Lago Yajoa, and other adventures

Last weekend Hope and I traveled to Lago Yajoa. Lago Yajoa is Honduras’ biggest lake, it is surrounded by jungle-type forests and beautiful mountains. We had originally planned to go Friday after our last class, but for the first three weeks of school here we have Spanish class every day until 4pm, so it wasn’t until Thursday afternoon that we found out that the last bus to Lago Yajoa left Tegus at 3:30pm. Needless to say we were pretty bummed, being that it was our first week to travel by ourselves. We found out that there was a bus leaving Saturday morning at 6am so we decided that it would be our best bet because we were not going to let a silly thing like a bus get in the way of our weekend plans.

Saturday we both woke up very early in order to leave our houses at 5am to go to the bus station. The whole trip went off without a hitch; the bus was nice, then when we got to La Guama (the biggest town near Lago Yajoa) we took a little bus (busito) to an even littler town (Peña Blanca) and from there we had to take a taxi (actually we got this cute little three wheeled tuk tuk) to take us to our hotel: The D&D Brewery.

Our little taxi

When we got to the hotel we met up with some girls from our semester that were already there (because they have class earlier on Friday) and decided to explore some “Lecan Remains” (there was a map at the hotel that led to them). To make a long story short we searched all around this beautiful park, and could not find any “lencan remains” we finally asked two local boys that were hanging around if they could show us the remains. They eagerly ran ahead of us and pointed at a hill we had already walk past about a gagillion times, apparently the only thing that remained from the Lencas was a pile of dirt.

The hotel was really great we met a lot of other travelers who were very fun to talk to and we got a lot of traveling tips. All in all it was a very good way to start our traveling adventures in Honduras.

The First Week in Honduras

We are finally in Tegus, and man is it HOT! It is quite a change from the winter we left in MI. Today was our official first day of class, this past weekend was really fun though. We had a retreat in the mountains. On Saturday we went to a camp in a place called Siguatapeque, at the camp there was a high ropes course and a couple of other fear-educing team building activities. The first activity was The Hammock. We had to climb up a shaky ladder and sit on top of a platform that was as high as a telephone pole and then slide off. We were in a harness attached to two wires that basically created a giant swing. The second activity we did was a normal high ropes course with things like tight ropes 40 feet in the air. While at the time we were scared we were happy to overcome our fears and accomplish the tasks required.

So life in Tegus...

We had the best of luck... we are neighbors. I (Hope) live right off a main road and Zenobia lives one ally down from my house. Our families are great, Hope likes the food, Zenobia is not a fan of the cheese or "butter" (montequilla). Classes started today and went pretty well....

We would write more, however we have to go home because we are expected for dinner in a few minutes.

Adios y more to come,

Hope and Zenobia

Location: burger king, Tegus :)

Less than a Week!

So the day is drawing nigh.... Soon I will be walking around this campus instead of Calvin's. The group leaves from Calvin at midnight on Feb. 2 - just six days from today!! I have been reminiscing by looking at old pictures and am getting really excited to go to a warmer climate!! I have moved almost all my stuff out of this beloved old house, however I have not even started packing for the trip...

A few days ago I received information about my host family. My mom's name is Maria and she lives with her daughter Letty and her two grand children; Javier (16) and Kenia (19). They live in Colonia Kenedy, a neighborhood which is about a 25-30 minute walk to the university.

Also JoAnn finally got my Spanish class figured out. I think that I will be taking a Sociology class at the UPN in Spanish. I am really excited about this because I love Soc, however I am worried that it is going to be pretty hard. Since the UPN is a teachers university most of their classes require a lot of presentations, which of course would be in Spanish....yikes!

Well the next time I write I will probably be in Honduras,

Chao!

Hope

Location: Once again the James Manor, Antarctica (brr!).

Finally Hope decided to write something....

In about a month I will be in Honduras!!!! Despite all the uncertainty about when we leave I am getting really excited to go back and visit old friends, explore new places and learn new things.

I hope to keep everyone posted of my travels. Soon I should know who I am living with, when we leave and what Spanish class I am taking. I am also excited about my weekends in Honduras and will let you know all about them. Nobie and I are thinking of doing some traveling (duh!). Our ideas so far are: going to some ruins, a lake or two, some mountain trails, the beach, maybe some other countries (like Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador or Belize).

Right now I am working on packing up my room here in GR. I start my interim class tomorrow and am working almost everyday during interim so I thought I had better get a head start on packing. I think I have almost everything I need for my trip except a few random items.

Well thats all for now. I will post when I find out what family I will be living with and when I know when we are actually leaving.

Nos vemos,

Hope

Location: My room, the James Manor, GR, MI, USA

4 Days!

I think I have finished my packing lists for both Jordan and Honduras today (although I'm sure there will be something I end up forgetting, I just hope it's not something really necessary). I am getting very anxious to leave. I go back to GR the day after tomorrow and then I am off to the Middle East three days after that!

Right now I am just gathering everything I need for the trips, doing last minute laundry, and relaxing because I know that for the next four months I will not be getting as much sleep as I am used to. Internet in Jordan is sparse so I don't know how much I will be able to update while I am there, but I hope to keep a journal and then upload it onto the blog once I get better Internet.

That's all for now. I can't wait to travel.

Peace,
Zenobia

Location-Auburn, NY

How to Avoid Unsatisfying Answers

While walking to Cherry Deli to get some lunch (excellent) today I heard a loud, startling, low-pitched wail. After a few seconds of hearing it I realized that it was a siren, but for those first few moments I was convinced that it was the call to prayer. I cannot wait until I get to hear that beautifully eerie sound daily. The call to prayer is surprisingly something that is very easy to get used to, and when I go a long time without hearing it I really begin to miss it. Life is more beautiful with background music.

I guess I (and my best friend Hope) have decided to start this blog because I will be out of the states for a good part of 2010 and I want to have a way to tell the people I am not with what I am doing. I believe that a blog is a wonderful way to share experiences with loved ones. It is too easy to get home from a big trip and when someone asks what you did say, "I don't know."

This blog is a way for me to avoid the "I don't know" answer. Of course I know what I did on a trip. The problem is that I cannot explain my experience in a few short sentences. My goal for this blog is to share life with the people I love that are not able to come with me on my adventures. So stay tuned and get a taste of what I am actually doing with my life when I am gallivanting all over the world. Then when I get back from my travles you can ask me to tell you more about what you already know I did. That way I don't have to lie and tell you that I don't know what I did, and you can hear more of my travel stories than anyone else.

Peace,
Zenobia

Location - My Bedroom, Grand Rapids
Music - Mates of State