A Breath of Fresh Air!

So this past weekend myself and 8 others piled into the back of a pickup truck and headed up into the mountains to a town called Buenos Aires for a couple day get away. Physically getting to Buenos Aires was a little more hit or miss than we had anticipated. We were walking back from school on Friday when Josh (one of the volunteer teachers who will be teaching 5th grade) saw a man with a pick up truck and asked if he knew of anyone heading to Buenos Aires that afternoon. The man replied, "I'm going to Buenos Aires". When Josh asked him when his reply was, "already". We quickly grabbed our things from the apartment where we had stashed them earlier and piled in. We were afraid we would not fit but the man assured us that he had taken as many as 20 people in the back before so we should have no problem. We were on our way.

We rode up, up, and up through the mountains for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. The roads were rocky and rough and gave me a good arm workout as I held onto the metal railings of the truck. We arrived in Buenos Aires, got our things dropped off at our hostel/house, and headed in search for food. We came across a restaurant but were told by a large group of not so personable Brits that they had rented out the restaurant for the week so we could not eat there. We would have to try the other restaurant in town. We headed there and caught them off guard. They prepared a dinner for us as we sat and waited somewhat patiently. With full stomachs we headed back to our house and hung out by candlelight. There weren't enough "mattresses" for all of us so we pushed all the "mattresses" we had together in the main room and all slept on the floor.

On Saturday morning we woke up early and headed out for a hike to a waterfall called Cataratas Toucan. We had originally planned on going to Cusuco National Park but at dinner the night before met a man who said he had a waterfall we could swim in on the land his coffee farm was on, we we opted to do with him. He led us on a long hike to the waterfall. It was then that I realized I should have trained for this year in Honduras. I struggled to keep up during the incline parts of the hike.

The air was thinner as well, making it more challenging to breathe. We made it to the waterfall and enjoyed a VERY cold swim.

The water was so clear and it felt strange to be so cold. First time being so cold I was shaking in Honduras! Then we hiked back and took turns going through the pressure washer of a shower we had, slept, and headed to a woman's house for dinner. There we had the most FANTASTIC meal I had so far this trip. Delicious chicken, french fries, and delectable vegetables. Not to mention homemade tortillas. More hanging out by candlelight and sleep. The next morning we woke up very early and headed to catch a ride back into Cofradía. The ride downhill was better than the one uphill. Not so necessary to hold on so tight. Fun weekend. Left me pretty sore though! I can't really go down stairs without looking a bit strange.