Not only does Salva Vida mean Life Saver in Spanish, it’s also the name of our favorite Honduran beer. We feel like Chicago is a life saver right now—we’re really happy to be home. Our trip was great, interesting, and full of surprises, but the surprises got frustrating after a while and we are just glad to be back to normal!

Our last night on Roatan was eventful—we checked out of Palmetto Bay and got a room at the Pasado Arco Iris in the West End. We loved out little room with its collections of Honduran crafts, until we found out that we could not flush ANY paper. Then we thought it was only OK. At least we had hot water and a beach across the street.

That night, we ran into our friend Lee from Brooklyn by chance on the street. We met up for drinks with him at Sundowners—a cool little shack on the beach. We sat in old wooden boats turned into comfy little benches and drank Salva Vida, of course.
The next morning we woke up to a bright, sunny, beautiful day. It figures that the sun would finally come out after days of clouds on the day were leaving…But really, the weather made a HUGE difference! It was easy to see why people love Roatan. We went swimming in the Caribbean, finally, and we sat on the beach until it was time to go to the airport.

We took a flight out of Roatan to San Pedro Sula. We had not heard one nice thing about this city and we did not know what to expect. Well, the rumors were true. We were happy to be there for only one night. We reintroduced ourselves back into the mainstream by going to the CityMall and eating at the food court. It was great! Some things are the same any where in the world.

Now that we’re back home, it is obvious how thankful we are—and should be—for our privileged and convenient lifestyle in the U.S. We will never, ever forget the wonderful times we had in Honduras, but we will also remember how wonderful it is to live in Chicago!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!