Still, it was very much a tightly packed tropical town of 9,000 souls, which meant going to sleep to the sound of the neighbor's bedtime murmuring (and sometimes arguing). And it meant waking with the crowing of their roosters as the sun washed over the ancient Mayan city a few hundred yards away. The slap, slap of tortilla making soon followed, and Elda served a full breakfast every day, always with tortillas and cereal and rice and fresh juice and some of the sublime local coffee. Around 8 a.m., Katie and Co. would yoo-hoo at the door and everyone would walk the five downhill blocks to school. Morning class lasted two hours, with a separate teacher for each age bracket: Cole and Tyrie in the kitchen learning numbers, Isabel and Dillon in the main classroom building their murderous vocabulary with the board game Clue ("Senorita Scarlet en la cocina con el revolver!"), and Ann and Katie with private teachers in the garden.
Most days, the younger kids would catch a cab home at 10 for playtime, and the others would join them after another two hours. The older girls could leave at 10 if they wanted, but, in testament to the skill of their teacher, Pati, they enjoyed the lessons enough to sign on for another two-hour set. (It didn't hurt that Pati owned the town's ice cream shop two blocks away.) Everyone reconvened at home in time for lunch, another groaning board of fried chicken, fried plantains, tamales and, of course, tortillas. Kids of both nationalities gulped and ran (for hammock games, for computer games, for more non-syntactical shrieking in and out of doors), while Ann, Hector and Elda lingered at the table over iced tea and family histories.
A caretaker walks the grounds of Hacienda San Lucas, an old ranch house in Honduras that provides an ideal respite for visitors enrolled in the Spanish-language school in the nearby village of Copan.
(Ann Hendrix-Jenkins)
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It was a drill that left plenty of time every afternoon for some slow-motion exploration of the town. It was a leisurely itinerary punctuated by wild tuk-tuk rides and a couple of lifts in the backs of neighborly pickup trucks. They did the half-morning tour of the main ruins on their first Sunday, spending an hour in the cantina waiting out a colossal rainstorm. The archeology museum on the main square housed some spectacular carved altars and skulls from the realm of King 18 Rabbit, and the nearby children's museum gave the kids a chance to calculate their birthdays on the Mayan calendar. But most days, before they split up to spend the evening with their respective families, would find them in a bright orange shop off the square called Casa de Todo. This aptly named "House of Everything" was a hub for traveling gringos, with a souvenir shop, copy machine, cafe and laundry service. This is where the kids could play end-to-end matches of the card game War in the flowered courtyard garden with Pringles and Sprite (forbidden pleasures in Takoma Park), while the moms checked e-mail in the open-air cyber parlor upstairs. The Internet without walls, they called it.
At Peace in Copan
Halfway through their second week, the big Mercedes bus rumbled through and deposited me in Copan (Jim would complete the group in another few days and we would all head off to Guatemala). As a welcome treat, Ann and Katie had arranged an afternoon horse ride to Hacienda San Lucas, a Ralph Lauren-ready ranch house in the mountains above the ruins. San Lucas, restored as an excellent small hotel, boasts some of the best views and best food in the valley, and there's no more authentic way to approach it than by horse -- especially these horses.
For folks used to the waiver-heavy, single-file, keep-it-at-a-plod boredom of the typical American trail ride, it was a bit stunning to be told to pick a horse and take off. And not just adults -- the kids each got their own mounts. Even Tyrie and Cole, the pre-K taxi demons, were allowed to ride alone. Three guides came with us, always willing to lead the little kids if they got nervous (they both did, and both got over it). And we adults were free to spur things up to a very satisfying run along the gravel flats by the river.
At one point, as we rode by some sun-bleached tobacco barns, a rowdy young mule came charging up to us, bucking and kicking and braying up a storm. He tried to nose Katie's foot away from her horse and get his face under its belly for all the world like it was trying to nurse. "Su mama," laughed Don Beto, the lead guide ("His mama.") With a wave of Beto's lariat, the mule pirouetted away, launching a kick at every horse he passed.
That's another thing you don't see too often in Montgomery County -- a mule shadow-boxing with the horse carrying your 4-year-son.
Katie looked at Beto. He smiled reassuringly as one of his men ran the raucous one away. "Don't worry," he said.
She rode on serenely, at home in the saddle, at peace in Copan. "I wasn't," she said.
Details: Copan, Honduras
GETTING THERE: Other than a charter air strip, Copan doesn't have an airport (they are reportedly building one in the next few years). The closest international gateway is San Pedro Sula, Honduras, about 2 1/2 hours away by bus. American Airlines shows round-trip flights from BWI through Miami in the $550 range; TACA from Dulles has about the same fare. Transport to Copan on a comfy, behemoth Mercedes coach costs $16 round trip on the reliable Hedman-Alas Bus Line (011-504-651-4037, www.hedmanalas.com). Many visitors to Copan arrive via the daily Hedman-Alas coach from Guatemala City (a five-hour ride, departing at 5 a.m.), $65 round trip.
STUDYING THERE: There is practically no corner of Central America left without a choice of small Spanish language schools, most using the same model: Study during the morning and stay with a local family. In Copan, Guacamaya (011-504-651-4360, www.guacamaya.com) appealed to us because of its eagerness to accommodate young kids as well as adults. Schedules and details are flexible, but, in general, for $200 a week per adult and $125 per kid, the school offers 20 hours of individual lessons, three meals a day and comfortable digs in a vetted family house. The instruction proved to be engaging and productive for each age group, and the school day featured nearly daily outings and special projects, including a trip to the hot springs, a horse ride to a Mayan village, a tortilla-making workshop and indigenous dance lessons (and hourly trips to the corner tienda for chocolate and empanadas). We heard good reviews about the other school in Copan, Ixbalanque (011-504-651-4432, www.ixbalanque.com), which offers about the same terms.
WHERE TO STAY: We stayed with local families but did make a point to travel out into the hills overlooking the town for a night at one of the most appealing small country inns in Central America, the exquisite Hacienda San Lucas (011-504-651-4495, www.haciendasanlucas.com). The homestead of an old Copan family was recently restored by Flavia Cueva, a daughter of a family who spent many years teaching school in Kentucky. San Lucas, with see-forever views of the valley and the Copan ruins, is a hammock-filled showplace of old saddle leather and nouvelle Latin cuisine (and killer rum-spiked lemonade). The $60 double rate includes a full ranch breakfast.
WHAT TO DO: The Copan Ruins, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are the town's signature attraction. The main archaeological park is within walking distance (or a very short tuk-tuk ride) from town. Admission is about $10 for adults and $5 for kids, and $12 additional to tour the excavation tunnels. The adjacent Museum of Mayan Sculpture -- where some of the best salvaged carvings are housed in a dramatic open-air hall -- is well worth the $5 extra charge.
Copan's newest attraction is an elaborate, heat-beating bird park 1 1/4 miles from town called Macaw Mountain (011-504- 651-4245, www.macawmountain.com). With miles of neatly manicured paths, dozens of well-kept tropical birds and a shady cafe, the park is good for more than one half-day idyll (take a bathing suit for the stone-lined swimming hole on the forest creek). Admission was $10 for adults, $5 for kids and we returned more than once during the week on the same tickets.
INFORMATION: Copan Ruinas Chamber of Commerce, www.copanhonduras.org.
-- Steve Hendrix
