Ruinas de Copan

Friday night/Saturday at Ruinas de Copan:

(warning: I'm not editing very closely!)

Donna Waldron, of Mission UpReach, has coordinated our hotel arrangements while we have been in Santa Rosa. Two meals a day have been provided each day and they have all been delicious.  We went on a field trip for last night’s meal.  We walked down the road a ways to a place called Weekend’s Pizza.  Donna said an American lady who was in the Peace Corp married a Honduran man and opened this restaurant.  Her children and grandchildren now run it.  The pizzas tasted as if they were all made with fresh ingredients.  We even had one that had a “local” flair.  I don’t remember what it was called, but it had beans, sour cream, avocado, etc.

The Waldrons had invited us over to their church building for a ceremony for some of their “Let’s Get Talking” student.  They explained how important something like that was to people who would probably  never earn a high school diploma.  We rode the bus over to the church building and there was a crowd already there.  “Let’s Get Talking” offers English classes using the Bible.  The majority of the people were not church members, but it serves as a good outreach and they had a nice ceremony for them.  There were probably 35 who had earned their certificate and maybe 50 family members who came to cheer them on.  Delicious chocolate and “Tres Dulches” cakes were served.

We ended the night with  a devo and discussions of our plans for tomorrow.  We will have breakfast at 7:30 and try to be packed and on the bus ready to leave by 8:00.  We will be driving to the Copan Ruins.  I’m writing this right before I go down to get some coffee, I will finish this tonight after we tour the ruins.

We had about a 1 and half hour ride to the Ruinas de Copan.  It is the largest excavated Mayan site that has been around since approximately 30 AD.  Our tour guide was Fidel and he had a wealth of knowledge to share about the ruins.  I had toured ruins in Mexico, but this site had many more statues and hieroglyphics.  It was very interesting and educational.  It was extremely hot, but I had my liter of water with me.  I took over 150 pictures, but I’ll try to pick a few good ones to share.

Fidel, our friendly tour guide

Carving of dancing jaguar, The guide said the Mayans had many trained animals.

The chopped off the head and sacrificed it to the gods.

panoramic view from the top of the ruins

There is a round indention on the top. That's where the person would lay their head before the killed them.  It's hard to see, but there is a trough like part carved from the top to the bottom.  The blood flowed down that.

 This represented the last Mayan kind, I believe.

After touring the ruins, we had about a 3 hour bus ride to San Pedro Sula.  We have learned that each little town that we pass through on the highway has figured out a way to control people who might like to speed through their towns.  They put huge speed bumps on the road.  Everyone now and then, Guillermo, the bus driver, would get caught by surprise.  That’s when you find yourself bouncing a foot up from your seat!!

Well, it’s Saturday night and we are now experiencing culture shock.  We’ve gone from the trash filled streets of Malia and Tegucigalpa to now the Hilton Hotel in San Pedro Sula.  It’s always feels strange when we reintegrate back into our normal way of life.  It is a very humbling experience and most of us don’t look at our lives in the same way again.  From the first time I came on a Torch trip, my life was changed forever.  It makes us all realize how richly blessed we are in the US.

We are having our church service at 11:00 in one of the hotel meeting rooms.  Everyone but Diane and I leave at 1:00 am in the morning.  They are going to spend the day hanging out at the mall.  I think we will tag along with them, and then I’m not sure what we will do after that.  I probably won’t have another post until I get home.  Please continue to pray that our group has safe travels.  I will be hanging out at the San Pedro Sula airport for about 4 hours, but I doubt I’ll have Wi-Fi!!! J   xoxoPJ

           

drainage ditch made by the Mayans

If you look carefully you can see carvings in the stones behind me.