Vacaciones

Due to Independence Day, we had two days off school. I changed my work weekend so that I could have a four-day weekend. This also means that I will not have another day off until October 3rd, but I think it was worth it. On Thursday, a group of 8 of us headed up to Lago de Yojoa. In the process, we were schooled by at least six forms of Honduran transportation. We made reservations to stay at the American-run D&D Brewery. Along with being the first microbrewery in Honduras, it is set up as a little hostel with cabins, a restaurant, and pool. We spent all of Thursday in transit, so Friday was our day to play.

We first headed up to Pulapanzhak, which is a beautiful waterfall. An elderly lady at the hostel had suggested we do the under the falls tour. We found a guide and talked him down to 70 lempiras a person (about $3.50). Now, I thought this would be a lovely little walk behind the waterfall where we would get a light mist; after all, if the old lady could do it, so could I. Little did I know that we would be fully under a really powerful waterfall. It is probably the most dangerous thing I’ve done in my whole life. I fell twice and was rescued twice. The spray was so strong, and we all know I’m not a good swimmer (floating is a little challenging for me). At one point, I couldn’t see in front of me, so the guide scooped me up and carried me through waist-high water. When we arrived at our destination, he told me to duck my head and breathe through my mouth only when necessary. We ended up in these caves with water up to our shoulders. It was so cool, but I also had a claustrophobic, I-feel-like-I’m-in-the-Titanic moment. And, of course, we were completely soaked by the time we were done.

We then headed back toward our hostel and grabbed lunch. We had the famous fried fish. It’s literally a whole fish that’s been fried. Ours had everything – eyes, teeth, fins, the works. I think Dad would be pretty proud that I ate it. Afterwards, we decided to rent a boat to take out on the river. The lady with the oars convinced us that the 7 of us who wanted to go would definitely fit. That was seriously called into question when we saw the boats, but we did it anyway. I ended up in the bow as the figurehead, the guys noting that no one in their right mind would expect me to row. It was slow-going at first, so two of our boys decided it would be a brilliant idea to get out and swim while pushing the boat. Turns out they were more like anchors, although we gave them props for effort. Somehow, to the great amusement of passing catrachos, we made our way through a highly questionable marsh/jungle. We ended up at a lake and took turns jumping off the boat and swimming around. All in all, the day was great bonding for our group. I was very proud to be elected tribe elder/matriarch on account of my tenure upon the earth. We’re coming home with all kinds of inside jokes and “gringos cheat death” stories, all of which I will not share here for benefit of my mother, grandmother, and former students. Don’t try this at home, kids.