Jewel in the Rough

So, through some fortuitous circumstance, I was in Copan Ruinas for Halloween weekend, and all I gotta say is, State Street had nothing on Honduras. Craziness.

Apparently this is the third year in a row that this party–organized by Peace Corps volunteers–has been happening, although I think this year may have been a little better organized than past Halloween’s. It was a spectacle. I think a lot of the “success” of the party comes from the isolation that the PCV’s live in for most of the year, but man, they were ready to party. By 8:30 on Friday they were all hammered, with one guy passed out on the floor. I left early, but when I wandered through the central park the next morning, there was a large group of them standing around, looking really, really hungover. They were all silent, except one girl who had her hand on her stomach and was saying “I really don’t feel good.” Then I realized why they were standing in the square. It was almost time for the hash run–a 5 km run, with a beer stop in the middle. You have to admire the dedication to their drinking.

 I spent a while getting my substitute teacher costume together, and it looked pretty good. Paper airplane in the hair and everything. I was staying with some of the teachers from Mayatan, so we went down to the party together. It was stupid crazy. Copan in full force. The costumes looked good, my favorite being a giant bottle of Imperial Beer, that reminded me of the Duff beer from the Simpsons. At midnight there was a parade to the afterhours bar, where things continued in the same vein. I think that every single gringo in Copan was hungover on Sunday, and the Evangelicals had held a vigil the night before, praying for our souls.

Sunday I skipped all the events, although apparently they included drinking at a pig roast in the afternoon, and then drinking some more while ostensibly watching the football game. Apparently the last partiers quit at 2am.  I managed to have a decent conversation with two of the PCV’s in the dorm room, and went to bed at 9:30.