Spring Break Part 1

I’m not usually one for lying out on the beach and lazily ambling around all day, but I have to say when there are beautiful black sand beaches, no tourists, and a big, bright, warm sun I change my tune a bit. The La Libertad cost of El Salvador is amazing! Hope and I arrived here Wednesday afternoon. We are staying at a hostel about five minutes away from the beach, we really like it. We are trying to save money on this trip so we were very happy when we found out that our hostel has a kitchen we can use to cook food for ourselves. Thursday morning Hope and I went to the biggest city nearby (called Libertad) on a bus to get groceries. We decided that we really wanted to make hummus and falafel. We were really excited when the grocery store had olive oil, chick peas, and fresh parsley (trust me, the produce section was NOT big). We got all of our ingredients, but the olive oil was really expensive, (almost $3 for a tiny container) so we just bought one to add to the hummus and then we bought cheap vegetable oil to fry the falafel in. That was apparently a big mistake. The falafel all fell apart when we were frying it and it basically turned into warm hummus with parsley in it. So now for the next few days we have to eat hummus, falafel mix, and some veggies. Not that it’s bad, but it’s not that exciting either.

At the beach it has been really wavy these past few days, which is fun, but it does make swimming tiring. What I really love about this place is that it is the most touristy place in all of El Salvador, but honestly there are not very many tourists and it is not very touristy. The only downside to this wonderful spring break is that we have to work on 15 page papers because they are due the day after we get back. Oh well, I can’t complain, this is by far the best spring break I will ever have.

Copan

Wow! It has been awhile since we blogged and so much has happened! Last week Zenobia’s family came to visit for a few days. Zenobia and her family went on some day trips which were pretty cool, but I will let her write about those.

I ended up going to Lago Yajoa (the D & D) again with a great group of people (Kallie, Tiffany, Anna, Amanda, Ben and Sarah). We had some slight problems with reservations and ended up all in one small room the first night. While things were a little crowded everyone one had a good attitude about it and it was fine. The rest of the time we were there we had an extra cabin so we could all sleep comfortably. While we were there we mostly just hung out, played card games, read, caught up on homework and relaxed. One day some of us went on a boat out to the lake to swim and bird watch.

When we got back to Tegus we had one class and then left right away for San Pedro Sula and Copán with the whole class. We got to San Pedro late and just swam and ate some pizza as a group. The next day we visited Maquilas. These are the factories where clothes are made. The Maquila sector makes up 6% of jobs in Honduras and 62% of its exports. Almost all of these clothes go to the States. Workers make about $5 a day and work usually 11 hour days. The managers at the factory say that their workers are treated very well, however that night we heard from a group of workers that are trying to organize a union for the Maquila sector to improve working conditions (there are health problems, no water to drink in the factories and they are not getting paid their bonuses for reaching their goals) and their story was quite different.

Then we heard from a lovely couple that lives here and works for MCC (Mennonite Central Committee). Their goal is to spread the gospel and to bring material aid with a presence. Their 3 main objectives are: to bring disaster relief and to help with rebuilding, to feed the hungry, and peacebuilding. Now the organization helps in 61 different countries around the world.

The next day we went to a banana farm, where we once again learned about the banana- growing process and then heard about workers rights. And it is a very similar story to the Maquilas; managers sugar-coat things. The one difference is that there is already a banana union, which used to be very powerful, however they are losing power and the workers are losing rights.

After visiting the banana farm we left for Copán. I loved Copán because it was a lot safer and we were allowed to do what we wanted! The first night we went out to a lovely dinner and then to a small wine bar to hang out. Here we met a lot of people from all over the states. The next day we were up early to visit the ruins. Our tour guide, Gladiz, was really funny and knowledgeable about the ruins. After the ruins we got into small groups to go on excursions. Zenobia was in the group that went to the bird sanctuary. You can hold birds and swim in the river there. I went in a tuk-tuk to a small village that wove cloth. We met back at the hotel at 4 to go horseback riding up to Hacienda San Lucas, an old cattle ranch that has been turned into a beautiful hotel. We walked to see some old Mayan ruins there too. We saw the place where Mayan women gave birth. They sat with their feet a stone frog for fertility. We rode the horses back to Copán, crossing a river into a beautiful sunset behind the mountains. That night we went to the local fair. We had quite the experience on the Ferris wheel. It was run by a tractor and as the driver went into higher gears the faster the wheel went. It went super-fast and even went in reverse. I am pretty sure it would never pass safety code in the states. Seats were broken and hanging down, we went really fast and the only way to stop the wheel was to have a worker jump on your seat and ride up with you a little and then his extra weight would eventually slow you down enough to get off.

Now we are back in Tegus learning about development theories and sweating (don't worry its only 91 in the shade...). We have a week and 2 days of classes and then we are off to spring break!!

Thats all for now, we will write soon,

Hope (and Zenobia)

Location: Burger King in Kennedy

The Great Hike

This past weekend Zenobia and I traveled to La Tigra National Park and it was quite an adventure!!! First we got a little lost in Tegus looking for the right bus stop that would take us up to a small colonial town called Valle de Angeles, however after three different buses we finally ended up in the right place. We had a lovely little ride up to Valle, had some lunch and bought some fun things. We then found the bus to a little town near La Tigra, called SanJuancito. The bus dropped us off on a main road and we walked to the town. In the town we inquired about how to get to La Tigra. We were told it was an hour/2 km walk or we could call our hostel and they would pick us up for a f ee. Zenobia and I decided we were tough (and a little stubborn) and that we were going to walk up the mountain to our cabin... yeah... after about 20 minutes we were so tired of walking at an almost 90 degree angle so we sat to take a break and considered calling for a ride. However right then a nice couple came by and offered us a ride, which we gladly accepted.

Our Hostel, Mirador el Rosario, was so lovely. It was a small cabin with 2 rooms. We ate out meals at the house of the owners and just relaxed while there.

To get home we decided to hike across the park to another small town, Jutiapa, and take the bus to to Tegus from there. We carried all our stuff and hiked. We past a beautiful waterfall and met some cool people on the trail. The hike ended up being pretty tough and for awhile we were slightly concerned that we were going to miss the bus, however it all worked out and we made it back to Tegus safely (and quite exhausted from a 5 hour hike).

Now we are just enjoying a week of classes (which seem to be getting out early everyday... yay!) We are making some plans for the

upcoming weekend and Zenobia is excited because her parents and sister are in Honduras now!!!

Well thats all for now

Adios y nos vemos,

Hope (and Zenobia)

Location: BurgerKing Playland, Kennedy, Tegus, Honduras, CA

Temp: 88 in the shade

Music: crazy Spanish pop