A few weeks have now passed since my Dad and Uncle Chuck were here to visit. We had a wonderful time and I am glad to have had people from home see what I'm really up to in this crazy place!
We had hired a driver to pick them up from the airport in San Pedro, and I was excited when it dawned on me that it was a Sunday, and I'd be available to go along for the ride and greet them when they arrived! Nina rode with me, and much to our un-surprise, the driver was a good 25 minutes late. He also stopped about an hour in to deal with "car and tire problems." For real, this type of stuff is so normal all we can do is laugh. Occasionally, get mad, but mostly laugh (or vice versa, depending on the day)! Needless to say, we made it, and actually with time to spare (only because we told him to pick us up way earlier than needed, since these unpredictable circumstances are so predictable). We even had time to have him take us to the grocery store to stock up on exciting things like brown sugar, zucchini, cheeses and bagels. Anything is exciting when it's not regularly available to you, right?
We got back to Gracias with some daylight left. We stopped at my house and they got to see my lovely pink house and my even lovelier roommates.
Their first day in Gracias, they were on their own since I had to go to school. They planned on taking a mototaxi up to the entrance of Mt. Celaque National park and walking up to the waterfall. Most people would say the walk is 2-3 hours, so I figured they would for sure have been back at the hotel by the time I was finished with school at 3. However, when I got to their hotel, they were no where to be found. No problem, since I gave Dad my cell phone for the day, all I needed to do was call to see where they were at. I tried calling several times with no answer. Slight panic. I walked all around thinking of different places they could be, and finally they resurfaced at the hotel. Turns out their day took some twists and turns (one being the wheel popping off the mototaxi-see picture below), resulting in a lot of walking. At the end of the day, nothing was hurt other than some sort feet and legs.
The next day was probably just as wild, as they came to spend a whole day with me at school. Let me tell you, my kids were PUMPED. We had been talking about them coming for weeks, no, months! Mr. Jim and Mr. Chuck were local celebrities for the day. My class knew, too, that there was most likely some "surprises" coming with them, but I made them promise to ask for the gifts. My little Genesis was just too excited and couldn't contain herself. She practically burst and asked Dad about the surprises. He covered for her, though. I let it slide. What a good guy.
To MY surprise, Dad also brought some pictures of me when I was little hand out to the kids along with their grab bag of goodies. So much fun!
The day concluded with a presentation about engineering careers that my Dad had prepared for the 10th and 11th graders. It went really well. Thanks for doing that, Dad!
On Wednesday, my vacation got to start too and we took off for Copan Ruinas. We stayed at a nice hotel - not a hostel - what a treat for me! I really got spoiled the whole time they were here (thanks so much)! We went to the Mayan Ruins. Fascinating to see all that had been unearthed from thousands of years ago.
We also visited a coffee finca (farm). A hard days work around here pays about 100 Lempira, the equivalent of $5/day. The more difficult part to fathom, is that many of the finca workers only work during coffee season (October-February ish) and survive off of that pay for the entire year. That's a lot of eating only beans and rice!
On Friday, several of my friends joined us in Copan, since the school had randomly given us a three day weekend. Probably our last one of the school year - but who knows! We took my Dad and Uncle to our favorite bar in the town, the little German place with it's own brewed beers. We enjoyed the eclectic company at our neighboring table and some spontaneous sing-a-longs.
The next morning, they had to take off to head back to the airport and experience all that is, the Honduran busing system. It was sad to see them go, but I was so happy to have had the week with them!
My "vacation" continued for one more night with my friends. We soaked up the rays at the hotel pool and enjoyed every second of relaxation that we could. What's our next big event, you ask? In less than two weeks is Semana Santa (holy week) and it's a big deal around here. Everyone has the week off and we are traveling to one of the Bay Islands, Roatan. The best part is I have two MORE visitors coming to spend the week at the beach house with me and my other friends. Time to go pack :)
