An Unfinished House

laundry strung over a ditch my friend soplo's house utila, the first of the bay islands roatan, the second and largest guanaja, the third, cannot be seen from la ceiba unloading la ceiba's refuse playing a game at school drifting off getting ready for christmas going solo the daily wash looking in from the outside curiosity

I was sitting at Marta's house this morning sipping my first cup of coffee and enjoying the myriad conversations going on around me when Elvin, that's the boy above and Marta's 3rd youngest, came up next to me and told me that earlier that morning he had prayed with Jesus. I thought he meant, he woke up and said some morning prayers but was neverthless proud of him so I complimented him and went on chatting with Carlos. He persisted though, he said "No, listen! I was walking with a group of boys this morning to look for fruit I when I looked up in the clouds and saw Jesus praying. I asked the other kids with me if they saw anything but no one did but that didn't matter, I did so I made everyone kneel down and we asked for forgiveness for the things we did wrong and then we prayed for my brother" (that's the Carlos I had been chatting with who had been sick for a while). I was stunned, joyful, proud and speechless all at once. Elvin isn't a story teller...

he started up here... . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...and the water's down here

I know I was supposed to write a bit more about my Quaker friend and his 10-day visit but I stumbled across this today and wanted to post them while they were fresh...hahaha, get it, fresh crabs...ok anyway, there are many things that have surprised me in my time here but a scuttle of Blue Crabs hanging out on our steps has to be up there. No one's really sure how they got there but they were quickly scooped up and turned into lunch. getting all tangled up nango thinking about lunch an escapee quickly caught raul's not sure how feels about the whole affair

These past 10 days I've been accompanied by a quirky little Quaker boy from Pennsylvania who sometimes meets with the Mennonites. I probably shouldn't say little, he towers over me and is a Black Belt in Karate...I know a Quaker/Sometimes Mennonite with a Black Belt in Karate. I said he was quirky. Anyway, enough about him, there will be more about his exploits tomorrow. For now I wanted to show you some photos of the Hog Islands, though they don't do the place justice. My dear Karate Quaker friend wanted to see some islands in his time here but in that traveling to any one of the 3 main Bay Islands is at least a 2 day, $100 dollar affair I axed, no, I karate chopped the idea. As he was sobbing and begging me to reconsider, something hit me, an idea...they seem so few and far between these days. Turns out that there are these little cays about 2o kilometers of the coast that are absolutely stunning (or so the they tell me, I had as of yet to see them) and the round trip tou...

Tati is an interesting character and in a lot of ways I see myself in him. He's shy in new situations but as soon as he knows someone or feels comfortable he'll make a spectacle of himself and try to be the center of attention. He's quiet and submissive at home, especially when his father's there but out and about by himself he's always causing mischief. He's not terribly athletic, though he does try, he lacks that very essence that I too lacked at his age, aggressivness. And he loathes school, refuses to study but does like socializing there...also me. So it turns out that little Matthew Levi turned 13 the other day and in true Matthew fashion chose the richest chocolate cake that La Ceiba had to offer for his birthday. matthew, i mean tati sisters and cousins carmen his mother

guiselle the birthday girl taking the first whack uncles carlos, edwin, samir and elvin stand on not the most endearing pose some neighbor kids observing from the dirt wall quite the happy little girl other kids taking their turn father, grandmother, great aunt uncle darwin he's 2 years younger than guiselle grandmother marta guiselle's father almost ready... go for it wishing he could be there