Honduras-July 26th

I could not believe today was our last day. We woke up at 8:45, packed our bags, and headed down from breakfast. Today's breakfast was interesting because we split a strawberry cheesecake we had bought at the Swiss bakery the day before and today the kitchen ran out of cheese, so instead we got cream... or crema. So our breakfast included cheesecake, beans, eggs, toast, and cream... yum. Our friend Darwin arrived to pick us up and drive us to the airport, and to our surprise he had brought his whole family to meet us! On the car ride over I practiced my spanish with his son and daughter, while my mom talked to Darwin.



At the airport, there were lines that were miles long, so we decided to look in the gift shops. In one Honduran gift shop we entered, everything was in dollars and extremely expensive. My mom ended up buying aztec pottery and an ornament and I was going to buy a bracelet, but it was $4; 4 dollars is too much for a string bracelet. After we made it through the check in line, we got a "Dunkin Donut" and it was kind of terrible, haha. We put our bags down and sat at a table in this little shop near our terminal so we could get wifi. We sat there for a while, and when our flight number was called, we headed over to our gate.

On the plane ride to Houston, I read much of my book: Persuasion and ate a  yummy chicken veggie wrap. My mom, being the social person that she is, made friends with a man next to her and as a result of their friendship, the man gave us cookies and candied walnuts; thank you Mom!

Before I knew it, we landed in Houston then continued our trip home. I will admit, the culture shock was severe and I often experienced withdrawal about the incredible experience and journey through Central America.

Honduras- July 25th

Today we woke up in our nice hotel in Tegucigalpa and went down to a delicious breakfast. The breakfast was like ever other breakfast: bread, eggs, beans, cheese; but, the bread at this hotel was incredible! After breakfast, our friend/ taxi driver took us to a famous park in Tegucigalpa famous for the view and see "El Cristo del Picacho." After taking many pictures of the masterpiece, we contuned through the park and took pictures in a house of mirrors.






After our experience in the park, we drove to the church which held "El Virgin de Suyapa." Suyapa has sentimentality in our family because 15 years ago my mom was on a trip in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. She had gone to the same church that we visited today and prayed to be pregnant. The next day, her doctor called her, and brought her glorious news that she was pregnant. She almost thought of making my middle name Suyapa, but she didn't, thank God.





After our visit with Suyapa we bought some souvenirs, water, and platanos! The platanos were legendary. With snacks in hand, we drove through el centro and stopped at a pupuseria for lunch... When I say this I am not exagerating: these pupusas were the best pupusas I have ever tasted, EVER. After our lunch we drove to a swiss bakery to buy sweets and then took them back to the hotel.







We relaxed in the hotel and I enjoyed reading my book until it was time for dinner. We decided to go to this very nice Italian restaurant down the block. The food was incredible, however the portion sizes were enormous; my pasta could feed 7 people! We went home extremely full and satisfied





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Honduras-July 24th

This morning we woke up went down for breakfast at 9:30am, and my mom graciously let me go back to the room to the while so I could talk with my friends I had met in Cancun.

-went back upstairs for wifi; texted nick, Alex, and pearl. After breakfast we drove to another school  and enjoyed watching the school mom volunteers make lunches or "meriendas" for the schoolchildren. We talked to the moms and learned about the system they had organized so that each mother knew when they were needed to come cook at school. After our incredible visist, we started driving back to Tegucigalpa.


On the way back we grabbed a quick bite to eat then continued driving until we reached the home of Cardinal Rodriguez. We had barely any time, so we ran in, changed in the bathroom (into nice clothing), and went up to his room. We were so lucky that he took the time to sit down with us for a great amount of time telling us about his role and asking US questions. The experience was unforgettable.

After our wonderful meeting, we drove to the CRS hotel to meet the staff, then proceeded to our hotel. We relaxed in the hotel for a while due to our constant travel and I even got to speak once again with my friends from Cancun!

Around 7pm, we decided to leave the house and ended up going to a delicious Thai restaurant next door. The food was incredible and I personally thought even better than the Thai in Los Angeles!

Honduras-July 23rd

This morning was a little rushed because my mom and I had to wake up at 7am and meet Rony, who works with CRS, so we could drive to la Esperanza. It took me 10 minutes to fall asleep, and once I was asleep, I stayed sleeping in the back of his car for 3 hours. 

We arrived at the CRS office in la Esperanza, then met Marlon, who drove us to the heart of La Esperanza. Upon our arrival, we went to lunch with him and a man named Elmer, who also works with CRS. For lunch, I tried traditional Honduran food, Baleadas. They were tortillas folded in half with eggs, beans, and creamed butter inside. It was interesting and I am glad I tried it, but I would not try it again. 

After lunch, we drove to our first school called "La Liberdad." When we arrived, we walked into every classroom and greeted the kids who were very well mannered and energetic. When my mom and I would leave a classroom, they would all say in unison, "Gracias!" After visiting the kids, my mom and I sat down in an empty classroom with staff members, CRS employees, and mothers of the school. We discussed how CRS' project was effecting the school, improvements, etc. 

After our little conference, we walked across the road to their secondary school and looked at this pond they had filled with tilapia. They were raising 2,000 fish to eventually feed to the kids. We walked towards the school buildings as school was let out and watched two kids in the mango tree shaking the branches to knock down fresh mango. We talked to two secondary teachers who taught science and English.

Afterward, we visited their school garden and learned about the plants they are growing. A man approached us to offer us fresh mango that had fallen from the tree; it was kind of him. We then loaded back into the truck and drove to a house, home to friends of CRS. They had a little shop on their front porch, and we found nice earrings in their store. The family that lived there had many sons and one daughter, with whom I had the privilege of playing with. We got back in the truck and drove to our hotel in la Esperanza. 

We relaxed for a couple hours, then met Marlon at 6pm for dinner. We drove to a little local restaurant with free wifi! I ordered chicken with herbs, and my mom got chicken skewers with so much vegetables! The dinner was a great experience for me because it was all in Spanish!

Belize-July 22nd

This morning we woke up early yet again, and this time went to breakfast a little earlier. The night before, I had done my research on Trip Advisor for good breakfast places, and I found a highly rated place called Amor y Café. We walked there, and realized it was farther than most of the other restaurants. We sat down at a table on the patio with a nice view. It was extremely hot, so the waiters brought out fans, which my mom was very grateful for. We both ordered scrambled eggs and toast, and it tasted delicious. 

Happily full, we walked to the hand-painted t-shirt shop to pick up my shirt. On our way back to our hotel, we passed a vender with very nice jewelry, and bought a necklace for my friend back home. 

Satisfied with our purchase, we walked back to the hotel to enjoy our last bit of air conditioning, then checked out. We walked to a coffee shop called Ice and Beans across the street, which was definitely my favorite shop/restaurant in Caye Caulker because the owner is so nice. We went inside and my mom got an iced coffee and I got an extra sweet vanilla mocha. We took our drinks outside and sat at a picnic table on the beach. 

We enjoyed our drinks, then walked to the water taxi dock. It began to rain very heavily, henceforth everyone because moving towards the center of the covered area and my mom went under the roof of a candy shop to talk to the owner.  A man probably in his late 20s approached me and began telling me about all his travels. He was from northern Canada and had been traveling for a month in Central America, and had so far travelled to Guatemala, Belize, and was headed for Honduras. It was quite an interesting conversation because he told me all his macho stories of getting in fights, etc. A water taxi worker interrupted our conversation to tag my bags, and I was grateful. Unfortunately, after my bags were tagged, the guy moved to my other side and introduced himself and kept talking. 

Soon the boat arrived and I returned to my mothers side. We got in line to board, and my mom noticed a mother and two daughters who just walked up to the front of the line. My mom reminded the lady that there was a line, and the lady seriously said, "I know. I own this boat." My mom and I had to suppress our laughter at the mothers response and got onto the boat. 

On the boat my mom and I met a family of four who were on a cruise in Belize and had just snorkeled that day with a different snorkeling company. They showed us all their pictures of snorkeling, and we told them about our trip in Cancun, and I showed them pictures. We talked to them for the majority of the ride, which definitely helped to pass the time. 

We arrived in Belize city at 12:15 and got a taxi that offered to take us to lunch prior to the airport. We are at a restaurant called Nerie's and we both got curry chicken. It was very delicious, but we had lots of leftovers. Back in the taxi, we talked to our driver, Armando Medina for a long while in Spanish. I hadn't used my Spanish in a while, so it wasn't perfect, but I communicated well. 

At the airport we walked around only for a while then we were off to San Salvador. When we arrived, we walked to a candy and snack shop called Diana's which is a very traditional food brand in San Salvador. We bought some snacks traditional to San Salvador and saved them for later. We walked to a restaurant called "Delight;" it reminded us of "Enjoy." We both got pupusas and a cabbage salad, which was pretty okay. For dessert, we split an apple, and soon everyone else was too. It was very cool as well, because during dinner, there was a huge window in front of us, and a big lighting storm was occurring, which we had the chance to watch from inside. 

We boarded our plane to Honduras and arrived at 9pm. When we arrived, we were absolutely exhausted from such a long day, and to top it off, we had to wait in the line at customs for an hour. Once through customs we took a taxi to our hotel.

Belize- July 21st

In the morning we woke up pretty early and relaxed in the hotel room. When we got hungry, we walked to a restaurant/ house called M&T's for waffles. We got chocolate chip banana waffles, and they were amazing. After indulging ourselves, we walked to a snorkeling company's shack. We had previously signed up for a full day, but they only had a half day available, so we agreed and got our snorkel gear. We waited outside for 20 minutes before our group walked over to the boat. 

Once in the boat, my mom and I introduced ourselves to the other people, and particularly bonded with a couple from England named James and Charlie. I talked to Charlie and found out she had met James in China while teaching. The greatest surprise I found out, was that she is from Yorkshire, England, which is where nick, Alex, and Sam are from. 

We rode for about 10 minutes, then stopped to enjoy the first excursion. We all jumped out including the guide and got situated. Our guide told us that the deepest it got was 15 ft, and this is where we would see the most sea life. I took off my life jacket at the beginning and swim down to the sea floor to touch the sand. I really enjoyed diving because I had just learned how to in Cancun. As we followed the guide, James pointed out a jellyfish right next to me, and I narrowly dodged it, then pointed it out to the people behind me. I swam next to Charlie and she pointed to a turtle in the distance. The turtle was huge and very graceful. 

We swam through the coral reefs and my favorite fish was called the queen of paradise fish, and we saw one that was rainbow! Towards the end, I began swimming towards the front with the guys, and we were lucky enough to see a barracuda. 

After 40 minutes, we all swam back to the boat and rode to the next stop, home of the sharks and rays. When we arrived, our tour guide threw sardines into the water and two nurse shark, and a bunch of fish and rays came to the boat. I was really nervous about jumping out of the boat, but once I did, it was incredible. They were everywhere and came so near to me. I stayed in the water for a while chasing the rays until I realized everyone else on the boat was waiting for me. 

On the third and final stop, we got to swim wherever we wanted without the guide. My mom and I went out for a while, but didn't see many fish or other sea life. I decided to dive and swim with my chest really close to the sand, not using my arms, and kick my feet together like a dolphin. Surprisingly I went remarkably faster. 

We swam towards the boat and saw James and Charlie. James told me they had seen a giant dormant stingray, and he told me he could show it to me. He took me to see the massive stingray, and when we got to the place he had seen it, the stingray got up and began swimming away. The stingray was really big, and it's tail was incredibly long. 

We swam back to the boat, and James got on the boat while my mom and I talked to Charlie for a while. Once we got on the boat, we got to enjoy delicious fresh fruit our guide had cut up. The pineapple was delicious because the acid in it cut the salt water taste in our mouths.  enjoyed fresh fruit

We arrived back at the island, and James and Charlie were so considerate as to take our gear back to the shack. We changed our clothes in the room, then walked to pizza caulker for lunch. The restaurant was in the center of the island, and when we arrived, there was only one tourist sitting there. 

My mom and I decided to sit at the bar, and we ordered drinks while the pizza was being prepared. As we drank our beverages, a worker and his girlfriend were standing on the other side of the bar giggling and making out. It was a little strange, and we decided to change our seats when he started popping zits on her back, with her complaining. 

We moved to the same table as the tourist and found out he is from Montanna and was in Belize to fish. When he left, locals came in smoking and talking really loud. The pizza had arrived and my mom and I started to taste the smoke in our pizza, so I asked for a box to take the pizza to go. 

We walked back towards the coast, and bought two waters at a restaurant, then sat outside with our pizza. The pizza was really good, but the environment was terrible. As we sat eating, a couple sat down next to us and we began talking. They were from Seattle, Washington, so we talked about the difference of weather. 

After we finished our pizza, we went and sat on two beach recliners in front of our hotel until 6pm. We then walked towards the split, and along the way met a woman who sold hand painted shirts that looked really cool. My mom and I bought a tshirt that said "go slow," and she told us that it would be really tomorrow. We continued towards the split, and when we arrived, there were people everywhere. To the right were all the tourists in the bar and sitting on the ledge by the water. To the left were locals walking around and chilling on this cool looking boat. We sat by the water and took some pictures. 

When the sun had gone down, we walked to a restaurant called "Enjoy" which had swings for bar stools. We sat at a table on the sand, and felt our legs being bitten from mesquites. We moved to a different table, and a waiter was kind enough to bring us a mosquito candle. We ordered lobster and coconut curry chicken. Both were really delicious, but the curry chicken was the winner :)

After dinner we walked to an ice cream shop we had previously seen and walked inside. I asked to try the chocolate chip cookie dough, and it honestly didn't taste like anything,  so we continued walking. We found another ice cream place that didn't do tastes, so we ordered two Oreo cookie ice cream, and they were even worse!

We walked to the end of the island, then walked back to the hotel and sat on the beach chairs until 8pm. When we went upstairs to our room, it was such an exhausting day that I went to sleep almost immediately.

Belize- July 20th

At 3am, our bus pulled over and got out and paid to exit Cancun. An hour later we got out again to go through customs.

We finally arrived in Belize at 7:08am, and immediately took a taxi to the water taxi dock. We walked around the dock before boarding and bought some cough drops because I had no voice. Once we boarded, it was interesting to watch them pack everyone in. The ride was 45 minutes and I slept for probably 30 minutes. 

When we arrived, we walked along the coast to reach our hotel called "The Rainbow Hotel." Following checking in, we walked to a restaurant nearby to eat brunch. After our meal we were exhausted, so we slept in the hotel room until 6pm. We then went out and walked somewhere called the split which is a place where tourists and locals hang out together, also where the sun goes down. When we arrived it was dark and a little sketch, so we walked to a restaurant called Aladin with delicious food. I had chicken fajitas with pita and my mom had chicken skewers with pita. 

After dinner we walked up and down the island, then returned to the hotel and fell asleep at 10pm!

Check out the crab we saw: