Travelling

We’ve almost been in Honduras for three months and in that time, we have not done badly with the whole travelling thing. Getting out of La Union is compulsory every now and again, and if we didn’t take every opportunity given to us (long weekends) to leave, then we would certainly go loco! The only issue is that La Union is the epitome of the ‘arse of nowhere’ and getting out and to the nearest big town is three hours away by bus, despite the fact that it’s only 44km away.. THAT is how bad the state of the roads / bridges are! 

We have been to Copan twice; once for my birthday and again at the beginning of October for a three-day weekend.  It’s a beautiful city with brilliant food and enough things to do to occupy yourself for a few days. Macaw Mountain is definitely a must, which we have done twice now. The ruins, obviously, have to be done, which is the main reason we returned to Copan, as our first adventure there was too short a visit to get a chance to see them. The first time we went, we found two guys who were studying in Imperial College London which was very strange, and the second time we made friends with some teachers from San Pedro Sula, so it’s a very sociable place, provided you stay in Iguana Azul! Amazing hostel, amazing breakfast and just a nice place to stay!

La Ceiba: We did Cayos Cochinos, an island hopping tour in the Caribbean sea which was amazing! Definitely one of our famous ‘Kate/Rachel, just..look where we are’ moments. We snorkelled in the sea which was more the temperature of a bath than what we are used to at home, saw some of the Garifuna communities that live on these remote islands and even had some fresh- straight out of the sea – fish that was just amazing. Definitely also try the coconut bread that they offer you, and maybe buy some hand made jewellery there as well! We also did some white water rafting, and named our team ‘The Vampire Bats’ due to an eventful night before in ‘La Cueva’….definitely a ‘you had to be there’ kind of event. However this picture pretty much sums it up!

Our most recent excursion was a visit to Lake Yojoa, the largest natural lake in Honduras. Here we met up with some of the other Project Trust Volunteers, completely coincidentally, which was really really nice! D&D Brewery is definitely a good place to stay if you want good food and is a great hub for other activities in the area. We all went to the Pulhapanzak Falls, and walked THROUGH, UNDER and INSIDE the huge waterfall! Absolutely amazing near death experience, and all for £4..what more could you ask for! The wife and I also rented a Kayak and voyaged into the centre of the Lake, and just simply because we like a challenge, continued to paddle to the other side!

We now have to wait until Thanksgiving for our next long weekend, which is 5 WEEKS AWAY, the longest school period that we’ve undergone so far..wish us luck!!

Honduras 2 - Rachel 0

 I have been here less than three months and have already ended up in the clinic twice!

On both occasions I have required both pills and a jab of some sort. They generally don’t tell me what it’s for, but they seem to work so I don’t question it!

The first time was because I had Gastritis, an inflammation of the lining of the stomach, which is referred to here as Gringo Fever. We, the white people are the gringo’s and generally we all suffer Gringo Fever now and again just because of the change in diet and the dirty water.. .

The second time however, was completely down to my own clumsiness.. I was playing with some of my first Grade Students down by the school ‘canteen’ where they are currently in the process of development. In Honduras when things are being built there are often sticks of metal poking out of the ground and these are responsible for maintaining the structure of the buildings etc.. so me being me, of course I ran over one of these and did this beauty to my leg!

They have given me lots of pills, creams and gauze to protect the cut for a few days and also gave me a tetanus shot. STOP WORRYING MOTHER!

I have been in the doctors more times in the last 3 months than I have been in my entire life, but I have to say I think I prefer the Honduran clinic experience to being at home. The doctor nor nurses speak English and so I have to take a translator with me, they always ask me to speak Welsh and laugh at me. Yesterday we compared scars from previous injuries and it’s just a much more relaxed setting to the doctors at home. I already have two pages of doctors notes and I’m sure there will still be more to come.. 

I have sacrificed a limb so that the students of my school can now play in peace without fear of having a similar injury because as soon as I was sent to the clinic they put plastic casing over the metal poles.. so at least that's one good thing to come out of this!

I’m publishing this post to prove that sometimes injuries happen abroad, and some that could potentially be really really dangerous, for example scraping a valley in your leg using a rusty metal pole...but there are trained people around who deal with the issues just as well as doctors at home would! 

September

The month that we got our very own kitchen… complete with a kettle two mugs, a cup of sugar, a bottle of Gatorade with milk in it and 1 spoon! This, I feel is the epitome of a British Kitchen, this is all we need! 

This investment resulted in many Saturday morning’s watching films, drinking tea and eating biscuits in bed…aaah the simple things!

September was also the month of our epic adventure. It had began as nothing more than a harmless dog walk with Darwin, one of the twelfth graders, and ended with us covered in bites, cuts, scrapes and mud and an epic story to tell! Ever, Darwin’s brother joined us when he realised that we hadn’t taken any water. He also brought a machete, which we later used to hack through a green forest. After hacking through the dense forest we arrived at a cliff face about 10ft tall or so..we couldn’t go back so..Ever found some long vines to tie into ropes and lift us up the rock face.. Then came the real issue…the dog. This problem was solved using belts and the lead as a harness and brute strength to lift Spikey up. Safe to say the dog didn’t like us much by the end of this trip. We finally emerged from the forest and found ourselves at one of the highest points in La Union..it was an awesome view, but as per usual photos don’t do it justice! 

We also got to meet our Rep Vegas. He’s an awesome man whose lived in the country since 1987 so, parents, we’re definitely in safe hands if anything goes wrong..not that it will of course! We met him in Gracias and went to the hot springs and ate lots and lots of food! Vegas, if you’re reading this, thank you for the food, you have no idea how much it meant to us! On the way home he took us via Las Playas which is a river that you have to cross..we spent some times there chilling in the sun and gathering some petrified wood before returning home for another week of school

This is just a picture to prove that we still love each other 2 months in, and I have also held a dog! Go meee!

This for anyone complaining about their uni digs.. this is our 'shower' after it has rained a bit too much, we're not sure if that's Kate's tan line or a dirt line..

A Typical School day!

Wake up at 5:30. 

Maybe brave the cold shower after a real deliberation if our hair is acceptable or not. 

Make tea/coffee, get dressed and make yourself socially acceptable.

Walk up to Molly and Sharons, have breakfast; cereal using a bag of milk, and a few pieces of bread and tea (of course)

Leave the house at 6:30am (sometimes) and walk up to school

Get to school about 7:00am, say ‘Good Morning, how are you? And get the reply “Fine-thankyou-you?” from every single child.
Quickly check what level the internet is on. Stop using internet because it’s down to 12% already.
Go into the office and pray.

Teach some lessons

School day finishes at 2:40.

Walk home.

Crash and burn.

One of my monkeys from fourth grade...he may look cute, but don't stare into his eyes for too long.......!