Where is Honduras? . . . and other info about where I spent the last 10 years

More often than not, people have wished me well in, "The Honduras."  They talk about it as a group of islands off the coast of Africa.  "What language do they speak in the Honduras?" has been another frequent question over the years.

For those of you who have wondered these same questions, Honduras is located in Central America, bordered by El Salvador to the west, Guatemala to the northwest, Nicaragua to the south, and the Caribbean Sea to the north.
  
Honduras is made up of departments, which are similar to what we call states.  There are 18 departments in Honduras.  I lived 8 years in Francisco Morazan, which is where the capital city, Tegucigalpa, is located.  I then lived 2 years in the city of Comayagua, in the department of Comayagua.
 
I had the opportunity to visit other departments during my time in Honduras, including Islas de la Bahia (Bay Islands), Copan (where I saw the Mayan ruins), Atlantida (I visited the coastal cities of Tela and La Ceiba), Choluteca (affectionately called "hell on earth" because of the heat there), and Santa Barbara (where I visited a school during my research to start a school in Honduras).

Christopher Columbus discovered Honduras on his 4th voyage to the New World.  Colon, the department to the north marked in yellow on the map, means "Columbus" in Spanish and is named for him.  He supposedly said after a storm in Honduras, "Thank God we've left these Depths."  He called the land "Depths" (Honduras), and "Thank God" (Gracias a Dios) the cape he left.

The language spoken in Honduras is Spanish, since it was conquered by the Spanish after Columbus' discovery.  The local currency is called the Lempira, named after a native chief that fought to death against the Spanish conquerors.  One lempira has the value of approximately a U.S. nickel.


The Honduran flag is made up of two blue stripes and one white stripe with five blue stars.  The blue stripes represent the Pacific Ocean to the south and the Caribbean Sea to the north.  They also represent blue sky and brotherhood.  The white stripe in the middle represents the land of Honduras, as well as peace and prosperity of its people, and purity of thoughts.  The five stars represent the 5 nations of the former Federal Republic of Central America.  Honduras is the middle star, and the other 4 represent El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.










I hope that gives you a little more information about the country where I spent the last 10 years!