Hola again! Yesterday was our wonderful endeavor of empanada making where we toured the process of making fuel-efficient stoves! This scrumptiously educational experience was supported by Stove Team International, which is an organization combating indoor air pollution and severe burns produced by inadequate stoves. Many people cannot afford safe conventional stoves and resort to open cooking fires. This results in burns, excessive use of trees, and respiratory illnesses that cause the deaths of around 2 million people! Stove Team International establishes locally-owned sustainable factories producing safe wood burning (Ecocina) cook stoves. The Ecocina reduces wood use by 50%, carbon emissions by 70%, and provides jobs for locals. After seeing how they make these safe yet portable stoves, we headed over to the cooking station where we got to try them out! Local women illustrated their culinary techniques of making empanadas out of corn (maiz), beans(frijoles), and cheese(queso).  After multiple (somewhat successful) attempts and developing our own unique styles, we sat down for a fiesta de felizidad!

            Willow

Well I think I speak for all of us when I say that Copan was a feast for the senses, a bath for the soul, and a fitness gym for the mind. We experienced a pleasant introduction into the culture and lifestyle of Honduras while the little seed of our community germinated into a small sprout (with no shortage of sunlight to grow of course).

For those of you who have not heard, Copan Ruinas is a picturesque little Honduran town with a big personality. The elegant central park and cobble stone streets attract tourists from all corners of the globe, while the countless rampant dogs and roosters crowing at 4:00 am remind us of the genuine, salty culture that is still very much alive in Copan.

While in Copan, we racked our brains in Spanish class 4 hours a day, visited an organic coffee farm, made empanadas with fuel-efficient stoves, toured a large vegetable farm, and suffered through 2 hours of soaking in the natural hot springs.

But even with all this excitement, the experiences that will stay the closest to our hearts is the unmatched hospitality we received from our host families. They treated us as if we were their own, and accommodated us above all others, including themselves. And I’m sure we can agree that most of the host families made us better food than our own (no offense guys).

However, we must all move on now to our next adventure with Sustainable Harvest International. We are all anxiously awaiting morning in the hotel when we will jump into pickup trucks and head to the remote mountain village of Brisas Del Mar. There we will work with local farmers on their coffee plantations and experience the life of a village that exists by simpler terms. Wish us Luck!

Hasta Luego!

Zach