As a general rule of thumb I always figuratively “look up” in life. The older I get the more I find myself taking risks and enjoying adventure. Now I don’t know how I would survive without them. It isn’t always easy, but I find it is always worth it.
One of the biggest risks/adventures of my life was living in Italy. There were days when I thought I was crazy that I had convinced my husband to sell everything we owned and relocate both of us in a foreign country where we didn’t speak the language. While it wasn’t without its trials it was a life changing experience. It seemed to me in Italy that there were always reminders about taking risks, always encouraging me, or reminding me life is is only as big and grand as the risks you take.
The day I took this picture I was in Cinque Terre. I was sitting on the beach in awe of the amazing architecture, and incredible views of the sea. I looked up and saw these boys standing on the edge of a cliff, opening their arms to take it all in and then diving into the glorious sapphire sea below. This shot for me is an inspiration for life, open your eyes, spread your arms and jump. It is always worth it.
There is a peace in travel I can’t find anywhere else. Perhaps it is because every new place I travel to changes me for the better. I find that the best travel for me is experiencing things with our family. This is my husband, my travel partner with my nephew in Placencia, Belize. The two of them embraced their explorer spirit on this trip, appreciating everything this beautiful and amazing world has to offer.
I have spent the last 9 years of my life talking about the problems with plastic. The biggest problem is it doesn’t break down. It never goes away. Some of it can be recycled but most plastics are single use which will NEVER go away. For most people in the world, out of sight out of mind. It goes somewhere when it is no longer in our site and since it isn’t piling up in our backyard it can’t really be that big of a problem, right? Wrong.
I have heard from other travelers that they are seeing HUGE problems when they go to Bali, Thailand, and other places in the South Pacific. There is plastic trash everywhere. On first glance it would appear that these people just don’t dispose of their trash very well, But it actually has almost nothing to do with that.
As we saw in Utila when we visited was it isn’t the trash from the islands or ocean front mainlands which is the problem, it is the trash from everywhere else. Every year 10’s of 1,000’s of pounds of garbage wash up on islands. These little islands who aren’t equipped in any way to handle this plastic trash. In California alone they spend over 25 million dollars per year of tax payers money to deal with the problem of the plastic washing up on shore. Again, most of this is not their trash. So, how can we expect small little islands to have that amount of money each year to clean up our trash? The locals do what they can to pick up and organize incentive programs, like the one in Utopia Village, or those in Bali, but many of these places have no place to recycle the plastic once it is picked up so it is hauled off to landfills or shipped to mainlands to be recycled.
So where is all of this trash coming from? Well, it comes from plastics in the waterways throughout the world, from boats, from people throwing things into the ocean and litter in general. A plastic bottle which makes its way into a river can easily end up in an ocean hundreds of miles away. It then wraps itself around corals, it traps and kills fish and mammals, it ends up inside of turtles, fish and birds. Once that happens the fish eat them, it is a toxin so they ingest it, they are then caught by fishermen and humans consume the toxic fish.
There are massive amounts of images of birds being cut open when they die, full of plastic pieces. They can not digest the plastic anymore than we can and so they die.
In 2013 115 billion pounds of plastic were produced just in U.S, 300 million tons of plastic are produced each year worldwide. None of this plastic ever goes away. In fact all of the plastic molecules ever produced are still here on this planet.
Every time we go snorkeling we are pulling plastic food bags out of the ocean. They are wrapped around corals which eventually kill the coral, trap and kill fish and never, ever go away.
This disposable diaper washed up completely intact! It will stay this way for at least 500 years.
While it may not seem like your problem consider the money our country spends each year on clean up. Your money. Consider the fish eating the plastic and then being put on your dinner table, consider the birds dying and then consider the ecosystem we depend on being damaged daily. Think about you and your children traveling walking along plastic filled beaches, or snorkeling with almost no fish or coral to look at. Then think about what you can do to help. Stop using plastic bags, stop buying bottled water (instead buy a reusable glass or stainless steel container and taking your water). Take your family for a walk and pick up and recycle the plastics you see or throw away what can’t be recycled. Buy products in glass jars or aluminum cans when possible, or buy in bulk and take your own containers if you can. It isn’t hard at all to change what we have done. Buy things made from renewable, biodegradable or recycled materials. Purchase from conscious companies like Preserve who recycle their plastic into amazing things like plates, utensils and park furniture for our communities. (I use their razor and toothbrush and used to own the tableware and have loved all of it!)
I have avoided discussing the toxins we are exposed to with plastics but there is plenty of information out there if you want to look into it yourself. Or comment and I would be happy to share the decades worth of information I have.
Then if you really want to be awesome stand up to the plastic companies who are suing towns/cities/states who are trying to get rid of plastic bags in their communities. The plastic problem is visible in ocean towns but it starts with all of us. It is simple to make a difference.
(Many of the facts in this post came from the movie Plastic Paradise. It is worth watching. There is also an incredible young man named Boyan Slat who is working on a project to help clean up the Pacific Ocean.)
The truck in the image will soon become a craft project at school. We will use it as a planter.
I have been teaching now in Pigeon Cay for 2 weeks (minus this week when I am on vacation, yep 2 weeks of teaching and already a vacation!). I am not going to lie, it has been a roller coaster.
I teach 1st-6th grades. I try to teach them English. We are all finding our way in this and some days I win and some days I lose. I mostly lose with the 1st and 2nd graders, or so I thought. Then there are these small little miracles which appear in my day and remind me that we are all reachable and all teachable.
My 1st and 2nd graders are a mixed bag. I have a few students who want to learn so badly that in the midst of the complete chaos they shine like little stars and manage to learn something, although I don’t know how because I am more referee than teacher, or to be honest 99% referee and 1% teacher. These children are why I am here, in my opinion. They speak no English. This is upsetting to many of the people on Pigeon Cay since it is their native language.
In my 3rd-6th grade classes I have one student in each class who can at least bridge enough of the language gap that we can get things done. In 1st & 2nd grade I am without an ally or a friend. These students spend the entire class doing one or several of the following: hitting, punching, cussing, spitting, running, yelling, coloring, or ignoring. After 1 hour and 20 minutes of this I am at my wits end. The other teacher is amazing and allows me to cart them off to her class to sit so my students can have some hope of learning. But after 2 days of this I was determined to handle it myself. While my incredible determination will not allow me to quit it can not keep me from feeling defeated. In my second week it started the same but then I noticed halfway through that I only had to take one child out and not four. The others were rowdy but they had changed. They were still pushing but less so. They were now at least willing to try to make this work, even if it is on their terms.
In one of the classes amidst the chaos a little girl came into class about 30 minutes late with her mother. Before I could say anything about her being late her mother explained that her daughter was sick and the mother tried to make her stay home but the little girl refused. She HAD to get to English class. I looked at her and almost cried. I had reached one of these little children. I couldn’t believe it.
The next class the little boy who is the most violent and requires constant monitoring from both me and the other teacher wouldn’t relent. I found out he has trouble at home. Immediately I knew I had to reach him. I spent days thinking about how to reach him and then at a soccer game, after he had been in several fights, he walked past me, and quietly handed me a cookie and walked away. I can’t explain to you why, especially since I don’t eat cookies, but it was one of the most precious gifts I have been given. A peace offering maybe? Or maybe just permission to keep trying because he is paying attention.
Either way, I know we have a lot to teach each other and I am so excited.
As we end our second week living in Utila I have noticed I am hearing much different things around our house in Utila than we did in our house in Richmond, Virginia. Here are a few of the things my husband, other people, or I say in our house which are evidence that we are becoming less tourist and more local everyday:
Me: “Today one of my students dropped her pencil while we were learning english words. As she jumped into a fishing boat to fish her pencil out of the ocean I knew we had entered a totally different reality.”
J (my husband): “Is it possible to lose weight from sweating? I am pretty sure I am.”
Me: “We need new soap dishes for the bathrooms. We can get pieces of old coral and rocks on the beach and then we have soap dishes.”
Me: “I talked to my dad for 45 minutes today and we only used 4 kw of power in that time. That is good right?”
Me: “Oh my god, it looks like rain. Quick, we should take extra showers and do the laundry so the cistern can fill up. I feel like we won the lottery!”
J: “I am pretty sure no-seeums can’t fly this high so we are safe on our porch.” Later that day, “Crap, they can definitely fly as high as our porch.”
J: “I wonder if heavy rains drown no-seeums?”
Me: “Aren’t you tired of sitting there watching the ocean for hours?”
A (our divemaster): “No really it is fine you can just get on Elvis’ Uncle Jerry’s boat to get groceries. He can take you right into town.”
J: “I swear that lionfish was really mad that I tried to kill him. He came right for my face. I knew he was going to stab me! When I tried to get away I bumped my head on the top of the rock overhang and almost spit out my regulator.”
J: “No really, I think it is humid enough here we don’t need an iron.” (turns out this is not true.)
M, during a skype video conference: “Well, you look very tropical.” ( I think this may have been a polite way of saying I looked sweaty.)
J: “So I have been watching this lizard for about 20 minutes…”
As our first week in Utila winds down here are 10 things I have learned about island living.
There is definitely a rhythm to the ocean which makes you act & respond differently than you thought you could. I feel like I am in a state of meditation all of the time.
An electric pencil sharpener can bring so much joy & happiness to children & teachers who have never seen one before. (more on this later)
Taking a boat to & from work is absolutely fabulous!
Photo courtesy of Paul Avenant from Utopia Village.
I had never been interested in living on an island because I thought I would be covered in residuals of sand all of the time. This is actually not the case at all.
When the ocean is right outside your doors & there is not noise pollution, you don’t need/want TV.
It is completely unfair that these small islands are left to deal with our plastic waste & environmental irresponsibility! (more on this later)
I was totally spoiled by American grocery stores. The lack of access to organic foods & any fresh produce my heart desires is going to prove challenging for me. As it turns out local Tofu, flaxseed and quinoa are not as popular in Utila as they are in Richmond, VA.
We had better get it together as a society or we will lose our coral reefs & consume the majority of fish which will fully disrupt our oceanic ecosystem.
It is somehow possible to teach children even if we don’t share the same language, as long as your heart is in the right place & you are extremely patient.
Lastly I have realized that although I am a strict vegetarian ( I don’t eat any fish or meat), and I regularly take bugs outside instead of killing them, I find myself looking everywhere for lionfish so that the dive masters can kill them.(Read about why here.)
Oh and in case you are wondering scuba diving and snorkeling on a regular basis rocks!
As we flew across the ocean on a single engine plane with a pilot who barely spoke english I looked over the luggage which threatened to bury me alive. I saw nothing but the bluest ocean, the coral reefs and the small breaks in the water where fish were jumping. I felt the most peaceful calm, a calm which I have only experienced one other time in my life. I felt as if I were coming home. I watched the flow of the ocean underneath me and knew this is exactly where I belonged. The turquoise and sapphire depths held infinite possibilities for us. I was overcome with a feeling that the world had opened its arms and welcomed us in. I have said all of my life that I wanted to make a difference in this world. There have been moments when I didn’t feel feel big enough or good enough but I know now that each step I have taken I have made a change. This one will be the one I dreamed of.
When left for our journey to Utila on Friday we had 4 suitcases full of books and supplies for the school, plus 4 carry-ons. The gentleman at the United check in desk did not share our enthusiasm as we began to load each of our suitcases on the scale and some weighed up to 80 lbs. We learned very quickly that the max weight is 70 lbs unless you want to pay 400.00 extra per bag! I wondered how he could seriously say that with a straight face, but he did and we scrambled. Luckily we got them under 70 lbs by carrying more weight in our carry-ons. (We also learned that if you upgrade your seats you get more free bags so in the end it was cheaper to upgrade to first class than pay for the luggage. We love first class so we were more than happy to take that option.)
The flights were easy and we arrived in Roatan with no problems at all. I misunderstood the ferry schedule so the day before we had to scramble, with the help of the wonderful owners of Utopia Village, to find alternate transportation to Utila. They found a charter flight for us on a single engine plane with four seats. Reluctantly I walked to the plane, I do not like to fly and I really don’t like to fly with one pilot and one engine, too easy for one thing to go wrong and then you are in trouble. I have been on an airplane when one engine failed so I had this rule that I wouldn’t get on a plane with less than that, ever. As usual in life when I say I won’t I end up doing it. I swear it is just for life to remind me I have almost no control over anything.
When we landed in Utila we were early so we waited a few minutes for Paul (owner of Utopia Village) to meet us. Soon a tuck-tuck arrived with children, and then another, and another. Then Paul arrived and told us the school children, principal and teachers had come from Pigeon Cay to welcome us. The children began to line up (this took awhile as any organizing of children does). As I walked out of the airport they started to sing this wonderful song about their country and their heritage. It was followed by introductions, and speeches which had been rehearsed for weeks. For the past few days I have been searching for words to describe how I felt and I am at a loss. Perhaps “Pure Joy” is the only thing I can say. If you have never felt this before go seek out the thing which will provide that to you.
Doing something for others, something pretty big for them, even if it feels small to you, is the best feeling in the world. While I think I feel more blessed than they do, I know now that each of us sees this as an amazing opportunity. I know that in some small way I am doing something that can affect a change in this world. There has never been a paycheck, a purse, a pair of shoes, a trip, an expensive dinner or a luxury I have owned that has brought me the same level of joy that listening to these children and shaking each of their hands has ever given me.
So I am not Theodore Roosevelt. I know this. However, I am starting to wonder if there is some relationship to the way he traveled for his exploration of the Amazon and the way I am packing for my trip to Utila. The closer we get to the date we leave the more I feel I should be packing just in case I can’t get it in Utila and I decide I must have it in the next 6 months.
Is this rational? Probably not. Do other people do it? I hope so! In fact I try to tell myself that it is completely normal. However, my husband, who is always the worrier, seems to think throwing whatever shorts and scuba equipment he has into a suitcase is just fine. So what the hell is wrong with me? Why am I becoming more and more preoccupied with what type of food I am going to be able to buy in the grocery store (being a vegetarian might mean I can justify this one) or how difficult will it be to buy random household supplies like an iron if I need one? Over the weekend I went to the Apple store and felt like a squirrel before winter. I started checking on all of charging devices we have and trying to justify buying new ones “just in case”.
I decided a few weeks ago I would sacrifice my books for supplies for the school because we can only take so much luggage before I have to charter my own ship. I am fine with this, well I was fine with it until I started packing our suitcases. It seems my lack of ability to spatially recognize and plan is really a problem. So this week I am whittling away at what I “really” need. This is going to be a good exercise for me. I don’t have much left since we sold almost everything but now I get to push even further, I am excited because I feel like the more I do this the closer I get to who I really am and what is really important in this life.
So far a few knitting projects and knitting needles are essential. A few books, essential (the rest I will compromise and get ebooks). My Wustoff chef’s knife, essential. My reading light, and journals, essential. Sunscreen, chapstick, dive equipment-all essential. Other than that, I will keep you posted.
In the meantime I will joyfully be packing all of the wonderful school supplies and teaching supplies. Every time something else gets packed I am filled with joy and excitement. It takes my mind off of some of the silly little things I still hold on to as essential.
This week I figured out how to shop at Target when you are moving and taking nothing but one suitcase with you (yep I am now only allowed one suitcase and my carry on by my husband…major stress).
In my post a few months ago I talked about wandering around Target and not buying anything because we were selling everything we owned and becoming mobile.
Well, the other day I went to Target and found the answer for the question”what do I shop for when I want to own nothing.” The answer: Shop for other people!
I went to Target and bought books, learning materials, gifts and more. It was great. I bought a lot and left so excited. I wasn’t shopping for my friends or family I was shopping for the kids at the Pigeon Cay school where I will be teaching. I shopped for learning materials to teach my classes English. I felt amazing! I left with so much excitement and enthusiasm. It was the best Target experience ever.
My daughter-in-law and I have set a goal to build a little library for the students. We want them to have books that are not only available in the classroom but also available for them to check out and take home with them. As a reader and writer books have been one of the most influential things in my life. The exposure to what is out there in the world, the opportunities, the people, the experiences, and knowing other kids or people go through what I was going through was huge for me. I would lay in my bed at night, after the lights were supposed to be out, with a flashlight under the covers, reading for hours. I traveled the world, I met interesting people, I learned things and I dreamed. It was magic. So leaving Target with books and learning material felt to me like giving a gift of possibility to each one of these children. I want to have many options for them to learn so they are excited about learning English.
One of the things on my list is 8 backpacks. Do you remember having your own backpack every year to start the school year? I do. Being the nerd I am I would be so excited and proud of my new backpack. It was a statement about me, an extension of who I was and what I stood for. Was it like that for you? I want these kids to have that same experience, to have their own backpack to go to school and learn and hold their little treasures and pencils and notebooks. So I am on the hunt for backpacks for them since they don’t all have them. I feel so funny going out and shopping for these things when I hate to shop. I struggle with it but in the end the excitement wins and out I go. I come home like a little kid making my husband (because my son has learned to hide when the door opens and my daughter in law is busy with my grandson) look at each little thing I found. Like a kid at Christmas I show him each little silly putty, ruler, book, pair of scissors-as if they were the best thing anyone had ever found. Which I suppose to me they are. He kindly pretends to be excited about my popsicle sticks for sentence building and my laminating sheets because he knows what a difference all of this can make. Then he pats me on the arm, asks me if all of these stickers are really necessary and leaves me to my planning, copying, and laminating.
So might I recommend the next time you go shopping and have to buy something you know you really don’t need, maybe buy something for someone who is in need.
It is official! We are moving to Utila for 6 months! I have volunteered to teach at this very special school located on Pigeon Cay in Honduras. I will be teaching English to grades 1st-6th in this great little school.
This is such an amazing thing for me. I love kids and am so passionate about the difference an education can make for someone. As you know we fell in love with Utila, Honduras when we were there last month so when I started talking with Chrisna, one of the owners of Utopia Village, it just made sense for me to try to get involved. In the past I think I would have walked away from the vacation and wish I had said something but this time there wasn’t an option. I didn’t think I would be talking to her about me being the volunteer, I actually was thinking of a friend I have, but the conversation went that way and I found myself eagerly offering to come back. I love when I get out of my own way and just trust my instincts, it always works out better. As we left Utila I felt like I was leaving something unfinished and knew I had to come back, that there was something I needed to do there, and more for me to experience. I was so moved by the island and felt I could really make a difference.
Several days before I knew for sure if we were going to go I realized that five or six days before we left for our Utila vacation I flippantly said to a friend that if anything ever happened to Jim I would spend my life volunteering to teach or help children. I didn’t even think consciously about it but knew the minute the words were out of my mouth that it would be the exact right thing for me. So now I get to do that without losing my husband. How cool is that?!!
I blogged about Pigeon Cay a few weeks ago, but there is still more to say. The people on the island are so kind and happy, as I mentioned before. They are mostly fishermen and very family oriented. They don’t have many resources to make a living so many of them are struggling day to day to feed their families. The opportunities open to them as English speakers can make a complete difference for their families lives forever.
I also hope to tutor some older students and adults too! Of course we will be scuba diving, and Jim (my husband) is trying to convince me to look past my vegetarianism and kill lionfish with them. (You can read my blog post about why this is important here.)
The thought of a new adventure is what started us on this journey. We both were looking for a simpler life focused on enjoying our lives while working not working our lives away. This new opportunity for me is even better than that because I am able to get involved in something important to me, work with beautiful people and give back for all of the amazing blessings I have had in my life. I know everyone there has so much to teach me, just as much or more than I can teach them.
I also get to help educate on awareness of our planet and the use of plastics which thrills me to no end since this has been my passion for 10 years! Check out the wonderful initiatives of the Utopia Village staff and the residents of Pigeon Cay on their facebook page.
My shameless request for supplies starts now: So, the school doesn’t have many supplies for the children, or for the teachers so I am building a stash of teaching supplies in English and supplies for the kids so we can work on building the school resources so the kids and teachers can be as successful as possible. (Remember we are talking about an island where the people work hard but often don’t have enough to even buy a full bottle of ketchup.) If you have any kids books, teaching supplies, coloring books, crayons, art supplies, paper supplies, etc which can be packed in a suitcase we would love to take them with us! Leave a comment or email me and we can figure out a way to get them here before we leave.
For any of you out there who have experience with ESL teaching or ELL’s I would love any and all advice and suggestions, so please leave your comments below.
