Early in September, Karli asked me if we wanted to do anything for our Semana Morazánica holiday, to which I replied, “h-e-double hockey sticks-yes.” At the time I had just found out I had been accepted to graduate school and knew my GRE would be right before the holiday, so celebration was rightfully in order. After much Google Flights searching, as well as where we could get to via bus, we realized a trip to Disney World would be entirely possible and we booked it that night. $600 each before food costs later, we had our Florida plans in order (ironically, it would have cost more for us to visit Roatán). Now, I write this as I sit on my plane back to San Pedro Sula, so I want to share a little bit of our trip while it is fresh in my mind.
Tuesday, we left school early and grabbed a cab to the bus terminal. We got quite lucky as a bus was just about to leave when we arrived, so we rushed on that and started our journey. At each stop, people selling various food and drink would hop on to sell their ware, anything from yuca chips to entire chicken dinners, and we decided to bite and got a bag of lychee fruit (for 10 lempira, or 42 cents). It was Karli’s first time trying it, actually, so I was super pleased that she liked them as well. Things went smoothly up until we got close to Cofradía. Traffic suddenly halted and we ended up spending an extra 5 hours hardly moving. If you didn’t know, we lived in a little town next to Cofradía before, and protests and civil unrest were very common. It turns out people were burning tires in the road and protesting since the government needed to fix the bridge there.
After finding a route that circumvented the trouble, we made it to el Terminal, or the big terminal station in San Pedro. We hitched a (much more expensive) cab (200 lempira each versus usually 25 lempira each in Santa Rosa) to our stay for the night, which was called El Jardín de la Nonna, and got some food from nearby. That area was in the northwest corner of SPS and it was significantly safer, so cough cough richer, with a great nightlife and signs for very westernized things like yoga studios and beer gardens with live music. It was pretty late when we got there so we didn’t get a chance to check it out, but still cool to know it’s there. The next morning we headed to the airport and caught a flight to Orlando. Last year, the airport was practically decimated due to storms, so it was exciting to see it even nicer looking than when I last saw it. In line, Karli’s bag was stopped by the Honduran version of the TSA, and it turns out her fork was a national security threat… but aside from that we had no issues in getting to Orlando, picking up our car, and finding our Airbnb.
We then situated ourselves and realized we were beyond ravenous, so we went to a Red Robin’s, then Publix. We, for the sake of our lives, could not stop answering people in Spanish. It was mildly frustrating while also simultaneously hilarious to point it out to one another. We both got salads at Red Robin’s and lost it over how good it was to eat a legit salad again for the first time in months. Honduras does not have very good produce, with the exception of things like apples, plátanos, tomatoes, and some others. But, I don’t know, even just the vibes of being at an American place felt different, and yet somehow it did not feel like home as I expected. When we went to Publix after, I felt overwhelmed by the grandness of it all. So many choices. So much produce. There were sugar-free options, decaf options, vegetarian options, 1000 different spices and ingredients and snacks and whatever else you could find. What was once the norm felt somewhat foreign, at least in spirit. It wasn’t like I didn’t expect it to be how it was, rather that I forgot what it felt like to be there.
Thursday, we went to the Magic Kingdom. Between it being a weekday and the middle of October, there were hardly any lines in the morning. Within the first few hours we were able to ride Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain Falls, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, and Pirates of the Caribbean. By that point, we tired out a bit, so we explored the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, which I had just seen the movie for for the first time before coming, thus making it a much more salient experience, then got of those infamous Dole Whips and watched the Enchanted Tiki Room. Even though the Tiki Room is probably one of their older attractions and is literally just animatronic birds and plants singing, my inner child lost its mind and thought it was simply the most delightful thing I’ve seen in a while. Then again, maybe the Dole Whip and AC played a role, but still, it was unadulterated fun. After that, we visited Fantasyland, then made our second ride runs before the fireworks show. The show was quite lovely with an impressive use of lighting, music, and fireworks to pull together what was the 50th Anniversary display.
Friday, we went to Hollywood Studios. In contrast to Magic Kingdom the day before, the lines were considerably lengthier. We started our day at Rise of the Resistance, which was a mind blowing experience. It was one of the most immersive rides I’ve ever been on, from the immaculate set to surprise around every corner. I came into that ride not knowing anything about it (intentionally), and that was definitely the right move. If you, reader, plan on going any time soon and are also huge a Star Wars nerd, I would recommend the same course of action regarding not giving yourself any spoilers. There really wasn’t anything overly intense about the ride mechanism itself, but rather the wind, the versatility of the cars, the amazing use of lighting, and so on are what really sold it to me. They also found quite a good way to make the lines more enjoyable. Rather than hopping in a car, going for a spin, and going back, this ride had multiple stages to it that, looking back, were just a nice way of queuing people with entertainment. I’m not even mad though, it was so well done that I wish more rides had that. We ended up going on that ride another two times throughout the day. The last time, we met a Colombian family with the most adorable little girls who were very eager to talk our ears off, and honestly, we just let them. It was hilariously cute to watch their reactions and hear their comments on the ride.
We also hit other rides like Tower of Terror, Rockin’ Roller Coaster (which is actually going to be losing its Aerosmith theming and instead change to Iron Man), Smuggler’s Run, and a few others. Lines were much longer and rain put a few others out of commission, but Rise of the Resistance was simply good enough that it didn’t bother us at all. Please enjoy a photo of my wild roller coaster hair below.
Saturday, we packed up and went to Disney Springs to pass some time before heading to the car rental place. For being a touristy shopping center, it was extremely cute and had a lot of interesting options. One thing I heard about but didn’t get the chance to do was go to the Coca Cola store and try their different sodas from around the world. I’m not a huge soda person, personally, but I am most definitely a “try all the options” person. Alas, for next time. They had lots of cute Disney shops, as well as spice shops and fancy fashion shops. At a very “Live, Laugh, Love”-esque decor place, we found blue light glasses, so let’s see if that helps any with the headaches from staring at a computer all day (EDIT: so far they’re actually helpful, or at least the placebo effect is working).
We then made our way back to the car rental place and airport with American deli style food to munch on in the meanwhile. Our first stop was to New Orleans, which was one of the cleanest and nicest airports I’ve ever been in, albeit set at what felt like sub-zero temperatures to our Honduras-acclimated bodies. Seriously. We literally huddled together for warmth, not that I’m mad, but I have serious questions for whoever made the call to keep it that temperature. When the first shop at the airport opened, Café Du Monde, we immediately bought warm beignets and coffee/hot chocolate to defrost us. Thankfully, our flight was shortly after and we got on without a hitch. As I write this, I am almost back in San Pedro. Hopefully the roads will be clearer on the way back to Santa Rosa. (EDIT: They indeed were!)
Happy reading,
-Beppa