The view from my new apartment in Copan Ruinas! (I moved here on May 30 for the rest of my stay.) Good fresh start, and it will be nice to live with a family and other students here studying Spanish. $132 US per month, for a view like this! If only things were that cheap in Ann Arbor.
My room. Since the house is on the edge of the mountain, there are 4 stories above mine. And all rooms of the "house" have paths outside connecting them. It reminds me of the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse!
Finally, I have a desk!
My kitchen. Very, very clean to avoid the ants. They have been marching one by one ever since my fridge arrived...
There is even a dehumidifier. Although it smells funny so I am not planning on using it unless my books wrinkle with dampness again...
Tiniest faucet ever. But I have a happy towel and handsoap, at least! (Note the dish soap on the right; this is also my kitchen sink mind you)
I had to put this one up, just because I can't believe how skinny I have gotten. A week-long stomach infection will do that to you, I guess! Hopefully I will be able to hold down real food soon... I am getting tired of smoothies and bananas. Cross your fingers for me that these parasite drugs will kick in soon!
Reading up on Chagas disease literature on the terrace of the local internet cafe. My brother got me this shirt; this photo is dedicated to him...
Health Center.... of the municipality of Copan Ruinas ..... in the town of Copan Ruinas ..... in the department of Copan, but not near the actual Mayan Ruinas. Yeah; I have been here 3 weeks and I am still trying to figure out the government health system here.
My parasite catching "uniform" is getting dirtier every day.
The little girl on the left followed me to like, 5 houses, I swear. She probably would have mapped out the entire town with me if I'd let her...
At the entrance to La Pintada, a community that seems to get a lot of random tourists and other gringos coming by. They knew all about posing for my digital camera. It wasn't until we hiked up the mountain for about an hour that we started seeing families with kids who cried at the sight of me. (My white skin is apparently associated with previous vaccine terrors)......
Marta, the health promotora who went with me and the driver I hired for today, all through the steep mountain trails. Up, down... up, down...
This is how you cross a river in Honduras. Come to think of it, it's not so different from Oregon Trail!
OK kids, the machete is a large cleaver-like cutting tool. It is used for such household tasks as cutting large foodstuffs into pieces or to perform crude cutting tasks such as making simple wooden handles for other tools. You also use machetes for their odd jobs such as splitting open coconuts, working the lawns, or other related activities. Additionally, it is the most popular no-fire weapon used by bandits and outlaws. Now, on the count of three....
Every time I record data on a straw roof, the three little pigs come to mind. I can't help it.
Stopping at the edge of the cliff for a photo-op.
The village you can kind of see in the middle there is Copan Ruinas, where I am living this summer.
My dad came to visit! Yay!!! (Note that we are both dressed in blue for the big Honduras futbol game today... although it was merely by chance, we fit right in with the crowds)
Washing my hands after trying out my new pottery skills. A woman who lives with me does work in other villages, so we went along with her this morning to see the progress "her family" was coming along with their new house. And, I got to try my hand at pottery with Maria in the meantime!
Every evening, this road fills up with street vendors selling jewlry and other arts and crafts. It's like 4th of July, every night!
On June 6th there was a HUGE "futbol" game, and literally everyone in town was wearing jerseys, decorating their cars with flags and shirts, and getting psyched. I realized it wasn't a whole lot different from Ann Arbor on our "football" days. Sports will be sports.
The buses here are mostly old US school buses, painted crazy colors and stuffed solid with locals (and often their chickens) heading to or from work
Walking to the ruins
Just me and some more Mayan Ruins...
Classic Ruinas tourist photo
My father, the photographer
I tried to touch the stone Macaw's nose with my nose, but alas once again I am too short
This is supposed to be what the temples looked like in the olden days. The ancient Mayans used crushed insects to "paint" the rocks.
Buying some corn husk dolls from a couple local Chorti Maya girls. They make these dolls from dyed corn husks by hand, then walk into town from their villages (sometimes a 3-4 hour walk each way) to sell them. The price? 20 limperas.... about US $1 each.
My dad came along on my trip to Carrizalon and took sneaky pictures with the tiny digital camera (while checking out the rainwater drainage and other engineer details no one else in their right mind would ever notice)
Luis, my driver, on the left; and my dad on the right...
Water - in the village of Carrizalon
The earthquake we had last week damaged this Habitat house pretty bad. So sad! I am hoping I can convince HFH of Honduras to pay for the repairs...
I gave this little girl a pink balloon "to match her shirt" but she was so scared of my foreigness that I had to leave it on the dirt nearby to keep her from crying so hard. Later she eagerly picked it up once the 'scary blonde girl and her men' had safely gone.
I have a sticker with the "chinche" bugs on the back of my clipboard to help with the language difficulties. "Triatoma dimidiata" is hard enough to understand in English.
Sewing machine in one of the nicer homes. Although this woman actually had a daughter treated for Chagas disease last year, despite the plush accommodations.
Let's talk about dangerous insects... and your pretty new house
Lots of huffing and puffing to get up to this house on top of the mountain. Whew!
My favorite Mayan Ruin
Traffic Jam
Chagas!
Canopy tour! My new friend Kalvin is local, so he cut us a deal since one of his English students works there
Getting ready for zip line #1
Even my dad made it through all 15 zip lines!
Wooooo hoo!!
Kalvin's "here I am about to fly" pose
Oh, Honduras mountains, how do I love thee?
This is the standard fashion for all men around here... button down shirt, cowboy hat, work boots. It's all the rage...
Just over those mountains is Guatemala... but it looks about the same to me. :)
the corn farms are very vertical here!
Boca del Monte - this is a house with 10 kids, 2 parents, 24 chickens, 3 dogs, and 3 beds. WOW...
Playing a game of marbles. I haven't seen kids playing marbles outside since... ever! It makes me so happy that some place in the world this classic game still being enjoyed
Mirlyn, my driver for the next couple days when I finish up collecting data from the "nearby" communities
Houses like this are so hard for me to categorize... is it made mud, adobe, or vertical logs? Hmmm...
Washing dishes
I had more "helpers" than I knew what to do with in the village of San Rafael. They especially liked "helping" to ride in the taxi...
Twin girls in a new Habitat for Humanity houses. One of the problems I have encountered... some families with these great new Habitat houses still use the old house for cooking, living, and sometimes even sleeping. No one seems to believe that sleeping in houses with cracked walls will give them heart problems in 20 years; I can't imagine why. :)
Incredible view from one of the Habitat homes in San Rafael... we also found "undiscovered" Mayan ruins on the side of this hill! (in reality, ruins are everywhere in these parts. Only the restored ones are of any interest to the tourists)
"Daniel", one of my guides for the day. I gave him the job of holding my clipboard... you wouldn't believe how exciting that can be!
People have the funniest way of posing for photos here. Before I could take this, the family had to run in and get a shirt for the dad, and shoes for the little girl. This happens a lot... I don't have the heart to tell them that I'm more concerned with the construction materials than their fashion choices...
My handheld G.P.S. assistant (although I don't think I ever was able to successfully explain to him what it does, in Spanish)
Everyone has chickens... usually between 10 and 30 per family!
My GPS is recording all the places where I walk as "roads". My maps are sure going to be interesting!
These flowers are called "a las diez" because they open up every morning "a las diez" (at 10:00am). Or so my waiter tells me.
The rainy season is upon us...
Rainy season
Sometimes I swear every local here is a guy between the ages of 16 and 25... how is this physically possible??
Stalking one of the giant toads here. Kalvin, the Honduran, is scared of them which I think is hilarious. But they are poisonous! (they give you a rash... I learned this because I picked on up earlier this month before I knew)
getting ready to drive across the river in Cabanas
Chickens for sale! Yellow, purple, or pink; take your pick!
Bus Station...
The view from Mary's university apartment in Santa Rosa, Honduras
Catching a ride with Kalvin's friend "Cruz" as he took us in his Toyota miniature van to meet his girlfriend...
Super awkward. Kalvin took this picture as some guy at Cruz's girlfriend's house lifted a 1 year old baby into the car (to be held by the random 10 year old in the back; I never did figure out who he was). And I was failing miserably at trying not to look touristy.
During all those years I sat in the back of the bus in grade school, I never would have pictured a large group of indigenous Guatemalans riding in that same bus through the mountains 15 years later! But indeed, these buses are one and the same. With some added racks for the shopping bags, bananas, and chickens up top, of course.
You can't see it here, but the birds in the tree with the hanging "sacks" were beautiful!
The mountains were extra beautiful today!
Cuidado con los chinches! Look, I found one in the centro de salud office...
Breakfast picnic of empanadas before we start trick-or-treating for chagas disease info (Antonio, my driver, is on the right)
This lady was sooo funny... after hearing I would be taking a picture of her, she vanished with her hairbrush to become presentable. We had such fun!
In the village of Otuta, the habitat for humanity "rennovations" consist of only a new concrete floor. This doesn't help much when the insects that carry Chagas disease are still living in the old cracked adobe walls!
This stove is good because it actually has a chimney and a little bit of ventilation. So many houses are filled with smoke from their stoves
The girls on the left kept peaking out and giggling as I asked my questions. But I'm glad my bad Spanish is a good source of entertainment for the locals!
No new walls to protect from Chagas insects, but at least there is electricity...!
This was one of my favorite families! The 12 (yes, 12) kids all looked out for each other and I could tell even in the few minutes I was with them how much they cared for each other. Seeing inside their house, with the 2 small beds made of rope, I actually got choked up. Why is it that some people have so much, and others are born with so little?
Looking into the bedroom of a house in Otuta, from the kitchen/living room
Hanging out in the health promotora's house for some lunch. Since I have a "gringo stomach", I only ate grape juice...
The farming project; I still don't totally understand it. (by this point my head was aching from all the Spanish) But I was told to take a photo of them all, so I did.
The girl in red has Chagas disease! and the woman in black's father died of Chagas... crazy
Another road that goes through the river. Good thing we have 4-wheel drive!
Michelle and her puppy "Lucky" (pronounced "LOO-ki"). I'm so glad my host family decided to keep one of the puppies. The two of them are so much fun, even if they do poop outside my bedroom!
Watching some Hannah Montana with the fam (en Espanol)
Lots of times the tank runs out of water where I live, so they keep this big bin under the place where all the rain falls from the roof. We use this water for cleaning, flushing toilets, etc
Donna Elena (far right) is the woman who runs the show here where I live. I offered to print a picture of her daughter and kitchen staff in front of the garden, as a farewell gift.
Someone keep those horses from playing in the wet cement...
Caution: men at work
Parque Central (aka "the plaza")
In response to the impending political turmoil, flags began to pop up in more places than usual... it seems like about half the Honduras support the coup and half are against, but it's hard to get a good idea when everything is in such rapid Spanish. I will probably never understand the full politics of what is going on here.
On our quest to the airport! We detoured to get around one of the roadblocks (poor villagers here protest political happenings by putting rocks in the road and sitting on them). It makes traveling VERY difficult when you are in the mountains, but we managed to find a way around. Unfortunately, on the way we got stuck driving through an extra-wide river in the middle of absolutely NO where!
Working on the engine... in the river.
The two random guys we picked up at one of the protests. They volunteered to show us the trail around, in exchange for a ride in the back with my luggage.
More car trouble. The river really did us in. Thankfully, we found a mechanic who fixed the problem!
No sign of violence yet... just lots of empty roads. No buses were running and traffic was non-existent thanks to the millitary coup two days before. No one else was crazy enough to travel today!!
Aeropuerto - no flights running at night because of the curfew. Which is something you think they would mention on the news or something! But nooooo, I had no idea...
Goodbye, Honduras.
Flying over the coral reef was incredible. I sure hope I get a chance to see it close-up someday!
After three days of travel, I arrived in the USA! And sporting all my new Central American apparel with Nick... including these great hand-woven oven mitts! It's great to be home.
