The title of this blog is taken from my most recent Facebook photo album featuring photos from the trip to Copan, Honduras. Our tour guide at the Copan ruins kept calling me the White Flower, and Copan, in Mayan times, was called the land of 18 rabbits. If I'd written about Copan a bit closer to, well, when I actually went ... just over a month ago ... I might have been able to tell you why Copan is known as the land of 18 rabbits ... but alas, I can't remember.
So, you're all wondering, I'm sure, something like: Gee, Sarah, how'd you get to go to Copan? Well, I'll fill you in. Every year at Christmastime, the church sponsors a trip for its employees. And this year, they decided to invite all the teachers and staff at the youth center Cal Pipil. So, that's how I got to go. We all met up at the retreat center Centro Gabriel para la Paz Tuesday night, December 15, to have dinner together and go to bed ... because we left Wednesday morning at 4:30 am to arrive in Copan around 9 or 10 am. And we wanted to make sure to leave plenty of time for border crossings, because the easiest way to get to Copan, in terms of decent roads, is to drive to Guatemala, and then cross from Guatemala into Honduras. With only one mishap at the Salvadoran border (one of the folks didn't have his original national ID card, only a copy, and they wouldn't let him leave the country), we arrived in Copan around 11:30am Wednesday. We had lunch together at a parrillada restaurant, aka grill, and then explored the town for the afternoon and evening. And somehow stayed at quite a nice place for only $20 per person. Needless to say, I want to go back!! Thursday morning we were up rather early, 7am-ish, to head to the ruins. Tons of fun. Really. I'm such a nerd. I loved it. And then, back on the bus, back to town (because the ruins are about a mile or two outside of Copan) for lunch, and on the road again around 2pm to San Salvador. We zipped through the borders and arrived I believe around 6:30pm. Quick trip, but super-fun. Must go back.
Our posh room. $20 per night per person with breakfast. Sweet.
The view outside the hotel.
La parrillada
Yeah, I know, I can't help taking food pictures.
From left, tortillas that aren't quite as good as those I eat here in El Salvador, refried beans, chimol (aka salsa fresca for you foodies), fresh cheese, chorizo, steak, and I believe there's some chicken hiding under the steak. It was fantastic.
A fruit stand in the center of town
I found brie. Leave it to me to find fancy French cheeses in Latin America.
The cool part, though, is that this is locally-made brie. Well, okay, it's probably not called brie because it was made in Honduras, not France, but whatever. It tasted like brie and was SO GOOD. I considered stocking up, but without refrigeration, well, not a good idea.
I shared this plate of brie with all my friends. It was quite fun to introduce them to fancy French cheese.
And more food.
These are like quesadillas, filled with beans and chicken and avocado and all kinds of other goodies, and are called barilladas. $2 gets you 2 good-sized barilladas.
Copan ruins! Need I say more?
And more ruins ...
Trying to take artsy photos.
You might see a familiar face, if you've been following my blog ... that's Carlos.
And there's me!
La flor blanca en la tierra de los 18 conejos
This nice man makes jewelry. I bought earrings. Ok, 3 pairs.
And we talked about tourism and the economy and all kinds of other interesting things.
So I asked for a photo.
And that was Copan! What next? Ah, Christmas traditions! I'm going to save that for another day. I need a snack.
