Monday, February 6, 2012

first day of 2012 and the rest of my life... en la cuidad de copan

Before I continue on with my story, I would just like to report that I lost all of my holiday weight! I'm ten pounds lighter and it feels great. I would like to lose another ten by summer, but I am proud of myself for accomplishing this small goal.

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.

Friday, February 3, 2012

new year's eve in copan, honduras

Ahh... memories of that crazy, fun night in Copan are rushing back to me. New Year's Eve is my favorite time of year, because it marks the end of one chapter, and celebrates the start of a new one. It is when people come together to celebrate the past and the future, and enjoy the present. I love New Year's Eve.

So I was especially looking forward to spending my first NYE celebration in another country.
After spending the day at the ruins, we walked back into town and I can sense the anticipation and excitement of the year coming to a close. There were a lot more people gathered at the square, enjoying popsicles and street vendor food, and kids were running around with parcels of fireworks under their arms. Everywhere we looked, there were stands selling fireworks- just like in the U.S.

Here is a picture of the square when we returned from the ruins:


We headed back to our hostel to change clothes and find a place to have our NYE dinner. We were given a recommendation by our tour guide at the ruins the day before, so we thought to give them a try. It was a restaurant called Mary's and it was just a few blocks from our hostel. So we showered and changed into our new shirts we picked up from the gift shop at the ruins, and ventured out for our last meal of 2011.

 

I wanted something different from the platos de tipico we've been eating for the past few days, and decided to try their fish and rice. I didn't know it would be breaded, and I didn't know it would be served with french fries- but it was pretty good and I scarfed it down with a salva vida, carefully avoiding the salad and the fries. Salad is considered a no-no, because they could have washed it with tap water.



So after our dinner, we headed out to see the town slowly converting into party mode. And if you know Paul, you would know that we were sure to pick up a boatload of fireworks. I think he would have liked to have his crazy stash of fireworks with us, but of course he did fine to pick up some of Hondura's finest.



So did the rest of the town. All around us, people had their own stash of fireworks, and you better believe they were lighting them up as early as 6-7pm. We walked over to the Parque El Centro and watched the sun go down as the night came to life. We lit a couple of sparklers and watched plenty of others engage in fireworks warfare, dodging flying balls of fire, and inhaling plenty of smoke.

 

After hours and hours of crazy battles of fireworks galore- it was still a ways to go before midnight. There were paper wrappers that the fireworks were wrapped in ALL OVER THE PLACE. And yet, no cops were giving anyone a hard time. It was merry and jolly and everyone was having a great time, sitting together as families and just enjoying being out there and watching all the kids run around. It was a blast, literally.



Above, if you look closely, you can see the amount of paper wrappers strewn all over the place. It was like that throughout the city. Loud blasts that were deafening would be so loud, you would jump or lose hearing in your ear. I must have covered my one good ear with the palms of my hands to try to block the sound from popping my ear drum, but there was nothing I can do from nearly knocking over, the booms were so, so loud. It was crazy.

We sat next to a family of five, a father, mother, and their three beautiful children, and one of the boys' names was Fidel. The father explained that he named his son after Fidel Castro. I thought that was hilarious. We tried to have a conversation about what Paul and I did for a living, whether they would ever go to America, and how rich he was for having three precious children, as I shared a bag of my Lifesavers Gummies with his kids.



It was still only 9 or 10pm, so we decided to walk around some more and see what was going on over by our hostel. When we got there, we saw that the owners of our hostel was also having a family party, complete with pinata and a feast of roast beef, chicken, pork and rice. The owner's wife motioned for us to follow her and took us into the kitchen. She served us a meal of roast beef and rice and explained to us to help ourselves to plenty of salad, reassuring us that she had washed it with purified water. It was such a show of kindness that touched us deeply.

We graciously accepted a plate heaped high with food and sat outside watching the kids take a whack at the pinata and the older kids lighting fireworks on the street. It was loud, exciting, and smoky. And the food was so delicious. Here is a shot of the owner, Moises, and his kids beating the pinata in front of their hostel.



Paul also joined in on the fun and helped the kids with the pinata.



It was getting closer and closer to midnight. I thought about the past year and all that I've accomplished. Mountains, marathons, new job, law school. So much happened and I was so grateful. And to be spending the last day of 2011 in Honduras was such a gift, a real treat, to be there with this family who treated us with such kindness. I told myself, I will never forget them.

Around 11:30, I needed a nap. I was just so tired. We went upstairs to our room to rest for fifteen minutes before heading back to the Parque El Centro.

When it got close to midnight, I didn't know what to expect. I wondered if they were all going to countdown in Spanish. No one did. But I knew it was finally New Year's Day when the real fireworks began. Every major hotel in town began shooting professional fireworks from their rooftops, and the sky lit up with bright, loud explosions and I felt the tears down my face. I was so sublimely happy. I prayed my gratitude and thanks to whatever Great Being was in the heavens and my heart went out to my family, my friends, and co-workers back home. I thought about Paul's family, and his mother, Betty. I thought about my life and everything in it, and I hugged Paul tightly, grateful to have him by my side.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Copan Ruinas- Ancient Maya

Some Background Info

Honduras was home to the Mayan people, who are thought to have arrived in Honduras as early as 1000 BC. This society of people settled in North Western Honduras on the beautiful plains of the Copan River, and built the city of Copan. Honduras has a variety of attractions to offer travelers, and one of the main attractions is the remains of the ancient Mayan city of Copan.




There is archeological evidence that the Copan Valley has been inhabited since as early as 1200 BC. However it was not until AD 426 that Copan was ruled by a royal family. Copan is not the biggest Mayan City in Central America, however it was the predominant cultural centre during the Mayan period. It mounted to be highly advanced in its evolvement of sculptures, astronomy and hieroglyphic writing.

In AD 749 the most famous monument the city ever saw was erected, the spectacular Hieroglyphic Stairway, by King Smoky Shell. The stairway was created in order to perpetuate the success of the kingdom. The inscription found on the hieroglyphic staircase is the longest inscription found in the Mayan world. Initially it was thought that the hieroglyphs found in Copan were firmly rooted in astronomical and calendaric calculations. Through recent investigations it has been discovered that the script actually refers to the life and times of the Mayan rulers.

 There are more than 1250 glyph blocks in its inscription. The stairway is important because many monuments of previous rulers had been destroyed by their successors, and the stairway provides the names and dates of the rulers and furthermore it narrates battles and conquests of these leaders. The final ruler of Copan, U Cit Tok', came to power in AD 822, it is still unknown when he died.

It is only recently that archeologists are beginning to comprehend the reasons behind the collapse of Copan. Amid the last few decades the city saw and immense population growth, and this was a huge strain for the land, which the people of Copan were being agriculturally active on, leading to environmental degradation. The civilization began to migrate to other areas of the valley which were not designed for settlement. Many areas were deforested, and during the monsoon season the land would subsequently flood as there was an increased lack of vegetation to absorb the water. The society not only had to cope with floods during a period climatic fluctuations, but also intense droughts. Scientists have found evidence of malnutrition in the remains they have discovered, and during this period life expectancy decreased dramatically. The valley was not abandoned by the society instantly, it is thought that it was still inhabited for another one or two hundred years.

The first recorded discovery of the ruins was by Diego Garcia de Palacios on March 8th, 1576. It was not until three hundred years later that the history of the ruins was investigated. Archeologists are continuing to make new discoveries in the site. They have divided the site into five phases and it is the fifth phase that is visible to people today. However layers of the other phases are buried underneath the standing ruins. These remains are beginning to be explored today through the means of underground tunnels, two of which are now open to the public.

-Mayan Ruins of Copan, by Lowri Gilbert

This information was found at: http://travel-to-honduras.com/travel/honduras-mayan-ruins-of-copan.php

*****
Ok, now that I got that out of the way and you have some educational background about the Mayans and the ruins at Copan, I will continue with my narrative of my experience there.

So after breakfast, we set out on a hike across town to get to the ruins by foot. We picked up some bottled water, threw our cameras and notepads in our day packs, and set out for the road. The young daughter of the woman who runs the hostel we're staying at drew us a little picture of the route to take to get to the ruins. I was getting more and more excited by the minute.

The city of Copan was a lot more lively during the daytime. As we walked through the narrow cobblestone streets, people were shouting and selling handmade crafts and little tacos smelling all kinds of yummy every street we walked down. The market called out to me and I wanted to partake in the fun of it all, but the ruins were a-waitin'. As we walked farther away from town, down a country road that would lead us to the ruins, I could not contain my excitement.

But then we came to a fork in the road. To the right, the ruins were less than 1 km away. To the left there was a 4 km road that would take us to Macaw Moutain, where the native birds of Honduras dwell. Colorful, beautiful, tropical macaws. We couldn't say no.

So we began trekking up the steep hillside and immediately sweat poured down our faces and backs. But it felt good to hike. Along the way, we saw wooden shacks, with dirt floors. I realized people lived inside. Here is a picture of me in front of one:



That shack behind me there- is someone's home.
It was shocking. I couldn't fathom what life would be like living in there, and I was drowned in these thoughts as we continued to hike up the hill. It was a quiet, peaceful hike. It was wonderful to be out there, on a country road, under the clear, blue Honduran sky, hiking up the road and feeling the good burning throughout my legs, my core, and my back, heading towards the macaws. Here is a picture of the greenery all around me:



After a long, hot, sweaty hike which we thoroughly enjoyed, we finally arrived at the bird sanctuary. We joined a guided tour of the place, and saw many different kinds of birds. We saw cocoa plants, big spiders, and owls, parakeets, toucans and macaws. Here is a picture of a toucan, our tour guide and a macaw:



 


It was a lot of fun. I fell in love with these owls:

 

The first one had these big, beautiful dark eyes and he stared back at me with such intent, I wanted to make him mine.

After our tour and a cup of fresh coffee, we decided to hop on a tuck-tuck and get a ride to the ruins. I couldn't wait any longer. Here's us in a tuck-tuck:

 

And off we went!

******
Because of our pit stop, it was already pretty late in the day. But we didn't mind. We had every intention of going back the following day. So by the time we arrived, the park was only open for another hour or so.
We took a guide and allowed her to show us around. When we began walking down the path, several macaws flew over our heads, taking our breath away. It was beautiful. When I finally caught my first glimpse of the ruins, my heart skipped a beat. The ancient ruins of the Maya completed my trifecta of seeing the ruins of the Aztecs, the Incas, and now the Mayans. We immediately climbed the first pyramid we saw and took in the view from atop. It was grand.

 


The intricate carvings are astonishing. It was breathtaking to see that so many centuries ago, they were able to carve these designs into rock and here we were, standing in front of it, centuries later, marveling in all of its glory. It really humbles you and you think about how advanced these people were to be able to produce such art with perfection. Seeing these carvings made me feel connected to people who existed thousands of years ago. I can see how they would have bent over a giant piece of rock, and how they would chisel or carve away on the hard surface to painstakingly create a curve or a ditch, blowing on it and working day after day to smooth its sides. There is no denying the hard work and effort they put into creating such intricate sculptures.

 


Ancient, I tell you. Old-ass stuff. Puts the world into perspective and how far we've come, and where we were. It's amazing to see the passage of time, and everything trivial in my life suddenly doesn't matter. We are a blink of an eye. Long after I'm gone, this thing will still be standing here. And then you begin to think about how you can make a mark on this earth while you are here.







So as the day began coming to a close, we decided to take a few more looks around and just come back the following day. We were getting hungry. We took a few more shots of the digs and began walking out of the park.

For dinner, we wanted to try some street food- so we went straight for those delicious smelling tacos and satisfied our hunger. They were pretty darn good. And so darn cheap. And fresh. Again, no preservatives, no chemicals. We plopped down on the side of the road and chowed down, taking in the night scene.


 

We walked around, trying to work off our filling meal, and tried to chat with the locals in more of our broken Spanish. It's amazing though, how much of what I learned came back to me, and I was able to get a few compliments from them- they commented about how well I spoke Spanish, and I was pleased to be able to understand them when they said that. We walked up steeper streets to get exercise, and talked about what more we wanted to do. We definitely wanted to go back to the ruins, check out their museums, and maybe try horseback riding. Also, the next day was New Year's Eve. We couldn't wait to see how the Hondurans celebrated their New Year's. In our scattered conversations with the locals, Paul kept asking about the "Apocalypto" and how they all felt about the Mayan calendar ending. That brought about a lot of laughs from the Hondurans. They giggled when Paul would widen his eyes, raise his arms, and say "Apocalypto!" in his animated way. And it was funny and surprising to me when I saw that they all understood what Paul meant. From what I can gather, they reassured us that life is a cycle, and the Mayan calendar ending is only the end of the previous cycle. At least we heard it from the source. The world will not end in 2012, sorry to disappoint you.

We then hit up some souvenir shops, and met some really nice salesfolks who had cute ways of making a sale. This one particular store I liked had a girl who would tell us "It really costs 300 limperas, but I'll give to you for 250." She pretty much used that line for everything, and it worked. I bought quite a lot of trinkets from that store. They had some nice things, and I just liked her sales method. It was cute. I tried to pick out authentic things, things that would bring back special memories, something I'd treasure. I have a hard time buying things for myself when I travel, but I've learned over time that every single knick knack I pick up becomes absolutely precious when I'm back home in California. They are all one of a kind and special and worth so much more than the dollar amount I pay for them.

After a healthy amount of souvenir shopping and walking around aimlessly, fully enjoying just the act of wandering down unfamiliar streets, we finally headed back to our hostel and spent the rest of the evening playing with the owner's adorable little boy:

  

*****

The next morning was New Year's Eve Day. We were giddy and excited to go back to the ruins. We found another great breakfast nook and had a filling, delicious breakfast of El Tipico:

  

And then we immediately set out for the road again. Here's a picture of the road:



When we got there, we took our time, without a guide, just walking around and taking it all in. We marveled at the giant trees, the jungle-like growth on the pyramids, the age-old stones with all of their carvings, and imagined what a Mayan empire might have been like in its hayday.
 

Above is a shot of Paul standing over the ball court. They say that during the Mayan civilization, they held fighting competitions there, and they would kill the winners. I could almost hear the screams, the bashing of bones on the rock, and the blood dripping from the steps and onto the grass. The cheering and the booing. Us humans have a history of enjoying violence for sport. It goes way back, doesn't it?

We checked out the museum and saw a replica of the temple that used to stand on the holy grounds:



Most of all, we were so happy to have visited another country where we can learn about another culture, an ancient civilization, and expand our horizons even more. The study of another language, another world, another race- it allows us to see beyond our world and our lives, and learn to appreciate diversity and it enriches our own experiences to be able to be grateful for what we have and be open to others' views. I couldn't think of a better way to spend the last day of 2011.

 

After spending the day at the ruins, we were eager to partake in the celebration of New Year's Eve.

***to be continued.