Our time here is flying by which is ironic because nothing moves fast on the island. Every day I wake up and cant believe we have already been here almost a month. Saturday the 6th Jane, Jemel, Morgan and I met one of Jane’s friends who has a boat and spent the day out on the water. It was such a good day. We went to a couple snorkel spots where there were so many fish we literally swam in clouds of them. We saw a turtle that came floating up by us and a bunch of bigger fish instead of the smaller type. I was nervous because when I’d just stay still and float, those bigger fish would come attack my fingers. The captain took us through the mangrove trees which are pretty much the coolest thing ever. Please go read this! https://www.conservation.org/ They are amazing trees and Roatan is full of them. They house many fish and sharks that use the underwater roots as a nursery. We docked for lunch and went to Omar’s which is island food like rice and beans, plantains, and chicken. It was a great day!

Last week I had very little to report on since I came down with some disgusting virus and spent three days at the house sick. Its commonly called the “Roatan Runs” if that tells you anything. Apparently it’s a parasite that eventually makes its rounds. It was very discouraging to watch everyone leave every morning and just feel like I was wasting precious time. Ah well. By Friday afternoon I was feeling a little better.

Saturday morning at 5 Morgan went out in the rain and went fishing with Nigel. It was just the two of them and Nigel had Morgan drive the boat while he organized fishing stuff. They caught ten tuna and Morgan had a blast because it was so laid back. We have been having tuna now and it is amazzzing. Later we went swimming at Caribe Tesoro and had lunch on the deck overlooking the water. It was nice to be out of the house finally and see people and just take it easy and recuperate in the sun. Sunday morning we went with Ms Valerie, Jazmin, and Hayley to Megapaca where I scored a black dress for school. Yay! We were at the store for 2 hours because Ms Valerie buys for anyone who needs anything so it takes a long time. We were rewarded with lunch at Bojangles which has AC and cold coke. On the way home we drove by the dump where the fire has been burning for 6 months. I think in my first post I said a month but it’s actually been 6! Anyways along the road we drive on to school they have been making a massive hole in the side of a hill just scraping out truckloads of dirt and when we drove by the dump we figured out why. All that dirt has now covered the enormous dump with a thin layer that has put the fire out and got rid of the smell so that’s great. Now they’ll start dumping trash somewhere else on the island.🙄 one of my best things to do is just drive around on the island. You never know what you will see or come across and it’s beautiful and just so interesting.

This week with exams over at school, we are now focusing on science fair. School days are getting into a rhythm for us. I have reading class with any of grades 1-4 and do spelling with them. Sometimes I read for story hour and occasionally Emily has me teach a class on division or whatever. For science fair I’m in charge of 1st and 4th grades and Emily is taking 2nd and 3rd. For 1st we are doing the water cycle and with 4th an exploding lemon. I’m slowly learning more island creole because the kids think it’s great fun to teach the gringo how to speak it. Every day I get many grimy hugs from any amount of children and it makes everything else worth it. This place and these kids have a way of just coming into your heart and making themselves at home. Today for the first time I sent a student to the office and it was so hard to because I KNEW she was fighting other demons and just acting out. So later I went and just had some time where she sat on my lap and we talked and she cried because life has hurt her so much. I cried too because it’s not fair for an innocent child to have experienced life this way. Obviously as a teacher I dont have favorites but this little girl ,who is loved only by the people at our school, has me wrapped around her finger. She tries to be tough but then she is just a little girl again and you understand why she acts how she does. So I just love her as much as I can because so few people do. Morgan has started a club at the request of Ms Valerie so every Friday for home ec the older boys and Morgan meet and discuss things like how to respect women because theres a big issue with that here. They talk about relationships, respect, and basically how to be a decent person. Alot of the boys really look up to Morgan. One of the evening’s I called in the teachers prep in Macon. Mom was giving a couple talks there and I wanted to listen but was never home when she was giving them but I managed to hit some other inspiration.

Last night we went out for supper to the place Emily works in West End. We met ms Ashley there, the teacher Morgan is helping with middle grades. She is originally from Virginia but has lived here for two years. Had a good time getting to know her better and eating shrimp pasta. Tonight was TGIF supper so we made fish and potatoes and Ms Valerie made savory chicken broccoli crepes and Jaz made Tres Leche cake for dessert. There was a breeze so no mosquitoes which is important to note. It was a good way to end the week!