Hotel Monteolivos San Pedro Sula

... was fantastic. Once everyone arrived, we had under 50 people in the US section, and there was only a piece of tape separating me from my Honduran neighbor in the next seat. However, everyone was fantastically hospitable. The crowd was polite during our national anthem, friendly during the game, and applauded when we won. My neighbor even put up with my broken spanish to try to explain things about why people were clapping, who the famous person was ...

... pick up our bag, and to head for San Pedro Sula. We have a booking on the 3.20pm bus to la Ceiba and we’ll stay in the Hotel Italia, which looks nice. We have not decided our plans for the weekend – 2 choices between snorkelling and kayaking on some small remote islands or staying in Utila to take a diving course. More pics next week, hopefully of sand and sea!

... great impressions of the eccentric Hondurans he has to deal with all day and helps us make sense of this wacky country. <br><br>Katie Buttram aka Mama Goose &#8211; always makes the same wacky face for pretty much any emotion. Though she thinks she&#8217;s &#8220;the old one&#8221; of the group (at 30) she is as goofy as us &#8220;youngins.&#8221; <br><br>Brian &#8211; 24 from Boston. Says the funniest things in the most dead pan voice. For example, when we were cooking in ...

... walls anyway as well as chasing away the cockroaches and large jumping spiders!!! Anyway, they are a thing of the past. The only real problem now is the dogs -they guard the house and there is a tick infestation in the living room (even after the house was fumigated) as well as in the yard. the dogs were cleaned again today, and we have a spray to keep the ticks at bay - I'm just a bit itchy though! We have a small ...

... br>Summer Academy ended last Friday and this past weekend all us volunteers (10 of us) went to the beach to relax. We went to a small Garifuna town near Tela. Garifuna is the black, Caribbean culture that is a descendant of the slaves that were brought here hundreds of years ago. They have their own language, music and cuisine (mostly coconut-covered food.) The people are super friendly and relaxed. We stayed at a beautiful hostel right on the beach, swam in the ...

... and fried meats fill the plates. Not the healthiest, but I&#8217;m trying to do some portion control so I can still fit into the few clothes I brought. I&#8217;m trying to eat as much fresh mango as possible too. My new addiction, however, are the licuados, which are fresh fruit milkshakes with actual milk, and granita drinks, which resemble slushies. Anything liquid and cold is greatly prized since it is sooo soooooo HOT! All us volunteers have gotten used ...

... and we got nowhere, I was saying I'd pay $25 and he said I had to pay $50. <br><br>When we got in the taxi at San Pedro he asked me if I was carrying a gun, I said no. I asked him if he was, he said yes... <br><br>Because of the gun thing I suggested we go into the reception of the hotel and find someone who could help translate this negotiation, but the main reason was to just get into a public place and out of the confined space of the car.<br><br>We walked into the reception and ...

... a harmless-appearing, distraught Japanese couple are being detained for some unknown reason. For a moment, I clicked my heels and longed to be back at JFK...hurried, busy, frenetic, but familiar JFK. It was only a week earlier that I'd booked my ticket on a lark, lured by a friend who had been traveling for over a year in Latin America. Of course, I hadn't heard from him in 3 days and was wondering ...

... the place is a dump. There are plenty of bars and restaurants but they keep putting this lound music to make sure you lose your hearing asap...and the regaetton is just unbareable after 7 months! Terrible music...whatever happened to Frank Sinatra, Julio Iglesias and all that stuff! To add insult to injury, there is no book exchange in this place, or newpapers to be bought ...

... like a ghost town, everyone had shut up shop, even the restaurants. Unless you have to, avoid this city all together. San Pedro's new giant bus terminal is on the edge of town ...