Family Visit

ROATAN  :)

Emeril, our awesome water taxi driver

Ziplining!

Snorkeling

Carne asada on the roof

My little hombrecitos

Mom & Dad at the sawdust carpets :)

April has been a really, really great month.   The main thing that made it so great was that my parents and Quenzer grandparents were able to come visit me and see the place I have been living for the past 8 months.  I was a little nervous at first, knowing that I would be (or feel) responsible for making sure they felt comfortable and, of course, for translating everything.  You can ask them to be sure, but I think both of those things went pretty well.  The first few days of the trip were spent in Tegucigalpa, and mainly here in the colonia where I live (Nueva Suyapa).  My parents stayed in my house, while my grandparents stayed with Virgil and Kathy Troyer—so both got a taste of what it’s like to live pretty simply in a very poor community.  It was great to spend time with my real family and host family all together.  Despite the language barrier, they got along really well (as I knew they would, especially since Doña Juanita had not stopped talking about this trip for the past month).  We then rented a car and headed to the Mayan ruins in Copan Ruinas.  During this part of our journey I also got to visit with my first host mother from language school, Doña Elena.  This was especially meaningful for me because I felt like I was visiting with a completely new person—when I first lived there 8 months ago I could hardly speak or understand her and so our communication was very limited.  This time, I was able to sit down and have a real conversation with her, and it felt like I was talking to her for the first time!  I don’t know if this makes sense to anyone else, but it was really an amazing experience for me.   After a couple days in Copan we headed to Lake Yojoa.  We ate some fried fish and smoothies, and then made our way to a place in a Honduran national forest called Panacam.   We did quite a bit of hiking there… hiking in a tropical forest is a pretty new experience for me, and it was awesome!  But after only a day there, it was time for my parents to go home.  I guess some people have to work for a living.  It was sad to say goodbye, BUT my grandparents stayed for another week so the fun continued.  The next day we made our way to Roatan!  If anyone has not heard of Roatan, take a minute to google it.  It’s pretty much the most gorgeous Caribbean island you can imagine.  We only spent 4 days there, but we packed in as many things as possible.  We snorkeled, saw a dolphin show, zip-lined through the top of a forest, visited a beautiful park, let monkeys crawl on our heads, spent time on the touristy West End, swam, and of course spent lots of time on the beach.  Other than having a bad encounter with a coral reef while snorkeling one day, it was perfect.  I can’t wait to go back (assuming being a teacher helps me get rich)!  Goodbyes are always hard for me, but I know that in only 3 months I will be saying hello to them again.   And saying goodbye to people I have come to love here.  But I would rather not think about that quite yet. 

 

Now for getting back to my real life of working and living life off of an island.  I felt like the transition back was going to be pretty difficult, until I got to work and was attacked/hugged by a ton of adorable children.  I guess this isn’t so bad either.  :)