Time flies when you are having fun...

Villa Verde, Honduras

A year ago today I spent my first full day in the town of Gracias, Honduras. I remember it very well. I first went with Rodrigo, one of the administrators at the school, to the bank to set up a bank account (which failed because we did not have my letter of employment at the school to prove my income) and then went to purchase a cell phone. He then dropped me off at the hotel, Guancascos, where I had lunch. A little later in the afternoon I had my first mototaxi ride from Samuel, which was up the mountain to Abundant Life Christian School, where I would be working the next 6 months as a history and EFL teacher. I met the other teachers, including my lovely girlfriend Rachel (whom I had met on a previous occasion back home in Michigan; a story for another day…) and then traveled further up the mountain with them in the back of Rodrigo's truck to where I would be living the next 6 months, in Villa Verde at the Comedor. After wards we all rode back down to Gracias and had dinner together at Bella Celaque where I had my first taste of baleadas.

That was all a year ago, today. Wow.

Time flies when you are having fun, and the last year sure has been a lot of fun (and gone very quickly). I would have never guessed that I would have been in Spain a year later, but here I am.

As 2011 begins I am extremely thankful for my family and friends, new and old, who I was able to spend time with over 2010. I only spent 8 weeks in the United States during the 2010 calendar year, but I made it all over, from Chicago, to Detroit and Ann Arbor, to Seattle and to San Francisco, visiting those friends and family. I still have 5 more months here in Spain, and more traveling in front of me during that time, but I know, if the next 5 months are anything like the past year, I will be home before I know it.

So, it may be a little late, but Happy New Year to all of you, and I hope 2011 is an awesome year for you.

P.S. My brother Jay arrived here in Spain today. He is going to be studying abroad in Seville for the next 4 months but will be spending the next few days with me here in Motril, and then on Friday we are traveling to Algeciras for the weekend. I have a lot to write about, and many pictures to show you from Rachel's and my trip around Spain. However, the blog entries will probably be delayed for a few more days because of the traveling and visiting.

Catch you later.