People think Roatan is a dangerous place to live and I say it’s not. When I read the US news I am dumbfounded by the rampant crime all over the US. People being kidnapped and killed because they responded to a Craigslist ad, school shootings, hostage situations, bomb threats, shootings at malls, colleges, hospitals and government buildings. Sure there is petty crime here but it is nothing compared to the crap going on in the US and the rest of the world. Living here we are surrounded by beauty everywhere we look, the locals are fabulous people and they treat us kindly, this really isn’t such a bad place after all.
There was a meeting on Thursday with the Mayor for all the ex-pats that live on the east side of the island. We are all what is known as “living in Santos Guardiolas.” There were people there that have lived here for 16+ years. See, it’s not that bad. The meeting was a good start, getting people together, and the Mayor asking for the ex-pats help in making this a great place to live. Bill and I are more than happy to help the mayor anyway we can.
Highway and Lola are a pair. So much so that he was trying to hump her tonight. Bill gently reminded him that “you don’t hump family.” Highway must have forgotten the golden rule.
I thought it would be a good idea to add another small bedroom downstairs. The living room was large and awkward. Bill and Miguel framed it out and had the walls up in no time. Bill finished all the drywall mudding and we are ready to re-paint the downstairs. We went to the Ace hardware store here on the island. What a joke. Previously we bought ALL of our paint there, it’s the Royal brand and it’s the best paint we have used. Now they have no paint. NO PAINT. I asked the manager for a phone number for the big store in La Ceiba and HE DIDN’T HAVE IT. Come on, seriously. I found the Ace Femosa (Hardware) store on Facebook, messaged them, found someone to speak English and now all I have to do is order and they will ship to me in a day. The store here may as well close their doors, they have no stock.
Sad news on the car front, my new to me car fell through. Pascual went to the mainland with our $$ in his hand and it had been sold. Someone offered more money and money talks. Double damn. Pascual brought another Outlander back for me to look at, 66,000 miles or so it said. The knobs were all worn and the seats were a mess. When we got home Bill looked the VIN up online and it had 266,000 miles on it. Someone had decided to change that number a little. Actually, that made much more sense now thinking about how worn the controls were. Newer car for me failure # 3.
They are once again fixing the roads around here. It is a yearly job that could easily be done quarterly. I’ve included some of the photos of how they mark the road showing there is a huge axle breaking hole ahead. These are great, and remember, this is a 2 lane road.
Little Miss Lolita is a handful. We are still having problems with her peeing where ever she pleases. Not only does she just squat, she keeps moving when she’s peeing, making a long line of drips after the initial puddle. The other day when she peed on the porch, I said “Lola, who did this?” She ran and hid behind Highway. I’m so screwed.
Our friends Rosalie and Bob came over last week for Bill’s home made pizza. We had a great visit with them. They are from British Columbia, up on the Sunshine Coast. Rosalie and Bob have traveled a LOT and she wrote a book called, “Now THAT Wasn’t in the Brochure.” (click on the title and it will take you to the book on Amazon) All of my reader friends, get this book and read it, it’s a fabulous adventure story. I stopped reading with about 15 pages to go because I didn’t want it to end. I reluctantly finished the book and now I am RE-READING IT. I’m halfway through already. Great read.
As if the scorpions aren’t bad enough; last Friday night I had Lola out to pee again. I had the big spot light with me because it was dark. I was watching for scorpions and snakes and assorted other creepy crawlies. Just about the time I turned around, holding the spot light in my hand, I saw something FLYING RIGHT TOWARDS MY HEAD. OMG. It landed on my face and sat there.
It was a RHINOCEROS BEETLE. I DIED. Then I screamed, loud. I managed to;
a) not pass out
b) knock the f*%$@r off my face and stomped it’s brains out it’s ass.
c) wake my husband from a nap. I don’t think he believed me.
From now on I’ll be making a few additions to my night time “taking Lola out to pee” gig. A pair of knee high boots, a spotlight, which I will never aim towards a Rhinoceros beetle in flight, and a black flashlight to make the scorpions a little psychedelic. Oh yeah, and one other fashion accessory that my husband inadvertently thought he bought for himself:
Cleo and I did the airport thing for 5 solid hours last Saturday. It was fun but extremely tiring standing for that long. They had me out greeting people as they entered the immigration building. Hi, welcome to Roatan, is this your first time here?? I was passing out immigration forms to the people when I recognized a Facebook friend that I had not met, Sherri. She and her husband are house sitting Stef and Jurgen’s home right now, very close to us. I also met lots of people I’ve never seen before and may never see again, answered questions, gave suggestions, it was fun and I look forward to doing it again. I just hope that the people coming here for the first time had a more positive first impression of the island and of the people here. Once I got home, I passed out. My back was killing me and I even had on my Fit Flops, next time it’s flat Havaianas for this greeter.
Sherri and Brian had a get together at their house on Tuesday afternoon. It was a nice day but there was a cool breeze, some of the ladies were freezing. My friend Jeanie was there and she was cold. My Wonder Woman friend Nidia went down in the yard, picked some lemon grass, tied it up in a ball and boiled it in water, making Lemon Grass tea. It smelled excellent. At one point Jeanie had tea in one hand and wine in the other. Nidia is an amazing lady. She is the force behind Because We Care, the group that we worked with over Christmas. So many awesome women on this island.
The rest are just some random shots. Today is Friday and it’s cloudy and cool, just the opposite of yesterday, which was beautiful. We have to go pay our taxes and then run some errands and grab some food for the weekend.
Bill is finishing his drywall mess downstairs, Lola and Highway are playing their constant game of BITE ME and poor Luck is wishing they would all just go away.
Have a great weekend everyone and those of you still living in the frigid USA, keep warm. Summer is only a few months away, unlike here, where summer lasts all year…
Mermaid on a Raft 
I’ve so enjoyed your journey’s and stories! Too funny about that beetle, I would have screamed, too, haha! The road markers are similar to what we saw in Jamaica. They’d put boulders and often times a potted plant that stood a bit taller. Sometimes just a big stick in the hole, lol. They use what they can 🙂 Your dogs are adorable!
Thank you, for keeping us updated!
Barbara