Happy New Year!

I haven't updated for awhile as lately I've been spending more time under water then above it. It's fun to be a fish - frolicking in the coral, doing somersaults in the sea – but it took awhile for my ears to warm up to the idea – actually I’m still partially deaf in my right ear. So even with my head above water, I hear like I’m still down there!

The Bay Islands are beautiful – it’s easy to see how so many people get lost here – it’s hot, safe, very friendly, with great diving and lots of great food and drinks - but you are hard pressed to find a local Honduran. Utila is a street with one intersection where all directions are situated from – “…from the intersection it is four buildings down on your left…” The street is lined with dive shops and BBQ joints and refreshment spots, and not much else to speak of. There is no sidewalk so you walk on the narrow street avoiding motorcycles, bikes, quads, trucks, dogs, cats, and card games. The other day there was a loose donkey stubbornly standing in the street. Traffic was at a standstill. It was madness!! Actually, I didn’t see it, but it was big news in the dive shop when we returned. There was a donkey and at least two motorbikes waiting for it to be captured and removed. It was the biggest story to hit town since…well…perhaps ever!

The island life sure did suit us well – we’ve wasted a lot of time relaxing and expended a lot of energy walking to the water and back – it feels like we are on vacation! We haven’t sat in a chicken bus or ate cheese and potato chip sandwiches in over two weeks now! But, sigh… all good things must end. Now that I have my open water certification, Sean and I will do one last dive together tomorrow. And then we are finally going to return to mainland Honduras on January 6th and head to Copan to spend some time trekking through the ancient ruins. Maybe we’ll learn a thing or two...