Border Crossing

Copan
Copan
Copan
My last few days in El Salvador were lovely. I still cant get over how wonderfully friendly the people are. I spent one afternoon in La Palma, a town just south of the El Salvadoran/Honduran border high up in the mountains. The buildings are beautifully painted with murals along the cobble stoned streets. From La Palma, I stayed with Heather, the Peace Corps volunteer in her tiny campo just a few kilometers outside of La Palma. In her tiny town, there are just about 100 houses, a few hundred people. Heather lives in a nice little house with her host sister and baby. The rest of the family lives right next door, in the same lot. Their houses are some of the nicest as they have 2 children in the states who are working and sending the money to them so that they can build their houses. Many people in El Salvador are in the same situation...with family in the states working to send money home, as the wages there are practically nothing. Heather showed me their family's kitchen which essentially is a wooden shack, with no flloor, just the dirt of the land, with a wood stove and the pila, which is a sink made out of concrete. The pila has 2 parts to it, a part that is always full of water (in case the water gets turned off, which was the case while I visited), and the drain. It is quite different than what we are used to in the states. Heather showed me the school she works at and introduced me to some of the teachers and the principal. Life in the campo is very tranquil and simple.

From La Palma, I took a bus up to the border and crossed into Honduras. It was my first time crossing a border by myself and without a shuttle bus waiting on the other side for me. Luckily, it was easy and I just had to pay $3 to enter the country. Once in, I began my 5 hours journey to Copan, a small town on the Honduran/Guatemala border. The bus rides were long, but the scenery was absolutely stunning. Honduras is so green, lush and mountainous. I didnt travel a far distance, from the border to Copan...its just the the roads go up and down through the mountains. Once in Copan, I found a nice youth hostel and met some other travelers. We went out and did a salsa lesson and danced for most of the evening. The following day, we went to the Maya Ruins of Copan, which were pretty awesome. They arent as enourmous as the ruins in Tikal, but the carvings and sculptures have been preserved and are in much better condition. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful site and I will post pictures of it when I can.

I spent the next few days in Copan just relaxing and enjoying the quaint, cobble stoned street town. I met lots of travelers and enjoyed the night life as well. From Copan, I headed to Gracias with 3 other travelers where we spent a few days. Gracias used to be the capital of all of Central America (at least that's what Lonely Planet says). Its a beautiful little town, but very quiet. We explored some hot springs just outside of town which were nice...although a bit out of the ordinary for such a hot day. We went on Sunday, which is family day. It was a neat experience to be there with lots of Honduran families, but it was quite crowded. I had a fan club of little girls who kept looking at me, and finally approached me just to ask my name, tell me theirs and their ages. It was adorable.

Im now in Los Naranjos, a small town just along Lake Joyoa. I made it here with 2 out of the 3 that I was in Gracias with. We are staying at a small hotel run by an Oregonian. Its also a brewery and I had a delicious beer yesterday. The boys and I went to a gorgeous park today along a river and we admired the 40 meter waterfall. Beautiful. Honduras has so much beauty.

Thats all for now. Again, I will update pictures when I can. Hope everyone is well!

Lastly, I was accepted to Portland State University as well, which is where I accepted. I will start in September 2010 for my Masters in Social Work.