Saturday June 17^th was Lempira Day here on Roatan. Lempira is a national hero. He was chief the Lenca tribe and successful in fighting off the European invaders. He is believed to have been born in 1499. Lempira organized 30,000 fighters into a resistance force to be reckoned with, a force the Spanish could not defeat in battle. There is a long and storied history here with Roatan’s origins at the heart of it all. He is so revered that the Honduran currency "Lempira" is named after him.

The local Punta Jonesville School (52 students grades 1 -6) celebrated Lempira Day at the school. Norma, Larry’s new Honduran wife, is the principal. There is one other teacher at this two room school house. We are anchored about 300 yards from the school. This is same school to which Pat brought a good deal of needed supplies to upon our return from the states earlier in June. She is enjoying the interface with these bright young faces. They are enjoying the “gringo lady” and her good natured involvement. Smiles all around.

There was traditional music, dancing and great food. The parents all brought their local favorites including baleados, quava cake, fresh mango etc. One could hear the music and laughter from a good distance from the school. No doubt the kids were very happy and truly excited. A good time was had by all.

Later that evening we went to another “full moon party” (albeit not actually a full moon day) at the lovely home of Paul and Julie. They’re “semi expats” in that they still have a home/bed and breakfast in Beaufort, SC. They live here about 2 months of the year.  We had a nice chat about Beaufort as it is on the potential hit list for “terra firma” locations whenever we decide to return to the states. Nothing discussed has caused us to remove Beaufort from our list!