SHARK!!! And other adventures this weekend.

Looking back on all that I've posted during my time here, there is so much more that has happened and that I want to share. But not enough time to write it all down, let alone explain it well enough for people to understand without actually being here. I feel like I've forgotten to write major things that have happened but I just can't think of them. So I'm sure the memories will resurface when I'm back in the States and I'll fill in the gaps on the blog then. I return back to the States in 10 days. TEN DAYS. This is absolutely craziness. How has this summer gone by so quickly!?!?! Really. It's not okay. I feel like I just got here a week ago, yet I feel so at home here that I feel like I've been here forever. It's a weird feeling that I can't explain, and it makes my heartsick to think of leaving Honduras and all that it means to me, but I know it will be good to see friends and family back in Oregon again as well. Okay, there's my little rant about leaving. Now onto the main story of this post...

SHARK.

Yesterday I got back from spending the weekend in Roatan, an island off the coast of Honduras. I didn't think I'd have the opportunity to go there since it's expensive to pay for the ferry, hotel, meals, etc but my friend Adrian who is also working here, doing occupational therapy and helping with construction, his grandpa and grandma have a vacation home on the island with a private beach and everything and they just so happened to be there this month so they invited us out to stay with them. Talk about an incredible blessing!!
Friday morning, before we left the hospital area I picked up some prescription drops for my ear because one of the doctor's said I might have an ear infection. And it definitely felt like it!! Then we caught a ride to La Ceiba and then had a sketchy lunch including questionable cow parts in this interesting soup (the person serving it didn't even recognize what was in it..), walked around the markets there, and then took a taxi to the dock. The Ferry ride is only a little over an hour long, but it just so happened to be really choppy water that afternoon and guess who was throwing up for the last 45 minutes of the ride? Yep, me. Suuuuuper fun. Especially since I was in the front row, in view of everyone else on the ferry..haha. But, what can you do, right? Literally no one else got sick the entire trip, just me. And I think part of it had to do with my ear aching and feeling weird; it threw off my equilibrium, etc and the lunch probably didn't help either. Aaaanyways, we got there safely and then met his grandparents, I threw up again after having known them for a total of maybe 2 minutes, and then went to their house.
The view from the top of the upper deck from their home is absolutely breath taking. And the stars at night don't even seem real. There are twice as many as I can see back in Bend, and the ocean is right below you with the waves crashing in and the rhythm of the sea makes you so relaxed and peaceful. The view from the upper deck is the photo below:

Saturday was full of lots and lots and lots of swimming. I'm pretty sure we went snorkeling three different times on Saturday alone. Haha. There's a shipwreck towards the end of the Key where it meets the open ocean and we went and explored the shipwreck along with all the coral reef and fish there. The reef is the 2nd biggest reef, second to the Great Barrier Reef that is. In.Cred.Ib.Le.
Then, we took a kayak out and kayaked out of the Key and into the open ocean, toward the other end of the coast. The water is so incredibly blue that it's as if someone took dark blue food coloring and filled the ocean with it. Paddling over the coral reef we were just swimming through, and then looking as we cross 'the drop off' and suddenly you can't see for miles and miles and miles below you. When we got back we were talking with his grandma about where we had gone, etc and she interrupts us and says, "Wait, you went Right not Left when you reached the open ocean..?" Yes. Then, she proceeds to tell us that the end of the island where we were kayaking is known for shark activity and everyone is advised not to go there unless you're professionally trained, etc while the other end isn't and that we went to the wrong side.

I am continuously amazed by my Costco Kodak camera!!! haha seriously. This is the true, blue colors. *NOTedited*

We were unintentionally kayaking through shark infested waters for a few hours. Praise Jesus we didn't  encounter a shark!!!!! The picture above is from our kayak. Unedited, pure blue, paradise. Possibly with sharks below us/near by, of course. We also went hiking around the island and discovering other secret beach areas that aren't tourist-infested and ended up getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. We talked to some locals and they said the end of August is the worst time during the entire year for mosquitoes and that it literally started the day we got there...hahaha we WOULD have that timing! I literally have never even seen anyone have this many mosquito bites! Testing my self control for sure; not itching and scratching another bite every second of the day. Here is another inlet we discovered and literally ran through the jungle to reach because there was a swarm, yes like something out of a cartoon type of swarm, of mosquitoes attacking us.

Pictures to the right are from where we ended our hike.


And of course, we went back and did some more snorkeling to cool off in the middle of the day. :)
We went out to dinner and then walked along the beach in the more busy, city-like side of the island and watched the waves roll in and out while relaxing underneath the star filled sky.



Sunday morning was breakfast on the beach and then more snorkeling!! And luckily my stupid ear problem wasn't holding me back from always being in the water, just taking care of it and not diving down too deep where it puts a lot of pressure on it--learned that one the hard way! Hah. I definitely spent more time in my swimsuit than in normal clothes this weekend; we were always in the water or on the beach! This reef was on the other side of the island and so it was different than the area we were used to from Saturday, at Adrian's grandparent's home. So we swam way out and even swam out to 'the drop off', which we had only kayaked over the day before on the other side of the island. Swimming over the drop off is the most freaky, indescribable feeling I have ever experienced. It feels like you're falling and have no control over it, even though you're floating and you're perfectly fine. It's just like it is in Finding Nemo too! Haha The reef is all pretty and full of different fish and shells, etc and then all of a sudden it ends and it is deep deep DEEP blue ocean for miles and miles and there's no telling what's even five feet in front of you because the bottom is so dark that the perspective with the sunlight is really trippy. Definitely freaked out for a moment and took me a while to swim out past it and look back at the coral reef from the open ocean. There were two gray colored fish as big as my forearm that followed us around and swam behind us for about 45 minutes or so. And then there was a school of fish that all congregated around us and went where we went--like we were part of the school too! Haha. Such a surreal feeling to look down and see all these colorful fish swimming around you, more like you're swimming through them since there are so many of them, yet they never actually touch you. Apparently there was a jelly fish that joined the party at one point and Adrian was trying to get my attention to warn me not to move to a certain side because then I'd touch it, but I didn't hear him and luckily I never did move that way anyways. I learned about my stalker jellyfish after we were back on the beach...This is why we never swim alone, right?? Life lessons to live by. Oh! and Adrian found a beautiful conch shell while snorkeling, but unfortunately the animal was still living in it, so we had to put it back.
Then it was time to go pack and take more photos and then head out on the ferry again! Time went by so quickly on Roatan this weekend, but I enjoyed every moment we were there. Adrian and his grandparents were so hospitable and welcoming and every where we went was absolutely breathtaking, the photos actually turned out really great (especially considering they're from my little Kodak camera) but even then photos will never truly be able to capture the beauty there.
And good news! I didn't get sick on the ferry ride back :) I took a pill to help me not feel sick and thankfully the water wasn't choppy either so I actually was asleep for most of the ride. But Adrian and I couldn't find seats next to each other, and poor Adrian had an infatuated teenage couple sitting right in front of him, making out the entire time...one of the few times I am thankful to not find a seat next to the person I'm traveling with! Haha.
And so now, I'm back in Balfate and working at the hospital and helping in surrounding communities with other missionaries that live here full time for the next 9 days.
I fly out the 30th of August, just in time for my friend Aubrey's wedding on September 1st! And I can't wait to be greeted by my grandparents from Colorado when I arrive in Bend as well. As difficult as it's going to be to leave here, God has taught me a lot this summer and I know He's only got more plans and experiences waiting for me back in the States with different lessons, people, and culture. Y por eso, I'm excited for what the future holds.
Thank you again for reading, and for praying for my safety and health! I have especially been blessed with safety as of late with sketchy taxi rides and lots of traveling and walking around unfamiliar cities, etc.
En Dios,
Maria