A Torture Victim's Story - San Pedro

One of the activities at San Pedro Spanish School was a talk given by Felipe, a middle aged man living in San Pedro. He visited the school one afternoon and spent about an hour recounting a rather disturbing personal story.

First, let me give a little background. Guatemala experienced a civil war from 1960 to Dec 1996, when the peace accord was signed by the warring parties. This war was the longest and possibly the bloodiest of the many wars in Central America. There were various causes, but a major one was the CIA- sponsored coup in 1954 against the popularly elected socialist President Arbenz Guzman, prompted largely by his efforts to redistribute unused land of wealthy landowners such as the US- controlled United Fruit Company (UFco). At the time, UFco owned huge tracts of land in Guatemala, much of which was unused. (Even today, the richest 2% of Guatemala’s landowning population owns more than 65% of all of the arable land). UFco was was known as the Octopus (“el Pulpo”) since it controlled large parts of the economy including the ports. It had shareholders and friends in high places in the Eisenhower government, who objected to the purchase and redistribution of their land to the peasants by the Guatemalan government. This they viewed as communism. Allen Dulles, the Director of the CIA in 1954, was at one time a board member of UFco. His brother, John Foster Dulles, was the current Secretary of State, and had previously acted as one of the lawyers of the UFco. They persuaded Eisenhower to authorize a coup. Arbenz was forced to flee the country.

After the coup, Guatemalans lost many of their democratic rights, and were ruled for perhaps 30 years by military strongmen. In 1960, one of several guerrilla groups rose up against the government and the civil war began.

Much of the conflict took place in the highland areas occupied by the indigenous Mayan people, who make up about half of Guatemala’s population. Studies reveal that perhaps 200,000 people died during the war, the overwhelming majority indigenous Mayans, and perhaps 90% at the hands of the military. (A few percent were killed by the guerrillas). Toward the end of the 1970’s, the civil war grew in intensity. Presidents Lucas Garcia and Rios Montt are considered the two most barbaric Presidents. Both practiced what was tantamount to genocide in an attempt to deprive the guerrillas of their traditional support in Mayan villages. It is estimated that 600 villages were raised to the ground and their inhabitants murdered by the Guatemalan military.

Much of the weaponry was supplied by the Reagan Administration, which at the time was also funding another bloody war, against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua (remember Iran- Contra?).

One estimate is that during Rios Montt’s short 16 month reign (1982-83), perhaps 50,000 people were murdered, either by the military of by vigilante groups (with the President turning a blind eye). It appears that Garcia’s reign (1978-1982) was almost as bad.

This sets the scene for Felipe’s story, which took place under Garcia’s reign. In March 1980, Felipe was living at a boarding school near Chichicastenango, in the highlands. He was about 17 years old. The boys (about 11 to 18 years of age) lived in dormitories which were separated from their classrooms by a sports field. The girls lived on the other side of the property. One morning, the boys were walking across the sports field when they ware shocked to encounter 3-5 bodies. All were Mayan men, and were naked, with their hands tied behind their backs. All had had their throats slashed. The boys sounded the alarm, but the police seemed unsurprised. There was no investigation. The bodies were simply taken away. Much shaken, the boys continued with the studies. Many were tormented by what they had seen and some found it difficult to sleep at night. Some time later (perhaps months), they stumbled across more Mayan bodies in the sports field. This time the total included two women. All were naked, with hands tied, and this time each had been shot in the side of the head. The two women had both their breasts amputated. Once again, the police seemed unsurprised. This second occurrence added to the discomfort and terror amongst the boys. Later, it dawned on Felipe that these bodies had been intended as warnings by the military, to dissuade the boys from joining the guerrillas.

In October, the school year ended, and the kids were relieved to return home. Felipe returned to San Pedro, which is on the southern side of Lake Atitlan, about 2 hours from the school, and was therefore relatively far away from the main theater of the civil war. However, it seemed that the government wasn’t taking any chances of it’s spreading to San Pedro. Shortly after his return, the military showed up in force, and summoned everyone to a meeting at the local sports field. The office in charge said that the terrorists were everyone’s enemies, and that in order to defend the town, they wanted 50 volunteers to be trained as guards. The required number of male residents stepped forward, and the army led them away for some training. Shortly after, the 50 returned, each with an automatic rifle. The military announced martial law and disbanded the police. Henceforth, they said, the guards would be in charge.

Then commenced a reign of terror by the guards. The military remained in the background. The guards would bang at people’s doors at night, and extort money. If the person refused, he would be taken away, often never to be seen again. Many of the residents had to pay substantial bribes to these guards to be left alone. Often, these guards would simply “disappear” persons against whom they held a grudge.

Felipe told us that at no time did any guerrillas come to San Pedro.

About a month later, the guards, this time with military support, banged at the doors of 5 houses late at night, in order to abduct 5 young males for “questioning”. Felipe was one of this group. The guards barged into his house. He tried to escape and was shot in the thigh and arm. (We saw the scars). He and the others were taken away to a building perhaps 2 hours walk away, along the lake. He said this had been owned by wealthy foreigners and had been commandeered by the army. There the captives were tortured.

Felipe had been severely wounded, and had lost much blood, so a military medic arrived to give him some basic treatment and bandage his wounds. But all were kept with hands tied, which caused much discomfort. Felipe was the only one of the 5 who could speak Spanish, so he became the spokesperson.

During the next few days, the military would burn them with cigarettes and beat them with gun butts. Felipe says the guns were Galils, supplied by Israel. Each time, the military would offer to release them if they revealed the names of their guerrilla leaders and the locations of their arms caches. Since neither existed, the boys could not satisfy their torturers. After a few days, one of the boys was released. After he had walked perhaps 10 yards, and guard shot him in the back. This terrified the remaining four boys.

A day or so later, the guards took each boy, still with hands tied, and tied a second rope to each one’s body. They took the 4 boys down to the lake. They weighed each one down with rocks. One at a time, they threw each boy into the lake where he was kept submerged for a minute or so and then retrieved, each time he was asked the two questions. The periods of submersion became longer. The torture was stopped when one boy drowned. This left three.

A day later (day 5), all the boys were taken outside and their pants removed. A cord was tied to the testicles of the other two (Felipe was spared), and passed over the branch of a tree overhead. The two boys stood there with hands tied while the guards exerted increasing force on the cord, stretching their testicles upward. They yelled with pain. After a while the torture stopped and the boys collapsed. Later the three were taken back to their prison.

The next day (day 6), their captors announced that they were to be released. At first the boys refused to leave, remembering the fate of the first boy. However, their captors forced them out. They were left to find their own way home.  They started walking. They were very weak and had to stop often. Eventually some locals found them and took them back to the village. Everyone was amazed to see them as they had been given up for dead. Felipe returned home, to the joy of his parents. He later recovered and was able to lead a normal life. The other did not fare as well. One died shortly after, perhaps due to suicide, and the other tuned to drink.

The story has a positive sequel. This was referred to in general terms by Felipe, but the details were supplied by one of my Spanish Teachers, who was about 10 years old at the time.

Apparently, the military left shortly afterward, having decided that the guerilla threat in San Pedro was small and that their proxies, the 50 armed guards, could handle things. At the time there lived in the village two brothers who were prominent citizens. One day, perhaps a year later, the guards decided to do away with them. One they captured in a nearby town. That night they came to abduct the brother. The people heard about this and came out into the streets shouting. However, they were unable to prevent the abduction. The two bodies were discovered the next day in the mountains, hanging from a tree. That night, the people organized into groups and entered the homes of each of the guards. Apparently, no one was killed. All the guards were overwhelmed by the townsfolk, which must have been an amazing act of bravery on their part. My teacher witnessed some of the arrests. The people were for lynching the guards, but wiser heads prevailed, and they were jailed instead. Later they were taken to the town of Sololá, the district center (about an hour away by car), and handed over to be prosecuted. It appears that most, if not all, were jailed for up to 10 years. This seems amazing in view of the fact that the military was still running the country. At the time, world attention had come to be focused on Guatemala’s human rights abuses, and the US Congress had recently stopped the sale of arms to the govt. (Sadly, other countries such as Israel and Italy filled the gap). Perhaps the government had decided to bow to the will of the people of San Pedro and to international pressure, and try the guards.

After a long period, the guards were released, and some tried to return to their previous lives in San Pedro. But the people ostracized them, and the few that live here today do so on the margins of society.

Postscript: None of Guatemala's dictators was ever tried. Today, Rios Montt is still in the government, and may run for president again. He has assumed the role of a born again Christian. As a military man, he was trained in the US.

Sunday Walks with Ellen around Copan - Dec2008

After I had been here a week, I was introduced to Ellen Finn, who lives in Copan and who is from Capitol Hill in Seattle. She used to play Jazz, and knows Amy´s old Jazz teacher at Garfield, Clarence Acox. What a small world! She rents a small apartment on top of Elena´s house. She has befriended lots of Copaneco´s and several poor families who live in the mountains, and derives a lot of pleasure from handing out treats and small gifts to the locals and to her families. She tries to helps the locals however she is able. The photo is of Ellen and a daughter of Justa, one of Elena Gonzalez' helpers.


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One Saturday, Ellen and I decided to have a go at baking cookies in her oven. She hadn't tried to use it after she had been scared off by an explosion some time before. However, we were able to clean it out and get it going, and we baked several dozen raisin and PNB cookies. Elena (center) and Justa came upstairs to Helen`s apartment to watch this amazing feat. No one in the house has had a working oven for some time, so this was a big event. The cookies were great, and Ellen had a great time passing them out to all and sundry in Copan. Later Elena asked me to try to repair her oven. We spent some time on a Sunday afternoon cleaning it and getting it going. We managed to eliminate the smoke, but found that the missing lower door allowed too much heat to escape. So the baking experiment was not a big success. Nevertheless, Ellen feels I could make a living fixing things like ovens in Copan.


One Sunday, Ellen invited me to accompany her on a 2 hour walk to visit some villages south of Copan. It was along a level road, so the going was easy. Ellen handed out treats as we went. Below are photos of the walk and of some of the kids we met.



















































This was our second outing, to a village called Llanetios in the mountains NE of Copan. Helen had befriended two families and wanted to take them Christmas presents.

It took about 30 minutes by 3 wheel taxi to get there - very steep and rough. Here we stopped to admire the view.






The first family. The parents were away. Helen says she is never quite sure how many are family and how many are cousins of friends. It just seems to be a big friendly bunch of kids.










The second family. Maria (light blue dress) is 19 and is very welcoming. She served us some tasty food (tamales) and showed me how to make a clay pot.












The sign to the pottery shop next to Maria`s home. This was built as a development project, to help the locals earn some money.











The village of Llanetios. A beautiful location. They have piped water, thanks to a governmental project. Soon they will get electricity. But the houses are simple and the people are clearly quite poor.










The one-roomed school house.

The Copan Ruins & Mayan Civilization

Learning About the Mayas

I first visited Copan for 2 days in March 2007 with a Group from Habitat for Humanity. It was the end of our 2 week visit to Honduras, and was rather rushed, as might be expected. We were taken on a guided tour of the ruins. This was interesting, but it was hard to absorb much.

This time around, I have been able to spend a little more time learning about the Mayas, and soaking in the quiet simplicity and atmosphere of the Ruins. Most mornings, I spend an hour on a pre-breakfast hike to the Ruins, and enjoy the peace of the surrounding park. No tourists yet (the Ruins don’t open till 8 am) so it is peaceful – just the birds and me and the occasional guide on his way to work. It is nice that they open the gates to the park early. One can almost get oneself lost in the forest. It is not hard to imagine oneself back in Mayan times, 1200 to 2000 years ago.

My fellow guest Cerine and I spend a pleasant Saturday morning exploring the Ruins. (Photos are below). Since then, I have discovered an excellent free museum, created by the town council, called “Museo de Casa K’inich”. It is located inside a large white castle-like building on top of a hill in the town. The views and the kids running around are reason enough to visit. The museum is a nice bonus. I have spent several pleasant afternoons up there, learning a bit about the Mayan culture and just hanging out. The museum has hands-on exhibits in both Spanish and English, which are both informative and a great way to improve one’s Spanish.

In the museum, I learnt that the Mayan civilization is one of only 5 in the prehistoric world that developed its own written language. The others are the Sumerian, Egyptian, Harappan (Indus river, in present day Pakistan, c. 3300–1300 BCE, ), and the Chinese. No other nation in the Americas had a written language. The Mayans wrote on paper, hide, wood, and pottery, using “glyphs” or symbols, much like the Egyptians. About 1000 of these symbols have been discovered, but not all have been deciphered. It is known that they used a verb, object, subject sentence structure.

The Mayans developed their own math, based on base 20. Apparently, they decided to use both their fingers and toes for counting, whereas the decimal system was originally based on using only one’s fingers. Perhaps with the help of the Olmecs, they were the first in the world to use a 0 in their math, although the use of a blank on a counting board to represent 0 dated back in India to 4th century BC.

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This is an exhibit where one can test one’s math ability, Mayan style. A dot means one unit, and a horizontal bar means 5. The example is 17-8=9. I tested this on my teachers and on my local family. Some got it right, others not – I kidded them about this, and it caused much amusement.
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The Mayans developed a 365 day calendar. They had 13 day weeks and 19 months is a year. This exhibit allows one to figure out one’s birthday in their calendar. This is mine - Jan 29th. Kind of tricky. They must have been smart people.

The Mayans used buildings, doorways and windows to plot the rising and setting positions of the sun, moon and planets. E.g. on April 12, two stone statues (“Stellae”) in the hills line up exactly with the setting sun, indicating the beginning of the agricultural cycle.

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Mayan Plants Exhibit

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Chocolate was very precious to the Maya. This comes from seeds of the Cacao tree. The word chocolate is from the ancient Aztecs in Mexico. Cacao is from the Mayan word “Kakaw”. The earliest record of using chocolate dates back before the Olmecs. In November 2007, archaeologists reported finding evidence of the oldest known cultivation and use of cacao at a site in Puerto Escondido, Honduras, dating from about 1100 to 1400 BC. The residues found and the kind of vessel they were found in indicate that the initial use of cacao was not simply as a beverage, but the white pulp around the cacao beans was likely used as a source of fermentable sugars for an alcoholic drink. The Maya civilization grew cacao trees in their backyard, and used the cacao seeds it produced to make a frothy, bitter drink. Documents in Maya hieroglyphs stated that chocolate was used for ceremonial purposes, in addition to everyday life. The chocolate residue found in an early ancient Maya pot in Rio Azul, Guatemala, suggests that Maya were drinking chocolate around 400 AD. In the New World, chocolate was consumed in a bitter, spicy drink called xocoatl, and was often flavored with vanilla, chile pepper, and achiote. Until the 16th century, no European had ever heard of the popular drink from the Central and South American peoples.

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Refreshments next to the Museum. Echiladas and (what else?) Chocolate-covered bananas, for 6 Lempiras (about $0.35).

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At its peak, the Mayan civilization included much of Guatemala, southern Mexico and north western Honduras. The settlement at Copan may have numbered 25,000 persons. Scientists aren’t quite sure why the Mayan civilization collapsed in the 9th century CE. I chatted to an American Archeology PhD. student, who is spending a year here. She says the current view is that as people expanded, they started abusing the environment. They cut down too many trees. The expanding population forced the farmers to move up into the hills. Farming there caused soil erosion. Soon, the lack of trees caused a local rise in temperatures, which had an adverse affect on the crops. Hunger followed. Eventually, the land was so depleted that people gave up and left.

Perhaps there is a message here for us. We are certainly abusing the planet with our insatiable need for energy and more stuff. The difference is that we don’t have someplace else to go.

The Maya Civilization (Text courtesy of Wikipedia)

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The Maya civilization is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Preclassic period, many of these reached their apogee of development during the Classic period (c. 250 CE to 900 CE), and continued throughout the Postclassic period until the arrival of the Spanish. At its peak, it was one of the most densely populated and culturally dynamic societies in the world.

The Maya writing system (often called hieroglyphs from a superficial resemblance to the Ancient Egyptian writing) was a combination of phonetic symbols and logograms. It is most often classified as a logographic or (more properly) a logosyllabic writing system, in which syllabic signs play a significant role. It is the only writing system of the Pre-Columbian New World which is known to completely represent the spoken language of its community. In total, the script has more than a thousand different glyphs,

The earliest inscriptions in an identifiably-Maya script date back to 200–300 BC.[14]

At a rough estimate, in excess of 10,000 individual texts have so far been recovered, mostly inscribed on stone monuments, lintels, stelae and ceramic pottery. The Maya also produced texts painted on a form of paper manufactured from processed tree-bark, in particular from several species of strangler fig trees. This paper, common throughout Mesoamerica and generally now known by its Nahuatl-language name amatl, was typically bound as a single continuous sheet that was folded into pages of equal width, concertina-style, to produce a codex (book) that could be written on both sides.

In common with the other Mesoamerican civilizations, the Maya used a base 20 (vigesimal) and base 5 numbering system. Also, the preclassic Maya and their neighbors independently developed the concept of zero by 36 BC. Inscriptions show them on occasion working with sums up to the hundreds of millions and dates so large it would take several lines just to represent it. They produced extremely accurate astronomical observations; their charts of the movements of the moon and planets are equal or superior to those of any other civilization working from naked eye observation.

In common with the other Mesoamerican civilizations, the Maya had measured the length of the solar year to a high degree of accuracy, far more accurate than that used in Europe as the basis of the Gregorian Calendar. They did not use this figure for the length of year in their calendar, however. The calendar they used was crude, being based on a year length of exactly 365 days, which means that the calendar falls out of step with the seasons by one day every four years.

Uniquely, there is some evidence to suggest the Maya appear to be the only pre-telescopic civilization to demonstrate knowledge of the Orion Nebula as being fuzzy, i.e. not a stellar pin-point. The Dresden Codex contains the highest concentration of astronomical phenomena observations and calculations of any of the surviving texts (it appears that the data in this codex is primarily or exclusively of an astronomical nature). Examination and analysis of this codex reveals that Venus was the most important astronomical object to the Maya, even more important to them than the sun.

The life-cycle of maize lies at the heart of Maya belief. This philosophy is demonstrated on the Maya belief in the Maize God as a central religious figure. The Maya bodily ideal is also based on the form of the young Maize God, which is demonstrated in their artwork. The Maize God was also a model of courtly life for the Classical Maya.

Among the many types of Maya calendars which were maintained, the most important included a 260-day cycle, a 365-day cycle which approximated the solar year, a cycle which recorded lunation periods of the Moon, and a cycle which tracked the synodic period of Venus.

Maya Site of Copan - UNESCO World Heritage Site

The kingdom, anciently named Xukpi (Corner-Bundle), flourished from the 5th century AD to the early 9th century, with antecedents going back to at least the 2nd century AD.

Many structures are elaborately decorated with stone sculptures, usually constructed from a mosaic of carved stones of a size that one person could carry.




















The site also has a large court for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame. At its height in the late classic period Copán seems to have had an unusually prosperous class of minor nobility, scribes, and artisans, some of whom had homes of cut stone built for themselves (in most sites a privilege reserved for the rulers and high priests), some of which have carved hieroglyphic texts.
The fertile Copán River valley was long a site of agriculture before the first known stone architecture was built in the region about the 9th century BC.

A kingdom seems to have been established in Copán in 159. It grew into one of the most important Maya sites by the 5th century. Large monuments dated with hieroglyphic texts were erected in the city from 435 through 822.

The city withered in the face of unsustainable population growth bringing about the depletion of natural resources, factors that brought several of the Classic-Age Maya city-states to their end. The area continued to be occupied after the last major ceremonial structures and royal monuments were erected, but the population declined in the 8th century - 9th century from perhaps over 20,000 in the city to less than 5,000.

The ceremonial center was long abandoned and the surrounding valley home to only a few farming hamlets at the time of the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century.

The site was the subject of one of the first modern archeological surveys and excavations in the Maya area, conducted by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of Harvard University from 1891 to 1900.

Photos from our Visit to the Ruins

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Tim at the gate to the ruins. The Macaws are fun, but can get aggressive - they terrorized a young couple who were trying to feed them. (Bad idea).

Celine and I walked to the Ruins one Saturday morning - about a half hour or so from our house.
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A wonderfully peaceful place. There were very few tourists early on, and we just hung out and soaked in the mystery and beauty of the place. We couldn't afford a guide, but no matter. It was simply a great place to be. There is lots of info available about the Ruins, in the guide books, on the internet, and at the entrance kiosk.
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The views of the surrounding hills are special. Wide vistas, very luxuriant. This is a photo of the main arena.
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The hills stretch into the distance.

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).

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

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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.

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Here she is dusting down the front of her house.

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

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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.

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Elena´s dining room.

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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.

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

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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.

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Photo taken from the Pila, or clothes washing area.

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

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Me studying in the afternoon. Lots of homework.

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

Around Copan, Honduras - Dec2008

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The road from Antigua to Copan. Looking back at the volcanoes.
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Two brothers playing on a Sunday afternoon
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Main street, Copan.
When one has to go, the street is the nearest place....

The Mom was amused when she spotted me taking the photo. Her son on the left had just finished. No-one seemed to mind.
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The Garcia family, who own the bar where I enjoy a beer with the locals each evening. I have become one of the regulars. She has 5 kids. I snapped this photo one evening while they were putting up Christmas lights.
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The outside of the Garcia bar, about 1.5 blocks west of the parque central. Not much to look at, but great atmosphere. One evening I bought a drink for a sad looking old guy at the bar, and I had an instant friend. He could understand me, but I only caught 1 word in 10 from him. It didn't seem to matter - everyone had a good time.
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Proud Mom
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God bless this business
And to you, thanks for your preference!
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Sisterly Love
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These two kids were playing house along one of the main streets. I stopped to ask them what they were making - it was some kind of red drink. They assured me it was good stuff. I asked what it cost. Smiling brightly, they replied - 1000 Lempiras (about $60.00). Hmmm...
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Mountain View taken during one of my bike rides toward the Guatemalan border about 6 miles away.
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En route to the Guatemalan border, part of the road was washed away. There are two small warning signs, which are easy to miss. Better not be gazing off into the distance..
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The is the main Central American highway to Guatemala. It seemed to me that the next heavy rains (due in May) could take away the rest of the road. Hopefully they will have fixed it by then.




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A pulperia, or small store.
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Another country view near Copan
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This small boy and his kitty live a few houses down from Elena´s. Most of the time he doesn't bother wearing pants.
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I passed this small house with horse and rider during one of my bike rides around Copan. The family seemed quite pleased that I wanted to photograph them.
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.These guys were hanging around the border when I arrived on my bike. They were highly amused. Not too many bikes like mine around. Also, it is quite steep - the round trip of 12 miles from Copan to the border climbs about 1300 ft. For comparison, the 200 miles Seattle to Portland ride climbs about 4000 feet - 3 times as much in 16 times the distance.
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The local market.
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An Aids exhibit held one day by World Vision, in the parque central. It included an interesting question and answer display (below).
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I spotted this ancient movie projector in someones front yard. About 6 ft high. Interesting collectible.
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Street sisters. No parents to be seen. They weren't at all shy of me.
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