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.
