August 5, 2013/ 5-8-13

This is my final week of Spanish classes in Copan, and I’m so excited to be heading back to Amigos de Jesus soon!  I leave Saturday, and there is supposed to be some sort of singing competition/festival with the kids and staff when we arrive back at the hogar (home).  It sounds like a great welcome.

Last weekend, I visited an inactive volcano in Guatemala.  The other volunteers and I went with an awesome Honduran family with lots of random relatives packed into an “autobus” or 13-passenger van.  The hike was tough, but the views made it worthwhile, and there was a beautiful lake in the crater of the volcano.

Ipala Lake Inside the Crater

The water was cold, but it felt great!

This weekend I went kayaking in the Rio de Copan.  Very beautiful and a whole different perspective of the culture.  Men and boys were fishing, and women and girls were washing clothing against the rocks of the river.  All of the people were wearing little clothing, and stared pretty incredulously at the gringas in the the mini plastic boats who were disturbing their laundry/fishing waters.

Later, we visited a pretty awesome bird park.  The second photo is more indicative of my feelings with those three aves on my person.

The bird on the left was so pretty

And as if that wasn’t enough for one weekend, I was invited along with a group of people to dinner at a finca (small farm) about a mile outside of town.  This finca is owned by a retired couple who formerly lived in Canada and decided they wanted a change of pace.  They have open air structures, including an outdoor kitchen, many lemon trees, two horses, four dogs, chickens, three Honduran workers, and all the time in the world.  It was fascinating to observe their life and imagine what it would be like to drink fresh-squeezed lemonade all of time and interact very little with the outside world.

Gigantic lemon from the finca

Next time you hear from me, I’ll be at the hogar of Amigos de Jesus- God Willing!