Check In, Check Up

I realized today that I haven’t updated this in a little while and that’s only because there hasn’t been too much going on, just going to school and kicking around the town a little. The good news is I am getting better at Spanish. I can read really well, listening comprehension is still a struggle and speaking is ok but not as good as listening. I figure in the next two weeks I’m just going to have to work my butt off. As long as I have the grammar down my vocabulary should improve substantially during my time at Amigos.

A new face at the school is a Dog named Memo. At first he was a terror and scared all of us..probably because he resembles a wolf and tried to bite us, but over the past week we’ve won him over and now he likes us. It was touch and go for a minute there haha. Don’t worry I’ll post a picture, not to worry.

Weekly Adventure:

On thursday, we went on our weekly adventure. This time around we should have known it would be quirky based on how it was first described to us.

On tuesday we hadn’t been informed yet on what we would be doing this week and Kathy said “I don’t know, what do you want to do.” Haha we had no idea since we don’t live here. She said she had an idea, but they’d never down it before. So when thursday rolled around they had put together a “bike tour” of Copan and an outlaying town for us. Around 2pm we met at the school and were brought a mere three feet across the street from the school to some guys’ house. He had 8 bikes waiting there…all of which had seen better days. I can’t remember if I spoke much about the terrain in Copan, but I should mention that the roads are cobblestone and it is very hilly. You could easily make the assumption that we had some trepidations about biking around town but because we are so adventurous 😉 we went anyway.  We were very relieved when we were taken out of town towards the river. The ride itself was comical from the get go, we were literally bumping (from the stones) all the way down and up our first few hills. This is when some of us realized brakes weren’t fully functional haha. At least four of us had to walk up all of  or part of the first incline, not just because we were out of shape but also because the bikes sounded like they was going to give out of frequent use and general exhaustion. But we finally made it out of town safely and to flatter land.

By the time we made it across the bridge Jen and I were in the lead and the group was extremely spread out so we waited for everyone to catch up. This was less than a mile out of town haha for the remainder of the ride we were stop and go. It was clear how out of shape we were/how awful the bikes were. At one point it was just myself, Christian, Jen and the tour guide. We waited about 8-10 mins and no one was behind us, finally Rachel came around the corner. She revealed to us that Andrew had a problem with his bike. Christian and the guide turned around to go fetch him and they made it just a few feet away when the tour guide fell and face planted…sign that we should go home? Clearly not haha. Turns out Andrew’s pedal had fallen off, but the guide “fixed” it.

After that we made it about 3/4’s of a mile further. Two of the girls were exhausted and not pleased with how the trip had been going, so we decided we should turn back (especially since we’d been stopping a lot for small repairs, to breath and to wait for people to catch up) I guess you could say that the ride was a bit disappointing but also really comical in retrospect. We nearly kissed the ground when we got back to school and downed as much water as possible.

In more exciting news, the Joes came back to Copan and we got to celebrate their return (and the arrival for one of the Joe’s) by hitting the town. We went to Andrew’s casa first and then a German bar. They only have three big tables there so we ended up sitting with two police officers and their lady friends. It was a little odd. One of the police officers was showing off and whipped out a camera to show Christian pictures from murder scenes (impressive right? NO) after everyone finished their beer we left that bar and hit up Tony’s where we have been going frequently. My host dad was there, I felt like I was 16 again and going to get in trouble, obviously I didn’t haha. I said hi and met one of his buddies who may or may not have been overly friendly/sloppy hahah. We set up a table for the 8 of us and sat down to enjoy the beautiful weather. It was the latest we’ve stayed out our whole time in Copan (12am) and everyone had a pretty enjoyable night. It was great to have the whole group together and get to know Joe a little. The next year is really going to be great! Everyone seems to jive well together.

For the remainder of the weekend I mainly just studied and hung out. We’ve found a new Cafe to frequent. They make different kinds of cheese at their farm as well as great coffee (other people say that, not me) A fantastic thing they do there is make different kinds of grilled cheese sandwiches Delicious, I might add. I found one I love it”s braised beef with gouda (spoiled, right) they serve them all with tomato soup.

Tomorrow I am going to help make empinadas with my host mom for dinner and the 8 of us may be making a trip to a waterfall!

Dear Mom and Dad,

My heart has been stolen again. I hope you aren’t mad…

He doesn’t look like too much trouble, rightt!!?

I went to Andrew’s Casa yesterday and to my great pleasure and extreme happiness, there are seven (SEVEN) 3 week old puppies there. As you can imagine, I was struck with puppy love (literally) and as I have clearly been deprived of such joy my for years by not having a dog, I think I will bring one home 🙂 I will name her Sophie. Can’t wait for your to meet you new grand-dog. I will send her to you in the mail. She is so tiny, Nana won’t even notice for months!

I hope you are happy for me, it really is true love

Sincerely,

Meg

The ground is shakingg

Yesterday was a relaxing day. I spent the morning studying old material to make sure that I really understood it outside at the table. After lunch Andrew and Rachel came over, followed shortly after by Kristin, Christian and Jen. We spent the afternoon just hanging out, listening to music and chatting. We went our separate ways for dinner and then we all met up again and went to the Cafe for cake, smoothies and coffee. I tried a new type of cake (I swear, something about Honduras makes me want desert all the time but when I’m in the US I never want it?? What is wrong with me haha) I have no idea what it was or what it is called but it was good. It was a vanilla batter, with a sweet, creme based frosting.  It was similar to a yule log cake because it was rolled with a creme filling inside. Regardless it was pretty good. Jen got the Oreo cake and there were a few coffee’s kicking around and a smoothie. Afterwards Kristin, Andrew, Rachel and I went to a bar to meet up with two people staying at Andrews house. They were from Spain. It was great to listen to them talk because I could understand almost everything they said! And it was nice to practice spanish on the weekends. We got home a little after 11 

When I finally got myself into bed around 1am, after finishing yet another book I thought I was settled in until the next morning. That is until 4:30 when I woke up to my bed shaking. At first I was just really confused and my train of thought went something like this: “this is odd…what is going on right now” “I dreamt that…my bed wasn’t shaking” Turns out there was an earthquake that only lasted about 30 seconds. I checked online today it was measured as a 4.5 on the richter scale (which means it was forceful enough to feel but didn’t have enough force to do damage.) The duration was just enough to wake everyone up but to make everyone think that they could have dreamt it. Hahah after 5 minutes I went back to bed with a pillow on my head. 

This morning my mom came to my room and we chatted for a few minutes. I brought up the earthquake and she said the same thing I did, she though she dreamt it and was think she was a little crazy haha until she saw the news. She said he bed moved over in her room and the front gate was shaking. Crazy stuff, people. But happy it was the force it was and nothing greater. It was kind of cool actually, but I don’t think you’re supposed to say that.

Happy Sunday! Happy Birthday to my sister! Woop Woooop

Making Pots

Hola amigos,

I am writing more sporadically now, as I am sure you have noticed. That is for the simple fact that I do not wish to bore any of you. Everyday has become much of the same, with the same sights and sounds (not that any of that is bad.) So I figured longer posts that skipped over some of the day to day habits would be more manageable and more interesting (for me and for you!)

For the past fews days we have…obviously… been in Spanish school and not doing too much else. This week we have classes in the mornings again! What a relief since I was starting to sleep until 9 everyday and wasn’t productive at all haha. I’ve been getting better at understanding Spanish but more frustrated than ever, so as this week continues to progress I’m going to buckle down and really start cramming as much as possible into my head. And! I’m going to start watching kids shows on the TV haha. They told me not to watch Dora the Explorer though because they teach the kids english…go figure, just when I needed her most haha.

I hear it’s really hot in the US, and has been since before I left. Sorry family and friends, you are officially hotter than countries closer to the equator (makes since since it’s winter here.) Fortunately it hasn’t been excessively hot here yet, everyday is in the 80’s and mostly sunny, and luckily not humid either. The rain has mostly been at night and it is worth it, because the storms are very cool to watch. Last night we went to get cake at Cafe Welchez in the square. As we walked to the Cafe a storm was off in the distance and we could see continuous lightening strikes the whole walk up. It was pretty cool to watch and cooler that we didn’t get stuck in a downpour since the storm never reached the town.

At the Cafe I got a slice of chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and oreo on it. Not the best cake in the world but pretty darn good for Honduras and for my sugar craving. Mi madre makes cakes too, she hasn’t let me or Ana (another host child) try them yet but I think they are going to be excellent when we do! She does a great job decorating them and everything is from scratch.Kristin tried the German chocolate cake, which I recommended because it was really fresh and moist when I accidentally ordered it the week before, so naturally her’s was stale haha. She got a smoothie to make up for it. She and I went to the cafe this weekend “to study” and to get lunch, she got the tres leche cake (means three milks) and she did not  like that….maybe because it oozed milk and the cake was wet…? hahaha needless to say she’s given up on the cake there. Christian got a beer, Jen was home sick, Rachel got chocolate ice cream, Ana got coffee and Andrew got water because he’s doing a diet with the women of his casa, so he’s only eating fruit and veggies…and water for 7 days LOL. While there Kristin made a bet that he couldn’t make it three days without a beer and then Christian made a bet that he wouldn’t last the seven days. [Don’t worry haha the bets were only 100 lempiras (5 US dollars.)]

Today we went on our weekly adventure. We were picked up at 1:30 outside the school by a pick up truck. A pick-up truck meant to fit 10 people plus the driver. Impressive to say the least. The seven of us naturally chose to sit in the back of the truck for the 30 min ride up a mountain. We can check that off our bucket list too! The views were incredible on the way and our butts were a little sore from the rough terrain. Once we got to the small village, we were taken to a house where an older woman had us make pots out of local clay. So we each got our own chunk of clay and got to work. As some of you may know I took a ceramics class last semester, so I have a little expereicne working with clay, my pots endured some death threats from envious peers haha. It was really hard to work with the clay they use because it is so coarse and finicky. I think we all had fun in the process though. Weirdly enough, we didn’t take them home and they weren’t fired so I don’t know what will happen to them. I’m assuming we will get them one day.

One of the teachers came with us to pottery place and after we were finished, she took us to a neighboring house where we got to see different types of plants. I got to see a tobacco tree and a lime tree among others. The woman who owned this house also made pots. Hers were fantastic! The were so large in comparison to anything I ever made last semester and they were perfect. But I suppose since that is her means to making some income she should be pretty good at it by now When we were getting ready to leave she stopped us at a bush with flowers on it. She told us the flowers were sour and edible, so we each ate one. When in Honduras…right?

I’m off to study, stay cool! I here there’s a glacier that broke off an ice shelf in Greenland, so maybe it will cool the water down by one degree?

Updateee

Just checking in! We didn’t do anything wild this weekend. Even so, it was great to just chill out. It gave us all time to relax and more importantly the extra time to study. Amy and Wilson (they run Amigos) came yesterday and we got to see the new baby. He’s a little peanut. I got to hold him for a long while while he slept, I’m so impressed with how strong his neck is for only being three weeks old. He’s big for his age, pretty calm and really cute. We met them at their hotel in Copan and got to sit by the pool for the afternoon. After Thomas (their other son, who’s almost 3) swam, they got changed and brought us to dinner. We ended up at a place called Momo’s and they ordered us something…and I’m not sure how to spell it otherwise I would. But it was basically a dish with bean paste and cheese mixed together, with fresh tortilla’s sticking out of it, topped off with a sauce called creme (which is basically a sweet, runny sour cream) and some diced totamoes. It was very filling and delicious. I think the visit made us all more excited (if that were possible) to be starting the work at the Hogar soon. It also revamped out need/desire to learn and speak Spanish.

After that some of us either went home or went to get coffee and dessert. Around 8 the power went out and stayed out till around 11:30. It was awesome to see the stars shine so brightly in the dark town. And even though the power was out, there were families and people still milling about the streets enjoying a saturday night. Some fo the bars had candles going or generators running but by the time we got to them they were packed with no seating left, next time we’ll know to get someplace quick!

Today Kristen and I went to a cafe for the afternoon in hopes of studying a lot, what we ended up doing was just talking the whole time we were there haha. Kind of a win either way. Tomorrow and for the rest of the week we have class in the morning! Which is soooo much better because that gives us time in the afternoon to hang out, nap, read and study more than we have been. I’m excited because it means I’ll have more time to utilalize what I have learned in the morning with people. Here’s to hoping haha. I’ve also decided I’m going to start watching TV to listen to spoken spanish more, maybe it will help?

Hope everyone has a happy and healthy monday! I’ll be interested to know what our adventure will be this week 🙂

Ahh, winter in Copan

It’s winter in Copan, and it is also the rainy season. I haven’t been able to post in a few days because it is raining and thundering/lightening so heavily that the electricity has gone out all through town, two nights in a row. But honestly if this is winter, I can’t wait (or, can I?) to see how the summer is. To me, this weather is perfect and even more perfect compared to New England winters. Each day it has been warm (70’s – 80’s) and mostly sunny, with the occasional cloud and or storm. For the last two days, like I said, the rain has rolled in, but before this it hasn’t rained too much. I must say that right now, I even find the rain soothing. It hits off the tin roof but the wood underneath masks the sound a bit. The two storms that ran their course yesterday and today were powerful, I’ve very rarely seen it rain so hard in my life. In a matter of five minutes the little area outside my room was flooded and rain was going sideways. My teacher told me today that it is normal for the power to go out in Copan. But added that it usually comes back on after a little while. Yesterday the power went out 3 times and today, it only went out once. It’s kinda cool to study by candle light! In both storms the thunder and lightening have lasted a little longer than an hour, which I find fascinating to watch. Yesterday I sat on the porch and watched the storm come in and then again to see it go out. (It seemed like it was too dangerous to be out there when the lightening was overhead… and I know Nana doesn’t even want us near the windows when there’s a storm like that, so I can just imagine what she’d say haha. Today is her birthday by the way! So Happy Birthday, Nana.)

This morning I woke up at 5:30am because my host mom challenged me to go for a walk with her the day before not thinking that I would accept (because it’s so early) hahah little did she know, that I accepted her challenge. So at 6am we went for a walk that lasted about an hour and at 7:00 you could feel that today was going to be a hot one. The walk was nice, I got to see more of the town and practice a little spanish along the way. At one point we ran and I thought that I would be too out of shape for that, but it turns out I was just fine. Must be all the fruit and veggies! We walked by a butterfly sanctuary/garden that we were thinking of visiting as a group but Lourdes told me it is closed because the owners are getting divorced…cross that off the To-Do list haha. I was actually a little bummed about that because Honduras has a lot of butterflies and they are all different colors and sizes, it would have been pretty cool.

After some corn flakes, mucho aqua and a banana I went to school. This week classes are in the afternoon, but today we went horseback riding in the morning and were told to meet there. When we got to school the man who runs the horse tours met us and brought us around the corner to where the horses were waiting for us. My horse was named Juanita and she was…interesting. Hhaahah at first I thought she was a nice horse, even a calm horse but by the end of the 2 hours we found out she is obstinate and a bully.

All the girls were put on a girl horse and all the boys were put on boy horses (go figure.) We ended up heading out of town and up a mountain. The views were beautiful. I could tell that Juanita liked to be a leader not a follower, as she slowly weaved her way from the back to the front. She was did really well on the way up the mountain. It seemed like her horse and Christian’s horse were buddies. Honestly being on the horse was fun, I haven’t ridden one since I was in middle school, I think. The guy who led us even made them trot pretty fast a few different times. You could tell these horses were old once we got to the hills though, it was slow going. In fact, I’m pretty sure I could have walked up faster. I felt really bad for the horses and almost got off mine to walk her up but I couldn’t figure out how to explain what I was doing in Spanish so I just decided not to. When we reached the top, we stopped at a soccer field to let the horses rest in the shade. And we were led into the forest to see some more Mayan ruins. They were frog sculptures, which I was told, was a common sight back then and sacred somehow. We were also brought to a shop where Mayan women make woven goods and I bought a bracelet.

On our way back down the mountain, Juanita was a little agitated. She wanted to do her own thing. When the horse (any horse) next to her started going faster she’d quicken her pace and trot alongside them. At one point I was next to Jen, and Juanita clearly tried to bit her horse. So I pulled ahead of her. Just a few minutes later, next to Christian and his horse (we thought they were friends!)  the guy leading us whipped our horses behinds to make them go faster, they were trotting next to each other and then things got weird. I’m not really sure what happened but Juanita started to buck and kicked Christian in the leg, not once but twice. Meanwhile I am starting to fall off but pulled her reigns and regained my balanced on the saddle and pulled her away from the other horse. From that point on, I was separated from the group hahah and had to be a few hundred yards ahead or everyone else. The lone rider. After that, Juanita was pretty mellow, but I still felt like she was agitated…maybe I have a horse sense or something. By the time we got back, I was so glad to get off since my rump hurt hahah and still hurts!

After the horse adventure, I took a siesta till lunchtime, ate and went to school. For the first half of class I talked to my teacher about medical things, children, my day and a few other subjects and for the second half of the day we played a modified game of pictionary with other students. In this game we each got a word and instead of drawing it, you had to describe it. It was WAY over my head hahha maybe next week! While we were playing you could feel and smell the storm coming in, but we got home before the rain picked up.

Anyway here are some pictures to enjoy, never a dull moment here 🙂

Week 2! (Semana dos)

So today marks the beginning of week two in Spanish school, and I found myself a little discouraged that I didn’t know more Spanish… but then I realized it had only been one week haha. This week we have classes in the afternoon, which is kind of a letdown because it limits the amount of exploring we do during the day and it had been nice to get it out of the way early (it also gave us the chance to use the vocab fresh in our head at lunch and on our excursions around town.) At break today more than a few of us looked drained from class. We chatted about how today seemed a off for us and how we just wanted to zone out a little(which is hard when you have class one on one, ha!) The smart little college grads that we are, came to the conclusion that this isn’t high school or college and that we are not here for a grade or for credit, but for us. Learning spanish is essential to our experience over the next year and as a bonus will also be a great skill to have when we get home. So, we’re keeping our eyes on the prize, and if we lose sight someone will help remind us why we need to work harder and to keep pushing through with the lessons…if not for our own sake, for the kids. Plus we realized just how lucky we are to have this unique experience of learning a foreign language with a teacher one-on-one while living with a spanish speaking-family and city. Immersion is the best way to force yourself to learn. 

Over the past few days we’ve gotten to know more about the culture of Copan as well as the history and the people. Copan is a beautiful place and in general the people are friendly. The men might be a little too friendly haha but we white skinned women, especially the blondies stick out so naturally there are comments. But we obviously take them as a grain of salt or as a compliment. The history of the town is pretty cool, just in the past 30-40 years there has been so much change with the town becoming more modern and geared towards tourists and the people of the city. There has also been tons of work on the ruins. The people of Copan are very proud of their background and I love how close they are, not just within the family, but with friends as well. It is a welcoming culture to those hoping to learn and to see more of the world. 

 The last few nights the 7 of us have all made an effort to hang out at different bars and restaurants around Copan, to get out of our houses a little and to get to know one another better. I think Emily, Jackie, Amy and Wilson did an awesome job selecting the group of us. As of now we’re all really jiving well and having a good time. It’s nice to have a lot of common ground but that we are all so different at the same time. I think this will work out great for our work at the orphanage, and though we haven’t met our 8th member yet, I’m sure he’s going to fit right in!

Today after break our teachers took us to an indoor market where they had fruits, vegetables and hand-made goods around. It was a good way to learn the spanish terms for vegetables like eggplant, avocado, tomatoe, cucumber ect. And we’d been walking by this market daily and not realizing it was there. I might pop in once I know more spanish to get some fresh fruits! I will say though that there were tons of flies, so the fruit will be well washed! Another thing that I hope to try – if I have the guts – is to get food from a street vendor, I’ve heard it’s some of the best to get but that the stomach repercussions can be rough. So I guess that it will be a game time decision. 

This week we are going horseback riding! At least that’s what the rumor is, and I cannot wait. I love horses and even though I haven’t been on one in a while, I’m pretty pumped. A bonus is that the horseback riding will be outside of town, so it affords us the opportunity to see a new area and hopefully take some great pictures. Update you all soon! Hope everyone is staying healthy and happy!

Bumming around on the weekends

So there’s a pizza place in Copan, and naturally the 7 of us decided to test it out. The man who owns it is named Jim and the pizza place is pretty similar to one found in the US. He even has plasma TV’s that play ESPN. Last night the Sox vs. Yankees game was on, it’s really odd to watch your home team play while you’re in another country. Anyway the pizza was excellent and chalk full of calories. I can say that we will definately be going back at some point in the next 5 weeks. After pizza we went to another tourist spot called Twisted Tanya’s and got frozen drinks. They were awesome! 

We have no grand plans for the weekend beyond studying, reading and relaxing. But I will be sure to post more next week. We have school in the afternoon now rather than the more so the adventures may be limited. I can say that zip lining and hiking are in the near future and I’m very excited for both. I hope that everyone is staying healthy and happy! Adios amigos

So I bet none of you re wondering this, but i have 45 bug bites. And boy, are they itchy!!! It is pure touture trying not to itch. It feels like when I had the chicken pox as a kid and was told not to scratch and once you know you can’t or shouldn’t that’s all you want to do. Now I bet some are wondering “where is the bug spray Meg! Why are you being so dense?” Well the simple fact is I left it at the orphanage by accident soooo just 5 more weeks without any spray. Maybe by then I will become immune? Who knows. In class today, my teacher saw my legs looked a little shocked hahah and then she began killing the misquitos with her dictionary. Not to worry though I haven’t developed any diseases yet and I am being careful when I can about the bugs. Thank goodness for afterbite, not that it helps that much, but thinking it will is kind of helping I guess?

Today was MUCH better in school. I realized how much I have learned in just 4 days and now think it might be possible for me to be pretty fluent when we get back to the kids in Maceulizo. I won’t be great but I’m really studying hard and putting in the hours. Being bilingual would be soooo sweet! To anyone looking to travel to Honduras, Rotan has been highly recommended to me by many people. Apparently their is scuba diving there that is only second to the Great Barrier Reef. Hint hint 😉 come visit and whisk me away sometime.

We made it to the Mayan Ruins after school today. It was only a 25-30 min walk from the center of town. It’s a little crazy being close to something with so much history and importance to Central American culture. All I can say is it was really astounding to see the ruins, because I am amazed that the structures were built so long ago and have been preserved and restored so well. I took some pictures, as per usual, so check them out! On the way into the temple area there is a nature trail and at it’s start is a small bird sanctuary. We got to see Macaw’s up close and personal. They were so beautiful and vibrant in color but could screech like no tomorrow.

I really like having meals with the host family, it’s a great way to listen to spoken spanish but I have also learned a little about the culture here. When I can decode more Spanish I will be sure to ask more interesting questions. Anyone have any suggestions?

Funny side story, I walked into a table last night and have a splendid bruise on my leg. Some things never change.

I don’t know what we are doing tomorrow but if it’s too boring I probably won’t post 🙂 readers be warned.

Buenas Dias

I’m still digging the food here. Everyday is a new adventure and a new dish. Surprisingly, I have had no stomach problems yet. Almost everyone else in my group does right now but I guess it’s good preparation for the orphanage! (always a bright side, right?) For breakfast, I tried arroz con leche which is milk and rice, it has the consistency of oatmeal but sits heavier on the stomach, I couldn’t finish it. I also had a side of papaya. I don’t love papaya but I am eating whatever I am given regardless, I promised myself that I would try everything at least once and so far I have! For lunch we had cous cous mixed with spices, corn, peppers, carrots, ham, beef and green beans mixed in. It was so flavorful. I’m very excited to learn how to cook some Central American dishes like this.

Today was easily my most frustrating day at school ( I know I have only been there three days…haha) For the first two hours I felt like I didn’t learn anything. I was constantly looking things up in the dictionary (I mean it when I say constantly) but we finally got into verbs and conjugating them in the final 2 hours. During this time, we went over basic verbs that are commonly used and how to conjugate -ar -er and -ir verbs. The list of irregular verbs is so much longer than French which is a real bummer, but I guess memorizing them will be my weekend goal.

Something to Cross off the Bucket List!

Today is Independence Day, and no one in Honduras celebrates that (obviously, why would they?) so we didn’t do much to celebrate either, but even so I think it was the best one I’ve had in a long time. Thinking back on it I’m pretty positive that I have worked most of the day and/or the night on Independence Day for at least the last 5 years. Because of this I can’t claim to have ever gone big enough or celebrated, beyond seeing the fireworks, since I was a little kid. So after class and a great lunch the 7 of us meet at the school and piled into a van to travel to the Hot Springs up in the mountains. The Hot Springs are about an hour away from Copan. It was muy bonita! The ride was a long one, on dirt/rock/mud roads and bumpy to say the least, but it was 100% worth it.

When we arrived at the “spa” it was a little overcast, which is normal being so high up in the mountains. We greeted some workers and each of us paid 200 lempira’s (10 dollars!) to get to spend two hours exploring all the different pools of water and the spa area. There were probably 15+ pools. It’s so hard to describe what this place looked like but that’s why I took pictures! Anyway, the water from the springs is around 80 degrees celsius (172F) naturally. The people who run the spa created the pools so that this water is mixed with a little bit of cooler water pumped in from a river on the mountain, this is so humans don’t boil to death. 😉 Thus, each pool is a mixture of very hot water with varying amounts of cooler water or water that cooled naturally on the way down to the base of the mountain.

We crossed a foot bridge over the river (normal temp) and made our way up a little further. We had to walk through a stone structure and cross a pool that had three big stepping stones. Andrew said it reminded him of Indian Jones, which I have to agree with aha. From there, there were as I said, over 15 pools of water that were spaced out around a half a mile of land. Each area had a slightly different temperature or purpose. There were pools that were very hot, some were cooler, one was for feet, one was a mini waterfall for the head and shoulders, one was mud bath, and a set of seven pools is called the spiritual baths. The spiritual baths were set up in a descending order from hottest to coldest pools of water, I don’t really know what’ spiritual about them soooo sorry I can’t tell you haha. I did figure out that you were supposed to head from pool to pool until the end, but I’m not sure how long you were supposed to spend in each. In another area there was gazebo where you sat on a log and it felt like a sauna from the steam of the water behind you and underneath you. I should also mention this is all in the forest and the footpaths have stone stairs ways. I was amazed and wondered how they could have constructed this area so well. When there is a masseuse bopping around you can also get massages but there was no such luck today! bummer.

I have to say that this probably the best 2 hours I’ve spent in a long time and we even had fun chatting and seeing the countryside on the rides to and from. Feel free to check out some of my pictures, I didn’t take too many but I did take some! 🙂

A new host child joined us today, her name is Ana and she just graduated from Wooster State College, she said she thinks she know Rosalie – small world, huh? She, Hunter (the other host child) myself and Senora Lourdes played banagrams en espanol and we played Uno after dinner today. Bananagrams is soooo much harder in spanish. In one hour we only played 2 games haha and no one won the second one! Adios amigos, buenos noches 🙂