At long last, the final post for Honduras

[wispfox]

First, pictures! Sadly, due to lack of time, I do not have any photos from when I was diving. Had I had time for my post-certification dives, I could have been taking photos. Ah, well.

Did indeed go to the market, get a better hat, and a few souvenirs. Tried to walk there, but went _completely_ in the wrong direction for a long time, and was therefore tired, low on electrolytes, and just completely miserable (very much in the "must... keep... going..." mindset). A taxi stopped and asked if I wanted a ride anywhere, and giving up on the idea of walking in absurd heat and humidity, I accepted (for not terribly expensive a price). Got to the market, used their (pay) restroom, and was glad I had tissues in my pocket so I didn't have to buy toilet paper, too. Got some gatoraid, and drank it with great speed. I was very definitely absurdly in need of that. Wandered around the immense market, explaining repeatedly that I was just looking right then, as I wanted to get a sense of what was available. Had a long conversation with one woman who was friendly and perfectly happy to help me when I misplaced - or simply did not know - words for things. She was very nifty and I'm glad I met her. I don't remember her name, though, sadly.

Went to a place across the street from the market, which had been recommended, and found it much less overwhelming and much easier to actually be able to tell what was there. Bought absurdly cheap vanilla to bring home, and some pretty things. Did not buy any coffee, although I kept thinking about it, mainly because I don't drink it and therefore do not know what is good. Went back to the market, bought a couple lovely wooden containers, one of which was cheaper and clearly more for tourists but which also did a good job of showing the various colors of the wood. Bought a pretty piece of pottery, and wished mightily that I was sure that I could get another gorgeous piece of pottery home safely. Alas, it was too large and made me nervous to try to bring home. Went outside the market to where taxis were waiting, and got another taxi to where I was staying. Thankfully, I had grabbed their business card which also explains where they are, so I just showed that to the taxi driver.

Got back to the very friendly and helpful bed & breakfast I was staying in, Dos Molinos B&B, and finally managed to pin people down long enough to pay them for the lodging and the transportation to and from the airport. They were lovely people, if a bit too prone to asking me if I needed something if I was outside of my room without my computer. Still amused that the father of the family, who picked me up from the airport, figured out right quick that I spoke Spanish reasonably well, and corrected his wife when he brought me in. I had been writing in English when corresponding with her, so she had good reason to think I didn't know Spanish. I really don't like writing in Spanish, in part because it's a pain to get the appropriate accent marks on my computer, and in part because I know it's not that good and seeing it in writing is as bad as hearing my accent when someone plays back something in which I was talking. I can do it, if I have to, but do not like to.

They had a very sweet, playful dog, but I did not interact much with it because it was not allowed in the house and I _think_ the dad was worried it'd accidentally hurt me due to exuberance. At any rate, if you are in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, for any reason, I strongly recommend them. The dad was also very careful to explain to me where it was safe for me to be walking without fear of being robbed. Something about the ones in that area wanting bigger prey; I don't _think_ he said the mob, but that's the impression I got. Organized crime not tending to target random passerbys or something. You do indeed want to be wearing a money belt there. And since the exchange rate is 1 dollar to 19 lempuras, be careful how many dollars people can see you having.

And yes, San Pedro Sula did indeed look poor. Poorly taken care of streets and sidewalks, run-down houses, and all. Utila was much less run-down, probably because they get a lot of tourist business for scuba reasons. Still poor, though, mind you.

I would definitely like to go back, as there are many parts of Honduras that I have not seen that sounded worth a visit. Also, hey, non-classroom level diving would be nice!


4am wake to get to the airport in time for a 7am flight. 2.5 hours to Miami, 1 hour to Orlando, far too much time spent waiting for bags in both places (the first because of immigration and customs; the second because there was bad weather and I changed airlines). Small child on the first plane _REFUSED_ to sit down, so we had to go back to the gate, and then refused to get off the plane. That, plus getting their bags, made us an hour late, and therefore worried me for my immigration and customs timing to make my connection. I did make it, with 30 minutes to spare before boarding, largely due to zooming past people at every opportunity. In Orlando, I was originally supposed to be having a meal with my parents, since I had a 3 hour layover. However, weather in Orlando meant that we circled for a while, thankfully did _not_ turn around and go back to Miami, and my bags took _FOREVER_ to be available so I could bring them to Jet Blue. I had enough time to grab food, but nowhere near enough to eat with them. So I went out, got my blanket and pillow from them, and gave hugs and kisses before going back to wait for my bag. The line to give Jet Blue your bag after you had your boarding pass took forever, and I'm pretty sure that there were people in that line who needed more than to just give them their checked bags. Lots of texting to metahacker in there, too, once I was back in the States.

But then! I was on my way to Boston, finally. About a three hour flight. Watched ridiculous prime time television due to sheer boredom. On the plus side, the flight to Miami included watching Shrek Forever After (or whatever the new one is). Of course, I've only seen the first one, but hey!

Landing, getting luggage which took _much_ less time than in Orlando thankfully, meeting up with metahacker & galaneia, so very very tired. Hi to the kitty, somewhat awkward "We haven't seen each other in a while and also I've been away for even longer than that" hi with them both, then bed.

Have been startlingly tired right after dark since I've been back, which is confusing since the time zone change was in the other direction.

Much readjusting on everyone's part. Many conversations, both happened and pending. Had time with jasra Monday night, which was very nice.


I'm much darker than usual, although still not _that_ dark. My arms are darkest. My burn seems to have finally stopped being a burn. My inexplicable shoulder herpes is very nearly fully healed (finally).

I'll be volunteering as a lab assistant for a couple people at Brandeis' Emotion lab so as to have more experience to reference for this coming year's applications. I need to figure out where else besides Brandeis to apply. For those who missed it, Brandeis had me on a waitlist, and then said no. I have some idea of what to change about my essay, and the lab experience should also help.

I've mostly finished dealing with all the stuff I sent home during my trip, although some of it still needs a home or a safe way to be stored. I still need to go through absurd amounts of paper from my trip to see what I want to keep and what I don't. Many other forms of settling back in still to go. But I've definitely made a dent in things!

I'm home!

I'm volunteering and have no income, which basically means that my default brain state is that I have no money, since what's there needs to last me a while.

My muscles hate me. metahacker helped a bit, but I haven't had a massage in three months, and my right shoulder is currently off-limits for reasons of wanting to not spread inexplicable herpes.

I need to get more exercise; changing from a fair bit of hiking to not having a lot to do in Florida was hard on me. I was pretty active in Honduras. And now I need to continue that trend somehow, since my leg muscles are complaining. (also, I apparently have a lot of leg muscle, and am stronger in the arms than I realize as well) While it's not winter, I can go for walks. But when it's winter, that's much less pleasant. Perhaps I shall see about making space in the basement or something, and having the wii balance board down there. Must move! Must not get out of that habit.

The weather is confusing. Summer? Fall? Something else entirely?

My desk is a mess. I suspect that's next in my immediate list of things to deal with. :)

Hi, everyone!