Tinney's in Copan Ruins 2 weeks ago

These pics are not where I wanted them to go. I am a moron and could not figure it out and I have no patience right now to try and figure it out. The first are our girls and the second is a picture of the ball court for "The Ballgame".

I have to say I am sorry this has taken so long. I first started this entry while I was still in Roatan. However, I am glad that I procrastinated because it has given me time to reflect and time to read everyone else's blog and fill in the blanks.

Hello to all!!! I don't even know where to begin! I guess I have to start by saying that this place is so amazing!!! I can see why Debbie and Rob chose this place for their adventures. It is very laid back. Everyone is so friendly! Totally their style! In planning the trip we had no idea what we would be in store for us. It is absolutely gorgeous here.

I guess I will begin with the plane ride from Houston to San Pedro Sula. In Houston Stokely, Hannah, Rae, and I met up with Jessica. We boarded the plane only to find out that we were in First Class!!! We didn't even pay attention to our tickets. It was a very nice surprise! We had waffles and ham and quiche and eggs and bloody marys (jessica) and screw drivers (me)! Each of us had our own tv monitor with Directtv! I couldn't believe it. Jessica and I got a little tipsy (9:30am) and we had headphones on for the tv so we were talking above them to each other and laughing! It was hilarious. Who cares! We are on VACATION!!! It was a very fun plane ride. The girls sat quietly watching tv and taking pics out the window and Stokely slept. When we got off the plane we had to go through customs. No biggie right?! We had nothing illegal on us. Apparently travel scrabble looks really bad on xray because they took me off to the side, took my bag, started searching it, then this lady carefully takes out travel scrabble. She slowly unzips it holding it far from her and she opened it up. I said its a game. She didn't speak english. She totally examined it for a couple of minutes and then laughed and put it back. All was good!
On the bus ride from the airport in San Pedro Sula to Copan Ruins, we were amazed at how green and lush the land was. My girls were..... lets just say that there was a great fear of the unknown. The amount of poverty was very overwhelming to them. Hopefully they will realize how good they really do have it.

When we got off the bus in Copan Ruins; the first person I saw was Debbie. It was sooooo good to see her. She looked amazing! Very tan, happy, and very relieved. Not as relieved as she was when Jamie got there. Oh Jamie! That is another story. You have to read her blog. She totally explains the ordeal she had to go through just to get here.

Copan Ruins has to be one of the quaintest towns I've ever seen! The first night we were there we had some very yummy very cheesy pizza at this restaurant owned by a man from Houston. The kids (and grown-ups) were very happy about that meal. While we were eating there was this little boy (about Hannah's age -11) who kept walking by our table looking at Hannah. It was so cute. Every time he walked by he would try to make himself look cooler and cooler to Hannah. I think Hannah was embarrassed. Maybe because everyone was pointing him out to her. Over and over again. LOL!!! Grown ups can be mean! Unknowingly of course.

After dinner we went out to the street and there were tables set up with handmade jewelry. The girls were in heaven. We told them that they had a certain amount of money to spend on souvenirs for the whole trip. They decided to browse and come back the next day so that they could watch the kids actually make the bracelets and necklaces.

The next morning we woke up and had baleadas. Its a flour tortilla with re fried beans, cheese, and scrambled eggs. The tortilla is huge and they put all the other stuff on it and fold the tortilla in half and then cooked it on a comal. (Cast iron griddle) It was so delicious!!! On this day we went to the Mayan Ruins. What an amazing place. After we got our admission tickets we entered the site and the first thing we saw were a bunch of scarlet macaws! They were gorgeous! They just flew all around us. It was cool because they didn't mind people being around them. It was their feeding time and they were not at all bothered by us. I guess we were about 3 feet away from them while they were eating. Next to the birds eating was a pathway about 15 feet wide with huge trees on either side. At the end of the path you walk into this gigantic clearing. Right in front of you is a pyramid. Hannah and Rae's mouths could not open any wider. "Oh my god! Look!" and they were off. They ran straight up the pyramid. They had a blast there. I don't think they could quite grasp how old everything was. It was so neat stepping back in time like that. To stand where the Mayans would soak in steam baths 1200-1400 years ago. (Why a steam bath in Copan? I would like to know. It is so hot there!) Or to stand in the same spot that blood from a spiritual sacrifice drained into. It was a trip!!! OH! There is this game the Mayans used to play called "The Ballgame". Lol! No joke.

The object of the game is to hit this stone circle with a rubber ball (sometimes the ball had a human head in it!) that is many many feet up a slanted stone wall and you can't use hands and the ball can't touch the ground. This is what caught my interest more than anything else we saw. Partly because it is the first team sport ever. Mostly because this ball weighs like 20 lbs!!! Could you imagine a rubber ball that weighs 20 lbs sailing through the air and you hit it with your shoulder??? I don't know about you but mine would shatter! After we saw the ruins we had lunch, girls got their little bit of shopping in, we rested a bit, and then we went to a Mayan kid museum. It had a replica of the ball used for the game hanging from a chain. OMG was it heavy! So I stood to the side of the display and pushed the ball away from me so it would start swinging. Then, stupid stupid me, stood firmly planted with my shoulder out so that the ball would hit it. When it hit me it hurt bad and I could feel every bone in my body vibrating. I didn't even swing it that hard! There was a short medical bio of one of the kings who had shattered hips, ribs, and FEMUR! All from this game! Sorry to go on and on; it is just so fascinating to me. After all that we went out for dinner. I can't remember the name of the restaurant but it was suggested in the guide book and it was really good. Rae had spaghetti and meat sauce. Hannah had chicken alfredo. All of us grown ups had a Anafres con Chorizo. Debbie said that Rae's spaghetti was the best she has ever had. Hannah didn't seem too thrilled with her food. She ate off of Rae's plate mostly! Lol! The Anafres con Chorizo was like a cheesy chorizoie (i know. not a real word) fondue. The way it was served was awesome. There was a clay candle holder with a lit candle in it. On top of the holder was a cast iron bowl. The anafres was in the bowl sizzling and lining the insides of the bowl were super delicious fresh homemade corn tortilla chips. So you get a hot chip and scoop out a bite of chorizo and the cheese seems never ending! It just keeps coming and coming until you break it off yourself. It was a great last meal in Copan Ruins!

Oh one last thing about Copan Ruins, whenever we needed to go back to the hotel we had to climb up this gigantic cobblestone hill. Rae absolutely hated it. Every time we were about to go up she would stop and say "Can't we just get a tuktuk!" One time we were almost up the hill; we could actually see the hotel and Rae just sat down and said "I don't want to walk up this mountain anymore Dad! Just get a tuktuk!" The hill was big though. Very uneven stone roads. What baffled me was that all of the local women wore stilletos. Stilletos! Disbelief!!!

Roatan is next!!! More pics too.