Goodbye Copan

Well the time has come at last. We are at the end of our adventure here in Honduras and are getting ready to come back to the U.S. The past few days we have been being lazy here in Copan and have been doing all of our ¨lasts.¨Last walk up to school, last trip to Jaqueline´s house to tutor Isaac, last baleada, last trip to the pool, last trek back down to our house in the mud, last laundry by hand in the pila, last night sleeping with the fan on, last time turning on the faucet and hearing the dreadful sound of no water, last time teaching at church etc. There are so many more things that really summarize our trip. We are so sad to leave our friends here but feel really ready to come home and move on to what is next for us.

What is next? Well we are returning to Seattle where we will be staying with my mom for a little while until we get our lives figured out. David is applying for actuarial jobs in the Seattle and Portland areas and we hope to hear back soon about those opportunities. Pretty much the location in which we settle depends on that. For the summer we will be around and would love to see everyone and catch up.

Just a little about our last couple of days in Copan.

Yesterday we went to lunch with a couple of other teachers at Marisol´s house. Her official title at school is secretary but she is so much more than that. She and the director Norma are amazing women and we really enjoy spending time with them. Plus they know about EVERYONE in town and can fill us in on the happenings. We enjoyed a delicious lunch and great company.

Last night we were told by Jaqueline to come by around 5pm for a family night with her and some people from church. We came and it was just her family and David and I until about 6 when a bunch of people from church showed up. We then realized that it was really a going away party for us with a few gifts and all. We felt so loved. It is interesting how you don´t really fully realize the community you have built until you are about to leave it. We felt the same leaving Bellingham and now leaving Copan. We can´t wait until we are once again settled in.

Now this is something David and I have been planning on writing for a long time. At our school there are many students who are on scholarships of various levels that give them a chance to have a private bilingual education. We walk to school some mornings with Daniel who is the most smiley second grader and tries so hard to talk to us in English as we walk up the big hill. He has a scholarship that lets him go to school and he is a great example of a student who tries and really deserves it. Now that the computer lab is up an running he is one of about 10 boys who stay regulary afterschool to play around in kids Encarta. A couple of years ago there was a big scholarship program with sponsorships from the States. Recently sponsors have dropped out and left a lot of students without scholarship. The school didn´t want to send the kids away so has been paying so that many can continue even though the school can´t really afford it. I guess where this is heading is that on behalf of Mayatan we would like to ask if anyone would be interested in sponsoring a student that you consider helping a child at Mayatan. We would be happy to get you more information.

Well this is probably our last e-mail from Honduras. We head out on a bus at 5:15 tomorrow and are planning to arrive in Seattle at night. See you all soon!

Pul-han-pan what?

This past weekend Zach, David and I went on a quick trip to Lago de Yojoa, the biggest lake in Honduras. We took a few busses and arrived in a small roadside town. We took a minibus up to Cerro Azul (Blue mountain) and stayed there the first night. It was a beautiful national park and we spent the first afternoon hiking more than we anticipated.
Here we are at the viewpoint looking over the lake and surrounding forest. We were going to turn back here but then decided to make the full 7km loop despite the fact that we were tired, starving and hot. So the loop took us down a valley, up another mountain and then down back to the visitor's center of the park. By that point we were famished and cranky and it didn't help to find out that dinner wouldn't be ready for another 45 minutes.
After our stay at Cerro Azul we had an aventure looking for another hotel closer to the lake. We went to two different ones that were pretty run down and seemed to be past their prime. It was as if they were constructed about 30 years ago and then haven't been touched since. We opted for another hotel that had been recommended by some other teachers. When we arrived we found it to also be dissapointing due to the fact that the owners were in the middle of some problems. The wife apparently pressed fake charges on the husband and got him put in jail. Needless to say you could tell that the hotel was undergoing some management changes for the worst.

The highlight of our trip was this amazing waterfall called Pulhapanzak which was 44m high. It was beautiful and the surrounding greenery was breathtaking.David and Zach paid for a guide to take them behind the waterfall to a cave and then cliff jumping. I decided to stay back and take pictures.
Oh and Zach almost fell off the cliff. Well....sort of.
I wanted to add a picture of this vibrant tree that is blooming right now all over Honduras. It is called a Llama del bosque, Flame of the forest, and it truly is flame like. I love it.
Now for a few random pictures of recent events.

Isaac's birthday was last week. I like how he was handed a giant knife and was playing with it while waiting for us to be ready to light the candles.
One morning last week we had a breakfast potluck at Zach's apartment before heading to school for a work day. We had delicious french toast, orange juice and fruit.
After breakfast I decided to document our walk to school. This is the first of many hills up to school. I like how this picture shows cars blocking each other, garbage on the street and people that we pass each morning. It is fun to see the same faces each day. Oh and by the way, the garbage gets swept up. Usually women clean up in front of their houses and then water the street to keep the dust down. I wonder if it actually helps.

Rainforest hike

David and Zach and some other teachers went on a hike early Saturday in the rainforest just outside of Copan. They have been hiking machines lately making early morning hikes a regular Saturday event. This week they tried out their machetes in the dense rainforest. David has had his machete all year and was just itching to use it sometime. Don't worry, destruction wasn't their goal, they just used them to blaze a trail. Here Zach is forming a trail into the rainforest. Apparently it was difficult to get in.

Last Day of School!

School is out! We finished up last week and it all went by so fast. I felt like there should be some more closure or something but no, it just ended. I have to say there is something about knowing it is the end of the year that makes the students go crazy. As hard as I tried to capture a good moment with them in the last few, I was disappointed to see that it was full of fighting, yelling, arguing, and name-calling. It is hard to like them when all I do is put out fires. Up until literally the last minute they were pushing their boundaries. But I think back on the year and I know there have been some very good times. They are a cute bunch and have really formed a united group. When I asked them how they wanted to spend the last day they said "just with our class, not the entire 5th grade" I take that as a compliment as I have tried to form a very close group. I asked them to tell me their favorite thing we did this year. By far the winners were: digging holes, going to the bird park and our morning circle.
So we started out last day by cleaning up. Luis is standing on top of the cubbies trying to scrape the double stick foam tape off the wall. That is the only thing that works on the walls here to put up posters. In the afternoon we hiked up behind the school to a place on the hill for our picnic party. Their idea of a party includes popcorn, chips, candy, cookies and Coke.
And there you have it. I will miss seeing these guys but sure don't mind that I don't have to teach them anymore.

Almost Famous

My class had an exciting opportunity this week. The entire 5th grade was selected to accompany the wives of diplomats who were coming to Honduras to participate in the Organization of American States Convention. I had never heard of this before but it is apparently a big deal. The presidents and other ambassadors from countries in the Americas get together once a year to discuss important issues. This year the theme was non-violence and the convention took place in Honduras. So while the important people were meeting in San Pedro Sula, their wives and people accompaning them came to tour the ruins and have a luncheon in Copan Ruinas which was hosted by the first lady of Honduras.We heard that Hilary Clinton was going to be at the conference so the million dollar question was whether or not she would have someone at the event here in Copan. Turns out Bill didn't make it.

To make a long story short about our place in all of this, they wanted some students to be at the ruins to walk with the ladies and bring them water and talk to them. So they chose our students because they are bilingual and we spent our Tuesday meeting some almost famous people.

Here are the 5th graders all dressed up in their typical clothes. This is in the morning as we are waiting for people to arrive. What is the best thing to give kids at 8am...oh yes Coca Cola. Only in Honduras.
After an hour and a half of waiting we finally got a call that they were almost arriving. My students lined up to welcome the important guests. After they were welcomed we walked through the park to a place where they had a little buffet set up and a typical dance company performing while we all ate. After that we set off on the tour. There were about 15 important ladies there and then about 20 police men, some fire men and then people in white shirts whose job was to make sure the ladies were in the shade and had all they needed. I laughed when I saw this. Our students just had to go along with them. Oh and I almost forgot, lots of tv cameras and newspapers. We later saw ourselves on tv as they broadcast the entire event. After the tour of the ruins Tammi (the other 5th grade teacher), Ada (the Honduran teacher that teaches our kids Spanish and Social Studies) and I were invited to the luncheon. It was beautiful and was decorated better than any event I have ever previously been to in Honduras. I also was impressed at the efficiency of the service in the event. Efficiency is definitely not one of Honduras' strengths. At last, just when we were getting ready to leave, we heard that the first lady was going to arrive. You would think that someone who hosts an event would show up and be there. Well she arrived at the very end and made a grand entrance, gave a short speech and then took some pictures. Here is a picture of the special guests along with some of our students in front and the girls in fancy dresses on the sides. The first lady is in the center with the orange and yellow shirt on. The lady to the let is the mayor of Copan's wife and the mayor is standing right behind the first lady. The lady in front of him in the black hat is apparently the wife of the secretary general of the OAS. My students were so excited to meet the first lady. I guess you could say they felt almost famous too.