My dear friend Krista travelled all the way to Honduras, using up all her vacation, to come play with me. I have to give her major props. Honduras isn´t exactly a tourist destination, it´s a pricey ticket, and you have to get shots just to come here, for goodness sake! That and everything we wanted to do required getting up at 5 in the morning. We did manage to have an absolute blast, though!
Krista got in on Saturday the 16th, and Saravia accompanied me to the airport. The three of us girls headed into the city center for a lovely lunch at Cafe Paraiso. After stocking up at the grocery store, Krista got the colectivo and public bus experience to get to the Ranch. We were full up with visitors, so she actually got to stay in the priest´s house - pretty sweet digs. Instead of letting her rest, I dragged her to my hogar to meet the girls who weren´t with family for Holy Week. Those who stayed were leaving to go camping, and I wanted to make sure she met them. We also hit up the baby house, always a popular spot for visitors. On Sunday, we had a procession with all the boys to the church for Palm Sunday (with Tio Chele on a real live donkey and everything). From there, I gave her the tour of the Ranch followed by a hike to the cemetary. I somehow managed to get us lost until some nice old man in Tamal y Queso pointed us back in the right direction (and accompanied us silly gringas for part of the way). It was great eavesdropping on Krista´s phone conversation with her boyfriend about the Ranch. She really loved it. The kids didn´t hesitate to hop on her lap and she was impressed by the fact that we send our kids to college. I think she´s going to start a sponsorship when she gets back.
We headed to Tegucigalpa on Monday, catching a jalon with Reinhart and Camila right to our hotel door. I made sure Krista got all the important Tegus experiences like eating a baleada at Dolores, chilling out on the Pincho Loco patio, and buying a movie at La Isla. We met up with Leila later in the day and headed up to her apartment for a spaghetti dinner.
At the crack of dawn Tuesday, we were off to Copan. The ride to San Pedro Sula wasn´t too bad, but the windy road in the busito to Copan nearly killed us. We got in around 3 in the afternoon to find that the hostel I´d booked lost our reservation. It didn´t take too long to find something else, fortunately. I was crazy that day because I had to figure out how to do an interview, so we went searching for an Internet cafe with Skype and a webcam. It went pretty well, although I was glad they couldn´t see my sweat. We went out for a celebratory dinner and shopping in charming Copan Ruinas afterwards. The next day, we decided to hit the ruins. The Mayan ruins in Copan are not as much known for its impressive structures (which are nonetheless breathtaking) as for the quality of its sculpture. It boasts beautiful stelae of the ancient kings of Copan and a huge staircase detailing the history of the place. Totally worth seeing. And of course we were huge immature dorks who had to pose photos where we pretended to be sacrificed on altars...naturally.
On Thursday, it was up early again to head to Antigua, Guatemala. Loved being a Honduran resident and not having to pay fees at the border! Antigua is a lovely colonial town with beautiful churches and people from all over the world. We stayed at the Yellow House Hostel - clean, helpful, and full of character. It is run by Ceci, a delightful Paraguayan woman, who was pleasantly surprised to be able to converse with me in Spanish. Tons of people speak English in both Copan and Antigua, and I received many compliments on my Spanish, boosting my already out of control ego. In the wee hours of the morning on Good Friday, people are creating elaborate alfombras (carpets) with colored sand and sawdust, pine needles, flowers, and fruit. They symbolize the cloaks laid down for Jesus on his way to the cross. Unfortunately, it rained for the first time in twenty-some years, so there weren´t so many alfombras and our tour was cancelled. It was rescheduled for the next day, and we still got to see lots of alfombras (we helped make one, although I use the term help loosely)and a procession (we saw multiple over the course of 4 days). The processions are pretty amazing. You can hear them coming with the band that plays the same two melancholy songs and see them by the horde of men in purple robes surrounded by clouds of incense smoke. 80 men carry a huge wooden platform with a figure of Jesus and sway back and forth as they pass over the beautiful alfombras that last too short a time. You can really tell how heavy the platforms are by the women´s faces (they carry a smaller platform with Mary). The whole thing is really quite moving. We also saw a beautiful stations of the cross. The robes change to black with the death of Jesus, and then there is a huge celebration of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday with candy in the streets for the kids.
We had one outside of Antigua adventure. We decided it would be an excellent idea to climb the active volcano Pacaya. My guide book said you were more likely to be hit by molten rock than be robbed or murdered (aren´t you glad I told you about this after the fact, moms?). It was really amazing. No lava due to the eruption in May of last year - kind of a bummer. Our group was great - Italians, Brits, Aussies, Brazilians, French, you name it. It was breathtaking and not too strenous of a hike for me, although I´m much better than I ever thought I could be. That night, we treated ourselves to a lovely dinner. I had a tandoori chicken panini - something I would never have on the Ranch!! We spent Sunday shopping in the colorful market and being accosted by people trying to sell us stuff. The evening was whiled away playing cards with an Israeli doctor we befriended in the hostel.
And all too soon, our vacation came to an end. Krista headed to the Bay Islands, and me back to the Ranch.
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