Lago De Yojoa

The powerful waterfall.  How can you see this and not give glory to God?

Another weekend trip, another adventure. 

We left bright and early on Saturday morning and started on our way to Lago De Yojoa, a beautiful lake outside of the city.  This was the perfect weekend for a get-a-way because Friday was the end of the 1st Partial and we were all in need of a break.

The trip there wasn't too bad.  Leaving at 8:00AM means that everyone is much more awake than leaving after school when every teacher is exhausted! The only problem was that I had already had a whole cup of water to drink that morning and if you know me, you know I am a frequent bathroom stopper.  Of course about 15 minutes into the drive, I could tell that I was going to need a bathroom break.  I was actually able to make it about an hour and a half before I even mentioned that I needed to stop. I tried occupying my mind and was able to learn a new card game called Uker (Landon I'm gonna have to teach you because I think you'd really like it). It worked for a little while, but I was really starting to be in pain, so about 2 hours into the trip we made a pit stop at a Burger King!  I'm pretty sure we were planning on stopping anyways, but I'm not completely sure.  The second half of the trip was much more enjoyable:-)

It was a little to chilly to go swimming for me.

We arrived at the lake around 1:30pm and unpacked our things in our quaint little cabins.  The place was pretty nice, and each cabin had a porch with chairs and a hammock.  Our cabin had a great view that looked out over the lake.  It was so peaceful and quiet, which was a nice change from the constant motorcycles and dogs barking on my street in Tegus. (Jeremy can testify to the random, loud noises that often occur while we are skyping!)

Our porch and view of the lake.

We all met back for dinner at the hotel restaurant.  They had prepared fish (yes the whole fish, eyes and all) and rice and beans for us.  After lunch we wondered around the area for a little bit and then headed back to the cabin and played Phase 10 for a couple hours out on the deck.  It was a pretty cloudy afternoon, so Phase 10 just seemed to be the perfect game to play. We followed that up by dinner together and then a time of worship and sharing our "how we came to Honduras" stories.  It was a really nice day and was perfect for unwinding.

Saturday Jen V. and I went out on a paddle boat on the lake after breakfast.  It was pretty cloudy when we left, but the sun peeked out as we paddled our way out onto the lake and we enjoyed just sitting and talking for a while in the warm sunshine.  I had forgotten how great paddle boating is for chatting with a good friend!

Now begins the real adventure.  Around 11:00am we packed up and headed out to the waterfall, which was about 30 minutes away from where we stayed.  We were told that we could take a tour of the waterfall, which consisted of walking under the waterfall and going into a cave behind it.  When we got there, it had gotten cloudy again and I was a little unsure as to whether or not I really wanted to do the tour.  Of course, it only took a second, when I saw the beautiful waterfall to decided that I DID want to do the tour.  Some of the girls who had done the tour last year when they visited, decided not to go again and told us that it was pretty intense.  I usually like intense and thrilling, so I was getting pretty excited as we headed down the mountain towards the fall.

The excitement lasted until we got to the first big rock where we had to jump into a rushing pool of water from about 10 feet up.  Still, I was  enjoying it, but I began to think "What have I gotten myself into?"  The waterfall, at this point, is really close and we are getting sprayed by the water pouring over the edge of the mountain, but still we aren't directly underneath of the waterfall....yet. 

As we continued on single file behind the tour guide, the power of the water got stronger and it was like walking inside of a tornado.  I could barely open my eyes to see where I should step next.  As we hopped from rock to rock underneath of the pouring water, my heart began to beat overtime.  I wanted more than anything to turn back, but since that wasn't an option I plowed on.  When we hopped down off a rock and were waist deep in the water, I turned back and saw Jen V. standing up against the side of the rock looking petrified.  She said she couldn't go on, and I believed her for a second, and then just grabbed her hand and told her that we HAD to keep going.  As I encouraged Jen and kept talking to her, I completely forgot about how scared I was.  At this point, the guide told us to form a chain with each other  (so that we didn't get washed away).  I just kept moving as fast as possible because I wanted to get out from underneath of that pounding water as soon as possible.

We finally reached a crevice in the side of the mountain, where the water was not hitting us directly.  A Honduran lady who was also on the tour must have seen how scared I looked, because she pulled me in as close as possible and we just held each other.  We stayed there for a minute, but then we had to keep going.  I really didn't want to, but still I knew there was no other option.  After a couple of more minutes of climbing on rocks and wading through water we made it to the cave.  However, the cave was less than I'd expected, because the entrance was just big enough for one person to fit through (barely) and it was dark and pretty tight inside.  As I sat there, waiting for everyone else to come in, I could not stop my body from shaking.  This was the first time I had ever experienced such an adrenaline rush in my life.  I was terrified, but there was no way to safety except to head back out into the waterfall just the way we had come in.

I'm not sure I would have gone back out except that again Jen told me that she wasn't going back.  That's when my courage decided to come out again, and I told her that we could do it together.  (Seriously this may sound stupid, but we really were petrified)  We went back as quickly as we could and when we finally made it out from underneath of the waterfall my emotions finally let loose.  I wanted to cry more than anything, but I held it together because I was still super excited and the adrenaline was still pumping.  It took the whole walk back to the bus for me to finally calm my nerves.  I will say that I am glad I did it, but I will NEVER do it again. 

After that experience, I don't need to do anything thrilling for quite a while!

Before we took the tour. (I'm still smiling)

Vamos

Since I got to Honduras, I found it really difficult to go running as often as I would like.  Over the past few weeks, however, several of the male teachers and I have started running for about an hour every Wednesday after school.  It's been really nice to have other people who like to run around, because there really is no way that I could go by myself. 

Also, I have started training one of my students, Andrea, to run a mile in under 7 minutes.  We now go three times a week after school to a track here in Tegucigalpa and run. I love training Andrea, it's like a side hobby I never knew I could do. After we train, she has tennis practice, so her mom lets me stay and run around the track for as long as I like and then gives me a ride home.

All that to say that Eduardo, another teacher at IST, told us all about a 10K race here in Tegucigalpa.  The race was this past Sunday morning, and since there were several of us from school running, we all got matching t-shirts and had our names put on them.  It was pretty cool, I'm not gonna lie.  

IST Teachers and Staff

So here's what happened, the race started around 9:00AM, and my goal was to run the race in about 48 minutes.  There were a couple other guys who wanted to run it at about the same pace, so I decided if I could just keep up with them than I would be good.  We started off pretty well, moved to the front of the pack pretty quickly.  Those hills really tend to weed out people pretty fast.  On the way up the first hill, I almost tripped and fell on my face because "someone" got really close to me and our feet got tangled.  I was about to get really mad at whoever thought they could get so close to me, when I looked back and saw a dog running with a number around his collar.  Only in Honduras can a dog enter a 10K race.  I was a little less upset to know that the K-9 had run between my legs and not another person though.

The race was going well, and I was feeling pretty good, when I spotted the #1 female runner up ahead.  So I decided to stick pretty closely behind her and make my way to the end.  I like to run behind people, instead of trying to stay ahead because that is always more difficult.  I accidentally got a little to close to her at one point and she spotted me coming up behind her.  From that point on, she started bookin' and I was just trying to keep up.  With about a Kilometer to go, a guy came running from the opposite direction and starting running with her.  They started running really fast, and I just kept telling myself "Just keep up with them!"  I managed to give it everything I had and kept within a pretty close distance, when a guy came up from behind me and started encouraging me, "Vamos!", but at that point I realized that there was a huge crowd standing right at the top of the hill.

I wish this could be one of those "come from behind" stories, but it wasn't.  I ended up coming in 2nd place, but I was very happy with that.  I felt like I did my best and honestly I don't think I could have beaten the lady who came in first.  She was good.

After the race, everyone started talking about there being prizes for the winners.  I figured that there wouldn't be any since the race was free in the first place.  However, I was told to come back at 1 o'clock for the award ceremony, and rumor had it that I was going to win L.5000 ($250)!

The Martinez family picked Tim and I up and took us out for breakfast at a really nice restaurant while we waited for the ceremony.  Marco and Rosela were so excited and proud of me! (Made me feel like my own mom and dad were there with me to celebrate!)  After breakfast we walked around the mall, just waiting time until 1 o'clock.  Finally, we headed back out to where the tents were set up, only to find that everyone was gone and they had actually gone ahead and done the ceremony at noon.

Good news though, the people in charge were still there, and very glad to see that I had come back.  They said that they didn't know what they were going to do because it was such a great prize, but they had no one to give it to.  I was expecting a check or cash or something like that, but then the lady told me my actual prize....

A round-trip flight to La Ceiba and a 3 nights stay at an all-inclusive resort on the beach for 2!  I could hardly believe it. I was to call the lady and let her know when I wanted the trip so that they could make the reservations for me.  Rosela (being like my mom) could read my mind, and immediately asked if they could hold the trip until June.  At first the lady hesistated, but then said that it would be okay. 

You see, I had already told Rosela that Jeremy was planning on coming to visit in June and that we were going to go to Roatan (which is the Island off of La Ceiba).  What a perfect prize to receive! Now we get to enjoy a great resort and a beautiful beach all for FREE!  I am still pretty shocked at how great of a prize that I got.  Things like this just don't happen to me, so I'm still trying to soak it in. 

Only in Honduras!

Tim and I with the Martinez kid's, Marco, Maria Jose and Marianna

It's been a while since I've written, but for good reason.  I have been swamped this week with writing final exams and study guides.  Everything was due today, 4 final exams (3 versions of each) and 4 study guides.  I can't believe how much time it took to make those tests! Shew...its good to have a large chunk done.  Now for revising and correcting all of my mistakes on the tests.

Anyways, so now I have a little time to write. We just got home from school, and are waiting to leave to go on the Teachers Spiritual Retreat.  It's just an overnight thing, but I think it should be fun. I hear (suggested) that there may be some kickball in the schedule!

Last weekend was my birthday weekend, and I wasn't sure exactly how I would handle it.  I figured I'd get pretty homesick but I had such a great birthday here in Honduras.  Saturday was the Fiesta Cantracha (Honduran Party) at school, so all of the North American teachers went and enjoyed a big Honduran Celebration! There were beautiful outfits, delicious food and informative booths of all of the major cities of Honduras.  I had a really good time watching all of the students perform and experiencing some of the Honduran culture.  After that, I went to a big mall to go grocery shopping with several other girls.  This mall is not what you would think a mall would be like in Honduras.  Just picture this, Lacoste, Apple Store, Nine West and so many more expensive stores.  It's weird how there are such extremes here.  As we walked in the mall, we strolled past TGI Friday's and one of the other girls remembered that you get a free meal on your birthday, so we definitely hit that up.  I felt like I was back in the States as we sat in Friday's and enjoyed free refills of soda, and watched the, get this, Clemson football game on ESPN.  It was really fun (even though the food took 45 minutes to come out and the waiter brought me the wrong food, and he didn't actually take my meal off of the bill) and I had a great time.  When we got home, my roomates had planned a dinner at a new Chinese Restaurant that just opened, so we went there and had dinner with most of the North American teachers.  Then we all came back to our house and had brownies and icecream and played my favorite game, Catch Phrase! 

It was such a great birthday! One I won't soon forget!

The weekend only got better, when I got to go to church with the Martinez family and then play frisbee on Sunday. For dinner, the girls at La Vista (one of the other houses) had us over.  We had such a good homemade meal; Lasagna, bread and peaches. Yummy! I think my favorite part though was that Paula used to be a barista at a coffee shop and is AMAZING at making delicious coffee.  She made us peppermint mocha's and Cinnamon-vanilla drinks. Quite wonderful! We had a great time and enjoyed telling stories and spending some time together. It's amazing how enjoyable Sunday can be when you don't have to go to school on Monday.

That's right, we had Monday off from school, so we planned a trip to Valle de Angleles. (Valley of Angels) It's a little town about an hour away that is a complete tourist trap.  We caught a taxi and then a busito to get all the way there.  The little town was so pleasant and I actually felt safe walking around and taking pictures.  If anyone ever comes to visit, I'll take you there.  They had so many little Honduran knick-knacks, and I got most of my Christmas shopping done!

4 day work weeks are great, especially when I got another break on Thursday.  I was able to go on the 10th grade Spiritual Retreat yesterday, which was during the school day.  We went up to a place in the mountain where camps are held.  We had a great time with all the students.  I got to know some of my students even better and really start to build relationships. 

I feel like I am leaving so much out, but this would be 10 pages long if I told every detail.  So much has happened over the past week and now its Friday again. 

Good times in Honduras! 

Foot Washing

Today I was able to wash the feet of several Honduran men and boys from the streets.  It was quite a humbling experience and I was suddenly able to realize how unusual it would have been for Jesus to wash the feet of his disciples.  It's not a fun job, but it does show just how much Jesus sacrificed to come and live on earth, not only as a human, but as a human who was willing to do the lowest jobs possible.

So grateful for His sacrifice.