6am .... saying goodbye to Madi .... until we met again
we had some rather cool, windy, rainy weather for a few days leading up to my departure date ..... i wasn't sure if the boat would be cancelled,... and the morning didn't look very good either ... it was REALLY windy .... they said they thought about cancelling, but then decided the wind was going to 'die down'
..... i'm not sure if the wind 'died down' ... but the seas did NOT ....they were 'angry'...
dock in Dangriga, Belize where we stopped to clear Immigration ...
most of the 5hr trip is inside the reef, but 1.5hr is on the open seas ... and the open seas had HUGE waves on them ... 15' the Capt said .... again, i am happy that i don't get seasick; but it was a little scary .... i just assumed the Capt knew what he was doing .... we were already out there, and there was no going back ... and nothing i could do about it ... i took a few short naps, in between sliding off the bench when the boat road a big wave ... and we finally arrived in Puerto Cortes :) ....it took us over 6+hrs because we had to go much slower over the open sea ...
Puerto Cortes is the red dot just below 'Gulf of Honduras' ... even though the name is off to the left :) and Utila is the small island just below the word 'Roatan' ...
we arrived at Puerto Cortes with the usual mayhem ... guys with hands full of money wanting to exchange your Belize$ for Hondurian Lempira ... i had looked up the rate: 10L to 1B$ ...he offered me 8 ... i argued ... we finally agreed on 9 ... not sure if i got a fair exchange rate, but i felt good i didn't take the 8 :)
then there is the guy that comes around with a bag and wants your Passport ... this made me extremely nervous last year ... but it seems to be the norm ...
another boat w/20 people arrived before us and they were all waiting in line for Immigration .... and it was taking FOREVER .... 2hrs to be exact, before we were finally done with that. Honduras has a new 'system' ... you sit down, they ask questions, fingerprint 4 fingers on both hands, and both thumbs ... and take a photo ..... all of the criminals are already living in Honduras, why are they bothering with the tourists !!!!!!!!!!!
i met a woman on the boat, who spoke no English, that was going to San Pedro Sula. we agreed to share a taxi to get there... (i later found a guy who spoke Spanish and i confirmed this) .... while we were waiting our 'turn' she said that her nephew, Edgar, was going to pick her up and i could go with them, and he could drop me off at my Hostel... i could give him $5 ..... what a deal :) .... he got caught in 'rush hour' traffic and was another 1/2hr after we cleared immigration; but he arrived! ....he spoke some English and i asked him if he knew a 'reputable' taxi driver that would actually show up at 4am to take me to the bus station in the morning ... he said HE would do it ... !!!!!!!! ... i needed to get on the first bus to LaCeiba in order to catch the 9am Ferry to Utila.
when we got to my Hostel we finalized plans ... and i checked in ... i stayed here last year ... the woman is very nice and speaks English :) ..... i had sent her an email telling her i was coming, and that i had been there last year when the blue-eyed puppy was there .... this was him then ....
he's a BIG boy now ..... and so sweet ... still has those blue eyes !
i fixed myself some noodles and went to bed; got up at 3:30am .... and Edgar arrived around 4:20 ... bus leaves at 4:30 ... it was a quick trip to the bus station and he carried my bag all the way through the bus station to the bus ... thankfully, because it's a HUGE 'mall' and it would have taken me awhile to find where i was supposed to go. he charged me US$10 ... on the way there i asked him if he lived close .... he said he lived about 30min away .... so here is a young guy, who is willing to get up at 'o-dark-30' and drive 30min to pick me up and drive me 10min to the airport ... for US$10 ???????? .....so thankful !
the bus line is Cotuk, and it was a 'direct' bus .... but that doesn't mean it doesn't stop along the way .... probably 15 times in 3hrs ... not too bad ... and i arrived at LaCeiba at 8am ... plenty of time to take a taxi to the Ferry Terminal for the 9am boat to Utila.
when i arrived at the Ferry i learned that the Ferry had been cancelled the last 2 days because of High Seas ! ....yeah, i know what they mean! ...but that means that all those people had to spend 1-2 nights in LaCeiba .... i wouldn't have been happy about that, but not much you can do, other than fly $$$$. ....after 2 days, needless to say the Ferry was packed and the Cargo to go out to the Island was never ending..... they just kept loading, loading, and loading !
we didn't leave until almost 10am, and the Ferry 'rolled' at bit with the waves, but nothing like yesterday! ...i had sent an email to Caribbean Dreams where i stayed w/last year, but hadn't heard back... also sent an email to a guy who matched renters with apts ... and he met me at the Dock. he only had 1 place to offer me, and i wasn't that excited about it, and asked to rent by the week, in case i could get back in at Caribbean Dreams. he didn't think they would do that .... so i went down the street and back to Utila Hotel where i've stayed 4 other times .... i like Annie and Annie who own it, they keep making improvements, and it's a nice place, .....but it is right on the street, and right next to a 'screaming-kid-park' and they are still doing construction :( ... i can't stay there permanently; but got settled into my room and tried to send a couple emails .... my MacMail was working fine last night; but this morning, i can't send emails AGAIN !
i walked to Caribbean Dreams, but she was gone .... i picked up a few things and went back and got on the phone with TDS ....1.5hr AGAIN and no results ...grrrrrrrrrr
then i walked around and asked about apartments to rent ... not much to pick from ... every place is filled up :( ...i've not had this problem here before.... i guess Utila was on International HouseHunters or some TV program ... now everyone wants to come here :( ...i did find one that i think will work ... it is way up the hill .... away from the street noise ... it should be quiet up there ...
i spent another 2hrs on the phone with TDS ... i kept asking for my hero 'John' ... but they said it was not allowed to transfer me ... WTF ! ...they told me that i would have to delete all my emails and folders, and then they could solve the problem ..... i told them i couldn't that and then spent the rest of the afternoon and night trying to figure out a way to move everything 'somewhere' so i could move it back again ... no luck there either :(
Sun morning the internet connection was poor, so i went to a restaurant, ordered an omlette, and got on the phone again with TDS ... talked to 5 different techs ....and 'Supervisors' .... each time i called, i got someone new, ... i had to tell the whole story, and then they had to 'see if they could make it work' .... they finally told me i should call Apple ...
i had Apple on the line and we got disconnected twice ...... but finally got a Supervisor who set up a Yahoo email Account for me on my Mac Mail .... since it worked fine through Yahoo....... he said to tell TDS that it is not an Apple problem ... so at least i could 'send' emails through a yahoo email address ...
i called TDS back again, and they continued to disagree with me ... and ... told me that the new system will only allow me to send 5 'international' emails in an hour, ... and no more than 50 per day ! WTF again ! ....so much for my Blog ! ...but i have my Yahoo Account, so i didn't care anymore. ....
so ... if you get mail from 'dpieracini@yahoo.com' ... it's me :)
that was 3hrs Sunday morning ... by the time i got back to the 'apartment people' ... they had already rented the apartment to someone else :( but ... there are 5 Sisters who own these buildings and one of the other sisters had an apartment for me .... the other one had hot water, this one did not .... but i didn't care. i said i'd take it .... back down to Hotel Utila and said good-bye to Annie and Annie and thanked them for 'being there' ...
so ......... this is my new 'home' for a couple of weeks ..... it's like being out at Sherman Lake .... it's a long walk to anywhere .... but it's quiet ... except for the kids who come around in the evening and scream and play right in front of my door :(
it's called CountrySide Apartments ... street view
my building ... 2 'apartments' .. i'm on the left ...
walking in the door ...
i don't know what that 'black box' is hanging from the ceiling :)
kitchen ... with a freezer that keeps ice frozen :)
shower on right ...
it is really hot here and no breeze ... the fan in my room makes a lot of noise, but doesn't provide any 'wind' ... :( ...but not complaining ... just stating the facts :)
so here i am for a couple of weeks ... :)
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