Tuesday, February 4, 2014

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Let's just get the hard part out of the way now.  I'm homesick.

There, I said it.  For some reason it's a tough thing for some to admit, myself included.  It is to be expected, that when one moves thousand of miles away from home AND away from the form of civilization they are raised in and accustomed to, they might at some point find themselves missing the loved ones and little things about 'home'.  I sort of thought it was a sign of weakness, but now that I am walking thru it day by day, I realize it's actually quite the opposite.  I thought long and hard before writing this blog post.  Negative posts aren't my forte, so I'm not going to go there.  We'll just take  a peak at what's going on down in Sarah's world...


I could write about all of the ups, downs, ins & outs of it all, but at the end of the day, I've come to remind myself that I'm not the only person in the world that has ever felt this way, and it certainly is not going to kill me.

Some things I've learned that are testing me as of late:

Facebook sucks.  It's great for a lot of things, don't get me wrong.  I've actually managed to make a decent wage over the last year and a half thanks to Facebook.  But the constant reminders of friends and family, loads-of-first-world-conveniences and fun things to do can be tough at times. 

On the flip side, it is ten times harder to keep in touch with friends.  No one warned me about how forgotten you can feel after awhile.  Yeah there's Skype and phoning the states won't break the bank, but I've found I'm constantly chasing people's schedules trying to poke my head into any little ten minute window they can spare, so we can chat, and pretend that weeks or sometimes months haven't just gone by while we try to pick up where we left off.  Life is busy, I get that.  It just sucks, plain and simple.

Is it bad if I say I wish I were part of the Target Breach?  Cuz that would mean I had shopped at Target recently.  Oh the things that I would buy!

Turns out, Limes really do work for everything from cooking & removing stains to ridding off hiccups.  Get used to them, because Lemons rarely make their way to this little rock.
And... if it doesn't work the first time, add Rum.  It's the Cure-All.



Sunshine, roosters, a howling dog and parrots wake me up every morning.  Guess it beats horns & sirens!



Just last week, the water taxi I boarded to get home took on a significant amount of water, and began to sink, while I held my purse above my head and looked around as people watched with little concern.  One man even tried to take pictures!!!  The boat captain and I bailed water out of the boat with 1/2 bleach bottle 'scoops' to stay afloat.  Just before we reached the dock in my town, it down poured.  (I'm still not sure they've dried on the line yet either!)



Last time I was in the states, I brought back some instant Pumpkin Spice Chai mix, for the cool wintery days when the storms blow in.  Couldn't wait to curl up with a blanket and a book!
It's frickin disgusting.  I'll stick to coffee, thanks.



When I hear Sugarland (on my ipod) I'm instantly taken back to speeding down the road in my red Solara, windows down & Honky Tonk cranked.  If I had my car down here, WATCH OUT Roatan!  Stare at me all you want, I LOVE this ditty.  (In fact, should I die, please invite Jennifer.)



I miss the city.  Random people, music, art, food, bridge walks, Forest Park hikes, random coffee shops, snow shoeing, road tripping, microbrews, movie theaters and soccer games.  Sometimes all in one weekend!


Barefoot wine is now considered 'ok'.  And it's $10 a bottle.  I would kill for some Charles Shaw.  Yup.  Believe your eyes.


Before going to the bank, I contemplate 99 other ways to store my money to avoid the never ending cranium ache that is 'banking' on Roatan.  Many things have crossed my mind...

I listen to my favorite Radio Station back home everyday, as if I were there.  KINK 101.9. 
Sometimes I have to turn it off because I can't take it, hearing about the upcoming concerts and festivals.  I even found myself listening to the rush hour traffic report the other day, because it was familiar, and felt like home.  Yikes!

I work alot.  But when I need to take my break, I take in a view like this...






or this...


No matter where you are in the world, you'll miss what you HAD and take for granted what you HAVE.  Just never lose sight of who you ARE, and you'll be just FINE.