Oops...

Okay, so I have been slacking off! Sorry to all you avid readers.

It's amazing, I always feel very busy, yet I sit down to write and nothing comes to mind. No, that's not right either. It comes to mind, just all at once and kind of jumbled. Bear with me as I wander through the chaos of my thoughts.

School has been getting progressively better. I feel like the kids are finally starting to grasp the concept of listening (it's been a tough one). It's nice to look at their lovely faces and see something other than a blank stare. I tell you, for a while there I was doing some serious self reflecting to see what was wrong with me! As it turns out it may have only been partially my fault! For the last two weeks we spent about 40 minutes practicing marching every morning, getting ready for the local Independence parade. I can now say with much relief, the parade has passed...let the learning begin. We have been on a long (5 day weekend)! Independence was Sunday, so they gave us the following two days off and today is teacher's day, so they gave us today off! This week is going to be rough, Thursday and Friday. I think I can handle it!

This weekend 1o of us went to the town of Tela, a small town off of the eastern coast of Honduras. We arrived Sunday evening after a long day of travel, about 6 hours by bus. When we arrived the town seemed kind of abandoned. I don't know if it was because of the holiday or what...

We (six of us girls, the two married couples stayed in Tela) spent the first night at a small town outside of Tela in a small Garifuna village. It was pretty cool. Our hotel was literally on the beach, the roof was thatched grass and felt pretty authentic. We walked down the sand road to get something to eat. At first I was afraid. It was dark and the houses around us were small cinderblock homes, none of which seemed to be occupied. We found the restaurant our hotel owner had recommended, i can't remember what it was called, but it was a cultural experience in itself. It was solely inhabited by local Garifunas ( a group of African's that finally settled on the coast of Honduras after being relocated several times by different governments ). Anyway we arrived at the restaurant, which was kind of like an old fashioned drive-in without the cars or the parking spots. The kitchen was in the center of the hut with a large porch surrounding it. There were picnic tables with benches dotting the porches. I think there were a couple people working, but it was hard to tell who the actual employees were because everyone was in and out. When we arrived we were quite the spectacles, we were the only tourists, as well as the only white people around and we stuck out! At first it felt as if people were leering at us, but I think it was just my heightened sense of awareness. As we settled in and ordered it felt a little more relaxed. People started dancing at random times and in random places (there is a local dance called the Punta that the Garifuna's are famous for). The head cook fired up the...man, I don't know what to call it... not a barbecue, or a fire pit...anyway the outdoor contraption that cooked using wood for fuel and made us fried chicken and fried plantains that were pretty delicious. It was great sitting there eating and taking in the local culture. The locals seemed to be talking in two different languages. One was a form of Cajun English that was really hard to understand and the other was Spanish. I really enjoyed the experience.

The next morning all of us girls went down to the beach and swam. The ocean was like bathwater. It was incredible. I don't think that I have ever swam in such a comfortable temperature of water. A young group of local boys was also swimming and as time went on they seemed to come closer and closer to us. When they finally started to interact with us, they gave us a whole pile of sand dollars that they had been collecting. They were very cool. I had never seen a live sand dollar before. We all swam and laughed together for about an hour and a half and managed to get completely burned. It was well worth it and was the best part of the trip.

We then went into town to find a hotel for our second night. Tela is not a pretty town. The streets are dirty and there is just a non-welcoming feeling. I felt very much on display, and not in a good way; in the way that I felt like a walking dollar sign. It was very violating. Then later in the evening when my friends were walking to get a taxi, they were approached by a young man who pulled a gun and took their purses with their valuables. It was horrible. They all had credit/debit cards, one was carrying her passport, they all had their phones, keys, etc. Yes, Tela was not impressive. It all feels very overwhelming right now. I feel like we have rehashed it, been over it so many times. If only..., what if..., none of which takes it away or makes anything better.
I have now returned to Copan, grateful for this small town of friendly people. I am now however, quite homesick for Portland. I know that this is a passing phase, but right now, in this moment, I would love to come home.