Marley and Me

This has been one of the BEST days of my life ... so far! Today, Ally and I started our Open Water PADI diving course, now to anyone who hasn’t been certified, do it! It is incredible, one of the best things I have ever done, and I can never see myself getting bored with it! 

We had a walk up to Marble Hill Farms, only about 40 minutes, in the morning after I had a (very) small class of 4 students, who decided to take up the opportunity to come to the saturday class, anyway, when we arrived, we were greeted by 3 pretty big dogs, all barking at us as we came up to road ... oh shit!! They were quite scary, until I remembered that I have dogs, and (hopefully) know how to behave around them, calm and collected .... well this sort of worked, we managed to arrive at the dive centre with only about 4 fingers missing off each hand ...... ok only one finger .... ok none, the dogs were really friendly and happy (brought back so many memories of my dogs, Dino and Olli) but I thought I would try and impress you peeps with a fight section in my soon to be novel (now just this silly old blog, to be honest I doubt anyone actually reads, so I think I am just talking to my computer screen!) Anyway, we were met at the door by a spanish man called, Pol, (I know weird name, does he like taking part in polls or what?) who had long sun bleached hair and a big moustache and beard, and about 32 years old. We said we were teachers in Punta Gorda and that we were looking to start our PADI course, we had emailed him before, so he knew what we were on about e.t.c. So we were only expecting to sign up today and do a little bit of theory, and paper work and start up a schedule that we could work to on when we could come back and dive and all the other cool stuff, so after we went into his office, he turned to us and said ‘So do you guys want to dive today?’ ... Urrr ... YEAH! Me and Ally just looked at each other with the best excited expression anyone could muster in the world, (we think we will partake in the Olympics with our faces) so he got out the PADI dive packs, which have the manuals and other bits of paperwork that we needed to fill out so that he could register us online.

So before actually diving, we had to watch a video which explained our first confined dive and the equipment that we would use, obviously with our heads being full of excitement, none of this went in, but we walked down to the dock and checked out all of the other equipment for real and got ‘suited up’ as he explained the exercises we would be doing and the skills me needed to master before going on any further, these included clearing your mask of water whilst underwater, taking out your regulator (breathing mouthpiece thingy) and then putting it back in underwater, sharing someone’s secondary regulator incase you run out of air and all of the various signals that go with these activities. This in itself was insane, and mind blowingly cool, so we were literally vibrating with excitement ....  urrr .... or was it the coldness of underwater ... I dunno. Pol (and his girlfriend, Ingrid, who had come diving with us) then told us that we would go and explore the bay a bit underwater, we were already darting off before he finished his sentence! This next 35 minutes of getting used to the equipment and seeing wild Lion Fish, Arrow Crabs, Jellyfish, Huge Starfish and countless other species of underwater life was the best thing I and Ally have done to date, and knowing that there are even better places to go and dive just off our shores made our eagerness just grow and grow. We then got out of the water after completing our first confined dive (which they do in the bay and not a pool as it is near enough exactly the same conditions and so much more fun) and went back inside to talk about the rest of the course and have some lunch that they had cooked (Ceviche of lion fish, which is basically when it is cut up very thinly and cooked in lemon juice, then added to peppers, onions, garlic and tomato and a whole host of other spices, then served on toast. This was also great, and tasted phenomenal!) and also organise when we would next be back. Pol, then gave us the DVD that we had to watch so we could do it at home and hopefully get completed much quicker, we said our goodbyes and headed back up the road. 

At the top of the road, there was a restaurant, which was closed when we arrived, but now open and glowing in the sunshine at the top of a great big hill, with the best view ever, and the dogs (one of which was called Marley) were happily playing here with the people that run it, so we decided to get a drink and a plate of Nachos to share and sit here enjoying the sun, breeze and view after one of the greatest days ever, accompanied by the very playful dogs, which we were stroking and playing with as (well I certainly) missed our own pets and wanted some of that canine company. 

This day was just perfect and ever since we have just been thinking about doing our ‘homework’ and finishing/diving as much as we can so we can explore so much more of the island. I really do urge anyone to get there certification, even if it just on holiday, you have so much fun and only a little bit of theory is required (normally the whole course lasts about 3 - 4 days, depending on how quickly you work) and you have the best time, plus the PADI certificate is recognized all over the world.

I hope you enjoy the pictures below and till next time,

Flowers surrounding Marble Hill Farms

Ally and the hounds

Marley!!

The Mother of Marley!

The amazing view from the restaurant.

Truly relaxed!

Ciao!

A Familiar Face

This week, we had a visit from our lovely Desk Officer, Jen. This was so nice to see someone from Project Trust and also (as she was visiting our project last) to hear about how all of the others were getting on, which we have been reassured are all doing great and loving their year as much as we are.

This visit, was also a chance to air any problems we had with out project/each other/ or just in general, not that there were any, but nice to have the chance. Anyway, it was Jen’s birthday the thursday that she was here, and so as a surprise, Ally and I had baked a cake to take to Mary Lou’s (for it was her husband Rolando’s birthday the monday before) to have a bit of a celebration and to welcome her to Punta Gorda.

The next day, she came and visited our school and watched us teach some lessons (unfortunately, I had to teach my second grade year, which are just terrors, to the point which their actual teachers (after being on the phone in my class for 15 minutes turned to Jen and said they were the worst class in the school ... fantastic!), and we also had to speak to Profa Elena, and sort out some shit that had been going down between her and Mary Lou. This was the day of her birthday, so whenever we introduced her to one of the other teachers at the school, she received great big hugs and kisses, to which she was very grateful! One time, we even received a cup of rice pudding (that wasn’t someone that just doesn’t know the niceties of a greeting, Profa Joyce was working in the kitchen at the time). Anyway, Jen seemed to have a great day and I really hope she did, as she brought us so many nice things, that we just can’t/haven’t got out here, like cookies, croissants, proper orange juice (although to be fair she bought them out here, I guess we just haven’t seen them) and also a couple of bars of Cadbury’s Chocolate, and my faves as well, caramel and milk. SOOO good, can’t thank her enough. She also gave us some of our post that she had picked up for us (I guess she was kind of like a Mrs Claus, coming for a visit for one night and bringing lots of gifts.) of which I received a package from my family containing a couple of packets of Haribo and some games I had requested, however, I was a bit distraught not to get a letter of some kind ... nice to know I am loved! haha

Just kidding, although would be nice to know you cared!  ..... haha

Any who, we later had a long journey to West End once again to go out for dinner with Jen for her birthday, which we both really hoped she enjoyed, as we certainly did, and we would just like to say a big thanks for your visit as it really lifted our spirits, not that they were not high anyway!

So a big thanks and shout out to Jen this week, and well all of the Project Trust staff as we also got our first monthly circular from the office with various bits of news and things on, which we really enjoyed reading! THANKS GUYS!!

Till next time,

Ciao!

A trip to to the West End ... of the island, not to catch a show!

Well this weekend, as me and Ally found out last week that we have no classes on monday, we decided to head to the west end to see if it was all it was cracked up to be, as it has quite the reputation of being a part town, and full off ‘gringos’ or foreigners to the rest of you. Now this prospect was a weird one to Ally and me, because as of late, we have come to staring at any other white people that seem to make their way to Punta Gorda, thinking that we ourselves are Garifuna and blend into the community, when in actual fact, the other foreigners are probably thinking that we are just out to check out the best Garifuna village on the island as well. 

Any way, I will tell you what we actually planned on doing first, when we were in La Ceiba, we had seen an advert for a place called Roatan Backpackers, located in Sandy Bay (about 10 mins from West End) so we were looking to stay there as it sounded great and was quite cheap, so got into a taxi and said Sandy Bay, so off we went, and when we arrived and said drop us off at Roatan Backpackers, the taxi driver just looked utterly confused and said that he had never heard of that place .... Uh Oh!!

We decided to be dropped off at a local resort in Sandy Bay (one that had dolphin shows) and ask around there to see if this place still existed or not, so we headed into the Gift Shop and politely asked the worker if she had any idea of this place we had planned to spend our weekend (in spanish, a’thankyou!, to which she replied, ‘I speak fluent English’, great, so let me just wobble on for 4 minutes embarrassing myself, loving her already!) but sadly this came to no avail and so we were forced to catch another cab down the road to west end and see if we could find a place to stay. We stumbled upon this old looking place called Valeries, which was, I have to say, one of the grimiest places, but very cheap (about £8 a night for the two of us, not bad) so we thought we would brave it and make the most of it. So after we settled in, we headed out for something to drink and to hit the many souvenir shops they had on the street, this is when the heavens then opened and pretty much a monsoon started raining down upon us, this lasted all night and so all through dinner and a (fairly good) night out we were getting very wet every time we had to make a trip to the next bar. But this wasn’t a bad thing as we ended up in one bar and pulled the old ‘we’re volunteer teachers in Punta Gorda’ line, which managed to get us a few free drinks, not complaining about the rain now! Anyway, the rain continued all though the night and was still pouring the next morning, however, we really wanted to head back to Sandy Bay to see if we could catch one of the Dolphin Shows at Anthony’s Key Resort, after another cab ride, we arrived in more rain and were told that the show was cancelled ... CANCELLED .... WHY?? it’s not as if the dolphins are scared of getting wet! They already live in water! Anyway, we carried on our culture tour regardless and went to their museum of the Bay Islands for a dollar, which was interesting, but a very quick visit (true Wright family style!) After this however, the rain somehow got even stronger and refused to budge, so we were stuck in a small diving shop for about half an hour while we gathered up the courage to brave it out in the oncoming flood ...

We walked in the rain for no less than a minute before we were soaked to the skin, however we still had about another 3 minutes before we reached the road, and then who knows how long before we managed to catch a cab back. Luckily though, not long after we arrived on the main road, a passing truck stopped and let us clamber in and said he would give us a lift to west end, still not complaining (laughing mainly, was quite hilarious at the time).

We eventually returned back to Valeries and chilled out there for a couple of hours, before the power went out, meaning no Wi-Fi. Therefore we decided to go out and grab a cup of coffee at this place called Earth Muma’s, whose owner we met the night before, and we were talking to her for a bit and asking about how she came to be on Roatan e.t.c, also eating her AMAZING homemade cookies (first cookie since being here) for quite a while before the power came back on and we decided to check out what else there was to do on a rainy afternoon.

Despite the rain, the weekend was great. We managed to meet some great people (one guy, whose son lives on the island, after hearing our ‘volunteer teacher’ line once again paid for our food bill and then gave us each 100 dollars to go and have some fun with (which we both decided to put towards our diving fund)), have some great food and generally have fun exploring what the rest of the Island has to offer. It is so weird how one place on a small island can be worlds apart from another on the same island, have to say love them all the more for it though! Ally and I also used it to scope some places for the family, and friends and also other Volunteers on the mainland to come and stay and drink if any do make it out here.

Till next time,

Ciao!

One crazy family ...... even crazier than mine!

I know I haven’t been writing much, but it is hard, because we are doing so many different things, that by the time we get back to the house, I can’t find the time to write. For example, since my last post about Los Cayos Cochinos (see below), we have been to Coxen hole, been and watched a load more marching in Oak Ridge, been to a resort called Fantasy Island for a Teachers Lunch, been baking (YES!! I have even been continuing my baking skills out here, make a vanilla sponge for the head teacher, Profa Elena, as she is leaving and she is an all around top women, she even said that it was delicious! but just between you and me ... and Ally ... and the caretaker who showed us how to use the oven ... it was one of the packet cake mixes as we couldn’t find all the right ingredients I needed), and also been helping out with this project that one of the locals was working on with the previous volunteer, this is where the crazy family comes in!

One evening at Mary Lou’s, her niece, a very nice young women called Yandra came in with her niece (who’s name we didn’t catch) but everyone calls her Boo Boo (an affectionate name for a child) so we did to! Anyway, she came in and explained that she started this project with Charles about A Garifuna History of Punta Gorda, written in 3 languages, english, spanish and garifuna. It entailed many things about traditional garifuna baking (which we have tried and all things are lush, coconut bread, janni cakes and banana fritters, traditional dresses and medicines and even how to build a clay oven (all uni goers listen up! ... haha) anyway, she came to show us what she had and to say that she just needed a little bit more work, so she opened her laptop and as things always go with laptops, she had lost some to most of the work on the project, so she asked if we could help her out, and said that it would so helpful, and fun as well, so we naturally said yes and got to work immediately.

The next night she invited us back to work at her house (about 3 doors down) and also to meet the rest of her family. Well ... my word! The mother, Mary Lou’s sister, is a great women, so smily and funny and always cooking as well, she is also a bit of a mover, (I though I had competition!) whenever we had some (english) music on, we would look over and see her hips bobbing up and down to the rhythm. Yandra herself is so confident, funny and loud. Constantly telling us that we need to learn spanish, so that is all we are allowed to speak and that she needs to learn english, so she speaks english and we reply in spanish, can get very confusing at times, and she is also helping us learn some garifuna, which is cool, but so hard! Little ‘BooBoo’ is crazy, always running around and yelping, climbing on you and as cute as can be, and ever so affectionate to her ‘Tia” or aunty for the non spanish speakers among you. Yandra’s little sister, also called Yandra, but everyone calls her Yandrita meaning ‘little Yandra’ is a student of Ally’s so he knows her a little, and she is so funny. Always smiling and her laugh is hysterical (worse than your’s Gina! :O   Not even joking) and she always takes pictures on Ally’s camera and sings at the top of her voice to the songs blaring out of the computer. So we have been there a couple of times and actually got some work done, but last night we went over and started laughing and joking, then Yandra said that she wanted to do some baking and use up the bananas she had so she told us how to make banana fritters and we watched/helped her make these while also learning how to dance ‘Punta’ at various intervals while Yandrita took pictures and BooBoo got in the way. These fritters are amazing, so good, we had them with hot chocolate and it was the perfect snack, gonna make these a lot in England when I return. Anyway, the whole night me and Ally were just smiling, laughing and playing with BooBoo, learning Punta dancing (and extreme version of the beyonce booty shake) and generally having fun. We really feel that we have made some good friends and Yandra says that she will take us to the west end (not to see a play) but to meet some more of her friends and go and have night out some time ... can’t really say no to that now can we! 

We are both just loving life out here so much, and are so excited for the next couple of weeks, we are planning our big travel over the christmas holidays and have researched some amazing places (in guatemala especially), Jen (our desk officer from PT) is coming out next week for a visit and we are also having a weekend away again (on the island this time) and just the two of us so should be great. So many good things to look forward to.

Just a quick hello to all my friends at Uni at the moment, hope you are all settling in and getting on with your flatmates e.t.c, email me how you are getting on, love to read everyone’s stories, so keep me informed!

Till next time,

Ally and Yandra got attacked by the flour.

My new best friend!

Yandra and Yandrita showing us how to dance punta!

Bit of a poser!

Ciao!