Semana Santa

I got to play tour guide for my family who just left to return to California. Mom and Dad brought Tyler down to Honduras for a week. We fit a lot of things into a week so I'll share some of the highlights.

For people who are interested in a map of where we traveled, I'll put one here.

Their plane came in after dark on Saturday March 31. The airport was packed with people picking up visitors who were arriving for the Holly Week break. The next morning we went to pick up the rental car that Dad reserved for the week. The first challenge was to navigate San Pedro since I mostly just know bus routes. But we made it out to my house and introduced my Honduras family to my American family. I showed my parents where I teach, go to church, play soccer, the important stuff. Then mid-afternoon we headed out for Tela.

Tela is a town on the north coast.We stayed in a tall hotel on a hill with an awesome view of the town and ocean. We spent 2 full days at the coast. The first day we explored the town and found a good spot along the beach to throw a Frisbee, jump in the warm Caribbean water, and drink some coconut. The second day we went on an adventure and took a tour of Punta Sal. Punta Sal is a peninsula of protected land and about  45 min by boat from Tela. On this trip we got soaked, hiked, saw monkeys, tried to avoid poisonous spiders, swam through a tunnel that connects 2 bays, snorkeled, and ate a traditional lunch. Intense day and was exhausting but a lot of fun. Then that night an unseasonal storm passed through (we're in the dry season) and cooled and reduced the humidity in the air. Which made our last morning at the coast very pleasant to be outside.

Our next destination was a small town called San Jose. This small town is where my host parents grew up. It's back in some gorgeous mountains, surrounded by corn and sugar cane farms. Sugar cane is ripe this time of year but we didn't get to see cane being processed since everyone was on Easter vacation. We only got to spend a short afternoon in San Jose but it was cool to show the family around.

The last day we went to a city called Comayagua where they have a popular Good Friday tradition. Different groups paint sections of the street with colored sawdust to make what they call carpets. My understanding is that they start making the carpets around midnight of Good Friday and try to finish them before the mid-morning processional walks over them. This is a tradition that is done in various cities in Honduras but the carpets in Comayagua seem to be the most famous.We arrived early enough to see some groups putting on the final touches, some finished and being misted with water (help preserve them), and some that possibly would not be completed before the parade came by. It's a very colorful tradition that attracts a lot of tourists. Some people put a lot of work into a piece of art that has a life expectancy of only several hours.

It was a really fun and exciting week. It was interesting to watch my Dad's driving become more and more Honduran as the week went on. We lost a camera during the trip but I have a few general vacation pictures.

Also I have found out that I'll be getting back into Reedley on the 24th of July. Feels so close yet there is a lot to do between now and then.

Thanks for reading.