wine, cheese and muffin

Yesterday afternoon we held a wine and cheese party for our guests at The Heart, a wonderful little plaza on the Paya Trail. (Muffin is Lucy's little demon dog).

holiday cocktails

Guests enjoy holiday cocktails last night at Tom's Bar.

the christmas of the green iguana

I was just out on the property checking the progress on a project the guys were working on this week and spotted this fella. It's a green iguana (iguana iguana). It always makes me happy to see the endangered animals that find refuge here at Paya Bay. I'm considering this a little present from the Universe and a good omen for a prosperous new year.

heretic to hero

Galileo Galilei is going from heretic to hero. The Vatican is recasting the most famous victim of its Inquisition as a man of faith, just in time for the 400th anniversary of Galileo's telescope

I wonder if 400 years from now the Vatican's current attempts to deny basic human rights to some people will also be seen as a "mistake." I'm not impressed, Mr. Ratzinger. People and organizations who consider themselves "holders of the truth" are (and will always be) dangerous.

mom, I want to look like the president when I grow up

President-elect Obama's obvious commitment to personal fitness is inspiring. Way to go, O! (For the record, I had the shirtless look going first!)

a tropical christmas

The Roatan Ladies Club and Paya Bay threw a Christmas party for the local kids this afternoon. The kids ran races to win presents. The ones who didn't win were given little Christmas bags filled with goodies. For far too many of these kids this will be the extent of their "Christmas."

Seeing and hearing the happy kids really adds to the holiday spirit.

Happy Holidays!

the picacho challenge

Guests Sarah, Darrell, James and I summited Picacho this afternoon. It was an awesome hike!

lucky and picacho

This afternoon Lucky joined us on a hike up Picacho, Roatan's highest peak. It was his first time. He loved every second of it! Once at the top he seemed fascinated by the scenery.

sunset tubing

Lisa, our new South African restaurant manager and a wonderful guest, also named Lisa, enjoy some sunset tubing in Buccaneer Landing.

the heart of paya bay

A stop on the Paya Trail. It's the home of love, joy, and happiness.

my poor country

Honduras, Poverty by municipalities. Translation of the legend: Bajo=Low (the rest are obvious). Seeing this map makes me realize how insulated I am from the grinding poverty that 70% of my fellow Hondurans endure. Here in the islands we are especially unexposed to it since we have a multi-million dollar tourism industry that provides economic sustenance for a mere 60,000 people. This map is also eye-opening to me because the four green areas on the map (the Bay Islands, Metro La Ceiba, Metro San Pedro Sula, and Metro Tegucigalpa) are the places where I've spent 99% of my time as a Honduran. 5 million of my people live in extreme poverty, and I don't even know who they are or what a day in their lives is like. This is sobering. And shameful.

happiness study

While there are many determinants of happiness, whether an individual is happy also depends on whether others in the individual’s social network are happy. Happy people tend to be located in the centre of their local social networks and in large clusters of other happy people. The happiness of an individual is associated with the happiness of people up to three degrees removed in the social network. Happiness, in other words, is not merely a function of individual experience or individual choice but is also a property of groups of people.

Happy people attract happy people.

karaoke rage

Karaoke rage is not unheard of in Asia. There have been several reported cases of singers being assaulted, shot or stabbed mid-performance, usually over how songs are sung.

Damn. Must be some gawd awful singing.

dog or capybara?

Sometimes I'm convinced our semi-aquatic Lucky is related to a capybara. He gets hours of entertainment chasing small fish in the shallow water near Shell Beach. He's also one of the happiest dogs I've ever known. He definitely lives Paya Bay's motto: Feel Good. Be Happy.

ecodriving

The virtual road test reminds me of those early 80's Atari games. What this campaign teaches, however, is important to learn. It's a small way for individuals to help contribute to global cooling.