Another 5 weeks passed by without a peep from us. If anyone still checks this, sorry about that! It just got difficult to download pictures and write stuff without the computer, and being so busy before leaving, blogging got pushed off to the side. But we have just 4 days left in Comayagua and 10 days left in Honduras. We've had all our despedidas (good bye parties) and have been wrapping everything up these past days. Its amazing how time flies at the end. Its a bit sad but VERY exciting to be going home!
I promise, PROMISE to post pictures and maybe a story or too from our trip we are taking after signing out of here. Like I said before, we've got 6 weeks of beach time lined up in Costa Rica, Panama and Columbia. Should be a nice treat before heading home.
Sorry to flake out here at the end but check back in a few weeks to see if I got my act together for a few vacation photos.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Long time no write...
I guess its been about a month since we last put something up here. We ran into a bit of a rough patch and sort of didn't want to talk about it.....but since we've put most news worthy things in our lives up on this blog since the beginning of this adventure, might as well keep up with that now that we are almost finished.
We got robbed again, and lost a few of our most valuable "worldly" goods (in Honduras)......again. This time was on a bus going to the capital. We had our laptop and ipod in a backpack in the compartment above us (things on our lap, thus the bag was not right with us). At a stop right outside of the capital a man standing in the aisle asked us to find something for him on the floor and as we looked for it, his buddy grabbed our bag and was off the bus in a second. I knew something was fishy but Javi was hip to the scam right away and ran off the bus looking for the guys before I even knew what had happened. Of course they were gone by that point. The feeling was crushing....complete disappointment in this place and anger.....
Its hard. A few weeks have passed since then and we are feeling better but its a bit difficult to not feel jaded and tired of it all.
But, on to cheerier topics....here is a picture of our close of service conference with the other volunteers who came down here with us.....(those that are still left!)
There were 35 of us left at this time....out of an original 51, so about 68% of us made it to the two year mark. Life happens and things bring people home for a variety of reasons....sometimes, like after the second robbery, you REALLY understand why.......
So we have just 7 full weeks left as peace corps volunteers in Honduras. We are officially done the 17th of April. Many people have asked us...so what is next? First we are going on a little vacation before heading home. We're planning on spending about 6 weeks on the beaches of costa rica and panama. After that we are headed back home for good and we're planning on going back to New Mexico. There might be a little back and forth at first as we visit family and get readjusted, but eventually we will be back in Albuquerque. Besides the scary job situation and downward spiral of our economy, we are super excited to be back home.....friends and family! salad! anonymity!
I'll try to keep this better updated our last little bit here, because we will be signing off the blog once we've returned. Thanks for continuing to check on us!
We got robbed again, and lost a few of our most valuable "worldly" goods (in Honduras)......again. This time was on a bus going to the capital. We had our laptop and ipod in a backpack in the compartment above us (things on our lap, thus the bag was not right with us). At a stop right outside of the capital a man standing in the aisle asked us to find something for him on the floor and as we looked for it, his buddy grabbed our bag and was off the bus in a second. I knew something was fishy but Javi was hip to the scam right away and ran off the bus looking for the guys before I even knew what had happened. Of course they were gone by that point. The feeling was crushing....complete disappointment in this place and anger.....
Its hard. A few weeks have passed since then and we are feeling better but its a bit difficult to not feel jaded and tired of it all.
But, on to cheerier topics....here is a picture of our close of service conference with the other volunteers who came down here with us.....(those that are still left!)
There were 35 of us left at this time....out of an original 51, so about 68% of us made it to the two year mark. Life happens and things bring people home for a variety of reasons....sometimes, like after the second robbery, you REALLY understand why.......So we have just 7 full weeks left as peace corps volunteers in Honduras. We are officially done the 17th of April. Many people have asked us...so what is next? First we are going on a little vacation before heading home. We're planning on spending about 6 weeks on the beaches of costa rica and panama. After that we are headed back home for good and we're planning on going back to New Mexico. There might be a little back and forth at first as we visit family and get readjusted, but eventually we will be back in Albuquerque. Besides the scary job situation and downward spiral of our economy, we are super excited to be back home.....friends and family! salad! anonymity!
I'll try to keep this better updated our last little bit here, because we will be signing off the blog once we've returned. Thanks for continuing to check on us!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Yes, another trip.......
I know it may appear as if all we are doing these days is travelling, but I promise we are definitely still working hard here in Comayagua! (Harder than ever actually, trying to wrap things up before we leave in mid April.) The thing is we had a few vacation days left that peace corps was going to take away from us (no vacation allowed the last two months) and we can't be having that! A goal of ours was to see every country that borders Honduras, so we had just one country left.....El Salvador.
With limited time and budget, we kept this trip simple....just two destinations in the whole country.
First stop was the beach, a tiny little dot on the map called "Playa El Cuco:"
Its largely a surfing town, but with waves small this time of year and not much else to bring tourists around, it wasn't exactly a big destination on the gringo trail. We actually ended up staying right next to the only other gringos around. Here is a pic of our friendly neighbors at the place we stayed:
This guy Lloyd was BIG TIME into making this drum for his female companion, something he had recently learned how to do during a trip to Guinea in West Africa. He basically worked on it the entire time we were there....3 days. Here he is after attaching the goat hide: 
Hmmm.... 
(Hard to get sand out of the swim suit.)
With limited time and budget, we kept this trip simple....just two destinations in the whole country.
First stop was the beach, a tiny little dot on the map called "Playa El Cuco:"
Its largely a surfing town, but with waves small this time of year and not much else to bring tourists around, it wasn't exactly a big destination on the gringo trail. We actually ended up staying right next to the only other gringos around. Here is a pic of our friendly neighbors at the place we stayed:
This guy Lloyd was BIG TIME into making this drum for his female companion, something he had recently learned how to do during a trip to Guinea in West Africa. He basically worked on it the entire time we were there....3 days. Here he is after attaching the goat hide: Hmmm....Here is where we stayed:
I was on the phone with my dad a few nights ago telling him about this trip. I was explaining that the room cost $15 night and he was amazed! Here is what we got for our $15 a night.
Shower facilities:
(Hard to get sand out of the swim suit.)Luxury accommodations:
And beautiful sunrises/sunsets right out your front door:
Our other stop was to a town called Perquin, a former stronghold of the FMLN revolutionary army during the 80's and 90's. The main attraction was an interesting museum describing the salvadorian revolution from a very leftist point of view:
Unfortunately (but not entirely surprising) the exhibits were a bit hard to follow as they were disorganized and cluttered. We left the museum still confused as to what exactly happened, but the sentiment stuck with us and the pictures were very powerful.
And beautiful sunrises/sunsets right out your front door:
Our other stop was to a town called Perquin, a former stronghold of the FMLN revolutionary army during the 80's and 90's. The main attraction was an interesting museum describing the salvadorian revolution from a very leftist point of view:
Unfortunately (but not entirely surprising) the exhibits were a bit hard to follow as they were disorganized and cluttered. We left the museum still confused as to what exactly happened, but the sentiment stuck with us and the pictures were very powerful.
This is probably hard to read, but here is a poster from the "solidarity" room filled with foreign country posters expressing support for the salvadorian's situation and denouncing U.S. foreign policy of aiding "contras" in Central America during that time period.
The secret radio headquarters of the FMLN's "Radio Venceremos" was located where the museum currently stands.
Sign says: "Hole from a Bomb of 500 lbs - made in the United States"
Interesting perspective on what happened there, isn't it?
The secret radio headquarters of the FMLN's "Radio Venceremos" was located where the museum currently stands.
Sign says: "Hole from a Bomb of 500 lbs - made in the United States"
Interesting perspective on what happened there, isn't it?
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Guate!
If anyone is interested, here are a few pics from our trip to Guatemala over Christmas.
Lago Atitlan:
Christmas dinner at our hotel on the lake:
A very full belly after christmas dinner:
Volcano hike (near Antigua):
No regulations on these sorts of things so the turistas just walked straight up the lava flow...
"LAVA!!!"
Antigua:
Market day in Chichicastenango:
Lago Atitlan:
Christmas dinner at our hotel on the lake:
A very full belly after christmas dinner:
Volcano hike (near Antigua):
No regulations on these sorts of things so the turistas just walked straight up the lava flow...
"LAVA!!!"
Antigua:
Market day in Chichicastenango:
Thursday, January 8, 2009
My mom's visit
My mom came for one last visit before we are finished with our service here in just a few months. She decided that she hadn't gotten enough of Honduras last time during my family's visit last Christmas. Well, this time she definitely got a feel for it, Honduras "cooperated" you could say. Lights went out while cooking (with headlamp cooking ensuing), she stood in bus aisles when no seats were available, she got to experience the horribleness of when you already have motion sickness from the windy roads on the bus and you get a good whiff of someone's breakfast they have just vomited in the aisle next to you, she hitch hiked on a country road (that's right!) and even got to go to a friend's house and have them make a lunch for her, a meal of the 4 Honduran food groups - meat, coca cola, starch and more starch.
We picked her up from the airport on our way back to Comayagua from our vacation in Guatemala. (Pictures to follow on some later post.) The three of us hung out in Comayagua for a few days, and then to break up the exciting time that is hanging out at our house, we went to the lake (Lago de Yajoa) where we could do a few "touristy" things. This trip was where we took the majority of photos (or Javi took them, as you will see he isn't actually in any of them) so they form the story that follows.
Our first stop was the "fish shacks" that line the highway on a certain stretch beside the lake. (This was the leg of the trip where she stood on the bus because all seats were taken. She stood the whole way - 2 hours. At first she was laughing and telling stories, enjoying the adventure, and then motion sickness kicked in and she was glad to get off the bus when she did!)
She dug into that plate of fried fish and fried bananas (called tajadas). Yum! She even ate the cabbage and onion that are in those suspicious looking jars of colored liquids.
The next day we went on a bird tour with a British man living at the lake, eking out a humble existence doing what he loves best. He was an excellent guide! Here we are climbing into the row boat for our tour on the lake.
This was the only picture we took where she didn't look like she'd been hit by a truck from the heat and walking!
We picked her up from the airport on our way back to Comayagua from our vacation in Guatemala. (Pictures to follow on some later post.) The three of us hung out in Comayagua for a few days, and then to break up the exciting time that is hanging out at our house, we went to the lake (Lago de Yajoa) where we could do a few "touristy" things. This trip was where we took the majority of photos (or Javi took them, as you will see he isn't actually in any of them) so they form the story that follows.
Our first stop was the "fish shacks" that line the highway on a certain stretch beside the lake. (This was the leg of the trip where she stood on the bus because all seats were taken. She stood the whole way - 2 hours. At first she was laughing and telling stories, enjoying the adventure, and then motion sickness kicked in and she was glad to get off the bus when she did!)
She dug into that plate of fried fish and fried bananas (called tajadas). Yum! She even ate the cabbage and onion that are in those suspicious looking jars of colored liquids.
The next day we went on a bird tour with a British man living at the lake, eking out a humble existence doing what he loves best. He was an excellent guide! Here we are climbing into the row boat for our tour on the lake.
Our guide, Malcolm, was a very interesting character. He'd swing his binoculars around suddenly if another bird flew by and say all kinds of funny British sayings. He could rattle off tons of interesting things about the birds and lake.
After that, we dragged my mom down a hot and dusty road so she could see this:
(the famous waterfall!)
(the famous waterfall!)
This was the only picture we took where she didn't look like she'd been hit by a truck from the heat and walking!
After the falls we were waiting on the side of the road for a ride...bus or whatever came our way, since transportation is spotty out there.
The first mode of transport willing to take us somewhere was a nice Honduran family. Javi waived them down and we climbed in the back. It was my mom's first time to hitchhike!
They took us to the nearest town where we caught a bus to get to the main highway. From there, we were lucky to get a passing bus to take us to Comayagua that had seats available. Mom never thought she'd be so grateful for a simple seat on a bus!
The first mode of transport willing to take us somewhere was a nice Honduran family. Javi waived them down and we climbed in the back. It was my mom's first time to hitchhike!
They took us to the nearest town where we caught a bus to get to the main highway. From there, we were lucky to get a passing bus to take us to Comayagua that had seats available. Mom never thought she'd be so grateful for a simple seat on a bus!
What a fun trip!
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