a drive to church

Sundays for us mean driving to the East Side of the island to go to church.  It is about a half hour drive to go there.   You may ask:  why is the church so far away?  Why not go closer?   We felt called to go to that church -- it is an island church.  There is one other gringo couple who goes there.   All the rest are from the island:  primarily black and white islanders.   A white islander is someone who was born and raised on the island and probably has some white back in their genes.   And the most distinct thing about people from French Harbour is their accent.  In Canada we all recognize when aperson is from Newfoundland by their accent!!!  :-)  It is the same here:  I can tell a person from the East Side by their accent too. At first it was difficult to understand them but we have gotten used to the way they speak.

I decided to bring my camera along to give you an idea of what the drive is like

The road around the island is two lane everywhere, no shoulders, no lines and curvy.  I love how the trees and the hills fringe it with so much green.   That day the clouds were fantastic!!   We haven't had clouds or rain for about 4 months so I was happy to see the beautiful clouds.

 This is the community called Los Fuertes which means "strong town".It is primarily a spanish community.

Apparently the spanish came over the island and decided they liked that area and 'strong armed' the islanders off and thus it gets it's name

It is colorful, active and I would say it is one of the few areas of the island that I haven't walked through.

It isn't because I am afraid. It is just that we are usually just driving through to French Harbour. One of these days I will need to get out of the car and really explore this area.

I made this collage to show the contrasts between the different types of places to buy food.  (you can also see that in the collage from Los Fuertes)    The little green building is called a "pulperia".  It is a small business that the locals will go into to buy vegetables, fruit, cold drink, beans, and other staples.   You will literally see hundreds and hundreds of these around the island.   They usually have a a sign like:   Super Patsi, Emily's Mini Mart, Los Gemelas.    The other two buildings in the collage are evidence of the North American influence that has come to the island.  The large photo is of Eldon's Grocery Store.  It carries all sorts of American products, has a bakery, a deli, a great produce section.  It even has the little signs above the aisles!!!   Oh it also has a candy/chocolate bar aisle!!!         We like this store!!  But to be honest:  I won't drive out here specifically to buy groceries but we will pick up things on Sundays after church. Normally I get my groceries at Plaza Mar in Coxen Hole.  I feel sorry for that manager because he has lost alot of business when Eldon's opened up so I give my business to him.

The other picture is of our very own Mega Mall.. that's what the sign says out front!!!   It has a Wendys, an Appleby's, a couple of computer stores, a grocery store, a couple of icecream stores, a great pizza place, and alot of clothing stores that carry cute but tiny honduran clothing!

 

this is our church.

i think it is one of the biggest churches on the island.

we enjoy the worship and the fellowship we receive there!

Earlier in the week Bob and I were having lunch at the place in Jackson Plaza... apparently they have the best BLT's there so Bob loves to go.   They know him well since he often goes there while over on that side of the island.   I had to laugh because they have his order down to a 'tee'.   He gets a fresca with one ice cube in a glass plus the BLT!   :-)   Anyways, while we were there we met a girl from Germany who is working in Roatan.   She is trying to promote tourism to the Germans in hopes that they will come to Roatan.  It is clear that she is in those early 'adjustment' days of living on the island.  I was shocked that after being here for 1 1/2 months that she hasn't snorkeled yet so we agreed to pick her up after church and take her with us to lunch and then go for a snorkel.  What a beautifully delightful young woman!   We really enjoyed our time with her.   She was missing her family so it was good for her to be with us on Mother's Day.

   As it turned out she had never snorkeled in her life so I gave her my snorkel set (it is a really good one) so that everything would work perfectly for her, and Bob took her out.  He is such a great teacher and she caught on quickly.  She thought it would be alot of hard work to snorkel but I told her the secret is to stay relaxed and kick slowly.  You don't need to exert alot of energy while snorkeling (unless you want to)  She told me later that, while out at the wall, she got nervous and panicked and then she remembered to just breathe slowly and kick slowly and she calmed down.   The wall is a drop off of about 50 feet and it is about a quarter of a mile t from the shore so it can be a little un-nerving until you get used to it.   Bob said she was so excited about everything she saw but when they swam over a turtle in the shallows he thought she would explode with joy.   It is one of the things I enjoy about living here:  We have time.   We have time to help people out and spend time with them.   I am grateful God has given us this chance to bless people in this way.

this is us at infinity bay after our snorkel.  Little Rebecca, our neighbors child warmed up to Lena (although

we couldn't get her to smile for the photo!)  

By the way, I had the most delicious sea bass for lunch with lime cream and sweet peppers over top!!!  It was delicious.   A very delicious mother's day lunch.

Here is Bob talking to his mom on the phone and wishing her a Happy Mother's Day.  I sometimes wonder if people  think that we are just happily over here and have forgotten those we love back in Canada.  No true.   We were all sitting around the table chatting and laughing and suddenly Bob stood up and said, "hey I am going to call my Mom to wish her Happy Mother's Day"  Just like that he got up, left the table and called her.   The reception wasn't great but it was good to hear her voice.  She is one of my faithful blog readers and I am glad we can stay in touch this way.

It isn't the same as being together but we are grateful for the phone, and the internet.. it does help to stay in touch.