So it has now almost been a month since we arrived in
Honduras…. I can’t believe how fast the first few weeks have gone! Saying that,
however, it also feels like we’ve been here forever. I feel that we’ve really managed to settle into
the community, both at school and within the village. People are starting to
recognise us and even kids we don’t teach often shout greetings to us if we’re
walking past! I already feel very comfortable here and though we’re faced
everyday with new challenges, cultural differences and communication barriers I
know now that I have enough of a grounding and understanding of the country to
get on with it and solve any problems that may (do!) arise. This is probably
the most reassuring thing of all and gives me a lot of hope for the coming 11
months!
We’ve gotten pretty good at getting around the place now and
quite often after school Ione, Katie and I will nip into Sigua for the
afternoon. It’s a small city/ big town about the same size as Inverness but
that’s more or less where the similarities end! We’re lucky enough to have a
huge Del Corral supermarket which sells pretty much anything we could want/
need. The bus to town is 10 lempira which works out at about 30p, most things
here are incredibly cheap! As there are 2 other Project Trust vols in Sigua
(Ellen and Erin) it also means it’s really easy for us to meet up with them…
always a nice chance to give our minds a rest from Spanish and have a good
chat! Last week Ione and I got caught in the most horrific tropical downpour
waiting for a bus back to Aguas Del Padre after school, it was genuinely like
someone was tipping buckets over us… It would have been an amazing photo
opportunity, if only I had a waterproof camera!
Last weekend the 5 of us went to a swimming pool in Sigua
for the day, our first real chance to enjoy rather than avoid the heat of the
Honduran sun! The pool was actually really nice and had 2 water slides, though
we were the only people there. We’d only been there about 10 minutes when we
decided – due to the amount we were sweating already! – we’d jump in and have a
swim before even attempting sunbathing. 4 of us managed no problem but Ione (of
course it would be Ione!) managed to hit her foot on the bottom and spent the
next hour trying to get out… consisting of crawling across the pool to the kids
section and trying to get up the stairs there. I think we all were a bit
concerned at the time but looking back on it now it really was hilarious.
Ohhhhh Noni! Luckily Katharine, our host, was able to come pick us up and took
us for our first Honduran hospital experience. Bruised, drugged and in a
wheelchair Ione was told to keep an air boot on for 3 weeks and 1050 lempira
bill… Not bad considering she’s a little (lot) accident prone.
Last week was exam week at La Providencia… Gonna be totally
honest with you, I was more worried about their exams than I ever was for
mine!! Because the standards of the school are so high the students have to get
70% to pass and one chance to re-sit but if at the end of the year their exams
don’t average to over 70% they have to move school… It seems so crazy that
exams at Grades 1, 2, 3 and 4 can change their education so dramatically. This
was the first time I really accepted just how much was reliant on me and my
ability to teach. See why I was so stressed?! Luckily the majority of them went
really well – there are some really excellent students here and their work
ethic is incredible. Every morning we get on the school bus with the kids to
get to school. It’s so much fun, they’re adorable and always so excited to see
us… Makes 7am that little bit easier!!
Ohh also, we have now got our school uniforms!!! It’s super
exciting, I know I’m getting a little sad! We have a different coloured polo
top for every day of the week with the school logo and OUR NAMES! I have
resorted to Miss Kayla as we realised within the first day that Michaela was
just a bit too hard in a Spanish accent, I love it though!
For one of the other volunteer’s birthday a few of us
arranged to meet up in Copan Ruinas, a beautiful little town on the west of
Honduras, right near the border of Guatemala. Finally it was time to travel a
bit!!! Although I love it here it was really exciting to be able to get away
and see the others, if only for a weekend. On Friday after school Ione and I
waited at the main road for a bus passing and set off on our first real
adventure! We squeezed on (in typical Honduran style) to a tiny bus which took
about 3 hours to get to San Pedro Sula. There was a lot of flooding – aka rivers
where streets should have been – due to the amount of rain they’d had that day
so there was a lot of traffic slowing our trip. We stayed at Dos Mollinos for
the night and got a bus to Copan early on Saturday morning. Again the bus was
tiny and crammed however it did give me the change to realise that having a
huge rucksack on your lap turns into quite a good pillow! I also had a chance
to practice my Spanish with some random guy on the bus… My favourite kind of
conversation, haha.
In Copan we were staying at a really cool little hostel and
met up with the other 6 vols pretty quickly. We spent the afternoon at a bird
park (AMAZING) with loads of parrots, macaws, owls etc. We even got some up
close action with the birds… First time having a parrot balanced on my head
anyway! ALSO we got to drive around in tuk tuks, best fun ever, was just like
being back in India! Copan is such a stunning little town with cobbled roads
and cute little cafes, restaurants and pubs everywhere. We went out for dinner
(and our first Honduran drinks!) on Saturday night for Rachel’s birthday with 2
guys from Uni in London who were also staying at our hostel, a Canadian guy and
2 friends of Rachel’s who were working in Guatemala… It made for a very fun
night and a big change from what most of us had gotten used to over the past
few weeks! On Saturday morning despite the hugely 'late night' (anything after 10pm is the middle of the night) my body woke me up at 7, nice and early. We decided to make the most of it and leaving Ione in bed we set off to the Copan Ruins (for which the town is famous) before our bus. It was absolutely incredible, Honduras is not
exactly concerned with health and safety so unlike many other ruins we were
actually able to climb to the top of the Mayan temples and really explore a
bit. Perhaps not something for one scared of heights as the stairs to climb up
were steep, uneven and really high… Thankfully Ione had decided not to come, I’m
not sure how she’d have coped with the air boot/ foot brace thing! (I'll try and get some photos of the ruins up soon.)
We got on our bus back at 11, and got to SPS by about 2.30,
we were home to Aguas Del Padre by about 5.30 absolutely drained and running on
empty. It was a massive amount of travelling for the night we were there but
100% worth it… I think we’ll be back in Copan any time we get a chance now! Meeting
up with some of the other volunteers has just made me so excited to travel more
and really gives us something to look forward to when teaching gets hard!
Our next adventure is probably going to be a trip to the gorgeous
Honduran island of Roatan in September for the Honduras Independence Day to
visit Max and Moos who are living there, we have a few days off after the
parades with the schools. Roatan looks and sounds absolutely amazing so I’m
sure that’ll be a very fun celebration! ALSO Max, Moos, Ione and I (and any other vols who can make it) is bound to be a good old time!
Until next time, mucho amor, Michaela (aka Miss Kayla) x
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