Roatan

Starting a new job with a week-long vacation on a Caribbean Island with two awesome, beautiful women might have to be a new tradition for me.

A few months ago I told my friend Ro that I would be working in Honduras for my.  She excitedly told me that her grandparents are there and that she would be visiting them during Christmas break.  As we made plans she told me she wanted to go to the Island of Roatan, just off the coast of the main land.  She also had a friend that wanted to join us that was going to join us. 

The resort we stayed in was sufficient.  The room was small but we made due.  Though, I was forced to stay in the bathroom for interminable amounts of time while they got dressed.  Seriously, how many “outfits” do you have to try on for dinner on at the beach?  /sigh… traveling with girls. The food wasn't so great but the drinks were adequately cheap.  The beach was only a few minutes walk away and was gorgeous.  The water was an awesome clear bright blue. 

Our days progressed similarly from one to the next.  Early morning walks on the beach with a stop at the coffee shop, breakfast at the resort and then lounging on the beach.  We spent 2 mornings snorkeling.  The reef was very beautiful with tons of fish, a snake, and Ro even saw a turtle.  I saw a couple of small jelly fish but it was nothing like the scene from Finding Nemo.  Late mornings and afternoons were largely dedicated to the search for the best Piña Colada.  Over which we had a lot of deep conversations about: health care and health care systems (yes, Ro and I are nerds), books, movies, dating and how both girls and guys are “crazy”, throbbing uteruses, and our experiences traveling.  I think our favorite waiter and our favorite Piña Colada was at the Infinity Bay resort (good place to stay but probably expensive).  We also got ourselves free wrist bands for use of the pool and beach towels.  We were able to try a couple of different rums as well.  I think the best was called Plata.  I would probably remember better if I hadn’t had so many Piña Coladas.  We usually ate dinner on the beach and then watched a movie on my laptop.  I was really glad to be able to educate Mariam on some old classics like: Big Trouble in Little China, Short Circuit, and Sneakers.  I would have taught Ro but she usually was asleep about 10-15 mins into the movie.  I will admit I was HUGELY impressed when I made a reference to Ghostbusters that Ro got.  So her education isn’t so bad.

Sadly, Ro had to leave on Tuesday, while Mariam and I got to stay a couple more days.  We moved to another part of the island (from West Bay to West End) because the first hotel didn't have room for us to stay.  The new place was bigger but the beach was small and more crowded.  We also took up a new activity, cards.  We played gin rummy using the rules as I remembered them.  I’m sure I got some of them wrong but in general we probably got the rules right.  We didn't keep score because I couldn't remember how points work.  We should have just made it up and kept a marathon score for the couple days.  We also did some souvenir shopping and continued the epic search for Piña Coladas.  The last day we spent lounging on West Bay beach, drinking our favorite Piña Colada and wading in the water. 

That brings me to now.  We just hugged and kissed good bye.  She’s walking to her departure door as I sit with my eyes tearing up, waiting for my plane to start boarding.  I miss her already...   On to Tegucigalpa now; time to get on with my work.  I’m nervous.  I don’t know what I’ll find there, what I’ll do or what they really expect.  I guess that’s never stopped me before.