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.

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!)

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!

What a fun trip!