First Impressions/Initial Thoughts

Posted by Mayen Akpan on March 5, 2013 in Uncategorized | 2 comments

So… OMG we are here, and I am sooooooooooooooooooooooo excited and anxious to be here!!!!! I don’t know what to expect, but my expectations, about everything, are high!! There is nothing more exhilarating than new experiences, and I love learning new things, so I am picturing this experience in Roatan to be an ideal synergy of these two things!!!

We had an early morning drive into Washington D.C., from State College at 12:30AM. We listened to music, and dozzed-off, on occasion. Then we flew from the Ronald Regan Airport to ATL, Atlanta, Georgia’s airport, and left from there straight to Roatan, Honduras. Landing was…pretty interesting lol. If you’ve ever taken a trip where the plane seats outnumber the passengers, you probably understand what I mean by ‘an interesting landing’. Any how, we made it off the plane, met a sluggish, lengthy line of passengers, snaking from customs desk. The Roatan Airport (Aeropuerto de Roatan) is a small, but busy place! (Several bag-chauffeurs, several dogs trotting along everywhere, several taxis and vans maneuvering they’re way through other taxis and vans). Light cars honks and chattering filled the air. The air smelled different too – it is not a bad smell, nor a good one, just different from the air I’m used to. Interesting. Of course, I like that it is different. It should be. I’d be disappointed if it weren’t. 🙂 So, we met our Peacework supervisor, Jessica. She’s nice, she knows how to speak Spanish – before she told us about her background, I could have guessed that she was Latina — but I was wrong -_- I also guessed that she has lived in Roatan for years — wrong, again -_- She got to Roatan a day before our group did -_- fail, but she is our Go-To person, because she knows everything!! We were greeted at our new home with chicken quesadillas!!! YUM!!!! Spell check marked ‘quesadillas’ as mispelled… it thinks I meant to write ‘quadrilles’… what are quadrilles??? Anyways, we settled into our rooms. My roomies and I left our door open, unintentionally, unloaded our belongings, crashed on our beds, and was cradled to sleep by the sound of the ocean. What’s better than that?! Score!, for the unplanned nap (’cause those are truly the best), Score!, for falling asleep to the sound of the ocean!! I definitely recommend this!

Oh ya, another thought, when we arrived at our new home, Foster’s West Bay Resort, I guess I forgot that it was a resort, and not anything like a hotel, so I wasn’t expecting the Hilton or anything, but something like a hotel – but when we got here, it was very rustic, and organic, and honest, and had a degree of authenticity that made it difficult to not appreciate. 🙂 I’m glad it’s not the Hilton, makes it for a more authentic experience.

Anyway, I’m really happy to be here. Just like in all of my new experiences, I use my artistic inner being to soak in my surroundings: learn, listen, and love.

Learn. Listen. Love. ^_^