Tegucigalpa

Well, I made it to the capital today. I didn't get much of a view of the city from the airport, and I was whisked away to my hotel quite quickly after I passed through customs. Two eager men asked to carry my luggage, helped me make a call to the hotel, paid for the call for me as I hadn't exchanged any money yet, and found my ride for me. One of the men then asked me for "20 bucks." I thought that to be quite a generous tip, so I offered him 10. Then, after a crazy drive through the city (complete with extreme tailgating, pickup trucks full of people in the back, and lots of horn blowing) I arrived at my hotel. After checking in, I tried to find a bank to exchange money, but the closest thing was a Western Union, and they don't do currency exchanges. I stopped at Taco Loco for lunch and then came back to the hotel for a nice long nap. I have a nice room with a view of the outdoor pool, Internet access, and a TV. The air conditioner is weak, but it's better than none! There is a drawing of a cougar hanging on the wall - how apropos! For anyone who doesn't know, that's our school mascot at HF-L. 

I haven't found anyone who speaks English yet, but I have been able to get by so far with the little Spanish I know.  I was able to have a full conversation with the hotel clerk about breakfast and leaving in the morning. I didn't catch everything he said, but I know that my ride to the airport is scheduled for 8am and that breakfast starts at 5. It gets dark here a little after 6 this time of the year, so I have  spent most of the evening in my room. Had a big lunch and got a chance to recover from the jet lag, though. 

Tomorrow, it's off to La Ceiba to meet my host family and get a tour of the city. The volunteer program coordinator will be meeting me at the airport, and I'm pretty sure he speaks English. Looking forward to that! I will probably begin my work at the school on Tuesday. 

Buenas noches!