Sambo Creek

Our second long weekend we went to a tiny village on the coast.  TJ went with the boys to go rafting first on friday night, and he had a great time.  He stayed in the jungle lodge and went rafting on the Rio Cangrejal.

The next days we all met up at small hotel called Helen's, pretty much in the middle of nowhere.  The place was owned by a French Canadian who ended up being from the same area in Quebec as my grandparents (Lac St. Jean).  We stayed in a little cabin with our friend Jess, and it was VERY relaxing.  The first day, we just swam in the ocean, walked along the beach and ate some great food (Conch soup was my favourite).

The second day we went on a day trip to Cayos Cochinos, which is a series of small islands off the coast.  After an hour long, very bumpy boat ride, we got to the main island, where we went snorkelling. The snorkelling was pretty awesome, but not quite as clear as Utila.  Kelsey and her sister (who was visiting for the week) even saw a sea turtle!

After snorkelling we went to another island where the only pink snake lives.  We saw two of the pink boas, although, they were more tan coloured than pink…..

Our last stop was to a small island where we ate lunch.  It was really pretty, and we also learned that one of the seasons of Survivor was filmed on the Cayos Cochinos islands.

The next day we were supposed to go ziplining, but it was a bit rainy, so that will have to wait for next time!  Overall a great trip!

Copan

The first of our long weekends in a row, I (Erica) went to a little town called Copan with the girls.  TJ's buddy had to go back to the USA, so without any other boys going, he decided to stay back to get some work done and have a boys weekend.   I don't even want to know what they got up to…. all I know is that it involved copious amount of red meat, a frisbee and some garbage cans…

The girls weekend in Copan was AMAZING.  I think it might be my favourite place in Honduras so far.  Copan is a small town that has become kind of a backpacker attraction because of the Copan Ruins.  Which are some pretty impressive Mayan Ruins - some of the biggest in the world.  We explored there on our own for a couple hours.  It was pretty crazy that we could still walk and climb on the ruins…. I bet in 10 or 15 years, you won't be allowed to anymore.  

Our other big excursions were horseback riding through the hills and fields of a farm in Copan, a tour of a coffee plantation, and lunch at the farm.  It was so much fun, especially since some of the girls had never been on a horse.  The horses were pretty well trained, and the guide encouraged us to let them run if we felt comfortable.  It was definitely the most fun part of the day.

After our ride, we got dropped off at the hotsprings about 20 minutes from the farm.  The hotsprings were carved into the hillside, and were full of naturally hot water, that eventually flowed into the river.  The pools at the top were really hot, and they got cooler as we went down.  The best part was the mud bath to give us soft skin… We got a little creative with our photos.

The trails at the hotsprings.

Copan also had tons of amazing restaurants, bars and shops… Even a German beer place…  We ate lots of great food and had some great coffee too.  It was an amazing trip, and I can't wait to go back with TJ!

September Break in Utila

We got back to San Pedro pretty late last night (9:00, which is late for Honduras when we leave for school the next morning at 6:00am).  Despite a long chicken-bus style ride, (one that stops OFTEN to pick up essentially anybody along the side of the road), we made it back in one piece from a FANTASTIC weekend.

We got one of the school drivers to drive us to La Ceiba at noon on Friday. It was pretty packed with 28 people on the mini-bus.  We got to the ferry just in time, with only about 5 minutes to spare.  The ferry took about an hour and was pretty rough, but everyone told us that was one of the smoother rides.  A couple of our friends got sick, but luckily both TJ and I were OK.

Erica on the ferry.

We got in to Utila and walked about 10 minutes to our hotel, called Rubi’s.  It was one of the best places we’ve ever stayed.  It was perfect.  I beautiful dock for swimming, lots of hammocks and just enough rooms for everyone who went (although on the first night we did have to share with Mark and Kelsey… 4 people in that room was pretty....cozy).

View of Rubi's from the dock

Lazy afternoon in one of the Hammocks.

The island itself is really unique.  It’s filled with expats who moved there to open restaurants, hostels, dove shops or just live.  It’s definitely got that “island” feel, and everything moves at a slower pace.  You can never really predict when something will be open.  For a really small island with only two main roads there are over 10 dive shops, and many more restaurants and bars.

One of the shores of the island from our dock.

We went for dinner to a great restaurant called Babalu on our first night.  It was built out over the water and had an open spot in the middle where you could see all the fish swimming by… SO COOL!  The food was good, HOWEVER, when we were finishing up our meal, I got bit by a cat!  I was a bit freaked out, but after a quick phone call by us to mom (who LAUGHED at me….) We both felt better.  We were both glad we got our rabies shots after that though!

Erica and Kelsey at Babalu (pre- cat attack)

After dinner we all went out for a birthday night to a bar called Skid Row.  The ambiance wasn’t the best ever, but they have T-shirt challenge, where if you do 4 shots of this disgusting rum based booze filled with herbs and roots and other stuff, you get a free t-shirt.  Although we all claimed we wanted to “take the first night easy” we all got a t-shirt on that first night… I’m sure everyone can imagine how the rest of that night turned out… (TJ got 4 t-shirts by the end of the weekend…)

Shinanigans (with spiderman?)

Saturday and Sunday were relaxing… We hammocked, went paddle boarding, rented bikes, went snorkeling (it really is the best in the world… not even in the same realm as Mexico and Cuba).  We found a bunch of great seafood restaurants, and even some delicious Italian.

Our own private beach!

On our last day, we discovered a private beach, and we snorkeled, lounged and had a quiet morning before we had to take the ferry back at 2:00.  The boys also had a romantic kayak courtesy of TJ.  Just before we left, we met a pretty awesome Macaw that hung out with us for a while.  It was pretty sad leaving the island, but it felt like we had been there for more than 3 days.  Really great experience, and we would definitely recommend it if you are looking for a unique and relaxing place to have an adventure!

TJ, Mark and Mike going for their romantic (yet manly) kayak ride.

TJ with our macaw friend.

September in Hondo.

Just over a month in, and we are already officially slacking on our blog.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, getting into the swing of things around here.  We are now almost halfway through the first bimester (half of a semester), and everything is starting to normalize a little bit.  With over 120 students each, it's a lot of marking to get through.  

The past two weekends we have just stayed around San Pedro Sula, and spent a lot of time at the pool (we have access to a hotel pool that one of the parents owns).  We've also started to get our apartment set up.  We are pretty excited about getting our living room painted grey next week!  

This weekend is a long weekend (to celebrate teachers day on monday!) and we are heading with a bunch of people to Utila, an island off the coast.  We are leaving at noon on friday, and taking the ferry there at 4:00.  We will try to post some pictures next week when we get back…. We are planning to do some snorkelling and paddle boarding and get some much deserved RandR.

During the week our neighbours have kept us busy with ultimate frisbee, spinning class and yoga.  It seems like there is something going on every night. I think we are even starting to get used to the heat.  The first couple days we played frisbee I thought we might drop dead from the heat…. seems to be pretty usual now.

We have also started to notice less desirable things about our apartment.  Today I found a gecko in our kitchen (so small! About half the size of my pinky).  Last night, a cockroach dropped on TJ and not only did he scream like a six year old (a wimpy six year old), he also ran himself int me to try and get it off…..  While I didn't mind the gecko, the cockroach was pretty gross….

Today was the independence day march at the school.  It was kind of neat to be a part of the celebration that is so important to the country. HOWEVER, it involved marching around the entire school (which it pretty big) with 800 students, and trying to get them to stand int a line.  All this in sunny 30 degree weather… Needless to say, we were all pretty hot and tired by the end of it.  Teaching 7 periods after that was no easy task.  Still, compared to our jobs last year, it was delightful!

Hope everyone back home reading this is doing well, and we hope to talk to you soon!

First Day of School

Today was our first day of school.
School here starts at 7:00, so we had to be there at 6:30.  It is definitely something new to get used to!  We each had a homeroom, and then 8 periods on 40 minutes after that.  It seems like a lot, but we have SO many more prep periods that we are used to.  Today we each had 3 periods off!

I (Erica) have the grade 6 students.  They are so little!  It was their first day in the middle school today, so a lot of them were really nervous.  I have five different sections, and I got to meet all of them today.  There are a couple that will be a handful, but they all seem pretty sweet.  TJ has the grade 8s, and they are kind of a "notorious" group, but TJ says they are a good bunch too.  It was a pretty slow day for both of us, doing a lot of introduction stuff.

The kids all left at 2:00.  The early start is made up for by the early end, and the two 40 minute breaks!  When school was done we went to take our Spanish class to see what level we would be placed in.  We were feeling pretty good for the first couple questions, but when it got into reading comprehension and creative writing, we were both pretty stumped.  Should have done more Rosetta Stone before we left!  We are both really excited to start the Spanish classes this week, because it's been really hard to do simple things when you don't speak the language.  For example, we found it was near impossible to ask  "Do you have these soccer cleats in a size 7 and a half?"(Don't worry, after some frustration on both ends, we each got a pair.)

Aside from school starting today, the past couple days weren't too eventful.  We went to Guamilito market on Sunday, and got a hand made coffee table for 15$  (which we LOVE), we'll post a picture soon.  We also went to Club Arabe, which is pretty much a giant pool and nice restaurant (complete with a helicopter landing pad).  It's where a lot of the rich families here go to hang out on the weekends.  It was nice to hang out with all the teachers and relax before the first day of school.

All in all it was a great last weekend of summer, and a fantastic first day back at school.

Thumbs up and Thumbs Down by Erica

10 Things I like about Honduras 

1. The heat

2. The taco restaurant where dinner and (several) drinks for two costs $8.

3. That is won't get dark before 6,  even in january 

4. 60 minutes to the coast

5. The mountains

6. Parrots, Toucans and giant lizards outside my classroom

7. Friendly culture

8. Baleadas (A tortilla with refried black beans and cheese)

9. Cheap beer, cheap rum

10. Trivia Night @ the Dog House

Things that are challenging about Honduras

1. The heat

2. The poverty

3. That I don't speak spanish (yet!)

4. The lack of good cheese (this is a positive for TJ)

5. Having to take a taxi most places

6. That is gets dark at 6:00

7. Uncomfortable couches EVERYWHERE

8. Big Bugs

9. That no on uses/knows any street names (makes telling the spanish cab driver where you live very hard)

10. The pigeons that live in our roof.

First Peek at our Apartment

Today, I finally caught up on all of the blogging.  We have now been in Honduras for a week, and are starting to settle in and feel at home.  Our apartment is great (probably nicer than what we could afford in Canada, despite some questionable furniture choices…..

This is the view from the front door.

This is our living room.

This is the view from our living room.

Going into the dining area.

Our kitchen.

The back of the apartment, going into the bedrooms.

Our bedroom.

Our walk-in closet, leading into the bathroom.

The bathroom.

The view from our bedroom window.

We've done a lot of exploring the city, and orientation stuff in the last week.  We hiked up Coca Cola mountain (aptly named for it's giant Coca Cola sign near the top that lights up at night....it's like the Honduran Hollywood sign).  We were both ready for an intense hike, but discovered that Coca Cola has a paved road winding up to the top.   This is us at the top.

This is a little peek at Tela, the beach that is about an hour from San Pedro Sula.  We had an orientation there that kept us inside for most of the day, but we got a couple hours to relax on the beach afterwards.

TJ and Erica in front of our apartment, behind us is the balcony we share with our neighbours, all of whom work with us at the school.  It's great in the evenings to hang out and hang a drink.

Goodbye Canada

After only about 3 hours of sleep, we got up, loaded our bags into the car, and said some goodbyes.  It was pretty hard to say goodbye to Brit, but she was too sleepy to care too much at the time.

We drove to the airport, and said goodbye to Mom and Dad.  I think we were also too sleepy to be too sad.   We got on the plane almost smoothly…. T.J. forgot about with multi-tool in his carry-on and had to run down to lost and found to mail it to himself.  

Both flights were good, despite not being able to sit together on the second flight.  We both had Spanish speaking seat mates, which made for a pretty quiet ride, and a confusing discussing of how to fill out entrance documents.  Martha (our principal) and Bessy (on the human resources staff) both picked us up at the airport and drove us to our new home.  It was pretty seamless, and we were definitely grateful for the help.  We spent the rest of the day unpacking and went to bed around 7:00PM (which actually felt like 9:00 with the time change, so it's not that bad!)

Finally at our new home!

T-minus One Day

The day before we left, the packing frenzy began.  Trying to fit so many clothes in three suitcases was a challenge.  We were committed to making sure that our suitcases weren't overweight, so we packed and repacked about 20 times to redistribute everything.  Finally, we got all our our bags to 49.8 or 49.9 lbs (out of the passible 50 lbs).  Our flight was at 6:00AM the next morning, so we tried to get some sleep before leaving at 3:00AM.

Tornado vs. Norway Lake

We were looking forward to a relaxing final week in the country, unfortunately, the tornado that hit Norway Lake on Monday changed these plans.  Instead of boating and lounging of the dock we were cleaning, chainsawing and woodchipping.  Not to mention that the boat was underwater.  Thanks Marc and Zach for your help that week!  Lots of work, and still lots of packing to do made the week fly by with not much time to visit.  We were really thankful that everyone came out to see us the weekend before.

Summer Fun

As we headed into our last week at home, it finally began to sink in - we are leaving home, our family and friends for two years.  We had a great day with friends on Saturday (one day you'll jump off that bridge Ash!), and were actually surprised when we returned home to find over 40 friends and family waiting for us.  Thanks to everyone who came out to help send us on our way, it meant a lot that you were there.  It was a bit surreal to describe our upcoming adventure to everyone; it almost seemed as though we were describing someone else's life, someone else's plans.  We feel so lucky to be able to go on this adventure together!  By the end of the night we were tired, but we both agreed that it was an evening that we will remember forever.  A great way to spend one of our last few days in Canada. Here are a few photos that sum up our epic summer at home. 

Norway Lake...A new view after the Storm

Erica actually caught this fish.

and these

While fishing like this...

Kenny lending a helping hand. 

Thanks to mom and everyone else who made our going away party amazing!!

Ready for our tour. 

The road was dusty.

Me and my bro. 

Erica, Grandma, Kenny, me, nanny and...Whyte.

Hope keeping and eye on Kenny. 

Getting some. 

At the beach.

vodka mellon 

Pierce will never be the same, but it was a good attempt. 

Looking good Rika. 

I'm so cool. 

This is a result of being awesome. 

cute

Awww.

Pierce and Ashley.

add a caption

Nice  

Our poor boat :(

My mom's new bionic foot. 

Erica finds her zen moment. 

Wow you photograph so well when you are wasted. 

We love Erica.

The boys. 

Mom and her Bffs

The guides

Our only trip of the summer…but a good one. 

That was TJ before...

OMG

another classic Erica fishing pic... 

Kenny teaching TJ how to clean a fish.