Dissatisfaction overcame Malana and Ordin as they watched their Hawaiian jungle home being swallowed by suburbia.  Their dissatisfaction gave way to dusting off their office globe.  In search of a tropical lifestyle that would open portals to new opportunity, they began to scan the multi-colored countries depicted along the Caribbean coastline.  With a small degree of fear and a large amount of brass, these two baby boomers on the cusp of retirement packed up their spoiled-rotten cat Pueo and set their sights for the sunny beaches of Honduras.  They had promised each other that their life together would be an adventure, but would Honduras hold paradise? 

“Ordin and I looked at each other with the same question in our minds: what did we know about this country?  Neither he nor I had heard much for many years…not since the coups of the seventies.  Then a flash of memory brought back the face of a young woman we had met just a couple of years before we left Florida; she was Honduran.  I remember my feelings of admiration as I studied the classic features of her face the day we met.  Her facial appearance reminded me of a picture of an Egyptian queen I had seen painted on papyrus.  As we got to know her better we came to realize that her attractiveness was not limited to her physical appearance; her beauty was also within.  She was a woman sensitive to others suffering and was always willing to do what she could to help.  In conversations, she would share stories of her youth and what her life had been like growing up around San Pedro Sula.  These stories offered insight to the conditions that existed in her native country during her childhood, as well as giving insight to the character of the people.  During the season that she shared our lives, seeds were innocently planted.  O and I had not heard anything from or about her since that time, but we were beginning to believe the seeds she planted had begun to sprout.”

Conventional thinkers would have learned the language and studied the culture first, but “predictable” was exactly what Malana and Ordin had really been trying to escape all along.  They had previously made other “let’s take a chance” decisions and managed to survive, and they chose to go in feet-first on this one. Every turn or twist of the way held a mishap or adventure while Malana and Ordin learned to surrender their perceptions, adjust to the learning curve and accept the Hondurañeo way of thinking, as they found their destiny in El Porvenir and became Gringos in Paradise.

“I knew this would happen.  No matter how much logic I employed with my selection of items to ship, when they arrived it would be a very different person receiving the shipment on this end…The person who sent those boxes did not know what my life was going to be like here.”

“Malana” is the spiritual name given to Marte Kliesh.  It is a Hawaiian word that means “holds the light.”  Malana is a board-certified Naturopath who, in pursuing the cause of disease, began to study emotional, energetic, spiritual and then metaphysical effects.  She has a PhD in Metaphysics and she has been privileged to study with traditional elders of Mayan and Hawaiian cultures, as well as teachers of sacred Native American traditions. Malana has written numerous articles on natural healing and spiritual growth. 

“When I arrived at Elsa’s Clinica de Masajes, its location impressed me. It was across the street from the beach, with the ocean breezes blowing through its jalousie windows; this was a good start…After the second half of the session, when Elsa had left the room and I was sliding back into my clothing, I began to realize that I was feeling a state of bliss or at least a wonderful sense of well being.  I am not sure that I have ever truly had this feeling before, and those are the only words I can think of to describe the sensation of ‘joy of life’ that I experienced immediately after, and for the three days following my treatment.”

Now living and thriving with Ordin and Pueo in El Porvenir, Malana creates workshops and retreat groups that explore ancient teachings for wisdom and personal insight.  Every day she sees her own values through the eyes of people who have far fewer material things than she has, but whose lives seem so full.  She had already seen the value of family and community as an important lesson taught by the Hawaiians and Mayans.  Now her Honduras experience teaches her that appreciation of family and community is intimately entertwined with the principle of acceptance.