Casa Dona Elena - My home in Copan - Dec2008

After Antigua, I decided to try Guacamaya Spanish School in Copan, Honduras. (The name means Macaw in Spanish). After a tiring 6 hr Sunday bus ride from Antigua, I arrived at about 830 pm. The director Enrique picked me up in person at the bus station. The bus was over an hour late, and it was his day off, so he gets a good grade for service.

Enrique took me to my first family. Unfortunately, this did not work out. They weren’t around much, so I did not really have anyone to talk to, except their maid - a crotchety old lady who spoke incomprehensible Spanish. All I could get out of her most of the time, in response to a question such as, “Is there any tea?” was “No hay”, which means “there isn’t any”. It was her standard response. The two teenage kids were fun, but left early for school.

The family had little idea how to cook for a vegetarian, and there was no fruit and few vegetables in my diet during the next two days. I decided that I might as well quit Copan at the end of the week, and bike to Estelli in Nicaragua, about 500 miles away. Heck, it couldn’t be any less comfortable and lonely. Oh, and there was no hot water. (At times it was down to 50 deg in the mornings – no heat – it’s possible, but not much fun, taking a cold shower at such times. A bit like army boot camp).

.

Breakfast on the third morning was a loaf of white bread, some butter, a cup of coffee and juice. Not even any jam.

.

Furthermore, the dogs outside were driving me crazy. A bunch of them would start barking at around midnight, and then take it in turns every 15 minutes until about 430 am, at which point the roosters would take over. (I didn’t mind them, since they are part of farm life. Also, they sleep during most of the night).

After 3 days, I was at my wits end with the family and the dogs. I decided to check with other students at the school. They said other families were much better, and I should ask to switch. I spoke to Enrique midmorning, and he said, sure, he would take me to a new family that afternoon.

What a relief. My new family, headed by Elena Gonzalez, is great. I have a quiet room, with hot water (!), there are no dogs nearby, and the family is super friendly. Her home is a rest house, and she houses perhaps 8 / 10 persons (hard to count), including her daughter Daisy and her grand daughter Alba (12), whose name is Spanish for “Dawn”. Many Hondurenos who are staying elsewhere in town visit Elena for meals. I can even understand some of them (sort of).

There is a fellow student staying there, a 30 yr old Belgian woman called Celine. I have discovered that is makes a huge difference if one has one or more fellow students in ones home. I would say it is essential if one stays beyond a week, to avoid loneliness. Celine and I share many meals together and initially agreed to speak only Spanish, which is great. Her Spanish is better than mine. She is an Engineer and had spent a year working for Medicines Sans Frontiers, in the Congo, in Haiti, and briefly in Chad.

After 2 weeks of only Spanish, Celine and I decided to take last weekend off and to speak English. I discovered that she is fluent, having spent a year in Vancouver WA, as a high school student. It was like a vacation for both of us, not having to speak Spanish!

Helena runs the home with the help of her daughter and several younger female assistants. He husband died about 10 years ago, and since then she has expanded from only a few rooms to about 8-10 now. What a hard worker! Last Sunday I was up and ready to leave the house around 6.15 am, and stopped by the kitchen to chat to Merriam. She told me that Elena had already left to go down to the market to buy food for our breakfast.

.

Here she is dusting down the front of her house.

.

.

View from the balcony at Elena´s home. My room is one floor down.

.

There is also a young Honduran man called Luis staying there. He is working for a local non profit, and has a fine sense of humor.What a nice change to have people to share experiences with. Elena is an outstanding cook.

.

Elena´s dining room.

.

Elena has a 19 yr old called Merriam helping her in the kitchen, who is always bringing out fresh hot tortillas or a cup of juice. Unfortunately, I have not been able to get Merriam to leave out the sugar, so I have resigned myself to sweet coffee.

.

A typical vegetarian lunch. I think everyone else is a carnivore. My Spanish notes are to the left.

.

Helena’s home gets 4 stars from me, vs. 1 star for the other family in Copan, and 2.5 stars for each of the two in Antigua. After a few days I decided not to bike to Estelli. Instead, I decided to spend my remaining 2 weeks here, and fly out of San Pedro Sula in Honduras instead of Managua in Nicaragua.

.

Photo taken from the Pila, or clothes washing area.

.

Celine says Luis and I are probably the only 2 guys in Copan who wash their own clothes. (Machismo is alive and well here).

.

Me studying in the afternoon. Lots of homework.

.

.
Evening drinks in the Sapa Rojo (Red Frog) restaurant, 4 other students: Alexii, Sylvi and Henri(France), and my house mate Celine (Belgium).
.









.
Sapa Rojo restaurant
.











.
Henri and Celine studying in the roof top area of a restaurant. They like to hang out there. I joined them once, but the guy tried to charge me $1.20 for hot tea (OK) then another $0.80 for an extra cup of hot water (not OK). I argued and he cut it to $0.25. No other restaurant charges for hot water. I later learnt that this restaurant is owned by the wealthiest lady in town. Apparently she owns half the town. She lives is a huge walled mansion, complete with electric gate. Central America seems to have a few rich people who own almost everything, with the masses struggling to survive.