Sunsets from the hill

This is the view of the sunset from our deck.

And this is the sunset as viewed from the top of the hill at Colin's house.

Both nice, huh? I had always wanted to compare a sunset this way and last night was a good opportunity to try it. Colin and Kellie had invited us up for dinner and a movie and to come early and watch the sunset if we wanted. So we started the viewing at our house and then ran up to their house to watch the end. The ocean view is more expansive from the top of the hill, but the colors are just great at either place.

Their housekeeper, Daisy, made pastillos - like empanadas, stuffed with ground beef, onions, peppers, and then fried. Very, very good. The movie was Slumdog Millionaire, recently purchased from the movie pirates. Really a good movie and up for many Academy Awards nominations. I recommend this movie - quite a good story of life in the Mumbai slums. The living conditions are just unbelievable. Colin has been there and could corroborate the setting. Fun evening. We think this will be a regular event. Next up: The Amazing Tale of Benjamin Buttons (think I got that title right). Kellie still hasn't finished reading Marley and Me.

The new stove is working fine, so far. Had a comment posted on yesterday's blog by Don's friend, Darrell, about the quality of Mabe products (see below). So perhaps this stove will be far superior to the other.

Don had a furocious battle with big black ants this morning. I heard all this slapping out on the deck, and there was Don with flyswatter in hand beating the ants. Then we got out the Raid and the Combat. There were literally hundreds of them, marching single-file in multiple places up the deck walls and posts. Hundreds and hundreds. Ewww! I took pictures but then decided that it was just too creepy to post here. They are currently all gone...no doubt huddled below the deck, plotting their next assault. And we're out of Raid. And nearly out of Combat.

A Dazzler

Erythynia - just starting to bloom.

This is one of those dazzling beautiful days. The sky is so clear and blue, the water is turquoise, the sun is shining.

It was also the coldest morning we've experienced here - 63 degrees! Chilly. We always found this statement to be amusing when made by others, that 63 degrees could be considered cold, right up until we experienced it for ourselves. Our bodies have adjusted to this tropical climate with its warmer temperatures and when it drops and there is a strong breeze off the ocean, it is chilly. Last night at our women's Bible study, several ladies were wearing long sleeved shirts, two wore sweaters and one had a sweatshirt! The die-hards wore the sundresses or tank tops anyway.

We have the new stove installed and operating. We tested the oven with my oven thermometer and compared the readings with the chart in the manual. We think we have it figured out. We had hauled the old stove out onto the deck, and there it sat when Merlin came down this morning. She asked what we were going to do with it, we said haul it to the dump, and she said "oh no! There are people who could use this." We explained what had happened, that it was really unsafe to use, but she insisted that someone really in need could find a way to repair it. So she made some calls and a little while later, Dennis came down with his pickup to take the old stove to someone who was willing to attempt a repair. I hope no one gets hurt in the effort and that no one will use it without having it repaired - if that is even possible.

Some more details about the stove shopping adventure. We bought it at Molinero's in Coxen Hole at the open-air store, well, actually it's under a tent type roof, but the sides are all open, the floor is partly packed dirt and partly wood. They have another store further down the street that's in a normal building. The salesman walked us down there to look at the model which we finally settled on. When we agreed to take it, he walked us back to the open store, and while he started on the paperwork, Don walked across the street to the bank to withdraw the money. The salesman first had to shoo some visitors who were sitting at his desk and around it, visiting with another employee. That's commonplace here; the people are very social. Once that was done, and the visitors left, he got started but then was distracted by a soap opera that had just come on. He had a hard time focusing on the paperwork. Don was back from the bank before he had it together. He called us over finally, Don gave him the money, and then he took three pieces of paper, stuck carbon paper (remember that?) between each sheet and then put the little bundle into a daisy wheel type printer (remember those?) and printed out our receipt. And we were done! That was around 2:30 p.m. At 4:45, the delivery truck pulled up by our house, bearing the new stove. No dolly. They just scooted it off the truck, caught it and two men carried it down the stairs (one walking backwards) and into the house. And these were not big burly guys, either.

The ant battle continues. Don's got the flyswatter out, slapping away. The wall above the window in his little office was covered with those big ants this morning. They're probably refugees from the ant hill extermination.

Well, time to go sit in the porch swing and enjoy the day. Adios!

One of Those Days

Ever had one of those days when everything seems to go wrong, break down, melt, whatever? Of course you have. Sometimes, those days are just worse than usual. Today is shaping up to be one. It actually started yesterday...

I had finished cooking a pot of chicken and had it cooling on the stove. When I grabbed the pot to move it, I noticed that the stove still felt very hot, despite having been turned off for at least 30 mins., maybe more. I checked the oven...nope, not on...checked the other burners...none on...wait, what's wrong with that knob? Why is it hanging down below all the other knobs? And why is it kind of black around the knob and even along the edges of the stove. Whoa! Why is that burner hot? It hasn't been on, in fact, that's the burner that Don sealed because it had the leaking valve. And it was definitely hot. It had also melted a plastic end cap along the back of the stove. I could see a little glow coming from inside behind where the knob had once been. I called Don to come check it out, and he determined that the horno had just committed suicide. He said that explained why that tank of gas ran out so quickly. Apparently, there is an external gas leak in there somewhere. I had failed to shut off the gas tank (which is still sitting beside the stove) which allowed gas to continue to leak. He said that was the end of the line for this stove...next stop, the dump. Way too volatile to even consider using again. We're lucky that the whole thing didn't just blow up. So, we'll be shopping for a new stove...today.

But first we must wait for the exterminator to arrive and cleanse our house of termites and ants! Last night, we noticed a huge invasion of light-reddish winged ants all around the sliding glass door to our quarters. Huge. Don blasted them with the can of Raid after I squirted the Combat for ants all around. This morning we found the floor littered with ant bodies, but plenty more were still moving and were now in the bathroom, closet, and Don's little office. The laundry is also overrun with them. I kept imagining that I had things crawling on me last night. Ugh!
Now, we have a contract with the exterminator, signed last Sept. where he's supposed to come monthly to inspect and treat for termites. We don't think he's been here since then. I called yesterday and was told that Oscar no longer worked for the company, not an unusual thing down here, but I wondered where that left us with our contract. They are sending out a different guy today.

The third bad thing that has occured: Don's new computer is dead. Yes. Apparently another suicide. He's got it all apart in there, trying to determine the cause. It seems that the CPU is no longer communicating with the monitor. Thankfully, it was not full of ants, although ants were crawling all around his desk.

It's mid-afternoon and there's good news and bad news. First the good: no termites! Yea! And Jose sprayed all around the deck, windows and doors and inside the laundry for those big winged ants. He also found a couple of large ant nests under the house and sprayed those as well. He said this is the time of the year when that type of ant starts coming inside. Maybe this will deter them.

Second good news: we found a new gas stove today in Coxen Hole. Bad news: no American brands and only 3 Central American brands to choose from...well, probably only two as we suspect that brand one and brand two are actually the same stove with different names, and that's the stove we just had melt down, so that's out. That left brand three, Mabe. Now, I don't know about you, but a stove named Mabe leaves me feeling a little, well, unsettled. The stove came in two styles and colors and was priced accordingly. We chose the white one with 5 burners, the center burner is a long oval one designed for griddles....now if I can just find a griddle.... The young salesman said it is actually a good stove. And, here's the part I love, it came with an instruction booklet, albeit in Spanish, but it had a chart explaining the 1 through 5 number system on the oven control...it's Celcius! but 1 does not equal 100C. I'll have to read the chart and convert to Fahrenheit. And the stove was just 6088 Lempira, or $322. If it works well and doesn't melt, it might be a good deal. It also has a one-year warranty.

And the bad news: the motherboard is no good, so Don's computer is useless. He said to replace the motherboard would cost almost as much as a new computer. He just bought this computer in May. Yes, it's under warranty, but we'd have to ship it back to the states, blah, blah, blah. He's using my old laptop which only works when plugged in and likes to overheat. Thankfully, he had all the financial and tax information on a flash drive, otherwise, he'd be in deep doodoo.

I ducked into the grocery store; they had green chilis at Warren's, and Plaza Mar had finally gotten canned tuna! Yippee!

And the sun has finally come out, so things are looking up.

Observations

Life is certainly different here. Things we take for granted back in the States often prove to be difficult or unattainable here. For instance, in my blog about grocery shopping, I mentioned how items may or may not be available. If you think you might need something in the near future, you'd better buy it when you see it, even if you don't need it right this minute. Yesterday, I was thinking about how good some white chili would be. I found the chicken, even found navy beans and cilantro, but no green chilis to be found. So, I bought what I could and when I find the green chilis, we'll be in business.

We recently had a discussion on hoarding in my women's Bible study group which lead into talking about grocery shopping and the temptation to buy a lot of something when you actually find it in the stores. One of the women mentioned how she loved baby back ribs, which are rarely available here, and when they are, she'll buy several packages but never all of them. We've all seen shoppers with their carts full of cream cheese or butter or yogurt - more items that are often unavailable. And I've mentioned before how very limited the meat selection is; you may find pork chops and deli ham, hamburger and maybe a few steaks, but I've never seen pork or beef roasts or stew meat.

They do seem to carry an amazing selection of US cleaning products, but one thing I've noticed is that the toilet cleaners, although US brands, seem to be watered down. There are no nice thick gels, only liquids, and frankly, they don't work. Bleach works better. Laundry soaps are ridiculously high and the cheaper brands do not clean well. Tide and Cheer liquids run almost $20. for the average sized bottle - not the big jug. Even Arm & Hammer liquid goes for nearly $10. here instead of the $4. I'd pay in the States.

Hardware is often quite limited as far as selection; instead of 50 faucets to choose from you may only have 2. Some items that aren't available: copper pipe, brass fittings. They just don't use copper here (and it would probably be stolen anyway). Don thinks they only use plastic pipe here. You also cannot find aluminum gutters, only plastic, which is lousy because it leaks. Don says the lumber is much better here and when you order a 2x4 or whatever, that's what you get, not a shaved off version.

One of the women in our Spanish class had been looking for a hairdryer, without luck, and needed to know how to say hairdryer in order to inquire about where to find one. I looked several places before I found a round brush and then only had one to choose from. I have been wanting a griddle and saw a cast iron one last year but didn't buy it. Now I can't find one of any type anywhere on the island.

Car parts are limited here, too. If you need a repair, the part usually has to be ordered and it may be weeks before it comes, and assuming that the right part is sent the first time, still makes a long wait for the repair job.

Sometimes there are no printer ink cartridges to be had. We came supplied with those and printer paper, which we've also never seen. And just try to get your computer repaired....
But if you want a cell phone, you have many, many choices for a phone and at least 3 local companies to supply service.

There is a campaign under way to raise the awareness of the need to recycle plastics and to stop litter. Both are a big problem here. There seems to be little regard for the environment. Garbage and plastics are often dumped into the sea on some parts of the island. It is common practice to burn some trash, yard waste, building materials, but burning plastic is just awful, not to mention toxic. We have recently seen more instances of men picking up trash along the roadway, and just today I heard an anti-littering ad on the radio. There are even plastic recycling bins springing up around the island, including one at the school beside our church.
Garbage bins are along the road, paid for and maintained (or not) by the property owner or a group of neighbors. Stray dogs often get into the bins and string trash out all over the side of the road and if the property owner (or an environmentally-minded good Samaritan) doesn't clean it up, it stays right there. So I'm happy to see this growing awareness of taking care of Roatan.

Sunset On The Sea

Last night we had one of those cool sunsets where the sun sets down right on the water. Those are actually somewhat rare as clouds generally will appear and shroud the sun's last drop, even if the day has been cloud-free up until then. This one even produced good color; usually you'll see better color when clouds are present. We love having a ring-side seat for the sunset every evening. We draw our chairs up to the deck rail and keep the camera handy. And it's really nice if a cruise ship happens to be passing by, actually a frequent occurence.

Our Spanish lesson went well yesterday. Esmerelda quizzed us on our vocab words we were to have memorized and we took turns practicing our dialogue. We are all struggling with a few things, such as, how the y in "yo" is pronounced "jo", with a hard j. Everyone in our small class attends SonRise church and when we sing some of the hymns in Spanish and sing the word "yo", which means I, we hear "yo" no j sound. Esmerelda said yes, that may be, but it isn't correct. She said you hear a number of things which are incorrect. Great! But, I guess that's true in English as well.

Esmerelda likes to open the class (or close it) with a prayer, and believe me, we can use all the prayers we can get with this! She has challenged each one of us to come up with a short prayer of our own, in Spanish, of course. Whew! I'm glad she said "short". I'll let you know how we do.

We've been out to the paint stores today looking at colors. The Sherwin-Williams store had the paint color strips just like back in the States, but they were out of quite a few, including many of the shades that I was interested in. We went to the new, very modern Glidden store near French Harbor. They had no sample strips to give out, only a color swatch collection bound together that you could look at in the store. I finally chose two colors and had them mix a quart of each. Their mixer is all computerized, just like Lowe's! And it saves the information, so if I like these colors and go back for more, they'll know what to mix. I'm considering ocean colors for our quarters and sunset colors for the guest quarters (per Rachel's request).

Stopped at Plaza Mar for groceries: this weeks adventure yielded no bacon, no hot dogs (Don eats these!), don't like to buy lunch meat here, no decent tortilla chips, just the thick, greasy ones they've been having. They did have the big package of chicken breasts though and lots of fresh bread (sometimes they have NO bread). Drove down to West Bay to visit the nice deli and bought ham, bacon, and Schrieber (Wisconsin) cheeses! Our good friend, Jim Zeller, works for Schrieber; I think a business trip to Roatan is in order, Jim, and bring your wife!

We're going to attempt a taco pizza tonight, using my bread machine to make the pizza dough. I have no idea how my tempermental oven will take to this assignment, but at least a pizza doesn't take too long to bake, or burn.

Ok, I'd better get to work on that prayer now...

Grandpa & Crystal

Grandpa & Crystal

Today is my niece, Crystal's, 29th birthday and she's feelin' old, so I thought I'd post a picture of a young Crystal to cheer her. As you can see, she was already conscious of including fiber in her diet!
It's funny, no matter our chronological age, we can still feel either younger or older, and often we act accordingly. I often don't mentally feel any older than when I was in my 30s - I started to say 18 but no, I do feel more mature than that. Oh, ok...there is that memory issue...but I think I'm younger (maybe I just don't remember that I have aged?) Now, when I look in the mirror, it's a whole 'nuther story! Hard to deny the years.
See what you have to look forward to, Crystal? Enjoy this last year of being 20-something! Soon enough you'll be over 30 and no one will trust you (oh, wait that was just a 60s-era thing...). Anyway, happy birthday!

Please, may I have a bite?

We had lunch at Eagle Ray after church today. It's one of our favorite on-the-water restaurants. They have several pet parrots who sometimes wander around looking for a treat. This guy was trying his best to charm me.

When that didn't work, he hopped on my foot. That got my attention! I didn't think he would care for my fish - I think he's a vegetarian, so that just left the french fries. I gave him a little bite after warning him about the danger of cholesterol. He begged for another bite or two, then seemed satisfied.

We were happy to see that the beach road had been graded. It had been a miserable travel experience whether walking or driving. The vegetable trucks were parked along the road and had beautiful tomatoes, eggplant and watermelon - also fresh green beans! Yum.

Last night we went up the hill to watch a movie with Colin and Kellie. Colin had bought several movies from the movie pirates who stand outside the grocery stores and at the gas stations, offering recently released movies for about $4-5 each. We watched Australia with Nicole Kidman which seemed like a very long movie that should have ended multiple times before it did. The quality was iffy - sometimes the movie would just pause for a bit, then go on, and once it paused and seemed to jump ahead a bit. It was also difficult to understand the speech, whether because of the Aussie accents or a volume problem, I'm not sure. What can you expect for $4., huh? He also had gotten Marley and Me, but Kellie didn't want to watch that until she finishes reading the book.