Copan!

Hey All!!

So we are now in Copan. Copan is a region of Honduras, similar to our states. We are in what is called Copan Ruins. There are Mayan ruins here that we are going to see on Sunday. I´m excited about that and I know my mother is probably a little jealous about that.

I am rooming with one of the girls named Kori. We are staying at a nice house. The houses here are open. There is a roof over the kitchen, family room and bedrooms, the rest of it uncovered. My host mom is Yolanda. It is incredibly difficult to tell who lives there and who doesn´t because there are people who go in and out all the time. The street is full of family members. Two of the other girls, Raquel and Suzanne are a few houses down at Yolanda´s sister´s house. It´s basically one big happy family.

There are a few family members who speak English. Gaby, who is also a teacher at the language school, a 13 year old boy named Christian and his father. Christian and his father lived in Miami. It´s nice to occasionally hear English but since we are working on our Spanish, the families speak that most.

It has been a busy few days. The language school is kind of stressful. We meet from 1:30-5:30. My teacher is Claudia. We have a good time but seeing as I came in knowing very little Spanish it has been difficult for me. I have a good deal of homework because I´m working on memorizing vocabulary and meanings. I have an awful memory -- it makes it difficult.

Yesterday we went to a pool in the morning. It was really nice. We just hung out and swam. A lot of the group played water polo (Jason our leader set up chairs to be the goals... it was amusing). This morning we went horse back riding. It was beautiful but long. My horse did not want to move quickly... which was sad but okay. We hung out in the back of the group. I realized that Steph would love to horseback in Honduras. I thought of her while we were riding.

It´s rained a few times. Funny story. This morning Kori woke me up at 6:15 and said "Kelley a frog just jumped on me and is on the table" I looked up and thought I saw the frog but then I put my glasses on and didn´t see it... so I said you are lying! So Kori got down on the floor and looked under my bed and sure enough, there was the frog. She took a flashlight and guided it out from under my bed... then it went into the bathroom... then I had to say that when I was a kid I used to catch frogs in the river... I became her hero because I was going to catch this frog which was actually a toad. So I was a little nervouse to catch it. It was a decent size so eventually I threw a towel on it, picked it up and took it outside. It was quite the adventure.

There is a line for these computers so it would be wise for me to go. I am missing my family, boyfriend, and friends, but I am enjoying it here. It´s been a good time. One week down, five to go!

Kelley