I am being eaten by mosquitosas I type this so this entry will be short!
No pictures to add as Internet is super slow- will add them as they become available.
- we transitioned to backpacker paradise- West End. In part to give our house guests some breathing room and in part to be closer to Martin while he did his diving courses. The hotel of sorts is awesome.
- kiera lost her first tooth! The tooth fairy brought fresco and cheetos… Classy.
- Martin is now rescue diver certified! All his hard work paid off!
- I am going out diving for the first time tomorrow, I think I am more excited than nervous at this point ( key word think).
- we area grateful for our sun shirts and big brimmed hats, lots of sunshine, saltwater, and ice-cream treats!
I hope to update more thoroughly once the bugs go to sleep!!!
Take care all!
Archive for July, 2011
You are looking at an Advanced Certified Diver. This next week I will be starting my Rescue Diver training. It will take 4 days, homework and all… on a vacation :\
Once a Certified Rescue Diver, I will have the luxury of diving in any situation anywhere in the world. If time allows I will continue to check off my specialties under the adventure diver training, like this one: Advanced Underwater Photography.
I captured a few good shots as this was my first time holding a camera in my hand under water. I will try to take the camera with me on a few more dives, in hopes of capturing a few more quality shots.
While I was diving, Sarah and the kids hung out on the beach. In typical fashion they spent the majority of the time in the water.
Sully doing his morning (and afternoon and night) ritual— digging for crabs. He is obsessed with uncovering one with a little plastic spoon. His hopes are still high even though he hasn’t reached one yet.
Kiera and her new buddy Najeri hanging on the front porch in the early a.m.
In our rental car headed to the “Welcome Parking Lot” to celebrate Day of the Kids. The Methodist school put together a fundraiser. Each group was assigned a region from the country to represent with information and tipico food.
The local media covering the school event. We savored some chilled lemonade. Delicious in the hot sun!
Adventure location #1: Punta Gorda. A sleepy little Garifuna village on the East End of the Island.
Red Snapper- fresh, no, make that REALLY fresh from the sea. DELICIOUS! A little pricey for the area but worth every bite.
Entering into Paya Bay. Adventure spot #2.
Martin experimenting with the “pinhole” feature on the camera. Sweat, sunscreen, and bug spray make a nice sheen.
Enjoying a bombom and Papa snuggle- 5 adults and 4 kids crammed into a Toyota Corolla for our all day adventure.
Just as we arrived at Paya Bay a 3 minute downpour hit. This picture was just before the rain really started the pour down.
Just after the rain.
Kids questioning whether they should go swimming. The contemplation was brief and they squealed as the waves crashed over them.
The “brother and sister surf professionals”. KiKi, NikNik, and Rocco.
Paradise*, revisited… again.
Sampling the super macro setting on some sea glass.
Adventure spot #3. We finally made it to the Iguana (and monkey, and turtle, and bird, and fish) farm! There were hundreds of them!
So proud he could touch a “rawr”.
In Coxen Hole cooling off with a juguito.
Waiting for the rest of the party to arrive home. Crunching on a 3L bag of cheeto look alikes. A beautiful day was had by all.
George led us on a hike up the mountainside to visit his dad and indulge in the delectable treats growing from is fathers farm. The hike up was magnificent. Kiera and Nika were troopers and Sully enjoyed a ride in the ergo. We passed by a handful of shack homes, tenderly taken care of with pride and respect. We soon made our way through the rocks and dirt trails to find the home of Don (Mr.) Geraldo, George’s Dad. The home is surrounded by hand planted banana and guava trees, chickens and pig roam free, and the air is as pure as it can get. We continued treking up in search of his Dad who was out in the banana fields. At one point we saw the sea in the distance. The view was vast. The view was breathtaking. WOW. We came upon George’s Dad who quickly went of with George and Martin in search of Caña Negra- Black sugar cane. We headed down, sweat dripping from all parts of our body. It felt good to be alive. I had some long await guava (YUM!) straight off the tree. Martin and I tried some fermented noni hooch. Powerful stuff. The kids tried pure sugar cane- sucking the juice from the stalk. Sweet doesn’t even begin to describe the intense flavor in the juice! Sully loved running around the finca, picking up chickies, wacking things with sticks, and getting dirty. He was in heaven. Martin and I were in paradise*.
Kiera is adjusting, albiet a bit slowly, to all the “different-ness” she is experiencing. Fresh off the plane and onto a taxi she questioned why there was so much garbage littering and in some places mounding up on the side of the road. Things are just different here. Nope, they don’t speak the same language as us (Spanish and island English) and they don’t look like us. Showers consist of bucket bathing and does washing clothes (I will never again complain about washing puke items in a washing machine after cleaning up a large bucket full that Sully compiled during a night tummy bug). The food is sweet (Coconut milk) and water is purchased in large jugs instead of drinking it from the tap. Simple things that us as adults can adjust to, but for a tender 5 year old who misses home, her stuff, and her Diggy (guinea pig), there has been lots of tears and big strong emotions. We made a quick call to MN and when asked how things were she smiled and said “Great”. When asked what her favorite thing about the trip she said “Almost everything”! Throughout the “different-ness” there is a large amount of beauty that Kiera is observing and soaking in. We are trying to be patient as she experiences her emotions and support her along her journey.
We took the day to recoup and rest up from the big beach days. We hung out at the house and met nearly all the kids of Flowers Bay. Courtney has an open door policy. Throughout the day and night there are swarms of kids of all ages that take shelter in her home. The ladies took a trip to the market to squelch Sarah’s hankering for fresh fruit and local market shopping. They arrived back with pineapple, papaya, and oranges. Transportation is simple. Taxis and busses (vans) pass often and a holler or a hand wave will pull them over. 15-20L a time (.75-$1.00)
Kiera’s first attempt at getting her hair “done” was semi successful- her scalp is not used to the pulling and tugging required to make tight braids. The end product was super cute- we’ll see if she wants it done again:)
Sully had a sour tummy throughout the night. Today we hope the puking is done. He is resting now and eating a little bit. We think the combination of swallowing salt water and chlorine water was too much for his tender tummy to take.
