Every year the Peace Corps volunteers flock to Copan Ruinas for a huge Halloween blowout party. There are about 180 PCVs in Honduras, not to mention some from Guatemala and El Salvador that make the journey as well. Apparently word gets around about this little shindig and Abby and I were all over it. Our friend, Cid, used to work and live in Copan so he was fully aware of the happenings and told us, probably three days after we arrived in Honduras that he was going to take us to Copan for Halloween. Thank you Cid!
Copan Ruinas (the name of the town, as well as the Mayan ruins there) is about a two and a half hour drive from Santa Rosa de Copan. However, when you take into account our modes of transportation, it actually equals out to about four hours. Now this is not four hours in a cushy SUV. This is four hours with half a butt cheek falling off your seat in a chicken bus crammed with way too many people for a ride like this to ever be safe. Twisty mountain roads with smelly passengers on an old school bus. Now that is my idea of a good time!
The trips there and back were certainly long, but oh so worth it. Because all of the PC was in town, all of the hostels were completely booked. Abby and I opted instead for a little B&B that Cid’s uncle owns. It was quite possibly the most peaceful place I have ever stayed. A beautiful view of the plush green mountainside, hammocks lining the walkway which lead down to their little garden where I ate my free, delicious breakfast.
The view from a hammock at our extremely peaceful and relaxing B&B. And you thought all Honduras had was mud huts.
Friday night we went out to los bares and found some fun Americans to hang with. Our first bar, the Red Frog was bought on the Internet by this guy, Dan, from Chico, CA. He bought it online, sight unseen, and now lives in Honduras with his baby and his baby’s momma. What a story, right? It’s a major hot spot for tourists, something that may or may not be attributed to the fact that the bar has beer pong tables readily available to any guest. American (not to mention Chico State) hospitality at it’s finest.
There was a guy at the Red Frog with an OSU hat. All over the walls of the Frog there are one lempiras with little messages to Dan, the owner. I knew I was going to leave one and of course, the absolute first thing that came to mind was GO BLUE. When I saw this OSU hooligan, I made him pose with my lempira. He didn't really put up a fight. O'DOYAL RULES!
Saturday consisted of Abby sleeping off the previous night and me relaxing in a hammock as I finished Animal Farm, which I thought might be a good goal considering I AM currently teaching it to the 10th graders. Good book though- definitely recommend it! Later I headed into town to walk around and explore. A very cute town, Copan Ruinas is a lot like Santa Rosa but cleaner and with more white people. Interesting how the two things often go hand in hand. I ended up talking to this street vendor for a while about life in Copan. He was a good salesman; he told me I understood Spanish very well. The key to my heart. With those magic words, I bought a pair of earrings and a bracelet.
This is what all of the streets look like in Copan. That's Via Via on the left.
On my little outing I stumbled upon a little café, which enticed me by the presence of two cute PC guys. While there I had a, wait for it, BAGEL AND CREAM CHEESE. It. Was. Glorious. I had forgotten just how amazing those little circular pieces of bread truly are. Thanks to my long eyelashes and girlish charm, I ended up having coffee with the two cute PC guys. That’s a lie, really, I had tea, because I still don’t drink coffee…I’m actually the ONLY person in Honduras who doesn’t. The guys, Kyler and Dan, were really cool and both are stationed pretty close to Santa Rosa. While in Copan, Abby and I were both overwhelmed with the amount of attractive, English speaking men with whom we could actually converse and reveled in the fact that we did not have to continually explain the concept of personal space.
Next came the night of the huge Halloween party. Beginning at this hostel/bar called Via Via, there were Americans out the wazoo. Let me tell you, those kids can partaaay. Whether they were drinking or not, everyone was definitely having a good time. Because some of these people are in butt-fing nowhere, they had to be pretty creative with their costumes. We saw pinatas, agua azul bottles, coffee bags, and soccer balls all being used as raw materials. The Peace Corps: saving the world one Halloween costume at a time! Also working in my favor was the fact that Saturday nights at Via Via, in addition to more recent popular music, are 80’s music nights. Seriously, ya’ll, need I say more?
Me as Little Red Riding Hood aka Caperucita Roja
Dani's friend, Theo was not dressed up. Therefore he took my basket and became a "Guatemalan" for Halloween. Perfect!
While at Via Via we coincidentally and oh so perfectly ran into our friend Dani who is also living in SRC and lives at the Orphanage where we volunteer. She was in Copan with two friends from college who are currently volunteering in Guatemala. She is such a fun girl; I’m so excited to hang out with her more in SRC. As Via Via closed we all got our special permission bracelets and traveled down the road to the all night bar called Papa Changos. Half outside, half inside, live music, swings as bar stools, and a Halloween costume competition. As Borat would say, VERY NICE! I was never planning on competing in the competition, but everyone I was with said, “Sarah! Go! The costume competition!” to which I replied, “Oh! okay!” FOURTH PLACE, ANYONE??! Caperucita Roja baby. I won a hat and a key chain! Alllriiiight. First place went to Kyler who was dressed as an authentic Honduran dancer woman. Hard to beat. The night went on until the wee hours of the morning giving Copan Ruinas one more Halloween to remember.
Posing with Govenor Sarah Palin!
Kyler dancing in his gettup. Definitely some stiff competition.
On Sunday morning Abby and I decided that maybe, just maybe, we should take a look at these ruins everyone seems to be so psyched on. Not going to lie, they are pretty much da bomb. (And I am not one to throw around “da bomb.”) I am such a history nerd, but I think non-history nerds would enjoy it just the same. We had a precious little tour guide, Jorge. He was an older man who just loved his job, loved his country, and loved history! I got his business card so I can hit him up when all my visitors come. The ruins are like the Internet…they both will forever boggle my mind. Pictures make it hard to do it justice, but they help a little bit…take a look.
The Copan Ruins!
Pretty macaws totally just chillin there.
Now I am home from a crazy weekend with a cold and a bit of a fever. Unfortunately this is the last week of classes before grades are due so I have a bunch of presentations and tests for which I need to be present. I would much rather stay home this entire week. But, Abby got me some meds and I’m feeling a little better. Just need to wait it out I suppose. Once again, I can’t wait for the weekend. What’s new?
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