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Kelli, in her apartment before the latest trip. Don't ask about the spots; she's pretty sure it's not a rare tropical disease.
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I boast at the fact that a third-world Central American airport did not provoke fear, or at least I attempt to convince myself of such; any girl would watch her bags, Leatherman pocket knife in hand as if it could shun bullets from a prejudiced machine gun. No matter how humble I desired this adventure to be, I still found comfort in the Victoria Secret underwear and the Dove deodorant.
I never expected a vacation. I was prepared for cockroach invested dirt floors, and forever remained grateful for that rabies shot I was swayed into subjecting myself to, but would not have guessed that I had the capacity to love a people, so foreign to the posh white world I lived among, in the manner I could never deny I do. I became a catracha at heart; I belong in the hammocks, I am of the banana republic, I am driven by the precipitous change of character as of that I experienced among them.
Travel touches something fundamental to my being. Picasso said, "Art is a lie which makes us realize the truth." The lonely planet is the master to which I have become an apprentice. Honduras severed true hope from my expectations. For the first time, life was real.
So...in an attempt to relate these crazy travel journeys...I boldly begin.
Latest Update
11: The End
Honduras is Kelli's country. She will never again voluntarily eat bananas. She now know the best alternates to toilet paper. And she thanks everything holy for flushing toilets and warm showers.
10: Ticket to Taxis
Kelli gives you three very good reasons why not to slam the doors of the taxi when you're trying to bargain a ride.
9: Pulhapanzak
Was it the brilliant 200 foot waterfall surrounded by jungle or the green-eyed prodigy jumping from top of said waterfall that took Kelli's breath away?
Catch Up On The Journey
1: Introduction
Kelli knew she needed to be somewhere else in the world besides the monotony and mediocrity of her college town in Utah. Two weeks later she showed up at the airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
2: Que La Vaye Bien...
Almost as soon as she arrived, Kelli was off on a trip to the ruins at Copan, where she learned that dogs hate rocks and always hike with your passport.
3: Homemade Barbed Wire
What do you do when a 40 year old drunk man comes straight at you with a machete?
4: Hitch Hiking 101
It's not as easy as throwing your thumb in the air and kissing public buses goodbye. There is definitely skill involved, as Kelli found out on the way to Guaimaca.
5: Hotel Juticalpa
Hotel Juticalpa is a lot like Kelli imagined Hotel California to be. The owners guarded the entrance with a fully loaded machine gun...as they slept on the couch watching a Latin soap opera.
6: Washed and Pressed with Bullets Included
Running late to make a meeting became irrelevant after Kelli looked into the front seat of the taxi, engine running but dead driver hunched over the steering wheel.
7: Bus or Bust
Honduran buses, be them yellow American school buses or masterpieces with the face of Bob Marley plastered on the rear, always made Kelli a little nervous and provided several entertaining stories...
8: Emmex
Volunteering in a Honduran hospital, Kelli didn't think she was strong enough to handle it. Until she met a little orphan named Emmex.
