My first few days in Copan Ruinas

I've now been in Honduras for three and a half days. I'm living with a home stay family in Copan Ruinas in western Honduras. Me encanta Copan--I love it here! The town itself is so quaint with cobblestone streets and Lonely Planet describes it well when they call it "a charming colonial town." Copan is famous for its ruins, as the name suggests. The site is considered the largest of all Mayan ruins. I hope to visit them tomorrow.

Shots from around town

Copan Ruinas is the most visited place in Honduras after the Bay Islands (most likely because of the ruins). Despite having several tourists visits, it maintains the feeling of a small town. The "downtown" is only about 15-20 blocks and is centered around a central plaza called Parque Central.

Map of downtown Copan Ruinas

El Parque Central

The streets are quite hilly and are filled with tuk tuks. I learned that they're called toritos, meaning "little bulls," and that they are imported from India. They tried purchasing tuk tuks from other countries like China and Germany but found that only those from India could handle the hills here.

A Torito Tuk Tuk on one of Copan's many hills

My home stay family is lovely! Here's a picture of their home:

In my familia, there are the following people:

Rosa, Rudolfo: parents

Hilda, Klara: daughters

Cristian: son of Hilda

Karla en la cocina

View of Rudolfo from my balcony

The door is usually open (as is the case in my homes in Copan), and the following people frequently visit:

Danilo: cousin of Hilda and Klara; tuk tuk driver

Daniel and Jose: cousins of Cristian

Danilo y Cristian en el Tuk Tuk de Danilo

Rosa, my home stay "mama," cooks three delicious meals a day for the other home stay student, Bruce, and me. We feel so lucky; Rosa is an excellent cook, and everything has been delicioso! It's been so interesting to learn about typical Honduran dishes too (will write separate entry on food later!).

Eating a delicious meal prepared by Rosa (in the background)

They are providing me with a room that's on the second story of their house. It's quite spacious and has a full bath and balcony. They conveniently live about four blocks from the Guacamaya School where I have my classes.

My balcony on the second floor

The weather has been lovely; it's been sunny and delightfully hot these past few days. In contrast to the Pacific Northwest, the rainy season in this region begins in May and lasts for a few months.

Thursday and Friday I attended class at Guacamaya. My teacher is a 20 year old Honduran woman named Cesia. We meet for four hours each morning. I've learned so much already in these two days! My Spanish is still broken, but Cecia is helping me move in the right direction.

Guacamaya School courtyard where most teacher-student pairs meet daily

Cesia, my Spanish maestra. She is a pharmacy and chemistry student.

When not in class or at home, I spend most of my time with the other students at Guacamaya. There is a nurse from Utah (Heather), a physical therapist from Austria (Caro), a student from San Mateo, California (Ken), and a family from Canada (Andre, Lison, and daugther Veronica). We'll often explore the town together. We also really enjoy getting jugos y licuados (juice and smoothies) together, which are all made with fresh fruit. We challenge ourselves to only speak Spanish, and so far, we're not doing too shabby. :)

Caro, Heather, Ken and me enjoying jugos and licuados together.

Mosquito bite count: 5