Friday, February 19

I had a busy day today with my longer day at school and then heading out early at lunch to meet my parents. My last class with my fifth graders we had a spelling test and I told them I needed to make sure I left on time so if they could be quiet and finish the test quickly, I would let them out early for recess; it did the trick! They were so good and I was able to leave on time. Kirsty and her brother Matthew came with me because Matthew goes back to the US on Saturday. So after Kirsty brings him to the airport, she’ll meet my parents and me at the bus station to ride back to Gracias with us. We hopped on a bus around 1 pm, got through Santa Rosa alright and on a bus to San Pedro. When we arrived in San Pedro, I said bye to Matthew and Kirsty and caught a taxi with a nice old man to the hotel where my parents were staying. I was a little nervous to take a taxi by myself, but it worked out fine.
I arrived and asked for my parents at the front desk and down the stairs they came! It was so surreal to see them in Honduras after we’ve been talking about them visiting for a few months and now they’re actually here! I went to their hotel room to freshen up before we went to the mall to Applebee’s to eat dinner. My parents told me about how things went for them getting from the airport to the hotel on Thursday night. They found what looked like a taxi, but we’ll never know for sure it was a registered one or not! The guy charged them about $15 USD to get to the hotel , but there weren’t any other options for them and that was about what I expected. We chatted over dinner and I did my best to help them order their food and stuff, for which they were very thankful. My parents were glad I gave them some phrases to use when they arrived, but now that I was there it was a lot less stressful. They kept telling me things they noticed about Honduras that I didn’t realize had become normal to me, such as trash on the roads, how dirty and dusty it was, and other things like that. I (well, my parents) splurged and got a steak, mashed potatoes and veggies, which was amazing, along with dessert. After dinner we headed back to the hotel, figured out some details for tomorrow and got some needed rest.