Arrived, did not die

Made it here and safe after 4 flight delays. Didn’t end up leaving Portland till 8 at night, so I missed my SFO connection. They got me on another flight, which was also delayed 30 minutes. I was actually grateful for that delay, or I would have missed it. Miserable red eye. Couldn’t sleep hardly at all. Flight to San Pedro Sula took off a little late, but wasn’t officially delayed. I was able to sit toward the front, so I barely had to wait in the customs line. As expected, few people spoke English, but verbal communication is overrated, I managed to get where I needed through a complex series of hand gestures and desperate looks.

The puddle jumper from SAP to Utila was a kick. 20 seater, and 5 of the seats held unsecured overflow baggage. Still, I shouldn’t complain; the pilots did a great job pedaling it, and it was by far the most on time of the four (FOUR) flights I’ve been on in the past 24 hours.

Taxi driver didn’t know how to get to my apt, and when he did, overcharged me by 4 x because I didn’t have the local currency (which you don’t need, but it makes these situations easier).

Met the landlady, Rita. She’s great, an islander, which means that her family came over from Europe back in the day, but got dropped off here instead of Plymouth. “Latins” started moving to Utila only about 10 yrs ago, she says. Seems the two groups have a complicated relationship.

Rita gave me a tour of Utila, which is really one long street. One end, the end I’m on, has a little beach, and another private beach that I need to check out. It’s quiet, and about a 5-10 minute walk from the dive shop and the main hubbub. I really like the location. Since the island is so small, Sandstone is considered the boonies.

The other end of Utila is a really nice big public beach. In between are all manner of restaurants, hotels, dive shops, and other sundry. On our tour, I went to the power company, since Utila is a pre-pay as you go model (odd), the grocery, and to order a bike. I’ll have it Monday.

My apartment is great, one of my neighbors, Scott, is an instructor at the shop I’m taking the IDC at, and my next door neighbor, Kim, is in the MSDT program. She took me to the shop BBQ tonight, which was fun, but which I left real early because I’m super tired. That’s all for tonight. Way more than I expected first night here.