Our first day in Copan Ruinas

Admittedly, I was more than a little surprised that we all made it on the bus shortly after 8:00 am!  Our wonderful driver Franco, from Mayan Temple Tours, whisked us out of San Pedro Sula and through the beautiful countryside of the Copan River Valley.  The ride to Copan was fascinating, and my emotions bounced from awe at the gorgeous scenery, profound sadness seeing the shacks and garbage lining the road, delight watching a little boy carry a dog up a hill, concern to see the remnants of mud slides... Comments from the back of the bus were very insightful and I hope that one of the youth on the trip will post their thoughts later this evening

We are blessed to be staying in the lovely Casa de Cafe 

which boasts tremendous views of the mountains and a great location in Copan Ruinas.  Take a peek at our slide show to see where we're staying.  We had a relaxing lunch, and then chilled at the Casa while solidifying our schedule for the week.  Even though we were pretty sure it would change by Monday, a trip to the health clinic that Holy Comforter helped build shifted our whole schedule within the hour!   We will start digging wells and installing clean toilets on Monday so that we can take the doctor to the remote villages late in the week.

The next day will be dedicated to worshipping with our Honduran brothers and sisters--tonight we are thrilled to be invited to an annual youth celebration where our kids will sing a few songs.  Tomorrow, I'll get the chance to say mass with Father Renaldo at Iglesia Espiritu Santo.