San Sebastian

To be honest, my gas tank has been running on empty.  Luckily, our school director decided to give us a long weekend to help us make it a few more weeks until Spring Break.  I opted to forgo a long travel adventure and take advantage of the long weekend to get caught up on my job search.  Looking for a job is a full time job itself!

Saturday, Orson invited me to tag along to San Sebasitan, where he was going to conduct computer training for high school students.  We boarded the bus for our bumpy 3 hour ride up the mountain. 

San Sebastian is located almost on the border between Honduras and El Salvador.  The town is so small that it doesn't even have a hotel.  The local comedor, Lichita, opened up her extra room for us.

Lichita serves breakfast, lunch and dinner daily to many of the town's residents.

Lichita invited me into her kitchen and I taught her how to make pizza.

The beautiful Garden

Lichita roasts her own coffee.

A warm welcome for a  weary traveler.

Lichita's daughter, Jocelyne, and I spent time counting coffee beans.  She is up to 5!  She is a real ham.  She loves to sing, dance and immitate people in the restaurant.

While Orson taught his computer class...

I took to the streets to explore the town and the breathtaking views.

I really enjoyed my time talking to people, practicing my Spanish and really getting away from the world to just relax and be quiet.  I'm really going to miss the slow pace of life in Honduras, but I am looking forward to my next adventure, wherever it might take me.

January 2011: El Año Nuevo

New Year.  New country.  January 1, 2011 we boarded a plane to the third and final country on our tour- a visit with Dad and Annette in Cartegena, Colombia...

We settled into our "home" for the week and Ale made friends quickly...

 This is one of my favorite cities in the world.  So many pretty colors...

Both of my trips to Cartagena have centered around Christmas.  They do such a great job of decorating the city.  There are lights all over town and in all of  the parks...

We walked around the "Old City" and saw the sights...

We got to visit Fort San Felipe...

And La Popa...

Where Ale and Tori made some new friends...

We had a good relax in a mud volcano...

And toured the Gold Museum...

But we also just enjoyed being in a big city.  We shopped at the mall, ate in good restraunts and saw TWO movies!  It was the perfect way to end our adventure before returning home to our quiet little Gracias.

December 2010 (Part 2): Guatemala

The day after Christmas, we took the first chicken bus out of town and headed towards Guatemala to meet Mom, Alex and Annie.  To break up the trip, we spent the night in Copan Ruinas.  We enjoyed a nice dinner and a movie at the Via Via Cafe...

Karen really enjoyed the 2 for 1 drink specials...

The next morning we took an early morning shuttle to Guatemala City to pick up the family from the airport.  Then we all continued on to La Antigua, Guatemala.  We spent the afternoon getting to know the sights and exploring the architecture.  It was really impressive seeing all this beauty at the base of that massive volcano...

 

Over the next few days we explored more of Antigua and the surrounding areas.  We found the best view...

And enjoyed a nice back walk into the city...

Where we stumbled upon some great art...

Our day trips included a tour of a coffee plantation (in style)...

 

A visit to the gorgeous Lago Atitlan, Guatemala...

Where we got to hike and enjoy the wildlife in the Lake Atitlan Nature Reserve....

On our walk back into town we caught some local artisans at work.  This might be my favorite photo of all time...

We spent another afternoon exploring some Mayan Ruins...

Just as we walked up to the last temple, we stumbled upon some families performing a real Mayan ritual.  We watched from a respectful distance and imagined what it might have been like when this Mayan village was thriving.  It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience...

The streets of Antigua were full of entertainment and excitement on New Year's Eve...

Since the streets were so crowded, we rang in the New Year watching fireworks on the roof of our hotel.  We had a 360 degree view of all of the celebration.  It was amazing...

It was a great end to 2010.