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Costa Rica & Guatemala were BEAUTIFUL! Oh, it was an amazing trip. If you haven't already, go check out the pictures on Facebook.

We went to the Poas volcano, Arenal, and Manuel Antonio while we were in Costa Rica. It was nice to see so many cool touristy things. We saw Arenal at night with little spurts of lava coming out... amazing!!! Being a tourist was cool for a change, it's been a while since I've gone to a country strictly to explore. We went hiking, ate out a lot, stayed in cute hotels (one of which is called "Gringo Pete's"... a hostel... not so high-end, but an adventure, nonetheless), relaxed on the beach, ate the best ceviche in the world, the list goes on. It was a great time.

Guatemala was even better, in my opinion. Costa Rica was definitely beautiful in terms of the natural sites it had to offer. But, oh man, I have never been part of such a RICH cultural experience like Antigua during La Semana Santa (Holy Week). I found this paragraph on a different website but it explains a little bit of what we saw:

"On Good Friday the streets of Antigua are covered with natural, aromatic carpets (alfombras) of flowers, pines, clover and fruits, which the residents put together and place in front of their homes. There are all kinds and shapes. Some are very long, even up to a kilometer, with colonial, Mayan, Roman or other original designs. At 3:00 A.M., preparations begin for the mock trial and sentencing of Christ. Participants dress as Roman soldiers, Pontius Pilate and other participants in the drama. At 7:00 A.M., the sculpture of Christ carrying his crucifix is moved through the carpeted main streets of Antigua on the shoulders of his worshipers until early afternoon, when the image is replaced by another of Christ being laid to rest." http://www.questconnect.org/guat_semana_santa.htm

Funny story: We rushed home Friday night from Antigua, around 5pm or something, so that we could wake up at midnight, go BACK to Antigua and see the Romans capture Jesus. We get to Antigua, have some time, and decide to get coffee at a cute little restaurant (ALL the restaurants were SO quaint!) where we proceed to chat and laugh and hang out for a while. Well, we go BACK to the town square where HUNDREDS of people are standing around and about 20 "Roman guards" are standing with their horses. We wait. We wait. We wait. Finally, I ask one of the Roman guards when it's going to start and he's like, "Ummm, we already did it, you missed it." We're bummed. So bummed. We're bummed. THEN I realize that there are Guatemaltecos with Roman outfits and HORSES!!! So, someone tells them it's my birthday and I march around on a "Roman" horse in the middle of the town park, in front of a huge Cathedral, and 100s of people with a "Roman" guard. What fun!

Anyways, we spent the rest of our trip shopping, enjoying the processions, looking at the carpets, and having a great time!

And, in the end, after all of these GREAT experiences, and after seeing so many beautiful places, I have decided that... Honduras is STILL my favorite! I was so happy to get back home. And I feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful place with such beautiful people! Yay.

Lately I've just been doing school and going to the Children's Center, etc. I have a black eye right now from a very entertaining and exciting game of soccer yesterday. Tomorrow I'll be travelling to Tegucigalpa to visit with the TPS team there. Thankfully, I've found several friends to accompany me. It'll be a fun little mini-trip. Until later...