Las Vegas and the Waterfall

Javi and I returned from our volunteer visit yesterday afternoon (Sunday, the 11^th). Our trip to visit the couple in La Ceiba on the north coast was cancelled last minute due to rain and weather complications (i.e. washed out bridges) so we were sent to Las Vegas, Santa Barbara instead. This turned out to be a great visit and we really enjoyed ourselves. Although the couple works in youth development, it was nice to see their house, talk about their daily lives and get some advice. Seeing their set up brought out my longing for our own place again but we know the host family stay is part of the deal so we are trying to roll with it. We just found out today that our total family time will be only 5 months instead of 6 (woo-hoo!) but that is still 4 months and 1 week away. Anyway, after the visit with the couple in Las Vegas, we met up with some other volunteers and aspirantes (volunteers-in-training) and did a few cosas turisticas. With the aide of experienced volunteer “jaloners”, we hitched a ride north from the Las Vegas area to the biggest waterfall in Honduras, Pulhapanzak Falls. (Moms, don’t worry about the hitching. Catching a “jalon” is a perfectly legitimate means of transportation in rural Honduras, and with 8 touristy-looking gringos, we definitely had safety in numbers.)

The waterfall was an incredible experience. Guides hang out around the falls, and for 25 lmps a person (~$1.25) we were taken down a path that led to a spot where we could stand right behind the cascade. I cannot explain how exhilarating it was to first of all get to that spot, and then look up, completely soaked, at water rushing down just in front of you from 43 meters (140 ft) up. The picture above is of our friend Kyle jumping into some water pools after we had gone behind the falls. After the waterfall, we stayed at a decaying (but still charming) hotel on the lake called Agua Azul. This place is famous for bird watching, and I had a chance to walk around Sunday morning to check out some birds. Without a good camera lens, binoculars, a bird book or any knowledge about birds, I wasn’t too sophisticated out there, but I enjoyed it. We had fun on Saturday night talking with other volunteers from the Lago de Yojoa area, listening to the “chisme” (gossip) and generally having a good time. We feel like we picked up a few good pointers from those guys.

So now we are back in Santa Lucia for our last weekend in training as a big group. On Sunday morning we will be heading off to Cantarranas (with no internet access, bummer) for our field based training which is business specific. This will be for 5 weeks and involves, of course, moving in with another family. Maybe we’ll get less Manteca? Probably not…our host mom right now is actually pretty good with that so it might get worse. By the way, the diarrhea has calmed down again. However, according to some volunteers, a poorly chosen diet of street food and other no-no’s can lead to two years of diarrhea. Yikes!

On a side note having nothing to do with the above, Javi and I decided to compile a list having to do with the subject of travel. This is just random stuff we’ve noticed which is slightly interesting:

• Many buses in Honduras are actually old US school buses. Some of them still have the school district painted on the side. One aspirante summed it up beautifully. He sad “Central America is littered with the school buses of my childhood.”
• Speaking of buses and litter – apparently the kosher thing to do with trash on the bus is to toss it out the window. This is unfortunate since the roads are littered with churro (chip) bags and various and sundry bus food items. In Tegus, the capital, there are MOUNTAINS of trash – in the river and every which place.
• Nursing two year olds on the micro-bus, with many aspirantes standing right over, is apparently not looked down upon.
• From our experiences to date, there are no real bus stations, even in the capital. It is random parking lots or spots on the side of the road.
• There is no such thing as dotted lines or passing lanes. Buses, trucks and cars pass each other in a literal free for all, with blind curves on the nation’s most popular highway being a favorite with the bus drivers.

Well, that’s all for now. We will have to figure out something with the internet situation in Cantarranas, but we will figure it out and post an update as soon as we can.