Goodbye, For Now

Our Group Parts Ways, Friday, September 23^rd

I woke up at 4AM, as our bus was arriving at 5. I had stayed up late packing, thus I didn’t really get any sleep. After packing my last couple of items in the morning, it was time to head out. My host brother, Mario, helped me carry all of my bags up the steep hill that leads to the street. Gloria also helped to carry my smallest bag. I clearly had the most stuff out of anyone in the entire group, and when our bus arrived I was worried there wouldn’t be enough space for everyone and all of our bags (it was a smaller kind of bus that they have around Honduras). We were able to stack all of our bags into a giant pile on the back of the bus, and there ended up being plenty of room.

I gave Gloria a hug goodbye, shook Mario’s hand, boarded the bus, and that was the last I saw of them (for now!). I really think I had the best host family of the entire group. I was sad to say goodbye, but I knew I would see them again soon. I’m invited back for Christmas, and it should be pretty easy to visit them more often than that. It’s only 60 Limpiras to take a bus to Teguz (about $3), and another 20 Limps to Valle De Angeles. Worst case scenario, I would have to take a taxi to the different bus stations, but at the worst that would only cost $4 or $5. Also, my counterpart in Teupasenti has a house in Teguz where his family stays. He lives with them on the weekends and offered to take me any time he goes, and even will let me stay at his house (and feed me!). This should make it even easier to visit them every once in a while.

Anyways, back to the story. I decided to sit in the back to keep an eye on the mountain of suitcases. However, just as I was sitting down, an alarm started going off. It was instantly recognizable as one of our portable safety alarms. You can stick it on the wall next to your bed and press the button for an alarm if some sort of emergency were to occur. I packed mine away somewhere the day I got it and didn’t really have any intention of setting it up. The sound it makes isn’t exactly what you want to hear at an emotional moment at 5AM. I started moving some bags around to figure out who the culprit was (I was hoping to give the culprit a really hard time). Moving the bags around, I realized the worst. It was coming from my own bag. It was at the very bottom of my large hiking backpack, tucked way down at the bottom. I fumbled through my bag for what felt like several minutes as the rest of the group started harassing me about it. Even though they were joking, the noise was so obnoxious that I was stressing to get it out as soon as possible. Finally, from the depths of my whale of a backpack, I pulled out the obstruction. About the size of a golf ball, I held it high for all to see and gently turned the switch to ‘off’.

Just after, the bus started to head towards Teguz. Someone joked about how we had better make the conversation a good one, and fast, as it was our last moment together as a group. However, simply stating that pressure was enough to get us started talking. I can’t remember what we talked about, probably Honduran snack foods or how our bodily functions had altered in our new country. No topic was taboo for our group, as we had all became very close very quickly. However, far too soon we would be separated.

When we arrived at the hotel I called my counterpart to have him come and pick me up. However, as I learned later, the number that I had was incorrect and I couldn’t get a hold of him. Although I wanted to just get to his house and rest, I was glad for the opportunity to lounge in the hotel lobby and continue to chat. Thirty minutes later my counterpart arrived and I loaded my bags into his pickup and gave everyone a hug goodbye. As was with my host family, I knew it was just goodbye for now.

From Teguz to Teupa

Most of the rest of the day is a blur, as I was half asleep the whole time. We stayed at my counterpart’s house in Teguz for a couple hours, where I had the chance to take a shower and then meet his family. They’re quite nice, and I look forward to hanging out with them on the weekends from time to time.

Instead of heading straight to Teupasenti, I followed my counterpart around the city as he went to visit former high school students of his to record their progress in some sort of internship program they were participating in. I felt very important walking tall through downtown Teguz and stopping by various office buildings and one of the universities. However, there were about ten different students to visit in ten separate locations. We had only visited half of them by lunch time, and we returned to his house to eat. He could tell I was really tired so he offered to let me stay and sleep at the house. His son (only a couple years younger than I) let me use his bed. The whole family ended up going out to run errands for the afternoon, thus I was left alone in the house. Perhaps I should have felt alone or afraid as I laid there by myself in a strange bed, in a strange house, in a strange city, in a strange country, and in the care of people that were basically strangers. But the truth is, I felt strangely fine. 

A few hours later my counterpart and I were ready to head to Teupa. We loaded his pickup truck with my suitcases again and hit the road. It was about a two-hour journey, packed with some breath-taking views of expansive valleys and accompanying mountain ranges. The feeling the scenery evokes is lost in a photograph, as even that medium fails to convey the grandeur of it all. It’s a kind of beauty that only exists in this region of the world, and I hope that any of you would have the opportunity to experience it for yourself someday.

We arrived in Teupa around 7:30, and it was already too dark to get a sense of what my new town looked like. We pulled into his house, where I spent the night. We figured it was a little too late to stop by the house of the family that I was actually assigned to live with. We talked in his living room very briefly, and then I went to bed early. Even with my afternoon nap, I was still overtired from all of the traveling.

More to come!