Ready, set...doh!

Well - we’ve been here for a week now and accomplished shockingly little.  While we’ve made it in to town every day, we’ve managed to complete only the most menial of errands.  It’s really time to buckle down get serious about this holiday thing.  There are things to do, places to see and, more importantly, food to eat!  Our mission for today, Saturday, was to secure a weekly bike rental so that we would have more flexibility to come and go throughout the day, and explore some of the places on the island that are a little too far to get to on foot.   Also on the “to do” list is to reload the broadband stick (Yes, we’ve used 5.5 gigs in 5 days.  I told you we were needy when it comes to wifi.), and pick up a few necessities (cream for coffee, bug spray, and chicken to cook & feed to the eels). 

After breakfast out on the deck, we set off in to town with our list in hand.  As an aside, we have just discovered the iPhone “list” feature and have quickly become obsessed.  We now have lists for everything!  Have you tried it?  You should. 

Ok, back to the mission…our hope when we head out from the house is to find a tuk tuk along the way.  To be perfectly frank, however, that’s only happened once.  This is probably because we’re on the quiet end of the island (less tourists, more residents), which we will trade for easy access to public transportation anytime. It’s only about a mile in to town, and takes us less than 20 minutes to walk there at a “whew, it’s hot” pace.  Today we had to go all the way to the far end of main street to Rental Roney’s Bike Rental - about 2 miles from our house.  It was a warm day today but a nice wind made the walk bearable.   There’s a family all dressed up walking in front of us.  Their finery would come to make more sense to us very soon. 

Along the way, we planned to drop off the broadband stick to be reloaded.  There’s apparently only one place in town that does this type of transaction – Riveria’s Mini Market.  When I loaded it last time, it seemed to take about an hour so we thought we’d drop it off and pick it up on our way back through town.  We arrived to find it closed.  Our limited Spanish allowed us to discern that they are closed on Saturdays, open Sundays.  Strange for Central American (and it’s abundance of Catholicism), we think, but we push on.   Next to Rental Roney’s – which we also find padlocked.  What?  On a Saturday?  What gives?  Somewhat dejected that our to do list is looking likely to remain intact, we start to wander back towards home.  Along the way, we pass a very large church that we had not noticed before.  We noticed it now because there is singing coming from inside.  The sign on the outside reads “Seventh Day Adventist Church”.  Doh!  No wonder everything is closed today.  Why did we not realize that a large part of the population of Utila (and most of the business owners, it seems) are Seventh Day Adventists.  Sigh. 

We spent the afternoon at the house.  I had a swim and then spent a few hours reading on the porch swing.  Andrew had a big, long siesta – his favorite holiday activity.  We walked back in to town for dinner so that we could have access to some much needed wifi.  Wish us luck for our repeat excursion tomorrow! 

Post script:  for those of you following along, here’s some updates on activities & people previously mentioned. 

• The OJ fairy arrived yesterday and, in exchange for the 150 lempiras ($7.50) we left under a conch shell on the porch, rewarded us with a gallon of the most amazingly delicious fresh squeezed juice!   It was so yummy after our hike back from town today. 
• Vinnie & LJ continue to be super nice and very helpful, and we’re grateful to have them here.  Of note, however, is LJ’s apparent propensity to hypochondria.  Since Thursday, she’s had a stomach virus she reportedly contracted from buying a used snorkel mask; she also told me yesterday that she is certain her retina is detaching because she is seeing “flashes” of light (apparently a symptom?).  When we first met them, I made the mistake of mentioning that I worked in a clinic so she had lots of questions for me about her eyeball.  I told her that if she had HIV or syphilis, I was her girl.  Otherwise, she’d best use Web MD like the rest of us!  You’ll be relieved to know (I am) that she has an appointment with a detached retina specialist on the mainland on Monday.  She warned me, however, that they might have to fly home to the US before then if her retina fully detaches.  So far, they’re still here.  Stay tuned! 
• We’ve used 21.3 kwh of electricity, with 112 remaining.  We may have to run the A/C just for fun!  No one has been injured or killed in any showerhead mishaps, though we still can’t get a temperature that is bearable. 
• The sand flea bite itching is under control!  I upped my prednisone dosage, and am taking the antihistamine twice a day.  Andrew says that he seems to remember that I have a few bad days at the beginning every trip, and then things settle down as my body gets used to them.  Either way, I am glad to have had a full night’s sleep last night! 
• We’ve stopped using Mike for any type of consultation related to Utila, save for how the basics in the house run.  He shows up every morning to fill the water tank, and then heads out again.  The total time elapsed is less than 10 minutes.  It seems like a pretty good gig for him.