I have arrived!

Here is my attempt at a blog. I don’t know if I will update it regularly or not as my internet access is a little bit spotty, but I thought I would give it a chance. This is my third day here, and I am enjoying it a lot. The trip here was quite long, but we got here and that is what matters. I started my Spanish class today at La Universidad Pedagógica, a teacher’s school. Apparently anyone who wants to teach middle or high school in Honduras needs to attend. It is a beautiful campus. Calvin has a permanent residence there, with an office and a classroom. My Spanish class is on Latin American culture, I think it will be great. A lot of work probably, but it should be very interesting. My development class will start next week.

I live in the farthest neighborhood away from the school, about a 40 minute walk each way. I enjoy the walk, and can use the exercise after all the great food I am eating here. It is safe; I just have to watch out for a few random giant holes that it is likely I will fall into at some point, that and the myriad cars everywhere. The traffic here is quite insane. People have been moving into Tegucigalpa from the rural areas in hope of finding jobs, which has led to too many people and too many cars in a small space. You will never catch me driving here.

I live in Las Lomas, one of the smaller neighborhoods in the area. It is quiet, and I have been told that it is very safe, only one or so break-ins. It also has a stunning view of the city. Two other girls from Calvin live there with me, and one of the girls is my next door neighbor. I walk to and from school with them. They are in the same Spanish class so it works out perfectly. I have a great room, as well as my own bathroom which is quite a blessing. My family is great. I have a mom, dad, and two brothers, who are 20 and 15, and a sister who is 18. They have done this many times before, so they are very patient. They only speak Spanish with me, which can be a challenge, but I can already tell my Spanish is improving, and they help me a lot. I never actually spoke Spanish that much in any of my classes, so I can read and write much better than I can speak.

Tegucigalpa itself is very interesting. The entire country is gorgeous, beautiful mountains and everything is green. When our flight got in we had a 5 hour car ride from San Pedro Sula to Tegus, but the view the whole drive was so pretty I don’t think anyone minded. The weather has been gorgeous. It is in the 80’s during the day, and gets much cooler at night. It’s great. I already have a bit of a burn; my skin isn’t used to all this sun. The people here are very kind and helpful. Today we went exploded “El Centro”, which is kind of the downtown. We went in groups of three and had a scavenger hunt. My group had to get a key copied. We got on the right bus, but got off on the wrong bus stop. We then ended up not where we meant to be, but eventually found our way to a bus. We didn’t know which to take, but a nice man showed us which bus to take and it all worked out. The buses are interesting, apparently a lot of foreigners as well as Hondurans will not take them as they can be dangerous, but they seemed fine. Overcrowded and loud, but fine. We went to see Kurt and Jo Ann Ver Beek’s non profit, Association for a Just Society, and learn what they are doing in Honduras. One of the things that surprised me a lot was how many Western stores there are here. On my way to school I pass a McDonalds, Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut, Little Caesars, and Popeyes. At night we usually watch shows like The Simpsons or Spongebob in Spanish. It is interesting.

Tomorrow we are going to Siguatepeque, and will be there all weekend as well as Monday to explore some in the rural areas. It should be fun. I feel like I wrote too much, so I will end. I haven’t taken too many pictures since most of the places I have been it has not been safe to bring a camera. I’ll post some whenever I take them.