Travel Tales #4 – Lago de Yojoa

• Lago de Yojoa, Honduras

• Hours travelled: 4 hours on the bus

• Distance travelled: 66.7 km

• Transport: bus, bus, bus

• Rating: 8

Another one of our weekend adventures began with us waking up at 3:50 on Saturday morning. The original plan was that we’d have time for Giselle to shower however we forgot the water isn’t on during the night. At least we had lots of time to get ready! At 5 we were ready at the bus stop, but (typical Honduras) it didn’t arrive until 5:30. We were wrapped in a blanket feeling the chill of the morning, especially when the wind blew. It was dark, cold + a little odd to be sat at the side of the road at that time, but we just laughed – this is our life now.

Eventually a bus arrived + soon we were at the bigger bus stop, having the pleasure of using the toilets – to be avoided if at all possible. It cost 3L for the pleasure of the most disgusting smell ever to hit my nose but there was no water at home so we simply had to use them. On the bus there was another awkward encounter, when 3 guys thought it would be funny to continuously cat call us. Not even with normal things, but saying stuff like “it’s cold outside but you’ll make me warm” – bleh. Both in Spanish + English, which they found awkward when they discovered we spoke spanish. Thankfully after me whipping out my evil glare + staring them down for 5 minutes they stopped + got off at Sigua. We, however, continued on the bumpy road to La Guma.

Here we hopped off + quickly transferred to the smaller bus to take us to Peñablanca which was only 10L (I love how cheap life is) + once there got on our 1st moto taxi!! Although the roads were extremely bumpy + I was trying my best to keep all my limbs inside the small machine it was ace!

Soon we arrived at D&D which is in the most beautiful setting, featuring lots of tropical trees, birds + winding stone paths. We really enjoyed walking around + sitting in the outside restaurant to recover from our travelling.

Whilst we waited for Cielo + Bethany to arrive (the volunteers from El Progresso we were meeting) we took a walk around the area. This walk included: chocobananos (waaay better in Yam), cheap baleadas + attempting to walk to the lake. The latter of these ended in someone suggesting we take a tour with them + Giselle pretending not to speak Spanish (which is hilarious).

Eventually Cielo + Bethany arrived + after much debate, + speaking to some guy called Walter for ages, we deceived to kayak on the river. My biggest advice is don’t do this with D&D – we found a place that did it for 80L each (so we thought). We set off even though the weather wasn’t particularly warm (it never seems to be when we go away) in shorts. Once there the guy let us know it was actually 100L for kayaking but as we only had 80L on us they let us have it! Bonus! The very kind woman even gave us jumpers so we wouldn’t be cold.

We headed to the river where the men placed the kayaks leading to me half jumping, half falling into ours. We went for double ones which was such a good idea! It took a while to adjust to it but soon Giselle + I were off zooming (sorta) through the river. Naturally, we asked some locals if there were any crocodiles or dangerous animals + once we’d been assured there wasn’t we could relax.

It took some time but eventually we rounded a huge bend and there, rising from the waters, was a huge black mass of land. The lake stretched on for miles + great mountains closed it in. As we sat there taking it all in the fog began to curl down these + honestly it was a pretty surreal experience. It was so peaceful – such a soul feeding experience. There we were, just 4 British girls, sitting on the biggest lake in Honduras. It was in this moment that I was hit with just how crazy it felt to realise we live in Honduras. Sure, I’d thought about it most of the year before coming, but it’s so much better than I even imagined!

Right, to stop myself from drifting into a Honduras appreciation post I’ll just say we decided to head back before it got dark + this time Cielo + Bethany were way ahead. Not to worry anyone at home (we were wearing life jackets!) we decided to jump in. Here it is as told through GoPro pictures:

Surprisingly it wasn’t too cold! That is, until we hit out 😉 this was the tricky part + I have funny memories of us slipping on the steep bank + heaving the kayaks up to the shop.

The rest of the night saw us treat ourselves to the one thing we’ve really missed… fish.

It was an incredible meal, except the fact some guys from the US military tried to get us to go to some bonfire with them, bought us drinks, etc. I think they got the correct vibes off me + eventually left. We then had some issues with bugs, etc in the room but thankfully managed to sort it out before an early start. Giselle + I even left our mark on D&D:

We headed down the road to a super cute little coffee shop, as we didn’t want to spend D&D prices on breakfast. I had such a yummy desayuno típico (mi favorito) with a coffee – how Honduran!

We sat there planning future travels in the very aesthetic shop with some lovely chilled music playing in the background. Then we headed into the little town of Peñablanca which was such a traditional town! We stumbled across a little shop where we bought some Christmas presents, got 5L ice creams + found a licuado store! Shout out to strawberry, banana + granola licuados for increasing my happiness 🙂

We were exhausted when we came home + then had a birthday party + bonfire!! Life here certainly is never boring 🙂

From a little pink house in Yamaranguila,

Charlotte

Baleadas + Bonfires

This is it. We are officially 1/4 of the way through our journey. The time is really flying but it’s a comfort to know we have so much left. No matter how much time we spend here, Honduras never ceases to surprise + amaze me. 

Still not bored of riding in the backs of trucks☺️

It’s definitely coming into winter, we’ve been hit with some funky weather lately. One week it rained non-stop, the whole week, + on the first week of November we were hit with a heatwave! Now it’s getting colder so I get to wear my woolly hat instead of my cap. Plus the coats we invested in are certainly proving to be worth the money. 

If you expected my year to be full of tropical weather you didn’t realise I was going to live in Yam!

Of course the cold brings festivities with it, this month being both Halloween + bonfire night. It was the 1st year I haven’t celebrated Halloween in any way, instead we spent it huddled on our floor lesson planning. I convinced Giselle that it was a good idea for us to invest in a squash so I could still carve something. It turns out (due to us not wanting to waste the money) we didn’t do this + when I eventually cut through the thick skin we were certainly surprised. Inside we were greeted by green guts (very seasonal) + our Honduran friends explained that it’s because they are sweet. We threw them in the trash, believing them to be gone off, however Ana + Bertha assured us not so took it to cook. We were treated to some the next morning, + I have to say, against appearances, it was very yummy. 

Observing the weirdness..

 

Another festivity was bonfire night. As the Americans don’t celebrate it we wondered whether we could have one. That morning we’d chilled in a coffee shop writing, blogging + whilst FaceTiming El I was treated to a firework show in England. Then, as spontaneous as life here is, we ended up going to one of the missionary houses with 2 American friends. It was amazing! We chatted + toasted marshmallows loooong into the night.. I even tried some Earl Grey + it’s clear that the Americans out here dig tea more than we do. 

We are also gearing up for Christmas, as we’ve had one week of dance practices. It’s so much fun to have some Christmas time every afternoon + it always makes us chuckle. Christmas will be a very exciting time as although it signifies a large portion of the journey done, it means I shall be reunited with some of my family. I never want to leave here but there’s a part of me that’s never quite whole without my familia! 

Normally you are taken aback by the seemingly peculiar dishes locals give you. However; in our case it was the locals who were shocked by a typical taste of Britain when we made crumble. I think it’s safe to say they weren’t too impressed! Nonetheless, most of them finished off their rather huge portions. We enjoyed a taste of home though (+ the use of an oven!) 🙂

Something really exciting that happened this month was we ran a charity 5km in La Esperanza! Although we’ve been doing some running out here it hasn’t been too intense, so a race so soon was a little shock. However, luckily the teachers were entered into the children’s 5K + we had a blast! It was an early start, we left the house at 5:45, but totally worth it. We froze sitting in the back of a truck but the view made up for it. There was a fun warmup with a man wearing waaay too tight shorts before we took our place on the start line, proudly wearing our official t-shirts. 

Laughing as I cross the finish😂

I’m very proud of Giselle, as it was her 1st 5km + she did an ace job! I look forward to the next time we’ll be running 🙂 I even treated us to an ice cream afterwards as she totally deserved it!! 

In terms of adjusting to life here, we now cope so much better with power outages. At first it was depressing, now it’s an excuse to have a dance party in the dark, making up little routines that make us giggle to no end. 

We do still get ripped off for some things, like our cinnamon that turns everything bright pink (as if there wasn’t enough of that in our lives anyways 😉 ). This made my oatmeal match the wall! However, we’re slowly getting there…

Also, very excitingly, after our trip to Sigua (see my Travel Tales series) I have money! Although we received our food + pocket money which was more than enough for us + I think not having access to it taught me many lessons, I have to say it’s a comfort to know it can be accessed. We budget so well, no wanting to spend money on anything unless it’s completely essential which is definitely a good thing. 

We had a little change up of our space so now this is my little corner of Honduras:

It feels so homely, although all of my clothes are now on the floor due to not having a wardrobe, but I’m happy as there’s no mould.

We’re currently in Lake Yajoa for the weekend so from a little spot in the jungle,

Charlotte 🙂 

50 days of Teaching

There have been many big changes in the past 2 months in my life: living independently for the 1st time, cleaning clothes by hand + being almost completely self reliant. However, by far the biggest change is that now, instead of sitting behind a desk being lectured, I now stand in front of children + pass knowledge to them. I can’t lie, it’s daunting, I feel like I have 36 lives in my hands + I want to help them as much as possible. At the same time, it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. 

Firstly, teaching makes me want to apologise to teachers everywhere. I now understand only too well how fustrating it is when you’re trying to teach + your students aren’t paying attention. 

On the other hand, this has made me more inventive. I have to figure out ways to keep my students on track, my favourite of which being making them put on their “hats”. It’s pretty basic, + probably done everywhere, but at the start of spelling we put on our “spelling hat”, in math our “math hat”, etc. This is entertaining for me too because they do some ace actions putting on their imaginary hats that always makes me chuckle.

A fun candid shot that happened when I didn’t realise a kid stole my phone😂

Positive encouragement is key! I can’t stress this enough. Trust me, I know that feeling when you’re frustrated with a student who isn’t working + just want to say “if you don’t work you’ll go to the office” or “I’ll call your parents”. However, I’ve learnt it’s best to use positive encouragement. For example: if they are taking ages to write their words, congratulate them on how far they’ve come. I’ve found this has helped me bond with some kids who I use to just get annoyed with. Whereas now we hug, chat + they work more! Everyone’s a winner! 

The autistic kid I work with + I have a cute little handshake we do whenever he finishes work. He finds repetition super useful so when I asked him what half a dozen was (after repeating “half a dozen is 6” maaaany times the day before) + he said 6 it felt amazing. His little face lit up + we did our handshake – I actually felt ridiculously proud of him in that moment.

What I can say is that although it’s tough, the feeling of satisfaction you receive when you teach a kid something is incomparable. I really hope the work we are putting in gives these kids access to a better life. When you hear stories of past students getting scholarships to study in the US it certainly feels that way!

School is not the only place we teach though. For the past month we have been giving our neighbour’s kids (+some of their friends) English lessons. As we are assistants at Vida Abudante, to be the actual teacher feels sort of weird. However, it’s really enjoyable. We try and play as many games as possible, repeat phonics flashcards hugely + end up having a laugh with the kids. 

These lessons aren’t your normal sort of lesson. On our very first lesson we lost power in the 1st 10 minutes which saw us using candles + the torches on our phone to teach. Since then we’ve had a lesson interrupted for a corn break, one where they wanted to know what shampoo I used so I had to go grab it and seemingly endless laughing fits… it sure makes a change from our usual teaching. 

One thing we did have to do was make it two classes, as we have such a different age range from 6-10 + the older kids are just so much more advanced. Now what happens is they do the session with the younger kids (mainly consisting of phonics) then we do “actual” English with the older ones – more vocab and conversational stuff. So far this is working better although it’s proving difficult to always keep the little ones engaged! As it’s not school + not compulsory it’s not like we can tell them off, so we just try to play lots of games to keep their interest. You need a lot of energy but the kids are so positive they always lift my mood if I’ve had a hard day. 

Our activity with our older kids

For us this has been such an important way to get to know the community, as we’ve really formed a bond with our neighbours + their family. We are in discussion about starting something for the community after Christmas so I’m sure there will be updates on this 🙂 

As we’re volunteers, + teaching is what we’re out here to do, we simply said we wouldn’t take payment for the lessons. It’s a fun way to give back to them. However, they very kindly suggested repaying us in baleadas + so this turned into them giving us dinner after every lesson. They honestly make some of the best food I’ve ever tasted! Frijoles, cheese, tortillas, corn, pastelitos (smaller taquitos), baleadas, tómales, plantains.. yuuuum! It’s basically a Plato típico which we adore 🙂  We even get treated to wonders such as freshly squeezed juice – orange + passion fruit being our favourite. Neither of us enjoy tea at all but here it isn’t your usual PG tips you get served but freshly made tea. We’ve had a lemon one and one consisting of cinnamon + fresh orange which have been extremely tasty. 

A very tasty typical Honduran dinner we are served!

All in all teaching is a challenge, but a worthwhile one. I’m now extremely attached to all of my kids, + I love my class + the differing personalities it’s filled with. Whilst my heart is still set on studying Law at uni my kids are teaching me lessons I could never learn sat behind a desk, but perhaps I’ll write a blog on this soon…

Sending positive vibes + a huge thanks to all who got me here, from a little pink house in Yamaranguila,

Charlotte x

Travel Tales #3 – Siguatepeque

* Siguatepeque, Honduras

 * Hours travelled: 1 1/2 hours on the bus 

* Distance travelled: 49 km

* Transport: car + bus  

* Rating: 5

As there was a school trip to Tegus, the remaining teachers decided to take a girls trip to Siguatepeque. Giselle + I woke at 5am to make pizzas + banana pancakes for the trip (same old money saving travels). Before long we headed out into the pouring rain to meet Mrs Looney + her car. Us, her son and Ana + Bertha (the Honduran assistants) squeezed onto the backseat. We then picked up 6 others + off we headed!

The roads around here are pretty windy and, as a result, Giselle + I ended up feeling rather car sick. It ended up with us leaning on one another with our music in. Thankfully though the journey wasn’t too long so we didn’t suffer much.

Something amazing was that on the way we stopped at a pottery shop alongside the road. This is the big bonus of not travelling by bus, but with people who know their way – hidden secrets! It was so cheap + we enjoyed looking around – as well as purchasing some gifts…


We stopped at some more places, seriously considered buying a hammock (sadly we have no room for one) + headed to Sigua. Once there we entered a mall that made Giselle + I feel like we were in America. Whilst the others bought some coffees we ate our pizzas + tried an ATM with no such luck. Then it was back in the car to head to Comagua – I can’t too much on there because we only saw the Burger King but we plan to return! The best part was the HUGE play area with no age limit (although very dodgy floors..)

Next we headed back to Sigua + headed into an absolutely massive supermarket. From there we met up with Catroina + Chloe; the volunteers situated in Sigua. They took us back to their house via a taxi which was so different compared to ours. It was the 1st volunteer house we’d visited + there were so many contrasts with ours – mainly the amount of cutlery!! We spent hooours talking + ordered a take away which was such an ace investment. I had an enormous box of pasta, plus garlic bread + salad. They even have an adorable cat I got to play with! 

The next day we were up early to head into town to grab some breakfast. The girls took us to the main square, which was actually super lovely + then to a bank. After some advice from them, I managed to take out money!! The sound of the atm dispensing the lemperia was music to my ears. Although taking out money in Esperanza is still impossible, it’s a comfort to know my card does work out here. 

The breakfast place we planned to go to ended up being closed, meaning we popped into a bakery. The cinnamon swirls were huge (+ delicious) and were enjoyed sitting on a bench in the park. 

From there we joined the girls at their church – which took longer than expected as barely any taxi drivers knew the way. The guy we ended up going with had to stop + ask for directions which was.. comforting.. to say the least. Eventually we reached their very cute church + were made to feel very welcome. It was a lovely service with such beautiful singing that I’m so glad I got to experience! The people were so wonderful + we ended up being invited to go back to one of their friends for a yummy Sunday lunch. 

I loved seeing the Project girls + the other lovely people we met however  it wasn’t like Yam. There are clearly perks to living in a city, but I missed the mountains. We are now so use to such a calm area that it was weird to be in a city. It was an interesting change + I would sum the weekend up as being short but sweet.

Until the next adventure from a little pink house in Yamaranguila,

Charlotte