Dave and Esther's Adventures

Just to let everyone know that we are back in Canada and doing well! Sorry that we haven't been updating very much lately, but I'll try to get better!

We hope to see lots of you in the next few months. As of right now, were going to be in Ontario until Christmas ...still praying and thinking about life after December. We'll let everyone know when we make any decisions :) We appreciate your prayers!

Sorry that it has been awhile since my last blog. Life has been busy the past few weeks, with work-related trips for Dave, and marking, marking, marking for Esther. Life is good though! Enjoyed a wonderful 12 days with Amy visiting, and am trying soak in all of the last moments with my students. Read my Gr. 11 class Dr. Seuss' "Oh The Places You'll Go" this week, and shed some serious tears. Gonna miss all my students! One more week of classes, then exams, graduation, etc. Looking forward to the break, but really finding it hard to say good-bye.

On Dave's trip to El Salvador

Scripture Union staff from Siguatepeque on a retreat to Tela

Adalid (camp caretaker and good friend of Dave's) and his family. Very cute kids :)

Some Union Biblica staff on the high ropes course. Orlando, head of Union Biblica for Honduras, is the fearless leader up front.

Saying Good-Bye to my Gr. 11 class. Graduation in a couple of weeks! Lots of tears :)

So good to have Amy here for a visit! Spent the long weekend in Copan, one of our favourite towns here.

Visit to Copan isn't complete without a trip to the Bird Park!

Upcoming Visitor!

Well, not much new to report here. Dave and I continue to serve in our different jobs, trying to make the most of our final months here. We've booked our flights back to Canada for July 15th, and we're really looking forward to spending a few months with family and friends.

The big news is we are having a visitor this week! Yep, this Saturday night, Amy Fisher, my best friend arrives from Canada! Can't wait to see her! It was a bit of a last-minute decision to come, and we're so excited she took the leap!

This picture is actually the last time she came on a big trip to visit us! When we lived in New Zealand, we met up with her and another friend Trevor in Australia. Look forward to more travelling adventures and to her seeing what our daily lives are like here.

We're still here for a few more months if anyone else is interested coming! WE LOVE VISITORS!!!

After a crazy busy month of March, Dave and I were able to escape last week to Belize for a few days. We've been wanting to go for awhile, and it was the perfect place to unwind after a few very hectic weeks.

The little cottage where we stayed, right on the beach

On the boat on the way over

Looking very sunburnt! On the bus on the way back to Siguatepeque

Very cool old fort in Omoa

Artillery room

Beautiful beach

Out for dinner on the beach

Gelato!

Looking handsome

Dave and I in Comayagua. We went there on Thursday with the Tennessee team and the B.Eds. About 75 of us in all!

A lovely picture of Katherine - this is for your mom, so I hope she is checking :)

So, while everyone else was looking at the sawdust carpets, Dave got right in there to make them! The guy in the red shirt actually asked me first if I wanted to help dye the sawdust, but I declined, but mentioned that I'm sure Dave would like to help. So, Dave took him up on the offer and got right in there. See the next post for after-pics of his hands! Apparently the thin plastic gloves didn't do a whole lot!

Dave and new friend, in kinda matching shirts!

Abby, Lizzy and Hannah and their "house". Really, more of a mansion, with its fancy swimming pool and diving board (See black garbage bag creation!)

Sawdust carpets in Comayagua for Easter. We went again this year, but we went a day earlier and got to see some of them being made, which was really cool.

After helping dye the sawdust, Dave's hands remained very blue for a few days! A little Smurf-like!

Looking slightly sleepy :) On Good Friday, Dave and I headed to San Pedro to drop off part of one team, and pick up the next team. We had a few hours in between, so we headed to the mall to catch a movie and go out for dinner, which was great. It was nice to have some time together, just the two of us, during this very busy season of groups!

Bathroom doors! Dave recently built and installed these doors at our local public school.

Ant Infestation! So, we had a little adventure a few weeks ago with the local ant population. Apparently, they were all living in our roof! Anyways, after about 5 bouts of RAID, and serious headaches from the fumes, I think we cleared most of them out. We actually had to sweep this amount off the counter and floor 3 or 4 times. It was pretty disgusting, though thankfully harmless.

Dave attacking them with RAID!

The arrival of the B.Eds. at the aiport. We have made many trips to the airport recently, with 2 Canadian groups and 2 American groups this month! It has been a busy month, but very fun, with lots of new people and stuff to do.

This is going to be a quick one because I really need to get to bed, but found out this week that a national English newspaper, Honduras This Week, decided to publish some letters from my Gr. 10 students that I submitted as part of our Media Unit. Anyways, I'm pretty stoked about the whole thing and am so proud of them! We are off school this week because of Semana Santa (though very busy at the camp with 65 Tennesseans /sp?/ and 7 Queen's B.Eds), so I won't get a chance to officially tell them until Monday. Though I've heard a few of them have been checking my blog lately, so the secret might be out!

If you want to check it out, here's the link - http://hondurasthisweek.com/editorial.htm

Just got back last night from our Gr. 9-11 School Trip to Cayos Cochinos and La Ceiba. It was a really great time. We were supposed to go last weekend, but it didn't happen because of bad weather. Dave sadly wasn't able to go with the change in dates, because we are now into full-on teams at the camp. The trip was from 1 am Sunday night until about 7pm Wednesday night, with not a lot of sleep in between! They actually cancelled classes today to let everyone recuperate - for me, it's time to catch up on blogging and emails!! We're looking forward to the Queen's B.Ed. students arriving on Saturday, but there's still lots to do before then!

Here's one of the boats we took to Cayos, from La Ceiba. It was about an hour trip, absolutely beautiful sunny weather!

Javier - looking slightly mischevious (I hope you are eading this, Javier!)

Beautiful crystal clear water!

At the island we stayed at. The thatched roofs you can see are the homes of the Garifuna, the people that live there.

Ivan getting his hair braided. Not sure if that's a smile or grimace of pain!

Enjoying the beautiful water!

Garifuna restaurant

Noel and a crazy piece of coral he found on the beach

My bed for our night in Cayos Cochinos

View out my window in the morning

Gorgeous sunset!

Some of the students slept in tents at Cayos. It was pretty windy though, so not sure if they actually got any sleep!

Kevin - looking very smiley! Only because he was very mean to me earlier in the day, and I told him he could make it up by smiling nicely for the camera. Ha ha - what a guy!

Francisco - looking very sleepy! This is at 6:30 in the morning, getting ready to take the lancha (boat) back from Cayos Cochinos to the main land.

Some Sandra, Ana and Dania - also looking very tired!

Noel - out in the middle of nowhere, stilling getting reception on a cell phone. Weird world!

Marlon, Johanna and I enjoying the river tour

David Alejandro - one of my Gr. 9 students. Has a great sense of humour and terrific smile :)

Carlos - trying to look serious. Another one of my Gr. 9 students who knows how to laugh and to make others laugh! And, who has a incredible need to drive Mrs. Esther crazy at times :)

We took this train down to the river. It is about 120 years old, leftover from the days of the United Fruit Company. Interestingly enough, we passed Dole pineapple fields on the drive in. All of the pineapples are sent to the States except for the ones that are too small, which are sold for consumption in Honduras.

Oops - wrong way, but I think you get the idea. YEsterday, we visited a Butterfly and Insect Museum in La Ceiba. Actually very cool! The students enjoyed the live insects (see below) the best!

Why are all of these sideways? Anyways, we went for a trip down a river (can't remember the name) and had a great time! We say monkeys, crocodiles, turtles, tons of cool birds, etc.