“Now so much I know that things just don’t grow if you don’t bless them with your patience.” -First Aid Kit, Emmylou

My fondness for La Ceiba and northern Honduras was not love at first site. It’s not that we didn’t like where we were when we arrived; it was fine. It just didn’t speak immediately to me like other locations have. I wasn’t connected, something Ian and I both thought was evident in my lackluster intro post. Perhaps that says a lot about where we find ourselves now four weeks later. The month (slideshow below) was kind to my bond with Honduras, and I’ve developed a genuine liking and appreciation for our June home, for its uniqueness and its raw beauty. La Ceiba’s natural setting is striking and awe inspiring. Not a day passed that we didn’t marvel at the proximity of the lush mountains towering over the sandy coastline or the full grown livestock meandering freely down the gravel roads of our neighborhood or the soft, grey clouds that swept over the vivid vegetation every afternoon like a slow moving wave. The views were beautiful in a way that made me feel like a very tiny part of something enormous, and they inspired a calmness in doing so. The amazing thing about La Ceiba is that these surroundings don’t require a visit to a special vista to take it all in. The beauty surrounds the entire town, the commercialized parts and the small farms, the big houses and the poor barrios. Our best views of the dramatic green were from the road between our house and the pulpería. Now as a result of our time in Honduras, we head to Nicaragua in a place of peace, patience, growth, and appreciation.