We Made It :)

Hello everyone!

We have arrived safely in Roatan. Yesterday our flights went smoothly and there was someone from Clinica Esperanza at the airport who was there to pick us up. His name is Manu and he is originally from Roatan, but he only recently moved back to the island after living in Europe for quite a few years playing professional volleyball. He was very friendly and helpful - he took us to the grocery store (where we bought hardly anything and somehow spent almost $100) and then over to the clinic for a quick tour. Afterwards, we went to West End town and had a late lunch while he told us a little about the island.

It turns out we were a little wrong about the island's demographics. We read online there were about 40,000 to 50,000 people on the island, but Manu said it is actually closer to 100,000. According to Manu, when Hurricane Mitch hit the Honduran mainland in 1998, the island took in a lot of people temporarily to help them out while the mainland recovered. Those people never left and the island has grown exponentially since then. However, Manu told us that as much as the population and tourism industry have grown, the locals have not, and education and health are still lagging way behind. Government taxes are high here in Roatan but they don't see very much money back in return - in fact, the only road between the two biggest towns is unpaved and, according to Manu, very difficult to navigate by car.

After lunch we went to find the apartments we are staying at. Although it is located in West End, it's actually up a side road... a long, long ways up a side road. Thank goodness we were in a truck because there is no way a normal car could have driven that. Once we found the apartment, the owner met us and showed us around. It's not exactly what we hoped. The "fully stocked kitchen" is not quite what I was expecting. I actually told Eric we were not cooking until I could buy cleaning supplies to re-clean, but it got dark and we weren't sure if the walk was safe so we ended up cooking Mac & Cheese anyway. There also aren't any shelves for our clothes - only a closet with 7 hangers (I counted). The worst part is there seems to be a number of cracks and crevices that would allow in bugs, etc. This doesn't appear to be a problem until night when they are attracted to the lights we have on. The solution? Headlamps only after 6pm. But there are some positives - a patio with a table, a pretty nice bathroom, two ceiling fans, high ceilings... it could be worse.

Today Eric went into work and I decided to stay behind to get us moved in and try to find a different apartment, a cell phone to purchase, etc. No luck on the phone - we will probably have to ask the clinic how you go about getting and setting up a Honduran phone. Not a lot of luck on a new apartment either. I stopped at a few places that either are very expensive, don't do monthly rentals, or don't have anything available. We'd like to stay in West End but we can go to Sandy Bay where the clinic is if need be - there are some nice accommodations there and it would be fun to be near the other volunteers. We'll keep you posted on the housing. On the bright side I am pretty sure I sweated off 230984723890471 pounds walking around for 1 hour so this is a plus.

We are glad to finally be here! The next week may be stressful while we figure out the details but I'm sure it will work out in the end. I will write again soon with more details and information about the Clinic and Eric's experiences!