Keep Em Coming!

Hey! I just wanted to know that I love reading each and everyone of ya'lls post. Keep them coming, please. I'm still trying to learn my way around the Blog...Not sure if I can respond to each of you individually or if I have to respond to the blog site. I'll play around with that tonight. I'm taking any advice from Bloggers who can assist. I'm creating a Top 10 List of Island Challenges...So stay tuned. Miss you guy! We hope everyone is doing well.

Misfortune

Greetings! Let's see what been going on over here on Utila. Sharon is back from the states so, I'm no longer in charge of the bar. But we still go daily. What can I say...Bob and I have been very lazy the past 2 days. Lots of naps, watching movies, and happy hours. There has been 3 unfortunate events on back to back to back days. One being a private charter from the mainland carrying 4 passengers crashed here on this island. Apparently all passengers including the pilot were blitz out of their mind. The pilot forgot to put the landing gear down. I guess there's something for being drunk...No one was hurt and they all walked away from accident. The plane however not so lucky. They did some nice damage to the aircraft. The very next day a good friend of Jeff's...The guy we are living with. His friend Roger was involved in an explosion. Apparently the propane tank had a malfunction and as he was trying to repair it when someone in their home turned on the Hot Water which caused a spark. That spark sent Roger flying 30 feet and thru a door. He's in pretty bad shape. We are told 2nd degree burns w/some 3rd degree in other areas. He was airlifted to San Pedro Sula and is in the burn unit. Fortunately they were able to get him there and treat him immediately. He seems to be in good spirits even though he's doped up. Roger is from Canada and needs some prayers. He'll be going thru some plastic surgeries soon. 3rd thing...poor old man. I can't remember his name but he's 105 years old and lives in the hotel/apartments behind Driftwood. He fell down some stairs and took off half his scalp since he landed on concrete. I'm glad we were at the bar since we were the only ones around with a golf cart that was fully juiced up. So Sharon borrowed the cart & transported him up to the airport to airlift him to the mainland. We are told that he is doing very well and is tough as nails. I told Bob he can't charge him for the rental of the cart or the little bit of blood that got on the vinyl seats. Just kidding. Bob has totally chilled out on these type of things. Now that I depressed some of you. Let's end on a positive note. We met this girl Jackie. She's originally from England but is traveling all around the world by herself. She had been here on this island for 6 months and is heading down to Columbia for awhile as her next destination. She loves it there and has convinced Bob and I to add it to our travel list. Anyway, we had a farewell party for her on Sunday. I have to tell ya...these folks around here now how to throw a BBQ and party. We had a great time and want to wish her well on her endeavors. She's amazing and has great stories. I will miss chatting with her. We hope our paths cross in the near future. Hope everyone is doing well. We miss all of you and we will be in touch. Lots of love! - bnb.

Making the most of it!

Hello everyone! How's it going? I got to tell you we pay a lot for electricity down here and yet we still have "blackouts". We experienced a 12 hr blackout on Tuesday. We do have back up generators at the restuarant and bar plus at the house we are living in. Not everyone has this luxury. Our bar was packed this evening. We had ice cold beer, music and food all evening long. Unfortunately that made my day very long. As I was about to leave large groups of folks stroll in. We needed the extra help so, I stayed. When it finally died down I gathered my stuff and Bob @ I headed to the casa. I was anxious to get home, shower and lie down. I was a whooped puppy. Well, guess what...We don't see any lights in the house but a few flickers when we pulled up. WTF! Jeff apparently couldn't get the generator started and it was stiffling in the place. I was pissed. Jeff had the magnificant idea to go the beach. What? Are you kidding me? At this hour? What else were we going to do... We loaded up a cooler, folding chairs and a few flashlights and headed to the beach. Mind you its now 11:00 at night. The moon is full. There's a cool breeze off the ocean and the waves are crashing. We plopped our chairs in ankle deep water, opened our brewsky and watch the waves come in. It was an amazing night. The moon was beaming on the water and it was so cool. I had never seen the ocean quite like that before. I loved the roar of the waves and the smell of the salt water. Guess what? I was no longer pissed. I was in awe and pure serenity. By 1:30 in morning we decided to head back home. We could see that the electricity is still off. Didn't phase me till we walked in the house. I stunk. I felt sand and salt all over my body. The pumps weren't working so no water; no shower. I was back to being miserable. I guess I didn't drink enough. Bob was already snoring and it didn't even phase him. I was pacing then wha-la...the lights came on. I hear the pumps...woohoo! I closed all the windows, turned on our A/C and hopped in the shower. Awe Man, I was one happy camper. Before shutting my eyes for some zzzz's...i recalled the evening at the beach. Muy Tranquil!

The Restaurant Biz

Hi! How is everyone doing? Things are still going well for us. Sharon has left for the states and I'm in charge of the restaurant...Scary, huh? Hasn't been too bad. Sharon's husband Bruce is still on the island has been helpful in most situations. Let's start with the kitchen help. We have Letty, Maria, Reina, Heidy, and Elena. Letty is the bubbly one. She's always dancing, singing and very happy. She also speaks very good english which helps me with the others. Maria and Reina are sisters and are very good workers. They party hard but always show up for work. Unlike Letty. She's the youngest and yesterday didn't make it in to work due to exessive dancing and late hours out. I will have to have a talk with her on Tuesday...JOY! Elena has taught me the most. I really enjoy working with her in the kitchen. We've beat the hell out of Conch (which makes it very tender), fillet fish and she's taught me the different varieties of fish. Lots of folks want to sell you fresh fish around here but you have to be careful of what you are buying. If you don't know the difference...They may try to sell you Snapper when it's really Barracuda. We purchase lots of Snapper, Mahi Mahi and Tuna. Heidy...She's the trouble maker of the pack. She hates Letty and really tries to stir up crap with her. Saturday night Bruce told her to knock it off and she decided to leave within 30 minutes of starting her shift. No worries...I enjoyed helping out in the kitchen when we got busy. Sunday is one of our busiest days and Heidy decides she's still pissed off and comes in an hour and 1/2 late. We try to have 2 girls in the morning shift (9-4); one in the afternoon (2-6) and 2 girls in the evening shift (4-10) especially Fri - Sun. Waitstaff/Bartenders: We have Danny, Laura, Kat, Vanessa and Sue. Why is it that there's always a princess wanna-be in a crowd? By the names provided can you guess which one is the "princess"? Kat! She's from Seattle and she is really pretty. There's just something about her that gets under the skin of the others. But with me she's been good. Although I had to question several of her tickets one evening for not charging the correct prices. As a rule of thumb, errors found are the responsibility of the workers to make up. She had some really big ones. I told her that we would need to collect for those errors. She doesn't want to discuss this situation with me any longer. She rather deal with Sharon when she gets back. Fine! I'm pretty sure Sharon will tell her the same thing I told her. Pay UP! Danny is a Honduran from the mainland, La Ceiba. He's great! Laura is from France and I really enjoy hanging with her. She's a trip. Vanessa and Sue are sisters and they too are from the mainland. Very sweet girls! Driftwood is opened Tuesday - Sunday (11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.) Tuesday will be my busiest day. That's when everyone gets paid. Staff and vendors. I will probably need to go buy electricity for the restuarant and definitely bank day. It's also the day where I call and order all the beer and meat for the week. So, lots going on all day. Sunday is staff's busiest day. We smoke briskets, offer Horseshoe tournament and we have a good mix of locals and expats on this evening. That's the biz as I know it so far! It has been long hours. I normally report in around 8:30 a.m. to audit the books from the night before. And I don't leave until 9:00 most nights. But its been fun! There's nothing like being on the water and watching boats drive by or meeting new people who hook up to our deck for cocktails. The restuarant does extend out over the water. Floating deck is what they call it. It's very cool and there's always a constant breeze. Plus I get free food and booze while I'm here. Can't beat that. Today is my "off" day and Bob & I are off to the beach for snorkeling. Tonight, I'm cooking for some friends at our place and we'll be gathering around for the season finale of Dr. House. Take care and always wishing you guys the best! Love, Bonnie (&Bob)

Utila

Howdy! As you guys know we are spending the next 3 months on an island called Utila. One of the Bay Islands off of Honduras. We are adjusting quite well to the "island" lifestyle and like it! Utila is a small island. 9 miles long and 4 miles wide. We see lots of backpackers here since it is so cheap and diving is suppose to be amazing. I'm not a diver but Bob is. He hasn't explored much in this area just yet. We're stil adapting and trying to get into some kind of routine. But what's the hurry. People here get around by walking, biking, golf carts, or ATV's. I decided to purchase a bike. One for the exercise and two much cheaper than a golf cart or ATV. The walking was a little much since we live on the back side of the island with a friend, Jeff. At the time...Biking seemed like great idea but here's the scenario. Being that we live on the backside of the island the road is unpaved w/large pot holes and no street lights. Still not a problem when traveling in the daylight...but I somewhat thought that thru too by purchasing a flashlight to go in my basket. However, what I didn't bank on was the journey back to the house at night after being slightly intoxicated. Holy Crap...What was I thinking? You guys know how graceful I am on foot can you imagine me on bike? So, Bob and I decided to purchase a golf cart. Much better and lots easier when grocery shopping. Groceries are very expensive here. For instance my Velvetta Cheese...we all know I'm a queso junky. $10.00 for my 2 lb block. Yes, I still bought it. Everything is pricey...Gas is going for a low price of $6.30/gallon. YIKES! What I find interesting is how they do electricity. You have to prepay for electricity. You can buy as much or little as you want. Each house has a box and when you prepay you are given a code which you enter into the box and gives you the kilowatts to operate your electricity in your home. If you don't have money...You don't have electricity. So, we are constantly checking our box at home to make sure we don't run out of power. We do use A/C at night. We are paying $.58/kilowatt. One of the most expensive cities in the world. So, what exactly are we doing to occupy our hours on this island. Most of you know we have lots of friends here on the island. One of them being Sharon and Bruce who own and operate a bar/restaurant called The Driftwood. I've been working with Sharon learning the in's and out's of running the business. Sharon is leaving for the states this coming Thursday for 2 weeks to visit family. Bob and I will be taking over while she is gone. Never knew what all was involved in running a place like this. I'm learning lots and having a blast. We meet new people everyday and really enjoy the vibe from everyone. It's awesome! We've already had guest first part of May. Matt and Tina from Minnesota. We met them 2 years ago on Roatan. We had a really nice time with them. There visit was short since they were spending time between Utila and Roatan. Ginger and her family are joining us in July and we can't wait for their visit. We've been scoping out hotels and condos for them stay. I guess I should submit this now...I'm counting my blessings that I got this far without a power outage. Bob and I wish everyone the absolute best! We hope to see you guys during our travels. And yes, I promise to stay in touch more! Love you. Bon and Bob.

Alright! Alright!

OK! So, I'm failing miserably at this "blogging"...but it's not from lack of trying. I have tried to post twice only to lose everything due to a power outage. They are adding transformers to the island and we'll have occasional blackouts. These outage are only for minutes at a time but they seem to know when I'm on the internet. You'll see several postings as I start this process again. Just in case we lose one another. By the way I hope everyone is doing well.