sun, sea creatures and salt water

we have been on Utila and now are enjoying the hot sunny weather! yay! i had a cold when we came and the weather was cold and rainy. (cold for here) so those things delayed us 2 days...in beginning our Open Water Diving Course -we are now certified scuba divers! we have 2 more fun dives this afternoon which will finish up our time here on the island. it is amazing! the creatures and coral and all! brad saw 2 turtles, somehow i missed them both!

though there is not much else to do here on the island, we have been enjoying the company of other travelers from all over the world and some good meals all together.

tomorrow we are taking the 6 am boat back to the mainland and heading back to Guatemala via Copan, Honduras. we only have a little over a week left of traveling here - crazy!

rainy days

we left Livingston and made great time to getting over to Utila, one of the Honduran Bay Islands. we've been here since thursday and we haven't quite seen the sun yet. hopefully soon. we met up with some fellow travellers on our way here from Livingston and have all been sharing in the rainy cool weather together. we'll be here for several days so hopefully the stormy clouds will pass soon for more hot sunny carribean weather.

on the road

well our first days have faired well in our travels. we said our goodbyes :( and then headed for El Estor. It took all of 6 hrs to travel 160 km. The town was lacking in pizazz but we found a cheap,clean place to stay. Then on our way to Rio Dulce, we stopped along at a hot waterfall. It was fabulous to swim in the cool water with steaming hot water falling on to us - like a long hot shower with out the guilt of wasting resources! After a refreshing time there, we wandered our to the road and awaited the next bus which there were few vehicles altogether. An hour and 1/2 later we found ourselves in town of Rio Dulce. There we stayed at a hotel on stilts across the water. A boat came to collect us when we got to town. Then we hitched a ride back to check out the sites...mostly the Castillo de San Felipe. Then this a.m. a boat picked us up from our hotel and whisked us down the Rio Dulce river to Livingston. Here we are hanging out in town and on to some explorations of some waterfalls tomorrow.
We plan to head out Wednesday for Honduras - the bay island of Utila - maybe with a stop over in Omoa, Honduras.
Yay. the microbuses have been actually pleasurable rides since we've discovered the secret of weaselling into the front seat.

thousands of words...

endings & beginnings

the clouds are lingering among the mountains, the air is cool and wet with the invisible droplets of humidity, the street damp from the morning downpour, and as much as we are anticipating the travels ahead, there is a melancholy over us in moving on from this familiar place. we said good-bye to Bill this morning as we dropped him off to catch his flight to the States. this afternoon we said our good-byes to most of the staff. we have some errands and a good bye dinner tomorrow night with our family. saturday, we are taking off for the carribean coast. it seems surreal. it feels sad. i think a big part of me wants to linger on in san cristóbal like the clouds...we are both grateful for our time here. we have been immensely blessed by it.
i don´t think we can really know all that we have gleaned from our experiences these last few months. one of the greatest privileges though, has been to work alongside Bill and Linda - to see their passion, integrity, transparency and diligence in their work here with and for the people. But more so - their love and passion for Christ that extends so freely and earnestly with all those around them. they have taught us a lot about faith in action, and continually seeking Jesus.

but as this ends...as any season...a new one begins and we trust that some form of transformation has taken a hold of us as we march forward into the beauty of what´s to come...

smatterings of the week

the past week was our last of ´normal´ASOSAP´ work. thursday we had our last meeting in the village of Pampacche -they in turn put on a big fiesta for us. a bright red and white parachute (atleast that´s what it looked like...ya know the ones you played with in kindergarten and it was so much fun to all be around it and lift it up in the air and all jump under it..worth lots of grade school giggles, right there.) anyway they had that covering the wall while pine needles carpeted the floor. we couldn´t see much floor anyway though because so many people were there -it was great to see the women and all their children and many of the men of the village all together. they played the marimba for us. after we honored the women for their participation this year and had cake, there were speeches of thanks between their community leaders and ASOSAP - Bill and Glenda. then we were blessed with Ca´kik and Tamalitoes, the traditional meal made for special occasions. Mmmm...mmm.

then friday, well first we went out to breakfast at a local comedor for my birthday breakfast...did some errands and then later went for coffee at my favorite place here in San Cristóbal, El Viajero. our afternoon was spent on the road, driving with Glenda and Eva out to a town 3 hours away for their driver´s license exam. after arriving at the snazzy hotel, we went for a refreshing swim in the pool. i think the nice hotel, was a gift from ASOSAP to Glenda and Eva for all their hard work and us for the time and work we have committed to ASOSAP. it was a great treat. the girls had to be over to their exam early so after meeting them and walking them over to the exam place, i enjoyed the early morning by the pool, reading, writing and swimming. brad did too after crashing for a bit longer since it was so early. we went to see how they were doing around 11:30 and found them finished and successfully holding up their brand new licenses! yay! they had worked hard for this and brad too!! it was nice closure for brad having spent a lot of time teaching them to drive. they are pretty proud of themselves as they ought to be.
we headed back and spent the evening making dinner for our host family. we donned them with Thai peanut stirfry over rice and blackbeans with a dessert of a huge fresh watermelon and papaya we bought along the road on our trip.

and this morning, brad headed out with Bill for Guatemala City. they are picking up some guys and will be hiking in to a couple villages looking at potential projects for next year. i will be meeting up with them in the village of Pambon Grande on Tuesday. then i will return with them to the Guate (as they say down here). Bill is heading out to the States and we will return to San Cristóbal to wrap up our time here next weekend. wow. it seems strange for it to already be ending.

day of the dead holiday

we had last thursday off because it is a nationally holiday - the day of the dead. so with our four day weekend - we headed up to see Tikal, ancient Mayan ruins. we took a microbus up to Flores but stayed in the town next door at a hotel where our host family hooked us up with a friend who gave us a deal. we spent one day hanging out in Flores, a town on an island in a lake. it was quaint and felt like an island physically and culturally - having the historic presence of the spanish architecture as well as being geared to tourists. we barely found someone to sell us tortillas...that tells you something!
on Saturday morning, we were picked up by a tour microbus at 3 am...yes that is right 3 stinkin´a.m. we were on our way for our sunrise tour. it was pouring rain...not very hopeful for seeing a sunrise but it did stop somewhere between the hotel and tikal. after an hour drive, we arrived at the park - trekked in the dark to Temple IV and climbed up to the top to sit up above the jungle and watch it come alive. it was fabulous to sit in the early morning mist and hear and watch it come to life. so yes no sunrise but worth it all the same. the ruins are very impressive. this pic is one of the temples - the one that has been recovered from the entwining jungle...is entwining even a word?¿? well - in all it´s entangledness. all very impressive. and we saw lots of spider monkeys and howler monkeys!! yay! that evening we enjoyed relaxiing in Flores again.
then Sunday we headed back on a chicken bus to San Cris. a very nice weekend adventure.
oh, yea - the first night there - our hotel was across from the cemetary so we part took a bit of the local festivities...walked thru the cemetary full of colour, people decorating the plots, and enjoyed some finger foods from the vendors at the gate.