easter.

ok. I'm blogging. It's been a little while, but I do have a lot to talk about :) Spring Break was really wonderful. It was fun to make new friends and hang out with old, but I was happy to be home after the week of gallivanting around the country! After Copan Ruinas, we went to Tela, which is a beach town. Tela is actually the place where most Hondurans go for their vacations. Most non-Honduran tourists go to La Ceiba or Roatan, but it's good because it's cheaper and you get more culture! The first day we got there, the weather was really beautiful, but I spent the two hours of prime afternoon beach time in a bank line. That was pretty fun. The next day was really rainy, but we girls went shopping around town and that was good. I mostly just browsed, because I'd completely under-budgeted for the trip but I liked just looking at all the different things! We ate at some really good seafood restaurants (I have never enjoyed seafood. Side story: Once upon a time, my dad worked at a company and we went to a conference with him at a fancy restaurant with fancy meals. The first night, I got a whole salmon. with the eyeball still in it. haven't wanted to eat seafood since... until now!) My food tastes have become really adult since being here, so that's good news. :) The third day, we finally had a good day of sunshine. The rest of the group actually went on a kayaking trip, but because of my money shortage, I opted out and instead enjoyed a day at the beach (I got some of my hair braided), and enjoying the air conditioning in our hotel room. I also finished East of Eden! Oh it was so good, if you haven't read it, you should. (I guess depending on your age, I don't really know what my reading audience age-range is so... kids, ask your parents :)) The last day in Tela was when all the local people were coming in for their vacations so we got to see a lot more activities. We got henna tattoos, saw fire dancers, ate some really good food, and met and talked with different Honduran groups. On Thursday, we traveled to San Pedro Sula to bring everyone to the airport. On the way there, we discovered that on Friday (the day we planned to go home), there would be NO buses going anywhere. So we were stuck in SPS. Tad, Rach, Mike and I dropped everyone off at the airport and then ended up staying for a couple hours and playing Euchre. This is a card game I've never learned before, which apparently is practically a sin for someone that went to a Midwestern Christian college- especially a Dutch one! but, I learned and I don't think I was too bad. We had heard of a hostel to try so we got in a cab after wasting as much time as we could in the cool airport and asked our driver to take us to the hostel. While in the car, we started talking with him, and he told of us a different place that was cheaper and nicer. SO, of course we went there! It was nice and fairly cheap :) This hostel had a rule about not eating in the rooms, but it had a really big kitchen with lots of utensils and a living/dining room for everyone to eat it. It was really neat. The night we stayed there, there was a group from Brown University, some girls from Norway, Scotland, Sweden and England, a group from Asia... it was crazy! But great to talk to people for a little bit. Saturday was our big travel day, and I was so thankful to be home after a long day on the bus.

When I got home Saturday, I actually ended up spending the evening to myself. My other roommates weren't home and I had some emails and grading and stuff to catch up on so I just worked at the house. It ended up being a good and bad thing. It was good to have some time to myself, but I think it was bad because I got to thinking about things. In the last couple weeks, there have been a few significant deaths that have occurred to people I knew or have very close friends that knew/were related to them. Obviously, death is always hard for the people that it affects, but I also feel completely helpless as a friend. I can't do anything, and I REALLY can't do anything when I'm in another country. It was one of the few times that I've been really unhappy to be here. I think it was very interesting that it was Easter weekend. Good Friday is really celebrated here with the Catholic tradition, but Easter is not really a big deal. Easter is seriously one of my favorite times of the whole year. It is so soaked in tradition for me and my family and it was really hard not to do that this year. It was hard to not be at home for my friend; to not be at home for my family to give me advice and just to be there with them; and to not eat any Jello Jigglers or deviled eggs at the McKinley's and fight with Nick the whole time! :) It was also really weird to not have a huge Easter service and to celebrate and remember why we have Easter. I had to really think about it myself. I talked to my mom a couple days ago and we talked about how it kind of sucks that I have all these sad things that have happened to people so close to Easter- the one holiday where we kind of celebrate death- but also that it's kind of interesting because as Christians we know that Friday isn't the last day of the story. Sunday comes and Jesus gives a whole new look on life and death. My door has the phrase, "Morning Has Broken" and I think it is such a beautiful picture of Easter. It is always darkest before the dawn... (Batman anyone? :)) but after that, wow. When the morning breaks, it is so beautiful.

And I know beautiful. I live in Honduras! :)