Of the whole two and a half months that I was travelling, these next few days were my absolute favourites, not that I expected any different. After a few days relaxing in Gracias and a night in Hannah’s old project in Yamaranguila, I was returning to Candelaria, a town that feels like home. It had been seven years since I first stepped foot there as a fresh faced 18 year old, although I did go back for a week in 2019. Travelling to new places is exciting and there is much to be learnt but I have found that nothing makes me more reflective than returning somewhere I’ve been before, especially somewhere that means so much to me and had such an impact on the person I am today. It was also really special to share this experience with Hannah because while I had visited her project during our original time in Honduras, she had never made it to Candelaria (awkward bus schedules are mostly to blame).

From Yamaranguila we had to take the bus from La Esperanza towards Mapulaca, a border town with El Salvador, and get off in Candelaria. We were waiting for the bus to take us from our hotel down to the station while simultaneously trying our luck at hitchhiking (a very common practice in Honduras) and we ended up getting a lift with two policemen! The bus journey was easy enough, about five hours in total and much smoother than our bus ride from San Pedro Sula to Gracias. As we were coming around the last few bends before arriving into town, I could barely contain myself! It already felt like coming home, even if I was already noticing a lot of changes.

And now comes the real reason that I was so excited to be coming back. My family met me off the bus! When I lived in Honduras in 2016-17, I stayed with a host family – Saida, the mum, Jaime, the dad, and three girls, Daniela, Jamie and Antonella. Antonella was actually born while I was there! Unfortunately the dad Jaime passed away in 2019, just before I came back to visit for the first time, but I’ve remained close to Saida and the girls. I had the loveliest big hug from Saida and I immediately couldn’t believe how big the girls were since I last saw them. Daniela and Jamie are fully teenagers now and Antonella has started school! Mind blowing. They don’t actually live in the same house as they did when I lived there, right on the main square, because they rent it out as a shop now but they’re only one block away and right opposite two of my friends. I introduced Hannah to everyone, we got the grand tour, including meeting the new cat called Sushi, and settled in a little.

For our first evening we went to the pool which is definitely something new, one of the many developments around Candelaria! I would have loved it if this was here before so I could have run some actual swimming lessons (I used to be a swimming teacher and I would teach my host sisters how to swim in the river!). Finca Don Jorge is so cute and definitely would be a good spot when it’s super hot. At this point the sun was going down so it was getting dark and cool but it was still nice to get in the water after being on the dusty bus. Not everyone got in but I enjoyed splashing about with Jamie and teaching Antonella how to blow bubbles and kick her legs. She’s already so confident in the water which is good but it was one of many moments over the next few days that made me wish I was staying much longer. Antonella didn’t remember me from last time because she would only have been about two years old but apparently she was the most excited for me to come, asking when her hermana was getting here… I’m not crying, you are.

On our second day, we went with Saida to the nearby village of San Lorenzo where she works. They were having their elección de la india bonita , an event that happens just before Lempira Day, a national celebration that would be happening on the final day of our stay. The girls make and wear these incredible dresses using natural materials like beans, seeds, corn, leaves, moss, flowers and more. They have very intricate designs of their town, of Honduras, of national symbols like Lempira or the scarlet macaw. We were helping some of Saida’s students finish their dress and get ready for the presentation which involved braiding a lot of hair! The actual ceremony was really interesting to see, the dresses were absolutely incredible but it was a long afternoon in the hot sun. Hannah, Antonella and I ended up getting a lift back to Candelaria a bit early while Saida stayed on.

We had a chilled evening in the house because everyone was tired after a long day. This was actually one of my favourite evenings though. Over dinner, Saida, Hannah and I had an interesting conversation about various political and social issues which are conversations that I enjoy anyway. This conversation happened in Spanish though so was a bit more challenging. I was very pleased and a bit surprised with how well I’d been able to keep up my Spanish before this trip and how quickly it bounced back even more after arriving in Honduras. Hannah has a pretty good understanding of Spanish but won’t mind me saying that she struggles a bit more with speaking. She absolutely held her own in this discussion though and was participating fully in it. It was so nice for me to see her and Saida getting along and communicating together. After dinner, we helped finish a sign for Lempira Day that involved hot glueing beans to outline letters. While we were doing so, I had a conversation with Daniela, the oldest of the girls, in English. It was simple and short but had full sentences and used the past tense. When I was first here, I taught Daniela English when she was in second and third grade plus some extra bits and pieces in the house. Seeing the progress she’s made and her continued interest in English made me so proud that I was genuinely holding back tears.

The following day was packed full of catching up with as many friends as possible. I’ve already written about the complicated feelings I had after I left about not having made any lasting friendships and this being proved wrong the moment I was back in Candelaria. (While re-reading the blog from my last visit while writing this one, I found that what I had written still resonated a lot and I was very proud of that piece of writing and the reflections in it so it might be interesting for you to have a look at it too if you haven’t already.) It was the exact same this time. From the start of the day until the end I was catching up with people. It started with picking Antonella up from school mid-morning as there were only a few classes in preparation for Lempira Day. It was a bit of a shock that the only students I still knew in the primary school were the sixth graders who I had taught while they were in Kindergarten! A group of them gathered around to talk to me and there were lots of questions about Amy, my project partner (not my twin sister!). Hannah, Antonella and I walked back into the centre of town with our entourage and ended up going to play with them in the park and then being introduced to minutas, like a snow cone topped with flavoured syrup, condensed milk and candy belts.

After a brief air conditioning break in the house (a new but welcome addition since I lived there), we headed out for lunch with my friend Nayely. Her family has a comedor, a typical Honduran restaurant, so we ate there which was absolutely delicious (food pictures are further down)! We were very hot and very full after our pollo frito and tajadas so we went home to chill before I got called out to meet up with another friend, Enedina, for a cold frappé. Hannah was tired so she stayed behind but Saida and Antonella came with us.

The final stop of the day was dinner with Lety and Victor who were like my second host family back in the day. They were the organisers of the project so we spent a lot of time with them and their four kids. Three of them are much more grown up now, including the eldest who is off at university, but Hannah and I got to spend some time with the youngest, Samuel, while waiting for dinner. He was only a toddler when I was here the first time so didn’t really remember me. This time he took us through all 60+ Youtube shorts of something called Skibidi Toilet (if you’re lucky enough not to know what that is, don’t look it up). As painful as it was, it was nice to spend some time with Samuel so that next time he’ll remember me more, the same as with Antonella.

And now for the main event, Día de Lempira! Lempira Day was my favourite national holiday when I was first here, and there are a lot to choose from, so I specifically planned this trip and it’s itinerary around that. Lempira is the national hero in Honduras who led the Lencan people, an indigenous group, against the Spanish in the 1530s. The name comes from two Lencan words that mean ‘señor de la sierra‘ or ‘señor del cerro‘, both meaning ‘lord of the mountain’. Today he is remembered on 20th July every year. The national currency is named after him as well as one of the departments of Honduras (where you’ll find both Gracias and Candelaria).

The first step is the parade! Before that however, everyone has to get ready in their various outfits. My contribution to the morning was plaiting all three girls’ hair plus Saida’s. Hannah and I walked Antonella to the meeting point for the parade, which is a couple of hundred metres shorter than in my day (not that I’m complaining). The whole primary school and high school are part of the parade, dressed up in different styles. There are the indias bonitas, the girls in handmade dresses decorated with beans, corn, flowers and leaves like we had seen in San Lorenzo. There are the caciques, the warriors, the campesinos, the peasants, and those in the traditional folkloric outfits.

The second part of the day is in the main square where there are different kinds of performances and speeches, starting with the national anthem sung by my former students. Next up was traditional dancing, again with my former students, mostly those I taught when they were in fourth and fifth grade (now they’re in eleventh grade!). The final and most important event of the day is the reenactment of the death of Lempira. One student from the high school is chosen to play Lempira (another one of my old students, Josue Maria, was chosen this year!). It is said that Lempira died when he was lured to peace talks with the Spanish who then shot him from horseback in an act of betrayal. There is another telling of events that says he dies in battle and the Spanish cut his head off to prove he was dead but that’s a bit harder to reenact!

After being in the sun for several hours, we went back to the house before going out for lunch with another friend, Karen. We actually ended up back at Nayely’s comedor, today for pollo asado. A common theme throughout my visit was that I wasn’t allowed to pay for anything. It was lovely that all my friends wanted to invite me out but I wanted to contribute to the town and I wasn’t expecting everyone to pay for me. Especially when it came to supporting my friends, like at Nayely’s comedor or buying coffee from Victor (at my dad’s special request), I tried to insist but after a certain point it becomes rude to refuse. Part of the Honduran culture is their generosity, looking after guests and feeding people!

The morning had been a busy one, as had the last few days which caught up to us so we spent the afternoon resting in the house. In the evening, as a last hurrah for our last night, Hannah, Saida, the girls, Saida’s cousin Miriam and I went out to a Mexican restaurant that is also new since I lived here. We had a nice meal and then spent the evening watching a film on a projector in the house. It was a lovely way to wrap up our few days there.

It’s still somewhat of a challenge to put into words how much this little town and its people mean to me. Being back here is like using a time machine – I feel 18 again but at the same time I’m able to see how far I’ve come. And I’m not the only one who has changed. More so this time than the last time I was here, I noticed the differences in the town. In most cases, the changes are positive. There are lots of new businesses and restaurants which is encouraging to see after the economic challenges of the last few years during the pandemic. Coming back to Candelaria feels like coming home and a lot of that is about coming home to my family, particularly my mum Saida. The love I feel for her and from her cannot be described as anything else. The girls are growing up so fast, as are all of my former students, and it is a privilege both to have known them when they were younger and see them transforming now into the strong, independent, intelligent people I always knew they would be. Sharing this experience with Hannah was also really special and I know she saw at least some of what I see in this amazing town and these amazing people. They opened their arms as much to her as they do to me and I’m so grateful for that. Now that I’m in Costa Rica for the foreseeable future, I hope it won’t be four years until my next visit!