Amazing Copan Ruinas

Copan Ruinas is ten minutes from Mayan ruins that many people believe are the key link to understanding and studying the Mayan Civilization. The ruins of Copan are the most well preserved Mayan ruins in the world and touring this ancient site was a highlight of my time in Honduras. There were around sixteen Mayan dynasties at this site and each successive king that rose to power built his temples and palaces on top of the previous king’s symbolic edifices. The roots of 300 to 400 year old Ceiba trees have caused some collapsing of rooftops and walls within the Mayan site but previous temples and ceremonial sites remain nearly perfectly intact and ordained as they are protected because of their location underground or under other structures. There are archeologists from around the world here: Mexico, Japan, the United States of America, Europe, and of course Honduras. National Geographic has done extensive research here and has documented much of their findings in the magazine. There were so many impressive facets of our tour and our guide, Cesar, a local we had hung out with a few times, was a wonderful guide. Cesar speaks English but did the entire tour in Spanish and I was able to keep up and understand almost everything! A beautiful part of the Mayan culture was the spiritual connection they had with nature and the respect they showed for the animal spirit. Many of their statues carved from stone depict the Guacamaya bird, the jaguar, snakes, bats, and other creatures they deemed important and which they shared their world with. The structures are made of carved stone and in some places the stones fit perfectly and one wonders how it was possible to accomplish this. Further, the stones were hauled from long distances and the feat is hard to comprehend. My favorite part of the tour was the symbolism that is depicted in every facet of the Mayan city. Everything had an order including where people lived. The Mayans believed that there were leaders who were semi-gods and who existed not only in the physical world but also the celestial world. These individuals were royalty and lived in the palaces near the epicenter of the city. In total, it is estimated that 30,000 to 40,000 Mayans lived on or around this site. We visited the tomb of the last Mayan leader here and witnessed sites where human sacrifices were carried out. The Mayans played a unique sport in which players would attempt to shoot a ball with any part of their body outside of their arms and hands into a goal shaped as the head of a bird. The players would vie for the holy position of “the best player” and this chosen one would gladly accept the King’s invitation of a self sacrifice to the gods. Talk about faith and loyalty! Further, we viewed a huge open area where the city would gather to watch the sport mentioned earlier or where events would take place. We stood where the King and his followers would sit to watch the events. It was an eerie feeling to be where past and powerful souls stood and lived. We also laid witness to the statues that depict different epochs within the city. They are a beautiful mix of symbols with deep meaning of the history, culture, and spiritualism within that certain reign. These are some of the most well preserved ruins in the world. Also, we saw what can be described as a huge staircase of carved stone. At one time, this huge staircase contained the entire history of this Mayan city and it is still possible for archeologists to decipher much of what remains or has not been moved. To this day, archeologists see this place as sacred and tunnels are built under the city for these people to continue to study this amazing culture. Another amazing thing about the Mayans is how advanced they were in terms of math, architecture (blueprints that would compete with modern blueprints today have been discovered), astrology, and their knowledge of the earth. To think that they were wiped out “in the name of God” is rather depressing. Also, the Spanish burned many of the ancient texts and laid waste to evidence of this beautiful culture. I have added pictures to depict how beautiful this place is. There are still colors that show up from picture to picture. One should see this place if ever receiving the opportunity.

Tome la Posesion o Inauguration of Obama!

Today was a historic day for the United States of America and the world alike. No matter your political persuasion or personal opinion about Barack Obama or the United States of America, there is no doubt that the inauguration of Obama marks a poignant moment. I will always remember what I was doing during his inauguration, teaching in a Honduranean school! What a memory. I feel like I am part of the Obama message regarding volunteering and being an ambassador to domestic and international communities. I am glad and feel very fortunate to be in the position I am in. There is a common sentiment of support and excitement among Honduraneans and they share the hope many of us feel. To celebrate the inauguration, we had a fiesta at our Spanish school, Guacamaya. Our Spanish school is amazing and my teacher has been a huge influence on me here. Her name is Nelly and I have included a picture of us together at the fiesta. We had a BBQ and spoke about the day and it was a great mix of locals and people from around the world. After the party, we watched Obama's speech on YouTube in a local cafe and the owner, who speaks English very well, kept pumping his fist after Obama would say something meaningful to him-it was great. I felt so much pride in my country and the whole experience made me so proud to be a citizen of the USA. I have always been and always will be so proud of my country and I am so happy to represent GVI and my country through this experience.

The Bay Island of Utila

For the weekend Sofie, Maya, Aviv and myself headed to the Bay Islands as we did not have school on Friday. Thus, we got to experience the Honduran bus system and things actually went very smoothly. We rode to San Pedro Sula for around three hours and then from there we caught a bus to Ceiba. This ride took around another three and a half hours. From Ceiba we boarded a ferry that took us to the small island of Utila. As we disembarked we were greeted by local dive guides offering us a myriad of deals and packages. It was a bit overwhelming but it made me feel somewhat important as all the guides converged on our little group. Utila is very different from the rest of Honduras in many ways. First, the first language spoken is English and many of the people have a Caribbean accent when they speak, think Jamaican! There were many tourists and a lot of people who had moved to Utila from other countries and were working as guides or in the local hotels, etc. We stayed in a hotel right on the beach and in the morning Aviv, Sofie, and myself went snorkeling while Maya did two dives. The water was warm and the plant and fish species under the water were brilliant! There were fish with fluorescent colors that appeared as if they were glowing under the water and the diversity of the plants under water was amazing. It was fun to swim with schools of fish and explore the mini canyons under the water. That night, we went to a restaurant called El Picante. It is owned by a man who was born in the Congo in Africa. He greeted us when we arrived and the Mexican food there was delicious. Then, we wound up talking to him for another two hours and met his wife and his father in law and his son. His was such an interesting story. His sister was killed in the war in Rwanda and his mother had recently passed away and this had occurred simultaneous to him opening his restaurant. Because of his new business and because of the cost of a plane ticket, he was unable to attend her funeral. Despite all of the tragedy in his life, he maintains a positive attitude and is so happy to be alive and operating a new business. His wife is from Utila and she had the Jamaican accent and they were quite a pair. Then, her father showed up and we sat and talked while they drank beer. The father in law invited us to go the keys the next morning but sadly, we had to leave the next morning. It was so nice to meet some locals and hear their stories! That night, we went out on the town and went to a bar that took years to create. There are numerous glass bottles, marbles, and other oddities that make up the place. It has many levels and is a work of art. I have posted some pictures of this interesting place. We also met a girl from Tegucigalpa, Karla, who is a university student and is learning English. Her English was a lot better than our Spanish and we talked with her until the wee hours of the morning. She wants to come visit us in Copan if she gets the chance. It was a quick trip but we are all so glad we we're able to visit the Bay Islands and Utila and meet the wonderful people and see one of the world's greatest underwater shows.

Yes, I am still alive! We arrived in Honduras on December 27th after all the festivities in Antigua. We live in Copan Ruinas, Honduras very near a grouping of ancient Maya ruins. Copan is warmer than Antigua and is a much smaller community. I met my host mother, Elena, on the 27th and moved in that night. Elena is an amazing cook and locals come to her home each day to eat lunch and dinner. Elena's daughter Daysi lives in the home too and there are many rooms which are usually filled with Hondurenos who are working in or near Copan or with tourists who are visiting Copan. I have met some very interesting and amazing people thus far. Enrique is an archaeologist who works Mayan ruin sites, Norvito is a local accountant who enjoys playing football on the weekends, Luis is an electrician who is working on projects bringing electricity to indigenous communities, Ellen is a Seattlite who rents an apartment from Elena and she works in the local schools and teaches English to adults in the evenings, and there are many other tourists who attend Spanish school or locals who are working and enjoy Elena's food that I speak with each day. I feel like my Spanish is progressing quite well and this week was major step in the right direction as I find myself understanding more and more. My head is filled with new Spanish verbs and words but I am very motivated to keep the momentum rolling. Back to Elena...I have my own room upstairs with a balcony overlooking the green rolling hills of Copan. Also, she prepares wonderful food: fresh fruits, eggs, black beans, tortillas, wonderful soups, salads, meat and chicken, rice, fresh drinks, coffee, etc, etc. The weirdest part of it all is that I am now eating plantains which I couldn't eat before because of a bad experience in El Salvador in 2004. And...Mom, I'm eating cantaloupe! I don't think there exists a food I don't like in the entire world now! I have loved living in Elena's home and meeting so many new people. The school we work for is located in an indigenous community named San Rafael. There are six grades of students but for the first two weeks only grades one and two attend for some remedial work before the first official day on Feb. 1st. I have switched between helping Susan in the second grade class to helping construct a new pila at the school. A pila is basically a water storage site where water is stored for multiple uses: hand washing, cleaning, flushing the toilets, washing items, etc. It is an important step and I work with a local man named Rene. I think Rene believed I was a complete idiot for the first few days but began to understand that my Spanish was not great and now we have a pretty good working relationship. He is very quiet but a determined and hard worker. We are close to completing the pila and I will be glad to be done hauling sand, water, cement and mixing them constantly. I have also hauled many a cinder block and sawed many pieces of ribarb for the pila. Overall, it has been very rewarding. Further, we have begun to install gutters on the roof of the school to catch the rain and prevent water from building up on the ground. One last detail, we have been teaching English classes to young people aged 8-18 twice a week. For some, it is there first experience with the English language and it's an honor to be their first teacher! I will be teaching the fourth grade class beginning in February and I am looking forward to this! Sophie, our intern in Copan just left this morning so it's the old group again: myself, Susan, Aviv, and Maya. A new intern will arrive this weekend but it is very different going from over 20 volunteers in Antigua to four. But...our group does well together and we are having some good times. Two other volunteers, Noah and Marianne left over two weeks ago and we will hopefully get the chance to meet up with them in Nicaragua down the road. New Year's was passed in Copan and we went out on the town and had a great time! The locals are incredibly nice and my Spanish teacher is the absolute greatest. Her name is Nelly and she is so energetic and funny and smart. I have purchased additional Spanish classes to continue to work on the language and Nelly is a huge support for me here. This weekend, we will travel to an indigenous community with Ellen and on Friday I will be helping to teach an English class for a local man who has a strong desire to improve his English. We will also be going to a butterfly reserve and then at some point down the road we will take a tour of the Mayan ruins which are about ten minutes away! Everybody, check out my new pictures I have added to old posts as well-I finally got a strong enough connection to post them. Hope all is well with everyone. Until next time, buenas noches!

Lake Atitlan and El Salvador

This is a post I have been meaning to put up for some time now. I will keep it short as words do not do justice to these wonderful experiences. During my time in Guatemala our group travelled to Lake Atitlan in Guatemala and to San Diego beach in El Salvador. We stayed at Casa del Mundo at the lake and a hostel run by some really great people in El Sal. We biked into Lake Atitlan and then canoed to a cliff jumping site the next day where we jumped from nearly 15-30 foot cliffs into the lake-the distance was a long disputed subject! The lake is a huge body of water and runs to depths of 300 meters. We also did some night swimming in the lake, not skinny dipping :) and then sat in the hot tub at our hotel. The hotel is built right into the side of a hillside on the lake and it is magnificent. We ended our trip with a wonderful hike/run along a trail near the lake.

We travelled to El Salvador to enjoy the warm weather and the beach. We stayed one day but the travel time was well worth it. The currents and waves off San Diego beach were very strong and made for some good times. It was absolutely the hottest place we have been so far and we passed the time listening to music, eating great food, and chatting when we weren't at the beach. It was nice to return to El Salvador again albeit for a much different reason than when I previously visited this great country. Enjoy the pictures!