We're back from Roatan, and that was definitely the best school trip I've ever been on! Though, I deeply apologize to all of my HPEDSB friends for my previous bashing of the Frink Centre - how rude :)

It really was a terrific trip, though it started off on a bit of a bad foot. Anyone who knows me can imagine how friendly I was getting up at 2 am to start our 5-hour bus ride! And then, we got on the ferry and I had my first bout of sea-sickness ever! I've always been a wuss when it comes to getting car-sick, but never sea-sick - so not sure what happened. Quite a few students were also sick, so we were pretty happy to see dry ground. After that though, things took a significant turn for the better. After a nap and lunch at our hotel, we headed to the beach for a tour on the glass-bottom boat. The pics (www.daveandesther.shutterfly.com) don't really do it justice - it was very cool! Lots of fish, coral, turtles, scuba divers, etc.

After that, we chilled at the hotel at night, and then Monique, Dave and I led our first devotions of the week. It went quite well, considering how tired everyone was. Thanks to those who prayed for us!

The next day we did a canopy tour, which all the students loved! The coolest part for me was to watch one of my students who has some physical disabilities take on the challenge, and she was amazing! She is such a courageous person, and I really admire her positive spirit.

In the afternoon we headed to the beach, which was beautiful. Dave and I had plans of trying out our new snorkel stuff, but that lasted about 2 minutes as my students wanted to try! For a lot of them, it was their first time every trying it on! It was really quite hilarious, especially when they were trying to use the flippers. They kept telling me the flippers were too heavy and I tried to point out that they floated! Anyways, it was a totally cool time, and great to see my students trying new things and loving it!

The next day, we headed to an Iguana farm in the morning, which was quite nasty in my opinion! Sorry to all the animal lovers out there, but these things are just plain ugly! Check out the pics to see what I mean. If you weren't careful, they ended up crawling over your feet! Bad day for wearing flipflops! In the afternoon we headed to a Botanical Garden, which I thought was going to be a flop, but ended up being very cool. We went on a hike to the top of a hill, and had a gorgeous view at the top. After that, we headed to the Dolphin show, which the students also loved - ok, we loved it too :)

That's about it for the trip - jam-packed! The next morning we got up early to head back on the 7am ferry. The ferry ride back was very smooth - thank goodness! We stopped in La Ceiba for a bit of shopping and lunch, and then headed back t0 Siguatepeque. We got back on Saturday night, so yesterday we were busy around the house and getting ready for school/work again today.

So, guess that's it for now. We're about to head into a crazy busy time at the camp. This Saturday, a work team arrives from the University of Tennessee, so that should be cool. I actually have a UT shirt from when Kyla, Kylene and I visited there with Ben, so I'll fit right in. Got to work on my Southern accent, eh?