Internet Anyone?!

• So we don’t have the internet anymore. And the phones weren’t working today either. So really, we are stuck with no method of communication, except to go to the city (which is where I’m sending this from). This is the MOST frustrating part of the entire experience so far, the lack of communication. AAHH!! It makes me cry some days, when all I want is to get an email from someone who loves me, and I can’t. Hopefully the internet comes back on soon, but no one really knows when/if that will happen.
  
  Cool Stuff I’ve done so far:
  ...Learned how to drive a scooter! This was very fun.
  ...Every night we hang out with this girl named Rosy and her family. They are awesome. I love hanging out at their house
  ...Swimming in the ocean just as the sun is setting. You can’t look at a scene like that and not believe in God. It is breathtaking. Pictures don’t do it justice.
  ...Driven a huge diesel truck over the bumpy dirt roads to a FIESTA, where I had to exhibit to the world that I have absolutely NO dancing skills!
  ...Learned how to make some traditional Garifuna foods, like coconut sweet bread.
  ...Went to the mountain with a 52 year old woman who chopped up wood like she was 20. Then carried the wood home on my back for ONE AND A HALF HOURS. She does this every day. I almost died.
  
• Stuff I’m frustrated with so far:
  ...Bugs! There are always bugs in the house. There are always little sand flies biting me, and then I am itchy and grumpy!
  ...My job. There is no internet, which I need to research what I’m supposed to be doing for my job. So pretty much I just try and keep myself busy, but waste a lot of time
  ...LACK OF COMMUNICATION. I think I already mentioned that!
  ...LACK OF SPANISH SKILLS. I don’t feel like I’m getting any better at Spanish, because most of the people here speak to each other (even around me) in Garifuna
  
  Anyway, I guess that’s the update for now! Keep writing me emails…when I do get them, I really appreciate them. A lot.

anyone stuck?

We rented a Land Rover in La Ceiba, because our van was broken so it stayed in La Ceiba to get fixed. We were pretty excited, after all, it is a nice Land Rover, and it had air conditioning. It was a great ride back to Ciriboya on Friday night!
So then on Saturday night, Rory decided to take us for a little tour of the beach, in the Land Rover! It was so cool, riding a few feet away from the waves that threatened to lap at the wheels of the car…seeing little crabs scurrying here and there, looking up at the moon overhead, and feeling the fresh salty air on my face, as I hung my head out the window, drinking in the smell. And then…
It happened! We were crossing over a small fresh water creek that runs parallel to the ocean, about twenty feet up from the ocean itself. And as we passed through, in the Land Rover, we stopped. I thought it was for emphasis, and then I realized…we were stuck! The creek was up to our knees at the deepest part, and as I opened the door to the Land Rover to hop out, the water was nearly up to the door! So we tried to drive it out. No luck. We tried to push and drive it out. No luck. (except that now we were sopping wet, and sandy as well as stuck!). So Rory decides to go and get the truck, to pull it out. We wait there, sopping wet and sandy. He comes back. We attach the rope and he tries to pull. No luck. He tries to pull while we push. No luck! We try to put wood under it. No luck, We try to put bricks under it. No luck! Everything we did, did not work! We were all kind of in good spirits, but at the same time, wondering what on earth we would do if we could not manage to get a $40,000USD car unstuck from a creek on the beach in the middle of nowhere in Honduras!
The boys went to get MORE wood, and a car jack. The girls stayed to guard the car! Actually, we ended up going swimming in the ocean while we were waiting, because we had been sopping wet for a few hours, and we were COLD (yes, it is the first time I’ve been cold since I’ve been here!). The ocean water was so warm that it actually felt like having a bath! We were a little nervous too, as we waited in the moonlight, because we have heard stories of drug runners on the beach and in the water at night (and by this time it was definitely the middle of the night!)
Finally, the boys come back with more wood. We place it under all the wheels, which took like an hour and a half, because all the sand kept getting in the way. Finally, we say, okay, this time it will work. We try again. NO LUCK. Finally, with all strength and good attitudes failing, we give it one more try. And OUT POPS THE LAND ROVER!! Yay…hallelujah! So, after 6 HOURS of trying, we now know how to get a Land Rover out of a creek by the ocean. Another skill to add to my resume! And another adventure to add to the list I am compiling!

electricity!!

So, yesterday we came to one of the bigger cities on the coast, called La Ceiba. We came because our bosses had some stuff to do, and also because we wanted to buy some things. So here we are. We stayed in a hotel last night that had ELECTRICITY!! Wow. And even a tv (which we didn´t watch!). We had a shower and there was hot water! (okay, it´s not really hot water, what they do is attach this thing to the shower head that is commonly known as a ´widow-maker´ because it heats the water as it comes through the spout, but it is run on electricity, so sometimes it shorts out and gives the person standing in the water a shock!!)
We´re about to go back to the land of stray chickens, pigs, dogs, kitties, and horses. Did I tell you that the other day I walked out of the house to wash the dishes, and there were three horses eating grass in my yard! It is truly the strangest place I´ve ever been.
Also, I went to this woman´s house, and she showed me how she makes bread. Well, buns actually. And she doesn´t have a stove, so what she did was to use this thing that looked like a sawed-off oil drum. She puts this on the ground, and then on top of it, she puts this piece of tin, like what they use for their roofs. She proceeds to light a fire on TOP of the piece of tin, and when it is hot, she PICKS UP THE FIRE with her hands, like picks up the piece of tin, moves it, puts the little buns inside, puts the fire back on top, and waits for the buns to cook! And since the buns cook at different rates, she did this like FIVE TIMES!! The women in Ciriboya are tough. I could learn a lot!
Anyway, no pictures yet, but I promise some soon. I went swimming in the ocean the other morning, and it was GLORIOUS!! God´s creation is pretty darn amazing.

Primitive?!

So here I am, finishing day three here in Ciriboya. It has been an incredible journey so far, but I will say for sure that I miss everyone so much that I think I’m going insane sometimes! And the communication is not as good as I thought it would be. Right now I am waiting to use the internet, because someone is on it, so I figured I’d just write on the computer.
It is so primitive here! We have a toilet and a shower (cold water only) but no electricity. Like there is no electricity in the entire community. Right now the generator is running, it is really loud, but it is the only mode of keeping communication going. The generator supplies electricity to our office, but our house has no light at all! It is pretty cool though, that in the middle of nowhere, we have access to the internet…and it only costs $270 US dollars per month to run! Insane, hey?!
The telephone in the village is a communal telephone, and if someone calls, then they run down the road looking for the person that the call is for, then the person runs back up to the phone to talk! Everything takes forever because there are no luxuries.
The beach is amazing. I haven’t been swimming yet, but I will soon go. It is incredible. As soon as I take pictures, I’ll post them for sure. We sleep under mosquito nets to protect us (from mosquitos, and anything else that might want to run overtop of us at night…so far I’ve seen a snake, many geckos, spiders, ants, and I think that’s all so far…thank goodness the snake was not inside!)
The people here are awesome, although I’m having a hard time understanding them sometimes. And half the time they are speaking in Spanish, and the other half of the time, they are speaking in Garifuna…which has been a challenge! I already know one word in Garifuna…idabinay (or something like that) it means “how are you”
Anyway, keep in touch! I’ll write again soon.