Where do you start when the whole world you knew is gone. What is Copan like, what is different? These are not simple questions to answer. Copan is many things: remote, green, steep, full of Spanish, alive with the song of a thousand birds you have never heard before, in the middle of winter, wet, without power for hours at a time during the storms, friendly, different, did I say steep, alive, brimming with smiling children, wonderful, different, challengeing, and filled with adventure. It is, in a word, a breathtaking.
For the basics, I am staying in a homestay with a wonderful family. I have a delightful mother who cooks every meal for me (but she could never beat the real deal) and a beautiful sister named Sarai. (Sara-eye-ee, phonetically speaking). My room has a nice bed and its own bathroom. Each room opens onto a patio and the kitchen rests at the end. In short it is a wonderful living situation with great opportunities to practice my Spanish.
Each morning (cada mañana) I walk down the steeply cobbled streets for four hours of Spanish class. My teacher is named Sara and she teaches me everything I need to know, makes me feel smart, and then speaks at a normal tempo to another teacher and all of the sudden I feel like I know nothing. I am progressing rapidly and try to practice continuosly. There is much to learn and I try to work meticulously on my tarea (homework). At the school we are permitted to speak only in Spanish. All the teachers speak only Spanish and to the other students: solomente en Español. It is hard, but I know I am learning my fill.
When it comes to food there are not many similarities. Almost everything I eat comes from right around Copan. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day. The juice I have is freshly sqeezed mango juice. Mangos from the garden 10 feet from the kitchen. As I guest I am given the largest and best portions of everything. I can not argue it, I can not change it. I am never allowed to help clean either. The generocity of my host family (and the families hosting the other students as well) is incredibly beautiful. They give of their need, not of their extra. There is so much kindness it is even a little overwhelming. In case you were wondering, when it comes to food there is mostly: beans, rice, tortillas, corn, avacados, tortillas, mangos, beans, papayas, tortillas, lettuce, beans, avacados, tortillas, sometimes beaf, beans, rarely chicken, tortillas, beans, and tortillas. That about sums it up.
For the basics, I am staying in a homestay with a wonderful family. I have a delightful mother who cooks every meal for me (but she could never beat the real deal) and a beautiful sister named Sarai. (Sara-eye-ee, phonetically speaking). My room has a nice bed and its own bathroom. Each room opens onto a patio and the kitchen rests at the end. In short it is a wonderful living situation with great opportunities to practice my Spanish.
Each morning (cada mañana) I walk down the steeply cobbled streets for four hours of Spanish class. My teacher is named Sara and she teaches me everything I need to know, makes me feel smart, and then speaks at a normal tempo to another teacher and all of the sudden I feel like I know nothing. I am progressing rapidly and try to practice continuosly. There is much to learn and I try to work meticulously on my tarea (homework). At the school we are permitted to speak only in Spanish. All the teachers speak only Spanish and to the other students: solomente en Español. It is hard, but I know I am learning my fill.
When it comes to food there are not many similarities. Almost everything I eat comes from right around Copan. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day. The juice I have is freshly sqeezed mango juice. Mangos from the garden 10 feet from the kitchen. As I guest I am given the largest and best portions of everything. I can not argue it, I can not change it. I am never allowed to help clean either. The generocity of my host family (and the families hosting the other students as well) is incredibly beautiful. They give of their need, not of their extra. There is so much kindness it is even a little overwhelming. In case you were wondering, when it comes to food there is mostly: beans, rice, tortillas, corn, avacados, tortillas, mangos, beans, papayas, tortillas, lettuce, beans, avacados, tortillas, sometimes beaf, beans, rarely chicken, tortillas, beans, and tortillas. That about sums it up.
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