We got up this morning and made scrambled eggs and toast. A team from the states is arriving in the morning so we are packing up to move over to the big house they call Casa Isabella. Our new room is very small and we will have to share a bathroom with the team members. The house is located in front of the apartment building we were in and faces the ocean – not a bad view. We took another drive today to French Harbour trying to learn our way around. The people drive crazy here, so Bev has been doing all the driving. She seems to enjoy the adrenaline rush she gets by passing cars in the middle of a curve. Bev told John he had nothing to worry about, but we had to reconnect our front bumper when we stopped for lunch today if that tells you anything. We stopped at a mall (really nice but tiny compared to U.S. malls) to eat lunch. The name of the restaurant was Mayday – Steak and Grill. Bev had chalupas and John had nachos. Then we walked down to an ice cream and yogurt place called Sarita for dessert – Yum! We made a quick stop by the grocery store to pick up some milk, orange juice, bread and drinks. Back at Casa Isabella we sat out on a beautiful front porch while John worked on sending out emails and Bev finished reading her book The Dance of Chance. One of the noteworthy quotes in the book is “Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic.” – Author Unknown
We got up this morning and John cooked scrambled eggs and toast in the room. We are about to go to West End with Joe Summers. Joe will be leaving his ministry in Roatan on August 2nd to go home to the states. He will join his wife in Alabama where he will be near his children and grandchildren. He is taking two Honduran students, one in the 11th grade and the other will be in 12th grade to the U.S. to continue their education. There are mission teams coming in from the states over the next couple of weeks and will be staying at Casa Isabella where we are currently staying. At one point the facility will be maxed out, so we are going to need to find a different place to stay for August 2 & 3. We can return to our current apartment on August 4. Joe was kind enough to drive us to West End to try and find a hotel room for those days. Joe then took us around the island and introduced us to a number of people. We got to see the oldest Methodist Church on the island. It is 170 years old and the walls are made of granite and are 3 feet thick. It was built along the coast so the wall thickness has protected it from many hurricanes. It is called Bethesda Methodist Church and is located in Flowers Bay. Joe has been preaching in this church and last Sunday was his last service. Then we went to an orphanage called Majken Broby Children’s Home. It is ran by the Baptist Ministries in Honduras. There are only 9 boys that live there and 2 girls that live somewhere close by. It really needs a lot of work. We met Betty and she showed us around the orphanage. She was cooking them lunch when we got there. Then we visited the Methodist private school which has an enrollment of approximately 400 students. We met the nurse, Gina, and got to see her office. There is a church on the property where they have devotions. If a student cannot afford to attend this school there are some scholarships available. After returning to our apartment, we took a walk along the beach to West Bay. We ate at a place called Foster’s where we both ordered lobsters – yes! It was a beautiful walk to and from West Bay.
John was at the fishing boat this morning at 5:00 am. Chris – Carlos’ son took him out with another guy named Johnny. John caught 2 tuna and one 40 pound barracuda. He said he had a great time. When he got back at 7:45 am he came and got me so I could see his fish. Chris said he would cook some tuna steaks for us for lunch. Worked on our blog all afternoon until the internet went down around 3:00 pm. Chris arrived later with John’s tuna and it was very good. Our next door neighbor is Joseph Summers – he has been a missionary in Roatan for 10 years. He is a Methodist Pastor and director of Project Honduras. He shared many things about living here and about the different communities. How the islanders of Roatan see us Americans and how we fit in here. He was very helpful and honest telling us about the good and bad of living on the island and doing God’s work here. He also gave us a couple of what the locals call Johnny cakes (looks like a biscuit) and they went well with our mango jam. We also tasted cashews that grow on the island that the locals cook and sale – delicious. The internet never came back up today – grrrrr!
Today John got up at 5:00 am to go fishing with Carlos. He caught 2 tuna. I think we have been invited to eat with them tonight. Today we went to a community called Juticalpa and went to a school called C. E. B. Juan Lindo. This town is very poor also. We went into three classrooms today. The younger grades go in the morning and the older grades go in the afternoon. Elmer basically did the same thing as he did in the school yesterday. The director of this school was doing a good job. They could read better and they had more discipline than the school yesterday. One class even had 32 students in it. We left and headed back to where we are staying. We are trying to get a modem for the room so we have internet access. John left the room to go ask someone about it. He was gone a very long time. When he returned Bev asked if he was able to find out anything about getting access. John said he had forgotten to ask, BUT he had arranged another fishing trip for in the morning. Back at the room we ate a sandwich and worked offline on our emails and blog. Around 6:30 pm Carlos brought us two plates of the tuna that John caught, with a salad and tortillas. It was awesome! About 8:00 pm we finally got the internet working. Talked to Amy and David – then Al. Hopefully tomorrow we will talk to Ashley and family.
We left the apartment at 8:30 am. For breakfast we stopped by a gas station and picked up a drink and some crackers because we never made it to the grocery store last night. On our way to the school we came upon a road block. The police were doing random car searches for drugs or anything illegal on the roads in Roatan. We saw cars being forced to pull everything out of their vehicle and open it up. Yesterday when we came down the same road they weren’t (at that point we had all of our med filled luggage in the car) and today they were. Hmm! Today Elmer took us to Crawfish Rock to a school called Isidro Cacho. It is a very poor community. We went into two classrooms. In one classroom the teacher had grades 1, 5, and 6 and the other classroom one teacher taught grades 2, 3, and 4. Elmer prays at the beginning and then has the children read from a children’s bible story book. Then he tells them about the story and how much they need Jesus and then how much they need to get their education. They go to school from 7 am – 12 pm. After school we gave 2 teachers a ride home. Along the way we picked up another lady and then we dropped them off at their communities. We also picked up a couple of school boys walking home and dropped them off near their community. On the way back we stopped off at Elmer’s parent’s home. We tasted two types of guava that they went out and picked off the trees in their yard for us. Elmer’s mom gave us some cooked corn on the cob from his dad’s farm. She also gave us 2 types of avocados to try. John bought some mango jam that she had made. We made it back to our apartment. About 1:30 pm we took off in the rental car looking for a place to eat. We stopped at a place called Roatan’s Yacht Club in French Harbour. We both got the Texas Burger – we just needed one! Our waiters name was Darwin Hendrick. He is originally from Guanaja and was only 11 years old when hurricane Mitch sat on the island for 3 days. He lived on Bonacca Key and now lives in Coxen Hole. He is married with 3 young children – 7, 5, and 4 years old. The area he lives in is very poor – no electricity and no water. He bought his property for $10,000 and has to have it paid off in 7 years or he loses it. He is building his house by himself. I’m thinking he may be around 26 years old. He so wanted us to come to see where he lives to show us how much his community needs help. They are only getting promises from the mayor but no results. He said he has started his house but it’s not close to being finished. He builds on it when he has a little money. I think it has a roof and maybe 2 or 3 walls and the other wall is a tarp. He has also been going to a church for about 5 months to help start it in Coxen Hole. He didn’t even know what kind it was or the name of the church. He seemed to be a very sweet and sincere young man. He gave us his number and we can’t wait for him to show us around and to meet his family. After we left the restaurant, we stopped by the grocery store for supplies. Elmer and Andrea are gone this evening, so no internet access again.
