Arrival in Honduras!

Well, I arrived in Honduras today without any problems.  I took a boat from Livingston to Puerto Barrios (Q35), which dropped my off at the dock.  I walked about a quarter of a mile or so into the town and asked around for the collectivo to Honduras.  A few inquiries later and I found the right one.  I hopped on a collectivo bound for Honduras (they said) and I just had to trust that it was the right one.  Gasp!  Another Q25.  We stopped at a Guatemalan immigration office to get my exit stamp.  The conductor (I'm not sure that's what they're called, but that's what I'll call the guy) asked for my passport, got off the collectivo, and came back with a stamp.  Done!  Easy as pie.  Oh, and I changed my quetzales for lempiras.  The collectivo continued on to the Honduran border; 20 minutes later I was standing in front of a window filling out the necessary form to enter Honduras.  L60 entry fee isn't too bad.  That works out to about $3 USD.  There happened to be a direct bus -- a nice bus with air conditioning and comfy seats -- headed to San Pedro Sula.  I hopped on that bus for L200 (about $10) and was deposited in a large bus station.

I was going to continue on to La Ceiba, but it was just about 4:00 p.m. when we stopped and I know better than to travel at night by myself.  So, I decided to stay in San Pedro for the night and head to La Ceiba tomorrow.  Fortunately I had scoped out a place to stay in my Lonely Planet travel guide and was able to point it out to the cabbie.  Another L300 (about $15) and voila!  Safely tucked in at the hostel with free WiFi!

Now, the hard stuff.  I'm struggling with how much time to spend in Honduras, how much volunteering to do (if any), and how many hours of Spanish lessons I should take (if any).  I honestly thought I would be in Nicaragua by now, if not into Costa Rica.  This whole journey is taking longer than I expected...rather, I'm spending longer in each place than I expected.  I suppose that's a good thing, because I'm getting to experience more of the culture and have more opportunities to see and do things than I would if I just jumped from one site to the next.  But when I try to find the right "fit" for volunteering, it's never an easy choice.  This really great orphanage outside La Ceiba typically only accepts volunteers for 6 weeks.  Shoot!  I was hoping for something shorter.  There are other opportunities, but what to choose?  I need a sign.  Ha!  How often have we all said that?

Well, I'm settled in for the night.  Tomorrow, we shall see what La Ceiba and the island of Utila bring!