Among the Realm » Honduras

The Artistic Side of Las Mangas

Andrew — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 21:50:38 +0000

I explored with my camera in hand around the property of where were staying. I got some great artistic shots of different stuff that was scattered about. Enjoy…

Trip to the Mountains

Andrew — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 18:31:05 +0000

Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Honduras is more like spring break in Panama City. Everyone from different parts of Honduras visits La Ceiba for this special week. I have yet to figure out what exactly is holy about this week, but it was cool to experience spring break Honduran style. Our host family invited us to go to Las Mangas, which is in the mountains to visit family. At his point in this trip I was looking forward to getting away from the city and enjoy some much-needed rest and relaxation.

A typical house in the mountains.

Motorcycles are a way of life in Honduras and they are great for weaving in and out of traffic!

I remember those days, when it was socially acceptable to run around in underwear…

Maria and I decided to do some exploring and getting this picture was a challenge. Once I set the timer I had ten seconds to traverse ten feet of large rocks to get the perfect pose! I made it just in time…

Maria

The main house on the property

My bed for the duration of our mini vacation…

Laura and Maria’s bed for the trip…

Fisheye view of our room.

Outside view of our room.

Laundry in Las Mangas…

My favorite towel ever… I’ve had it for years and I hope to have it for many more!!

Swimming hole… even though we were in the mountains and it was cooler… it was still hot and a dip in the river was the highlight of the day.

These two shots are directly upstream from our swimming hole.

Maria and I attempted to make our way upstream… needless to say we were unsuccessful.

The other half of the swimming hole. Notice that large flat rock in the background leading into the river. Some local kids were using that as a natural slip ‘n’ slide. They would sit on empty milk jugs and slide down the rock into the river!

I feel at home in the mountains… and with views like these how can anyone feel any different!

I apply Pioneer Woman’s Photoshop Actions to every picture before I post them on my blog. I use the same for almost every photo. My favorites are boost and lovely and ethereal.

Sometimes, its fun to get creative and use actions like this… It brings a whole other side to a photo. I used the Old West Action to enhance this photo.

Maria snapped this great photo!! This was her first time using a fish eye lens!

Keep those eyes peeled for round two of the post. I will be posting photos showing you the artistic side of Las Mangas!!

Lending A Helping Hand Part Two

Andrew — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 18:03:13 +0000

In the previous post I mentioned how an old hobby of mine was recently brought back to life. When I was ten years old, I learned my first magic trick. Magic has always been a hobby of mine, but I’ve gone through phases where I would not touch it for a long time, and then the interest would return. Prior to this Honduras trip was one of those phases. I took tricks with me to perform for the kids but also ended up showing tricks to people from the spanish school. Needless to say my love of magic was rekindled on this trip and hopefully I will keep it going and use it in the kids ministry at church.

Showing the kids magic tricks… they could not get enough of it!

There were times where I could barely move because the kids kept moving closer and closer to get a better view.

I showed them the same tricks over and over… and they were just as amused as if seeing it for the first time.

A view of the front section of the school.

I do not think Laura and I are that hard to pick out…

Laura, Maria and I with the kids!

One of the teachers at the school.

The kids were singing us a song in this picture, which you will see in the video below.

Lending A Helping Hand

Andrew — Wed, 25 May 2011 23:57:38 +0000

Our host family in Honduras connected us with a school that needed money for construction materials to build an add-on to an existing class room. After our first visit, we realized just how much they needed this room. There were three small classrooms and multiple grades met in each one. The teacher also taught multiple grades at once. The kids were adorable and we immediately fell in love with the kids and wanted to help the school out.

This is the sign outside of the school.

This is the classroom that will be made into a bigger room to hold more kids.

This is the first out of three classrooms at the school.

This is the middle classroom.

The desks that the kids use…

This is the place we originally had a great deal worked out to get cement bricks. But the owner was shot and that deal fell through.

This is where we ended up getting our brick from… we went to three places before we worked out a good deal.

This is the area where the room addition will be.

The kids were fascinated with us… we felt like rock stars when we went there.

The kids loved to have their picture taken.

It is nice to know that “bunny ears” is cross cultural.

The emotions I captured of these kids was heart wrenching and beautiful at the same time. Heart wrenching because on some of the kids faces you can see their raw emotion written all over their face. Beautiful cause we were there spending time together and sharing our love with them.

This is one my favorite kids I met at the school. She is so cute… I wish I could have taken her home with me.

When I see the emotion on her face I wish I knew what she feeling…

He had the fanciest hair of the bunch… he was so worried about his hair being messed up. If a hair was out-of-place he would definitely know…

Stay tuned for round two of this post. I will post a video of the kids singing us a song and write about how an old hobby of mine was rekindled while I was spending time with the kids!

Private Tour of Cayos Cochinos Part Two

Andrew — Sat, 21 May 2011 07:42:10 +0000

I know… you’ve been waiting patiently all day for more beautiful pics of Cayos… well wait no longer cause below the pics await for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Beautiful

The sun setting on a wonderful day that I will never forget

Everyday must start off with a healthy breakfast! Refried beans I miss you…

The view from our window in the morning

The view from the deck, which was ten feet away from our room

Our room for the night

Mallory and Chimee. Chimee is the dog that Ana and Demetri rescued

Flea bath, Chimee was in a state of shock for awhile from all the baths and prodding to rid her of the fleas and ear mites

If I could have taken her home… I would have

Same with this guy… would have taken him too. Especially since I think the girl was his sister and they were always together

Chimee all clean and tired

Maria, looks like she has some natural mothering skills

Solar panels… all the electricity on the island was from the sun

A typical house on East End

Notice the jungle in the background… that is where we went on our night hike mentioned in the previous post

Our boat ride back to catch the other boat to the main land

Enjoy this video I put together of our weekend trip in Cayos!

Private Tour of Cayos Cochinos

Andrew — Thu, 19 May 2011 23:09:32 +0000

For Easter weekend Maria, Mallory and I had the opportunity to spend the weekend in Cayos thanks to our friends Ana and Demetri. They rented a boat so we could go island hoping when we wanted and we stayed in a hostel on East End where Ana works. It was an amazing weekend… it truly was paradise. The snorkeling was awesome and we also went on a night hike where we came upon a light house, which of course we climbed and could see for miles all around.

Maria had to opportunity to use her nursing skills while on this excursion. A local teenage girl had an asthma attack and needed medical assistance. Maria being a nurse and having plenty of experience with asthma patients stepped right in and brought her back to a stable condition. Saving people might be an everyday experience for a nurse but I know it was miracle that Maria was there and there is no doubt in my mind that God had her there for a reason. It’s nice to know that we are a part of a bigger picture sometimes.

Mallory and Maria

Getting the boat ready to go out on the ocean

There are islands like this all over

Our first snorkel spot of the weekend

It really is breathtaking how clear the water is

It would not be hard to get used to this scenery

Ana, she works on East End an island in Cayos where she teaches english to the local community… oh and she like to scuba dive… not a bad life if you ask me!!

Fish soup… yummy!

Demetri getting braids in her hair!

Next time she sees me she will most likely kill me for posting this pic… but until then I am safe!!

Mallory… when we left she was making plans on finding a job in La Ceiba so she could live there for an extended period!

This kid borrowed my camera to take some pics… he did have some natural photography skills

This is one of the pics he took

I loved this tree… a perfect place for a hammock!

Where the locals have church

Ok, I think I bombarded you with enough pics for one day… stay tuned for tomorrow for round two of this post!

Home Sweet Home

Andrew — Sat, 14 May 2011 20:44:10 +0000

It is great being back home in the states, but that is not what this blog post is about. It is amazing how quickly our new home felt like home. I could not wait to get back after a long day and relax in my bed (even though it was 100 degrees). So here is a tour of our home in Honduras along with some video. Enjoy!

My room for six weeks

Gloria our amazing host mom preparing our awesome meals… deep-fried goodness with a triple serving of carbs!!

Where we ate our amazing meals

My roommates for six weeks… they liked this hammock… so much so that I barely sat in it…

Maria and Laura attempting to play some Call of Duty… did not work out so well!

Carlos my host brother… I was hoping to catch him wearing his mom’s sandals… (which he did often)

The view of the side yard… see that big tank… I believe that is a water reservoir that would supply us water when the city turned off the water…

See I told you… Maria and Laura were always in the hammock!

See that outlet… see that wire coming from the outlet… you will never guess where that is plugged into…

Yup you’re seeing things correctly… it’s going to the shower head… where water flows from… to my knowledge water and electricity do not mix well… but this is how water is heated in Honduras!!

I am sure this is up to code!!

Gloria was a typical mom… she knows how to do everything!

Random Photography from Honduras

Andrew — Mon, 09 May 2011 20:57:02 +0000

I have been state side for going on a week and I am glad to be back in the warm embrace of my high speed internets! I would have liked to blogged more in Honduras but with the internet being so slow it took a long time to put together a blog post. Now that I have had time to settle in I will be working on finishing up all the blog posts about my trip in Honduras.

Denise on her last day in La Ceiba

Linda studying on the beach… not sure how one can study on the beach…

Denise and Mallory

I think it is mandatory to put a nice pair of “sand boobs” on whoever you bury in the sand

A work of art…

Study Break in Honduras

Andrew — Sun, 01 May 2011 16:29:29 +0000

Want to know something about La Ceiba?? There is not much to do here outside of going to the mall, the beach and the mountains. Which all sound great… well except for the mall… but there is not much variety here. I almost forgot there is studying but one can only take so much of that!! So desperate times cause for desperate measures and I introduced the girls to light painting, which uses a long exposure to capture whatever you write with a source of light. Using a LED light will give you a cooler effect and if you’re in a pinch you can use your iphone flashlight app to add some color to your art.

Found this video online and I hope my light painting skills will be this good one day… amazing!!

This has nothing to do with light painting but it does have something to do with one of my favorite things in the world… jello!! I don’t even care that jello is made from horse hooves it is ever so delicious… I miss you jello and can not wait to be reunited!!

Natural Hot Springs

Andrew — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 06:43:42 +0000

After the zip line tour we went to relax in the hot springs and as always they had fresh fruit for us. I could have spent all day here. I always enjoy being places that are serene… it helps me to clear my thoughts.

One of the hot springs that feeds into the pools below… the only downside to hot springs is the smell of sulfur

Another angle of the same hot spring

This was one of the many pools that the hot springs piped hot water into

Notice the steam coming off the water

The fruit is really fresh and ever so tasty!

Stumbled upon this guy on my hike… geckos are everywhere in La Ceiba