Exploring Esperanza

The steep steps challenged us as we clambered up, eager to get to the top. Once we reached the summit it was a mixture of vibrant green vegetation with sights over the entire city: from the fresh markets, to the bus station, to our favourite taco joint. Your eye is met by colourful rooftops: blue, red, yellow and more. Your soul is filled with the crashes of the marching band and the chatter of windchimes. To the right is a vast array of forest, to the left the bustling city. We are met by mountains on all sides. The city works its way into all of your senses and I’m so glad we can call this place home. 

Exploring Esperanza. We started here, at the look out over the entire city, which is now one of our favourite places ever. 

 

We then worked out way through the busy grid system, drinking in the sights of market stalls, fresh fruit and the cobbled streets. Colourful murals decorate the city walls, bringing even more radiance to the city, and sometimes messages of hope. La Esperanza is the City of Hope and it certainly feels that way when you are there. We met so many new, interesting people whilst exploring. From the man who worked at the lookout, to the woman who showed us kindness by giving us free lychees to especially the woman whose house we went into for waffles – this city is full of friendly people. 

(With ancestral strength of our ancestors, we raise our voices full of life and justice) 

Everything seems different here and we’re adjusting to this new way of life. For example, whilst wandering through a side street, I happened to notice a sign for “Crepes, Waffles, Baldeados + Chocobananos”. I hadn’t had waffles since the UK, so we timidly knocked on the door + called out hello. Turns out it was simply a comedor: where people sell you food in their living rooms. It’s such a unique experience to get to chat to locals and although my Spanish still isn’t up to scratch enough for lengthy converses, Giselle being fluent really does help. This woman not only served us amazing waffles (for only 20L!) but also gave us advice about the city like where most robberies happen, etc. She had the cutest sign up as well that we just thought was a perfect message to send out to people:

“Become friends with people who aren’t your age, converse with people whose first language isn’t yours, go about meeting people who aren’t from your social class.

That’s how you get to know the world. That’s how you grow.” 

Although all of this was lovely, when we went to ask to use the loo before we went it was a less joyous occasion. Here’s a top tip: never judge a Honduran by their toilet! This is especially true when, on Thursday, we were grocery shopping + Giselle needed the toilet. We asked the shop assistants where the nearest public baño was + they kindly allowed us to use the one in the shop (weirdest experience here yet). 

Whilst I’m on the topic of Spanish, I should mention that it’s one of my goals to improve it this year. Hearing it so much really does help and I am picking up words here and there as well as remembering phrases I’ve previously learnt. I didn’t anticipate how often I’d have to use it though, as the first time was collecting our baggage in the airport! Everyone else’s had come though and panic began to set in.. where was my bag? I wandered to the other side of the line, where I saw it had fallen off the conveyer belt. I decided to go to a security guard say “ayúdame por favor” then point to the bag saying “aquí” – such is my incredible Spanish skill. Since then I’ve had brief conversations with Marta about washing, I try and translate as much as possible whilst we’re out and about + obviously I listen to Spanish music (essential 😉 ). 

Back to Esperanza though. After meeting Skarleth we headed back out into the city, taking random turns until we fell upon Mary’s. This is a thrift shop that we hear so much about, so we decided to check it out. There were huge buckets of clothes starting at 5L and Giselle found some Levi shorts whilst I grabbed 2 t-shirts. The only problem was, one of the shop assistants began to hit on us. I was practically wearing PJs (baggiest clothes I own) which I thought would stop cat calling but I think it’s due to us being English. Anyways, it started off him asking us where we were from, a brief conversation about English football (he was Man U whilst I support the Hammers for my Dad) then he asked Giselle out for beer and dancing. We have a sneaky suspicious “beer and dancing” is Honduran for “Netflix and chill” 😉 this was the only other time my Spanish has been super useful as I managed to translate to Giselle that he’d asked her on a date, go me! After the excitement that was Mary’s we continued along the street. It was a whole road of clothes shops, including one shop containing the most ropa I’d ever seen in one gathering:

After this we were starving so headed black to our usual place for hot dogs – will it ever get old? By this point we were super tired from our day out + headed back up to the bus station, grabbing some Honduran ice cream on the way home.   

I got to FaceTime my mum when we got home for about 30 minutes before Giselle received a call from Rachel (one of the teachers) asking if we were ready to go out. She then realised she forgot to tell us but we were having dinner at the Sermon’s house + they were 2 minutes away. We threw on fresh clothes + sprinted out the door, before hopping in the back of the truck + taking a breath-taking ride there. 

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We absolutely love doing this! The evening was full of food, laughter + board games. It is spontaneous (in our case) evenings like this that make me appreciate life in Honduras so much. After such an amazing day out we were able to collapse into beds with huge smiles on our faces. 

Here’s to our first week of teaching, which began yesterday! 

That’s all for now from a little pink house in Yamaranguila, 

Charlotte x  

Settling In

We’ve officially been in Yamaranguila for a week now and it’s amazing. I have to say, there was one day where it was hard, where Giselle + I were both sat on the floor (lack of chairs) thinking we couldn’t do this. However, we simply dried off, went to bed and woke up with a fresh perspective. The day in question was the day of the famous attempt to reach the Yam waterfall, where we started the adventure looking like this: 

But ended it 30 minutes later after torrential downpour looking like this: 

We were completely soaked from head to toe. I felt ill, Giselle fell over and then we had 3 hours of washing to do (no joke). So this taught us a couple of things: A) rainy reason really does mean rainy season and B) life here isn’t always as smooth as we are use to. (Also C) never attempt to do big loads of washing all in one go) 

Besides that one day I can honestly say I over this week we have adjusted to Honduran life. We are loving it here!! 

This week was our first working week in the school, where we have been organising classrooms. It’s hit me how much work there is for teachers to do before school even begins! I was in my grade (2) with Mrs Looney who I’ll be assisting this year for the first two days. What I found odd was that it’s done like it is in America where each classroom has to have a theme – although it has made it more fun! I then went to help in K5 for the rest of the week (there was a lot of work to be done) where I may or may not have been sidetracked by all of the Dr Seuss things.. 😉 here is the wonderful team we get to work with this year:

Although I’ll put in a picture of the school I don’t think it’ll do it justice (they never do) so let me explain. Our beautiful little school is full to winding paths, greenery + white walled buildings that are classrooms  which are covered with amazing drawings. The school is surrounded by pine trees + in the distance there is the view of the mountains – it’s hard not to get distracted by the scenery as we work. We also have been buying lunch at school all week (45L) because the food is simply off the charts: especially the rice + fried chicken – YUM! 

In our home life, things have picked up hugely this week. Massive thank you to the Looneys who sorted us out with more cutlery + plates meaning I no longer have to eat out of a pan… (the face is because I was trying the jam here for the first time – an experience in itself)

A huge thank you to Jake who sorted out our water so we’ve had our first hot shower in Honduras! Yay! You honestly don’t know how much you appreciate it until it’s gone – we couldn’t even get under the stream of chilling water it was so cold. We also have the house looking more like a home as all of our sheets + duvet covers finally dried on Friday meaning we don’t have to sleep in sleeping bags anymore. Tuesday night we spent the entire evening decorating the apartment, putting up our pictures of home (I went a little over the top bringing 150 but as the Honduras volunteer with the lightest backpack [around 11.9kg] I think it’s okay!) as well as fairy lights so it feels super cute now! Here’s me with one section of my photos:

Aside from school it’s been a busy first week: Giselle was 18 on Wednesday!! This meant a sleepover round the American teacher’s house featuring: chicken curry, Lion King, cupcakes and warm showers – as well as them treating us to use of the washing machine. Normally we’ve been washing by hand, which is fine but one of our lovely neighbours actually had to show us how to wash clothes the first time we did it – slightly embarrassing. We were filling up a bucket with cold water then rinsing in another bucket (a lot of effort) so Marta showed us how to use La Pila (you rub the clothes on it = much much quicker + it drains itself) so although hand washing is still slightly annoying it’s nowhere near as bad as it was for that 1st hour!! 

Then Thursday was the dreaded day.. results day! It was weird to go into school + sit on the steps of the office (wifi spot) so I could let my email load. Thankfully the hard work paid off + I’m going to my firm University (Nottingham to do a Law degree) so I’m over the moon with my results! To celebrate we bought cinnamon swirls after lunch then, when going into the town for a food shop, we stopped off at or favourite taco bar for another £1 dinner of hot dogs 🙂 huge huge thanks to my loving family + friends for putting up with me when I was super stressed + revising, you rock! 

Friday we treated ourselves after a long week. Firstly we went to scout out chocobanano (a delicacy here) which we’d been told cost 3L a piece. When we finally tracked them down we paid the guy, saying it was 3L but he said “no, it’s 4L” – we thought we were being ripped off so Giselle pointed out our friends got them for 3L. Well. When he gave us the change we realised it was 4L for both – a bonus as they were cheaper than we thought!! Then we had a movie night which included stir fry (shout out to Giselle, head chef here), Ice Age which had us laughing the whole way through + our beds fresh with duvets. It was ace. 

I know this has been a blog post of just describing things that have happened, but later this week I’ll be posting something I’m very excited for! To keep you in suspense, for now I will just say it’s called: Exploring Esperanza 🙂 

Today we’ve had a chilled Sunday, filled with cleaning the apartment, a huge clothes wash and going out in Yam to buy some fruit. We now have some wifi in the house which is amazing because I get to FaceTime people that I’m really missing + show them what life here is like! Tonight will be letter writing to those back home as well, but for now… 

Wishing everyone a lovely week ahead, from a little pink house in Yamaranguila,

Charlotte x

Ps. The pink house: 

The Beginning

Honduras captures your heart like no other place. As soon as you fly in you are met with the fields of bananas. When you drive you see blankets of green rising from the ground, with only one word that sums it up: wild. The colourful houses stand strong on the roads, bringing variety amongst the landscape. I wish it could be captured in pictures but that is just part of the beauty – it has to be seen in person.

There are lots of surprising things, for example barely a mile out of San Pedro (major city) you see the shacks, the homeless dogs, the reality for most people here. It does make me feel we are here to help though, in whatever way we can. 

After a 10 hour flight (featuring movies like Moana, food + chatting with other Project girls) we landed in Houston, Texas. Giselle + I were so excited because neither of us had been to that state before. We freaked out passing a mega sized Target + then the group went out for some really good tacos. The staff at the hotel were lovely + even gave us breakfast bags for the next day (very useful). After a much quicker flight we were here: Honduras! It actually hit us we’d be spending 12 months here and we were excited just to look around. Around 10 of us went for training with our Vida school. There was pizza, lots of introductions with American teachers and even a ride on a yellow, old American style school bus. 

We proceeded to spend 3 days in Gracias which was so amazing! The Vida school there is so pretty with views of the mountains, enclosed by trees. It was lovely to have the 3 days of training, to spend time with the other teachers + get to know Honduras a little better. The days whizzed by because we filled them with: a visit to the hot springs, playing card games, going out for pizza + walks around Gracias – as well as actually training 😉 we were quickly introduced to typical Honduran food so breakfast can be: incredible French toast style stuff with jam, eggs, avocado, tortillas, refrief beans, etc whereas lunch is: typically a meat (we’ve tasted some incredible fried chicken at the school), rice, tortillas, refried beans, sometimes enchilladas, etc with dinner being a variation of this (although we’ve had some ace meals out too). The bestest thing was an absolutely off the charts cinnamon swirl the school served – I could eat that all day. Our hotel was SO cute, a sort of morrocan style with an open courtyard in the middle and we loved it.

It was then time for the group to shrink again as Giselle + I headed out to Yamaranguila, where I write this from now. This place is truly stunning. We live in a very pink (I mean pink) apartment with our kitchen, room + bathroom. It’s very quaint + although at the start may look slightly sparse I’m sure we’ll soon have it looking lovely. Huge shout out + thank you to our predecessors + the American teachers who donated SO MUCH to us including: bedding, a sleeping bag, clothes, super cute flowers we’ve hung + an advice book.

When we arrived we went to La Esperanza + ate hotdogs and had bags (!) of water for 30 Lempira (that’s only £1 for the meal) then went shopping!! Giselle + I wandered the market, picking fresh fruit + veg before going to the big supermarket. It’s so so weird to have to cook for ourselves and although we love the freedom when you are actually budgeting + meal planning it becomes harder. 

We’ve had a lovely two days: having a taco dinner with the other teachers, going to church + out for lunch with some teachers and exploring our new home. We’ve already had some incredible new experiences, including a ride in the back of an open truck! 

I’m not saying there hasn’t been problems because trust me, there has been. We’re still trying to figure out the hot water in our place, we couldn’t wash things the first day and we’re running low on essentials like cutlery. However, we are just realising these can be overcome. One of our neighbours is very sweet + showed us the washing station today so we can now get cleaning!! We are figuring out life here, slowly but surely. Although there are sometimes annoying moments.. for example today we tried to get to the Yam Yam waterfall but not even a 1/4 of the way there the Heavens opened on us + we became completely drenched, Giselle fell over + we paddled back through the stream… we’ve just spent the whole time laughing. I’m more positive (now we’re back in the dry, warmer house) that we can do this. There are some amazing things, as well as meeting our neighbours I’m friends with many of the animals that chill outside our house. Featured below is Oscar, who we bump into occasionally walking around Yam Yam + walks us home – he’s super cute. The only problem is they all wait outside our door so we hear meows, etc a lot! The other amazing thing is when it gets late not only is there an incredible view of the stars but every night there is lightning that lights up the entire sky. It’s pretty fantastic to watch 🙂 

This place is the complete opposite of what we’re use to, but we love it already. 

Hasta luego from a little pink house in Yamaranguila,

Charlotte 

The Adventure Begins…

Hi Everyone!

I can’t quite believe I am writing this, but tomorrow I will be flying out to Honduras!! This year has completely whizzed past, I cannot believe I was getting ready for selection this time last summer and now I have a jam packed backpack all ready to go to Latin America :O This week I had my last jabs, completed a final car boot sale.. it looks like I am ready to leave.

Before I get into Honduras, the goodbyes and everything else there are some things I should write that are well-overdue. We have to, of course, start with the thank yous that go out to everyone who has helped me with my fundraising this past year. It has definitely not been easy: there’s been rough patches, exams and all the rest but we’ve pulled through regardless! We have raised a ridiculous amount of money (it’s quite inconceivable) and my incredibly selfless mum (more on her later) is carrying on raising the last bit whilst I am gone.

A MASSIVE thank you to everyone who has helped in any way – whether that be a donation, access to a venue, giving a raffle prize, spreading the word + all the other help I’ve received. You’ve certainly made the year easier but more importantly made it more enjoyable, I’ve felt like this year is more than just time out of my education, it is actually going to have a positive impact.

To the people I served at the Sidewalk, especially my regulars (shout out to the lovely Welshy Helen 😉 ), thank you for being so wonderful, for being patient with me if I ever messed up anything + making the days so enjoyable. On this note, a huge thanks to the Sidewalk (https://www.sidewalkcoffee.co.uk/) for all of their help this year – you’re a super part of the community!

To my amazing family, Spanish + British, you guys have been incredible, thank you for your love and support of my (maybe) crazy idea to go to Honduras for 12 months 🙂 I will miss you guys so much but postcards will be coming your way!

For my bestest buds who’ve been at nearly every event I’ve done, the amount you’ve helped me is indescribable – you’re my moral support and sometimes emergency printers (sorry!) but you’ve been ace 😀

Finally, my incredible mum is the reason why I’ve been able to do this year in the first place. You’ve been at literally everything I’ve done, there’s been constant work in the background and I think it is fair to say we’ve had a blast this year – even when it has been pouring it down with rain at car boots – I’ve loved every second.

To everyone that I love: I’m going to miss you SO much but I will be back in a year and ready to bore you to death with all of my Honduran stories 😉

This past week has been full of goodbyes: to pets, family, friends and more. I will miss everyone so much but you can always contact me via letter should you need me! However, this is not the end of the blog as I have been chosen to work with Project Trust as one of their PT Correspondents 2017/18! I’m so excited to get blogging from Honduras, sharing my experiences and pictures with you all so be expecting a whole lot of fun, especially since it is Project’s 50th year!! Thanks to Project for this ace opportunity + for all of their help so far 🙂

Pictured below are just some of the people I will love and miss after our goodbyes this week:

Hasta Luego to all,

Charlotte xx