UTILA!!!

What an amazing weekend! It was a much needed vacation from school. Now only 3 weeks of teaching and I'll be home for the holidays! Honestly, it's going to be hard to focus after such an amazing, yet short get-away.

THURSDAY:
5:15am: We're packed and ready to go to the bus station.
6:15am: Our bus leaves from Teguc and we're off to the coast. It was an 8 hour trip with 3 stops along the way. Overall, I was ready for some time to relax to read, and to look out the window. It was air conditioned up until the last 2 hours when the heat form outside overpowered.I was in the window seat and sweating! However, the worst part was the lady behind us who got sick several times along the way. Despite the heat outside, we kept the window open for airflow!
2:30pm: we took a taxi to the ferry dock, stopping at a supermercado on the way to pick up groceries that we didn't end up using! 4:00pm: We boarded the ferry for an hour ride out to the island! The boat rocked, rolled and lurched through the waves. I was thankful that I don't get seasick. The sunset that night was absolutely gorgeous, setting over the water. Up at the school, we have few opportunities to see the sunset because of so many trees.
5:15pm: In search of our apartment... it ended up being 15-20 min walk from the main street. By the time we put our stuff in the room it was dark. We wanted to swim, but decided against it, not knowing what the beach would be like. My Thanksgiving dinner was a wonderful Hawaiian Pizza! After dinner we went out in search of ice cream and found a grilled pineapple sundae! Yum! We hit the sack early, tired after traveling all day.

FRIDAY:
7:00am: Woke up early, thanksto my body being on a teacher schedule! The sun was shining and I spent the morning on the driftwood out by the water. I stayed until the sandflies came out and ate up my legs! Then we headed to town for some breakfast and to meet up with the 4 teachers from the International School in Teguc that we saw the night before. They were going scuba diving so we decided to rent bikes! We biked out to the public beach in the opposite direction of our place and spent the afternoon swimming, reading, relaxing, and biking. For lunch we went to Evelyn's and I had the most amazing papaya and chocolate smoothie! 4:30pm: Alex and I went to Underwater Vision to get prepped for SCUBA DIVING!!! We didn't have enough time to get the certification, so we chose to do the Discovery Scuba Dive the next morning instead. We had a brief talk about what it'd be like and then spent some time swimming at the dock there.
6:00pm: In search of dinner again. Tonight we found Babalu's an amazing seafood place! We chose to get 4 different things and share them: King Fish, Shrimp, Lobster, and Wahu.It was so good and the restaurant was fantastic! They had an "aquarium" in the middle, which was really a hole in the floor down to the ocean where they fed the fish table scraps. We soaked up the atmosphere, savored the food, and enjoyed the time to relax. 8:00pm: We met up with the teachers from the International School for a campfire at their place. We roasted medium colored marshmallows with a gigantic stick! It was hilarious, but we had fun.

SATURDAY:
7:00am: Boarded on the scuba boat and ready to go underwater! Our experience consisted of 2, 45min dives. I put on my wet suit, flippers, mask, tank, and was told, "put your right hand on your mask, left hand on your belt, and take a big step out." :) Once I took a peek underwater, I couldn't stop! It was beautiful! When we all tried to go down, I couldn't sink! I had lost my weight belt jumping in so my instructor had to dive down and get it. Once I was set, we went to the bottom and learned some skills. How to find your breathing regulator, and how to clear your mask of water. Then, it was off to explore! It was like soaring through the mountains, only I was swimming through the mountains of coral. It's true: it's a whole different world down there! God is so awesome to have created such beauty! There were so many different kinds of fish just swimming around, and the coral was diverse and colorful! I would recommend scuba diving to anyone! 10:00am: we got back to the dock and it was still overcast. We decided to go back, take showers, and go out for breakfast.
12:05pm: We finally headed out to breakfast after some more swimming-very hungry! I had a wonderful Yogurt covered Crepe and a delicious Frappuccino! The rest of the day I laid in a Hammock, read a book, and laid low. The sun came out for a while, but I enjoyed the Hammock in the shade. It was a fantastic day! We went out again for dinner and I enjoyed some grilled Mahi Mahi. I love fish!!! We did some more walking around that night and found a sweet place called the Jade Seahorse. It was created by an artist from the US who has continued to add onto it. There's a gift shop and a bar, but the rest of it is like a giant piece of art! It was sweet!!!


SUNDAY:
6:20am: We once again boarded the Ferry for the start of our travels back home. The day was cooler and made traveling more bearable. I met an adorable little Honduran boy on the bus and we talked for a while. :)
5:30pm: Janice came and picked us up from the bus station to go back up the mountain.

It was an amazing weekend and much needed. Now, less than 3 weeks left until Christmas break! I know this was a long post, but I don't get the chance to regularly talk to everyone who wants to know what's going on! I'll have more pics up soon!

I'm thankful for...

Thinking back to last Thanksgiving, I had no idea that I would be away this year. Sometimes it shocks me how fast life can change, and how God leads us down unexpected paths. And then I laugh at myself, because I start to think to next year already! Only God knows where I'll be or what life will be like. The past few weeks have flown by. It feels like mom was just here visiting, and now it's already a month later! I was telling the students today that it doesn't really feel like Thanksgiving to me. The weather's still nice, I didn't go through a volleyball season or hunting season, I haven't had squash yet, (although I've been making plenty of pumpkin bars, pumpkin cookies, and pumpkin spice lattes!) and there's no snow on the ground! I think the first thing I'm going to do when I step outside in MI is make a snow angel! Christmas break is only 3 weeks of teaching away! I was planning today and got on a roll. I'm pretty much planned now until Christmas! That means my planning period might consist more of wedding planning than lesson planning in the next few weeks. :)

This weekend I'm going to Utila! It's an island off the North coast of Honduras. I'm going with 2 other teachers and one of their friends from the states: Gina, Nicole and Alexandria. They are fantastic and I'm excited to spend the long weekend with them. We're taking a 7-8 hour bus ride to la Ceiba and then a ferry boat ride to the island! I'm all packed and ready to go. Of course I packed everything tonight and now I'm up late before leaving at 5am. But, for those of you who know me, what's a vacation without scrambling to pack the night before, right? ;) Some things I try to change, but I'm still working on it. Hopefully I'll remember my toothbrush and PJs! It's going to be a long day of travel. Please pray for our safety! I'm ready to just sit on a bus and read a book, believe it or not! I think there's going to be a lot to do on Utila; we'll make the most of it when we get there!

I'll be thinking of all you at home this weekend and I will definitely miss the time with family and amazing food. There's some things in life that mean so much to you and distance makes it mean even more. I love you my family and friends! God bless you this Thanksgiving! I'm so thankful for the support and love I have back home!

4 weeks

It's been a while since I've written! Life has been moving by quickly. I now only have four weeks until I'm back home for Christmas! Honestly, this past week was emotional. Please pray that God may continue to give me his peace and strength as I trust in him no matter what. It's not easy with so many things happening at home and so many people that I miss so much.

But God is good, and he is blessing me here! My basketball team is into the tournament now. We are 0-6, but have come within 3-5 points twice! They have 2 games this week and 2 games the next. They've been a joy to coach! I am so grateful for the relationships built. Next week we have a half day on Wednesday for Thanksgiving and then no school Thurs/Fri. I am looking into traveling and I'm so excited! I know that I need a few days of restoration and relaxation, and some intentional time with the Lord. Please pray that travels go safely and that I may be refreshed to finish out the last month before Christmas! Teaching can be draining and I can sense that the students are in need of a break too. I am still teaching in Los Pinos at the Rock. Today we are going to teach the story of Noah's Ark... a very common story, but we will be teaching them English words and how to use Bible stories to teach other subjects such as math and science. We haven't been able to go two weeks in a row, so I'm excited to go back!

Thank you for your support and your prayers! Have a wonderful weekend! God Bless!

French Tip... Honduran Style

I went to get a manicure and pedicure today! A gift from my amazing fiance! I was going to go with the traditional French tip... simple, easy, no frills... and then I thought, why not? So I asked her what sort of design she could put on them! :) I decided to put some color on my toes too! With such a rare occasion, I figured I'd have a little photo shoot with my hands and feet :) Of course I already smudged one big toe... so only the good foot is in the picture!

Teachers have fun too... :)

This weekend was the annual Fall Party in the apartments. Everyone dressed up and got together for a potluck with AMAZING food and a costume competition. Most of the apartments and families dressed up together. We had: Ninja Turtles, Chronicles of Narnia, Recycling, John and Abigail Addams, Where's Waldo, the sun and moon, clowns, a clothes line, carwash, triathalon, Christmas tree, statue of liberty, s'more, and so much more! My apartment came as bunches of grapes! We were awarded "Fruitiest Costume." :)