GoForth and Blog

I had a nice, full week in Copán. First, I had my daily 4-hour Spanish lessons with Nelly de Espinoza who was a little firecracker of a teacher and the complete opposite of Mayra in San Pedro. With Mayra, our sessions consisted mostly of conversation, the amount of talking equally shared between us, punctuated here and there by an exercise or two. Nelly, on the other hand, was all business. It was one exercise after another, in rapid-fire drill mode, and when there was conversation, it was Nelly’s and it was at lightening speed. I would just nod my head and smile and usually by the end I would have some idea of what she had been talking about and be able to provide an appropriate response. It was an exhausting 4 hours. Fortunately she was a very likable woman… otherwise I would definitely have given up.

The second main aspect of my Copán time was my homestay. It was a cool experience. I stayed with a 60-ish-year old woman, Loli, who lives with her sister, Mercedes. Loli is divorced and her ex lives somewhere in town, and she has a daughter and son-in-law and 2 granddaughters who live nearby and come over often, and she has a son and daughter-in-law and granddaughter who live in LA. Mercedes is also late-middle age, is not married, has no children, wears her hair in pig-tails and tight tank tops with no bra. They are both characters- talked fast and laughed a lot. They fed me a ton of tasty food, and in the evenings they would send their great-nephew- who was visiting on his vacation from school- to get beers from the bar across the street. And I had fun playing school with Loli’s granddaughter, Lizie- a very energetic 9-year old who enjoyed checking my Spanish homework for me and practicing her English. It was nice to be part of their home.

Other than Spanish boot camp and eating at Loli’s, the major events of my week in Copán were visiting the ruins, a horseback ride in the mountains, and a trip to the Enchanted Wings butterfly garden.

The Ruins at Copán Ruinas

Well, they may be no Tikal or Chichen Itza, but Copán’s ruins were still very cool and were a great place to spend a morning. To paraphrase from my Lonely Planet Guatemala the basic history of the Copán ruins is thus:

There is archaeological evidence that the Copán valley was inhabited as long ago as 1400 BC. The ancient city that constitutes the tourist attraction today was begun in the 5th century AD by king Mah K’ina Yax K’uk Mo’ (Great Sun Lord Quetzal Macaw) who ruled from AD 426 – 435. From 628 – 695, Copán was ruled by Smoke Imix, who built the city into a major military and commercial power. After Smoke Imix was a list of kings with funky names, so I’ll just share those with you for fun: Uaxaclahun Ubak K’awil (18 Rabbit) ruled from 695 – 738 and was beheaded after being captured in a war by neighboring king Cauac Sky. He was succeeded by Smoke Monkey, who then turned the throne over to his son, Smoke Shell. Smoke Shell is responsible for Copán’s most significant monument, the Hieroglyphic Stairway. After Smoke Shell came Yax Pac (Sunrise or First Dawn), and then the final king, U Cit Tok’ took over in 822. It is not known when Tok’y (as his friends called him) died, but it was around this time that the ancient civilization in Copán began its decline. Eventually the city was consumed by the jungle, not to be rediscovered until 1576 by a visiting Spaniard, and then not to be shared with the world until the mid-1800s when two American travelers published them in a book. And there you have it.

The Horseback Ride

Although most of my Spanish school’s free trips were in the afternoons when I had my lessons, they scheduled a morning horseback ride up into the mountains for us afternoon kids. It was a pleasant ride, with nice views of the countryside, and they brought us to an indigenous village which is now a project of JICA’s (Japan International Cooperation Agency), in which women are being taught weaving and craft-making techniques, as well as the business skills to market their goods. So naturally, I bought some of their things- a scarf and a little Christmas ornament. The project is still in its early stages and ultimately the goal is to get their crafts sold in the souvenir shops in town, but at the moment the whole thing seemed a little weird- like this project is only working because a handful of tourists are brought through each day and guilted into buying things. It seemed a little like an EPCOT Center attraction. But anyway. It was a nice horseback ride.

The Butterfly Garden

Ah, the Enchanted Wings butterfly garden. I wish I could live there. What a gorgeous, peaceful place. The butterflies were actually kind of sparse- although I did see a couple with hot-pink wings, which was awesome- but the garden was magnificent. Filled with amazing tropical flowers I’d never even seen before. I was lucky enough to be the only visitor at the time I was there, so I just took my sweet time, taking 3 or 4 pictures of every flower there. There was also an orchid garden, but unfortunately it wasn’t their blooming season, so I didn’t get to see any of them. But no matter. The butterfly garden was sublime. I told the owner how much I liked it and she said I could come back anytime and not have to pay- if only I hadn’t waited till my last day in Copán to go there! Now, having my very own Enchanted Wings butterfly garden is my latest aspiration. Except I think in my butterfly garden it will rain marshmallows.

Take me Home!