Finding Myself On My Gap Yah

 

Honduras 

Now, after telling many of my friends that I was writing this blog, their initial reactions were “of course you are writing a blog about your gap year!” Yes, I am that girl whose personality trait is now her gap yah, but I’ve just accepted that this is the way it was meant to be. I set off when I was 17 years old to travel to a completely different country, experience a completely different culture and language with completely new people and it was the best year of my life! I stayed with a Honduran family who spoke no English and only Spanish to teach primary children English between the ages of 4 and 12 for one whole year (which ended up being 8 months as the pandemic had to ruin it ).

My village Tomalá, Honduras

To begin, I have a question for you all to think about: what is the first thing you think of when I say Honduras?

 

Is it the lush greenery flowing down the mountains which surround hundreds of quaint little villages with cobbles streets; bright coloured rooves; scattered churches with the echoing voices of Spanish singing bouncing off the walls down the street?

 

Is it the warm and welcoming hugs of the Honduran people inviting you into their home to make you a fresh cup of coffee straight from the coffee plantation next to their house which their son picked.

Because that’s exactly what I think of.

 

Now I do have an idea of what came into your thoughts when I said Honduras, and I’m taking a wild guess that that wasn’t what you were expecting.

 

I’m 99.9% certain that the words that came into your head were dangerous, crime and violence.

 

You aren’t the only ones who thought of that, as the first question asked when typing into Google ‘Honduras’ is the question ‘Is Honduras safe?’ With the answer being ‘reconsider travel.’

Take it from my parents, they did not want me to get on that flight to the murder capital of the world. Especially only being a 17-year-old and going to live in a random village with a random family 5000 odd miles away from home, volunteer teaching to 120 students.  They were terrified. But being a naïve and curious teenager, I was adamant to go- so I did.

 

I want to break these misconceptions about Honduras as it is one of the most beautiful countries I have travelled to with the most kind-hearted people.

 

From fundraising £6,200; travelling to Isle of Coll for selection and training process; teaching English to non-indigenous speakers; making best friends; travelling around Central America for 2 months; to being escorted by a security team out of Honduras due to the pandemic- this is the story of how I encountered the best experiences of my life in my home away from home, Honduras …

        

                       Second Grade                                                 Independence Day 

My host mum and I