D & D´s
Peña Blanca,
Honduras
Saturday, February 16, 2008
D&Dīs
Friday after school I had the pool to myself! It is usually packed with pubescent Honduran boys so this was a nice change of pace. Alex and his friend Sarah came later. They were on the Emory swim team together and she is traveling through Central America right now and decided to pop in for a visit. Cofradia is a major stop for backpackers... NOT. I really hit it off with Sarah, I wish she would stay here. She works on an organic farm in Oregon and we have a lot in common. Friday night I went out for fried chicken with Alex, Sarah, Mel, Toby, Gerardo, and Lauren. I had a huge plate of food, plus a drink, and coconut ice cream for dessert for a whopping $2.50. Not bad.
My favorite thing to do on the weekends in Cofradia is to wake up around 6 and take my sheet out to the hammock and read while the sun comes up. As soon as it does it is too hot to sit on our balcony until sunset, when it is behind our building. Around 7 I cooked a big breakfast for myself, Lauren, and Sarah. Then, I got on this sewing kick. I have a shortage of weather appropriate clothing and so I decided to hand sew a couple skirts!!! My grandma has given me the gift of thriftiness and my Nana has spent the past couple decades attempting to make a seamstress out of me and somehow, here in Cofradia it has all come together! I love it! The first skirt that I made is a khaki knee length skirt with a pink ribbon around the waist. I used the legs that I cut off of my cargo khakiīs for the material. When it actually worked I was so excited that I was running around the house in it, showing everyone. They were slightly amused but not as excited as me! Then I was on a roll... I decided to cut up a few old t-shirts and make a hippie skirt. It is kind of hard to look at but it is functional and I even added a few cute buttons for flair. I was, once again, just proud that I actually hand sewed it.
Around lunch I decided to go away for the weekend with Alex and Sarah... I was not planning on leaving this weekend but they mentioned camping so I was automatically in. We took the chicken bus to a small town called Peņa Blanca. It was so cute! The streets were lined with little vendors and everyone was actually friendly. We found a restaurant with tablecloths, napkins, and an owner that acted like he actually wanted our business! Typically, in Honduras, people act like it is a chore and a bother for them to serve you. There is absolutely no such thing as customer service here... the customer is always wrong. I had amazing chicken tacos, which are what Americans think of as "taquitos" smothered in cabbage and salsa.
We walked out of town down a country road. It was beautiful, shady, and even grassy! I canīt say that I have seen any other grass since I have been here; Cofradia is made of dust. Finally, we arrived at D & D Brewery, owned by a middle aged man from Oregon. Ben knows him so we talked to him quite a bit. D & Dīs is in a jungle but hosts a pool, restaurant, and brewery... all the essentials for about 10 tourists at a time. We spent all afternoon walking around looking for the lake, which we never found. Camping was great but it was three people to a two person tent with two sleeping bags. Cozy!
In the morning I had blueberry pancakes, a real treat. We walked the road out and caught a chicken bus to Palapunzak, which is an amazing waterfall! I wish I was a more descriptive writer because I cannot even begin to tell you how great my experience was. The waterfall was huge and surrounded by rocks and greenery. To add to it, there were rainbows everywhere! We hired a guide for $5 each to take us down into and behind the waterfall. Luckily, I knew what to expect because a group of volunteers have done it before. Their guide told them, "You might get a little wet." That is a complete understatement. We were surrounded by mist, jumping into pools of water, treading over rocks with torrential water splashing at us from every direction. The other volunteers all said it was the closest they have ever felt to death. Luckily for me, I knew all of that so I loved it! All I could make out was my guideīs red t-shirt, and sometimes I could not even see that! The water was so intense and we were climbing over rocks and through the waterfall. Behind the waterfall is a series of caves that you can seek shelter in and watch as the water slams down the other side. Some of them I had to go underwater and swim into. Afterwards we played around in the big pools, mostly just jumping off of rock ledges into the stream. The only word I can use to describe it was PARADISE. I have never seen anything like it. Sarah came up with the chant, "ĄMe encanta hoy!" which means, "I love today!" and we chanted it over and over out of excitement. After we split from the guide we went upstream of the waterfall and played in the water. There were some Honduran guys riding down this rapid that looked like a natural waterslide. We decided to try it out and it was a lot of fun! We were a little ripped up by the end but it gave me an excuse to buy a new swim suit, which I wanted to do anyway.
Sunday night I got back just in time to go to Ninoscaīs for dinner. She invited me, Anne, Mel & Toby over to make doughnuts. When I arrived she handed me a plate of chop suey. Her whole family was there and they were excited to have gringos over for a meal. After eating she taught us how to make homemade doughnuts with yeast dough. Over the course of a few hours we made the dough, kneaded the dough, waited for it to rise, fried them up, and smothered them in sugar and chocolate. They were awesome! Her family is so sweet. It kind of inspired me to study more Spanish because I really want to be able to have real conversations with people.
Today after school I went to San Pedro with Gerardo, Nathan, Lauren, and Anne. We went to the post office to pick up packages! I got two from my mom (& dad!) and one from Nana (& Lea and Emma!). THANK YOU SO MUCH! They sent me awesome school supplies like stickers, book marks, folders, paper, crayons, flash cards, etc. It was so much fun to open them up and go through them. My mom also sent me some summer clothes and clean towels... I savor the smell of clean laundry. Thanks again!
