So much more than a couch

I`m really lucky. Why? Because I get to live and travel through a different, exotic and exciting part of the world? Well, yes, for that I´m lucky, but I`m really lucky because I get to meet incredible people and have insightful and meaningful cultural and personal experiences. How do I do this? I open myself up, stay with people and enter their home with the most open mind I can - in other words, I couchsurf.

I stayed with Alex and his beautiful family in the city of Santa Barbara, in western Honduras. I never would have even thought of visiting that part of the country had it not been for the recommendation of another couchsurfer - but the recommendation wasn´t for the community, it was for Alex. He really embodies the whole spirit of couchsurfing - not only did he open up his home to me and make me feel so welcome, but he went to all odds to show me his country and his culture. For 3 crazy days he shuttled me all over the region, showing me everything there possibly was to see, fed me every Honduran specialty dish known to man (homemade - and vegetarian!), introduced me to all his family and friends, and had some pretty deep conversations with me about the country´s history, politics and pretty dismal current situation. Spending time with him and his four daughters gave me a privelaged look into Honduran culture and life that few travelers get to see. At one point, as we were enjyoing the warm thermal waters of a nearby spring, I caught myself thinking, ¨Here I am, in Honduras, surrounded only by Hondurans, speaking Spanish, and learning about what it means to be a Honduran. Could I be any luckier?¨ At that moment I really felt the uniqueness and specialness of what I was doing.

The area near Alex´s house! Qué bonito!

Alex´s beautiful daughters - of course I immediately had four best friends!

Floating down the river

However, as my next experience taught me, I don´t always have to stay with a local family to gain that same feeling and depth. Since leaving Guatemala, I´ve really wanted to get as far off the beaten track as possible, and have avoided the big touristy spots like the plague, instead opting for more unknown, low key, and random spots I find on a map. Luckily for me, almost every Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras is also on couchsurfing, and are based in some of the most random, hard to get to places in the country.

One of these is Jesse, based in the village of Jutiapa, on the north coast of Honduras. From the moment we introduced ourselves to each other, I knew I was going to like him a lot. As one of his projects, Jesse had spent the past few months converting what was essentially a swampland into a pretty amazing fútbol cancha - or, in other words, a soccer field. To my good luck, I turned up just a few days before its inauguration - which was to be celebrated with a big tournament consisting of teams from all the surrounding communities. A couple of days shy of the big event, there were still a few finishing touches to be put on the field and I was more than happy to help in whatever way I could. In addition to painting the goalposts, I was assigned the role of event photographer, one that I assumed with pleasure - evident in the hundreds of photos I took of game day and the preperations beforehand.

As game day approached with increasing excitement, I found myself really getting into the whole spirit of the event. I got to meet all of Jesse´s coworkers and friends in the community and really got a taste of rural Honduran life. And on the morning of the big day, we awoke to find a beautiful rainbow arched right over top of the cancha. What a sign - it was going to be a great day. And it was - from getting interviewed on Honduran television (they were curious as to why a foreigner, not affiliated with the Peace Corps was there in the first place), to cheering all afternoon from the best seat in the house - Jess´ balcony (and it turns out, I like watching soccer, who would have ever thought?!?), to Jesse himself getting in on the action, it was an incredible, unforgettable experience. I felt part of the community and got to celebrate something so special with them. At the end of the day, wen the last game finished, the lights were turned off and everyone started walking back home, grinning ear to ear, you can bet I was as well. Right then, at that moment, I felt not only like a Catracha (Honduran) but a Jutiapan as well.

Painting those goalposts

The field, almost ready!

Morning rainbow

Putting the lines down

The jovenes

Jess getting ready to hand out donated soccer cleats

Watching from the balcony

Jess ready to get in on the action

These are the moments you can´t put a price tag on, or find through a guidebook. And it´s moments like these that impel me to travel, and are why I love the whole concept of couchsurfing (done informally as well!). Because it´s so much more than a couch. It´s a whole new way of seeing the world.