Why do they call it Labour Day when you get the day off of work?

I am sorry that it has been so long since my last post. Life has been very busy and very tiring, and I just haven't gotten around to posting. I am sorry that I didn't report on the Copan trip in detail, but there are pictures on my Facebook if you want to look at those (and more coming soon!). And there will be more pictures from this trip; one of the guides brought a camera and he's going to give us all of the pictures he took soon. And he took some very good ones. And also please ignore any typos or spelling errors. I'm tired and too lazy to read through this whole thing to check for errors or edit my sentences. Usually I like to do that (I generally don't like the first drafts of my work), but not today.

But now on to the last trip! Since last weekend was a three-day weekend, Mary and Dad and I were kind of discussing what we should do on Monday. We never really talked about it, though I suggested going up to La Tigra to go hiking, because Melissa didn't have the day off of school (she has half of the American holidays and half of the Honduran holidays; it's strange). So I was just planning on some sort of day trip. However, on Thursday or Friday Melissa and I were informed that we were going to Tela for the whole three-day weekend, and that we were leaving Saturday at 7:00 am. I had been receiving emails all week (as did everyone else in the Embassy) from the Spanish Instructor about this Spanish Immersion tour that was going to Tela for the weekend. Tela is on the north coast of Honduras, about a 5 1/2 hour very bumpy bus ride from Teguc. I didn't think we were going, because it was very expensive and the schedule was very full, and I don't really enjoy vacations where you can't sleep in or have much free time. When I found out that we were going (by telling the parents that I wanted to talk about the weekend and being informed that we had already paid for it), it wasn't going on the trip that was upsetting. It was the fact that we never discussed it as a family. I know Melissa is not technically an adult yet, but I feel that we deserve to be treated as adults and as responsible members of the family when it comes to making those sort of decisions. I was just upset that we never sat down, as a family, and said, "hey, here are our options. If we don't want to go on this trip, what else can we do?" We never had that discussion, and that (plus the fact that I had to get up earlier to go on vacation than I normally do to go to work) made us all a little grumpy come Saturday morning. (*The trip turned out all right; nothing like what I wanted, but there were some good elements.)

We were on a tour bus sort of thing, but it was kind of older, so though it did have televisions, it didn't have a bathroom and the air conditioning stopped working a couple of hours into the trip. I slept most of the way, and we stopped at a rest stop/restaurant called Bongo's for breakfast. They had a buffet style and it was actually pretty good. Their pinapple was better than it is here in Teguc. There was also a lot of cheap crap for sale, including some very ugly and very tacky t-shirts, which none of us bought. After we had satisfied our hunger, it was back on the bus to Tela! They did show a couple of movies. I didn't watch them because I was sleeping, but I think it was Evan Almighty and The Devil Wears Prada (*which is interesting, and you'll know why later).
When we finally got to Tela, we checked into the hotel, put our things in our little room (which was one of four in a sort of house; they were all next to each other and they were actually quite nice), and went to lunch. The hotel is very nice, which is probably why it was so expensive, but we were in the older part. They are remodeling and were working on some newer buildings on the other side (we never heard anything). The first thing we noticed when we got there is that it is very humid and warm. It wasn't too much of a problem, except that I was wearing jeans, one of the only two pairs of pants I had brought (which proved to be a problem) and I was anxious to get into the water. However, we had a trip planned soon after lunch.

We all got back on the bus and drove a little way out of town to a botanical park called Lancetilla. I have no idea what that means, so don't ask. We sat in the bus for almost half an hour outside of the entrance, because the guy at the front decided that there was no one in the park so it was ok to close it, and we had to argue with him to let us in. I think because of that, our visit wasn't very long. We saw this crazy tree coming in (second picture) that had all of these weird hanging bird's nests in it. The tree was standing alone in a kind of field, and we have no idea what type of birds they were or why they decided to only roost in that tree. The world sure is full of mysteries. Also, strangely, there was a lot of bamboo in this park, but it was very beautiful, and there was one section of the park where you had to walk through a tunnel of it. There was also this crazy weird spiky plant. All in all, it wasn't that exciting, but it was pretty, and it was nice to walk around after being in a car all day. When we got back, we ate dinner (all of the meals were in one restaurant, and they were all buffet, which was kind of nice) and then Melissa and I decided to go swimming. No, wait. I think we went swimming before dinner. I suppose it doesn't really matter. Anyway, it was already dark, and so we went swimming in the pool (of which there were two) and this pool was freakin' awesome. There was a little kid end, with a platform with slides, and then a middle, with bridges and a little islands with palm trees that were like showers and a slide, and then the far end, that had a volley ball net and a bar. There was also a section of the side that had fountains coming out of the ground, like the thing outside of the Crate in Medford. Melissa and I enjoyed ourselves, mostly sliding down the slide, which we discovered was really fun to do on your stomach (though it was also painful; I still have bruises on my hips). After that, we were so exhausted that we just went to bed.

The next day was very interesting, and a lot of fun. After breakfast, we took a van (*not recommended; we were sitting on benches on the side of the back of this van, and there were no seatbelts. We also took this van to "Miami.") to a place in town, right up next to a delta, where we all got life jackets and got into a boat to visit Punta Sal. However, soon after, we had to push this boat across a sand bar so that we could get into the ocean. This was actually one of my favourite parts of the trip. We had to push the boat into the waves, and I helped everyone get on, and as the waves came higher and higher, I gave my cell phone to Melissa (after realizing that it was in my pocket, which was getting covered with waves. Oops), and then when everyone was in, I jumped up into the boat. Then we drove on the open sea for about 35 minutes to get to Punta Sal. This was awesome. I have never traveled on the open sea, especially in so little of a boat (see picture below; above is Punta Sal), and it was wonderful to ride the boat and look out into the ocean and see nothing but sky and sea. I loved watching the swell bob up and down, and I realized how wonderful and loving the ocean is, and how kind of a mother she is, housing so many millions of creatures. It also made me realize that I never want to be shipwrecked on the open ocean.

This is everyone on the boat. The people in the row behind Melissa were not part of our group. They were actually engineers from Wyoming on vacation and happened to be on the same tour as us. We told them that we worked at the American Embassy, and to call us if they ever lost their passports. Punta Sal, when we got there, was very beautiful. We went right up to the shore (which was about two inches wide) and disembarked so that we could hike through the jungle. Unfortunately, nobody ever told us that were were going to be doing any hiking, and so most of us were in flip flops, and we had two broken flip flops within the first ten. I think everyone managed all right though. Our guide, Alberto, told us that generally it would be ok, but if he started running to run too, and not ask questions, because he had seen a jaguar and wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. We didn't see a jaguar. However, we did see howler monkeys, that we woke up and got yelled at by them because of it. I think one of my life goals has been fulfilled. I have seen a monkey in the wild. How cool. We did take one little detour, and went and stood in a little bay, where apparently Captain Morgan buried some treasure (which is why they really don't let anyone in there) and where the land curves around to form the bay. I was looking out of the entrance, and into the sea, and I realized that what I wanted more than anything was for a pirate ship to come around one of the sides of the bay just then. It didn't happen. When we were finished hiking, we got back in the boat and dropped the other tourists off on the other side of the island (at a house; don't worry, we didn't abandon them) and we were supposed to go snorkling there, but the water was too murky, so we ended up just going back. We helped push the boat across the bar again, but then we realized that our hotel was just down the beach, so most of us walked back.

After eating lunch and taking a short nap, we all met up again to go visit this Garifuna community called Miami. Melissa didn't go because she wasn't feeling well, and it's a good thing she didn't, because we were in that crazy van again, but this time we were driving over really bumpy, sandy roads with a crazy crazy driver. Dad (who, by the way, has a cracked rib, from falling on it while playing Ultimate Frisbee) was in a lot of pain, so he rode back in the nice truck. That had seat belts. And air conditioning. But Miami was ok. It was really awkward, because there weren't a lot of people around, and we literally just walked through their living spaces. Each family would have a different building for cooking, for sleeping, for gathering, and we just kind of walked through it all. It was awkward. And there were lots of sand fleas and I got bitten up the wazoo, because although I did put bug spray on, I then rolled up my pants and took off my shoes. Silly me. Above is a picture of the little village.

After walking around for approximately fifteen minutes, we got into another boat, and this time toured a lagoon. It was rather pretty, but by that time I was really tired and a little sick of boats, but everyone was going so I didn't have much of a choice. We saw these cool tangle root trees in the water (above) and then we saw some cool birds (mostly egrets, pelicans, and cormorants, but we did see this cool pink bird, that had a flat beak). The best part about that trip was that the sun was setting behind the edge of the lagoon, so we got some good pictures of that (the first one, and then I like this one because of the pelican in it). So by the time we got back into the cars to leave, it was dark. Our van got stuck (of course), so we had to all help push it out, and then we got to drive back on that same bumpy road, only this time in the dark, which is a lot scarier in my opinion. However, we made it safely back to the hotel, with just enough time for dinner. When we got to the restaurant, however, we found that it was no longer buffet style, and we were the only ones there. I think it was because since it was an American holiday tomorrow, we were staying an extra day, but all of the Hondurans had to go back to work. But I had some Parmesan chicken and a virgin lime margarita and quite enjoyed myself. Melissa and I were going to go on a walk after dinner, but it was really dark on the beach and crabs kept pinching her (her, not me) and so we just went to bed.
But you see, a vacation at the beach is not a vacation at the beach until you go swimming in the ocean. We had no time to do that before, because we were always off doing other things, but I was determined to spend time in the Caribbean before I left.

And so, the next morning, even though I could have slept in, I got up early and went to breakfast so that I could play in the ocean before we left that morning at ten. I should have gotten up earlier, because breakfast took longer than I thought it would (pancakes with cinnamon sugar; I've never tried that before, and it's really good) and so we got a grand total of 45 minutes in the water. Pooh. But it was enjoyable while it lasted. We swam out to meet the waves, and toward the end, the tide was coming out and so we would be pushed toward the shore by the incoming waves and then (sometime simultaneously) we would be pushed back towards the ocean by the outgoing waves. The water wasn't really clear, but it was still refreshing and still fun.

After playing in the water, we went back to our rooms, showered and packed, and then got back on the bus to go home. Another long drive, and this time they only played one movie (Ratatouille, which is a really good movie) and we got home at about six in the evening. Long day, long trip, and even though it wasn't ideal, there were some elements that I enjoyed, and so it was all right. This is a picture of me and Dad swimming in the ocean. Go Melissa (she took the picture) for getting the big boat in the background. And now that I'm looking at this picture, I am realizing how strange and fake Dad and I look. We look like Legos. And our arms are at almost the exact same angle. Weird. So yeah. It wasn't the best trip and I wish we had discussed our options before diving into something like this, but it was kind of fun. And we got to practice our Spanish a little bit with people from the North Coast (who are hard to understand, for me) and with the Spanish instructor.
Well, I guess that's it for now. I was going to write about a couple more things, but this is long enough as it is, and it would be changing the subject, so I won't go into that. Stay tuned for now, and you can always go on Facebook to see more pictures. I love you all, and hope you enjoy reading about my adventures! Oh, and I'll get some pictures of the house up here soon. Love to all! Shalom.