Finally, an update!

I am so excited to finally be writing to you for Honduras!

Me and Lily Mast at the airport !

I officially hit the month mark on September 21st, but I am just getting a chance to write about my first experiences now. So, I started my adventure to Honduras with one other volunteer named Lily. We both went through orientation together in Akron, PA and then we flew from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale, and from Fort Lauderdale to San Pedro Sula, Honduras. It was a long journey, but we made it safely to our destination and our MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) supervisor came to pick us up.

The pool at our airb&b!

San Pedro Sula, Honduras is a hot city! I was incredibly thankful for the air conditioning we had in our air b&b. We also had an awesome pool in the back of the apartment complex. Sadly, we only stayed in the wonderful air-conditioned apartment in San Pedro Sula for about 6 days. The next part of my adventure included a lot of traveling. Two of my supervisors, two other volunteers, and I stuffed ourselves into a pick-up truck and started traveling cross country to visit MCC Honduras partner organizations. We drove from San Pedro Sula to Chamelecon for lunch and then we drove to Siguatepeque in the evening. After staying one night in Siguatepeque, we started on our way to the capital city, Tegucigalpa. I finally got to see the house that I would be living in for the rest of the year and I got to meet my host mother. We only got to stay for 2 nights in Tegucigalpa before we were on the road again, now headed towards a small country town called Orocuina in the state of Choluteca. There, we got to meet a non-profit that helps local sharecroppers sustain their harvest, which is their livelihood. After a 1-night stay in Choluteca, we returned to Tegucigalpa for a night.

A corn field in Orocuina owned by one of the sharecroppers that benefit from MCC support.

The nickname of the capital city, Tegucigalpa!

The next morning, Lily and I took an 8-hour bus ride to a place called Copan Ruinas for our 2-week Spanish language study at the Copan Spanish School. I had a wonderful teacher named Dunia who sat with me and did one-on-one classes with me for four hours every day. Taking Spanish class for the first time in 3 years felt good; I really needed the refresher. I realized that my basic skills are still intact, but the more complex Spanish concepts are really rusty. Thankfully, we reviewed most of the areas I struggle with and I got to practice my grammar. Copan Ruinas is an adorable small town covered in cobble stone in the middle of rolling hills. This town is a tourist destination because of the Mayan ruins located less than 5 minutes outside of town. During our time in Copan, Lily and I visited Macaw Mountain, which is a bird park and rehabilitation center. We also had the opportunity to visit a butterfly garden and later on go swimming. Towards the end of our time in Copan, the MCC staff came to Copan to have a mini retreat over the weekend. As a team we got to finally visit the ancient Mayan ruins, which were amazing, especially because we practically had the whole place to ourselves.

Me and Lily Mast in beautiful Copan Ruinas!

This is where Lily and I took classes!

Me in the middle of an ancient Mayan ball court!

I hope to send out more updates soon! After all, I have officallly been here for two months already! Thank you again for your prayers, support, and encouragement!