Dinner at the Chicken Place

Today we decided to go to the chicken place for dinner.  Last trip we didn't have dinner there. We settled for desserts. 

This restaurant is located at the far end of the strip and we were there for dinner by 6:30 or so, but they had already run out of the cinnamon rolls. On our way to the restaurant, we stopped by and picked up some bacardi (to make up for the Flor de Cana) and coke, for later in the evening.

Harish, Chitra and I shared a bunch of items - bean quesadilla, chicken quesadilla, coconut rice and beans and fried plantains.  Evertything was good, but the best was yet to come...desserts!  An order each of coconut cream pie, key lime pie and rum cake (delicious and no way too miss the rum).  I guess there is one good use for Flor de Cana! 

Once again....a satisfying meal later, we were back on our way to Sea Grape.  A round of rum and cokes to round out the night, and get to bed for day three!

 

Day two - interior walls, ridge beam and rafters

You got it....6:45 am hotspot, 7 am Coco Lobo and 7:45 am on the truck.  No van today...and going forward. 

Yesterday was a nice, pleasant day to build and this morning started out to be a good one as well.

Four walls up on day one, so what's up for today?  Interior walls, work on the roof (ridge beams and rafters).  This meant more cutting....

Our work site was greeted by a dog's present for us.  Tracy and Tharika helped take care of that.  I guess the dog liked the fact that there was a large, enclosed private space!

Tanya, Harish, Tharika, Tracy and Mark working on the
interior gable wall

The first wall to go up was the interior gable wall (look up what a gable wall is).  Other interior walls are almost all all with vertical 2x4 studs (90 inches high), so that meant cutting about a MILLION of them.










See the picture to the left for what I mean.

Thank god for the lunch break, which meant we could stop cutting!

Today it was pastalitos (something like an empanada or a samosa; even better samsa).  Mark forgot to bring the hot sauce today as well (0/2).

Back to cutting after lunch!

Time to move on to the roof - I mean cutting the rafters.  After the rafters was cut, we laid them out for Mark and Tanya to mark them before moving them to the roof.  The framing team worked hard on putting up the paneling, and as we neared the end of day two, we were almost done with all interior walls and the ridge beam was up!

End of day two

Thankful for another dry day (and a pleasant one for building).  Time to move the lumber inside, pack up the tools and leave for the West End. 


 

Dinner after a long and tiring day!

We stayed back at the build site till around 5 pm on day one.  Extremely satisfied with four walls going up on day one! We made our way back to Sea Grape - the daily evening routine was to stop at the storage place and drop off the tools, head back to Sea Grape for a much needed shower and off to dinner and drinks.

On Monday, we chose to wander out on the strip and pick a restaurant that caught our fancy.  This time it was Cannibal Cafe - a Mexican restaurant.  we were the only folks there (perhaps a sign?), but the food was good and hot sauce (jalepenos even better) was great too.  Mark bought the team a round of drinks for all the hard work.  After a nice meal, the tired legs returned back to the resort and relaxed in the gazebo before retiring for the night....

Team Eclectic at Cannibal Cafe (Tanya, Arlene, John, Harish, Tracy, Bose, Chitra and Mark)

 

Monday - Day One of the Duran Team Build

A group prayer before the build start

Tom had loaded up his truck with all the tools, and had arranged for an extra van (Fernando’s van) for the first day.  Harish, Tracy and myself jumped in the van and followed Tom to Los Fuertes.  We got there by about 8:20 or so, and Pastor Tim, Emilio, Carla and family were waiting for us.  The lumber had been delivered and the porta potty was on its way too.  By 8:30 am we were ready to begin the build.  Emilio shared his story with us (Pastor Tim translated it), and a short prayer later, we were ON.

Mark gathered the team together and provided us instructions for the morning.  John and I were assigned the task of cutting the lumber needed for the framing of the first wall, while Tanya and Mark laid out the chalk lines and completed the framing layout.  Harish and Chitra joined us for the measuring/cutting fun until we had enough pieces cut to get the first wall laid out on the floor.  Tharika and Tracy were in-charge of making sure the right pieces were in place.  About an hour or so in, we were ready to pound away!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=10152317574995078&set=vb.861535077&type=2&theater

Video courtesy:  Brea Brusch

More cutting....for the second and third walls!  Lunch was a welcome break, and we had baleadas for lunch.  A short lunch break was followed by more cutting. 

By the end of day, I was done with cutting, but guess we were only half-way there. Here are some pics from day 1 (thanks, John).

 

The weekend in Roatan

Landed on perfect sunny Saturday in Roatan and were greeted by Tom and Linnea at the airport. The Kia truck was waiting for us, and off we went to the West End.  I was wondering whether the lack of the “stamps” on my passport would pose an issue, but it turns out that US residents do not need a visa and I now have confirmation of that (getting a note on my passport from the SFO consulate was a good back up to have!).  Part one of Team Eclectic (Harish, Chitra, John, Tharika ad myself) had landed in Roatan!

After checking in to our cabins (a nice change from the last time), we took a stroll around the West End of Roatan – started at Sundowners with a Port Royal, and moved to Coconut Tree for lunch followed by a walk to the end of the strip - barefoot bar.  Guess this is where we got bit by the mosquitoes and sand flies at dusk!

The rest of the team (Mark, Tanya, Arlene and Tracy) arrived at around 5 pm, and we headed back to Sea Grape to meet them for dinner.  A quiet dinner at Half Moon Bay resort with the entire group, and off we went….back to the West End strip.  Sundowners it was!  Harish had some Blue Lagoons, Monkey Lalas were flowing as well and of course, the Salva Vidas.  A good start to the trip.

Sunday was going to be our first full day in Roatan and we were going to take full advantage of it.  We planned to hit the West Bay beach as well as visit our build site and the Pavon family home (which we built in March).

Water taxi ride to West Bay

What was meant to start as a quick breakfast at Linga Longa ended up being a one hour plus breakfast – this was issssssssssssland time!  Our delayed departure meant that we had to re-jigger the plans a bit, and we ended up moving the site visit to the afternoon. Beach it was in the morning…a water taxi ride out to West Bay, and off we went snorkeling. 

Almost all of us rented snorkeling gear, and were ready to jump in to the warm blue waters.  Harish and Chitra were bold enough to rent snorkeling gear and try their hand at it as well.  Chitra even went out quite far out into the waters.  Nice work! We found a nice channel to take us out to the deeper side of the reef – it was a lot of fun.  Tracy found a nice spot on the beach and we took full advantage of the sun and shade, and topped it off with some ice cold Barenas.  By 1 pm it was time for us to head back to the West End, but we were hungry as well – maybe a quick lunch stop?  The taxi took us back to Lighthouse for some tacos.  The bar tender promised us some Veggie tacos and assured us that it would be quick….but here again…island time it was.  The meal was great, but we were running very late.  Dashed back to the resort and cleaned up in time for the afternoon visits.

Visit to the build site on Sunday

We started out with a stop at Flowers Bay to see Tanya’s team Torres build, and went on to see the Duran family build site.  We drove past the airport, Mahagony Bay and after a 20-25 min. ride, ended up at Los Fuertes.  Quite a different neighborhood compared to the Colonia (Pavon family), and the build site was READY for Team Eclectic!  A rain shelter was also built in the back, and all the materials were expected to arrive first thing in the morning.  We didn’t get a chance to meet Emilio or Carla, but we did drive by their store, Pulperia Genesis – a very small store near a busy intersection.

Next stop, a visit to the Pavons in the colonia.  We were looking forward to returning back to see the home we had built in March, and we were greeted by Fidel and Fidelito at the bottom of the dreaded hill!  A 5 min. trek up the hill and we were warmly welcomed by Juana Maria and her daughters – Kayla, Carla.  They had made some modifications to the area below their house – made it into a room, and added some tin roofing to the deck, etc.  The house was extremely clean, and it was clear that they had been waiting up for us for quite some time.  We enjoyed the visit to their home, but it was clear that they were still in a state of financial hardship.  Mark has been very kind to the family and has agreed to take care of the education expenses for the oldest daughter, which will hopefully provide them some flexibility.  It became clear that the house was a huge help for them – they don’t have to pay rent or worry about not having a shelter.  However, that is just a good first step.

It was getting dark (gets dark by 5 pm), so we decided to say our goodbyes and make our way down the hill.  Tracy had an interesting encounter with a guy carrying a machete, which provided some excitement for the walk down.  Soon it was dinner time and Tom drove us all out to Bananarama in the West Bay.  Having had a late lunch, Harish, John, Chitra, Tharika and myself decided to get just an order of nachos and some drinks.  The live music was quite awful, but nevertheless entertaining.  The highlight of the evening turned out to be the hermit crab race!  The resort does this as a way to raise funds for an HIV prevention program in the island (baby formula for infants whose moms have HIV/AIDS).  You pay $5 for a crab, which has a number on it, and they drop these crabs in the center of a circle and watch which crab crosses the finish line (a larger outer circle).  Mark and Arlene bought a couple of entries, but guess their crabs decided to pass on the race J

After dinner we made our way back to the West End, and ventured out to try some tacos at the taco stand. Only two options – tacos and quesadillas, and you could pick either beef or pork, or I suppose plain cheese as well.  John and Tharika tried the meat versions, and Harish and I chose the cheese and salsa tacos.  The jalapeno salsa/puree added a big kick to the tacos. The first day at the build site was going to start with breakfast at 7 am, so we figured we had to end the night early and get some much needed sleep before the build.  

Monday (day one of the build)

As like in March, we were able to get an early breakfast (7 am) at Coco Lobo – coffee, juice, fruits, cereal, yogurt and a hot dish, which varied daily.  For the next 5 days…this was the routine, breakfast at 7 and leave for the site by 7:45 am.

 

 

Starting out day two with an early breakfast at Linga Longa. Plan to go see the Pavon family home and then the build site.

Roatan.....Team Eclectic Builds Again...

As most of you know, I joined a few friends to head down to Honduras in March 2012 to build a home for the Pavon family – we raised funds for the house build, and spent 5 days on the ground building the house for them.  You can read about the Roatan, Honduras adventure here.

We enjoyed it a lot, and figured why not try and make it an annual event – perhaps a post-Thanksgiving trip and event!  Yes, Team Eclectic (read the blog for why we are called that).  This time around we are building for the Duran family, and have recruited more friends to join us. 

 

Leaving for Roatan on Saturday (24th).

 

Memorable moments from Roatan!

We were extremely glad to have played a small part in bringing joy to the Pavon family.  This trip was a lot of fun, and listed below are some of those fun moments.

In no particular order...

• Being called "Team Eclectic"
• Riding on the back of a truck everyday - pretty much rain or shine!
• Our truck getting stuck in a muddy mess...and team eclectic saving the day!
• All day happy hours - $1.60 beer!
• Finding pickled hot peppers

Till next time...

Dedication ceremony!

Fidel and family were visibly excited for this day! For the first time these kids would have a real house to live in.  We were all extremely happy for them, and glad that we were able to contribute a little bit towards that.

The festivities started with opening remarks by Tom (Alternative Missions; Dwellings) followed by Mark's comments on behalf of Team Eclectic.

 
Fidel and his wife were extremely thankful to everyone.  A group prayer led by the pastor from their church concluded the ceremony.

It was time to hand over the keys to the house!!!

Our adventure had almost come to an end...we celebrated with cake and soda. The joy and excitement among family and friends is hard to describe in words, but we were glad to have been able to contribute towards that. 

We said our goodbyes to the family and friends, and handed over the bag of chocolates to the kids and headed to the truck.  Our last trek down the hill (on this trip :-))! 

We headed straight to dinner...at Eagle Ray's, but Tanya and I decided to get tacos from the street vendor - they looked delicious.  Indeed they were!  Over dinner we shared our thoughts from this amazing experience and figured it might be worth doing this again!

Dinner was followed by a couple of stops at the watering holes...one last drink at sundowners before calling it a night!  

Last day of the house build - March 9th 2012

Back to the routine - Cocolobo for breakfast, and headed out to the site by 7:30 AM!  We were right on target to get the work done by Noon.

The doors were up, the beds completed, railings finished....Mark had to work some magic on the electrical hook up. Voila! We had power. All that remained was to clean up, pack up the tools and head down to the truck

At 4 pm we will come back for the dedication ceremony.

Hopefully, this was our penultimate trek back to the truck.  Tom suggested that we stop by the Rusty Fish, and check out their workshop where they turn old oil barrels (and scrap metal) into art - wall hangings, yard art, etc.

A few of us headed out to lunch at the Coconut Tree restaurant, and were pleasantly surprised by their Chicken Parmesan sandwich.  The pickled hot peppers that were brought out were simply fantastic (and hottt!!!).

John had to find a room to stay for Saturday night, so we decided to walk around town in search of a place that had rooms available for Saturday night. Got a little souvenir shopping done as well. 

We picked up some chocolates for the kids on our way back to the resort, and were ready by 4 pm to head out for the dedication ceremony.

Beach day - March 8th 2012

We took the day off from working and planned a day of fun - West Bay, beach, snorkeling, diving and relaxing!

Thankfully it wasn't a 6:45 AM start today...breakfast at 8:30 and met up with the rest of the gang at around 9 AM.  We strolled by the West End and took the water taxi to West Bay.

The water taxis take you from the West End to West Bay (beautiful beach) for $3 per person and the ride takes about 10-15 min. Unfortunately, we chose a day when four cruise ships had docked in Roatan...oops!  The beach was packed (with cruisers as the locals call them).

Clear blue waters and a sunny day!  Perfect combination, but we had to put up with the crowds.  John, Josh and I decided to rent snorkeling gear and jump in to the water.  Mark, Jessica and Tanya decided to take a stroll on the beach. 

The mesoamerican reef (second largest in the world) runs parallel to the western end of Roatan.  West Bay beach has some great snorkeling spots.  It was a blast!

We had to head back to Seagrape Plantation resort for the afternoon dive that some folks had signed up for.  Stopped at Besos for a quick lunch, and walked back to the resort.

2 pm dive for Mark, Jessica, Josh and Tanya.  John and I joined the group for a second snorkeling session of the day.

We ended the day with a nice dinner at the Argentinian grill, followed by desserts at Creoles Rotisserie Chicken place.  Tres leches cake was really good :-)

March 7th 2012 - Sun sneaks out!

The sunny weather we had been hoping for descended on us on Wednesday!  Don't get me wrong - we had patches of sun on Monday and Tuesday, but not clear skies.

A regular start to the day - Cocolobo in the morning and off we went to the site.  Hoping for a lunch time finish, so that we could head to the beach in the afternoon :-)

John and I were tasked with laying out the support boards (for the roof) on the backside of the house.  Mark figured we were technical folks, so we could do the math, measurements, etc.  Little did he know that I am a biologist!!

Getting this job done meant that we had to climb up on the roof or at least perch precariously off of the frame.  We got the job done after a minor scare about measurements and having to re-do it, but glad we were right and didn't have to start all over again!

Meanwhile Tanya, Josh and Jessica were taking care of the electrical wiring for the entire house.  Mark was preparing for the next set of activities - window and door trims, bed frames, etc.

The roofing (tin sheets) were going to be done by professionals, and they had arrived as well.  By mid-day we were the "asynchronous hammering symphony" - glad neighbors don't complain in Roatan!

The sun was scorching hot, and today we hoped there would be some rain showers once in a while!  Tried to stay cool and hydrated, but it was not easy...

Lunch time - a special Honduran treat " Pastelitos" - a dish similar to an empanada.  Two choices - beef or chicken. 

Dina prepares awesome lemonade, which we were served everyday with lunch, but on a hot day like today...the lemonade was a popular commodity at lunch. Cold, refreshing and tasty!

We still had to finish up the beds, kitchen counter and doors.  After lunch, we headed back to the site to finish the job! It was going to be a hot afternoon...but we had to get it done today, if we wanted to take tomorrow off and have some fun in Roatan.

It ended up being the longest day at the site for us - wrapped up at around 5:30 pm, but we were almost there!  Kitchen counter was done, two beds were in place and the house was all wired up!

John worked hard on getting the bed frames in place...and guess he took a well deserved break :-)

The roof was complete was well.  What remained - front and back doors, side railings for the deck and turn on the power!  We figured this would take ~2 hrs, and we could come back on Friday AM and get the job done.

Fidel's wife showed up from work as we were wrapping up, she was extremely thankful to our team for having helped build this house for them.  She had arranged for some delicious oranges to be brought to us, and Fidelito spent the next 15 min. enjoying his orange!

  
End of day 4 photo:

The proud team!

Rains continue – March 6th, 2012

Day two of the house build.  We finished at around 4 pm yesterday, and exceeded our goal for the day.  Hopefully, today will also end up being a similar day.

Breakfast at Coco Lobo, followed by a ride to the build site.  To help us with the rains we stopped by the nearby “mini super” (grocery store) to pick up large trash bags.  See some styling pictures of us in those raincoats (below).

Today it was time to start putting up the interior walls and rafters.  The first interior wall to go up was the one separating the two bedrooms – John and I worked on it while the rest of the team worked on the rafters.  Mark’s instructions were clear – these are the nails that the kids will be staring at for years to come, so we needed to get them in as clean as possible and with a good pattern.  Tanya, Josh and Jessica worked on the rafters.  We were also joined by Anthony and Darlene (volunteers from the family’s church group), who proved to be extremely valuable with the roofing (and related) work.  They had a fantastic attitude and were willing to help out as much as possible. 

It rained on and off, and when it didn’t rain, the raincoat was really uncomfortable and hot.  When it rained, it was much needed.  An occasional quick downpour got us soaked, but Fidel and family served us some coffee and cake in the morning which helped us stay warm.
By lunch time, almost all the interior walls were up, including the doors to the bedrooms. The rafters were done as well.  Today’s lunch menu – roasted chicken, vegetables, rice and beans.

Post-lunch session: we had to close the holes on the four edges of the walls and finish work on the rafters so that roofing can be completed on Wednesday.  John and I had the task of closing out the four sides.  Three out of the four sides were relatively easy compared to the front, right edge of the house. 

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Tomorrow – speculated to be a shorter day:  doors, wiring, trims, beds and kitchen counter!

We headed to West Bay for dinner (Bananarama resort).  It was trivia night at that place - a couple of questions were interesting, but most were not!  Dinner was OK – nothing to rave about, but good company and beachside location made it a fun evening.

Early morning start (sign of things to come) – March 5th, 2012

A 6:45 AM start to the day (and week).  Our team gathered outside the Seagrape lobby, and walked over to Coco Lobo (http://www.cocolobo.com) for breakfast. Heavy rains overnight and a cloudy start to the day, and signs of rain, but it was dry during breakfast time.  A nice breakfast overlooking the beach – perfect start to the day!

Right after breakfast we jumped back onto the truck, and headed out to the colonia.  Colonia might be a generic term, but we understand that this is the largest settlement (or cluster of homes) in the island.  It might have started out a squatter community, but now all landowners have ownership documents. The family for whom we were going to build are landowners as well.

The dreaded hill climb:  Tom drove us up a hill (on Sunday) to reach the build site, and it seemed like a tough hill to drive up, but little did I realize that that was the last time I was going to ride up that hill!

First stop was at the bottom of the hill – visited the restaurant (Dina’s) where we would be eating lunch for the coming few days.  Next up – carry the tools, water and bags up the hill to the build site.  The heavy overnight rains made the hill slippery, but we made it up alright.  By 8 AM, we were ready to get going.  Before we got started, we had a brief prayer (and the downpour started as we were in the middle of it).  We were fully soaked, and we hadn’t even started our work day yet!

Mark and Tanya laid out the frame for the first wall (one of the sides), and off we were with the hammering!  For the first time in my life, I started using a hammer for its real purpose – not just to hang pictures J  Driving in these galvanized nails took some effort, but soon enough we realized that driving it in was hard, but pulling one of these nails out (if it wasn’t in right) was even harder! After the frame was done, we nailed in the plywood to the exterior and all ready to stand the wall up!  Soon enough, we were on our way to the second side wall.  A concerted effort led us to raising the second wall by lunch time!

Lunch at Dina’s on day one:  rice, beans, vegetables and shrimp with some delicious lemonade to go with it. Climbing the hill back after lunch was tough, but we had to get used to it.

Our goal for day 1 was to raise at least three walls, and by lunch time it looked like we were well on our way to meet that goal.

Post-lunch session saw us raising the two longer front walls, and the center beam.  It rained pretty much throughout the afternoon, and sun came out in patches.  Just as we thought we were dry, it rained again.

End of day one (photo below). Phew!  Dreaded the sore muscles as I walked down the hill.

Dinner was at Half Moon Bay resort (no real sign boards for this place).  Although a 5 min. walk from Seagrape, Tom gave us a ride due to the giant mud puddles on the way.  Food was good, but we had to be seated indoors due to the inclement weather.  Hopefully, we’d come back again to enjoy the location and view.

Called it an early night, so that we could rest up those sore muscles.  6:45 AM start again tomorrow!

The trip starts – March 3rd 2012

Secured a visa from the Honduras consulate in SFO on March 2^nd, and packed my bags to leave on the 3^rd morning.  SEA – IAH on the 3^rd morning. 3^rd night at Aravind and Veena’s and onward to Roatan on the 4^th morning.

Getting a Honduras visa was one of the easiest experiences till date.  Thanks for the extremely friendly staff at the SFO consulate.  The overnight stop in Houston was fun as well – caught up with family and had some tasty Gujarati food at Bhojan.  John overnighted at the airport, and was ready for some “masala dosa” and sambhar for breakfast.  Luckily for him, Veena packed some pongal for him, so he was a happy camper.  It turned out Mark and Tanya had missed their connecting flight on the 3^rd, so they were on the same flight as well from IAH to RTB.

The flight was on time and we landed in sunny Roatan at around 1 pm local time on Sunday.  Tom Hackett (Alternative Missions) was waiting for us at the airport.  The “vacation with a purpose” had started!

80 odd degrees and 70-80% humidity it was.  A perfect sunny day!  We visited a couple of build sites that Mark and his team were going to work on the following week. 

A visit to the build site on Sunday

Loved riding on the back of the truck.  By 3 pm we made our way to Seagrape Plantation Resort – our home for the next 6 days.

Dinner time – 5 pm @Smuggler’s resort in the West Bay.  John and I went on a stroll to explore the West End before dinner, and found Sundowner’s – the place we got named the “eclectic team”.  More on that later.

Post-dinner, we ended up at Sundowner’s for some drinks, and that is where we started chatting with the bartender/owner.  Our conversation started with local rums (guess Honduran rum isn’t very popular) and we tried a rum/coke, but the rums weren’t anything memorable, except the last ten minutes of the conversation.  The bartender was curious to know what our “eclectic group” was doing in Roatan J  That is what resulted in the title for this blog!

Tomorrow was going to be the first day of the build…who knows what is in store.

Smugglers Resort

An “eclectic group” on a house building adventure!

It all started 7-8 months ago when Mark Huber (who we thank for our house in Fremont) talked about going down to Roatan to build a house for a family that was in need of a shelter, and had some fantastic stories to share from his previous experience.  I said to myself “why not?” and in my mind, had recruited a bunch of others as well – Lea, Satish, Saurabh and John!

Mark had sent around a bunch of emails about the family that we would be building the house for, and I figured he would know best, so we chose to build a house for the Pavon family: http://www.ministrysync.com/event/website/?m=729397#1.  The first week in March was the chosen set of dates, and I figured everyone could make it work.

Just coming off the Tuk n Roll adventure in India, Lea was unable to take additional time off, and it turns out Satish and Saurabh had some work related commitments.  That left John, who was just starting his job search.  I figured I shouldn’t really press him too much.

I got my ticketing done mid-Feb, and that confirmed the trip for me.  I would spend a couple of days in Houston both ways, and a total of 7 days in Roatan.  Sounded great to me!  Tom Hackett (Dwellings/Alternative Misssions) was taking care of the logistics on the ground. Thanks to Mark and Tom, the trip was all set!  One minor detail - need to complete the fundraising goal.  Friends and family were extremely generous towards the fundraising effort for the autorickshaw challenge (http://aminarickshawchallenge.wordpress.com), so didn’t want to bother them again (this yearJ). 

Dates for the trip:  March 4th through March 10th.  Build dates: March 5th to 9th.

Come Feb 27th, John was still on the fence, so I guess a little arm twisting wouldn't hurt! And it worked.  John committed to the trip as well, and we were on our way to Roatan!