Getting through the border to Honduras was less traumatic (for Yehudah) than going from Costa Rica to Nicaragua. For one, though it was raining a bit, the area between the borders was shorter and blacktopped so there wasn}t the expansive mud issue. Also, there wasn}t the hundreds of Nicas returning home for Christmas from their jobs in Costa Rica. The hassle was that the clip fell off my fanny pack in the bus and I didn't discover it until we were unloading at the Frontera. We couldn't find it though we scrambled under the seats. Always something!
Our connection was pretty good and we caught the Expresso bus as it was leaving El Paraiso. We don't have a recent guide to Honduras, so we are going by what we have and what those we have talked to have suggested. We have been told that the capital, Tegucigalpa, is the most dangerous place in the country although we only needed to take a taxi from one bus stop to another. Joanie has made a connection with a 54 year old Couchsurfer an hour north of the capital before we left Oregon and we have kept him informed of our progress north.
It turns out that this was quite fortuitous and Joanie made an excellent choice, as Jorge built a magnificent hacienda called Caserio Valuz in a small pueblo off the main highway and we are more or less in the lap of luxury, i.e. we have a double bed in a private room with our own bathroom. Business is really down and there is no one else staying here except another couchsurfer, John. This is a three story "mansion" with many rooms, amazing artwork everywhere. Of course, there is much more. Jorge is an amazing, spiritual, and well traveled man and we have already shared much with him.
(Joanie: Our instructions were: to get off at Zambrano km 33 by pedestrian bridge at "Camino a la Catarata Escondida" named as well "Carretera al batalion" a calle empedrada (cobblestone) which I showed the fellow taking money on the bus. Then we were to either: take a moto taxi 5 minutes for 15 lempira or to walk for 16 minutes. We walked to Caserio Valuz and so saw all the shops and other places along the way.)
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| Yo & Jo in front of Caserio Valuz |
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| Jorge's artwork includes these Jewish pieces |
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| Jorge's ancestry - his photo is in the lower left-hand corner |
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| home altar |
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religious art in Jorge's home
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This morning we attended Mass with Jorge in the beautiful but very human church in the village in which he lives - Zambrano. We will attend the celebration at the end of a 9 day prayer gathering just being completed at a retreat center very close to his home.
Our first night we shared Havdalah with him and John to move out of Shabbat. He asked us to "cook Jewish food" as he has traveled in Israel and has a strong connection to the culture. So we made potato latkes, applesauce, found sour cream in his amazingly well stocked refrigerator, plus cooked up some vegies - brocolli - and a salad. The next evening Joanie made her best Indian Dahl - enough for 2 meals for the four of us. Jorge is an incredible cook and has a restaurant on the premises, but no one has been coming from around the area to eat at his place. So, any pot you could ask for, food teeming in the cupboards and freezer.
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| A corner of the Caserio Valuz Kitchen |
Jorge recently had a small stroke and is recovering from fears of heart failure - and so not up to being the cook. We knew he was having issues from our correspondence and were happy to pitch in a cook. John is a great dishwasher and so he easily fell into that role.
We took a hike with John to a waterfall we weren't able to locate - but it was a fun hike- plus we hitched back on an army truck!
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| Joanie & John in front of army truck we hitched a ride from after a hike! |
And in the afternoon Yehudah and I took a bus to Comayagua, where we had read was probably the oldest clock in the Americas and one of the oldest in the world in a cathedral in the center of the town built from 1685 to 1715 in the colonial style.
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| Comayagua Cathedral |
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| Comayagua Cathedral |
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| Reposteria |
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| Reposteria Y Cafeteria La Economica |
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| Cafeteria |
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| Plaza Central |
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| The oldest clock in the Americas, built by the Moors over 800 years ago |
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| Add caption |
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| view from church tower of fountain in plaza |
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| Joanie and our guide |
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| view of Comayagua |
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| more views |
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| Little animal hanging off church |
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| down the stairs from the bell tower |
Then we went to Museo Regional de Arqueologia, housed in a former presidential palace (from the days when Comayagua was the capital of Honduras). It displays artifacts from ancient Lenca communities, including pottery, metates, stone carvings and petroglyphs.
And then on to the Museo Colonial:
On the streets of Comayagua:
With Jorge's help, we will plan the next few days before we enter Guatemala and gradually make our way to Panajachel and our dear friends Elisabeth and Steve the last week of the month.
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