Sept. 21, 2010

 

hello again

at the beginning of september i had a wonderful visit 

with this young man in the shop

we had such a good time talking together

i was impressed with his charm, wit and compassion

it was a joy to see him again

i admit though i didn't remember him at first

(i know, tsk tsk.. must be my age!)

but once he started to speak i remembered him well

i blogged about him in my other blog

you can read it if you like

i confess that it is a long blog

 because i wrote out his story and anyone

who loves stories knows that the long ones are the best!

make some tea and settle in for a good long read

speaking of tea i would love some tea

but it is TOO hot to even think about tea

yes i know

the chill is coming in the air where you are but here:

OY!  this is our hottest month

i have a fan blowing warm air on me

and the sea is even warm these days

so a swim isn't the most refreshing thing

plus:  the warm, calm seas bring with them jellyfish!

so i am staying on shore

for now

okay enough complaining!

it is what we canadians do:  complain about the weather

sorry.. some habits die hard.

Sept. 4, 2010

barr-a-cuda!!

meet melvin

he lives down the road from us

and he is our roatan resident wood carver

you can see his work in many restaurants, on people deck's

or in front of shops

we are happy to have melvin's carvings in the
'made in roatan' shop

he uses driftwood from the sea 

and has a really funky unique style.

he just puts his carvings out in front of his house

and within days they are usually gone.

so i saw this barracuda last night and decided

today to take a walk down the road to get a photo

as soon as he saw me he laughed and said,

'debi, i make this guy because he is the big one that scared your son so bad!'

yes there is a huge barracuda that lives out front of our place

and one day mattie was snorkeling alone and mr. meany pants

(my nickname for the barracuda)

wouldn't let matt pass

and kept showing up in front of him

pretty scary.

so here you go mattie

melvin made this for you.

if i didn't hate barracuda so much i would buy it 

and put it on the back deck

but they are my least favorite sea creature.

so i decided to take  a photo instead.

here are a couple more of melvins carvings:

someone on the beach commissioned melvin to make this. the fins are hand carved.  i like it

as i walked up to this i thought, is that mermaid nursing a dolphin???  melvin looked at me and smiled and said, that mermaid is giving to the dolphin.. see she is nursing him.. the mother of the sea...ummm.. okay melvin.  :-)

this is a picture of his little workshop and how he displays his stuff by the road

at one point while we talking about life together he looked at me and said

'we need to lay everything at the feet of the Master

that is the secret to a happy life"

wise words melvin

very wise words.

June 25, 2010

 

my lunch spot

today we were at the 'made in roatan'  shop all day!!

hard long day but a good long day too

my feet are still sore after 3 hours of being home

for lunch we always go 

to a small local dive  ~ i mean shop and eat.

today honduras played switzerland in soccer

 so when we went there the place was jam packed

and i mean that literally!

there was at least 40 men in there

and another 10 outside looking through another window!

alot of hondurans don't have tv and so

they flock to any local place to watch the game

bob stayed and watched the game

and i came to this place

it was quiet

and i enjoyed the breeze that swept over me every now and then

i was also happy to find this lovely little spot behind the restaurant

i want to share a  story about why i love it here.

yes i know this is getting long but it is worth reading.

i have written about koke, the artist who has a shop 

next to ours,

well today he came up to me and handed me 10.00

he was speaking in spanish quickly 

and i assumed he wanted me to give him change

(10 ones)

i told him i could spare 5 ones and went to the shop

to get them for him.

when i got back

his friend who speaks english came up to me and said,

"you misunderstand koke, he don't want change

he want to give you 10 dollars

because he sold 3 of his paintings and he want to give some to you."

 can you believe that?!

of course i said no, and thanked him profusely.

the poor are generous.

very generous.
when they got it , they share it!

i love that about this place.

May 28, 2010

 not like the others

first i need to apologize 

to this stranger that i took the liberty

of photographing.

then i need to apologize to the rest of you

who have been subject to looking at it!

i just couldn't resist!

i was at the 'made in roatan' shop in coxen hole

today and then went to my friends place for lunch.

as i was driving through flowers bay i was stuck 

in some cruise ship traffic:

taxis, tour buses, vans etc.

and i noticed this man

standing on a little local beach.

it is so funny 

because no one ever swims there 

except for the locals who live in that area

so believe me,

he really stood out!!!

there were all sorts of school kids 

walking by and i tell you

i wasn't the only one

who was wondering why that gringo was

half naked on their beach.

remember that sesame street

song:

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

i found myself humming that as i drove away.

:-)

March 9, 2010

not a cloud

what a wonderful day we had today.

it started out rather disappointing since the cruise ship

wasn't able to dock at mahogney bay due to high winds.

it was a shame since my previous bosses kids were on that ship

and we had planned on touring the island and handing out shoes 

and school supplies to the kids here.

sigh.

i have mixed feelings about that new dock. 

they spent gazillions of dollars to build it

knowing that on the south side the waves are often higher 

but still they went ahead.

many people's livliehoods depend on the cruise ships coming in.

it's sad.

it wasn't a money issue for us.

we weren't charging for the tour.. just disappointed that the kids who

were expecting shoes weren't able to get any today.

BUT

it was a glorious day.

truly beautiful

we went to the shop today and a couple was interested in going on a tour

i tried to find a local person to take them out without avail

so i did it.

we had a wonderful time together.

i love showing off the island.

if you or any friends are coming to roatan please let me know

we will set up a tour or take you ourselves.

it is just too beautiful to not see

tabyana beach, west bay

bill and noreen

enjoying the  beach