HONDURAS 12/30/2010: Americans in Honduras – Dia 11

La Cena de Dia Diez y mas en Dia Once

Hola en la dia antes de ano nuevo
Hacienda San Lucas
Copan Ruinas

Hola –

Here I sit in the office area of Hacienda San Lucas, high above the river that runs through the town and about 6 kilometers from the “bustle” of the town of Copan (which is a more touristy town than any we’ve been to so far, but cute with many tiny shops, restaurants, cafes, and a very nice parque central).

Last night was quite an experience. With our one electrical outlet in the bathroom and the very large amount of electrical wire wrapped around a wooden cable that is about 2.5 feet in diameter in the center of our room, we set out to get connected to the outside world. And of course our 15 candles and two solar powered lamps that provide about 15 watts of light each.. It all worked fine, especially with all the light the computers gave off. So, feeling quite secure, we went to dinner at the hacienda at about 8. The dining “room” is really outside the main farm house (the entire place had been a farm — more on that later). Hundreds of candles light the area, so it was totally charming and the night air was perfect.

For the foodies, dinner was wonderful. Started with fresh fruits and some local cheese, and a few marinated vegetables. Next came a carrot ginger soup. Then chicken with rice and vegetables, salsas, frijoles, tortillas.. and a great Argentinian Pinot. For dessert a papaya cake soaked in rum with fresh banana ice cream.

Feeling stuffed, but satisfied, we set out back to our room and then… my computer just went totally bonkers. The power here is a bit sketchy; and I think the irregularity of the electricity set something off. I couldn’t turn the computer on; I couldn’t shut it down. I got messages I never saw before.. I was a bit freaked. At about midnight after literally scores of tries, I decided to just go to sleep, turn the machine off.. and let it sleep too. (Yes, I had turned it on and off many times.. without luck)..

This morning I woke up.. and lo and behold; there it was.. just fine. So here I am … now able to tell the tales of December 30.

We drove to the ruins late this morning.. after a leisurely breakfast and walk around the grounds. Once again we drove down the very very rocky road along the river, up and down hills; having to move aside for any other vehicle or vice versa… and then through the town and to the Parque Arceologico. The Mayan “city” is interesting and fairly sprawling, but nothing compared to the likes of Tikal or Palenque or Tehuacan, and other sites we’ve seen over the years. We walked and climbed the site for about two hours. The Mayans’ quest may have been for language and mathematical and astronomical systems to explain life and the world; my quest was for shade! It was hot.. in the mid 80s and very humid (just think — this is the coldest time of year). It’s very pleasant in the shade when there is a breeze, but the walk through the ruins is in the hot sun. This is not my strength. But we walked the site — slowly and with two water bottles we bought at the entry.

Then we took off for the town. Honduran crafts are really not on the same level as Mexican or Guatemalan stuff, so our purchases have been few.. except for bringing back several bags of coffee beans (and we don’t even drink coffee).. They are packaged (at least the kind we got) in organic cotton sacks with embroidered birds and hand sewn shut.

As we approached the Hacienda at about 4:30, we were introduced to Flavia .. the owner. She is generally at the place all the time. But she had a bad fall at Christmas and was laid up yesterday when we arrived. Her story is very interesting.

This century-old farmhouse and all the property belonged to her family, although neither she nor her family ever really lived here. Her father was a doctor who practiced in Tegucigalpa. He married a “city girl,” but always loved this land and the ruins nearby (which were virtually unknown outside of the very local area at that time)… So, though he practiced medicine, he traveled as much as possible to tell people of the importance of Copan. And he forced the family to come to the farm yearly, although the children hated coming.

He was influential I suppose, and over the years would talk about Copan to anyone who’d listen. He loved the area.

Meanwhile Flavia was sent to boarding schools in the states and eventually married an American and settled in western Kentucky!! She had two children, and described herself to us as a real “soccer mom.” When she turned 50 (she’s 64 now) she got divorced; her kids were in college or at least somewhat independent; and she returned to Copan for the celebration of the opening of the park (I think it was the park, or maybe the archaeological museum in Copan, which honored her father). She decided to visit the farm. There were hundred of cows and the house was uninhabitable. She made a decision then and there to move back to Honduras and start a new life, rebuild the farmhouse, and restore the property. Because she didn’t have the funds to do this, she sold off the cows – one at a time.. and with the money, she bought the equipment and the supplies and hired locals to work with her… And eventually she had the two original rooms restored (she said when they took off the roof some of the walls fell). She built the road (the one with all the rocks).. and little by little she expanded to 8 guest rooms.

There was no electricity and no water when she started. As she ran out of money, she improvised. So, the story of the Hacienda and Flavia is interesting..

Back to our room…It’s hard to describe our “closet”… it’s a rod that is actually a heavy branch of a tree hanging (actually swinging) from two “nails” which are bent to enable the “branch” (rod) to sit between them.. the nails would be about 2 feet if they were not bent. All of this hangs on two cords from the ceiling.. and the closet is doorless. Thus – the ash from the burning candles gets over all the clothes. But the closet is an example of Flavia’s ingenuity.

And moving to contemporary times… Flavia’s children live in the states. One is about to begin graduate work (in photojournalism) at the J School at Berkeley! He and his wife and child will be living in the married student housing in Albany! Her daughter lives in San Francisco. She finished law school and just passed the Bar; her husband is an engineer with the city of SF..

As we were talking, an old friend of Flavia’s came by to say hello (she lives in Tega) and heard us mention “Oakland”.. turns out she graduated from Holy Names College in Oakland as a foreign student. So, the world continues to get smaller and smaller.

Hope you are well and that those of you on the east coast have shoveled out of the snow, and that those of you on the west coast are drying off from the rains. We suffer neither of those problems here.

Our days in Honduras are coming to a close. Tomorrow our plan is to go to some amazing bird sanctuary in the mountains (where I hear it is nice and cool)… and then come back here to pack before it gets too dark to see anything in our room..

Final daily thoughts tomorrow, or maybe another from the San Pedro Sula Airport on Saturday before we take off.

Best —
Fern