A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Copan

This summer hasn't been all work.  I took a few days to travel around Honduras with Deborah as we made our way back to San Pedro.  First stop:  Copan Ruinas. 

We boarded the chicken bus and set off.  Along the way we met a German backpacker.  She was headed to Copan, too.  This being my 5th trip to Copan, she tagged along with us.  When we arrived in Copan, the bus driver asked us if we needed help finding our hotel.  The German girl was looking for her hostel, Manzana Verde.  The very helpful bus driver proceded to take the luggage and carry it all the way to the hostel.  The only problem...he grabbed Deborah's suitcase and literally started running with it to the hostel.  I was running behind the driver trying to explain to him that we would be staying in a hotel, not at the hosel with the girl.  For those of you who have been to Copan, you know that there is a nearly vertical hill that you climb into town to get from the bus station.

 It was quite a scene.  Deborah was literally pushing me up this hill with my heavy backpack trying to chase this guy down.  "Señor, señor!"  Wouldn't you know that he brought the luggage ALL THE WAY TO THE HOSTEL!  We finally caught up and I explained to him (all out of breath) that we would be staying in a hotel a few blocks away.  Bless his heart, the driver throws that suitcase back over his shoulder, drops it at the hotel, and says have a nice trip! I couldn't believe he didn't even expect a tip or anything after all of that.  It's nice to see people who are genuinely nice and willing to help out.  Especially in a tourist town where I'm often the target to get ripped off as the "rich" foreigner.  Just another reason I love Honduras.

The next morning we visited the Mayan ruins and then boarded the bus towards San Pedro.  We stayed the night with my sweet friend, Lia, and her family and enjoyed some tasty baleadas (one thing I will miss about Honduras when I leave).  They take a flour tortilla and fill it with beans, egg, avocado, cheese and mantequilla (here it's a cream...not butter).  Sometimes they even put meat.  Que rico!

In the morning we headed to Tela to spend the day at the beach.  It was a perfect day.  It's amazing how being by the water can totally relax you. 

There were all sorts of vendors selling things.  One little girl who was selling coconut bread stopped to take a break in the shade of our hut.  I began talking to her and found out she was in first grade.  She couldn't believe I was a first grade teacher.  I bought some coconut candy she was selling and gave her some cookies and juice that we had brought along.  It's sad how early these kids go to work to help support their families.  She should be out there playing in the sand with the rest of us.  It really makes me thankful for the childhood that I was blessed with.

It was a great little mini vacay.  I am glad I got to relax a little before things got busy.  We started orientation and work days at the school this week.  Being the veteran around here, I've been bouncing around all over the place answering questions, translating documents into English and solving crises, so I haven't quite finished my room.  I will post pics soon once everything is in its place.  I'm excited to find out I'll have a new partner teaching Spanish to my kiddos.  I think we'll really be able to work closely together and I'm excited about finally having a "team." 

I've decided that I'm doing absolutely NOTHING this weekend so that I can get a little break before school starts.  The inauguración de clases is Thursday.  I can't wait to get started with a new group.  It's going to be a great year!