Enjoying Honduras

Here I am in Honduras at Macaw Mountain Bird Sanctuary. The birds were amazing but a little scary, they were so big. 

Honduras has been wonderful.  it is different from El Salvador - no volcanos, so the architecture in the towns is older because they have not been destroyed by eruptions.  There are some problems with earthquakes, and Hurricane Mitch did a tremendous amount of damage in the late ninties and a lot of people got killed.  It is very rural, and there is a lot of agriculture which has led to a lot of deforestation.  In fact, El Salvador is the only country in Central American that plants more trees than they cut down.  But they do have awesome jungles here - we will be spending three days at a jungle lodge in about a week or so.

This little guy was not very nice.  He kept trying to bite Mike's shoes.  Toucans are very bad flyers, so they jump from tree to tree. They also jump quickly on the ground, too.  When he started looking at my feet, I backed away quickly. 

We also went to the Mayan ruins at Copan, which is close to the border with Guatemala.  The ruins are not the tall, imposing structures one sees at Chichen Itza or Palenque in Mexico, but the quality of the carvings are superb.  Here is an example.

There were many of these all over the grounds.  The detail is phenominal.  We have been to so many of these ruins that we are starting to recognize the different deities, even though they are a little different at every site.  Tlaloc is the rain god, and he always has big teeth.  He is our favorite - we always offer up a thought or two for more rain. (Rain cools things down considerably, and for a small but wonderful amount of time after the rain, the humidity is down as well.) 

Honduras, being on the Caribbean instead of the Pacific ocean, is more humid than where we are living in El Salvador.  And  the water is so warm and nice!  We took a tour of a national park here yesterday, and got to swim and snorkle in the warm water.  Because it had rained recently and we were near an estuary, the visbility was not great.  but it was great anyway.

Our driver, however, needs practice swimming!  When Mike and I jumped off the boat (we brought Ernesto on many of our tours and stuff) Ernesto followed  along.  He immediately started a strong, fast crawl and was very soon exausted.  Mike and I had to pretty much babysit him all the way to the shore. 

Having a driver has its ups and downs.  We have spent way too much money on him, mostly because we are weak and unable to draw proper boundaries.  I am going to have to learn that there needs to be a distance between service providers and us - I know this sounds terrible and snobbish, but without strict boundaries, things get too blurry.  He was beginning to act as though this was a vacation for the three of us, rather than him being our driver, for which he is getting paid quite well. But because we like him, well, it is hard at times.  While we are certanily not rich by US standards, we are rich by  Central American standards and even by cruising standards, since many people are living off a kitty and periodically return to the US to work and rebuild the kitty.  We have an income stream that is more than adequate for this part of the world - we can pretty much afford the best of everything.  That sort of makes people think they can take advantage of that, knowing that we can technically afford to do what it is that they want us to do.  I am not used to that - not used to being thought of as a cash cow.  I don't really like that and am not comfortable with it.  I don't want to have to think about whether people actually like me or are just interested  in the money they think I have.  Mike is the king of the tippers, so that doesn't help us keep a low profile.  But so be it. This is something new and I will learn how to handle it.  I never thought that actually having money could be as big a hassle as not having it - but as the saying goes, I have been rich and I have been poor and rich is better.  I have no idea who said that - maybe Groucho Marx.

Anyway, the national park was also amazing.  We saw howler monkeys in the wild.  I have never seen monkeys outside of zoos.  These guys are bigger than I thought they would be, and the howling noise they make is pretty intimidating.  The tourists were urged not to smile at them, because when you smile you show your teeth, and showing your teeth is what monkeys do with each other when they are getting ready to fight. 

Honduras has more different ethnicities that I have seen in El Salvador.  There is a group of people known as Garifunas, who are descended from African slaves and Arawak Indians.  These people escaped from slave ships and settled here in Honduras and Belize.  They have their own music and dances and customs.  The mixture of European, Garifuna, Indian, and Mestizo makes for really attractive looking people.  Hondurans are a bit more reserved (except for the Garifuna who are quite outgoing) than Salvadorans, but once they warm up, they are wonderful people who are interested in everything we have to say.  I have used my Spanish with excellent results.  They really like it when I speak Spanish, and have paid me many compliments on how well and clearly I speak Spanish.  Mike is getting better too - he does not speak much but his comprehension is soaring the longer we are here.  In fact,  he is better than I am at understanding when people are giving us directions.   Which makes sense because navigation in all its forms is one of his strengths.  

The big cities here in Central America are (so far) noisy and crowded with blaring traffic and loud music.  They can be dirty and smelly at times, with wires crisscrossing the streets from  power pole to power pole. The curbs are high, there are lots of holes to avoid stepping in, and hawkers are calling for you to buy everything from live chickens to strange herbs to clothing and watches.  You can find a kiosk doing almost anything.  A friend got his watch fixed while he waited.  I found towels for a fraction of the price Wal-Mart wanted.  There are food stands cooking up everything you could want to eat.  I immediately forgot the warnings not to eat from the street vendors way back in Mexico and have not been sick yet.  You can  buy sliced mango and pineapple in a bag, tamales, sliced cucumbers with chili powder, roasted corn on the cob, and on and on.  I love it, even with the noise and the confusion.  Like El Salvador, there is a heavy secuirty presence here, with armed guards everywhere and all the buildings protected by concertina wire over cement fences.  But I am getting used to that, and those armed guards are good sources of directions.  We aren't stupid though - I keep a close grip on my purse, and we don't wander around at night at all, choosing cabs if we want to go somewhere.

They do have all the American fast food places - McDonalds, Wendys, KFC, and Burger King leading the charge.  The food is the same except they have local foods too, like fried plantains and refried red beans.  We were surprized, however, to find Popeye's Chicken here in Honduras.  of all things!  But fried chicken is big here - there is a chain we have seen everywhere called Pollo Campero.  I have tried it and it is pretty good.  But then I love chicken.  I had chicken last night with a crreamy garlic sauce that was to die for.

Here are a few more pictures of what we have been seeing on this trip.  This is a tunnel in the ruins at Copan that had bats in it.  You can see them if you look closely.

Here are some of the ruins that have been only partially excavated.  Depending on the materials, letting the air get to the ruins could damage them.

Actually, I just discovered the internet is starting to act up, so I will end this now.  Tomorrw we leave for Roatan and seven days of scuba diving.  So we are seeing the above ground jungles and will see the underwater ones as well.  I love it here.

  “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”   (Lao Tzu)

              

 

Disaster!

There was no disaster for  us,  but there was for our friends - minding their own business below decks, working on the computer, reading, thinking about getting ready to go to the pool when all of a sudden there is this strange rumbling noise.  What is that?  Rushing up  on deck to discover the mizzen mast has fallen over.  Whoa!

For those who don't know, a mizzen mast is the smaller mast that is behind the main mast in the stern of a sailboat.  If the mizzen is in front of the rudder, the boat is a "ketch."  If it is at the very end of the stern, behind the rudder, the boat is a "yawl."  I have not seen very many yawls, but ketches are popular and I would consider having one if I wasn't so lazy I do not want to handle anymore sails.  By the way, a "sloop" is a boat with one mast  and one headsail.  A "cutter" has one mast directly in the middle of the boat, with two headsails.  We have a cutter.  Sloops have the mast a bit further astern, and some of them do have two headsails - making them "cutter-rigged sloops" rather than a true cutter.  A schooner has more than one mast, but the masts get bigger as they get further astern.  Ketches and yawls have more than one mast, but the stern mast is smaller than the main mast.  I should get some pictures, but we all know how good I am with the picture posting process.

Anyway, all of us jumped into our dinghies and quickly raced to help out.  We (I mostly stood around watching) got the mast secured and got it on board the boat.  No small task - thank goodness the water was fairly calm, there was little wind, it was broad daylight and all those things that usually never happen when something goes wrong  It usually happens in bad weather and at night.  Our friends are pretty shook up, but since they are sailors, they are looking immediately forward as to how to get the problem solved.  It is obvious what happened - a chain plate failed - so no need for a lot of  post mortem. 

Otherwise, things are fine and gorgeous in El Salvador.  Mike and I are leaving in two days for what has turned into a 27 day trip to Honduras.  Of course we are doing this just as two hurricanes are kicking up in the Caribbean - but their trajectories appear to be in our favor.  But I wonder - if we are stuck in our hotel on Roatan without being able to dive, will they still charge us for the diving part of the trip?  It was a package . . .

Here are some pictures of Mike's fishing trip.

This is the fishing group - from left we have Jason, Hugh, Santos, Mike, Rogelio, Ron.

He fought this fish for an hour and a half.   

And a fine fish it was - and is, because it was catch and release.

Here, Mike is using his toes to help hold the pole because his arms were exhausted holding the pole.

It was a very exciting trip.  I think it was one of his best birthdays ever.  The guys were talking about it for days later.  Ron caught a sailfish as well - here it is.



Mike did not bring his fish on board - it was too big.  This fish is about 150 lbs.  Mike's marlin was between 350 and 400 lbs - it was likely it would kill the fish (or hurt someone!) to try and pull it into the boat for a photo.  The fish was cut loose once it was caught and brought up to the boat.

Anyway, other than getting ready for the trip and feeling bad for our friends, there is not a whole lot of news.  I have fallen in love with the tropical lifestyle - and who would ever have guessed that I can be perfectly happy in a cabin that is over 90 degrees?  Amazing, that is for sure.  (I am still worried about the dying fans - one thing I CANNOT live without is my bedroom fan . . .

“Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.” (Ernest Hemingway)





   

As Time Goes By

Things have been so much fun that I hardly know where to start!

We went down the estuary with a group of friends and had crab and shrimp and fish.  It was amazing as usual.  I have never eaten crab like this.  In the past, I have had only Alaskan King Crab legs, and was never even sure how to eat other kinds.  Well, it is not hard, only messy.  Depending on the size of them, of course.  If they are small enough, you just eat them shells and all.  The crab at this estaury restaurant was steamed or boiled and then sauteed in a tomato-pepper sauce.  To die for!  I now am a lover of crabs of all sorts.  I want to get some and try cooking them myself.  I have cooked live lobsters on this boat, so I think I can handle crabs, too.  Here is some soup we had.

A couple days later, Mike and five of his friends went on a big fishing boat - we chartered it as a way for Mike to celebrate his 53rd birthday (he is a mere child compared with my 56 years!) in style.  He has never done anything special for his birthdays since we have been together, and before that spent most of them on Navy ships.  So this year I wanted to do something nice for him.  And it turned out great - he got a 350-400 pound black marlin!  Of course they did not keep it, catch and release all the way.  Then his friend Ron caught a nice sized sailfish.  This was a first for Ron, and we were so happy to have been a part of it.  It took Mike one and one half hours to fight that fish!  I have pictures, but they are on the other computer (of course!) so I will have to post them later.  Too bad.  I did have some stuff on Facebook.

Last night we took a night time dinghy trip into the mangrove jungle.  It was me and Mike in our dinghy, and Ron and Rogelio (one of our local friends) in Ron's dinghy.  It was absolutely incredible.  We turned off the engines and just drifted with the tide and current, listening to the sounds of the jungle - all sorts of noises.  The moon was full so there was plenty of light, even through the clouds.  The jungle at night is completely different than the day time jungle.  I would have been a bit hesitant to go if not for the presence of Rogelio, who grew up here and knows it well, and Mike's GPS chartplotter that leaves a Hansel-and-Gretel type trail to follow back.  There are so many twisting turns through these mangroves one could get lost.  We almost ran aground when we weren't paying attention, but we pulled up at the last minute and running aground in a dinghy is not a big deal anyway.  Worse case scenario you have to get out of the boat and into water with a yucky bottom to pull it back into deep enough water.  There are no dangerous underwater rocks here - the bottom is like an underwater dune.  but muddy.

It is getting hotter by the day - well over 90 each day and lots of humidity.  We are not getting the rain we are suppposed to have - it did rain nicely two days ago, but other than that, there has been nothing substantial for weeks.  It rains everywhere but here - I guess that is why this area is called Bahia Del Sol.  The locals are telling us this is very unusual.  Dare I say it?  Global warming????

So anyway, I am having a nice time and really enjoying things.  We are planning to leave next week for an extended visit to Honduras, which will include seven days of diving off Roatan in the Caribbean, which is supposed to be some of the best diving in the world.  We will also see Copan, a large Mayan ruin site.  I have heard great things about Honduras, and look forward to the trip.  I still have some reservations to make, but it should be fine.  We will have a driver, but in some ways, I wish we were taking the bus.  I have created a monster with our driver - gotten way too familiar and now he is taking advantage of us.  I hate having to be the bad guy, but I may have to.  I guess I need to keep some boundaries up - but it is hard for me to do that.  I am a horrible judge of character - if someone is but civil to me I think and proceed as though they were the absolute salt of the earth.  Not that our driver is a bad guy, but I am beginning to feel like an ATM with arms and legs.  But I will work this out.  It was sort of a good lesson, but the truth is I probably have learned nothing and will continue just as I am, making friends with all and sundry.  The best I can hope for is that I am no longer going out of my way to befriend crazy people.  That would be a big step forward. 

I can't believe it is already August!  We will be here until sometime in October, then head south to Costa Rica and then Panama.  We think we will leve for the Marquesas and Society islands in the early spring,  but who knows, we may stay in Central America for another year as there are so many wonderful places here left to explore.  Plus it is muy barato (very cheap) to live here -  not to be disregarded by any means.  There are so many options!  The one thing I know for sure is that I do not want to be in the US until after the election - it would make me crazy to have to hear all the ads and complaining and lying and distortions and all that sort of thing.  Our plan is to visit around Christmas.

So anyway - that is it for today.  I have no plans but to swim in the pool and stay cool.  Steak and avocado and tomatoes for dinner!

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."  (Soren Kierkegaard)

Living la Vida Lazy

So again, I have let a significant amount of time go by without making a new posting.  What can I say that I have not already said?  And since I cannot bear to read over my old posts and because I have no short term memory, I have no idea what sorry excuses I have given in the past.  So I have no plans to make any excuses here for the untimeliness of my postings.  I have just been lazy,  Some writer I will turn out to be!  At this rate, I can barely get a poem out.

During our last visit to San Salvador, we spent the night and stayed at a new hotel.  We usually stay at the Villa Serena, which gives a nice discount to participants in the El Salvador rally.  it is a nice place in a good location.  The staff is pleasant to deal with, the beds are reasonably firm, and best of all, the AC is good.  You can get that room really cold if you want it that way.  I tend to judge all hotels by the quality of their air conditioning.  All hotel rooms, in my opinion, tend to be stuffy.  Even the really nice, expensive ones.  I have stayed in places that seemed to have good AC, but very soon it stops working and the room is no longer cold, it is getting hot and stuffy.  We stayed at a place near Carlsbad caverns, New Mexico a few years back.  For those who don't know, it is really hot there, in the middle of the desert.  We could get the room to cool down, but we could not get it to stay cool.  I woke up many times at night, sweating, trying to get the AC to go back on.  So I really appreciate the good AC at Villa Serena.  The new hotel is called Hotel Hostel San Jose.  (There are a lot of places down here that have "hostel" in their name but they are not hostels in the sense of youth hostels.)  We found out about it because we  met the owner a month or so ago here at the Bahia Del |Sol.  (This is the hotel we are moored near and where we swim, get our laundry done, and eat most of our meals.  We pay 14.00 per week to use their facilities.  That also gives us dollar beers, and  30% off an already very reasonable menu prices.)    His name is Ernesto (not to be confused with our driver Ernesto) and he was spending the weekend here with his family.  This hotel gets a lot of local tourism from San Salvador residents on the weekends.  Ernesto visited with us, and invited us to come see his hotel.  So we did.  It was just as nice as the Villa Serena, albeit a bit more expensive.  But next time we get 50% off our stay.  Ernesto was  not there when we arrived, but called our room later to say hello and we invited him to dinner.  His English is limited, but between his English and my Spanish, we had a great time, discussing El Salvador and its politics and business climate.  It was really interesting and fun. 

One interesting thing about being here is watching a nation sort of re-brand itself, to use a business metaphor.  This is a developing country, coming out of a brutal civil war.  The war really ended in the nineties, but it was very destructive and the country is still recovering from both the war and the years of being ruled by a pretty nasty dictatorship.  It is still an armed camp - everywhere you go there are armed  security guards and concertina wire.  They do have a bad problem with gang activity, abut that does not really affect international tourists.  I really have a feeling that all this security is partly due to habit.  Prior to the war, there were numerous police-army-secret police-type groups all over the country, including right wig death squads.  When the war ended, most of those soldiers were absorbed into one police agency, and the others abolished.  I guess in some ways it was to help keep people employed.  The same thing has happened in Mexico, where each time there was a revolution, the losing army was absorbed into the standing government army.  As a result, they have a huge army in |Mexico that acts more as an internal police force, and Mexico has not been involved in any foreign wars in many, many years.  And they are top heavy with officers.

Anyway, all this security and guns can be a bit overwhelming when you first get here, but I am used to it now.  I barely notice unless I am looking for it and wondering what would happen if it were to go away.  I don't think things would change much, but what do I know? 

So what else do I have to say today? Things are generally good.  It is really easy to be lazy in this hot,  humid climate.  I am drenched in sweat most of the day, even with our fans going.  Except for basic boat maintenance, we don't do too much.  We are getting a new dining table (the old one broke a long time ago and I didn't like it anyway) which should arrive on Sunday.  Our friend and landlord (He owns the mooring field we are in) Santos is making the table for us.  I have seen the progress and it is beautiful - solid teak with fabulous grain.  I will take a picture of it.  He also made canvas covers for our fuel jerrycans, (which degrade in the sunlight if not covered), and also made our canvas shade/water catcher.  He has also become a good friend, and almost every Sunday he takes us on a panga ride through the jungle, where we stop at one restaurant for beer and crab soup (which is to die for), and another restaurant for fish and shrimp (also to die for).  He brings us, some of  the other cruisers, his girlfriend, and various friends of his.  It has been  a lot of fun.  It was through Santos that we met Enrique, who owns a restaurant that also rents jet skis and kayaks, and stuff like that.  Seven of us went their for breakfast this morning, and it was one of the best breakfasts any of us have had since being here.  We had pupusas with two friend eggs and ranchero sauce on top.  It was served with Salvadoran refried beans (red beans as opposed to pintos), fried bananas, and tortillas.  I love this stuff. 

I have been asked what I do all day. The answer is that of course it depends on the day.  Going to the grocery store is an all day affair.  We either have to get a driver to take us to San Salvador, or we can take the bus into Zacatecaluca, which takes just over an hour and two buses.  usually we splurge for a cab ride home (about $30.00) because we have too many groceries to carry.  We can also take our dinghies into San Luis La Herradura, but that is a tiny village with a limited selection.  Also, you have to watch the tides carefully as you could get stuck in water that is too shallow even for a dinghy and outboard motor if the tide is not right.  Because we are an estuary, the tides are rather dramatic and there is a current to contend with.  Some cruisers have really small engines for their dinghies, and when the tide is strong they have a hard time going against the current.  Our engine is 9.9 HP, which is big enough.  Other things I do all day are: general housework (dishes, floors, bathroom, things like that), reading, visiting with other boats, swimming and hanging around the pool, taking dinghy rides, trying to handle my pictures on the computers (an on going project that is making me crazy as I am not good on the computer for anything except word processing), trying to figure put new ways to make the boat more livable, watching fish and sunsets and stuff like that.  I guess if I were not naturally lazy, I might be going nuts with not enough to do.  But as I am indolent by nature, it fits.  I spend a lot of time just thinking about things.  At night, there is the nightly lightning show to watch - even if it does not rain, there is lightning around us every night, 360 degrees of it.  I especially enjoy it when it is close enough to watch, but not close enough to make even Mike nervous, and he hates lightning and is terrified of it.  I guess  that is what happens when you TWICE in your lifetime get so close to a lightning strike that it knocks you down.  I love watching it and I love when it rains.  Our cabin is tight as a drum with no leaks, and we can leave a couple hatches open so it stays cool but no rain comes in, or not enough to make a difference.  My main concern is that the bed stays dry and the computer/nav station stays dry.  Everything else can be handled if it gets wet.  I have been soaked with rain tons of times and don't care - it is a warm rain.  And rain water makes the clearest ice I have ever seen. 

I have been thinking over my post about my rift with my friend and am feeling much better about the whole thing.  I feel bad about dumping it all over my readers, but was overwhelmed with the support I got from my dear friends, who know all about me and love me anyway.  I have plenty of friends here, no one has been turned against us (which I know was stupid to even worry about), and all seems to be well despite the fact I really miss her friendship.  But I am okay with it, and realize that it has way more to do with her than it does with me.  Again, I appreciate all of you more than you will ever know. 

On that note, I will end this for today. Tomorrow we have plans to go somewhere (I am not sure where) to eat crab and fish.  I am looking forward to another fabulous Salvadoran meal!!

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."  (Dr. Suess)      
                             

San Salvador Visit

We are here in San Salvador, spending the night after getting some dental work done, running errands, and renewing our visas.  I sort of like coming here and doing errands and I sort of don't - it is nice to get away for a night, but I am now out of practice dealing with traffic and noise and city stuff like that.  We don't have to drive - our friend and driver Ernesto takes us whereevcer we need to go - but it is still a bit overwhelming.  San Salvador is about an hour's drive from where the boat is moored. We can easily do whatever we need to on a day trip and don't need to spend the night, but I thought I needed a change. 

We got to have Chinese food for lunch.  I used to eat Asian food at least three times a week when we were still in the US, and I really miss it.  So far I have eaten at this particular place three times and have never been disappointed.  We tried a Thai place once - it was good, but the food was more generally pan-asian than really Thai.  Still, it was good, and getting that many vegetables at one sitting is a real treat.

The other night several of us went to the "Ninth Day" event for our friends father. Salvadorans hold a party on the ninth day after someone dies.  They serve tamales and cake and sweet coffee.  The family stays up all night, and then goes to church, then it is all over.  There was a band singing religious songs, and some prayers and reminiscing.  It was nice, and we were all glad to be there to support our friend, Santos.

Otherwise, there is not a lot of news.  It rained last night, but not enough to fill our tanks.  According to one of the cruisers who monitors the weather regularly, it should rain hard on Saturday night, maybe as much as two inches.  I am hoping for it - I like the idea we are drinking collected rainwater.  Plus it is very nice to shower in.  We take cold showers - there is hot water but in this climate, the absolute last thing I want to do is to get into hot water.        

We have decided not to try and schedule ourselves too much - we just may stay in Central America for another year.  There is just so much to see and do here, and I was starting to stress out trying to schedule land trips and so on.  After all, this is a big reason why we are living this way - so we don't have to live on a schedule.

I have been really enjoying the boat lately - we have finally gotten things the way we want them to be.  We are able to work on quality of life issues rather than simply fixing things that get broken.  We are starting to think about new upholstery and a nice canvas cover for the dinghy.  Interestingly, Mike has started talking about selling Magda Jean and getting a different boat!  I think it is just talk.  It better be!  I have no desire to start all over again with a new boat.  I like Magda Jean.  We will see what happens.  Besides, this is not a good time to sell a boat, even a Valiant 40!

So - I am going to enjoy another perk of spending the night here at a hotel - TV!  CNN International!  A movie channel in English! 

“Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.”  (George Sand)

     



 

Another Day, Another Perspective

So look at this - two posts in two days.  Let's see how long we can keep this up.

There have been other things going on here as well as me feeling sorry for myself.  Yesterday after I wrote that post - and it was good to get it off my chest - I put on some music.  I chose The Grateful Dead and Little Feat and as always, listening to that put me in a better mood.  I can't change what other people do,  but I do have control over how I let it affect me.

We (Mike) put in basically a new toilet.  The actual commode itself has not changed, but all the mechanisms are new.  We actually bought the replacement kit before we ever left San Diego (20 month ago) knowing that we would need it at some point, and would likely need it when we were nowhere near any product distributors.  And unlike a fridge, you really need a toilet.  Otherwise it means using a bucket.  Not happening.  So on the day Mike suggested we do absolutely nothing except kick back on the boat and maybe watch a movie, I called from the bathroom "There is something wrong with the flushing mechanism!"  So of course we (he) had to spend the whole day taking it apart and putting the new stuff in.  But now it is working better than the old one ever did.  I had no idea that the old one never did work right - I thought all the problems were just what happens with marine toilets.

On a sadder note, a good friend of ours here in El Salvador lost his father (motorcycle accident) last week.  We went to the Salvadoran equivalent of a wake - it happened the day of the death, and the casket was there.  There was music and a lot of praying.  Then the next day the father was taken down the estuary for a final panga ride, and then buried.  They don't do embalming here as a general rule.  Today there is a memorial party that we will attend with some of the other cruisers.  I feel really bad for Santos - he is the oldest and now he will be responsible for the family.  I do think he is up to the task, though.  It is hard to watch someone go through something like that.  I dont care how old and self sufficient one is - I think the loss of a parent really makes one feel adrift in the world.

We have also been riding around a lot in the dinghy, exploring the unlimited estuary and mangroves.  Since Mike got his chartplotter for the dinghy, we can wonder about as much as we want  becuse the chart plotter keeps us from getting lost in those mangrove inlets and paths. 

One of the most important things we always remeber to have with us is bug spray.  We prefer Deep Woods Off, which is 25% DEET.  Believe me, you need it here.  Besides mosquitos, there are these little bugs you can't see or feel, until you find yourself frantically scratching at your ankle.  The spray does a good job, but I feel like a toxic waste dump weaaring it.  Every now and then someone comes up with an organic alternative, and we all go nuts trying it, but it never works and we all go back to DEET.  It is a bog deal for more than just comfort - although I have not heard of malaria around here, dengue is a big problem and I would rather get malaria then dengue.  Although  it could, I suppose,  be viewed as a weight loss opportunity . . .

Speaking of bugs, like almost everyone else here (and that is true or I would not be talking about it) we have roaches.  How they got here is a mystery - likely came in on a nice fresh hand of bananas or something like that.  But I have boric acid sprinkled everywhere, and although that takes a couple of weeks, it will eventually get rid of them.  I hate them - but at least they don't bite. 

Because we spent so much time in Mexico, I find myself comparing the two places and noting the differences.  One of the differences is that unlike Mexico, El Salvador does not have any bars.  In Mexico there is a cantina on every corner (sort of like Wisconsin!), but here - nothing.  There are dance clubs in San Salvador, and there are certainly restaurants where you can sit and have a drink, but no real bars to speak of.  I just get a blank look when I ask about it.  I have heard there are some, but they are low key and you have to know where they are.  Many small towns have none whatsoever.  The exception is La Libertad - which is a tourist and surfing mecca.  Lots of young backpackers with surfboards, baggy clothes, and blond dreadlocks.  There are bars there, catering to the tourists. 

Well, I think that is all for today.  I plan to spend it doing pretty much nothing except for our friend's father's memorial, not so much different than how I spend most of my days!

“Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.” (Bernard M Baruch)

I am Back

It has been a couple weeks now since I last wrote here.  I just seem to have trouble getting started.

Both Mike and I have had colds - the first time I have been sick since I left the US.  Neither of us were really bad off - only one day where I really felt like crap, otherwise just a lot of coughing and sneezing.  We have been trying to stay away from everyone so we don't spread this crud around. 

I also had to go to the dentist last week.  I have had some pain in my jaw for months now,  but it kept going away so I ignored it.  Now it is no longer going away and I have to live on aspirin.  Because the problems are really peridontal, it is going to be a process to get things under control.  But I like this peridontist and he really seems to know what he is doing.  I was hoping for a clean, simple root canal.  But truthfully I don't think I have a tooth in my head that has not been root canal-ed.  So now we will be going into the city periodically for awhile, and we have to re-plan our trip to Guatemala and Belize.

I have been trying to figure out why it is so hard to write here these days.  Part of the problem is I am trying to figure out what I am actually doing here.  At times, I want to leave, and go anchor somewhere else, either somethere different here in El Salvador, or maybe head off to Costa Rica.  But there are some really good reasons for staying here now.  First and foremost, it is a good place to be weatherwise.  El Salvador does not get hurricanes (knock on wood).  The closest they have ever come is when a hurricane manages to come over from the Caribbean, which is rare because of all the tall volcanos and mountains it would have to cross.  If it does make it, the winds are not so bad and it is simply a lot of rain, which does cause problems in the forms of floods and mudslides.  But it is unusual.  We are too far south for Pacific hurricanes.  Another reason to stay is that it is very cheap for us here.  Costa Rica will be more expensive.  It is easy and fairly inexpensive to get boat work done here, and it is less hassle to import parts than it is in other places.  So there are many good reasons to stay.   But at times I do feel like moving on, and it is really easy here to  become lazy, a vice with which I already have plenty of experience.

Things on the boat are going well, though.  The rain catching system is working great - as long as it keeps raining we do not need to buy any water.  Both our tanks have ony rainwater now.  As long as we diligently keep the deck clean, we are good to go.  MIke also make a sort of cover for the top of the fridge to help keep the cold in and the warm out.  It is a damn good fridge at best, but this helps even more because some cold will escape through the hinges and around the seal on the door, so having this cover means the fridge does not have to work as hard, which decreases the amount of power it uses.  The fridge is probably the biggest regular power user we have.  The coffee maker and of course the microwave use more, but they are not used all day, everyday like the fridge is.  So this is a big deal.  Mike is always looking for ways to improve our energy consumption and generation.  At this point, we can go away and just leave the boat anchored here for about a week without needing to charge the batteries.  This means that only a fan, the fridge, and the mast light will be on, but the solar generator and the wind generator can handle the power needs.  When we are here, we use a lot more - lights, the computer, watching movies, listening to music, charging the phone and my kindle, and so on.  Mike is planning to add more solar panels, with the goal of needing as little gasoline or diesel as possible.  (The boat's engine runs on diesel, and the Honda generator runs on gasoline.  Both can charge the batteries.) 

Mike also got himself (well, got US I guess) a depth sounder and chart plotter for the dinghy.   So now he can explore around anywhere in the dinghy and be able to find his way back and avoid running aground.  It is also a fish finder.  This is a pretty fancy thing to have in a plain old dinghy.  Usually these are found in dedicated fishing boats.  So all the men are very impressed with this new toy, and Mike now has the fanciest dinghy around.  He is also planning to get an automatic pump (for when water gets in the dinghy) so we don't have to bail it out after it rains.

I have been debating with myself whether or not I should write about what I am about to describe.  It is a big part of why I have not written more, because it has been weighing on me.  I have already noted that I try to be relentlessly upbeat here in this blog.  There are several reasons for this. One: no one wants to read whining BS.  Two: I have a pretty easy life and have no right to complain.  Three: I don't want to say anthing that will make me "look bad" - whatever that means.  But I think I have to be honest, and maybe that will even keep things more interesting here in blogworld.  I really don't know.  I guess I will have to chance it.

Here is what has been bothering me.  We were really good friends with another boat that we met this summer while in the Sea of Cortez.  They are a bit younger than we are, but we really seemed to hit it off.  Mike and the husband are really good friends, and I was getting along great with the wife.  It was really good to find a friend, and we spent a lot of time together.  I was really happy.  It was especially nive how well Mike and the husband got along as Mike never has a lot of friends, in great part because he never likes anyone, always finding some reason not to.  Anyway, we went on a couple land trips together, and while the first one was great, I realized on the second one that travel together would not work because Mike and the wife were like oil and water, and he got on her nerves badly.  (Actually they have lot more in common than either of them would like to admit.)  OK, I thought, we just won't take that sort of trip together anymore, I can understand that, being in a small car with someone who irritates you is a bit too much.  I thought that was ok, it could be handled.  But I noticed the vibes were all wrong, and she finally told me she wanted nothing to do with us anymore.  She said Mike was a bad influence on her husband, and being around us was too stressful on their relationship.  She said she liked me, but could not stand how Mike treated me.  I was pretty well devasted, but I did appreciate her honesty.  I am crying as I write this now.

Geez, you would think I am in still in high school.  I was surprised myself how much this hurt.  It is really awkward now, when we come up to the pool and there they are and I have to act like there is nothing out of the ordinary.  Mike and the husband are still friends - even though it is like he has to sneak around to see Mike!  I never expected anything like this.  I am not sure how to act or what to do.  I am not going to try and get the friendship back - and I have to admit I am angry too.  I have had plenty of friends who had spouses or boyfriends I did not like, often for good reason as far as I was concerned.  Yet I did not see a need to dump them because of my dislike for the spouse.  I guess I opened myself up to this person, and allowed her in a little deeper than people are usually allowed to go. 

This whole thing is hideously childish on my part.  I find myself nervous that she will turn the rest of the boats against us, which of course is ridiculous.  It is like I have reverted back to being an insecure teenager again, and I really thought those ghastly days were over.  My confidence has taken a blow.  I really hate this. 

But I am going to have to move on and stop feeling bad about it.  I still have good friends, and none of this means I am a bad person or not worthy of friendship in general.  And while Mike does have his faults as well, he is not a bad person either and I am not going to blame him for this.   I guess I just surprized myself in discovering that I have allowed other people the power to hurt me,  people who really have no important place in my life.  So I should just get over it, I suppose.  But I will miss the friendship, although I guess it was not a real friendship on her part if it could so easily be abandoned. 

So - now that I have purged that, perhaps I can start writing again and even posting more pictures.  It is beautiful here, the Salvadoran people are wonderful, and there are many more good things than bad.  It is time I got over this and began again.

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.”  (William Shakespear)