hola from honduras

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hola! mi amigos! 
Just arrived in Honduras for my Spanish immersion school.  Flew into San Pedro Sula airport, which is much smaller than Houston Intercontinental that I left from.  Only one terminal and two or three places for planes to load and unload.  Was on the plane with a college baseball team from Indiana that will be touring Honduras, playing in different towns.  Flight was uneventful but one bonus was the spectacular islands off the coast.  I was worth the trip just for the view.  Since I speak very little Spanish I was somewhat intimidated when I arrived at the airport in San Pedro Sula.  Yet I was able (somehow...I'm not really sure) to purchase a bus ticket to the downtown bus terminal.  Anybody travelling in Honduras should use Hedman Alas bus service.  Nice clean busses and friendly drivers.  At the very small bus station in San Pedro, I met a couple of hikers from Wisconsin so I was able to speak English for the first time since leaving on the plane.  They were on their way to Copan Ruinas also, and we became friendly on the way.   The bus trip on the way exposed me to the extreme poverty in which some of these people live.  Many have only small shanties with dirt floors and no electricity, yet they still seem good-natured. 
Once I finally reached Copan (the bus trip from San Pedro was about three hours) I was greeted by Cathy, a represtentative of the Ixbalanque Spanish language school.  She took me to the house of the family that I will be staying with the first two weeks of my stay.  They are very friendly and have three children, all of which are in school.  Suprisingly, I have my own private room separate from the main house with a private bathroom.  Could not be happier with the accomodations. Tile floors and a ceiling fan, yet no air conditioning.  This is not really a problem because it only get hot in the mid afternoon and it is at this time that I usually am walking around or using the internet.  The night are very pleasant and there is almost alway a nice breeze. 
The school is just off the beautiful central plaza of Copan. It is kept incredibly clean all day as it is the main place where people come to meet and/or rest during their lunch break or siesta time.  Copan is somewhat of a tourist town, yet has not lost any of it's culture and charm. There are many restaurants but only a few touristy gift shops, so one can walk around and not feel like they are a target of every vendor in town.  The main streets are made of stone and there are no street signs or stop signs.  But this is not much of an inconvenience because there are not very many cars in town so the traffic is minimal. 
The town is nestled among some beautiful mountains that I am just dying to hike.  Lorena (mi mama por dos semanas) warned me against hiking alone, though.  She said it is generally safe in and around Copan, yet it is wise to hike at least in pairs.  So I guess i will have to wait until I can find a hiking buddy to take a trek with.  There are many hikers that come through here so I doubt I will have any trouble finding someone to go with. 
There are a few internet cafes here that I will be using to update my travel blog and contacting my friends.  The rates are cheap but the service is generally dial-up so it is pretty slow.  I hope to update the blog again on Saturday, but if I have the time I will try to do it sooner.  So please check back.
I truly miss all my friends, yet I would rather be here right now than there!!...😊

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Comments

[Bro]

Glad you made it OK !!!
Sounds like your settling in okay. Hope you get to see all you want. Be sure and take plenty of pics of the area. Thanks for visiting with us last weekend. We enjoyed it. Will keep checking back here for updates. Take care and be safe.