Wow! I cannot believe that I have already been in Honduras for almost 2 weeks...the time has flown by and the trip has been nothing short of amazing already, and packed full of fun.

Last Sunday our scuba instructor had a fabulous party at her house. Her house is only accessible via boat, so 3 boats of people from the dive shop went to the party.

on our way to the party

 The house was beautiful, and the view of the ocean from her deck was breath taking, and she even had a pool!! The pool was tiny, but i'm fairly certain that there were about 30 of us in it at one point, and by the end of the day the pool was filthy.
The food was amazing, more food than at most parties in the US, and probably about 30 or more crates of beer, and several coolers of rum punch.  Also, much deck dancing took place, as there was a DJ...it was definitely not the kind of party I expected to attend in Honduras.  Just before dark everything shut down, and we hopped back in the boats and headed back to the Dive Shop, stumbled back to the hotel, and were asleep before 7...it was a perfect day.

the pool party

Erin and I completed our open water diving course/certification on Monday afternoon. The water was much choppier, than our first two dives, but you can't feel any of that once you are under the water.  I definitely felt like I had come a long way in my comfort under water in comparison to the first day, when I thought that scuba may not be for me...now, I am looking forward to getting my advanced certification in Roatan.  Also, if anyone is ever looking to get dive certified, become an instructor, or anything in between, I would highly recommend UDC...it was a fantastic experience...plus, you can't beat scuba diving in the 2nd largest reef in the world, and I would be more than happy to be your travel buddy!!

recovering from the party the only way i know how...
drinking coffee with my toes in the water...

On Tuesday, our last day in Utila, we go to do two free fun dives with the shop, which means diving with a dive master and no instructor..the dive master is just a guide, and will help if you have problems, but other than that you are pretty much on your own...that was by far my most enjoyable two days of diving..

Early Wednesday morning we hopped back on the Utila Princess and headed for the mainland, where we hopped on a bus to a secret spot for a birthday surprise.  After about 3 or 4 hours on the bus we arrived in Trujillo, a little town on the coast.  We took a cab to a little place called "Banana Beach Resort" and it was nothing short of amazing.  We had our own fancy beach house, on white sandy beaches with a pool, and we were the only ones staying there, so our own personal chef as well...everything about it was absolutely perfect.

Banana Beach Resort

On my birthday evening the chef made me a german chocolate cake with a strawberry sorbet like filling and coconut frosting..it was to die for! And, apparently it is a Honduran tradition that the birthday person take a bite directly from the cake, and then they smash your face into the cake..and Erin could not let me pass up this cultural experience! I could not ask for a more perfect start to my 27th year!!

pre cake face stuffing...

This morning we had to leave our little slice of paradise and begin our journey to Copan Ruinas, where I will be taking my Spanish classes...we took a 6 hour bus trip to San Pedro Sula...luckily Honduran's hop on the bus quite frequently and sell a variety of fruit, baked goods and soda, so we did not go hungry or thirsty!

pretending like i journal

Just a little bit ago we arrived at a very nice hostel in San Pedro Sula, La Hamaca, and we will hop on a bus tomorrow morning to go the rest of the way to Copan.  I am very excited and ready to start my Spanish courses...I feel so lost here most of the time..I have really developed a new respect and appreciation for those who travel or migrate to the US and do not know the language. This experience will make me a much more patient, understanding and accepting person when it comes to language and cultural differences.  I am hoping that I can actually manage to grasp the language, or at least learn enough to understand snippets of what people are saying to me, and know how to respond appropriately.

I will try to update more regularly..the internet, like most things in honduras, has not been super consistent lately, but I should have semi-regular access while in Copan...

Buenas noches!

underwater exploration

I do not even know how to begin describing today two dives, which were my first two open water dives, besides absolutely incredible and breath taking.  We left the dock at about 8:00 this morning and headed out to our first dive site, which was about 15 minutes away.  When we stopped, you could literally see down to the ocean floor, and the water was a magnificent color blue.  The view above the water was nothing compared to that below the water...it was incredible--the most beautiful thing I think I have ever seen.  It is hard to fathom that so much exists beneath the surface of the water, when all that we usually see is a vast sea of waves.  Although, were we dove, there were no waves, and the visibility at our depth (12 meters) was about 25 meters...so, to put that into perspective, imagine getting into a 25 yard pool, sitting at the bottom, and looking straight at the other end...we could clearly see further than that.  The sand at the bottom was white, the fish beautiful, and the coral pristine.  On this dive we saw a sea horse, as well as hundreds of colorful fish.  We were on this dive for 39 minutes, which was not nearly long enough.

On our second dive we went to a new location, and again went to a depth of 12 meters. This dive was all along the reef, and again, I had never seen anything like this in my life...there is truly a whole other world under the water.  When you look in a particular area, you may see nothing at first glance, but then suddenly see more than you can even imagine...fish, incredibly colored and textured sea plants, and the most beautiful blue water.  We got to swim through the different pieces of the reef, which was awesome, and we again saw a huge number of amazing fish and other sea life. We spent about 41 minutes under water on this dive.

Thus far, my only complaint about the diving is that I have been battling a head cold (thanks Jane) and it takes my ears more time to equalize underwater.  I never before realized how much pressure there was underwater..my ears are a little sore this afternoon, but nothing a little Ibuprofen and a rum and coke can't fix!

We won't go dive again until Monday afternoon, and those will be our last two dives with an instructor.  On Tuesday we will go on an uninstructed fun dive, which I am very excited about!

Tomorrow afternoon our instructor is having a party at her house, and we have to take a boat from the dive shop to get there...we went past it on the boat today, and it looks like it's going to be a blast..and she has a pool! I hope that someday I can live in a house only accessible by boat, and that I can literally go scuba diving out my front door!

Now, I am off to go lay by the pool and read my book..the sand flies here may be the death of me, so I am settling for pool time rather than beach time.

Oh, and the food continues to be amazing...I have yet to have anything bad...but, I think I am going to have to cut back on my soda intake, but it is so so hard to resist real soda (no high fructose corn syrup) from a glass bottle with a straw!

The sun is calling my name...

Honduras Day 3; Scuba Day 1

Today was my first day of real scuba training.  Erin and I had our first "confined water" dive for our scuba class. However, the water here is so clear and calm that the dive was actually in the ocean, albeit only about 6 feet deep....I think I also enjoyed the freshest sushi that mother earth has to offer; I took in plenty of salt water, and there were some fish small enough, i'm fairly certain that some of them made their way into my gullet, poor little guys! When the instructor first told us to start going under, I went down really quickly, the panic set in, and I decided right then and there that scuba was not for me, and Erin would be doing this scuba adventure on her own...breathing underwater in NOT a natural sensation.  However, after coming out of the water, pulling myself together and giving myself a mental pep talk, I was ready to give it another go.  This time, I descended much less quickly, and realized that this phenomenon is actually possible!  Tomorrow we get to dive a bit deeper (6-10 feet) then Saturday we get to do our first real dives!

Also, I have been informed by Erin that I am having an extremely cushy immersion into Honduras, and that Utila is really nothing like most of Honduras, and that there is "so much wealth here." To put this into perspective, we think that we are paying a lot if we pay more than L25 ($1)  for a rum and coke, and more than L100 ($5) for both of us to eat lunch...our rule is that if it is more than L100, it is too expensive!

The best baleada of the trip thus far was eaten today...it had chicken, avocado, tomato, cheese, and some other deliciousness...tomorrow, i will try the pulled pork...oh, and it is mandatory that I drink a real coke or pepsi out of a glass bottle, with a straw, at least 1-2 times per day...my sodium and cholesterol are going to be out the roof when i get home, but it is truly impossible to resist!

oh! and we found a real coffee shop today! I am not yet ready to give up my Pacific North West coffee, so I am ecstatic that we found this place!  I went there twice today..including my morning coffee that was enjoyed with a homemade cinnamon roll, fresh out of the oven, from a little bakery on the walk to scuba class....my life is really too rough right now!

Honduras: Day 1 & 2

So, my journey has begun....I have reduced my life to two packpacks--my big one, which weighed in at 32 pounds, and a small overnight/weekend bag.

I arrived in San Pedro Sula, Honduras at a little after 11:30 on Tuesday, after a sleepless night of red eye flights and a lay over. As I was flying into San Pedro Sula the landscape was like nothing I had ever seen, or ever expected. First, the ocean a mixture of beautiful blues, and the land was the most beautiful colors of green i have ever seen. In the US, almost anywhere you fly, you can clearly see the 1 by 1 mile grid system. Here, there was no grid, and only a few small roads here and there, but the land is instead occupied by lush green plants--what I saw from the plane were likely tabacco and bananna plantations. I also didn't realize it, but Honduras is quite mountainous.

As we landed at the airport, which is near the outside of the city, I giggled to myself when I saw the airport. San Pedro Sula is the second largest country in Honduras, yet the International Airport had only 3 (maybe 4) gates. I was surprised when I didn't deboard the plane down steps.

As soon as I arrived, Erin and I got a cab to the bus station, and immedietly hopped on a bus to La Ceiba, which is on the coast. The trip to the coast was like no bus ride I have ever had. I don't think if there are any official traffic laws in Honduras, but it seems that the biggest vehicle make the rules, and if you are on a hill or corner, it's okay to pass, as long as you first honk your horn, and if you encounter an oncoming vehicle, they just move to the side. Erin explained this to me as the "third lane" where basically traffic just parts ways for you. We passed through several small towns, and many of the houses had small markets in their front rooms, or were selling food or fruit in front. Also, from time to time, the bus would stop, and people would get on the bus and try to sell fruit. We bought sliced mango, which was delicious. Upon arrival in La Ceiba, we got a taxi to the hotel. Stop signs seem to merely be suggestions, and Honduran drivers are truely the definition of "defensive driving."

 We stayed in a hotel, with a private room, for L350 (about $17), which was "a little more expensive" but still does not have hot water. This is where I learned my first lesson in Honduras: don't flush toilet paper. Luckily, Erin warned me of this, otherwise you can potentially clog the sewer system of the entire city. I have to consciously think about this each time I use the restroom, but it does make the "courtosey flush" quite natural. I have many lessons to come. Also, I am so thankful for Erin, as she knows Spanish, and is my interpretor for now...this gives me a new appreciation for those who come to the US and don't know English; I really do feel completely lost most of the time.

I have also had the one meal that Hondurans are known for: Baleadas. It's basically a home made tortilla, filled with anything you would like, including refried black beans and the saltiest cheese I have ever had. So far, I have had this three times, and am trying not to eat them too much because I think they will likely be a food staple during my stay here. This morning we left early and took the bumpiest ferry ride I have ever taken to Utila, which is one the of Bay Islands off of Honduras. We are staying at a great little Inn, the Mango Inn, which is associated with the dive shop that we are taking our scuba class through (the Utila Dive Center). We got upgraded from a dorm room to a private room for a good price, plus it has A/C! The water here is so warm and clear, and the dive shop has a fantastic dock to lay out on, and also has a bar on the dock...it really is like paradise. We start our scuba classes tomorrow, and I cannot wait to get under that water!

I apologize for the lenghthyness of this blog, and will try to refrain from this in the future...also, on one of my next blogs I will write out my goals for the next 9 months of my life (Goal #1: learn spanish!!), and i'll add picutres when I can..but for now, I'll just stay lost in the language and lounge...