Lauren's Peace Corps Experience in Honduras

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed and experiences described in this travelogue are mine personally. Nothing written here should be interpreted as official or unofficial Peace Corps literature or as sanctioned by the Peace Corps or the U.S. government. I have chosen to write about my experience online in order to update family and friends; I am earning no money whatsoever from this endeavor. Please do not copy or forward any of these contents without my permission.

Friday, April 07, 2006

Semana Santa is here!

Hi all,

So sorry I haven't written for a while. Even this entry will be a short one. Life is good but a bit hectic. Summer is here and this weekend starts Semana Santa, or holy week...the week before Easter. It's the one week of the year that most Hondurans don't have to work, so everyone goes to the beach, river, or anything wet. I am kicking things off with a hike tomorrow with my friend Sarah and three of our Honduran guy friends. It's no ordinary hike either...we are hiking Celaque, the highest peak in Honduras near Gracias, Lempira, and we are planning to do it in three days if all goes well. It's a national park and a cloud forest up top, full of tropical flora and fauna...I'm hoping to see some cool birds or a howler monkey. We have to take all our food and water, sleeping bags and tent, and all of our personal items. I made lots of chocolate chip cookies to share with the group and mostly our food choices are high energy, no-cooking-necessary type things, like pb and wheat bread, cheese, granola bars, etc. I am excited though, it will be a great challenge. On the way back we might stop by the hot springs in Gracias, Las Aguas Termales, which are so wonderful at night. For the rest of Semana Santa I will probably hang out with friends and "family" in my town and make some day trips to go swimming or out dancing.

Just want to mention also since I never wrote an entry that I had a great time with my 5 friends from the states - Tim, Heather, Rachel, Sarah, Brian - thanks for coming! We had an awesome time doing culture exchange (i.e. teaching Asshole to my Honduran friend) in my town, going to a very authentic rodeo in a nearby town, riding in the back of pickup trucks plenty, participating in the first annual Santa Rosa Cantina Crawl, experiencing chicken buses, and of course Roatan - diving, drinking, fishing, boating, walking on the beach fun. I had a great time and am so glad they could make it!

Well everyone, have a great Easter weekend. I miss you all and can't wait to see you in May!