April 17, 2010

heading home

this is our main road,
it is narrow, curvy with no shoulders.
this is one of the few straight stretches on the island!

this road circles the island

just two lanes.
simple

there are alot of toyota taxi's that travel this road!

not alot of islanders  have cars so

taxi's are very reasonable...

most rides cost about 1.50

to travel about 10 minutes.

which is so great!

BUT 

if the person doesn't have any money

then they simply flag down a vehicle.

the truck ahead of us

stopped in front of me

and a mom and her little girl hopped in.

it is just the way things work here.

if you own a car then

i hope that gratitude will rise up in your heart

because many many many people in the world

don't own a car

or a house

or a boat

or a piece of land.

they travel light.

in the back of trucks as the sun is setting.

i think they are in many ways smarter then we realize...

be

grateful

xo

April 16, 2010

the birthday girl!

We all love Pauline.

she is a wonderful spirited, giving Irish girl

who has been living on the island for 8 years now

with her husband Phil.

Pauline is synonymous with Clinic Esparanza  as she

has been volunteering there everyday

for the past 4 years.

can you imagine that?

she just recently began teaching at one of the school's here

i know those teenagers will be blessed to have her

as a teacher as she is dedicated in whatever she does.

she is caring, fun loving, and feisty as any 

true irish woman would be!

her party invite started at 25 people.. a nice 'intimate party'

and ended up being around 70 people there.

why is that?

because we all love her!

it was a wonderful evening together

Phil is an amazing cook and the table was laden with

many delicious foods.

 Many people came to wish her well because 

truly

she deserves it!

Happy Birthday Pol!

xooxox

WIB

woman in black!

it is kinda funny because roatan is a casual island

but for birthdays it is fun to dress up

i couldn't resist getting the woman in black together for

a photo!

pauline is in the middle with the birthday balloon

behind her.

April 15, 2010

leaving port

this was taken from don and jeanette's

place up on the hill.

we were heading out for 

jeanette's birthday dinner.

what a busy day.

i spent the morning volunteering

at the 'made in roatan' shop,

talking to tourists who came off  the cruise ship,

selling local made art work.

a wonderful morning.

i met a couple 

lee and clem 

fellow canadians

who were wondering about a tour to west bay

i had tried to call a couple of local tour people

then it occurred to me:

'i am going to west bay for a birthday lunch!!'

so i offered to drive them to the beach,

have lunch 

then pick them up.

why not?

after a brief moment of hesitation

they agreed 

the birthday lunch was wonderful,

then i drove back to infinity bay and we sat with lee and clem under the shade of an
umbrella  and enjoyed a cool port royal

was refreshing and good
i wish i took a photo of them.
such great folks!!

i drove them back through sandy bay to see our place.

i always like to show people the view from our deck.. 

personally i think it is one of the best around!
lee said,
um.. i could live here!
:-)

they enjoyed themselves

so did it.

then i picked up bob

who has been helping to build a wee house for a family here on the island

dropped him off at the house

picked up emily to go groceries shopping for

balloons, and supplies for pauline's birthday tomorrow.

then home for a quick shower,

change,

and off to jeanette's birthday celebration at 

the argentian grill.

great sunset there, 

and fun times.

what a busy yet great day.

um.. for the record

i was in bed by 9:00!!

April 14, 2010

heaven in my garden

today my friend laura came over today

for our bible study time 

and when it was over she presented

me with her little pentax camera

she kept apologizing saying

it wasn't that good of a camera

imagine that?

it is great!!

 Laura has such a good heart,

she is the kind of person who engages fully when she

sees you,

she listens well, 

asks questions that matter.

she is sooo beautiful 

inside and out.

 her authentic search to find the Lord touches my heart deeply.

  i appreciate her so much!

so..i went out in the garden

and i was in heaven 

taking photos and getting lost in all

the beauty out there.

for He was there too.

it was a blessed time for me.

thanks again Laura.

may your heart be as full of joy in 

giving as mine is in receiving.

xoxox

April 13, 2010

puppy love

this little puppy was born in a small shack
beside  the blue house

beside ours on the beach
he has about 6 little brothers and sisters
i am partial to a black and white one myself.

an island family lives there and the puppies are
being taken care of by a young boy named bradley

we saw them shortly after they were born

and emily has fallen in love.

each time we walk on the beach to watch

the sunset we stop and say hello,

snuggle and give a kiss on the puppies

wet little noses.

as the sun drops into the sea and the night sky darkens
we walk home longingly
wishing
we had one of these in our arms....

April 12, 2010

garifuna festival

went to Punta Gorda today for the annual Garifuna celebration.
This is the 213th year since their arrival on Roatan.
it is so wonderful to see how they have maintained
their customs, culture, language and authentic cuisine over the years.
they have not be affected by the south american culture or the
north american culture.

we walked along side them
in the hot sun
as they  paraded through town,
along the shores of their tiny fishing village
and watched them re-enact
landing on the shores in  dug out canoes
we so enjoyed their dancing, singing, drumming and enthusiastic joy.

 they were dressed to the 'nines' for this momentous occasion
the colors were astoundingly beautiful!!!
i met my friend catherine there
she had her dress made in the capital of  tegucigalpa
it was specially designed for this event.
those are her 3 daughters on the front!

the sounds of their singing and the rhythmic beating
of the drums
brought tears to my eyes
as it reminded me of years ago when bob and i were in
africa.

they have such spirit
such determination
such joy.
so glad we made the trek over the other side of the island
to share it with them!

April 11, 2010

house of blessing

not many see this side of roatan

i call it the 'real roatan'

this is where patrick lives,

he is the young drummer at our church

who is only 17 and is orphaned.

both parents died and he and his 2 brothers and 2 sisters

are being raised by his grama.

after church today,

i felt compelled to take patrick to the store to 

get groceries.

we have  friends who send us money from canada

my friend luba is kind and generous

and she sent us money to help out a family

this morning i knew that family would be patrick's.

he was thrilled to come groceries shopping.

bob jokingly said,

now patrick no chocolate bars okay?

and he seriously said,

what is a chocolate bar?

can you believe that?

so we loaded him up with rice, beans, flour, sugar,

pasta, plaintains, payaya, mangos, milk,

chicken and many more things.

the cart was full.

so was his heart.

i asked Patrick if he liked peanut butter and he said

oh yes but that peanut butter would be gone in one day

at our house.

i laughed and said,

well let's get it then!!

who cares if it only lasts one day.. it is probably because you love it so much.

he smiled,

his white teeth glistening against his beautiful dark skin

and said,

yes miss debi i sure do!!

we drove to his grama's house.

i call it the house of blessing because

today they felt that God has visited them

and i agree wholeheartedly.

they were so overwhelmed and grateful.

the grama kept saying...

oh glory to God,

God is good!!

indeed He is.

of all the things we brought she was so tickled that

Patrick had got a big payaya.

she said,

I told Patrick that I wanted a payaya so badly

I just didn't think it would come so fast.

You may look at this house and see only poverty

I walked into this house and i saw 

family 

and 

love

and faith

and 

gratitude

and 

JOY

remember the poor..

they are everywhere around you. 

xo