Wednesday, December 16, 2015

A Leisurely Day in Paradise

Friday, December 4, 2015

We had the morning off while Leben’s ran some of their personal errands and work that did not concern us.  We took this time to do a few things that we normally don’t get around to.  If a person does not have electricity around here they go to bed early because it gets dark fairly early, by 6:30.  It begins to get light about 4 AM, bright by 5 AM.  Last night we didn’t have the air conditioner on so all the windows were levered open and the curtains pulled back.  I heard the birds about 4 AM.  By 5:30 I was taking a walk along the road, keeping my wristwatch on to see how far I needed to walk to get to 30 minutes.  I discovered that the brand new grocery store that opened just after we got here was only a 7–minute walk.  Tomorrow I want to see how long it takes in the other direction to make it to where Leben’s are living.  There is a safe path to the side of the road so that you don’t feel as though someone will run you over, and at that hour traffic is light.  I realized that I would not want to be walking past 6 AM because it would be too hot by then.  It felt so good to get some exercise at last.  There is also a track just off of this road where people come to walk or run around the track.  It is about a 5-minute walk from here.  There is also an open market place where locals come to sell their vegetables.

Our free breakfast consists of fresh fruits and some breads, toast, jam and butter, and juice.  It is plenty for me, but Jim orders a breakfast because it is not enough for him.  All the food here is good.
We’ve enjoyed getting to know a few couples that are here at the resort for longer than just a few days.  One young couple has gone to various beaches and islands to snorkel or just swim or to enjoy the beautiful scenery, which seems to be just about every which way you look. 
Even though Leben’s thought they’d be here by 12:00, later they said 2:00, and then 4:00.  They weren’t able to come till 4:30.  Typically in these countries that we work in, things move ever so slowly!  So we drove to where the rain catchment is supposed to be built.  They had cleared of brush a much larger area than what was needed for the catchment, but of course it still was not ready.  It was full of stumps and volcanic rock and was quite uneven, so Jim painted a box in the dirt so that they would know what area really needed to be clean of all the lumps.  The volcanic rock here looks like clumps of dried concrete, just piled there.  I have only ever seen blackish volcanic rock.


Before the land was cleared, the area on the other side of Elder Leben’s truck above.  (Below) After clearing the land, but not good enough for building.  Note the paint on the dirt marking the area to be further leveled and cleared.  So far Jim has managed to paint a spot on his pants and later on his hand.  That paint has come in handy…


After this we returned back for a minute to get on our bug spray and get ready to go out to dinner.  They had wanted to take us to a famous place that they also had never been to yet call Breakers.  Breakers refers to the ocean break, famous for surfing.  They have a hotel/resort there and restaurant.  It was such a beautiful setting.  The tables were all set in the sand, both above and below the pool.  There was an area to the left of us on concrete that had two long tables set up for a large group that showed up soon after we did.  The sun was setting so we saw the beautiful colors in the sky.  The ocean and breezes calmed right after we got there.  This calmed the beautiful wave we saw also, so didn’t see much of a surfing wave at that hour as the sea glassed over.  The pool water at the beach side was flush to the edge, giving a mirror-like look to it.  On the right of us there was a one-man band playing music and singing and was very good, only this time the music was louder in this larger venue.  He sounded an awfully lot like the man who sang for us the night before at our resort.  Sure enough, it was the same man!  We laughed that maybe we’d find out where next he was playing and follow him to the next eating place!  What a beautiful evening it was!



The tables in the sand below and above the placid pool.  



The deepening sunset at Breakers restaurant and resort.  To the building on the right the man was playing and singing the music as he did the night before at our resort.  He is very good.  The ambiance was divine.

Tomorrow morning after a few errands we might be able to snorkel.  We are excited.

Love, from Paradise   


                                                                            
For larger groups, at Breakers Resort and Restaurant.


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