Time To Be Social

This past week was a busy week...for me. Some weeks not much is happening except lots of rain so we tend to stay put. Don is happy to do so;  he's writing two books. I enjoy the time to do some genealogy and have been writing up our family history so it will make sense to our children and grandchild(ren??). But, I often miss my social activities back home, so this week was a real treat for me.

Once a month, some of the gringas (ex-pat women) get together for lunch. They began doing this just after we left in the spring, so I had not had an opportunity to join them. A friend from church wanted to go, so I agreed to meet her there. I "knew" some of these women from the various Roatan forums but had never actually met them. There were about two dozen ladies there, many of them own or manage businesses around the island and one is a former Olympic swimmer.  Two of the women came from the very far eastern end of the island and it took them well over an hour to drive in. The calle principal, or main road, is a two lane blacktop to about mid-island, then it is unpaved to the eastern end of the island. Remember, this is rainy season, which makes the drive all the more challenging. Next month we are meeting at the most western part of the island. These ladies have said, jokingly, that they may have to camp out on the beach! It was fun to meet so many new people, and we had a great lunch at Blue Bahia. Kent is usually closed on Tuesdays but opened the restaurant just for our private party. He even served monkey-la-las...on the house!

Later in the week, I was invited to play bunco with a group of women. My friend, Debi, has been playing bunco with this group for several months, and they needed an extra person to fill in for someone.
What a hoot! I used to play with a group back home but had forgotten how much fun it can be. There were 16 other women there. We met at a very high-priced condo in West End that was furnished but unoccupied. Our hostess, a real estate agent, arranged for us to use the place. We all had to carefully pick our way around the potholes and mud of the beach road, walk along the beach a short way and then take a cobbled walkway down to the end of this ironshore lined spit of land. Not possible to drive right up to the place. I was thankful that I had brought a flashlight. Don't want to step on a tarantula!

I knew 4 or 5 of the women already, either from a current bible study or a former one, but the rest were new to me. One face looked familiar and was...Daphne, the owner of Besos where Don and I had lunch the other day and where the above photo was taken. I met a number of young teachers from the alternative school, a massage therapist (good to know!), a gardener/landscaper (also good to know), a French Canadian singer (who sounds a lot like Celine Dion),  and reconnected with a couple of women whom I had not seen in awhile. I really enjoyed the evening. Bunco is less about playing the game and more about the socializing...and eating! Typically, you are assigned something to bring: an appetizer, beverage, something sweet or salty for each table. We had so much food, it was ridiculous! Each person put 100 lemipiras (about $5.) into the pot and the two winners (most buncos, most wins) split the pot at the end of the evening. We didn't play late. The younger, single women wanted to go dancing! Debi and I went home.

This will be a busy week around the island. There are 5 cruise ships due in; 5 chances for our island friends to make some money. Here's the first ship of the week, sailing past our house on a beautiful pastel morning.