I've arrived!

After a lot of anticipation, prayer and cramming a lot of stuff into two bags I have finally made it safely to Copan where I will be for the next 8 months! It feels kind of surreal. First of all, praise God for such a smooth journey. I had no delays and all my luggage arrived with me at San Pedro Sula, I was so relieved to see it. On the flight from Madrid to Costa Rica I made friends with the man sitting next to me, who was on his way to work in the French embassy in Tegucigalpa (Honduran capital), he seemed really nervous to be going there and I remember thinking that although I was apprehensive I knew that God was going with me which gave me such peace! I prayed that he would know that too. 

I stayed the night in San Pedro and slept very well after almost 24 hours of travelling. The next morning I got the bus to copan which took about 3 hours. I can honestly say it was probably the nicest coach I have ever been on, which did surprise me massively, very comfortable seats that reclined and free snacks. I was a happy lady! 

Upon arriving I was met by Hugh who is the volunteer coordinator and he showed me around and I met some of the staff, quite a few are away until next week. I'm living with the administrator who's called Keyla and she has made me feel really welcome. Our little house is really cute and only about 5mins walk from the office which is ideal. Copan is such a lovely town, really beautiful and I feel really safe here which is pretty rare in Honduras. It's set on a hill which means its pretty hot work walking around sometimes because at the moment the temp is around 30 degrees! Sorry to rub it in :p

While I am here I'll be helping at one of the after school camps, Camp Hope, which takes place just outside Copan in a place called Nuevas Esperanzas (new hope). I went there on Friday afternoon with Katie who is my camp director but it was a special day on Friday so there was a big party for all the kids so they were all pretty crazy but it was lots of fun! And because of this all the kids were there, not all of them come every day, I was introduced to everyone and to all the youth that help out. I've been made to feel very welcome! 

This weekend Honduras is celebrating independence so there have been so many parades around the town that involve all the kids and young people from the local schools. The quality of the costumes and  the music has been really impressive. Lots of the Hondurans have asked me if I we have anything like this back in the UK, I feel sad when I say no because its a cool tradition. 

That's pretty much all that's happened in the last few days, next week there is no camp so it'll be a slightly quieter week which is probs good for me as I'm still trying to find my feet. Thanks so much for all the words of encouragement and prayers, it does really mean a lot to know I have you all supporting me! 

What can you pray for?

- Continue to pray that I would feel settled and at home here

- For my Spanish! Will take a bit more time to get used to speaking it, but I am getting there!

- That God would show me what he wants my role here to be as a volunteer and that I would seek to fulfil that during my time here

Because I have wifi both at home and in the office I am easily contactable via Facebook, email, whatsapp etc so do stay in touch!  I'll write here again soon :)