The boats came at dawn along the shores of the town of Dangriga on the coast of Belize.

Onboard, vibrantly dressed men, women and children carried homemade flags and waved bright green fronds of coconut palm branches as they approached the shore. On land, a crowd waited, ready to cheer as feet stepped out of the boats to touch sand.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Tamara Harvell of Tulsa was working a full-time writing center position and a part-time lab adjunct position at a Tulsa college when she was asked to be part of a proposed reading lab at the institution.

Papa No Smile frowned fiercely as he laid out platters of grilled beef and chicken alongside salad and wine on the stone picnic table. An old man with a reputation for glowering at anyone who approached him, Papa No Smile could cook like a sweet angel, and the group of girls touring Terceira Island in the Azores Island chain didn’t let his gruff manner keep them from lunch.