Best way to explore a new country and its culture - Volunteer

In my personal opinion the best way to explore a new country, its people, a new culture and a new language is while volunteering. As a tourist you never get the same opportunity to get in contact with local people as a volunteer. As a volunteer you live with Honduran hostfamily, you work with Hondurans and you start dreaming in their language as a Honduran :-)

There are many volunteer opportunities in Honduras. Come to Honduras! It is a wonderful country and definitely worth to visit. Website with volunteer opportunities:

 www.swho.org (choose your language on the right hand top)

Vacation on the Caribbean Island Roatan, Honduras

It is a long time ago since we had vacation. This time we decided to spend a few days on the Caribbean Island Roatan, in the north of Honduras. Roatan is one of the 3 islands of the Bay Islands (Islas de la Bahia).

It was like a dream. White sand beaches, cristal clear water, 2nd larges barrier reef of the world, sunshine, palm trees, etc etc. Our bungalow had a big garden and was equipped with a kitchenette.

This is the website:
German: http://roatanferien.jimdo.com/
English: http://roatanvacation.jimdo.com/

To summarize: Roatan is a real paradise!!!

Be patient and everthing turns out well!!!!

Finally we found a house for rent in a very safe area in Tegucigalpa. The concept is "a city within the city". It is a closed area with guards, has a lot of green area, swimming pool, social area, sport facility for children and a very nice view over the city of Tegucigalpa.

We will move in 5 weeks! Finally we found what we wanted...a safe place where I can go out for a walk with our kids.

My statement of today "be patient and everything turns out well"!!!!

How is life in Honduras?

I got asked by many people "how is life in Honduras"? If you are looking for information in the internet you will find a lot of articles about "security problems". Most writers do not recommend  to travel to Honduras because it might be too dangerous.

My personal experience is very different. Of course, Honduras is not that safe as Switzerland or other countries in Europe. However, it is not that dangerous as described in the internet. The biggest problem is the "narcotrafico"(drug traffic and dealing of arms). Other problems are the corruption and poverty of Honduran people.

If you would like to know how Honduras is, then I recommend you to stay some months with an Honduran host family in Honduras while volunteering. Through the daily contact with the local people you will learn more about their culture and their customs. Honduras is know for their hospitality!!!

SWHO.org is organizing volunteer opportunities in Honduras in different areas. More information on www.swho.org

1st day in the nursery school

Today was the first day in the nursery school. 95% of the children are not Honduran. There are some from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Denmark, South America, etc. What I really like is that it is well structured. We got a plan with events which are planned during the next few weeks.

The kids are according to their ages in different groups. Our son is in the youngest one.

When we picked up our son today he was playing with children of all ages (1-4 years) and looked very happy. This is what my husband and I wanted - to see our son playing with other children of different nationalities......

¨It is all about knowing the right people¨

Are you planning to move to Honduras and have no clue how to find the right place to live, how to get your residence permit, where to buy your car or furniture, etc?

Let me know.  I am glad to support you. 

In the following pages we are describing our services.

Driving license

I forgot to mention that I finally got my Honduran driving license some weeks ago. The law permits to drive with my Swiss driving license the first 3 months. After these 3 months I have to get an Honduran one. In comparison with the residence permit it was quite easy to get it.

What is very hard for me is to drive here in Tegucigalpa. The streets are sometimes in very bad condition, cars are passing on the left and the right hand side (what I am not at all used), etc. etc. Slowly I get used to it.