Yes, two weeks after my dad left, my best friend, Alex, flew down to Honduras to see me. If you're reading this blog, you probably know Alex (since I'm pretty sure the only people who look at this are old college friends, my family, or Alex's boyfriend- shout out to Justin!). Alex wasn't here for that long. She flew in on Saturday and stayed until Wednesday... way too short of a trip for my liking. But it was so amazing of her to take the time off work to come visit me. Alex and I have traveled together before- she was the co-author of our EuroFest 2009 blog (check it out, it's pretty awesome), when we bummed our way through Spain and Italy together last year.
Us in Spain:
And us in Honduras:
After our amazing and long-awaited reunion in the San Pedro airport, we headed straight off to Copan. That was my fourth time visiting Copan, but I really feel like it's a must-see for people who are visiting. I mean, I still haven't gotten sick of seeing the ruins, either. It's a really fun little town. Anyway, we only spent one night there, and then headed back to Gracias.
Alex endured the full experience of traveling in Honduras. For me, most of it felt somewhat typical- for her I'm sure it felt crazy! On our trip back to Gracias, we had to ride three different buses, all of which were absolutely packed. We counted that on our second bus (which was really more like a van), there was room for maybe 12 people, if you put three in front... but they shoved 23 people in there. On the third bus, we were harassed by some drunken men (typical) and then experienced some anti-American hatred (not typical). Actually, the anti-America incident threw me for a loop because it just didn't fit with any of my experiences here. But anyway, as this guy was getting off the bus he turned to us and cursed at us (in English) and said something to the effect of wanting us out of his country. I'm not going to write verbatim what he said... you can imagine. But in any case, it wasn't the most pleasant interaction.
But in the end, we made it safe and sound to Gracias and were able to spend a full day in Villa Verde because we didn't have school on Monday! We hiked up Celaque and went to town and hung out with some neighbors. On Tuesday, Alex came to school with me and it was so great having her there! My students loved her, of course, and she was able to help with a couple of my classes. It's nice when friends and family come down because I can actually show them what I do here. I really am a teacher... it's cool. Alex has a great camera, and she took some really nice shots of my students, and some with me too. :)
And then finally we headed out on Wednesday. I was so happy that I was able to leave the country with my best friend. I had a minor hiccup at the airport, when I found out that the school had let our visas expire. I had to find the immigration office and explain to them what happened and then figure out what I needed to do... talk about a test for my Spanish skills! But it all worked out in the end and I made it safely to the USA.
Alex and I had an amazing dinner at a Thai restaurant in the Miami airport before going our separate ways. It really was so incredible having her here. She was the only non-family person to come visit (although while she was here, she was my 'prima') and it meant the world to me that she came down. I also really love it when I can bring people like Alex into my experience; she is definitely someone that helps me put things into perspective and points important things out to me...and as I'm nearing the end of this particular experience and it's almost time for me to get nostalgic and introspective, it was very good timing to have her here.
It felt strange to be in the USA without going home. I was again struck by how awesome America is. America is really clean. There is hot water in all the bathrooms. I kept forgetting that I could flush the paper. There was a vending machine in the airport that sold iPods. And everyone looks different. Seriously, the diversity in America is something that we should be extremely proud of. Everyone looks different, everyone comes from different places; it's awesome. America is pretty cool.
Here's the iPod vending machine:
My law school visit was great too. I will say that I felt more culture shock coming home this time than I did over Christmas. I think being on a college campus kind of threw me for a loop; it was strange being around all those privileged young white people, most of whom probably don't know how lucky they are. But this is getting very long so I'll save those ponderings for another day.
The visit was great, I loved the school, and I hope it might have helped my chances of getting off the wait list. My dad also flew to the school to keep me company for the couple of days that I was in town, and that meant the world to me. Having someone there that I knew made the whole thing feel a lot less...daunting.
It was a very fast trip back to the USA! Now I'm back in Honduras, with seven weeks left in my experience here. Only seven weeks... that's surreal. I wasn't so excited about coming back. The trip was really short and I just wanted to stay with my dad and go home. Once in my house, I found this guy under my bed (I had to pick him up by the wings and throw him outside because I was too scared to crunch him):
And when I turned on the water in my bathroom, it looked like this:
I find myself in a situation where I recognize that seven weeks is next to nothing- it's almost over. I want to enjoy every second of that time, and mentally prepare myself to say goodbye to my students and close the door on this experience. It's difficult to balance that with my excitement about actually being home, being with my family, going to law school and getting started on my life post-Honduras. Honduras has changed me for the better, that's for sure. But again... I'll save that for another day.
Only seven weeks left of my year in Honduras... crazy.
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