April 23, 2010
After a few short days on the island, we returned to the hustle, bustle and heat of La Ceiba. Apparently we were spoiled with great cool, rainy weather when we first arrived – because the heat has not broken for weeks now. It is so humid and hot now!
Our kind neighbor – a Canadian moving in down the beach – had bought us a fan for our bedroom while we were gone! It’s still hot, but the breeze definitely helps me sleep better. Random acts of kindness – few and far between down here, but so much more appreciated.
We’ve had some time to think things through regarding staying in La Ceiba, and we have had to make a somewhat tough, somewhat easy decision. We are moving on and traveling for a couple months. I’m a bit saddened, because I really really enjoy running this restaurant. I loved creating our menu, adding new things all the time, and cooking meals that people compliment me over and over for. I love having a special place that people look forward to coming to. But, it’s apparent to us that this is just not the right timing for us, or the bar. There’s a lot that still needs to be done to get the hotel up and running, and without that, we simply don’t have the steady customers to keep us busy. The owner is running out of funds – and steam – and with all the Canadians going home for Summer, we’re headed out for a couple months.
I also had a few simple goals in mind for this adventure, and I want to achieve them. I want to learn Spanish (really learn Spanish). I want to have fun. And I want to be able to possibly find a place where I could be happy living and running a business in the future. Honestly, La Ceiba just isn’t my speed. It’s fast and crowded, and I am not having enough opportunity to really socialize with the locals or with the tourists. I talk to Canadians and Americans all day, so my Spanish isn’t that much further along. And the only really fun days we’ve had so far (besides the fun of getting the restaurant up and running) were going to the mountains one day and going to Utila.
I could see coming back if the hotel had enough funding to get fully open, bringing in more tourists and more customers for the bar. Who knows – maybe in a couple months things will be different. Or maybe in our travels we’ll find the kind of town we’ve been searching for and longing for since our last trip through Central America.
Only time will tell – but for now, we’re off to get our passports stamped in Belize in a couple days!!