing, organizing all that stuff, cleaning the bathroom and the frig out, and making sure everything was ready to go and where it needed to be since I was the last one in the house. Sonia made me and Tad a going away dinner of barbecued pork chops and beans and some other stuff; it was really good! Then again, Sonia makes really good food, too! Since I was mostly packed after dinner, I spent time relaxing at the comedor with the Melgars, Paola, and Tad, saying some of my goodbyes before I had to leave tomorrow. Tomorrow it was off to San Pedro and then United States on Friday!
Thursday, June 24th
This morning was sad. We had figured out the direct bus to San Pedro left Gracias a little after 9am, so we got up at a decent hour, finished packing, and started to say our goodbyes. We wanted the direct bus to avoid having to take all our suitcases off one bus and put them on another and the direct buses are nicer. Anyways, Tad and I said goodbye to the Melgars and the kids. It was hard to say goodbye to Paola, especially for Tad since he lived with her. She was crying and burying her face in our chests and hugging us. Sonia and Dona Angela were teary-eyed, too. After we pulled ourselves away, Juan Carlos and Samuel brought us to the bus stop and helped us to find the right bus. We said our goodbyes to them as well, our faithful mototaxi drivers. Tad and I were stoked because not only did we get the direct bus, but it was a nice, fairly new bus, too! We settled into our seats and the trip to Santa Rosa began. We were both on cloud nine realizing this time tomorrow we’d be on our way to the US after six months of being away.
There were three stops the bus had to make in Santa Rosa. During the second stop, a girl selling stuff turned to me and asked me for change for 100 lempiras. I didn’t have it on me, it was in my backpack above my head across the aisle. I pulled my backpack down and realized the zipper where I had my wallet, passport and ipod was open! My heart raced; I started shaking and crying and frantically started searching for my wallet. Tad was immediately like “What’s wrong?” I kept thinking, ‘This can’t be happening, maybe it just fell down somewhere else in my backpack or something…” but no, my wallet AND ipod had been STOLEN!!!! I started freaking out, crying, shaking, asking as best as I could in my Spanish if anyone had seen the person who did it. One lady said she thought it was this guy who had sat behind me. And as I thought back to this guy she was talking about, I realized I had noticed him moving seats during the ride. He had been in front of us, then across the aisle (sitting in the seats under my backpack) and then moved to the seats behind us. He must have seen where I put my wallet when I got change for my ticket back in Gracias and so he knew where it was. ALL of the money that had remained in my Honduran bank account (around $500 USD!!) was in my wallet as well as my license and two credit cards. I had been stupid to carry around that much cash in one place because I didn’t need it all that day; that was my fault. All these should’ve, could’ve, would’ves went through my head.
After this lady said that, I ran up to the bus driver and told him and asked if there was anything they could do; not very helpful. The next stop a little up the road a policeman got on and so I went up to him and explained in Spanish, crying, what had happened and then tried to understand what he was telling me in Spanish to do. I was so flustered that it was hard for me to understand but I think he had told me he was going to tell his friends who were around there to come and help me search for the guy and they were on their way. So after he had communicated that to the dispatcher person and the bus driver, the bus stopped on the corner of the road by the gas station. The bus guy told us to follow him and said they had to keep going, helped us get our suitcases out from under the bus, put them on the side of the road, said something like God will take care of it. Then there Tad and I were: on the side of the road, with all of our suitcases, I had no money or way to get money, Tad had little money, and I wasn’t exactly sure what the policeman had said about the other police coming and when. I completely lost it and started bawling. I wanted to crawl into a hole, disappear, start the day over and go back to America. I DID NOT want to be in Honduras at that point; I despised Honduras at that point. Tad comforted me as best as a person can in that situation and we just sat on the road, waiting to see if these other policemen were going to show up. Thank God, the guy hadn’t taken my passport or my phone, but I didn’t have a lot of money left on my phone and neither did Tad. I called my parents and told them the very short story of what happened and to cancel my credit cards. Tad called Mr. Lara and let him know the situation and if there was anything they could do to help us out. By this time it was about noon and we HAD to get to SPS that day because our flight left for the States late morning on Friday. A
fter about 20-30 minutes of waiting, here comes this four door, flatbed white pickup with 8 policemen, fully decked out and each one of them had a gun; not just a handgun, a GUN. It was almost comical. They asked us what happened, threw our stuff in the back, let us sit in the cab, and took off. I think that was the safest I had ever felt in Honduras haha. But they kept asking what had happened and again, the language was a barrier, especially with my stress clouding my mind. I tried to explain what happened and the urgency of it. But like typical Honduras, they had to go to this building to drop off some food for their buddies, then they took me all the way into Santa Rosa to the police station there, AWAY from the bus station where my stuff had been stolen about 45 minutes ago. I knew the more time passed, the less likely it was I would have any chance of seeing my stuff again. We got to the police station; I went in to repeat my story again to these women who were in charge of something; and they told me to wait for this guy who was like an undercover cop or something to take me BACK to the bus station and look for the guy. SO frustrating the lack of efficiency and urgency in the system here!! Meanwhile, Tad is making phone calls to his friend Mike, Mr. Lara, and Jake to try to figure things out of how we can still get to SPS that evening. I took off with the undercover cop guy and we checked out all the bus stops and stations in Santa Rosa; I went into a bunch of buses to see if the guy was there and nothing. We rode around the area and downtown Santa Rosa and nothing. I had basically lost hope of recovering my things.
Back to the police station, I sat around for a while, wondering if there was anything else I could do or should. Tad had been amazing calling people and found out Jake and his parents were staying in the same hotel we were that night, so they were willing to pay for our hotel and meals in SPS; thank you God. And Mr. Lara called us to tell us that Mr. Rodrigo (bless his amazing heart) was willing to drive us in his truck to SPS directly to the hotel. We just sat there then at the police station in Santa Rosa and waited for Mr. Rodrigo. I was completely spent and done…with everything. Mr. Rodrigo finally came, loaded our stuff, and we were off to SPS. He tried talking to us and we did our best to respond, but we just had no emotional strength left. He took us straight to the hotel entrance and we met Jake and his parents there. They paid for our hotel and our dinner that night and then everyone turned in early.
Today was probably the worst day I had in Honduras; the second was the day I came back from Lake Yajoa; our bus broke down; and we had no running water when I got back to Villa Verde. But I digress. Looking back on the day, while it stunk to high heaven to have all that crap happened, God provided through all the people in my life: Tad making calls and being there for me, Mr. Lara helping, Mr. Rodrigo bringing us there, Jake and his parents paying for our hotel, meals and our airport fees tomorrow. In spite of the violation I felt from having my HARD-earned money and ipod stolen from me, God had still been there, looking out for me in various ways. Tomorrow…finally back home to America.
Guatemala and Roatan Adventure-Final Take
Monday, June 21st
We slept in today and both realized how sunburnt we were from our snorkeling adventures yesterday. Thankfully, Tad had brought some aloe, so that was put on numerous times throughout the day to soothe the pain. It literally hurt, especially when I was laying on my back. After breakfast we decided to snorkel again, this time renting our gear from a store so we could have it all day and not have it taken from us early like yesterday. We had seen people snorkeling with t-shirts on yesterday and didn’t understand why…now we did. We donned our t-shirts and went snorkeling in Half Moon Bay, the bay across from our hotel. I still don’t know how I feel about snorkeling. I really liked it yesterday when it was calm, blue water and it was all new. But I kinda have to psych myself up to breathe through a mouthpiece and not my nose. I have a slight bit of anxiety set in if I snorkel for too long. So when I went today and the water was murkier and I didn’t see as much cool stuff, I decided I was gonna chill and let Tad have his adventure out there. He came back all excited; he had seen a moray eel under a rock close to the coastline! It had come out and opened and closed its mouth at him and everything. I’m glad he saw it and not me; I probably would’ve freaked and drowned haha.
Quick shower to get the salt off, leftovers and PBJ for lunch, and then we went to a local hangout to watch the Spain vs. Honduras World Cup game! It was hard to choose who to root for; Spain had been doing well, but we were in Honduras. Spain ended up winning, which they deserved. I’m glad that Honduras made it to the Cup, but they just couldn’t quite compete with the European teams. Afterwards, we headed back to West Bay to do some more snorkeling…well Tad did more snorkeling and I enjoyed the sand and sun.
Back to West End late afternoon and we still had no hotel resolution with our payment stuff. We got ready for dinner and finally took care of the payment, but no discount for the confusion we had had. So it was off to choose which restaurant we wanted that night; we chose a restaurant with a great ocean view and quite a few gringos, too. We met a lady and her kids who had lived on the island for the last five years because her husband was a realtor there. Crazy…can you imagine growing up on Roatan? Our last night on Roatan was relaxing on the beach chairs by the ocean with a clear, starry sky.
Tuesday, June 22nd
We had an early rise and shine to catch our 7am ferry back to the mainland. This ferry ride went amazingly better; the water was calm and the weather was perfect. I caught a quick nap. Once back in Ceiba we caught a taxi to the bus station to get a bus to San Pedro. This was going to be another long travel day, but not near as bad as the sixteen hour one we had the other day. I was prepared for the longer ride to SPS from Ceiba. Once in SPS, we got another bus to Santa Rosa. If all went well with the bus (getting there the time it said it would), we’d be able to catch the last bus to Gracias and still make it home today. Usually you can’t plan on a bus being normal, but today it was and we were able to get our bus to Gracias. We arrived back in Gracias after our whirlwind vacation around 6:30-7pm.
We dragged all of our stuff over to the familiar Guancascos and relaxed with dinner there after our long day. I called JuanCarlos to pick us up in the mototaxi; it was so good to see a familiar face! We headed up the mountain to Villa Verde and soon enough we were seeing all of our neighbors. The kids were so excited to see us, especially Paola. Tad and I were the last teachers of the bunch to still be in Honduras. We unpacked a little bit, hung out with the neighbors and then headed to bed, back in beautiful, familiar Villa Verde.
We slept in today and both realized how sunburnt we were from our snorkeling adventures yesterday. Thankfully, Tad had brought some aloe, so that was put on numerous times throughout the day to soothe the pain. It literally hurt, especially when I was laying on my back. After breakfast we decided to snorkel again, this time renting our gear from a store so we could have it all day and not have it taken from us early like yesterday. We had seen people snorkeling with t-shirts on yesterday and didn’t understand why…now we did. We donned our t-shirts and went snorkeling in Half Moon Bay, the bay across from our hotel. I still don’t know how I feel about snorkeling. I really liked it yesterday when it was calm, blue water and it was all new. But I kinda have to psych myself up to breathe through a mouthpiece and not my nose. I have a slight bit of anxiety set in if I snorkel for too long. So when I went today and the water was murkier and I didn’t see as much cool stuff, I decided I was gonna chill and let Tad have his adventure out there. He came back all excited; he had seen a moray eel under a rock close to the coastline! It had come out and opened and closed its mouth at him and everything. I’m glad he saw it and not me; I probably would’ve freaked and drowned haha.
Quick shower to get the salt off, leftovers and PBJ for lunch, and then we went to a local hangout to watch the Spain vs. Honduras World Cup game! It was hard to choose who to root for; Spain had been doing well, but we were in Honduras. Spain ended up winning, which they deserved. I’m glad that Honduras made it to the Cup, but they just couldn’t quite compete with the European teams. Afterwards, we headed back to West Bay to do some more snorkeling…well Tad did more snorkeling and I enjoyed the sand and sun.
Back to West End late afternoon and we still had no hotel resolution with our payment stuff. We got ready for dinner and finally took care of the payment, but no discount for the confusion we had had. So it was off to choose which restaurant we wanted that night; we chose a restaurant with a great ocean view and quite a few gringos, too. We met a lady and her kids who had lived on the island for the last five years because her husband was a realtor there. Crazy…can you imagine growing up on Roatan? Our last night on Roatan was relaxing on the beach chairs by the ocean with a clear, starry sky.
Tuesday, June 22nd
We had an early rise and shine to catch our 7am ferry back to the mainland. This ferry ride went amazingly better; the water was calm and the weather was perfect. I caught a quick nap. Once back in Ceiba we caught a taxi to the bus station to get a bus to San Pedro. This was going to be another long travel day, but not near as bad as the sixteen hour one we had the other day. I was prepared for the longer ride to SPS from Ceiba. Once in SPS, we got another bus to Santa Rosa. If all went well with the bus (getting there the time it said it would), we’d be able to catch the last bus to Gracias and still make it home today. Usually you can’t plan on a bus being normal, but today it was and we were able to get our bus to Gracias. We arrived back in Gracias after our whirlwind vacation around 6:30-7pm.
We dragged all of our stuff over to the familiar Guancascos and relaxed with dinner there after our long day. I called JuanCarlos to pick us up in the mototaxi; it was so good to see a familiar face! We headed up the mountain to Villa Verde and soon enough we were seeing all of our neighbors. The kids were so excited to see us, especially Paola. Tad and I were the last teachers of the bunch to still be in Honduras. We unpacked a little bit, hung out with the neighbors and then headed to bed, back in beautiful, familiar Villa Verde.
Guatemala and Roatan Adventure-Take 4
Saturday, June 19th
We slept in until 8 am (four more hours than yesterday haha) and headed over to the bank right away to take out the money we needed for Roatan. The place where we were going to be staying in Roatan did not have any ATMs or banks, so we both took out plenty. After I got through the line, I was counting my money and realized I had been jipped 500 lempiras ($25). I was about to go back up in line and tell them they miscounted when Tad spotted under my seat on the floor! Thank goodness. Since Ceiba is one of the more developed and bigger cities in Honduras, we decided to go to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. This was comparable to a Starbucks for us being in Honduras and you could tell by the cliental that more middle class Hondurans like breakfast there, too. We went back to the hotel to relax a bit before heading back out again to buy some groceries for Roatan. Basically we had heard food (well, everything) was expensive on Roatan, so we bought stuff for breakfast and snacks to help keep costs down. The hotel we finally had arranged on the island had a little mini-fridge as well. We had some more good American Wendy’s for lunch, checked out of our hotel in Ceiba, and made our way to the ferry dock.
There’s only one ferry that goes back and forth between Roatan, Utila and Ceiba. It ended up being more money than I had read about, but whatever, it’s just money, right? We were pretty early, so we waited in the lobby, called some friends and fam, and watched some more World Cup games until the ferry came. The ride went pretty well…until it started clouding over, raining and the Caribbean Sea became wavy. I don’t get motion sickness too badly, but I definitely had to concentrate and look out the window at the horizon to make sure I didn’t lose it. Thankfully the rain stopped when we arrived at Roatan! We captured a taxi ($15 each to West End!) and made it to our hotel. Checking in with this hotel was not very efficient; basically the whole process with this hotel was typical Honduran. But we dealt with it and waited to pay the full amount as long as we could until we knew if we were getting discount or not for the trouble they put us through. West End is a small town, but has a beautiful ocean view.
There’s one sandy road leading down the center of town with restaurants and shops along the edge. It was about dinner time, so Tad and I wandered down the sandy road and found a restaurant that was built up out of the water with a great ocean view, an ocean deck restaurant if you will called Eagle Ray. It was very relaxing; when you think paradise, that’s how it felt: calm, relaxing, beautiful. We enjoyed our dinner and some after dinner drinks and headed to bed. Island activities tomorrow!
Sunday, June 20th
First full day in Roatan! We woke up, had our cheap milk and cereal in red plastic cups, and got our day started by kayaking in Half Moon Bay, the bay directly in front our hotel. The kayaks were free to people who were staying at the hotel, which was awesome. Roatan is known for its amazing coral reefs, second to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia; in other words, awesome! So I didn’t realized the deeper I went out, the more coral I would encounter and that perhaps the coral might stick out above the water. I’m not a good kayaker in general, but when you added the coral to the mix…I got stuck. On coral. And couldn’t move. I had to keep rocking back and forth, using my paddle to get myself into water again and kept apologizing to the coral. I felt so stupid because here’s Tad, just kayaking away like he’s a pro and here I am, stuck on coral. It was an awesome experience, but nonetheless a great way to start our morning.
Late morning we took a water taxi (they have so many different modes of transportation here in Honduras) to West Bay, the most infamous and most gorgeous beach on the island. This is the place you have crystal blue water and coral and tropical fish you’ve only seen in Nemo. Right on the beach where we put our stuff down was a high end hotel called Infinity Bay, with a swim up bar and beach restaurant. Tad and I looked it up later; I think it was about $200/night during low season. Not astronomical, but definitely not something you can just ‘do.’ We saw people snorkeling and since we weren’t spending enough time on the island to get our diving certification, it would have to do. We found a guy who rented us scuba gear for $5 each and got to it. It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had in my life!! I felt like I was watching the world of Nemo with my own two eyes. I saw waving fans of coral, brain coral, brightly colored fish of all shapes and sizes and all in crystal blue water.
The whole day was spent that way, except for our break for lunch at the hotel’s restaurant. We almost didn’t bring enough money to cover lunch, but squeezed by. After we got back from lunch, the guy who had rented our scuba gear from wanted it back because he was leaving for the day. We reluctantly gave it back to him; Tad was suspicious and didn’t really think he was leaving and he was right. The guy just didn’t want his stuff laying around while we had lunch when he could’ve rented it to someone else. Tad decided to confront him and after a slightly heated conversation, we didn’t get our scuba gear back, but got five of our ten dollars back. We decided to head back late afternoon and began to realize we had not put on enough sunscreen. Because Tad and I had been snorkeling all day with our backs and legs bare to the sun, we were both fried on our backsides. I don’t think I have been that sunburned in years; it hurt terribly! We checked with the hotel to see if our payment problem had been taken care of yet, but no news, so we got ready for dinner. Mealtime consisted of us wandering up and down the street, seeing what restaurants were open, what ones we wanted to try and how much they cost. We settle on Thai that night; Tad’s a big fan, but I haven’t tried it much. We got a table on the dock with candlelight. I had no idea what to choose, so I asked for Tad’s opinion, saw some stuff I thought might be good and ordered Spicy Chicken.
I like spicy foods, but when I ate my first bite of this stuff, my mouth was on fire! I can usually handle hotter stuff, but I have never had anything that spicy. I was literally sweating and all I could taste was heat, not the food. I had to ask for more rice, which helped tone it down. I was blown away to say the least! I took the rest back to the hotel, hoping it would ‘cool’ down overnight and I could eat the rest tomorrow. We relaxed by the beach with a drink, watching the stars and saw the most brilliant shooting star we both thought it was an airplane at first! Great way to end the evening in paradise.
We slept in until 8 am (four more hours than yesterday haha) and headed over to the bank right away to take out the money we needed for Roatan. The place where we were going to be staying in Roatan did not have any ATMs or banks, so we both took out plenty. After I got through the line, I was counting my money and realized I had been jipped 500 lempiras ($25). I was about to go back up in line and tell them they miscounted when Tad spotted under my seat on the floor! Thank goodness. Since Ceiba is one of the more developed and bigger cities in Honduras, we decided to go to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. This was comparable to a Starbucks for us being in Honduras and you could tell by the cliental that more middle class Hondurans like breakfast there, too. We went back to the hotel to relax a bit before heading back out again to buy some groceries for Roatan. Basically we had heard food (well, everything) was expensive on Roatan, so we bought stuff for breakfast and snacks to help keep costs down. The hotel we finally had arranged on the island had a little mini-fridge as well. We had some more good American Wendy’s for lunch, checked out of our hotel in Ceiba, and made our way to the ferry dock.
There’s only one ferry that goes back and forth between Roatan, Utila and Ceiba. It ended up being more money than I had read about, but whatever, it’s just money, right? We were pretty early, so we waited in the lobby, called some friends and fam, and watched some more World Cup games until the ferry came. The ride went pretty well…until it started clouding over, raining and the Caribbean Sea became wavy. I don’t get motion sickness too badly, but I definitely had to concentrate and look out the window at the horizon to make sure I didn’t lose it. Thankfully the rain stopped when we arrived at Roatan! We captured a taxi ($15 each to West End!) and made it to our hotel. Checking in with this hotel was not very efficient; basically the whole process with this hotel was typical Honduran. But we dealt with it and waited to pay the full amount as long as we could until we knew if we were getting discount or not for the trouble they put us through. West End is a small town, but has a beautiful ocean view.
There’s one sandy road leading down the center of town with restaurants and shops along the edge. It was about dinner time, so Tad and I wandered down the sandy road and found a restaurant that was built up out of the water with a great ocean view, an ocean deck restaurant if you will called Eagle Ray. It was very relaxing; when you think paradise, that’s how it felt: calm, relaxing, beautiful. We enjoyed our dinner and some after dinner drinks and headed to bed. Island activities tomorrow!
Sunday, June 20th
First full day in Roatan! We woke up, had our cheap milk and cereal in red plastic cups, and got our day started by kayaking in Half Moon Bay, the bay directly in front our hotel. The kayaks were free to people who were staying at the hotel, which was awesome. Roatan is known for its amazing coral reefs, second to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia; in other words, awesome! So I didn’t realized the deeper I went out, the more coral I would encounter and that perhaps the coral might stick out above the water. I’m not a good kayaker in general, but when you added the coral to the mix…I got stuck. On coral. And couldn’t move. I had to keep rocking back and forth, using my paddle to get myself into water again and kept apologizing to the coral. I felt so stupid because here’s Tad, just kayaking away like he’s a pro and here I am, stuck on coral. It was an awesome experience, but nonetheless a great way to start our morning.
Late morning we took a water taxi (they have so many different modes of transportation here in Honduras) to West Bay, the most infamous and most gorgeous beach on the island. This is the place you have crystal blue water and coral and tropical fish you’ve only seen in Nemo. Right on the beach where we put our stuff down was a high end hotel called Infinity Bay, with a swim up bar and beach restaurant. Tad and I looked it up later; I think it was about $200/night during low season. Not astronomical, but definitely not something you can just ‘do.’ We saw people snorkeling and since we weren’t spending enough time on the island to get our diving certification, it would have to do. We found a guy who rented us scuba gear for $5 each and got to it. It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had in my life!! I felt like I was watching the world of Nemo with my own two eyes. I saw waving fans of coral, brain coral, brightly colored fish of all shapes and sizes and all in crystal blue water.
The whole day was spent that way, except for our break for lunch at the hotel’s restaurant. We almost didn’t bring enough money to cover lunch, but squeezed by. After we got back from lunch, the guy who had rented our scuba gear from wanted it back because he was leaving for the day. We reluctantly gave it back to him; Tad was suspicious and didn’t really think he was leaving and he was right. The guy just didn’t want his stuff laying around while we had lunch when he could’ve rented it to someone else. Tad decided to confront him and after a slightly heated conversation, we didn’t get our scuba gear back, but got five of our ten dollars back. We decided to head back late afternoon and began to realize we had not put on enough sunscreen. Because Tad and I had been snorkeling all day with our backs and legs bare to the sun, we were both fried on our backsides. I don’t think I have been that sunburned in years; it hurt terribly! We checked with the hotel to see if our payment problem had been taken care of yet, but no news, so we got ready for dinner. Mealtime consisted of us wandering up and down the street, seeing what restaurants were open, what ones we wanted to try and how much they cost. We settle on Thai that night; Tad’s a big fan, but I haven’t tried it much. We got a table on the dock with candlelight. I had no idea what to choose, so I asked for Tad’s opinion, saw some stuff I thought might be good and ordered Spicy Chicken.
I like spicy foods, but when I ate my first bite of this stuff, my mouth was on fire! I can usually handle hotter stuff, but I have never had anything that spicy. I was literally sweating and all I could taste was heat, not the food. I had to ask for more rice, which helped tone it down. I was blown away to say the least! I took the rest back to the hotel, hoping it would ‘cool’ down overnight and I could eat the rest tomorrow. We relaxed by the beach with a drink, watching the stars and saw the most brilliant shooting star we both thought it was an airplane at first! Great way to end the evening in paradise.
Guatemala and Roatan Adventure-Take 3
Thursday, June 17th
Our shuttle for Chichi picked us up at our hotel around 8 am. We said thanks and bye to the owners (a very hospitable family-run hotel) and were on our way. We got a call on our way out of Pana that the driver had forgotten two people and they were on their way in a moto; we had to stop and wait for them. Guess who it was? The aunt and niece pair from Atlanta we met yesterday! Crazy. We got to Chichi around 9:30, made sure our stuff was going to be locked up and started our adventure for the day in one of Guatemala’s biggest outdoor markets. I didn’t have anything specific I was looking for so I wanted to see what was out there to buy and make purchases later. Tad wanted a cotton beach outfit (think Matthew McCougnehey kinda look). As we looked around we started seeing similar stuff that everyone was selling; that was when we could get picky as far as who we purchased from and how much we could get it for. As we were walking, Tad spotted a lady holding what we thought was a dead chicken…until it twisted its head up and we realized it was alive! Here was this Guatemala lady, chatting with her friends, holding a live chicken upside down….wow. Every Sunday and Thursday they have a religious processional of the saints that are honored in the central park cathedral.
This procession was very long and loud because they kept blaring horns, beating drums, and setting off fireworks...in the middle of the streets! One time, as the processional came down the street Tad and I were shopping in, they set up a firework right next to us and told us to move. And we did! It was extremely loud and smoky; I covered my ears to make sure I didn’t blow an eardrum! At this cathedral in the central square, the steps were considered sacred up to a point, so on the bottom women sold colorful flowers and visitors had to enter the church by a side-door.
Tad and I explored inside. It was eerie actually; the worship was a mix of Catholic, ancestral, and pagan worship. I got that weird feeling in my spirit that it wasn’t quite right and not what the original Catholic missionaries had envisioned when they started the church in Chichi hundreds of years ago. After that experience, we walked around more and started buying. Tad bought his beach outfit, I bought some jewelry and little trinkets. There were quite a few gringos there and we kept running into (guess who?) the family from Milwaukee now and again; we saw them at the place we had pizza for lunch. After relaxing at lunch, more wandering and we hear someone call Tad. Tad turns around and turns out there was another guy named Tad in the same aisle as us! He was from Seattle on a trip with some students; crazy, funny world.
Around 2 pm we left for Antigua. We were waiting in the van for an additional half an hour for the aunt and niece pair to come, but finally we had to leave so we’d make it in time. Arrival in Antigua was 5 pm; we spent the night at El Hostal, the same hostel we stayed at in Antigua a few days earlier. Unpacking we see some students speaking English come in and the other Tad came walking in behind them! They had chosen the same hostel in Antigua to stay in. We needed to get out into Antigua right away to reserve a bus to get to Copan early in the morning; thankfully one of the other occupants of the hostel who was from Texas A&M gave us a great recommendation of a travel agency to check out. We hustled over there and everything worked out great! The girl spoke quite good English and we had both our tickets quickly. Our shuttle was picking us up at 4 am (good morning), but we knew tomorrow was going to be a long travel day anyways. Tad finalized all the Roatan hotel fiasco details back at the hostel before we went and had some awesome pasta for dinner in Antigua. Tad had a ‘fun’ night after he received an email from his Spain program that he needed an FBI background check; a Michigan one wouldn’t suffice for a Spanish visa. The hostel did our dirty laundry for us thankfully; we both had overworn our cool weather clothes because we didn’t expect Guate to be so cool and cloudy (65-70 degrees felt cool to us), but it didn’t get done until 10 pm. I stayed up late waiting for it and then finally hit the sack to try to prepare myself for our marathon travel day tomorrow.
Friday, June 18th
This morning came super early…4am early. Our shuttle from Antigua picked us up outside the hostel and we were off. Seven hours later we were in Copan, looking for a bus to La Entrada. We had a little bit of time so we grabbed some breakfast close to the bus station. The bus took off around 11 am and 2.5 hours later we were switching buses in La Entrada to go to San Pedro Sula. This took another 2.5 hours to get from La Entrada to San Pedro Sula. Once to the bus station in SPS, we had to find our nicer bus that would take us to Ceiba (from which we could catch the ferry to Roatan tomorrow).
By this time it was about 4 pm when we left SPS to head to Ceiba. Now we had both been to Tela over Semana Santa and knew that Ceiba was after that. I had thought it was only like an hour from Tela to Ceiba. Oh no….it was more like Tela is the halfway point on what ended up being a 3.5 hour bus ride. Not only that, but for the last hour to Ceiba it was raining and dark. By this time, I was DONE. I had been traveling for over 16 hours and we still didn’t have hotel or had dinner, yet. My mind, will, and body were frazzled. I was so sick of chicken buses and sitting in the same position all day. We asked our taxi driver for a good part of town where hotels were, found one, checked in (because at that point it didn’t matter how much one hotel cost versus another), and proceeded to find something for dinner. We started walking down the street and AAAHHHH a WENDY’s was open at like 9pm! We were ecstatic and rushed in, ordered and scarfed down our food and Frosties. After our stomachs were full, we crashed into bed. I think if either of us had anticipated how long, dirty and frustrating this travel day was going to be, we would have traveled to Ceiba in the morning. But we got there safe, had a place to stay and we were going to paradise on Roatan tomorrow.
Our shuttle for Chichi picked us up at our hotel around 8 am. We said thanks and bye to the owners (a very hospitable family-run hotel) and were on our way. We got a call on our way out of Pana that the driver had forgotten two people and they were on their way in a moto; we had to stop and wait for them. Guess who it was? The aunt and niece pair from Atlanta we met yesterday! Crazy. We got to Chichi around 9:30, made sure our stuff was going to be locked up and started our adventure for the day in one of Guatemala’s biggest outdoor markets. I didn’t have anything specific I was looking for so I wanted to see what was out there to buy and make purchases later. Tad wanted a cotton beach outfit (think Matthew McCougnehey kinda look). As we looked around we started seeing similar stuff that everyone was selling; that was when we could get picky as far as who we purchased from and how much we could get it for. As we were walking, Tad spotted a lady holding what we thought was a dead chicken…until it twisted its head up and we realized it was alive! Here was this Guatemala lady, chatting with her friends, holding a live chicken upside down….wow. Every Sunday and Thursday they have a religious processional of the saints that are honored in the central park cathedral.
This procession was very long and loud because they kept blaring horns, beating drums, and setting off fireworks...in the middle of the streets! One time, as the processional came down the street Tad and I were shopping in, they set up a firework right next to us and told us to move. And we did! It was extremely loud and smoky; I covered my ears to make sure I didn’t blow an eardrum! At this cathedral in the central square, the steps were considered sacred up to a point, so on the bottom women sold colorful flowers and visitors had to enter the church by a side-door.
Tad and I explored inside. It was eerie actually; the worship was a mix of Catholic, ancestral, and pagan worship. I got that weird feeling in my spirit that it wasn’t quite right and not what the original Catholic missionaries had envisioned when they started the church in Chichi hundreds of years ago. After that experience, we walked around more and started buying. Tad bought his beach outfit, I bought some jewelry and little trinkets. There were quite a few gringos there and we kept running into (guess who?) the family from Milwaukee now and again; we saw them at the place we had pizza for lunch. After relaxing at lunch, more wandering and we hear someone call Tad. Tad turns around and turns out there was another guy named Tad in the same aisle as us! He was from Seattle on a trip with some students; crazy, funny world.
Around 2 pm we left for Antigua. We were waiting in the van for an additional half an hour for the aunt and niece pair to come, but finally we had to leave so we’d make it in time. Arrival in Antigua was 5 pm; we spent the night at El Hostal, the same hostel we stayed at in Antigua a few days earlier. Unpacking we see some students speaking English come in and the other Tad came walking in behind them! They had chosen the same hostel in Antigua to stay in. We needed to get out into Antigua right away to reserve a bus to get to Copan early in the morning; thankfully one of the other occupants of the hostel who was from Texas A&M gave us a great recommendation of a travel agency to check out. We hustled over there and everything worked out great! The girl spoke quite good English and we had both our tickets quickly. Our shuttle was picking us up at 4 am (good morning), but we knew tomorrow was going to be a long travel day anyways. Tad finalized all the Roatan hotel fiasco details back at the hostel before we went and had some awesome pasta for dinner in Antigua. Tad had a ‘fun’ night after he received an email from his Spain program that he needed an FBI background check; a Michigan one wouldn’t suffice for a Spanish visa. The hostel did our dirty laundry for us thankfully; we both had overworn our cool weather clothes because we didn’t expect Guate to be so cool and cloudy (65-70 degrees felt cool to us), but it didn’t get done until 10 pm. I stayed up late waiting for it and then finally hit the sack to try to prepare myself for our marathon travel day tomorrow.
Friday, June 18th
This morning came super early…4am early. Our shuttle from Antigua picked us up outside the hostel and we were off. Seven hours later we were in Copan, looking for a bus to La Entrada. We had a little bit of time so we grabbed some breakfast close to the bus station. The bus took off around 11 am and 2.5 hours later we were switching buses in La Entrada to go to San Pedro Sula. This took another 2.5 hours to get from La Entrada to San Pedro Sula. Once to the bus station in SPS, we had to find our nicer bus that would take us to Ceiba (from which we could catch the ferry to Roatan tomorrow).
By this time it was about 4 pm when we left SPS to head to Ceiba. Now we had both been to Tela over Semana Santa and knew that Ceiba was after that. I had thought it was only like an hour from Tela to Ceiba. Oh no….it was more like Tela is the halfway point on what ended up being a 3.5 hour bus ride. Not only that, but for the last hour to Ceiba it was raining and dark. By this time, I was DONE. I had been traveling for over 16 hours and we still didn’t have hotel or had dinner, yet. My mind, will, and body were frazzled. I was so sick of chicken buses and sitting in the same position all day. We asked our taxi driver for a good part of town where hotels were, found one, checked in (because at that point it didn’t matter how much one hotel cost versus another), and proceeded to find something for dinner. We started walking down the street and AAAHHHH a WENDY’s was open at like 9pm! We were ecstatic and rushed in, ordered and scarfed down our food and Frosties. After our stomachs were full, we crashed into bed. I think if either of us had anticipated how long, dirty and frustrating this travel day was going to be, we would have traveled to Ceiba in the morning. But we got there safe, had a place to stay and we were going to paradise on Roatan tomorrow.
Guatemala and Roatan Adventure-Take 2
Tuesday, June 15th
Our bus to Panajachel, the town we were staying in on Lake Atitlan, left at seven in the morning, so it was early rise for us. We had bought tickets for a nice direct bus to Pana and went to the place they told us to wait. We had some time to eat breakfast while we waited and right on time, this guy about our age comes us and asks us if we’re going to Pana. We say yes and make sure it’s direct and show him our tickets and he takes us to the station. We get there and there’s this normal chicken bus (a school bus). I had a bad feeling about this situation and kept trying to talk to the head guy, asking him if he worked for this company we bought the tickets from, if it was direct, if it was going to Pana. I was trying to be tough and stand firm in the Spanish I knew, but he finally was like, ‘Girl, get on the bus, stop asking about it,’ which ticked me off even more. I swore up and down we had just been taken and I was livid. I hate being taken advantage of because I’m a foreigner, even though I speak pretty good Spanish and can pull the look off, too, as well as the fact that I’ve lived in Honduras for the past ten months. By the time it was all said and done, it took us three and a half hours to get to Pana instead of two and a half because we stopped frequently. We didn’t have to pay, meaning either the ticket seller took us for a ride or the bus owners; I couldn’t figure out which.
We finally arrived in Pana late morning and got a moto to help us find which hotel we wanted to stay at. There was no lack of places to stay and we finally settled on one; the owners were really nice, it had free internet and water, and a view of the lake. We were starving, so we grabbed some lunch and enjoyed the view of Lake Atitlan. This lake is a collapsed volcano filled with water, surrounded by three volcanoes that loom above it. Absolutely gorgeous. We went back to our hotel and laid down and were knocked out for two hours after being on the go for the last four or five days. When we finally woke up, Tad and I checked out the restaurants and shops along the boardwalk as well as the markets.
Dinner time came and it started raining hard so we went to the nearest restaurant, which turned out to be a great choice. There were other gringos there, too, and the food was awesome; it was an Argentinian grill. An old woman tried selling us some bracelets which we kindly refused, but afterwards I felt bad and it got me pondering about the way of life here for people like that. Like what’s a dollar to me, really? I just wish I could help all these people who are selling things and buy everything, but that wouldn’t work either. I felt bad for saying no, but there was nothing I could do after I said it. Since it was raining and we had music to listen to, Tad and I stayed for a while and relaxed before heading back to our hotel and hitting the sack early.
Wednesday, June 16th
Our second day in Pana we hit up a small pastry/coffee shop for breakfast called Mayan pan. Our plan for the day was to head down to the public docks and catch a boat across the lake to see some of the small towns around the lake. We had to call our hotel in Roatan to confirm we were coming the week before and there was a slight problem. They said they didn’t have the room we had requested a few weeks ago and a lady had promised us over the phone! We were frustrated; Tad worked his magic and tried to figure out what the problem was and made sure we secured a room after the miscommunication. By the time we took care of that, we had to head down to find a boat to Santiago, the first town we wanted to see. I had looked in the Lonely Planet book to decide what small towns had more to do and offer and Santiago and San Pedro were the ones I chose. Our boat to Santiago turned out to be another small world meeting place. Tad and I met a family from Milwaukee as well as an aunt and her niece from Atlanta. We were all going to the same towns, not necessarily on the same time frame that day, but close enough that we saw them numerous times throughout the day. The boat ride across was fairly smooth; it was amazing to look in all directions and see mountains surrounding you on a lake. I don’t think there’s many places like that in the world.
Arrival in Santiago began our day of market shopping and seeing old colonial churches. We meandered through the town and made our way to the central square at the top of the hill just in time to see this crazy parade going on for the school there. There were people dressed up like the Backyardigans and another group that was dressed in Halloween costumes dancing to ‘Thriller.’ It was quite a sight to see; the residents thought so as well as everyone was crowded around the parade route.
One thing I’ve noticed is that most of the women in Guatemala all wear the traditional Mayan clothing of a colorful wrap around skirt and short sleeve type blouse. Very much a contrast to what you see in Honduras. I had heard the Guatemalans were either more proud, aware, or honoring of their heritage and I saw that everywhere I went via the clothing and worship. We toured a church there whose original pastor was from Oklahoma and came as a missionary. He ended up being a martyr for his faith and the community of Santiago when there was some government disturbance in the area.
On our way down, I saw a nativity scene and remembered that Laura Beth had wanted a nativity scene and decided to see how much they were. I’m not so good at bartering and walking away if I don’t get the price I want; Tad on the other hand is. So I let him take the lead and we got it for a decent price! Onto San Pedro where we met the Milwaukee family again and got some great pics on our ride around the lake. San Pedro was a really cute town; I think a lot of people studying Spanish, ex-pats and hippies live there among the locals. I had heard there were these thermal hot-tubs you could rent for an hour for pretty cheap so we went in search of those first. We found the place, got the tour and were a little skeptical at first. The reason was that these tubs looked like concrete bathtubs and the water had to be heated for an hour by solar panels, hence the reservation an hour ahead. We decided to take the chance and come back in an hour. Meanwhile it started to rain, pour actually, and we hurried to find some lunch. Lunch was good, but it took forever to prepare; we almost missed our hot-tub appointment. Our skepticism was un warranted when we arrived and saw our tub filled up with umbrellas up to keep away rain; it was right on the shore of Lake Atitlan as well, giving us a beautiful view while we relaxed.
Afterwards, we found a boat back to Pana after walking on random paths to find the boat dock. Our boat sputtered a few times on the way back, mainly thought because of the trash in the lake. We arrived in Pana later afternoon and needed to buy tickets for our next day’s excursion to Chichicastenango; one of Guatemala’s largest outdoor markets is there. Many travel agencies offered van services; we found a few that would take us to Chichi and then bring us back to Antigua, where we’d be spending the night Thursday night. The first place we tried ending up being a huge fiasco. It was a great price, the cheapest of all we found, but the credit card machine kept denying my card and/or not connecting with the server to charge things. We didn’t have a ton of quetzals at this point and needed to save our cash for the market the next day. Eventually we had to say thanks, but no thanks, and found another reliable agency at a decent price to take us there and then to Antigua.
Finally after that we headed back to our hotel and Tad called the Roatan hotel again. This time they said we needed to make an official reservation via their website AND put a deposit down. Well why hadn’t they said this BEFORE? Our other problem in the midst of this was that neither of our cell phones had money left on them, so I had to buy money through Skype to keep trying to call this hotel. The phone number wouldn’t work, because, oh, the lines were down for a bit. Oh the joys of traveling in developing countries. Before we headed out for dinner, I paid our money due; unfortunately they didn’t take cards, which I wasn’t planning on, so I had few quetzals left after I paid. I was extremely worried because we didn’t even have enough for dinner that night, much less meals and shopping for tomorrow. We tried to think of all these ways to get cash and I realized I could get some from my credit card. We went all the way to where and ATM was and I realized I had forgotten my password for that card. We trekked all the way back to the hotel, called my mom on Skype (thank God for internet) for the password, and went ALL the way back to get quetzals out of the ATM. By this time it was evening, time for dinner and it was pouring rain outside. We walked down the street in the pouring rain, looking for somewhere to eat dinner, and finally found a little café where we had vegetarian lasagna for dinner. Another taxi to our hotel afterwards and I was absolutely done and ready for bed and a new day. That was the closest I had come to panic on that vacation so far and it sucked. Thankfully God provided yet again, even if it was through a cash advance in an ATM and my mom remembering the password.
Our bus to Panajachel, the town we were staying in on Lake Atitlan, left at seven in the morning, so it was early rise for us. We had bought tickets for a nice direct bus to Pana and went to the place they told us to wait. We had some time to eat breakfast while we waited and right on time, this guy about our age comes us and asks us if we’re going to Pana. We say yes and make sure it’s direct and show him our tickets and he takes us to the station. We get there and there’s this normal chicken bus (a school bus). I had a bad feeling about this situation and kept trying to talk to the head guy, asking him if he worked for this company we bought the tickets from, if it was direct, if it was going to Pana. I was trying to be tough and stand firm in the Spanish I knew, but he finally was like, ‘Girl, get on the bus, stop asking about it,’ which ticked me off even more. I swore up and down we had just been taken and I was livid. I hate being taken advantage of because I’m a foreigner, even though I speak pretty good Spanish and can pull the look off, too, as well as the fact that I’ve lived in Honduras for the past ten months. By the time it was all said and done, it took us three and a half hours to get to Pana instead of two and a half because we stopped frequently. We didn’t have to pay, meaning either the ticket seller took us for a ride or the bus owners; I couldn’t figure out which.
We finally arrived in Pana late morning and got a moto to help us find which hotel we wanted to stay at. There was no lack of places to stay and we finally settled on one; the owners were really nice, it had free internet and water, and a view of the lake. We were starving, so we grabbed some lunch and enjoyed the view of Lake Atitlan. This lake is a collapsed volcano filled with water, surrounded by three volcanoes that loom above it. Absolutely gorgeous. We went back to our hotel and laid down and were knocked out for two hours after being on the go for the last four or five days. When we finally woke up, Tad and I checked out the restaurants and shops along the boardwalk as well as the markets.
Dinner time came and it started raining hard so we went to the nearest restaurant, which turned out to be a great choice. There were other gringos there, too, and the food was awesome; it was an Argentinian grill. An old woman tried selling us some bracelets which we kindly refused, but afterwards I felt bad and it got me pondering about the way of life here for people like that. Like what’s a dollar to me, really? I just wish I could help all these people who are selling things and buy everything, but that wouldn’t work either. I felt bad for saying no, but there was nothing I could do after I said it. Since it was raining and we had music to listen to, Tad and I stayed for a while and relaxed before heading back to our hotel and hitting the sack early.
Wednesday, June 16th
Our second day in Pana we hit up a small pastry/coffee shop for breakfast called Mayan pan. Our plan for the day was to head down to the public docks and catch a boat across the lake to see some of the small towns around the lake. We had to call our hotel in Roatan to confirm we were coming the week before and there was a slight problem. They said they didn’t have the room we had requested a few weeks ago and a lady had promised us over the phone! We were frustrated; Tad worked his magic and tried to figure out what the problem was and made sure we secured a room after the miscommunication. By the time we took care of that, we had to head down to find a boat to Santiago, the first town we wanted to see. I had looked in the Lonely Planet book to decide what small towns had more to do and offer and Santiago and San Pedro were the ones I chose. Our boat to Santiago turned out to be another small world meeting place. Tad and I met a family from Milwaukee as well as an aunt and her niece from Atlanta. We were all going to the same towns, not necessarily on the same time frame that day, but close enough that we saw them numerous times throughout the day. The boat ride across was fairly smooth; it was amazing to look in all directions and see mountains surrounding you on a lake. I don’t think there’s many places like that in the world.
Arrival in Santiago began our day of market shopping and seeing old colonial churches. We meandered through the town and made our way to the central square at the top of the hill just in time to see this crazy parade going on for the school there. There were people dressed up like the Backyardigans and another group that was dressed in Halloween costumes dancing to ‘Thriller.’ It was quite a sight to see; the residents thought so as well as everyone was crowded around the parade route.
One thing I’ve noticed is that most of the women in Guatemala all wear the traditional Mayan clothing of a colorful wrap around skirt and short sleeve type blouse. Very much a contrast to what you see in Honduras. I had heard the Guatemalans were either more proud, aware, or honoring of their heritage and I saw that everywhere I went via the clothing and worship. We toured a church there whose original pastor was from Oklahoma and came as a missionary. He ended up being a martyr for his faith and the community of Santiago when there was some government disturbance in the area.
On our way down, I saw a nativity scene and remembered that Laura Beth had wanted a nativity scene and decided to see how much they were. I’m not so good at bartering and walking away if I don’t get the price I want; Tad on the other hand is. So I let him take the lead and we got it for a decent price! Onto San Pedro where we met the Milwaukee family again and got some great pics on our ride around the lake. San Pedro was a really cute town; I think a lot of people studying Spanish, ex-pats and hippies live there among the locals. I had heard there were these thermal hot-tubs you could rent for an hour for pretty cheap so we went in search of those first. We found the place, got the tour and were a little skeptical at first. The reason was that these tubs looked like concrete bathtubs and the water had to be heated for an hour by solar panels, hence the reservation an hour ahead. We decided to take the chance and come back in an hour. Meanwhile it started to rain, pour actually, and we hurried to find some lunch. Lunch was good, but it took forever to prepare; we almost missed our hot-tub appointment. Our skepticism was un warranted when we arrived and saw our tub filled up with umbrellas up to keep away rain; it was right on the shore of Lake Atitlan as well, giving us a beautiful view while we relaxed.
Afterwards, we found a boat back to Pana after walking on random paths to find the boat dock. Our boat sputtered a few times on the way back, mainly thought because of the trash in the lake. We arrived in Pana later afternoon and needed to buy tickets for our next day’s excursion to Chichicastenango; one of Guatemala’s largest outdoor markets is there. Many travel agencies offered van services; we found a few that would take us to Chichi and then bring us back to Antigua, where we’d be spending the night Thursday night. The first place we tried ending up being a huge fiasco. It was a great price, the cheapest of all we found, but the credit card machine kept denying my card and/or not connecting with the server to charge things. We didn’t have a ton of quetzals at this point and needed to save our cash for the market the next day. Eventually we had to say thanks, but no thanks, and found another reliable agency at a decent price to take us there and then to Antigua.
Finally after that we headed back to our hotel and Tad called the Roatan hotel again. This time they said we needed to make an official reservation via their website AND put a deposit down. Well why hadn’t they said this BEFORE? Our other problem in the midst of this was that neither of our cell phones had money left on them, so I had to buy money through Skype to keep trying to call this hotel. The phone number wouldn’t work, because, oh, the lines were down for a bit. Oh the joys of traveling in developing countries. Before we headed out for dinner, I paid our money due; unfortunately they didn’t take cards, which I wasn’t planning on, so I had few quetzals left after I paid. I was extremely worried because we didn’t even have enough for dinner that night, much less meals and shopping for tomorrow. We tried to think of all these ways to get cash and I realized I could get some from my credit card. We went all the way to where and ATM was and I realized I had forgotten my password for that card. We trekked all the way back to the hotel, called my mom on Skype (thank God for internet) for the password, and went ALL the way back to get quetzals out of the ATM. By this time it was evening, time for dinner and it was pouring rain outside. We walked down the street in the pouring rain, looking for somewhere to eat dinner, and finally found a little café where we had vegetarian lasagna for dinner. Another taxi to our hotel afterwards and I was absolutely done and ready for bed and a new day. That was the closest I had come to panic on that vacation so far and it sucked. Thankfully God provided yet again, even if it was through a cash advance in an ATM and my mom remembering the password.
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