We’ve been dodging a very big bullet on Roatan for nearly two months now… RAINY SEASON. The dreaded few months of the year where gray skies and rain only leave us a few days of sun, where the power is out more than it’s on and when you get ‘trapped’ in bars, restaurants or your friends house because you want to wait out the torrential downpour that just started outside. It’s the time of year when you go to take out one of your clutches from the back of the closet and discover all 4 of them are most definitely molded together and sporting tiny fur blankets. When you wake up in the morning and your sheets are damp even though you’re finally not sweating… and you wonder for a second if you’re back in Canada, camping in May. Some say it’s the season when your clothes don’t dry, but I call bullshit because clothes never dry here.
Rainy season has finally solidified itself and we’ve been treated to a most impressive tropical storm for the last 5 days. We’re looking at a couple days off and then another one starting. Now, I have a tendency to exaggerate (who, me?) so please don’t get any typhoon Yolanda images going on. No one here is in danger. But Mother Nature has sure been putting on a show! The rain is coming in my house, the wind is knocking lamps over inside and I am freezing. My dirty little secret is that I actually love rainy season… the heat here is wayyyy too much for me. I’m also all about the wind blowing all the goddamn bugs out of my house finally. But in the diving community, that only means one thing – no work, no money and nothing to do. Bad combo all around.
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| me on the dive boat and an ominous sky… from last rainy season. i no longer fit into that rash guard or shorts. le sigh. |
A lot of my guests have been stuck in their fancy villas (oh, tragedy) waiting out the rain and the wind. They’ve all come by the dive shop to ask what exactly we do here when the weather is bad? Well…nothing really. There’s drinking, watching movies on your laptop or playing cards with your friends. Or writing blog posts about doing all of that.
I thought I’d share what I get up to so I could answer the burning question of what do you do here during rainy season?
1. I cook.
We all know by now I looooooove to eat. And living alone in the middle of nowhere that means I need to cook as well. One huge can of pumpkin that I didn’t know what to do with inspired the following cook-off last night:
- savory pumpkin pizza dough that I used to make two mini-pizzas and a ‘hot pocket’ type thing (filling/topping is ground beef, spinach, tomatoes and mozza cheese), plus two extra things of dough to freeze and use later
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| so…i have no oven, just a stovetop. i use this thing i found in the cupboard. it sucks kinda. |
- pumpkin coconut curry with chicken, spinach, tomatoes and chickpeas
- pumpkin-blueberry-coconut-chocolate almond milk popsicles (uhh…for when it warms up outside?)
- and on a non-pumpkin-related-note, cabbage/rice/ground beef/tomato casserole that I ate too fast to take a picture of.
And I still have pumpkin from the can left to use!!
2. I watch movies.
Well, that shouldn’t be a shocker.
I finally have had some good luck with my stupid 3G internet stick and was managing some decent Netflix connections the last couple weeks. I made my way through the first 3 seasons of Parks and Recreation and looooved it (why did I not know about it before!?).
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| source |
I think I like Ron so much because he kind of reminds me of my dad. Especially that sweet, sweet ‘stache.
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| if you click on this photo to make it big, and then look to the left of the super dark bit in the very center of the photo… you can see a waterspout! |
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| do two sheets, four sarongs and a big beach towel count as a blanket? |
I was just remarking to Shawn that I find it odd that I was ever able to say "I'm bored" in my former life. Now I don't even have a job to keep me occupied, but I still find a ton to do with my time…like reading, practicing Spanish, writing for the blog, editing photos, making videos (like the one for our Snake Farm trip!)…it's crazy that I ever couldn't occupy 3 hours of time in the evening besides watching TV. I think my brain was just being lazy.
I miss cooking 🙁
It is cozy!! Except when I come up from a dive and freeze to death in the wind on the boat in a soggy wetsuit 🙁
I was so surprised last year how quickly I adapted to this temperature feeling cold…for some reason I still can't handle the heat in the summer though.
I know!! I'm going to put it on my Christmas wish list!
I feel like my baking/cooking skills are turning more into pioneer woman/survival than the more gourmet stuff I used to whip up in Canada. That being said, I'm out of propane for the stovetop so I've been eating peanut butter out of the jar all day to stay alive, so maybe I shouldn't say 'skills'.
Girl you NEED an e-reader! It changed my life. Do everything you can to get one.
And your baking/cooking skills are amazing, I'm so impressed. I'm a failure in the kitchen purely because of laziness, not lack of skills haha.
There's not much else to do to pass the days 🙂 It's not so bad when you have truffles though! I will have to look into it… I wish there was a library here.
I know!! I see everyone posting fall recipes with so much pumpkin, I wanted in on it even though I'm in the Caribbean haha!
I'm glad I didn't let people who watched it at first turn me off ofit. I even liked the first season!
I have been told several times I'm not a 'real' Canadian 🙂
It does remind me of Vancouver in the winter a lot! Other than, you know, the palm trees and stuff. I definitely agree – it's all better than being in a cubicle!
Hi Agness – thanks for your concern!! We made it out okay, I had a lamp break after it was thrown over due to wind, and my house flooded from rain but it ended up being not too bad. Could have been a lot worse!
I love doing the same things as you on a rainy day! (or in your case, lots of rainy days!) Those chocolate pumpkin truffles look amazing! (what a fun combination haha)
And I would LOVE to have your sunny days haha. If you haven't read it already, The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain is a really good book (I had to read it for one of my classes last week, and I loved it!)
So much pumpkin!!!! (always a GREAT thing)
Tony & I were relative late-comers to P&R as well… we tried watching it when it first aired and just didn't find it funny. And then we rediscovered it through Netflix and the next thing you know, we've stayed up for 18 hours and marathoned 2 seasons worth… 😉
Also, I keep wandering around Nepal shivering and wondering why it is so cold. And then I see the temperature and realize that it's actually 25ºC and I'm just being a freak. Clearly someone needs to take my Canadian passport away!
Your rainy season actually sounds pretty cozy!
I know how easy it is to get a new standard for 'cold' – when I moved to New Orleans, suddenly anything under 50 became freezing.
The storm looks very serious. Are you gonna be ok? Do you know when it's gone? Dongguan is also rainy these days, but nothing like your storm :). Cooking is a great idea to kill the boredom. Your vegan chocolate pumpkin truffles look so yummy! I love your room, so cozy! I'm Polish and I could be used to freezing cold weather, but after living in Asia for 2 years +20C is chilly for me 🙂
Yeah!! I'm a huge Amy Poehler fan. I love her in this series.
Riding a bike in freezing rain sounds terrible. At least it's still pretty warm here…but I am missing my big lululemon rain jacket and Hunter rainboots that got me through rainy seasons in Vancouver!
Well it usually goes from October to February/March so with it not really starting until the end of November this year, it probably won't be over till April! We'll see…
Me too!! I have good news on that front though, will tell you more on Tuesday 🙂
I got trapped in the rain a lot in Vancouver too. I don't mind it that much, especially now that I have a washer and dryer at home and don't have to wait to take it to the laundry lady!
I got mega trapped in a cafe on Saba with a friend. We drank beer and played backgammon while water literally gushed down the street like a river. There was something about that that I loved, but I have always loved rain. This is why I'm sure I'm destined to live in Ireland. And yes, NONE of my stuff was ever dry on Saba (and that was only for a week) and some of my stuff started growing funny little white spots of mould. Bleh. The locals say they are just used to all that.
And I hear you with the weather… I know how odd it sounds to find 26C cold, but it's all about what you get used to! I was bundling up in Asia this summer in the warm, balmy evenings too!
I've been blowing through Parks and Rec right now too, just find the humor spot on.
You're so lucky to have a rainy season. It rains a ton here in Germany and I actually feel like it affects nothing as everyone has the proper attire and realizes life can't stop. So there I am riding my bike in freezing rain. Womp womp.
Sounds like a Looong rainy season!!! When is it over?
Aw, Rika we miss seeing you for weeks at a time. If the weather were better, I'd hail a boat to come pick you up again!!
Hmmmm, I can't remember, but I always like to hear it 🙂 Thanks!!
You are too funny, have I told you that yet? I love reading your posts! lol