Santa Rosa de Copan

 A week ago Monday we went on a little trip to Santa Rosa de Copan.

We got ready and walked to the bus stop... maybe 1/2 a mile away, and hopped on the bus.  Most of the buses are school buses with tinted windows, so we couldn't see how full the bus was.  It was full.... but how full I didn't know until people started getting off.  As we were approaching the bus, it was already starting to inch forward, but apparently it does that.  I don't know if the driver is antsy and wants to get going or what, but even after we were on the bus it kept inching forward for at least 5 more minutes.  People kept getting on and pushing their way back.  When we got on, our group consisted of 3 adults and 3 children.... so two kind fellows gave up their seats for Marco's sister, Yanessy and her daughter, and for Cooper and I.  I got to sit in the seat behind the driver on the asile side.  Probably the seat in the bus with the most leg room.  Marco had Maria in the backpack and stood beside the driver.  There were even a couple of people sitting on the dashboard.  After a few minutes we got going.... the first official stop was at the T where one road leads to Gracias (where there are apparently some really nice hot springs) and the other direction leads to Santa Rosa.  BUT the bus made numerous brief stops between Lepaera and the T to let people on and pic more people up.... when the bus reached a capacity where NO ONE ELSE COULD FIT one of the two helpers (plus an 11 year old boy) that the bus driver had would motion to the people waiting on the side of the road letting them know.  (Put all your fingertips (including thumb) together in an upward pointing direction, and then slightly move your wrist, moving your hand in an up-down motion).

Ok, so we get to the T and people get off so they can cross the street and get on the bus that will take them to Gracias.  And people get off, and people got off, and people keep getting off.  Over 50 people must have gotten off the bus... I looked back and the bus was still full, as in there were still 2-3 people per seat.  A few people got on the bus, but nowhere near as many that got off, and then we took off for Santa Rosa.  Many more mini-stops were made along the way, people getting on and off at different aldeas (village) or farms.

The roads in Honduras (that I've been on) are not in the best conditions.  There are pot holes everywhere.  There was even a sign, and not a construction sign, that I believe said something like "Use caution, rocky road ahead", and there was a section of the road that had fallen into the ditch or something so it was down to one lane and there was no pavement..... so instead of fixing the road they put up a permanent sign warning you of the danger ahead instead.  It's not exactly the most comfortable of rides.  About half way between the T and arriving in Santa Rosa Maria threw up everywhere.  When we got to the T she was able to get out of the backpack and sit on Marco's lap on the seat across from me.  Most of the yuck got on the floor, but some did run down Marco's leg (he was wearing shorts) and into his sock (YUCK!).  He was a total trooper about the whole thing though.  Next time we're on a bus we will remember to bring plastic baggies just in case.

This is a picture of the inside of the bus that we came back to Lepaera in looked like.  The bus on the way there did not have the racks above the seats.

(I did not take any pictures that day so thank you Google Images for this image)

The bus helpers.  There are two... and a half.... of them (besides the driver).  One helps people get on and off the bus, helps them with any oversized things that need to go underneath.  The other takes care of ticketing and money gathering.... I'm not sure how it all works fee-wise because people get on and off at seemingly random locations, but he knows.  For us to get from Lepaera to Santa Rosa it cost 30 lempiras per adult.  Ok... there is that little half a helper that I mentioned, the 11 year old boy.  He helped the guy the helps people get on and off a little bit, but it seems his main job was to preach a sermon to us.  About 10-15 minutes before we got to Santa Rosa he started preaching.... walking up and down the aisle talking.  I'm really not sure most of what he said, it was along the lines of Jesus saves, and he was pretty passionate about what he was talking about.

So we got to Santa Rosa and got off the bus.  We got in a taxi that took us to the "Occidental".  We shared a taxi with a lady and her daughter from Lepaera that we knew.  The daughter was super stoked to be getting a hamburger.  We went into the "Occidental", which from what I saw was kind of like a department store, and the largest store.  We got some Christmas gifts for the kids.  You're not allowed to take purses or backpacks into a lot of the stores there.  They have a security guard (for lack of a better term) that checks your bags into a locker at the front of the store for you.  They also have people who follow you around and carry the items that you want to purchase to the front of the store.  I was a little disappointed at the selection of toys that they had...  definitely not a Toys-R-Us or even a Walmart.  The quality of toys was another thing that I was disappointed by, a lot of them looked like they won't last a long time before they break.  They also didn't have ANY children's books.  They had workbooks, and books that are for beginning readers that were kind of like workbooks, but no children's books.  Maybe we didn't look in the right stores.

After the Occidental we headed over to Marco's Uncle's office.  He works in glass (windows, display cases, showers, etc) and has an office a block or so from the Occidental.  They were super nice and let us use their office as a home base.  Somewhere where we could keep our purchases and change diapers.

We got pizza for lunch.  Hawaiian.  It was just ok.  It tasted kind of like a frozen pizza.  They had a little courtyard inside with a little play yard which was nice for Maria.

After lunch we went and got Marco's watch fixed, and checked out appliances. We're looking for a fridge, not a full size fridge, but not an under the counter fridge either.  We checked out some that are maybe 4 1/2 feet tall with access to the freezer inside the fridge.  We also looked at gas stoves, since the power goes out here quite frequently (and mostly around dinner time) we think that gas is the way to go.  We didn't purchase anything yet (I'm still cooking on the griddle) but we wanted to get an idea of what was available and what the prices were.

We shopped around town a little more, bought internet (apparently the only thing they have here is USB internet.... not exactly the fastest thing on the planet.), ate some green mango's (that come with salt and vinegar and end up tasting like a pickled green mango), tried to find some grocery items at the supermarket,  and visited with an uncle, before heading back to the bus station and hopping on the bus back.

 Here is a view of one of the streets in Santa Rosa de Copan.  This is pretty typical.  Stone one way street with parking on one side, narrow sidewalks, and lots of power lines.

The bus ride back went pretty well (except for Maria's dirty diaper, but that's a whole 'nother story I'm not going to get into).  We took the bus from Santa Rosa to the T (it was MUCH less crowded), and then got off and took a van (which was crowded) to Lepaera.  The driver was kind enough to drop us, and all our stuff off at our front door which was MUCH appreciated since we got back after dark, which isn't saying much because the sun rises and sets between 5:30 & 6:00 every day.