Spring Break in Central America

They call it Semana Santa. Honduras, like many Spanish countries has a strong Catholic influence and they set aside a whole week to celebrate around Easter weekend. Many people take off work and go visit relatives or spend time at the beach. After being thrown into the whole new world of teaching for 2 months I was ready for a break. I was looking forward to some down time and I heard them say that we would take a day to travel a bit to some different places in Honduras. Perfect, time to chill, a little time for travel but not long enough to worry about where I would be sleeping or where I would take a shower. Well, I was in for a surprise.

The day we were leaving, I grabbed my camera and ran down the stairs to pile in the car for our long day of site seeing. That's when Mrs. Orieta asked me,
"Where's your clothes?"
"What do you mean where are my clothes? I'm wearing them of course."
"We're going to be gone for four days. You haven't packed anything!?"
I was shocked. They tend to joke around a lot and I thought this might be one of those funny moments that they like to laugh at Jonathan, the gringo. They laughed, but it wasn't it joke. So, after I quickly shifted gears in my mind I ran up stairs and started throwing stuff in my bag that I'd need for the trip. I would say that was my first large miscommunication experience. I realized when they Mr. Guifarro was talking to me about the trip earlier he was talking in Spanish and obviously I missed something, about four days worth. Anyway, after I smoothed out my ruffled feathers we all got in the car and I set my eyes on the coming adventure.

These are the two great people that take such good care of me. Mr. and Mrs. Guifarro. It was just me and them on the trip. The twins went to a Pathfinder camporee for the break.

I love the ocean, it was nice stopping by at different points along the way. Sometimes I felt kind of weird always taking pictures by myself, but I didn't have to much choice. If anyone would like to Photoshop themselves in and become my traveling buddy I'm cool with that.

Wow, this was good. It was some kind of marshmellow bread. Yeah, bet you've never had that before.

We stopped by the little port wear people get on the boat to go to Roatan, the big beautiful island of Honduras. I've never been there but I'm hoping to visit at least once before I leave. Everyone says I have to go.

We stopped at a couple resorts a long the way. They did a great job of being tour guides and I appreciated the sites they let me see. It was so gorgeous. If anyone is looking for a get away, this should be an option for sure. Right on the beach, jet skis, boats, four-wheelers, pools, palm trees, all very nice.


This was my cab. We stopped a long the way to catch the view.

One of the first Dole trucks I saw. I've seen many, many after this one but I thought it was cool. I've heard Honduras is famous for its bananas. Next time you buy a banana see if the sticker says what country it's from.

After a long day of driving, stopping to chat with relatives and friends, we finally made it to Tocoa. This is Mrs. Orieta's mother's house, the place where we stayed. This was a fun kid that I got to spend some time with.

If you're wondering what on earth is on that bicycle just scroll down, that's just the beginning of the story.

People riding bicycles is a very common site here. I thought I'd catch part of the culture for memories sake. That girl has a bag in her hand. It's very possible she's just finished going to the local store to buy some juevos (eggs), mantequia (butter), and queso (cheese), so she can make breakfast for the morning.


This is a museum we stopped at the day we went to the beach about and hour away from Tocoa. It has a bunch of very old things from ships and other things I really didn't understand. It looked pretty interesting though.

From what I can understand from this beat up sign, this post is from 1911 from some kind of boat. Maybe in a few months I'll be able to translate more for you.



Relaxation is the word. These guys know how to live the good life down here. No we didn't stay at this resort but we sure soaked up the natural hot spring pools that were there. You might think that's kind of strange in a hot country, but it was actually close to perfect. It wasn't to hot out and there was a nice breeze out that made it just right.

This isn't a picture you'd set as a background to your computer or hang on your wall but it does have some significance to me. This is entrance to the room I stayed in the four days we were at Tocoa. They had an extra house that was vacant behind there's and so I got a room all to myself. I must say, even though the light or sink didn't work in the bathroom I was very grateful to have a place for myself. I just ignored the cockroaches. And no, all that luggage is not mine in case you wondered. Anyway, it was nice to have a place to escape to when I needed a break from absorbing Spanish.


Kids, please don't try this at your house. If you do, you might get hurt and then I would have angry mothers e-mailing me telling me to take my blog down. Thanks.

I think I've played bingo once or twice in my lifetime. This time made it three. I had some good practice learning my numbers in Spanish!

Mrs. Guifarro's mother.

Ok. I should probably say something about these pictures. I found out that the people in Honduras have some kind of strange tradition to celebrate Semana Santa where they dress up and play out good and evil. The weird thing is I seemed to only see the evil side. Anyway, early in the week, these people go around collecting money in socks, kind of like Halloween accept in the daytime. Then, they all get together for the final battle and the whole town comes out to watch. The guy in black goes round hitting a metal thing with his machete and all the other guys around him fall down to the ground like they've been hit. Very crazy event. They would do that a few times and then they would run to another street and do it again. I was running a long amidst the crowd with the boy you saw in the earlier picture.

I must say, I don't think I've ever felt so much like a minority as I did then. I was the only tall, blond haired male there with a sleek, slim digital camera. I might as well have had an American flag draped around my body. Some of the guys in costume ran up to me and say, "ARHH! You're from the United States. Give us some money!!" (Spanish of course) I kept trying to tell them I didn't have anything, nada, and the finally left me alone. I felt somewhat insecure at that moment, like they could all turn on me, mob me and steal my camera. Fortunetely I made it out alive and I have the pictures and videos to prove it.





Which one do you think is more attractive? Hopefully you didn't say the one on the right. I think they'd make a good couple, don't you?


This is the church I visited on Sabbath. Very typical Central American church.

These are the people I met and stayed with. I'm glad I got to know them, even if we didn't talk much.

The parrot we brought home with us. It was in Tocoa but it belongs to Mrs. Orieta. Now, it lives in a catch outside right next to the place where I iron my clothes most mornings. The thing is SO INCREDIBLY LOUD. I think I'll start to notice hearing lose if I keep out there to iron. Maybe you can help me think of something to teach the bird in English. Right now it can whistle and say, "Lorito!", which I believe means Little Parrot. What about, "You look great today!" or "Brush your Teeth!" or "I know what your thinking! Don't try to hide it!" I really should leave some legacy here that will live on through that bird. If you have any ideas let me know.