March has flown by and we have no idea where its gone. Just after our last blog, my dad and his girlfriend Kasia came down to La Ceiba for a week. It was wonderful to have some visitors and of course to see some family. During their visit, we were able to tour a little bit of Honduras and head southwest of La Ceiba to Lago de Yojoa...the only lake here! It was absolutely beautiful and it was an excellent weekend get away spot. We rented a car and road tripped for just about 3.5 hours (when it was supposed to take 5...thanks Dad for the super driving!) and spended Saturday-Monday here. The hotel we stayed at looked over this massive lake surrounded by beautiful mountains. Also, the weather and climate is completely different from the hot and humid La Ceiba. It was drier and much cooler which felt amazing. I actually wore long sleeves in the evenings which was a huge change from the 95 degree, sweatbox I'm used to at night.
There was a great waterfall just down the road from the river where we were able to actually hike down and under the waterfall into this little cave to hang out for a bit. It was definitely scary having to walk under the pelting water with your eyes closed, head down, and breathing only through your mouth as the guide took you along, but it was sooo worth it. On our way back from the waterfall we stopped at D & D Brewery, one of the few breweries in Honduras, where we enjoyed some apricot, amber, and stout beer (clearly the apricot beer was the best...right Dad!) and the best burger I have had abroad...EVER! We also went out onto the lake for a morning of bird watching with Malcom, an Englishman who has devoted the last 3 years to living in the area and taking these daily tours with visitors. There are LOADS of different types of birds that live along the lake and from what Malcom said, we saw/heard over 60 different bird species in the 4 hours we were on the lake. I doubt that Ken and I even realized we saw that many since we were mostly just enjoying the views of the lake and playing around with the binoculars, but I can say we did see some BEAUTIFUL toucans.
We also went on a canopy tour and to the natural hot springs down the road later on in the week. The ziplining was the best that I have done so far (I only have Costa Rica to compare it too!) but Ken and Dad agreed that it was the best they had ever done as well. There were 18 lines, one of which was 1 kilometer long!, and the view from atop the hill was breathtaking. It was also great that we were the only ones because we were able to get from one pit stop to the next so quickly and just keep on going! Graham, you would definitely have been thinking about how to make ziplining from the Sears Tower to Purdue possible after this!!! Ken even started talking about how to zipline from work to home...it was that great. The hot springs were so relaxing and the volcanic mud gave your skin a nice, smooth feeling afterwards. The hot springs were so crazy too because you could see the volcanic waters running down the side of the mountain and mixing with the cold, cold water of the river in this one pool. The top of the water was hot and the bottom of the water was cool. It made the temperature bareable :)
I also took my 4th graders on another field trip to the beach. This time we focused on Earth Day, and in honor of our Mother Earth, we did a BIG BEACH CLEAN-UP! Jessie (the 3rd Grade teacher) and I had been teaching our kids little things they could do to help save the earth and it was the big finale to the lessons. The beaches in Honduras can be really pretty and also really dirty and our kids found that out quickly! While we were able the beach, our kids picked up over 15 full trash bags of garbage in a half-mile radius. We picked up a lot but unfortunately there was still a bunch. I know however this experience will stick with them because they have been spotted around school picking up more trash! Also, Jessie and I have been working on a mural in the center of our campus in honor of this beach clean-up that we are finishing up this week with our signing ceremony. We painted a beach scene and our kids used their hand prints to make the palm trees. It turned out super cute and our students are so excited to say they have something that will last a Mazapan for years to come.
Ken left for his Visa this past weekend and headed to Guatemala with our friend Jake. They took Chicken Buses the whole way and learned just how true the name can be. In one instance they were in a mini-van that seated 10 people and 23 people were crammed into it with 1 person even sitting on the roof...plus there were chickens in peoples laps!! They stayed at Lago de Izabel which is just over the boarder and he said it was beautiful. It was a relaxing weekend and he was able to read, sight see a bit, and even get out on the lake in a small row boat. Who said renewing a visa wasn't fun! In the mean time, I stayed in La Ceiba and cleaned the house, did some laundry, baked lots of goodies with the girls, had a BBQ on our new grill with some friends, and bought a new T.V.!!! SURPRISE KEN!!! We finally have a t.v. that is bigger than 10 inches :) I also ventured to the meat market and was able to buy some new cuts of meats to try. So far, we have tried the porkchops which were really good but super fatty unfortunately. Oh well...its still better than the meat at the super market.
Other than that things have been great for us here. It has gotten incredibly humid over the past few weeks and we now have a heat index of 98 degrees on a daily basis. It is impossible not to sweat just here writing this blog! I'm definitely not complaining though since it just snowed in the Midwest. At least the sun is shining every day and I have air conditioning in my classroom! I think it would be impossible to teach with 30 kids without it. We hope things are going well with you back in the states and we can't wait for you to all visit. Ken and I are getting excited for his parents to come for Easter Break in a few weeks and before we know it the school year will be over! Only 6.5 weeks to go!!!
