I never did solve the Serial Beanie Cutter mystery, and my car is still in the shop. And law school continues to kill me. I am drowning.
As far as Mondays go, today is mellow because the Commissioner is out of town. But tomorrow is going to be a long, full day, and I am dreading it. At least time goes by fast, since I am always in a rush.
****
So anyway, back to my Honduran adventure.
Originally, the plan was to leave Copan and head for the town of Gracias on New Year's Day, but we learned that there were no buses that operated because it was a holiday. So our stay in Copan was prolonged until Monday. Which was fine with us because we were very comfortable there.
We woke up New Year's Day and decided to go for a horseback ride. Actually, the day before, on our walk back from the ruins, we saw a couple of young boys on horses (more like donkeys) and we stopped them to ask them where we can go to try horseback riding. They understood what we said, but we had the hardest time trying to figure out what they were saying. We were trying to agree on a meeting spot. Finally, after many minutes of throwing out suggestions, they said something I can't remember now, but I thought it was the name of their farm. So we gestured rapidly, trying to make sure we had it right, agreed on a price, promised to meet up at 10 am the following day, and then went about our way. I was uncertain but hopeful.
The next morning, we got up bright and early and headed in the direction of the farm we thought they told us to meet them. I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about how lost we were, but that's what happened. We walked down an endless road in an unfamiliar neighborhood, far from our neck of the woods, and it was hard to decide at what point do we give up and turn around. At least while we were lost, I ran into a couple of gentle cows. They were cute.
Finally after about an hour or two, we decided to head back. Luckily, when we returned, our hostel owner was able to line up a horseback riding trip for us in no time, and an hour later, we were led to a couple of horses (again, donkeys) waiting for us in the front of the hostel. I was so excited, I had never gone horseback riding before!
My horse's name was Estrella (Star). She was beautiful. When I first jumped on her, I was very scared and nervous. I was afraid I was too heavy and that she would be in pain. But our guide reassured us that it's ok. He clicked his tongue and touched her softly. I can tell that they were buds. Paul's horse was a cool, young buck- and when we asked our guide to take a photo of us together, the horses knew exactly what to do and leaned their heads towards one another. It was so sweet.
We continued on, leaving town, and headed for the hills. We rode alongside the Copan river, as our guide skipped along. I wondered why he himself didn't have a horse, and felt bad that he was on foot. So I tried not to go too fast, and made small talk in hopes of making the trip more enjoyable for him.
As we kept on riding, I got more and more comfortable. It wasn't easy, but I found a stance that worked to stay balanced on my horse, and soon we were like one. When she began trotting faster, I couldn't help but giggle with delight at the way I would bounce up and down on her back. It was so much fun!
Here is a shot of the river and of Paul along the ride:
Paul had more fun, allowing his horse to go a bit faster.
The guide took us deeper and deeper into the woods and up the hill, and soon we came upon a small, hidden village, far away from town. We saw many wooden shacks with dirt floors, and with no apparent electricity or running water.
When we got up the hill, our guide instructed us to "park" our horses and get off. He said we will take a break, and meet some locals of this village.
As soon as we got off the horses, we were ambushed immediately by a crowd of children, holding out corn husk dolls for us to buy. It got to a point where I got scared, because they were so relentlessly insistent, crying out one after the other, urging us to buy. Paul tried to line them up so that he can buy one from each of them, but they did not understand. Finally, I pulled out my bills, and just started buying them up, trying to keep track of whom I had already bought from. It was not easy, and a small wave of panic hit me. I was scared they might knock me down.
I cried out to Paul, in English, "I'm scared!" He softly called back, "Don't be scared. See?" and he grabbed a boy and lifted him up in the air. The boy laughed and giggled. He loved it. Soon, all the kids were jumping on Paul, wanting to be lifted up. They were just young, poor, hungry children. They surrounded us and began laughing and smiling. I realized it was nothing to be afraid of.
Our guide quietly watched from afar and didn't say anything. I needed to break a bigger bill, so I asked the children where I can get cambio. They took me to a small shack, and I suspected it was a small shop of sorts. It was really someone's home, with a refrigerator stocked with about half a dozen bottles of Coca Cola, and no one was around to sell anything. But finally, a thin, dark-skinned young boy came out from the back, and sold me a Coca Cola. I handed it to my guide and he graciously accepted my token of appreciation. After taking a couple of swigs from the bottle, he motioned for Paul and I to follow him. The children followed, continuing to climb on Paul's arms and back.
Paul took out a loaf of bread and handed it to one of the boys. They suddenly had a crazed, hungry look in their eyes. They quickly yanked it out of Paul's hand and tore the bread to shreds. Paul looked alarmed and shot a quick glance over to the guide. The guide watched. He shook his head no to Paul.
I pleaded with Paul to feed them what little food we had. I couldn't stand that they all looked so hungry.
After some hesitation, Paul gave in and took out a couple of sweet muffins packaged in clear plastic wrap. It was all we had left. He handed it to another boy. The boy's eyes gleamed and widened, smiling crazily. It was a look of such crazed hunger that I have never experienced before in my entire life. He quickly snatched it and began running. All the boys ran after him.
We followed our guide down a narrow, grassy dirt path to another small shack where we heard a peculiar sound. We took a peek inside and saw a woman sitting at a loom, weaving cloth from different colored yarn.
It was beautiful.
They had a large variety of cloth that they had woven, and in many different shapes and colors. We purchased several pieces and was glad to have found such authentic material from Honduras.
We asked the ladies for a photo. They were not especially pleased, but were nice enough to pose for two shots- one for Paul, and another for me.
As we left their little cloth factory, the children broke out into song and began singing at the top of their lungs, a very pleasant, sweet song.
After exploring the village a bit more, we finally headed back to Copan. I rode back in silence, thinking about the lives of those children, and wondered if they will ever leave that village, have hopes and dreams, be able to actualize those dreams. I wondered how many satisfying meals they had each day, and what kind of future was in store for them.
My heart hurt as I kept thinking about what their lives were like. I wondered what I could do to help these people. Is there anything that I can do? I am not considered rich in the U.S. but I have a job, a car, nice clothes, nice shoes, and I can buy whatever it is I want and need. Here in Honduras, I am a millionaire. How can I help them? I realized that I would have to understand their problems before I can think of solutions. I thought about their government and their leaders, and how different they are from ours. I wondered if those kids went to school. Would they ever go to college? So many questions. I had a lot more learning to do.
****
We came back to town pretty exhausted. It would be our last night in Copan.
We wanted to find a gift for the woman at the hostel- the one who was so kind to us and fed us on New Year's Eve. So we went shopping for a gift after dinner, and found a pretty scarf with roses embroidered on it. We knew we had to get up at 5:30 am the following morning to catch a 6:20 bus to Gracias, so we said our goodbyes that night. When we presented the woman with our gift, emotion swept over her and she embraced us. Her husband, Moises, came out and shook Paul's hand. He said to Paul, "I like you." Paul smiled and told him "Likewise." We said to them, Perhaps, we will come back and we will see you again.
Perhaps we will. We spent one more comfortable night in their hostel and looked forward to heading for Gracias the next morning.
This post was so touching. It's depressing when you think about all the world's problems, but what you did was sweet. Small changes here and there :)
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