January 11th

Well I made it.  I´m in La Ceiba Honduras and as my new amiga from Australia says, IT´S BLOODY HOT!!!!!!   Scortching hot, in fact.  Sunburn hot.  Sweaty armpits hot.  Yeah, gross!!!  But everything is going great.

Arrived in Guatemala City Sunday afternoon without problem... Guatemala City was bustling and I must admit that being by myself was a little unnerving.  I went to visit the main square which was just packed with people, as well as the large underground market... and then retired early as I hadn´t slept much in the two days before given late nights with friends and last minute packing.  Guatemala City reminded me of a lot of other urban latinamerican cities that I´ve been to... I only spent a few hours out and about, and frankly that was enough for me.  As I´ve realized, I´m not much of a city girl, though I do like observing people in their ´´natural habitat´´ -- as natural as life can be with the constant beep beep of taxis, and plumes of black smoke from overcrowded buses, the succulent smell from the stoves of street vendors, and the sights and little kids and dating couples and old people hand in hand..and... and the pigeons!!!   Imagine what life would be like if we all got together on Sunday afternoons in the grassy areas near the capitol in St. Paul... vendors everywhere, meeting up with friends, catching up with realitives, taking a stroll with an enamorado..  I think that would be nice.  I promised myself for my New Year´s Resolution that I would be more patient. The pace of life here certainly lends to that.  Three days into my trip I´m finding I´m enjoying it immensely.  What if our culture had this built in break time.. a time specifically to spend with others and enjoy their company. More reflection, I think, would make us better people, more informed, more in tune with others.  At least for me it would. Perhaps this blog will help me reflect more and serve that purpose.

Anyway, after a day in Guatemala I spent all day yesterday (14 hours) in bus from Guatemala City to La Ceiba, Honduras-- now my home for the next 3 weeks.  I can´t even describe how beautiful this place is.  The ride through Guatemala and Honduras was stunning. It´s absolutely amazing how during a one hour chunk of time you can go from city to pasture land to rich rain forest to top of a mountain to cloud forest to rain to sunshine to a mid-morning rainbow, and then everything in between.  It´s absolutely beautiful.  And of course along the trip, it´s impossible to overlook the sides of the street that are littered with poverty -- children playing too close to the busy highway, garbage strewn in the rivers, inadequate housing. I try to imagine what life might be like living in those places... but, really, I can´t. I don´t think I´ll ever know. And as much as I want to feel a solidarity with those people, I know my life is far different than theirs and I can´t begin to comprehend their hardship.  Perhaps, though, someday I´ll know a little better. 

La Ceiba, my new home, is a happy city of about 100,000 right on the coast of the Carribbean.. It´s known for it´s night life and after my stroll this afternoon along the coast, I known why. For a time I felt like I was in Cancun or something, with bars lining the beach and loud music blaring everywhere.  I can´t say I wouldn´t enjoy those places, but to me it felt out of place because my time here, at least for now, is not to endulge but to learn. They say that there´s a party every night of the week, mostly because this town is a jumping-off point for many tourists as they head to the Bay Islands, famous for cheap and fantastic scuba diving.  But so far the town to me has been relatively quiet though entirely enjoyable.  I´m living with a host family.  My host mom, Maria Elena, is wonderful and used to be a teacher at the spanish school where I´m now taking lessons. She demands spanish spoken in the house, and she´s quick to correct a mistake-- both things being extremely helpful for me.  I have a private room, and the bathroom is more than I expected, though no hot water.  There are also two other students living with us.. one dude about my age from Germany (he admits he´s a little bit pretentious -- ´´it´s the german way´´...), and a college girl from Vermont.  Also in the house are the grandparents and a 9 year old daughter.  The food has been great, and I´m determined to have them teach me how to cook these red beans that they´ve been serving.. yum yum yum!!!  I can pass on this weird sausage that they all seem to like.. kind of reminds me of late night hot-dogs and the thought of it makes me a bit nauseous.  But the German always happily clears my plate (´´sausage is the german way..´´- I don´t argue)!  Also, just a treat, probably for me in particular, is this large cocky rooster that likes to perch outside of my window and cock-a-doodle-do throughout ALL hours of the morning and night.  I think I seriously lost like 3 hours of sleep last night because of him.  It got to a point last night where I could nothing but laugh... I think he´s literally 10 feet from my head and next to my window that doesn´t close.  Funny for now, but we will be fighting if this continues.

Today was my first day of spanish lessons.  Was in a group today, but private lessons starting tomorrow.  It´s a bit overwhelming, but absolutely awesome too. Everything is spanish, and it´s spoken fast.  All of us are here to learn, and they´re serious about teaching, so that´s really great. I did, however, have a giant headache by the time today´s 4 hour session was over.. my goodness, this is work!!   The plan is for me to also be volunteering in the afternoon, but that hasn´t been organized yet. I talked about it quite a bit via email with the school´s director before my trip started and it seems like everything would be in place.. but as I´m learning, things work differently here and it will... eventually.. hopefully.. get done.  Regardless, the afternoon off has given me time to explore the city and coast and get a better feel for exactly where I am. 

I expect in the next days I´ll be getting to know the city better, continuing with spanish lessons, starting volunteering... and who knows what else.  A close friend gave me his favorite spanish book from childhood for me to read on my trip -- I´ve started it and am really enjoying it. I guess mostly perhaps because it´s reminding me of the innocence of childhood and learning and exploring and imagining life the way you want it.... things so much engrained into my trip. A great way to start.  

Hope all is well with you.. send me an update if you have the time.  Would love to hear from you!!!!
Love,  Tarita