November 2, 2010

the cigar man

when the cruise ship docks in coxen hole

the street comes alive with vendors of all sorts

this guy sells cigars on the street

his hat is new so i couldn't resist taking his photo!

i took a taxi to the cruise ship at 3:00 and spent an hour

sitting in a chair at the shop

was a wonderful change for me!

it was great to interact with the tourists,

answering their questions, telling stories, selling things...

all while sitting down, of course!

it was good to talk to our other 'vendor' friends

getting lots of hugs etc.

there is a young man who lives nearby who is mentally challenged

i can barely understand him when he speaks

today he was saying something to me 

but i couldn't make it out

a few min. later he came to the shop holding a pair

of brand new white anklet socks

and smiling!

i was so appreciative and touched!

i need to wear shoes now and my socks are rather.. ugly..

so it was kind of robin to share one of his new socks with me

i thought.. 

oh 

it 

is 

good 

to be 

out and about again

just a little outing

not much strain on my foot at all

but it was so good

i wish you could have heard bob's voice 

when i called him while in the taxi.

"you are what?

coming to the shop???"

"yes just for a hour or so

it will be fun"

and it was!

October 12, 2010

hammock for sale

every day that the cruise ship comes in

the island gets hyped up about the influx

of tourists landing for a day at our shores

from the top floor of the cruise ship they can see the beautiful colors of the coral,

they see the green hills with palm trees waving hello

as people get off the ship they see the garifuna dancers dancing on the dock

being that it is our rainy season  i hope they see some sunshine, and turquoise blue water

many islanders are hopeful to get someone to take a tour with them

so you see line ups of tour guides vying for your business,

as well as taxi drivers,

and independent tour guides,

you have girls who want to braid your hair,

you have little children who tag along giving you a walking tour

it can be noisy and overwhelming

the shops that are empty all week are now loaded with

t-shirts, souvenirs, hammocks, earrings, vanilla and coconut jewelry

everyone is hopeful

bob and i  go to the made in roatan shop on cruise ship days

and hopefully are able to sell paintings or carvings or jewelry

for our friends.

it isn't a business for us,

it is non profit

it is a gift that regularly blesses us to meet new people and to share

the wonderful joy of 'giving' and thinking about others

we hope we 'rub off' on someone else and they will start thinking about the poor amongst them

today was a good day at the shop

and yes

the hammock sold!

zavala, the man across the street was so happy that the hammock

sold

it mattered to him since he only made one other sale all day

so i want to say thanks to this young girl for buying it

you made his day!

you did.

in fact many people tonight are celebrating, 

not in the way we think like eating out in a restaurant

or going shopping at the mall

but they are celebrating making it through another day

having enough to buy their family dinner that night

or to pay their electric bill

or buy shoes for their kids

either way,

i know they are smiling

thanks to those of you who come to the island

i hope you realize what a difference you make by coming

you made someone make it through another day

God bless you all.

October 5, 2010

sold!!

we spent the day at the shop today

and it was slow due to all the rain

yes it poured almost all day!!!

i had just said to bob,

"honey let's go home"

when a couple came in from australia

i showed her around the shop.

i showed her this piece.

it wasn't cheap

cost 35.00

i told her the artist, yourgin, had said that it was really a show piece

and he couldn't budge on the price 

just wanted people to see how beautiful it was.

she said,

it is lovely 

so lovely

in fact 

i want it!

sold!!!

the proud new owner!

it is lovely isn't it?

to be honest i am sad to see it leave the shop as i would often

walk to the window, hold it up to the light

and admire the colors of the blue and the streaks of iron pyrite

weaving its way through the stone

this was handcarved and polished by yourgin..

one of the many beautiful pieces of work 

in the made in roatan shop.

on a personal note,

i slipped and fell down zenola's wooden steps today

they were sooo slippery

as i was going down

i just prayed

'oh Lord please help me not to break anything'

i am happy to say i didn't break anything

but i have a big bruise on my back, elbow and i basically feel

like i was run over by a truck.

i wish i had a bathtub

because i would soak all the aches away.

so tonight if you have a bathtub (which is highly likely)

i hope you will give thanks for it

there are so many conveniences in north america that it 

makes it easy to forget that they are luxuries in most places of the world.

a tub...

a hot sudsy tub...

ahhhh.. i wish!

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

March 2, 2010

fimo flipflops

our daughter Emily made this earrings

aren't they adorable?!

i am going to sell them in the "made in roatan" shop.

she also made magnets and hair barretts.

such a talented girl she is!!