My trip just getting to Honduras was quite the adventure. After 2 long bus rides that included me sleeping on top of a giant cardboard box full of towels, falling asleep and ending up in some mountain town alone 2 hours out of the way (thankfully the other bus patrons loaned me 50 Cordobas, about $2.50, to buy another ticket), 2 hours back towards the border, two taxis to get to the border, crossing it alone in the dark, and finally dinner with, and a free ride from, one of the border agents... I finally arrived at a gas station in San Marcos De Colon and met up with Cameron.
In summary, Mission Lazarus is a refuge for children who have more or less been beaten up by the world. At the Mission they are taken care of (mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically). It sits on a 1000 plus acre ranch with horses, cows, and other livestock. This also includes storage facilities, maintenance areas, offices, a hotel and restaurant, etc. My goal in being there was to help out in whatever way I possibly could (keeping in mind that I had just thrashed my body via scooter fall about a week prior). For two days I helped mix about 60 bags of cement and pour the floor on a church they were finishing up. It was pretty fun being the token "white guy" on the crew and working my butt off, plus it REALLY helped my Spanish. I did all sorts of other things in my 5 days there as well including helping haul 2 1/2 tons of beans and corn out of the mountain and helping sort out their food donation packages. All in all it was great being around other Texans and volunteering.
On my way back to CR I was set to take the TicaBus all the way from Tegulcigalpa (the capital of Honduras) to Costa Rica. The problem I found out was that the bus left at 5:00AM, there was no place to crash at the station, and no place cheaper to stay for the night (or really 5 hours) than about $50/night. So I got the genius idea to buy a movie ticket and then stay up at a Dennys (I know, weird right!?) until my bus left. After hanging out with two travelers I met for a bit in old town Tegus, I headed back to the more modern area to catch "Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1." Now, my only reason for purchasing this ticket was because it was the latest and longest movie they had and I knew I could sleep there. However, I was so curious to see what this whole Twilight crap was about I decided to watch some of it. Let me just say outright that this was one of the top 5 worst movies I have ever seen in my life. A short synopsis (as someone who does not and will never read one of those horrific novels): Girl gets married to a vampire, she gets pregnant with some demon child, the wolves get ticked off at the vampires and they fight, then she has the baby, almost dies, and everyone freaks out, then (SPOILER ALERT!!) she turns into a vampire and the movie ends... just terrible. After that garbage I walked to Dennys, had french toast and eggs for about $4, 5 cups of coffee (I am not a coffee drinker), and watched drunk Hondurans come in and out all night until it was time to head out.
Overall, I found Honduras to be a pretty nice country. The south where Mission Lazarus was extremely friendly and made me feel like I was back home. It was beautiful (think Western Colorado landscape) and cold (got below 50 degrees one night). Hondurans are gentle people who love Christmas more than Americans do. All this time I have heard how dangerous it was supposed to be by other travelers but I really saw none of that whatsoever, I definitely visit again!
View from the Mission Lazarus Property
Mission Lazarus Refuge
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