The weekend is here….and it means two days of no school. Given that I have a lot I want to see this weekend I have combined both days in this one blog.
I was still up early on Saturday. Scrambled eggs, toast and fruit was on the menu. Afterwards I headed in to town to post Friday’s blog over a café latte. First, I checked out the local produce market;
Then it was off to the school to meet the director Enrique who was taking myself and a couple of other students to the Parque de Aves (Macaw Bird Park). The school provides a free excursion every week and this was the trip for my first week. It was a great morning. The park rescues the birds from people who sell them illegally, who can’t keep or don’t want them anymore. The park has a total of 170 birds presently spread over 23 different species. Included in the ticket is a guide. Although we asked for a Spanish guide he also spoke good English. I am happy to say that I understood much of what he was saying and he only had to translate a few times for me. We seemed to fly around the park (no pun intended) and at the end I wanted to go around again. I decided to stay and get a tuk tuk back when I was done. The park was very quiet with few visitors…one of the effects of a poor season…although this is still low season. I finished my self guided tour then sat at their café for a little bit of studying. My trusty knapsack with books goes everywhere with me. There is always a few minutes here and there to learn a new word or practice a verb conjugation. I don’t think there is much point in saying much more about my visit there and I’ll let the photos do the talking;
Scarlet Macaws;
Scarlet Macaws;
Scarlet and a Golden Macaw;
Keel Billed Toucan;
Parrots;
Good looking birds everywhere;
Baby Owls;
Who's a pretty bird then?
Once I got back in to Copan from the parque de aves, I considered going zip lining They have, from what I hear, a really good one on the edge of Copan. It was pretty cool and overcast today so thought I would leave that for another day. Instead, I walked in to town for lunch and a beer over some homework. I then spent an hour or so looking through some of the small local stores. I’m glad I did as I had a couple of good conversations with two of the store owners. It’s a great way to practice my Spanish. It was a little sad as one told me that she is closing her store on Monday. There just haven’t been enough tourists to keep it going. She will be selling her goods on the street from a table like many of the other artisans. Both store owners said they had a lot of frustration. Many tourists have stayed away because of the political instability in the past year but in reality especially here in Copan, it remains untouched and tranquil.
I took a different route home as I have always been taking the main road and wanted to see a little more of Copan. After dinner I headed in to town. I made a quick pit stop at Ellen’s house to hear the very sad news that she had had her dog put down. He’s the one I wrote about the other day. He was getting worse and there was nothing left to do for him. As Ellen said his last few weeks were spent being cared for and loved;
I went in to town to see a fiesta that was supposed to start at 8pm. By 8:45pm I gave up waiting and headed home for an early night. I still haven’t met anyone who was there so don’t know if I missed something worth seeing or not.
Sunday morning dawned cool and overcast like the last couple of days. I was off horse riding with a friend of Ellen’s. We rode up the mountain to a village called San Rafael and then stopped at one the Haciendas (Hacienda San Lucas) for a coffee on the way back. Beto, the horse owner speaks no English and even when Ana and I were alone she offered to speak Spanish with me as she knows that’s why I’m here. It was a great morning and after dropping Ana back at her house Beto and rode through a couple of the areas in Copan enroute back to my house. I’m hoping to ask the school director this week if I can go horse riding again as my excursion this week as the school also uses Beto. I would like to go to village called La Pintada where the Mayan Chorti women make dolls out of corn husks. It supposed to be a beautiful ride.
Beto the guide;
Beto the guide;
Beto showed us these structures hanging from the walls of some of the houses - Any guesses as to what they are?
Beehives made from old pieces of wood.
After lunch of quesadillas I headed to the Mayan Ruins which are about a one kilometre walk from Copan. I decided to hire a guide which was a little pricey as in reality I probably understood about a quarter of what she said. I must have got something out of it though as I certainly know more about the Mayans now than I did earlier today. Although she spoke fast and rhymed off dates quicker than I could process them it was great to hear her speak and her pronunciation. I also heard a lot of vocabulary that is very new to me. I spent about an and a half with her then wandered around on my own for another house or so. Take a look:
Remind you of anyone (hint-my husband???)
After walking back in to Copan I headed home where I am now. I’m watching a movie in Spanish as I type this. Although this TV has some channels in English with Spanish subtitles, I have been very good about only having Spanish TV on when I’m in the room. After dinner I will head in to the centre to post this and do a little homework. On a side note there are two students arriving tonight…mother and daughter. I believe they are from the states. I hope their Spanish is better than mine as I find that pushes me more.
I may only post every couple of day this week as I won’t have much time for anything else. I start 6 hours of class each day this week. Yikes;
Saber es Poder!
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