Copan

Well I made it to Copan and saw the mayan ruins today. It was really cool so im not using the shift key because it´s on the right side of the keyboard and i keep adding arrows soooo anyway

i´m sitting in an internet cafe which is the first one ive used so i wont be putting pictures up because the internet is a little slow here and that will take too long

tomorrow we go to the bird sancutary and im expecting to get a lot of really awesome pictures so im busting out my telefoto. im super excited.

friday we leave to go back to teguc which is also kate´s birthday. im going to have to conjure up a little birthday concoction or something.

friday i go to the orphanage with kate and anne before leaving saturday to catch back up with the houghton group in el parismo or something like that then i think thom has changed his mind yet again an i will be staying at the orphange the whole time so i still dont really know what im doing. oh well. so im not sure the next time ill post so until then...

Brando

So today we had a free day well everyone but the houghton students so basically myself, Kate, and Anne.  We went to town and I got some more souvenirs and a skirt.  It's cute.  Even though I'm no fashionista I set a trend because Kate got one too! 

Yesterday, we went to another island where there are no houses or anything.  It was really pretty and I swam some.  We found a huge starfish.  As big as my head or bigger.

I got Brando to model for me.  

He only spoke spanish but was the cutest boy ever.

His older brother, Colvey, was just as cute.

I did hold the starfish though.  It felt really weird but we found a baby starfish too.  Well a baby one compared to that one.  Brando modeled for me again.

He looks a little less gangster in this one...

We also went to a church service yesterday.  It was a Church of God and was very similar to my grandparent's church except they did a lot more singing and the service lasted a little over 2 and a half hours.  It was really good though.  

Tomorrow we travel to Copan by ferry and bus.  Hopefully I won't get sick again tomorrow.  I think I will be ok since the ferry comes first (I was still a little nauseous from the bus ride when I got on the ferry).  Then I can just sleep on the bus.  

Now I'm going on a photoshoot with the other two girls so I'm sure I'll have more pictures tomorrow.

pictures...be excited

So apparently the sea took more than just my lunch...I am actually in Utila.  We took the ferry from La Ceiba to Utila.  Lo siento.

Anyway, the views are still amazing!!  Lucky for you I had my camera...

oh did I say good view??  

(just wanted to let you know how clear the water is)

This is a view from the beach in front of the hotel

The sand is actually under water... 

This is some of the group snorkeling.  

The water and view is just amazing here.  I can't get over it.  Don't worry though I don't take pictures the whole time I'm here...

Bienvenidos y La Ceiba

I arrived safely in Tegucigalpa.  Flying went ok but thankfully, i met up with Anne in Florida and we flew together to Honduras.  Everything is going great.  We met up with Kate, the other volunteer and the Houghton group.  There are 24 of us total I think including TK and Profe.  Both are quite the interesting characters.

The money here blows my mind because I pay for stuff with like 100's in Limperas but it's only like 40 dollars.  I've bought a couple things but I will keep your suspense high and wait til I get back to the states.

I got to live with Mama Alicia as my homestay host which is who Jennifer lived with.  She is hilarious even though she doesn't speak any english.  I could understand her but Kate couldn't.  I think it's because she slurs her words together which I'm used to hearing in southern accents.

I also got to see the Nunez family minus the dad who was working four hours away.  They took me out to lunch and then to their house for icecream where they put honey on it which is surprisingly good.  

Thursday was my birthday and Mama Alicia had a cake ready for me when I got home and Leo, his mom, Anne, Triston, Claudia, and Kate were there along with the maid and her daughter.  Leo played the guitar and sang happy birthday to me in English and then everyone minus the Americans sang it in spanish.  Fue muy bien.

This morning we left at 4am to go to La Ceiba...an island in the Carabean.  We took two buses where the windows where covered with blinds.  I slept on both so I wouldn't get sick.  Then we took a ferry on a small boat for about an hour to get to the island.  I took some dramamine but with about 30 minutes left, I couldn't fight it any longer and I threw up trying not to spray everyone sitting downwind of me.  One girl said that was the most graceful she's seen anyone throw up so I guess I'm just that good!!  But at any rate, I felt much better after that and enjoyed the rest of the ride.  I guess now I know that the deep sea fishing trip was not just a one time incident.  

The hotel we are staying at has wireless internet and is about a 20 minute walk to town.  Kate, Anne, and I went there tonight and it is a cute touristy town with a local look, feel, and flavor.  Many of the store owners live in the same building as their stores.  We are here until Sunday but luckily we don't have to sit through classes with the Houghton students so I will try to put some pictures up tomorrow.

The time here is crazy.  It's two hours behind my time at home which I am still on and everything just runs together because no one is in any rush to do anything.  I love it!

No one has stolen my camera or equipment yet!!

the time has come

The day has finally come...

I leave at three am, arrive at the airport at 5:30ish, and leave in a plane at 7:20

I am basically packed. My suitcase is weighed and I am under by our scale...However, if they wish to uproot stuff in my carryon "purse" then I am in trouble because there is no way I can get everything back in. But all my camera equipment is packed and I am ready to go!!

Tegucigalpa here I come!

the last days

5 days and counting...

I have been emailing Kevin hoping to be able to visit with him and his family while I'm down there.  They live in Tegucigalpa too so I'm hoping I'll be able to make it over there.  

But anywho...yesterday I came back up to school with to have my individual meeting with coach.  It went really well.  He also helped me make plans for the summer.  He wants me to give free tennis lessons for a week to get interest up and then after that he said people will get interested and then I can start charging.  When I get back from Honduras, he is going to help me come up with rates, hours, etc.

I am also going to lay out a recruiting and stat book for the tennis teams this summer.  I'm excited about that.  Coach asked to use my pictures and I said sure but then I asked if he had already hired someone to make it and he said no.  I asked if I could try.  He said he would pay me so there's some extra money for Italy!!

Also, Dana wanted me to take pictures of Gavin before I left.  Coach said they were going to get a professional to do it but thought I could do it just as good so they are supposed to call me today sometime and I'll take them.

I strung my racket yesterday and once again ran into technical difficulties.  I lost an hour and a half of my life...

I spent the night with Brittney last night and today I have an Alpha Chi induction ceremony at 4.  So I will be killing time until then unless the Dana calls.

After Alpha Chi, I will be through with LMC til the spring!

finally finals are finished

Ahhh School's out for me. I ended up having all my Wednesday finals turning into projects so I was able to leave today and now I'm at home relaxing. I have also raised enough money to go on my trip to Honduras so I am officially ready to go but technically not because I haven't packed. So my projected schedule for the week...

Tomorow: finish unpacking and organizing all my school stuff
Wednesday: Relax and start packing for Honduras
Thursday: Back to school for meeting with coach and Brittney's bonfire
Friday: Alpha Chi Ceremony
Saturday: Amy's here and shopping for stuff to take to Honduras for the kiddies
Sunday: More packing and birthday celebrations (mine) with jfer and andrew coming up
Monday: Last minute packing
Tuesday: Leaving for Honduras

So basically this week consists of packing...

Stress vs. Surprises

As the semester draws to a close, I my lack of preparation shines through.  I have yet to raise enough money for Honduras, finish my photography stuff as well as my final and of course three other final projects plus a verbal conversation spanish final.  But good things have happened this week.

Let me start with Tuesday.  We had the sports banquet.  I had several awkward moments that evening.  Of course all the track people were already in there taking up two tables and I wanted to sit in the back where they were sitting so I was going to sit at the tables next to them.  (There were two rows) but after I walked over there, I saw a sign saying those tables were for the cycling team so I tried to smoothly cover it up by sitting at the first signless table.  Luckily, a few minutes later, the other girls came.  

So then we had to go up while coach talked about us.  The first award he gave out was the coach's award.  I got it and so when I walked over to him to accept it, I was going to shake his hand.  He just stood there looking at me and I mumbled so the microphone wouldn't pick it up that I was trying to shake his hand and he's like oh no give me a hug. So of course after that the other girls knew to just go ahead and give him a hug.  Cameron got most improved and Christine got MVP by the way.

Then after that, I was going to give coach his gift from the team.  He had already started walking off and so I had to call him back.  Then I got the microphone from him and said a couple sentences and tried not to sound nervous but I'm pretty sure I failed.  I was getting ready to show him the pictures (I had two framed) and I had them in one hand and the microphone in the other.  I didn't know what to do so after a few more awkward moments, I finally put the microphone down and then was going to show them to him but one was upside down.  Unfortunately I turned both of them around so I did no good.  So finally I got both straight and handed them to him and of course as I did, one of the 2 dollar frames broke.  So when I have him a hug, I apologized to him and again afterwards.  Oh well.  But he also gave us a team picture after in like this really nice frame so I was like uhhh.  But I got the coach's award!  It was a nice surprise. 

I have been worried about my fitness times with tennis since coach didn't let me run at all in the fall and the beginning of the spring.  I thought I would be so far behind everyone that I wouldn't be at their level.  Wellll, we had to run a mile yesterday.  I hate running in front of people so of course the cross country guys and the hurdlers were on the track.  But I usually run an 8:45 and the other girls are a lot faster.  But I finished in 8:24 so I was really happy with that and I was only like 20 seconds behind Amanda.  So once again, I was pleasantly surprised.

Tomorrow we run up Beech.  It's over four miles and basically all uphill.  Steep hills.  Not looking forward to it.  So to take my mind off of it, I am studying for finals.  In the library.  Until it closes as 11.  Again.