Copan Ruinas and My First Futbol(Soccer) Game...

This past weekend Sara and I were lucky enough to be invited to join Graciella (the founder of our school), Vanessa (her daughter), a few other teachers from the school, and about 30 other avid "futbol" fans on a trip to Copan Ruinas to watch their prized team (Olimpia) play. The trip took about 5 hours one way on a direct bus that they rented for the weekend. The great thing was that Sara and I only had to worry about paying for the hotel and food. The bus was absolutely free, it would've cost us about 600 lempira ($30) to take a bus on our own. Another bonus was that since they rented the bus just for our group we were able to stretch out and lay down, which is a great luxury because usually on public buses in Honduras, they cram 3 adults into a single seat,and on top of that the aisles are always completely packed with people standing! On Saturday we arrived in the town of Copan Ruinas, which is famous for its Mayan ruins. It's in the western part of Honduras, near the border of Guatemala. The town itself was incredible. They have cobblestone streets, and cute buildings, restaurants, and shops lined all the streets. The historical town is protected by the government. Big public buses (old American school buses), and new construction of any modern buildings is not permitted to help preserve the historical environment of the town. Instead of buses, and taxis, they use tiny red cars to get around, even the police drove around in these tiny cars (the blue one on the left). The only downside was that it is a big tourist area, all the stores have lempira converted into dollars on all the price tags, and most restaurants had English/Spanish menus, which meant that everything was a little more expensive than Sara and I were used to in Tela and other parts of Honduras.











On Sunday, after eating breakfast, we headed over to see the Mayan ruins with the rest of the group. Sara and I were very excited, especially since we didn't think we were going to have time to stop by because we had thought the soccer game would be earlier. The entrance to the park cost 300 lempira ($15)! This was way over our budget, but luckily, Graciella was nice enough to pay for half of Sara's ticket, and they were able to sneak me in as a native Honduran, so I got in for the local price 80 lempira ($4). I was told just to smile, and not open my mouth (as soon as anyone heard my accent I would clearly give it away), and just stick close by to Vanessa, and hold her son's (Anthony) hand. So I guess I pass as a native....just need to REALLY work on my Spanish!! Unfortunately, Sara wasn't as lucky, but we ended up splitting the cost of both our tickets...still better than paying full price! We'll take what we can get! The small picture on the top right shows a huge set of stairs. The entire story of the Mayans and their history is inscribed on the face of each brick that makes up every step.
The ruins were really amazing to see. It's crazy to think of how much more amazing everything would have looked like way back then! The picture of me below shows the stadium where the Mayans played soccer. The losing team would be killed as a sacrifice to the gods. The other, smaller picture on the left shows the stone ball that they used to play with. After visiting the ruins, we headed to the another town called Santa Rosa to watch the "futbol" game. They call it this, but it's really what we know as soccer. There were so many people at the stadium! The inside of the stadium was nothing like I've ever seen! All the bleachers and stands were basically slabs of wood (that were sagging in the middle from all the weight) laid across metal with hundreds of people standing, crammed, into every inch available. There of course were no railings, so people could have, and probably did, fall off all the time!

The fans were wild and crazy, as you can imagine from any sporting event, but it was still shocking to see police dressed in full riot gear, complete with helmets, rifles, and plastic shields. At the beginning of the game some rowdy fans opened up a huge fire extinguisher and sprayed it all over the screaming fans. The place was packed, there were people everywhere, cheering, singing, and chanting various songs and cheers for their team! Another surprising thing was that they didn't have any bathrooms. Well, that's not entirely true, they did have a dark concrete room with very small windows under the bleachers, that I'm pretty sure men were going into to pee. Other men that weren't so considerate were lined up along the walls peeing like it was completely normal, I guess it was for them! And as for women, there wasn't even a disgusting little concrete room for us to try to go in, which explains why most people that come to the soccer games are men! After the first half of the game, Sara, Vanessa, and I were ready to leave, and wait for the others at the bus. I am glad I went, just to see what it would be like, and to experience an official Honduran "futbol" game, but to put it in a nice way....let's just say I definitely won't be dying to go to any more games while I'm here!

Sara and I have a few days off for Thanksgiving. Can you believe they celebrate that here?! Funny thing is, none of the teachers or kids even know what the holiday is about, or why they celebrate it! Again, very typical of the schools here, any excuse to have a party, present another song or dance, and miss a few days of work and school! We were planning to take a trip to Roatan, one of the bay islands, but because it's been raining pretty much nonstop in Tela, Roatan has been the same. The gorgeous white sand beaches and blue water that Roatan is known for will be pretty much useless in the all the downpour of rain, so we might take a trip to visit Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras instead(which is more inland and hopefully has less wet weather). I'll let you know how it all goes on the next blog. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Eat tons of food for me and enjoy the holiday! I'll see you all one in about a month when I get to come home for Christmas!!! :)