11/19/02: It's Not Sunny on the Sun

Everything's going great here. My new lead is awesome, and the three of us youth counselors get along great. We'll get Thanksgiving seasonal youth counselors next week. The kids room is so cool. I'll have to take some pictures of it filled with monkeys (my term of endearment for wild children). There was a huge storm, and we sailed all day yesterday instead of going to Grand Cayman. The seas were really rough, and even I of strong constitution felt a bit green. People were getting sick (one child on the table and herself), so we moved midship to the library. Think about a teeter totter - it's calmer in the middle. The waves move you in a figure eight. When laying in bed, your body moves left/down, up, right/down, up. It's cool, but you lose your balance when walking a lot. Last week in Roatan on the taxi ride back from Tabyana beach, I saw all kinds of interesting stuff. Roatan is a Bay Island 36 miles off the coast of Honduras, and part of that country. It's third world, and the children's first English is "one dollar?" I saw a mama dog with sagging teats flopping beneath her. A group of young and presumably mother cows meandering along the road. Lots of houses, many made of cinder blocks, on stilts to guard against the tides and storms. There were baby waves about 100 feet out, but the water came all the way in to the porches. There were unpaved roads and shoeless children waving to us. I saw an abandoned bus and canoe along the road. There are handmade docks with palm-thatched roofs. Some passengers feel bad for these people, but not me. They have family loyalty and support that many never know, and they don't know much about our privileges. I think it's neat to see such a different lifestyle, and I think it's really important for our passengers to see it. Things are going well here. We're in Roatan today, but it's rainy, so I'm going to the gym with my lead, Laura. We'll hit Belize tomorrow, but it's not supposed to be nice until Cozumel on Thursday. Maybe next week. I love the sunshine, but the storms are cool, too. It's like rainy day schedule at school. The teachers have to work more, but it's a break from routine, which I get a kick out of.
Love always, Genoa