Wed., Feb. 18th, from Roatan

Hey, all,

We have had a couple of very busy days but we are now back in the cabana in full ¨collapse¨mode so I can catch up. Well, we took the landlady´s advice and closed up the windows and turned on the A/C to block the rooster noise but that did not prevent us from sharing in the high volume, late night musical tributes that took place at a Honduran wake (yes that solemn event in the US that comes after somebody dies but before they are buried) over two nights. We are not sure if country western music is traditional for Honduran wakes or if the deceased woman just loved it, but we felt very much included in the event! I think I have convinced my friends that Ambien is the way to go if you are still awake after half an hour in bed trying to fall asleep.

On Tuesday morning we took a mini tour of a few locations nearby. First we went to Bay Island Beach Resort to meet Camilla O´Brien who is our local contact for the volunteer literacy work Judy and Maria will be doing for 2 weeks. She directed us to the nearby ˨Learning Center which is just down the beach and we met some of the kids and Thelma, the assistant of the center and got the schedule and a sense of what kinds of things they are doing with the students. As with most volunteer opportunities, there will be some one-to-one work with students with individual learning goals and some general helping with reading skills, etc...

Then we trundled into another taxi and went to Anthony´s Key Resort where Maria and Britta signed up for a Friday morning snorkel and interaction time with some dolphins that they are studying at the RIMS (Roatan Institute for Marine Science). Sounds a little corny but when else will little old ladies like us get to feel like a couple of mermaids frolicking in the waves with dolphins??? Judy and Pam will watch and, maybe, take a few photos of the fun.

Back to the cabana again via the ever present fleet of Roatan entrepreneurs who drive taxis. The routine is this: you stand out on the main road and then amid all the motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, buses and trucks you wave until a white Toyota corolla with a number on its side pulls over. Usually it already has one or more occupants and then you shout in Spanish ¨How much to go to Timbuktu (or wherever)? Then you get a response that can range anywhere from $1 each to $10 each and you either agree ($1 is the right answer) or keep haggling. Then you crawl in with the other passengers or the driver boots out his friends on the side of the road so he can take paying customers and off you go. Same thing with the water taxis and you always must be sure that you understand that the fare is either per person or the total is for everyone.

So we had some lunch and then wandered down to the beach here and snorkeled off the pier (which, by the way looks exactly like the one on the top of the blog) only it has a thatch covered area for some shade as well as a large deck with bench seating all around for the susnet crowd. We were a little intimidated about swimming out to the snorkelling area but a helpful and friendly American offered to go out with us and show us the snorkel areas so we gave the snorkel equipment its trial run. Success all around!! Although it is probably 75 yeards of sea grass before you get to coral and more fish but we were refreshed and encouraged by the ease and comfort and water temperature and clarity. After the lengthy time in the salt water soak we enjoyed the pool and made a few more tourist arrangements via phone for things later in the week.

Another gourmet dinner made by our resident chef, Pam, and then some serious DVD time watching 2 movies: Reign Over Me with Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle and The Truth About Cats and Dogs with Uma Thurman and Janeane Garafalo.

On Wednesday morning we headed into West End for some poking around and minor shopping and people watching. Pam and Britta did not want to snorkel so they headed back for lunch and Maria and Judy took a water taxi to Tabayana Beach which was a picture postcard setting of white sand, palm trees and turquoise waters. We met a young Guatemalan woman in the water taxi and she looked like she was uncomfortable alone so she joined us for our lounge time and we took turns watching each other´s beach stuff and swimming/snorkelling. Judy and Maria had a couple of long, leisurely snorkels and saw lots of healthy corals and tropical fish just wading into the water and sticking your head in and floating out a little farther. A really big area of shallow water covering a huge coral system and the only tricky part was paying attention to not getting ¨bluffed up¨into an area that got too shallow to comfortably snorkel through. It doesn´t get easier than that!

Then the cruise boat traffic arrived and things got more crowded and we both felt like we had TMJ from our snorkel mouthpieces and were covered with a thick layer of sunscreen, sand and salt so that means it is time to be done. So we water taxied back to West End for a late lunch and then back to the cabana for fresh water SHOWERS!!! Life is good. I miss all of my loved ones and think of all of you and wish we could share all of the fun. Love, Maria