Friday, 02/26/2010 Copan Ruinas, Honduras

Yesterday I sat there playing with Erica - who could look into the others eyes longest w/out starting to laugh. Erica is nine years old and lives in the mountains around Copas Ruinas.

So on Wednesday at 12, after saying goodbye to Emma and Leona (the Irish girls - no women), Luise and I headed off to San Salvador. There we picked up Eddie from Ohio whom we meet the day before in the hotel. Then off to Honduras. It's a small road, we pass many villages. I often wonder if we are still going the right way, and locals assure us that we are when we stop and ask.
The we get to the border. It takes me twenty minutes with some guy from El Salvador, who just ends up making a copy of my car permit. Then we drive over to Honduras. A guy with a golden belt knuckle and golden sunglasses takes us to a room for our visas. Any other circumstance I would have sworn he is a drug-dealer. After almost an hour this is done. Then I have to head off by foot to another building to get the car imported. The guy takes 20 minutes to fill out a damn form. Then he tries to enter the same info into the computer system. Things don't seem to work as he wants them to. He starts sweating. Stares at the screen. Gets a cell phone call. This all goes on for about half an hour - so almost an hour total. I'm so pissed at this point I'm ready to shot people. Or take the authority to perform any border-immigration matters from the country of Honduras. I've waited in a lot of lines at borders, to which there are reasonable explanations. This was just dumb incompetence. The guy finally asks another, younger guy - the paperwork comes out of the printer 5 minutes later. I have to pay $35 - that's outrages. I control my temper, but do tell him that this was ridiculous. After walking with some random woman to get copies of the paperwork, we can head off - two hours later.

Later on we drive through the mountains - and encounter the worst fog/clouds I have ever driven through. For a short while I have a Texas truck in front of me that I can follow (sooo much easier), but most of the 35-min ordeal we have to master ourselves - desperately looking for the grass on the side of the road or the centerline. Finally, after  many hours of driving (and some great street food in Santa Rosa de Copan) we arrive in Copan Ruinas. It's a small but beautiful town close by the Mayan Ruins of Copan. These are the 2nd most visited Mayan ruins, famous not for their size but for the excellent Mayan artwork that has survived in them.
Yesterday (Thursday) we slept long and used the rest of the day to go to some hot springs.

 

We relax for hours in tubs with different temperatures. At the end, Eddie and I go down to the river where (really) hot water comes down via a waterfall  and mixes with the cold river water. We sit in a naturally formed pond that gets water from both - so it has a nice temperature. We start talking to them. They live out here. The place is about 21 kilometers (~13 miles) out of town. For the most part, that means they go to school until 5th grade and then start working. There are three young guys and two girls with us in there. The older girls is allowed to go to school longer - than typically means that all her siblings have to work as soon as they get out of 5th grade to help the family. She is taking care of the younger girl, Erica, who is nine. And will turn 10 next year in January. It amazes me how responsible those kids already are at this young age, while maintaining that spark of youthfullness and childishness. I wash myself in the river using their soap, and leave with the deepest respect for those people - who have so little, yet seem so happy. I'm sad I didn't get a picture of Erica - but I will keep her in my mind. 

This morning I went to the Ruins. Very interesting - but not that much more to say - watch the pictures. We are heading out tonight (Lise and I). Eddie is leaving earlier by bus. I'm giving three American girls a ride to San Pedro - their plane leaves at 2.30am tomorrow morning. Any help with gas money is always good. 

I also learned that Dr. Tom Mentzer from the Marketing & Logistics Department, and one of the most highly regarded profs at UT, has passed away this morning after a two-year long battle with cancer. I learn that until a couple of weeks ago he was still doing research - it makes me happy that he had found his passion in life and could do it until his last day. My thoughts are with his family, friends and all those that cared about him today. Joe

http://picasaweb.google.com/joegrass76/04dCopanRuinas#