estoy feliz

Hola! Ok I'll cut to the chase: I'm at dunkin donuts you guys!! In Honduras! Can you believe it? I effing love DD and they don't have it in California. It turns out I just needed to go to Honduras to get my DD fix. And the best part is they have AC AND free wifi! Sweet! I know I've said this before but it's hot here and AC is a must (we don't have it at our house).

As for the real reason I'm here (you know, learning Spanish or whatever) I had my first class yesterday. The classes are 1 on 1 with a teacher and 4 hours long. It's pretty intense but hopefully I'll learn some Spanish by the end. Right now I feel pretty lame with my lack of spanish skills. Basically I use a lot of hands and "si" while I'm at home.

Yesterday after class we went to a private property that was on the river but also on the beach. La Ceiba is on the Caribbean and the water at the beach is warm! The river water was cooler and a lot more refreshing (and in the shade) so we spent more time in the river. It was pretty calm and little fish would swim up to you and nibble on you if you stand still. Kinda creepy/funny. We also gorged on pineapple, canteloupe, and watermelon. The fruit here is super ripe and delicious.

Today we explored La Ceiba by taking a field trip into El Centro or the town center. Our neighborhood, colonia el sauce, is a little outside and very residential so going into town was a change. We explored the markets (including a kinda gross meatmarket) and ate at a local restaurant. We had pastilletos (?) which were like mini empenadas with ground beef and rice and beans inside. We also had horchata which is different from the Mexican horchata we know from home; the Honduran version has peanuts in it.

This afternoon S and I accompanied little K (9 year old in our host family) to the Museo Mariposa or butterfly museum down the street. The museum was basically the back house of this older American guy's property with his impressive butterfly/bug collection. umm I held a tarantula! Little K was super excited which was cute. We had figured that she had been a bunch of times because the museum is so close but it turns out she had never been before! Later, back at the house she comes into S's room (which is normally our host mom's room... Which is awkward) and announces that she is getting a new bicycle. Then she squirts on some of her mom's perfume, brushes her hair, puts on a headband and says "estoy feliz. I am happy." So precious.

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