Puerto Cortes
Interesting place that I live in. I love the proximity to all the locations nearby. I am just 45 minutes from the Guatemalan border, 20 minutes from the Garifuna villages by bike, 30 minutes from Omoa, 1 hour from San Pedro Sula and about 5 hours from the Bay Islands.
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| The saddest beach |
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| Me encanta football!!!! |
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| Ceviche con caracol (snail) |
Teaching at ABS
I now understand how to create lesson plans covering language, reading and spelling
themes and how to effectively communicate
with my student's parents in broken Spanish. Things have settled down, including
myself, and I am feeling at home at ABS and in Puerto Cortės. Photos coming soon of ABS and my class.
Spanish Update
Now I have time to concentrate on the two things that mean the most to me at this moment: to practice Spanish and to travel. I have 3 hours a week of private Spanish lessons and all the resources needed at my finger-tips including library books, a spelling workbook, a pocket translator, a verb conjugation book, plenty of phrase books and dictionaries and movies. Plus, I can practice everywhere I go. I am set.
Spanish Update
Now I have time to concentrate on the two things that mean the most to me at this moment: to practice Spanish and to travel. I have 3 hours a week of private Spanish lessons and all the resources needed at my finger-tips including library books, a spelling workbook, a pocket translator, a verb conjugation book, plenty of phrase books and dictionaries and movies. Plus, I can practice everywhere I go. I am set.
Weekend Travels
1) Travesia y Baha Mar (las playas)
1) Travesia y Baha Mar (las playas)
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| Punta musica y bailando |
2) Lago
de Yajoa (D&D Brewery Bed & Breakfast, Peña Blanca, Pulhapanzak Falls, Bio-Parque Finca de Café y Flores “Paradise", y Las Cuevas de Yaulabé).
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| By Joe French |
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| Photo by: D&D Brewery Trail Guide, William Orellana. |
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| Photo by Joe French |
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| Photos by Alicia |
Final Note: Please stop judging a place solely on what the news media and your government says...you will end up missing out on meeting some incredible people and seeing some incredible places in the world. Although there is a valid bad reputation, San Pedro Sula is a wonderful place worth visiting. As a seasoned traveler, I tell beginner travelers to always be safe and keep their wits up no matter where they go. You can be anywhere in the world (even your own home) and get hurt - so why not enjoy what the world has to offer instead of living in fear?! I've met some wonderful locals and international professionals living in SPS, and non of them had ever had a problem. They just know where to stay away from, like we all do about the places we come from. Please enjoy the world and experience it for yourself! :)
Local Wisdom
Getting robbed isn’t fun for anyone to deal with, especially
when you know you made the mistake of leaving your belongings unattended. I
thought we were all alone at the waterfall that day in Omoa. But, someone was
watching us and waiting for the opportune moment to snatch and leave. A word of
friendly advice from many of my fellow compañeros afterward: “don’t be stupid
and leave your belongings unattended…EVER”!
Elements of Transformative Travel
I
wanted to re-explore the Elements of Transformative Travel that Jeffrey Kottler
Ph.D has delightfully granted us with such wisdom and honesty. Dr. Kottler teaches us how we
can all transform our traveling experiences and receive the full benefit of our
international experiences in his book, "Travel that can change your life: How to Create a Transformative Experience". If you are currently traveling or about to embark on
your journey I would suggest you read this book and decide which of Dr. Kottler's messages hold value to you personally. Then please make note of them (maybe write them in
your travel journal or keep them written down in a safe place as you are traveling).
I have highlighted in blue the Elements of Transformative Travel I feel I am doing well in, brown as the ones I need more experience in, and red as the ones I have not processed since I started traveling May 6th, 2013.
§ There are
tests and challenges that will push you to discover new capabilities. (Teaching a 2nd language in a foreign country, settling
abroad, moving on from relational encounters without emotional turmoil).
§ There are situations that allow you to experience
alternative roles and ways of being.
(Exploring and integrating myself into diverse Latin American cultural
customs and practices, professional role as an ESL teacher.)
§ There are forced opportunities to interact with
people in intimate ways. (Forced is a bit extreme. I enjoy my encounters with locals and travelers.)
§
There is a balance between time with self and time with
others. (Balance is key for me but there is always room for improvement on this.)
§
There is a commitment not only to look outward at
new exotic scenes, but also to look inward at how everything is affecting you. (I try to keep a balance between the two, but, improvement is needed.)
§ There
are situations that engage not only your body and mind, but also heart and soul. (Everyday experiences abroad do this for me. I try to challenge each aspect of my internal and external self when opportunities arise.)
§
There are experiences that shake your core, that
run your world upside down in such a way things will never look the same again.
§ There
are opportunities to reflect on and process your experiences constructively, to
create meaning from what you have lived. (My blog and photos help me with this. I would like to write in a journal more often though.)
§
There are ways that you can apply what you learned
to your life back home and actually follow through with your intentions.
Kottler, J.
(1997) Travel that can change your life:
How to create a transformative experience. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Publishers.
Recent
Personal Thoughts & Quotes to Live By
· * Live by example.
· * Love yourself before you love another.
· * Inspire others with what it is that inspires
you.
· * Give to others but your strength of love for
yourself..
· * Always believe there is more to discover in your
life that has yet to be understood.
· * Open your heart to the unknown and watch life
happen unexpectedly.
* Focus on the here-and-now for the future is only worth the time you put into your present state.
Expatriate & Sojourn Quotes
(On hope for one's life) “I want my life to read like a
book….with each chapter a different story..” Joe French
(On trying
to feel "at home" in the world) “I’ve made my home inside my own heart”. S.V.
(On the struggling, yet,
grand journey of life) “Look at how far you have come but how much farther
you still have to go. Life is beautiful”. T.S.
Our Cambutal sea-turtle babies are safely hatching and making their way through
the Pacific Ocean now. <3
Quote
"The world is a fascinating place and we are only on it once. Why not experience the many wonders it has to offer?" David Edwards