Goodbye to a Good Friend

Today we had to say goodbye to Brit. Even though we were far away here in Honduras, we got to say a special goodbye to our friend, and first pet. I think it is safe to say that Brit was not your usual pet.... Between her snappy jaw and leaky bladder, she always kept us on our toes. But in the end, I know that she added just as much to our life, as we added to hers.

Everyone that knew Brit knew she was a special girl. Although we only got Brit when she was 13, she was able to carve out a special place in people's hearts through her quirky, grumpy old lady antics.

We couldn't be with Brit in the last couple months, but we were so happy to get to spend Christmas with her. She was living a wonderful life at her "retirement home" with my parents. We could not be more appreciative of my mom, dad and Zach (and even max and story), for making her final weeks a happy time, surrounded by people she loved.

Its a sad day today, but we know she had a good few years, and is somewhere with endless supplies of water and squirrels.

Brittany, Brit, Squishy face, princess puppy pants, fluffy dog, Pretty Britty, good dog. We will miss you, we will love you forever.

January in Honduras

Almost done January in Honduras.... It has been a very long month. Coming back from canada was nice to escape the cold... But coming back to work has been a challenge. While TJs grade eights seem to be improving, my grade sixes are no longer afraid of me, which has been very tiring.

We haven't been able to get out of the city yet, but we are looking forward to a scuba trip in February. We have a big group of us going to scuba dive, and it will be the first time since our first time back since our course. Both of us are excited to try our new masks!

We are also looking forward to our spring break trip with Chris and Ashley in Costa Rica!!!

We have also booked our plane tickets home for Jessica's wedding in may, and lucky for us, our principal gave us a whole week off! Can't wait for that! ( Despite the crazy expense......)

Many of our friends are also gone in the. Next few weeks to different job fairs, to find a new job for next year. It's a little sad to think that soon we will know for sure that so many of of friends are leaving us. But it's also exciting to have new friends to visit around the world!

Until next time!

!

Christmas in Canada

After our trip around Honduras, we got on our plane for the first of three flights… totalling 14 hours.  the crazy part is, the flying time between Honduras and Canada is only about 5.5 hours, but because there are no direct flights to Honduras, it takes a while.

We flew overnight, so we did get to sleep on the planes, and in the airport quite a bit.  Despite a near connection miss in Toronto, we got into Ottawa in the morning of the 23rd.  Welcoming us home was about 15 cm of snow.  As Canadians, this was nothing new for us, although TJ did leave the airport wearing flip-flops.  Thanks to Mom and Dad for picking us up!

We had a really great Christmas in Canada, and were so happy that we got to see so many people that we love.  Lots of great food… which may not be for the best, since we have to be in bathing suits on a weekly basis here.

We especially enjoyed seeing the whole Hamel family is Lara's baptism in Gananoque, and having Jessica's bachelorette party in Ottawa (and Mark's "unofficial bachelor party"…..).

It was really busy for most of the visit, but we did have some time to relax the last couple days and see our brothers' new houses.

We were really happy to get to see so many of our closest friends at New Year's.  (Thanks for coming Clay and Sarah, Jess and Mark, and Ash and Chris!!!)

We had to leave on the 5th, which was a little bit sad, since we had such a nice time relaxing at home and hanging out with Brit! (despite being FREEZING 90% of the time).  Even Story was sad to see us go.

Thanks for an amazing break, and making time to see us!  We miss you all very much… see you in May or June!

Christmas Break in Honduras

As we had three weeks this year for Christmas break, we decided to spend a week in Honduras to do some travelling and relaxing before we head home to Canada for the remaining two weeks.
First, we went to Utila do do our SCUBA certification.  We stayed for 4 days at Alton's Dive Centre, which was really great.  WE did the course in 3 days, and had some pretty cool dives.  Our favourite siting was a 4 foot Baracuda!  I wasn't sure if diving was for me when I first started, but after doing it, it  is one of the coolest things I have ever.  I am a big advocate for trying it!

After Utila, we drove across the country in a van, rented by some of our friends.  We drove to Copan for the End of the World Celebration, on Dec. 21, 2012.  This was TJ's first time in Copan, and we had a great time.  There were so many people there, the entire town was booked up.  We met a friend in Utila who travelled with us, and she needed to share a hostel room with us because she couldn't find anywhere to stay.

The whole town was crazy all week.  We went to the town square for celebrations, free food, and cultural celebrations.

We also went to the bird park, Macaw Mountain, to see tons of tropical birds and even hold some big Macaws.

Best of all, we went to the Mayan Ruins at night on the 21st.  It was the first time in the history of the park that people were allowed in after dark.  The main plaza was light up with tiki torches and some flood lights and we wandered around the ruins in the dark.  Obviously the world didn't end, and the aliens never showed, but it was really cool to be in such an old place on a date that they predicted would be impactful.

After Copan, we drove back to San Pedro Sula to catch a late night flight to go back home.  It was a great vacation, with some amazing experiences, and we were ready to go home and see friends and family for Christmas.

Sambo Creek

Our second long weekend we went to a tiny village on the coast.  TJ went with the boys to go rafting first on friday night, and he had a great time.  He stayed in the jungle lodge and went rafting on the Rio Cangrejal.

The next days we all met up at small hotel called Helen's, pretty much in the middle of nowhere.  The place was owned by a French Canadian who ended up being from the same area in Quebec as my grandparents (Lac St. Jean).  We stayed in a little cabin with our friend Jess, and it was VERY relaxing.  The first day, we just swam in the ocean, walked along the beach and ate some great food (Conch soup was my favourite).

The second day we went on a day trip to Cayos Cochinos, which is a series of small islands off the coast.  After an hour long, very bumpy boat ride, we got to the main island, where we went snorkelling. The snorkelling was pretty awesome, but not quite as clear as Utila.  Kelsey and her sister (who was visiting for the week) even saw a sea turtle!

After snorkelling we went to another island where the only pink snake lives.  We saw two of the pink boas, although, they were more tan coloured than pink…..

Our last stop was to a small island where we ate lunch.  It was really pretty, and we also learned that one of the seasons of Survivor was filmed on the Cayos Cochinos islands.

The next day we were supposed to go ziplining, but it was a bit rainy, so that will have to wait for next time!  Overall a great trip!

Copan

The first of our long weekends in a row, I (Erica) went to a little town called Copan with the girls.  TJ's buddy had to go back to the USA, so without any other boys going, he decided to stay back to get some work done and have a boys weekend.   I don't even want to know what they got up to…. all I know is that it involved copious amount of red meat, a frisbee and some garbage cans…

The girls weekend in Copan was AMAZING.  I think it might be my favourite place in Honduras so far.  Copan is a small town that has become kind of a backpacker attraction because of the Copan Ruins.  Which are some pretty impressive Mayan Ruins - some of the biggest in the world.  We explored there on our own for a couple hours.  It was pretty crazy that we could still walk and climb on the ruins…. I bet in 10 or 15 years, you won't be allowed to anymore.  

Our other big excursions were horseback riding through the hills and fields of a farm in Copan, a tour of a coffee plantation, and lunch at the farm.  It was so much fun, especially since some of the girls had never been on a horse.  The horses were pretty well trained, and the guide encouraged us to let them run if we felt comfortable.  It was definitely the most fun part of the day.

After our ride, we got dropped off at the hotsprings about 20 minutes from the farm.  The hotsprings were carved into the hillside, and were full of naturally hot water, that eventually flowed into the river.  The pools at the top were really hot, and they got cooler as we went down.  The best part was the mud bath to give us soft skin… We got a little creative with our photos.

The trails at the hotsprings.

Copan also had tons of amazing restaurants, bars and shops… Even a German beer place…  We ate lots of great food and had some great coffee too.  It was an amazing trip, and I can't wait to go back with TJ!

September Break in Utila

We got back to San Pedro pretty late last night (9:00, which is late for Honduras when we leave for school the next morning at 6:00am).  Despite a long chicken-bus style ride, (one that stops OFTEN to pick up essentially anybody along the side of the road), we made it back in one piece from a FANTASTIC weekend.

We got one of the school drivers to drive us to La Ceiba at noon on Friday. It was pretty packed with 28 people on the mini-bus.  We got to the ferry just in time, with only about 5 minutes to spare.  The ferry took about an hour and was pretty rough, but everyone told us that was one of the smoother rides.  A couple of our friends got sick, but luckily both TJ and I were OK.

Erica on the ferry.

We got in to Utila and walked about 10 minutes to our hotel, called Rubi’s.  It was one of the best places we’ve ever stayed.  It was perfect.  I beautiful dock for swimming, lots of hammocks and just enough rooms for everyone who went (although on the first night we did have to share with Mark and Kelsey… 4 people in that room was pretty....cozy).

View of Rubi's from the dock

Lazy afternoon in one of the Hammocks.

The island itself is really unique.  It’s filled with expats who moved there to open restaurants, hostels, dove shops or just live.  It’s definitely got that “island” feel, and everything moves at a slower pace.  You can never really predict when something will be open.  For a really small island with only two main roads there are over 10 dive shops, and many more restaurants and bars.

One of the shores of the island from our dock.

We went for dinner to a great restaurant called Babalu on our first night.  It was built out over the water and had an open spot in the middle where you could see all the fish swimming by… SO COOL!  The food was good, HOWEVER, when we were finishing up our meal, I got bit by a cat!  I was a bit freaked out, but after a quick phone call by us to mom (who LAUGHED at me….) We both felt better.  We were both glad we got our rabies shots after that though!

Erica and Kelsey at Babalu (pre- cat attack)

After dinner we all went out for a birthday night to a bar called Skid Row.  The ambiance wasn’t the best ever, but they have T-shirt challenge, where if you do 4 shots of this disgusting rum based booze filled with herbs and roots and other stuff, you get a free t-shirt.  Although we all claimed we wanted to “take the first night easy” we all got a t-shirt on that first night… I’m sure everyone can imagine how the rest of that night turned out… (TJ got 4 t-shirts by the end of the weekend…)

Shinanigans (with spiderman?)

Saturday and Sunday were relaxing… We hammocked, went paddle boarding, rented bikes, went snorkeling (it really is the best in the world… not even in the same realm as Mexico and Cuba).  We found a bunch of great seafood restaurants, and even some delicious Italian.

Our own private beach!

On our last day, we discovered a private beach, and we snorkeled, lounged and had a quiet morning before we had to take the ferry back at 2:00.  The boys also had a romantic kayak courtesy of TJ.  Just before we left, we met a pretty awesome Macaw that hung out with us for a while.  It was pretty sad leaving the island, but it felt like we had been there for more than 3 days.  Really great experience, and we would definitely recommend it if you are looking for a unique and relaxing place to have an adventure!

TJ, Mark and Mike going for their romantic (yet manly) kayak ride.

TJ with our macaw friend.