Belize

Auld Lang Syne

2008-06-27T10:51:00.054-06:00

Here we are: our last day in Belize. Ok, that may be a little melodramatic. Alfred will be living here so, technically, it's not our last day in Belize but it is the last day of our 'year in Belize'. It's kind of like our new year's eve. And in the time honored tradition of new year's eves everywhere, I thought I'd do a little pictorial year in review/tribute to Belize.

July 2007:

August 2007:

September 2007:

October 2007:

November 2007:

December 2007:

January 2008:

February 2008:

March 2008:

April 2008:

May 2008:

So that's a quick overview (for June's pics just check out the previous month end post) that doesn't even do the year justice. It has been wild and wonderful and, at times, stressful and difficult. If we could go back, knowing what we know now, and make our decision again, would we still come? You bet we would. We have all grown (physically, emotionally and spiritually). We have met amazing wonderful people that enrich our lives and been in some situations we will be able to laugh about later. It has been an experience unlike any other. I highly recommend it!

Month end - Year end

2008-06-25T16:18:00.018-06:00

OK, here's the last month end. I don't know if it's the last post - posts have a life of their own and another may or may not pop up - but it is the last month end. So here are the pics for June:

Of course the big news of the month was the big flood. This was taken when we thought it was just a normal rainy season day and the girls went out to play in our back lake. Later, of course, it turned into a major natural disaster that did this to the cement bridge across the Sittee River:

That was the point we became the local animal shelter. The orphaned kittens were about 3 weeks old and very unsteady when we got them but were happy and hale when they went to their new home earlier this week. At the time Adrianne and Ernesto were also caring for Taz: the world's clumsiest puppy. Here's the menagerie:

We did do some things totally unrelated to 'the flood' in June. Here are some pictures of 'the big game'. It was Canada vs South Africa vs Belize. The Belizeans were split between the two teams and I don't have pictures of them, sadly. But, like all good Belizeans - they showed up late.

We also finally finished our tours of the major Mayan ruins in Belize. We took a Saturday and visited Altun Ha. It was so beautiful!

Toward the end of the month, our church congregation threw us a going away party. It was fun and there was more than enough food and hugs to go around.

Panic

2008-06-20T10:36:00.002-06:00

I'm packing - How on earth did we ever gather so much junk in one year? - and trying to visualize living in Sherwood Park so that my mind moves home before my body does. This is where the problems start. I'm not sure I can fit into a western society anymore. I definitely have a Belizean mindset. (And I have some trouble speaking English which should make for some awkward and humourous moments.) The thought of the traffic scares me to death - and I now drive like a Belizean so I may very possibly kill someone before I relearn my driving skills. How do you get where you need to be if you have to follow speed limits and other vehicles and drive only on your own side of the road??? The panic starts here and I try and push it back down by changing the location of my thoughts. Let's go to the mall. - - - NO! LET's NOT!!! There are more people at the mall than there are in all of Belize but that's not really the problem. How do you shop when there are so many choices??? How do you decide what you need when everything is trying to get you to buy their stuff even if you don't need it????? SHOOT - the panic is fighting back! OK stay with shopping but go to the grocery store. All right. This is good. There are choices and nothing is outdated and you don't have to worry about getting home and opening something and finding it infested with bugs. This IS good. And, I'll bet you can buy rice and flour which you can't do in Belize right now. The panic is receding. Grocery stores will be good. - - - NO! My mind is trying to wander to the drive there and back - - - Stop! Just beam yourself back home. At home I can be Belizean if I like. I can cook Belizean food and just sit and think sometimes and be quiet. OH NO!!! Cooking - no ricardo - no all purpose season - no fish season - WAIT - NO PLANTAIN. OK small panic but I can do this. I can relearn how to cook. I can figure out how to cook meat without stewing it. I can. I can. If all else fails, I can follow a recipe. I can do that. Panic is receding a little but I can feel it waiting just below the surface ready for the next thought. My hands are now shaking and I'm trying hard not to hyperventilate. It's time to go back to Belize. Oh, look, I'm there. And I've got a full day ahead of me being Belizean. I'll go visit Judy and she'll hug me till I pop and call me sweetie and on the walk there and back people will say 'aright mammy' and 'hey, beautiful' and, sometimes, just shout my name 'DANA' and wave and smile. I can move slowly and breathe and smell the flowers and green. Ah. The panic is gone. You all can laugh if you want but I'm so serious. I'm going to need lots of help to find my place in Sherwood Park. I hope you can all be patient with me.

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T09:25:00.018-06:00

To all the dads out there - Happy Father's Day! I just wanted to do a little something for the three dads I love the most. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without them. I'm not looking forward to doing without the most important one (sorry Dad V and Dad B - you're important too) when he's back here in Belize and I'm back in Canada but I guess I'll manage. So to my dad Bob Vankoughnett; to Alfred's dad Larry Burgess ; and to my long-suffering and loving husband Alfred - I love you all. Have a great day!!

So there it is. Just a little taste of how important these men are to me and to my family. We love you lots!!! Happy Father's Day!!

Mind Games

2008-06-14T22:25:00.002-06:00

The time has now come for me to begin to 'cut the apron strings' with Belize. In an attempt to begin this process, I am compiling a list of things I won't mind missing when I leave 'the Jewel'. Most of this list is in random order as they randomly flit through my mind. The exception to this rule is the first item on the list. The first item is first for a reason - it is truly the number one thing I will not mind missing about Belize.
#1 Doctor Flies!! I will not ever, ever miss doctor flies ... ever! In case you missed the blog on these horrible pests (and, mostly because I want to rant a little) I will tell you about them. Doctor flies are about the size of large houseflies but they are yellow. They bite! (surprise) I have actually never felt one bite me but other people swear they can feel them bite. What I feel is the INTENSE itching that immediately follows a bite. It itches so badly that it hurts. And then, just as your mind is processing the itch/pain and you look down at the bite, it begins to swell ... and swell ... and swell. Pretty soon the area that was bitten is twelve times it's normal size and the itch is threatening to put you, permanently, in the loony bin. If the bite was on a joint (ankle, knee, elbow, etc) the joint will be too swollen and itchy and sore to bend for the next three weeks. Nothing helps. I cannot think of any reason God created doctor flies except that he must enjoy watching us squirm for all the stress we put Him through on a daily basis.
OK. Now that that is over with, the rest of the list is in random order.
#2 The Hopkins Road. The road that takes the weary traveller from the Southern Highway into the village of Hopkins is about 4 1/2 miles long and it takes at least 15 -20 minutes to drive. The gravel parts of the road are basically just rocks dumped on the high part of the ground in the middle of the swamp. The rocks can be very large and very sharp. If you value your tires, you won't go over 30 - 40 km/hr. The rocks are broken up by the masses of potholes that litter the gravel in random and odd patterns so you can't miss them all no matter how hard you try. I hasten to let you know that part of the road is paved. So you get a break from the rocks. The paved part, though, has triple the potholes. In fact many of the potholes morph together into large, irregularly shaped mini ponds in the road. Once in a while someone decides to 'fix' the road and they come along and dump a bunch of gravel on the gravel part of the road and grade it. Then they pour the leftover gravel into the mega potholes on the paved part. This works great until the next hard rain. Personally, I think the road repair guys should be weathermen. The day after they 'fix' the road, you can count on a heavy rain shower. Always. Then the road is worse than before. Of course, we travel this road at least five times a week.
#3 Hurricanes. We were very lucky last year that the hurricanes that threatened Belize caused very little damage and only to small parts of the country. How, then can I say I won't miss hurricanes? Well, to be fair, the thing I will hate is running from hurricanes. I used to think those people who refused to leave their homes in the face of disaster were being ridiculous. Now I have great respect for those people. Imagine packing up three days worth of food and water trying to make all your personal treasures safe and then joining the mass migration of cars, buses, bikes and hikers on the trek over the mountains to find a safe haven in the hurricane shelters, strangers basements and suddenly, overpriced hotel rooms that everyone else is also staying in. Talk about a crowded, uncomfortable situation. No fun at all no matter which way you look at it but better than the hurricane, right? Absolutely. If the hurricane actually hits. Which it doesn't always do. And didn't do once last year despite the assurances from all quarters that two cat 5 hurricanes were going to hit us dead on. We ran from the first one. To a stranger's basement and sever discomfort for 24 hours. Dean headed north. We got nothing. Then Felix. Already I had become one of 'those' people. I refused to leave. Alfred insisted we would have to leave if Felix didn't turn. We had to leave 12 hours before he hit in order to get out safely. At almost exactly the 12 hour mark, Felix headed south. I have pictures of the girls swimming in our pool during the breeze that was Felix in Hopkins. I will not miss running from hurricanes.
Well, that's it. I can only come up with three. Maybe a little more thought will give me more. If I come up with anything good, I'll let you know. On the plus side, this means I had a great time living in Belize and that is way better than the alternative.

Tropical Storm Arthur

2008-06-02T19:16:00.018-06:00

So, I guess as payback for the hurricanes of last year being a total bust, this year we have tropical storm Arthur. Arthur started yesterday. We were loving the storm; the thunder; the lightning: enjoying the thought of the Hopkins road being flooded for a day. Kind of like the thrill of a blizzard. Well, it ended up being a little more than we bargained for.
The rain and storm continued through the night and by morning we knew we needed to make a grocery run because food wouldn't be coming in for a few days for sure. I headed out and had Brynn with me to take pictures of the village. This is what we saw:

Pretty much every lot in Hopkins was totally flooded. Then we got to what we call, the junction. The junction is where the Hopkins road comes into town. Everyone was just standing in the junction watching the water come to town.
When we got back we noticed that there was lots more water than when we left. The news started coming in: 6 people dead on the Hummingbird highway; one drowned in Sittee River; 20 animals dead on one ranch; a cow dead on the road with a crocodile 'bite'; Belizean Dreams (our resort on the south end) totally flooded out. The guests from there and from Hamanasi resort started moving in - the refugees:

These are the human refugees wandering in down the path by our house. (It gives you a bit of an idea what kind of water we are in but I'll get to that. ) Michael, a friend of ours, was at Belizean Dreams during the exodus and he heard mewing under the office. He looked under and found two baby kittens and their dead mom. He crawled in through the water as far as he could go and the kittens swam out to him. Of course, Michael couldn't keep them so he brought them here. Now we have a box with this in it:

The white one is Meko and the other one is Flit. They are not our only animal refugees. We also have this hanging out on our deck:

Ok, OK, here are the pics you are probably waiting for. Here is what we are living in now:

This is the front. The gardens are not so pretty any more. The rest are of the back lot, the outbuildings and some of our friends and kids wandering around. On the plus side there was no real wind, we have lots of food and will be fine as long as we need to be. We are now living in the Caribbean Sea rather than beside it!

As of now, everyone is cuddled up in their respective villas watching a movie or playing games. What are my kids and their friends doing? They are swimming in the pool, of course. What else does one do in a tropical storm?

Next to Last Month End

2008-05-29T08:50:00.010-06:00

How can this possibly be? Only one more month till we come home. It seems like just yesterday we got here. I can't believe an entire year has passed. We have done so much, seen so much, changed so much ... but that's fodder for another blog. Today is the best/funnest/whatever pictures of May 2008 and here they are:

Dry season in Belize comes with fire season. In May, this year, the fires really (OK, sorry, I can't resist) caught fire. In the morning we wake up to heavy smoke smell and haze. The only clouds we've seen for a month are smoke clouds. The fires mostly start spontaneously and there is no effort made to put them out. The fires just burn until they burn out. The broadleaf here won't burn so when the fires hit the jungle they just burn out.

These pillars of smoke are everywhere. In fact, last week, about half the Hopkins road burned.

May is the tail end of harvest season. Both for the sugar cane (in the north) and the citrus (in the south). Because nothing is tied down before transport, there are oranges, grapefruits and cane all over the roads.

The kids in town renovated an old golf cart and they push each other all over town. It's very cute.

We have enjoyed being friends with Miss Emma and Mr Herman during our time here. They own a shrimp farm and Miss Emma also has amazing gardens both of flowers and fruits and veggies. We love spending time with them and learning about everything!
So that's our May. It was a full month. Can't wait to see what June holds. We will see all you Sherwood Park people before the next month ends.

update

2008-05-27T11:05:00.003-06:00

For those of you that managed to get down to visit us, you should remember Shaquille. For those of you that spurned our hospitality, I will introduce you. Whether you've met Shaqu or not, you should enjoy the story. Shaqu is the same age as Kori and in Standard 6 (grade 8) at school. He is fun and friendly and probably the kid you don't want your kids hanging around. He comes to our house on his bike about twice a week to sell coconut crusts which his Mom makes and occasionally to play hockey with Brynn. We love him.

A little more background to the story: because of the aids problem in Belize, many places hand out free condoms. Judy and the clinic are the free sources in Hopkins. The problem is, kids here are sexually active very early in life but the young kids are often embarrassed to go and get the condoms. Not so our Shaquille. He is very outgoing and has no problem going and picking up free condoms by the handfuls. Being the smart boy he is, one day Shaqu looks around and sees an opportunity. He can get all the free condoms he needs and sell the excess to other standard 6 kids that are too embarrassed to get their own. He starts up his own little business at $1/condom.

Things are going well. Shaquille is pulling in some extra dough and the adults that know what he's up to, look the other way because this is actually a service to the kids and community. Here's where things start to get dicey. Shaquille's brain kicks in again and he realizes there is a large untapped market in the kids from infant 1 to standard 5 (preschool - grade 7). Thinking fast he begins to market his special 'balloons' to the younger kids. Well, it doesn't take long before one of these innocents shows his mom his new balloon. Mom pitches the expected fit and heads to the school. So the upshot is that Shaquille has been shut down and is now suspended from school. There's just no reward for ingenuity in this place!

No matter how hard I look, we just don't seem to have a great picture of Shaquille. This is the best I could find.

10 things I love about you

2008-05-22T09:31:00.003-06:00

As I realize with shock and some anxiety how fast the time of our departure is approaching, I have decided that now is the time to list the top 10 things I will miss about Belize. Later, when the date is imminent, I will list the 10 things I will miss the least in an attempt to make myself feel better about leaving. So here we go. In no particular order here are some of the things I will miss most about living in Belize:
1) The friends I have made: this MUST come first. I have met so many amazing people here. From those that are trying to improve this world for everyone living in it to those just trying to make it from day to day. I have met the friendliest, most open and affectionate people I have ever known. I think it is medically impossible to be born here without an inherited and amazing sense of humour. I will miss the closeness I feel to my friends here and I will miss being surrounded by people who laugh at themselves as quickly as they laugh at me.
2) The children that come to my door every day selling great food! Especially Shaquille and his coconut crusts and the girls that bring me fudge!! Added to this point are all the children that come to play hockey with Brynn.
3) The food! Especially the fruit. I can make most of the food I have come to love here but nothing will replace the taste of the fruit. Adrianne, Brynn and Kori have been seriously trying to figure out how to bring back some pineapple so that our less fortunate Canadian friends can taste it the way it was made to taste. Many of the fruits we have come to love aren't even available in Canada. My new favorite snack is wax apples cold from the fridge.
4) The smell of the jungle. Hiking through the jungle has been a major pass time. The smell always captures me. Green really does have a tangible smell. I love it.
5) The gardens here at our villa. The smell of the flowers is intoxicating. The birds and butterflies flitting around are beautiful and we enjoy the lizards, snakes, frogs and various bugs that come to visit (as long as they stay outside!) (yesterday on the way back from the pool, Adrianne and I came upon a baby brown racer snake. She touched it and it totally freaked. Fun.)Watching the lightning bugs in the bushes is something I really enjoy.
6) The sea. I never thought I was one of those people that would love living beside the sea, but I am. I love the sound of it and the smell of it. I love the moods it expresses as it changes color depending on the weather. I love being out in it and on it. Mostly I love snorkeling and swimming with the fish, seeing the manatees playing off our beach, sitting on the beach and reading or just watching the waves.
7) The voices of the Belizeans. It has become comforting and comfortable for me to hear the kriol and garifuna languages being spoken around me. I love it when I go by someone and they call out "a'right mahmmy" (which, believe it or not, is a respectful way to say 'hello' to a woman) or "hey beautiful' or "hi baby girl". I smile when the kids call me 'miss' or 'miss Dana'. Just the music of the accents feels good to me. We understand kriol now (mostly, anyway) and are starting to be more comfortable throwing in a few words here and there.
8) The drums. Not all Belizean towns have drums. It is a Garifuna thing. Because we live in a Garifuna village, there are always drums. Drums play at parties and gatherings, at funerals, weddings and celebrations, or just at the bar at night or in the yard during the day. Whenever a few drummers get together, there is drumming. We hear it most days and nights. On special days, we have actually heard the drums being played in Dangriga across the sea.
9) The lifestyle. Because of the heat everything here moves slowly. Even the rhythm of speech is slower. silences during a conversation are OK - they don't need to be filled. If something doesn't get done today, it will get done tomorrow. Makes it tricky if you need something in a hurry but mostly it just takes the stress levels down a notch or two. There is always time to just sit and relax or visit with friends. No one stresses if you are late and no one is ever early! To say you are coming 'right now' means sometime when you get to it. To say 'directly' means as soon as you are done whatever you are presently doing. To say 'I'm on my way' means as soon as I can get there. It took a while to figure that out but now it is just second nature.
10) Housekeeping! They come once a week and clean my bathrooms and kitchen, change the bedding and towels and just sweep and tidy up. I love it! It is so nice when Monday comes around and I know my house will be spotless at the end of it.
So that's my top 10. I think I could do a top 20 with ease but who really wants to read that much? Don't get me wrong, I am really looking forward to seeing all of you (especially Rafe) but it is somewhat surprising to me how much I will miss being a part of this place. It suits me.

Terrorism - Belize style

2008-05-18T12:01:00.005-06:00

After nearly a year in Belize, this weekend we ran into our first, first-hand experience with terrorism. To be fair the terrorists were not Belizean. They were definitely latin - likely Guatemalan. They detained us against our will and tortured us for over 1/2 an hour! Here's the story:

The Agiculture Show is in Belmopan this weekend. For a year, people have been telling us we should go. It's so fun. We are somewhat curious but not sure we really want to hang out at an agriculture show, until we hear there should be a rodeo. Very cool! We will definitely go to the rodeo. So at 9 am we head out from Hopkins to hang at the show and do a little shopping in Belmopan. (for those of you that know Belmopan and are confused by the shopping reference, think Angelus Press) We finish our shopping and arrive at the ag grounds. OK, now we know, agriculture show = Taber corn fest. Only hotter ... and without the corn ... but you get the idea. There are rides and games and food and animals and all kinds of stuff. And there is no one in the parking lot. Now we are really excited. Why is no one here? Doesn't matter. Lets go have fun! The first thing we notice is that the parking lot lied! This is when we remember that most Belizeans don't drive.

So here we are in a mass of humanity unlike any I've been in before. We keep running into people we know which is truly testament to how small the country is. So we wander for awhile, get hungry, stop and eat some gibnut. (yes, gibnut; aka the royal rat - a large ratlike rodent served as a delicacy in Belize. They even served it to the queen when she visited. Google it for a picture) Finally the girls say they would like to go on a few rides. Good plan! Adrianne and I aren't overly anxious to go on a ride but are willing to be good sports. How about the ferris wheel? We could do that. Easy ride. Good for romantic interludes and families with small kids. Not when it's being run by sadistic Guatamalan's but we were still oblivious to their fiendishness at this point. So we head for the ride. The sign says $5 for each. OK we can do that. We pay our cash and get on. They lock the bar across the seat. No seatbelts or anything but that's OK it's just a ferris wheel. We start to move. Here's where the mom in me kicks in. The seats are old wood and I begin to wonder if there has ever been anything like a safety inspection done on this thing. Better not to think about it. Too late now. Brynn and I are in one seat and Adrianne and Kori are a few seats down. Up we go. As we round the top I let out a little squeal. Just for fun. It's pretty high. For the next few minutes (like 15ish) we go up and down and back and forth as they fill the ride. I think we're about finished and this has been fun. That would be when the fun really started. The Guatemalans let it rip. We are flying over the top - literally as we are having trouble keeping our seats. And the cars are rocking no matter how hard we try not to. And my hands are now permanently welded into the bar in front of us. OK, I admit it, a little more than a squeal escapes my lips but it is lost in the frantic screaming around me. Backwards and forwards we go and just when I think it can't go on any longer, we start over. The little boy in the car below us is in hysterics and has a death grip on his mom. I am yelling at the operators each time we go by and they are totally ignoring us all. A little girl runs onto the platform and is in danger of being beheaded in front of our eyes but the ride only slows to a stop after the frightened and irate father throws a soda at the operator. We hang there, suspended as the fight plays out and then we are off again. During the lull, however, one brave couple has decided to make a run for it and has opened their bar. Before they can escape, the ride starts again. They can't get their door closed. The operator sees this and, I guess decides out right murder is going to far. So he jumps onto the outside of their car (while the 'ride' is in progress)and rehooks the bar. Then he leaps from the car onto a ladder on the side and climbs down. Brynn and I are considering the viability of this plan when I come to my senses and decide to try the 'mom' face. I gather my composure and as we stream past the guy, I give him the look and say OFF!! He nods. Next time we go around he lets Brynn and I off. My hands are permanently frozen in 'claw' position and we are both shaking and dehydrated from living a nightmare for over 1/2 an hour in +36 degree heat without water. Adrianne and Kori are lulled into a false sense of security. They didn't see the 'mom' look and think they are next off. It takes another 10 minutes or more before we can communicate to Adrianne that she needs to tell them she wants off. As we all collapse in the shade and guzzle water we decide we have had enough. The rodeo will have to go on without us. All we want is the 2 hour ride home in the air conditioned vehicle. They didn't break us but it came close. We are done!

Belize's answer to a yard sale

2008-05-16T21:26:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was a truly sad day that carried over to today as we had to say goodbye to our adopted children. Todd and Ashli returned to Utah today. Last night we went over to their house to say goodbye and offer our services as packer/cleaner/movers. Turned out they didn't need help but, as always happens when we get together with Todd and Ashli, we were glad we went for the experience. Important to note: Todd and Ashli's house is about 400 sq ft and has 4 rooms and a storage space. The living room is about 12ft by 12ft.

We arrive at the house and discover Todd and Ash aren't home. But Todd yells at me from down the street to say they will be right back - go on in. In we go and are sad to see the house is in packing mode: piles of things organized here and there, hammock gone, etc. There is a strange, rhythmic tap, tap, tap. I'm trying to figure out what it is when Brynn and Kori look behind the futon. The tap ... tap ... tap... becomes taptaptap. Oh, Ed (the dog) is behind the futon. We say Hi to Ed and Todd and Ashli arrive home. Closely followed by one, no two, no three young boys. Coming to say goodbye. The boys decide they must, right now, play chess. So they pull out a chess board and plop down in the middle of the floor. OK, this is Belize, we go with it. Just as the game is really getting going, three Mayan women and one Mayan man show up at the door. 'Are Todd and Ashli moving?' 'Yes.' 'Can we buy your bed?' 'Sure.' A price is haggled out and set. While this is happening, three kriol women come in. One has a beer in hand and a few more in bloodstream. 'Are you moving?' 'Yes.' 'Can we buy your bed?' 'No, just sold.' 'How about the fan?' 'Sure.' The kriol women start looking around and going through things to see if there is anything else they may want. Meanwhile the bed has been taken apart and is being moved through the chess game and out the door. The chess game ends and Kori takes on the winner. The bed continues to be moved and the kriol women pick up a basket and blow dryer and are in serious negotiations for the cell phone and water dispenser. In walks our church's Branch President and a young man. We now have 3 Mayan women, 1 Mayan man, three kriol women, one Latino man, one Latino boy, 1 Canadian man, 1 Canadian woman, 2 Canadian girls, 3 kriol boys, Todd, Ashli and Ed in the living room. Everyone is talking and haggling and playing chess, moving things and trying not to get stepped on. One half hour later, only the Canadians, the Americans and Ed are left. Gone also are the bed, the futon, the water dispenser, the stove, the gas tank, the cell 'phone, basket, fan and blow dryer, sheets for the bed, mattress for the futon, and numerous games and odds and ends. That's what happens in Belize when you tell the seven - ten year old's in chess club that you are moving. Pretty efficient if totally chaotic. No signage, no long day sitting behind a table in front of a garage. Just an explosion of people and languages and everything is gone.

And so are Todd and Ashli. We miss you guys!

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-10T09:08:00.016-06:00

Tomorrow is Mother's day and we are worlds away from our Moms. So this post is for the two Beautiful Betty's in our lives - my mom Betty Vankoughnett and Alfred's mom Betty Burgess. We were very lucky and happy that both of our mothers were able to come to Belize this year and visit with us. It was great to share this place that we love with the two most important women in our lives! Thank you for your friendship, for your love and for your support. We love you both!

We love you and miss you. Have a very Happy Mother's Day!!

The Not Mexico Post

2008-05-06T22:09:00.009-06:00

I know there are some of you out there in cyberspace who are waiting for my post on Mexico. Sad to say it but you are going to have a long wait. Mexico was fun but not really different from any other North American city I've been in. Lots of traffic, people, stores, etc. Back in Belize today, though, Brynn, Kori, Todd, Ashli and I went on a hike that definitely provides fodder for the blogger.
In a moment of sentimental weakness, I decided that we should go hiking with Todd and Ashli as they will be leaving the peace corp and heading home next week. It will be like loosing two of my kids. Sad!! So we want to spend as much time as possible with them this week. We let Todd choose the hike because this is his area of expertise. (This would be my second moment of sentimental weakness) Todd decides we should hike the Tiger Fern Trail in the Cockscomb Basin. A 'short' 5 km round trip hike with a waterfall and swimming hole at the turn around point. The hike started out OK but Todd is some kind of hiking robot that feels no pain; no heat; no fear; no weariness. Of course we let him lead. And I took up the rear. For safety reasons to have a responsible adult at either end of the line? No. Because I am a notoriously slow hiker. I get where I'm going but at my own speed. The hike is all up hill until you are almost at the waterfall. Then it's all downhill. This, of course reverses on the way back. At varying intervals, the group would stop, sit down and wait 15 - 20 minutes for me to catch up. It was somewhat embarrassing but that is better than being dead, which was the option. Up and up the steep and narrow path we go. Somehow, after the requisite break, I end up , briefly, in front of Brynn. Suddenly Brynn does this gasping, leaping, reverse move she does when she sees something unexpected on the trail. I stop. She says 'He tried to bite me!' I look down and realize I am standing amongst a group of about four baby snakes. (One of whom tried to prove his superiority to Brynn). Sorry I didn't get a picture of this for you but we were busy trying to stay still and decide what kind of snakes they were and look for the Mom and decide who would run back for the anti-venom if they were poisonous and anyone (likely me, since I was in the middle of them) got bit. Not a situation conducive to searching through the pack for a camera and taking a picture. By the time we decide they are harmless racer snakes and we are fine, they are gone or hiding. Crisis averted. Moving along we come to the end of the up and start to go down. Steeply and, seemingly, endlessly down. As the trail gets steeper we come to this sign:

What do they mean 'no leaning on the wooden railing'? Well they have put up railing along the edge of the path because the path is very, very narrow and drops off on the one side dangerously. Good to have railing. But if you can't lean on it ... how much good will it really do if we fall? Not very reassuring!Finally we get to the bottom (top?) where the waterfall is. It is beautiful. And deep. And cold. But very nice after a long, very hot hike. There are two tubes there (you can tube down the river and these two must have gotten away from the tubers and gone over the falls) which provide endless fun for all four of the 'kids'.

First they float. Then the peace and calm of the surroundings allow their minds to start wandering. Never a good thing. There are rocks around the swimming hole. We could dive off the rocks ... into the tubes ... YA!

Kori dives in but Brynn decides to jump instead.

Is this where we show the picture of the sign we piled our stuff around when we first arrived? I believe it is:

The trip back was much less eventful and easier as there was more down than up. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

Tale of the Killer Jellyfish

2008-04-29T11:39:00.003-06:00

As part of their 24/7 togetherness plan, Adrianne and Ernesto decided to go swimming last night. Now, I know neither one of them has a working 'voice of reason' but I thought Ernesto's Belizean heritage would make it a no-brainer that, if you have a choice, swimming in the pool is preferable to swimming in the sea at night. Apparently I was wrong. So, despite the fact they can't see what may be sharing their swimming space, they head into the sea for a refreshing dip-in-the-dark. Suddenly Adrianne yells 'I've been stung!' Now Ernesto's Belizean heritage kicks in (better late than never, I guess) 'Where?' He yells back. (He's trying to decide how serious it is - foot or ankle means stingray; higher means jellyfish) Adrianne, in the throws of pain thinks he has asked 'When?' 'Just now!' she yells back. Now Ernesto is confused 'What?' Adrianne, still in immense pain, has decided Ernesto has lost control of his senses. 'What!!!???' She yells back. The where/what convo continues for a few seconds till they reconnect and Ernesto ascertains it is a jellyfish sting and helps Adrianne back to the house. I am very excited. I know what to do for a jellyfish sting (no, I'm not going to pee on Adrianne)! I grab the vinegar and head Adrianne, still fighting the tears and the pain, into our bathroom so I can pour the vinegar over the sting. That done, I expect she will be immediately relieved. No. Now she is laughing and crying harder and kinda screaming. 'I just shaved my legs! Get out! I'm having a shower!' As I am now collapsed on the floor in convulsions of laughter, I crawl out of the bathroom. Note to self - vinegar + freshly shaved legs = pain worse than jelly fish sting. Now we know. And for those of you that haven't had the opportunity to visit us ... here's a picture of the players taken later in the night. As you can see, she survived her brush with the 'killer jellyfish'.

April Showers?

2008-04-25T19:41:00.001-06:00

We didn't have many but we did have a couple of drizzles. That's more than the usual Belizean April gets. What else happened in April? Here it is:

The worst hike I've taken since we got here. The hike to Ben's Bluff. It's no harder than any of the others we've done and easier than many. The problem is that a lot of the hike is in the sun. And, of course, we hiked it in the afternoon. The reward is the view. You can see the entire cockscomb basin. Truly amazing.

Yet another trip to the zoo. We know the zoo very, very well. We have been visiting Junior (the jaguar) for a year now at regular intervals. He is growing up and changing. When we first started seeing him, he was five months old and his favorite toy was his red ball. Now he has developed a love of water bottles. They aren't safe for him so we didn't give him ours but he sure tried to convince the kids it was OK. Made for some great pictures with the kids and Junior separated by about 12 inches .... and a fence.

This month my 'other' daughter, Adrianne's best friend Courtney, came to visit. It was fun to have her and we spent some time at the ruins at Cahal Peche.

Then we got to go to Five Sisters with our 'adopted' kids Todd and Ashli. The scenery was beyond gorgeous!

This is the highest waterfall in Central America. The 1600 foot falls. This is the first falls in Belize that we have visited but couldn't get to or swim in.

Well, that's it. I feel like these month ends are getting a little repetitious and boring but, hopefully, next month will be better. Our next adventure is a weekend in Mexico. Explain to me again, after taking one last look at these pictures, how it is that I want to go back to living in Sherwood Park?

Tourism Belize

2008-04-20T16:57:00.008-06:00

We are just back from another tremendous weekend playing tourist in Belize. We spent the weekend at the Five Sisters Lodge in the Mountain Pine Ridge Forrest Reserve. It was a blast. Let me tell you a bit about it:

Some of you have teenage girls, were teenage girls, had sisters that were teenage girls so you will understand what I mean when I say 'horses'. Now my girls are old enough to have passed thought he totally insane horse crazy years but enough of that remains that when we are anywhere that offers horse back riding we are pretty much obligated to go. And we did. We were driven out of the park and to the stables where we met the owner, and guide, Jose. Having been in Belize for awhile, my mind automatically notes the ethnicity of new people and clicks the correct accent translator on so that I can understand what is said. Jose is Mayan. The translator kicks in. Then Jose starts to talk and I discover he is not your typical Mayan. He is a Mayan with a cleft palate/lip and a hearing problem. The translator kicks into overdrive. I can understand him if I focus all my concentration and energy on the translator. (This will be important later in the story.) Now that we are acquainted we meet our horses: in an ironic twist of fate, Adrianne is paired with Rocky; Brynn has Humpty Dumpty; Kori is on Caramia; Alfred has Romeo and I am given Jason. Yes, our horses are Rocky, Humpty Dumpty, Caramia, Romeo and ... Jason.

There are only two rules on this ride: 1 - Rocky leads. There is no messing around with this rule as Bryn finds out when she and Humpty Dumpty try and stage a coup. That's right they got rebellious and tried to pass Rocky and Adrianne. Rocky was having none of that so he kept swerving in front of the insurgents. Finally Humpty and Brynn gave up and fell back into line. Coup successfully diverted.

Rule 2: keep at least two feet of distance between your horse and the horse in front of you. Now this rule can be played with a little bit. For example Jason had his nose pretty much up Romeo's bum for long stretches of time when my focus was on 'translator' and not 'rule'. Usually 'translator' requires very little attention and I can do two things at once but as already explained, the translator was in O/D. When I was able to refocus I would slow Jason down and re-distance us. This system seemed to be working for all involved until the proverbial straw broke Romeo's back. Out of nowhere, Romeo braced himself and began to kick. All heck broke loose. These were not your focused aim-and-fire type kicks. These were the scatter-fire-do-as-much-damage-as-possible type kicks. It was chaos and then Jason ans I were standing in a bush and all was quiet again. Surprisingly Romeo missed me all together and didn't do much in the way of dissuading Jason, either. We just got back in line and Jason tried to get right back up behind Romeo ... again. But I am not a slow learner. I decided it was more important to focus on Jason and ignore Jose for awhile.

The ride itself was beautiful. Much of Jose's property is on an ancient Mayan city so we were able to see the ruins of houses and farms. He stopped us at what looked like a water reservoir and we all dismounted. Then he showed us another type of home the Mayans used. A cave. The girls and I went in and we were shown pottery and an alter that date anywhere from 400 BC till about 900AD. We also saw a replica of a carving in it's original place. (The real one is in a museum.) I have a few pics. Take a look:

After the cave we rode to Big Rock Falls for lunch and swimming fun. (I'll show you the pics at the end of the blog.) Then on home. Now here's a word of warning: if you only ride horses once in a long while, 6 hours on a horse is too long. I may never be free of pain, in certain areas, again! I can stand and walk fine but sitting is a challenge. I would not have missed this ride for anything!

The Big Rock Falls. They are about 90 feet high. The girls climbed the rock on the right about half-way up (that's 40 -45 feet for those math challenged among you) and jumped from the cliff into the water. They had so much fun! I just watched and prayed on the sidelines.

Adrianne's adventures in Belize

2008-04-15T08:15:00.002-06:00

Adrianne has arriven and is taking Belize by storm. (well, hopkins anyway) Somehow, after a day in town she had already joined a 'group' and they continue to go strong. Yesterday, four of them decided to go canoeing in two canoes with three paddles. (those of you that canoe should recognize the first problem immediately.) Katie and Zoe get one canoe and two paddles. Adrianne and Ernesto get one canoe and one paddle. So basically, Ernesto, Katie and Zoe went canoeing. Adrianne went riding in a canoe. This was actually a good arrangement because Ernesto is used to canoeing alone and could manage the canoe very well with one paddle. Katie and Zoe don't canoe and spent all there time running into the banks on either side of the river. Their canoeing prowess can be explained by the following incident:
Katie: Look at that bird
Zoe: It's so cute just floating there
They stop paddling to look at the pretty bird
Katie and Zoe: AHHH!! Paddle!! Turn!!
Pretty Bird frantically tries to take off before the canoe hits him. Loses a few feathers and is traumatized for life.
Katie and Zoe: oops
At the end of the river, Ernesto spots a baby croc. He's about 18 inches long and just sitting there. Despite the girls' misgivings, Ernesto manages to get said baby croc onto his paddle. As he is swinging the paddle around so Adrianne can see the baby, Baby decides he's had enough and jumps off the paddle .... right into the other canoe. This would be when the screaming and giggling begins in earnest as Zoe tries to do a backward crab walk/scramble down the canoe to get away from Baby. Katie frantically tries to keep the canoe from tipping. Ernesto scrambles from his canoe into theirs and turns into the crocodile hunter. Somehow they do all this without tipping the canoe. Once Baby is safely back in Ernesto's capable hands, he returns to Adrianne's canoe. The girls are all cooing over Baby and petting him when Adrianne has one of her famous (infamous) ideas. She will hold Baby. Ernesto shows her how to hold behind the head so Baby can't bite and hands him over to Adrianne's less than capable hands with a warning "Don't drop him". Baby sits quietly and Adrianne is getting all gooey: "I can feel his heart beating." "I can feel him breathing." "He's happy!" "I DROPPED HIM!!!!"
She grabs a paddle and points it at Baby. She becomes 'calm and assertive' "STAY!" she says. (Apparently Baby doesn't watch 'the dog whisperer' as he doesn't respond to calm and assertive) "I SAID STAY!!!!" Adrianne drops the paddle and curls up on her seat as Baby seeks refuge under it. "ERNESTO! GET HIM!" Of course you can imagine it took some time for the others to collect themselves and quit laughing before Ernesto could "Get him!" But "Get him" he did. The girls managed to convince him to put Baby back and they headed home having accomplished their objective of scarring various river dwellers for life. I have visions of birds that faint at the sight of a canoe and, at least one, croc that collapses in seizures when he hears a girl laugh. Hurricane Adrianne has hit Belize!

Belize on Ice

2008-04-09T11:45:00.002-06:00

I don't know if this is just in Belize or in all Caribbean countries but here ice is tantamount to a national treasure. If the mint quits printing money, I'm sure ice will be the legal currency. All Belizeans are ice-obsessed. At girls camp we dealt with girls being where they shouldn't be, when they shouldn't be, with those they shouldn't be, but there was no issue greater than the ice issue. It was the one on-going, hardest fought war. The girls were sure there was not enough ice, ever ,and the leaders were hoarding it for themselves. The leaders were insistent the girls had enough ice and should stay out of the ice chest. I know there are those of you in North America who order drinks 'without ice' when you go out. Here that would be a total sacrilege. They have dealt with the 'not enough pop if it has ice' issue in the following way. If you order a Fanta, the waitress brings a glass full (literally full) of ice, opens the bottle and pours in the 2 oz, or so, that fit around the ice and then she leaves the bottle. Just like one of you might order more hot water if you needed it for another cup of tea, here you ask for more ice and the waitress will bring another glass of ice for your drink. When we were visiting the Mennonite village of Springfield (where there is no electricity) the one thing we took to leave with them was ice. They were thrilled. You could probably trade a cooler full of ice for a 50 lb bag of potatoes and everyone would come away happy. The other day I wanted to buy some water bottles at the bakery. When she discovered there were none in the freezer (yes, here it is good to buy frozen water bottles), she didn't want me to buy any. She felt bad that I was buying warm water. She even tried to figure out how to put ice into the bottles (not possible - for reference) I really had to talk to get those water bottles! On the flip side, it is almost impossible to find bags of ice to buy. You can't usually get them at the grocery store or gas station. You have to know where the ice is sold - and no one advertises. Ironic that, in countries where 'ice water' equates to a glass of water with one or two cubes of ice in it, there are bags of ice to buy on every corner but in a country where ice water equates to a glass of ice with water squeezed in around the edges, there is no ice to be bought. There's probably some philosophical life lesson in that but I'm not going to look for it. I'm going to get myself a glass of ice and then toss some liquid in for good measure - stay cool!

Odds and Sods

2008-04-04T18:59:00.002-06:00

I've been having so much trouble figuring out what to blog. Everything I think of just isn't enough for an entire blog. It's just 'odds and sods'. So I've put them together for your enjoyment.

Friends of our have just moved from Dangriga to Sarrawee village. We were dropping them off after church on Sunday when someone asked what Sarrawee meant. This was the explanation. 'Well, we live in the bush. So we feel bad for ourselves. The Creole for that is Sarrawee.' Translation: 'we feel sorry for we' = Sorry We = Sarrawee
One day we were driving down the Hummingbird Highway when we saw the truck in front of us had an unusual licence plate. It was hand written in black marker on a white board. I pointed it out as a bizarre thing and Alfred said: 'There were probably no plates left when they registered the car. If that happens, they just hand write one until the new plates come in.'
Recently, a spare tire was stolen off of one of our company's trailers. The workers called the police and the police traced it to a man who was in Pacencia. They then came and asked Alfred if he would like them to go to Placencia and get the guy or wait until he came home. The only problem was that they had no gas so if he wanted them to go to Placencia, he would need to give them gas money. Alfred decided to wait until he came back - the gas would cost more than a new spare for the trailer. That's policing in Belize. If you want it done you need to decide how much it is worth to you and then put your money where your mouth is.
Belizean women have close relationships. I'm a little jealous of that. They spend hours braiding each other's hair while they visit on the porch. It's not unusual to see two teenage girls or adult women walking down the road hand in hand or with their arms around one another. Even Mom's with teenage girls will hold their hands when they walk together. It's a closeness that I've never seen before. I like it.

So those are the odds and sods for today. Hope you enjoyed them.

March Madness

2008-03-27T21:06:00.010-06:00

We are truly in the middle of March madness! For reasons unknown, in the middle of the dry season we are under a ton of water. It has rained buckets all day and it's playing havoc with the net. Hopefully this time I'll get this published. Here are March's pictures:

First picture: It was a gorgeous day. Beautiful blue sky ... and a bright, perfect rainbow. I think the picture turned out well.

There are chickens everywhere in Belize. I'm not sure I can live in a place, any longer, that doesn't have roosters crowing at all hours. Here we stopped at a garage in Belmopan - the cosmopolitan capital city of Belize. The mechanics worked around the chickens strutting around the garage. The dogs just ignored them.

Here are my young women at girls camp. You can tell by the blue 'blouses' that they are all beehives. Left to right: Juana, Kori, Marcia, Modesty and Veronica. I didn't lose Kori once at camp. She was the only white face in a sea of black.

The picture doesn't really do this justice. It is the nest of a Jabiru stork. Jabiru are the largest birds in Belize. They are about five feet tall. You can imagine how big the nest is.

The big hike of the month was up to Ben's Bluff. It's only four km but mostly uphill in the sun. Pretty nasty! This is the view from the top. The peak on the left is Victoria Peak: the highest peak in Belize. It's an amazing site but I'm still undecided if it's worth the hike.

As you can see, Kori is done with pictures ... and so am I ... for now. Have a great April everyone!

technology

2008-03-25T13:42:00.003-06:00

Contrary to popular belief, Belize, despite being a third world country, has technology. Living in a first world country (as most of you do) you are used to having your lives enriched by the invisible hands of technology. Here in Belize, technology is ever present but never invisible! Let's begin with CD's and DVD's. We have them. All of them. We even get the DVD's of new movies ... before the movies are out of the theatre. Yes, that's right, Belize has always been and is still a country of pirates. We have stores full of pirated everything from CD's and DVD's to game systems and games. The biggest and best we've found is. CDPlus in Belize City. That's right CDPlus. Same name; same logo; same movies and music just with photocopied jackets. Pirated technology continues through the entertainment field. It too us a long time to figure out why our TV channels tended to change over time. Now we know. The cable company pirates the cable. Every now and then the companies change the codes and some guy in some cubicle somewhere spends the next little while trying to break the code. Sometimes he gets it and sometimes he finds the code for a new channel. Just like Forrest Gump's life, our TV viewing is like a box of chocolates - we never know what we're going to get. Need internet? Stick an antenna out in the sea where it can grab those net waves and bounce them back to you. The best of Belizean technology comes when we go to the bank or other upper-scale stores. You know, the ones with automatic doors. The automatic doors in Belize work like a dream. They are well dressed security guards that open the door when they see you coming or going. So that's the upshot of Belizean technology in the 21st century.

mutant genes

2008-03-21T09:18:00.002-06:00

It came as a revelation to me this week that I have a mutant gene. Don't start feeling superior. I know a lot of you share this mutant gene with me. It is the gene that somehow blocks from our mind the pain, anxiety and frustration of an experience and leaves us brainwashed into thinking we loved it. The problem with this glitch is that it leaves us willing and ready to do it again. Two of these experiences that come readily to mind are giving birth and girl's camp.
This week, Kori and I spent two days at Belize's first LDS Young Women's camp. It was a nation wide camp and we had about 80 girls and leaders show up. Here's how the week (OK be technical then - two days) went:
Our little group of five girls and two leaders need to be in Belmopan by 10:30 Tuesday morning in order to hook up with the bus to camp that will be coming from Cayo. Here is our first problem. I don't remember it being so difficult to find transportation. I'm sure that for the other girl's camps I've gone to transportation to camp is simply an issue of making a 'phone call. So I look into hiring a van. (our truck is too small to carry us all and luggage) That will cost us $200. Now, I'm willing to pay that but I have to defer to our Branch Pres when he says I need to find another way. I am not to use my own money! (since when have priesthood leaders been so difficult, ladies?) So after much thought and consternation we decide we will have to take the public bus to Belmopan.
Side note: I have seriously avoided the public buses. They are buses that no longer pass inspection for the States and Canada so they sell them to Central American countries. They have varying sizes of wheels and break down constantly. They stop for everyone that hails them on the road and that means stops sometimes every 15 feet or so. They also stop and let people off whenever they need off. There are bus stops but they are only suggestions - a bus stop is wherever people want on or off the bus.
We decide our best bet is to catch the 8:30 express bus to Belize City. (I said the same thing but the express to Belize City stops at all bus stations along the way) We are all at the bus station at 8:00, excited and happy. The bus arrives and we head out. After putting our luggage on the ground by the bus we hop on and I am pleasantly surprised. There are comfortable seats and A/C. It looks clean and inviting. The problem? There are no seats left. We get off the nice, clean, A/C bus and grab our luggage. We move over to the bus beside. The broken down looking, dirty, ugly old school bus does have seats available so we pile in. It's not so bad. I'm a little impressed. We get to Belmopan in good shape and about 1/2 hour early. The Belmopan kids are already there. Three of them including the Laurel that is acting as their leader. We hook up with them and the excitement grows by three more kids. We wait ... and wait ... and wait ... and wait. Now the excitement has morphed into boredom and hunger. We do what any self respecting leader would do. We give them money for snacks and the video games in the station. That keeps them happy for awhile. When that wears off, we tell them to eat their mandatory bag lunches since it's almost lunch time anyway. At 11:45, the bus shows up. Yay!!! Excitement is back!! We get all settled on the bus with the loud and annoying branch that comes to every girl's camp everywhere. Only this one doesn't speak english. They are from Melchor, Guatemala. We start off. And then we stop. We are now at the parking lot across the street from the station. We will be here for 1/2 hour while the annoying Spanish branch that decided the mandatory bag lunch rule was just a suggestion, buys lunch.
Finally we arrive at camp and go through the usual registration chaos. Get tent assignments and settle in. They have split the girls for tents instead of leaving them with their branches in the hopes of encouraging friendships and cutting out cliques and put a leader in each tent. We go with it although it wouldn't have been our first choice. Kori is a little left out because she doesn't speak or understand Spanish and doesn't speak Kriol although she understands. She's OK with that. First aid goes well as does most everything that day. The night is a usual camp night with girls running everywhere and screaming all night long. I fondly remember leader's tents where we could hide and were able to get a wonderful night's sleep despite the girls (that's the way it works, right?) One of the girls doesn't have a pillow so I give her my blanket to use. Now I am cold so I can't sleep. I put on socks and curl up in an effort to conserve body heat. Oh for the girl's camps of past days where the girls were organized and leaders didn't have to give away their own comfort to keep the girls happy. (I know that's the way that works!)
The next day we split the girls according to age and send them off hiking with professional scout guys. This is genius as far as I'm concerned. The scouters have whistles and an arsenal of hiking songs to keep the girls entertained. And for those too cool to sing, the scouters are also fairly easy to look at and that keeps those girls (and leaders) entertained. All the leaders have to do is follow along and enjoy the hike. Well, the leaders that get to go. Because of cutting grass on the trail (the kind that cuts you not the other way around) the girls must be in long pants and tennies (actual shoes). Kori doesn't have her tennies. She forgot them. I give her mine. Veronica doesn't actually own long pants she only wears dresses. I give her mine. Now I have to hang out at camp without any girls and with nothing to do for two hours. (thank goodness for girls that forget their stuff!!) The camp proceeds pretty much as expected. Some girls get bored, others get hurt feelings, the girls are always hungry and the firesides are great. Girls sneak out of activities (although here it's because there is never enough time to bathe and Belizeans MUST at all costs bathe at least twice a day) We lose Pres Munoz' son who has come for a few minutes to bring food in and find him holed up in a tent with three girls. Deal with that. (of course girls at home never break the rules)
The trip home is another adventure. Our bus will arrive at 12:00 noon. So we are waiting on the porch at 12:00 noon with bag lunches and luggage in hand. The boys start to arrive and those buses take out the girls. Pretty soon all the girls are gone except the annoying, loud Spanish branch, Belmopan and us. So we wait .... and wait ... and wait. Finally at 2:30ish our bus arrives. The girls start throwing luggage on and claiming seats before the boys can even get off the bus. We are on our way!! Our branch needs to load last to be off first so we are waiting at the back of the bus for the other girls to finish. Why are the bus guys on the ground by that tire? We now wait ... and wait ... and wait while they change the flat tire (of course it's the one on the inside). Then we load up and get on. There are no seats. We pile the girls up three to a seat and finally get settled. I sit down and realize that my legs don't fit. There is less than a fist sized space between benches. Girls and leaders find ways to sit - sideways, with knees up and feet on the bench. lying across each other, whatever works. The seat backs are so worn that the metal frames are almost totally exposed. Even so it only takes about two miles before all the girls are asleep. Even in these conditions I get a little lump in my throat as I look at the girls snuggled together asleep with new friends and old. Some of whom don't even speak the same language. Doesn't matter. A sea of black faces with one white one thrown in and that doesn't matter either. It looks like every bus I've ever been on going home from girl's camp. A bunch of girls who, whether they realize it yet or not, have discovered that they are sisters. I love girl's camp. Even knowing it's the product of a mutant gene, if I can - I'll go again next year.

A rose by any other name

2008-03-09T12:57:00.003-06:00

Have I done a post on names yet? They are all starting to blur together. (That could have something to do with the fact I sat by the window in church this morning and whoever was sitting downwind of the window was smoking something sweet and decidedly NOT tobacco-ish) At any rate, if I've done it before, here it is again - if I haven't done it before, here it is for the first time.
Women's names here are often concocted with the ending 'eisha'. We know a Caneisha, Zaieisha, Taneisha (and their sister Nancy). Often the 'eisha's are named for their fathers. For example: Daneisha's dad is Dan. (and yes, we know Daneisha as well) Other female names of note would be Analia and Amalia; Felona and Falina. Even if you think a name is familiar, you may well be mistaken. I know how you all want to pronounce Patricia but the Patricia we know is pronounced Pat - ree - sia (with the accent on the 'ree') The 'th' sound, as in Ardeth, is pronounced 't', as in Ardet. Never take a name for granted. Always have them pronounce it.
Men's names get a little trickier (believe it or not). They are often more common - Troy, Mark, Isaac, etc but there is also the out of the ordinary - Glenford, Harrison, Alwen, etc. Where it gets tricky with men is - they all have nicknames. And their nicknames are the names they always prefer. It is how they introduce themselves and how everyone knows them. So if you are looking for someone and only know their given name, not their nickname, you are out of luck. So Troy becomes Lucky, Harrison is Solo, and so on. Some of the guys I know only by their nickname are: Leche ('milk' in Spanish) and Lobos (wolf in Spanish). By far the best nickname I have run across is Greg - more commonly known as Ayatolla.
It is unusual for girls to have nicknames but Brynn is the exception. For some reason 'Brynn' is an incredibly difficult name for Belizeans and Latinos alike. Consequently the Belizeans call her Brinda and the Latinos call her Brine. Kori cashes in because no one can seem to tell them apart. So Kori is often 'Brinda' also.
When Rafe came down at Christmas, he was bound and determined to get himself a nickname. To make it easy, he had one in mind. He decided to go by 'Cracker'. This lasted until he met his first Belizean: 'This is my son, Rafe' says I 'Hi Romeo' says the Belizean. Sure enough, Rafe was, and still is Romeo, to the Belizeans that know him.

The Others

2008-03-08T08:04:00.003-07:00

I know it's been a week and some of you will start complaining soon about the lack of new reading material. Truth is, I have been sort of hibernating and enjoying having my house to myself. (not that I didn't enjoy the company, I did. It was just so much!) Consequently, I have been sitting here trying to think of something ... anything that might hold your interest. Well, something funny did happen last night and, with a little background, I think it will do. I have told you a little about all the amazing and wonderful people that live in and around Hopkins. I haven't told you much about the others. This is about one of the others.
The expat population of Belize seems to be rather heavily weighted to those that did way too many drugs in the 60's and those who just didn't fit in anywhere else in the world. There are, of course a few exceptions to that rule - (while you may disagree) I would like to point out that I did no drugs in the 60's and believe I fit in wherever I go. At any rate, one of said expats owns the 'resort' next door. Her name is Trish and the run down excuse for a resort that she owns is called Kismet.
Trish, for reasons known only to herself, quit paying her water bill 5 years ago. (water here costs $10/month) The town council, for reasons well known and understood, cut off her water shortly into the 5 years. This seriously annoyed Trish and she retaliated by digging down to the water line, cutting a hole in it, inserting a hose and running it to Kismet. At this point you must understand that the genetic/cultural/whatever makeup of Belizean people makes it virtually impossible to keep a secret. It didn't take long before the council became aware of Trish's little skimming scheme and she was once again thwarted in her effort to find free water. After that, I have no idea what she did for water ... until our resort came along.
About once every two months or so, someone catches Trish, with a five gallon pail, stealing water from the taps behind our villas. Alfred must have looked like a soft touch the first time he caught her because, in response to his 'what are you doing', she replied that she had no water so she had no choice but to use ours. I don't think she thought he was such a soft touch after they finished that 'conversation'. From this encounter, Trish learned to avoid Alfred. She didn't learn to avoid Johnny, though, and so he was the next to confront her with her pail at the taps. I guess she must have decided she had outworn her welcome with the five gallon pail because, last night, she tried a new tactic.
We have been without water since two nights ago. So last night Peter went out to check the tanks and make sure we would have water this morning. As he is checking, he trips over a hose attached to one of the tanks. I'm sure there were a few choice words involved as he unhooked the hose and started to pull. At this point, Trish must have noticed her hose was leaving of it's own accord and she picked it up on the other end and started to pull. Peter yelled for help and a couple of guys came to be on his 'team'. Trish must have had some help too because a fun and exciting game of tug-of-war ensued. Peter's team finally won and he pulled in his prize - about 100 feet of hose. He tossed it out on the lawn and this morning it was gone. Don't be sad, I'm sure we'll see it again someday soon.

Bug and Pedro and Vets in Belize

2008-03-01T08:28:00.007-07:00

Cool title, no? I don't know if you have met Bug and Pedro but here they are:

After writing that intro I started searching through everybody's pictures and discovered we have none of Bug and Pedro together. So I guess you get more of the story than originally planned. Here is a picture of Bug (eating), Pedro (directly behind Bug) and Stella (watching Bug intently). Notice Stella isn't mentioned in the title of the blog - that's foreshadowing.

So one night this little kitten comes up on our deck and just peers in the window out of the dark. Of course the kids go crazy: look Mom, she loves us; She's so hungry; We'll just feed her this once (right). Well, be proud of me, I held out for about a month. By now the kitten is looking pretty rough and she is still coming around. We call her Bug because she is attracted to the lights of our house at night just like a bug. We start to feed her. Pretty soon she brings her two kittens around. I can't believe it - she can't be even a year old and she has kittens. Of course we name them (Stella and Pedro) and we put out enough food for everyone. Bug will let us go on the deck while she's there if we don't make a move toward her but the kittens won't let us anywhere near them. Soon Bug and Pedro begin to fatten up a little and the white of their fur turns from yellow to white. Stella's not doing so well. Eventually Stella quits coming by and we know she was just too sick to make it. It's sad but we still have the other two.

Kori spend hours on the deck. She reads out there, does her homework, talks, sings, brings food and eventually I look out and she is petting Bug and Pedro is sitting on her lap. It took literally months. Now we are to the point where Kori can pick Pedro up and cuddle her on her lap. Bug still doesn't like to be picked up but will let any of us pet her. Pedro will only let us pet her (yes her - we couldn't get close enough to tell when we named her and now she's stuck with it) if she is eating. Not much gets between Pedro and her food.

Then we find out there are vets coming to the area to do spaying and neutering. They will do 100 animals in a week. We are thrilled. We get our cats names on the list. Now we just have to catch them, box them and get them to the vets. (I hear all you cat owners starting to laugh) We start on Monday. Kori puts food into the boxes. Bug is having none of it but Pedro hops right in - there is food involved. Kori shuts up the box and Pedro doesn't even notice. this is going to be easier than we thought. I hold the box closed while Kori tries for Bug. Pedro finishes eating and the fight starts. She is little and I am big and somehow I still lose. As she runs away I go inside to stop the bleeding and bandage up what remains of my hand. We give up for the day. Each day we try again and by Thursday neither Kori nor I knows if we will ever be able to regain full use of the bloody stumps that used to be our hands. I know when it's way past time to call in the troops. I 'phone the vet and ask the trick to boxing cats. She tells me not to use a box. Apparently a pillowcase works better. Today is the vets last day so I am willing to try anything. Kori and I each grab a pillowcase and what's left of our courage and go out on the deck with a can of tuna. In about one half of a minute, I have Bug in a pillowcase. Who knew? Kori, on the other hand, is once again bleeding, rather profusely, from both sides of her right hand. We decide Pedro can stay whole but off we go with Bug.

After peeing all over the pillowcase and us, and ripping a hole in the resort's really expensive pillowcase, Bug settles down for a nap. By the time we pull up to the house the vets are using for their office, Bug seems like the perfect pet. Kori and I have learned our lesson, however and suggest they not open the pillowcase. They assure us they will sedate her through he cloth and then open it. We can take her right in. So in we walk. And stop. There in front of us is a dog with all her insides on the outside. They could have really warned us that they were doing the surgeries in the waiting room! Luckily neither Kori nor I are squeamish. The vet just keeps snippin' while we hand Bug over to another vet and promise to be back for her in an hour. They check Kori's hand and dress the wound and we are on our way.

Pedro gained herself another month of fun but there are more vets coming next month and now we know the pillowcase trick. Her days are numbered.

And that's a trip to the vet in Hopkins!

February

2008-02-28T14:54:00.016-07:00

Month end again. Also the end of our huge string of company. Maybe now time will slow down a little. Anyway ... Just for Sharon (I want pictures, pictures, pictures) here are lots of pictures.
My sisters came to visit and we had a great time. Here we are under a ceiba tree. A really huge ceiba tree.
And in a very cool cave. Rio Frio Cave.

Because of all the company lately, we have been spending lots of time at the zoo. One of our favorite places, luckily. Here the jabaru stork was showing off a little. This stork is about 5 feet tall with a wingspan to match!

Here are a couple more fun Belizean signs.

And more ruins. These at Caracol. The largest ruins in Belize. They are amazing!

Frio on pools. A great place to swim. Lots of rapids and pools to play in. Brynn and Kori found a place that made a natural water slide.

Howler monkeys were everywhere on the grounds of the Lamanai Outpost Lodge where we stayed for a weekend with mom and dad. We could get within a foot or 18 inches of the babies. So cool!

There is a large Mennonite community in Belize. They run the gamut from totally modern to totally not. Here we went through Shipyard, a Mennonite town that was closer to the 'not' side of that spectrum.

This sugar mill was abandoned in the mid - late 1800's. Less than 200 years and this tree has grown up and is trying to take back the space. The jungle grows fast!

My Mom decided to lead my kids astray. She wanted to pick some oranges so we found an orchard (not hard - citrus is big business in Belize) and Mom and the kids 'stole' some oranges. They were very yummy.

Ernesto (bare head) and Terry (hat) found a turtle on the road and stopped to show us. After, we made sure it got to a safe place. If other locals had found it, it would have been someone's supper.

Final picture for now (more later, Sharon, I promise). Kori's artsy pic of her shadow in the water. Have a great March everyone!

Trip to Lamanai

2008-02-26T14:04:00.003-07:00

Mom and Dad are here visiting and we decided to take a weekend and go up to Orange Walk to the ruins at Lamanai. Good idea, no? I searched the net and my tourist books and found a nice looking lodge close by: Lamanai Outpost Lodge. Early Friday morning we loaded up the Tahoe and headed out with our computer directions in hand. That would be when the fun began. We were doing great until we were north of Belize City and began to rely on the directions. They went like this:
Zero your odometer at the toll bridge - check if in kilometers or miles
Easy enough so far. We would be working in kilometers. (so in the interest of blog space, I will ignore the 'mile' directions)
0.8 turn left at Guinea Grass Junction
Again, so far so good.
7.5 entering Guinea Grass Village
7.5 kilometers? Are you sure? Alfred is sure we are already in the village and it's only 5 km. I am still optimistic and am sure they mean 7.5 to the centre of the village. (Alfred points out 'it says entering'. Ya - still ...)
12.9 sharp right hand bend
Hard to miss that but, unless there is another one that we missed, we are at about 15 km. So we decide maybe the mileage is just out by about 2 km. Last time it was 2 km late now it's 2 km early. Maybe the directions are sort of +/-?
13 turn left if going to Lamanai Outpost Lodge boat landing - do not turn left if you are going to the lodge - you are now entering the Mennonite town of Shipyard
Good thing we are going straight to the lodge. Did anyone see that left hand turn? No? Oh well, we are supposed to go straight anyway. We are definitely in Shipyard. There are people in costume driving horses and buggies everywhere.
By now my Mom keeps asking 'What's the next clue?'
16 passing Mennonite store on the right hand side
There's the store. We are doing very well. We have stopped asking Alfred for the odometer reading. He just gets snippy when we tell him he's wrong.
19 T junction - turn left
24.7 narrow culvert followed by road to the right - go straight ahead, do not turn right
Problem. There was definitely no T junction at 19 km. We do see the narrow culvert with the road to the right and we go straight, not right, just like we are told. We must have just naturally taken that left without noticing. That happens, right?
34.2 crossing T junction. Go straight ahead. Do not turn right.
There's the T junction and we go straight. Yes!! We're doing great. WAIT!! Why has the road ended??? We are at a T junction. Maybe we should be three 'clues' back. We have to break down and ask Alfred for the odometer reading. 21. We are definitely three 'clues' back. Turn left! Good thing all the other 'clues' said 'go straight'!
Back on track. Straight at the narrow culvert. (not right) Straight at the T junction. (not right)
35.1 3 way junction. Turn left. Do not go straight ahead
What is the difference between a 3 way junction and a T junction? While we are debating this dilemma, Alfred turns left. Wait! What is the odometer reading? Did the clue say to turn left there? Alfred, it turns out, has had enough of clues all together and has followed a sign instead. It said 'Lamanai Outpost Lodge' and was followed by a left arrow. He votes we do away with the clues but the rest of us are kinda into the whole treasure hunt thing. Besides there are only two more clues. Then, maybe we get a treasure.
39.3 entrance to Indian Church Village - go straight ahead, do not turn right
40 Lamanai Outpost Lodge parking lot.
Here's where we finally get lost. Alfred cannot tell where the parking lot is and ends up driving into the lodge grounds where he's not supposed to be. The staff are very kind about it and tell us to move it later. First come in and relax and have a cool drink.
After the trip we've had, this sounds like a great idea. Our treasure! So we go in, sit down and discuss the tour options with the concierge as we enjoy our drinks. Brynn is being very rude. She keeps trying to talk to me while I am trying to listen to the guy explain about the tours and help us decide what to do for the weekend. Finally Alfred takes care of that and Brynn quits talking. Now Alfred is trying to talk to me. What is going on with these guys? Finally, Alfred touches my arm and says 'don't drink any more'. Turns out we were guzzling down rum punch. Brynn was the only one that heard the waitress. Now Alfred and I are both a little woozy and sick.
I don't think I've ever heard Mom, Dad, Brynn and Kori laugh so hard!! After all this, we had a fantastic weekend. The lodge was amazing as were the guides. There was so much to do and see. Howler monkeys everywhere. Beautiful place. Definitely has our recommendation - just be careful of the complimentary drinks!

May I introduce ...

2008-02-19T08:01:00.010-07:00

just a few of the people that make Hopkins such a special place to live? If I were to try and introduce all the wonderful people we have met, this post would go on for much longer than your attention span. (It may anyway but I still plan on doing it.) So here they are: a sampling of the best Hopkins has to offer.
Here are Ernesto (in red) and Lucky (in blue). Ernesto thinks he is one of the family and I'm OK with that. He joins us on day trips, goes hiking with the kids and taught Adrianne to drive standard and kayak the last time she was here. Lucky is a little more reserved than Ernesto (Richard Simmons is a little more reserved than Ernesto!) but a real sweetheart. He is a dive master and took my kids scuba diving over the Christmas holidays. They loved it!

This handsome young man is Shaquille. He is Kori's age and is one of my kid's most consistant friends. He comes by almost every day to sell pastries his mom makes (and she is a great cook). He also loves to drop by for a game of hockey from time to time, or just to visit. We love Shaquille!
They might kill me dead for using this picture but it's the only recent one I have of the two of them. While not actually living in Hopkins, no blog about special people would be complete without Todd and Ashli. They are absolutely and totally a part of our family now (whether they like it or not!) Todd and Ashli actually live in Silkgrass and are here with the American Peace Corp. Almost like our own kids (although NOT 'replacement Rafe and Adrianne!!') my week is not complete unless they come over at least once.
Nurse Judy is one of this worlds sweetest people. She is one of those people that is loved at first meeting. I would do anything for her and, I know the feeling is mutual. Every Tuesday and Thursday (OK, almost every Tuesday and Thursday) Kori and I go and help out at her medical clinic. She provides affordable (mostly free) medical care and medication for the people of Hopkins, Silkgrass, Sitee River and elsewhere in the area. She is funny, passionate and kind. Here she is putting seven stitches in my Dad's hand after he fell on the rocks trying for 'the perfect picture'.
OK, possibly not one of the best, and again not from Hopkins, but Charlie is a definite part of my life here. He hangs out at the 'Price is Right' grocery store in Dangriga where I sometimes shop. He loves to wash our car while I shop and I pay him for that. Much to Alfred's chagrin! He washes the car by splashing muddy river water on it and smearing it around. The car rarely looks better after he is done. But, what he does do that I so appreciate, is scare off any panhandlers that may walk by. If they try to approach me and I say no, Charlie can be counted on to chase them off - with a few choice words. It makes me feel safe.
Are you still with me? Hopefully I didn't over tax your attention span too much. Those are truely just a few of the good folks here in Hopkins. A blog to cover them all would take many, many pages. I think you should all just come down here and meet them for yourselves.

Tour de France it ain't

2008-02-16T08:56:00.000-07:00

Most of us have been riding bikes since we were young children. While it’s true that bike riding has never been my forte, I was surprised to learn how little I really knew about the use and function of the simple bicycle. Here’s what I’ve learned about bikes from living in Belize:
The most useful bike is not necessarily the most expensive bike. Almost all the bikes here are what we call ‘beach-cruisers’: the simple, single gear bike that brakes when the rider peddles backward. If it runs into mechanical problems, they are easily fixed without fancy tools and parts. A little oil and air once in a while and all should be well.
Bikes are not solely for riding. A bike can be used to carry everything from piles of wood to bundles of pipe to whatever you need carried. The ‘rider’ need only walk beside the bike and keep control of the load and the load carrier.
A basket is not a necessary accessory. A person riding a bike can successfully negotiate traffic, potholes, pedestrians and speed bumps while carrying 100 lb bags of oranges on the handlebars. Other loads I have seen being ridden down Belizean streets are: full coolers of food and/or drink on the handlebars; groceries in bags hanging from both handlebars and in a large box on the handlebars; large bunches of bananas over the crossbar and long pieces of sugar cane across the handlebars; bags full of recently hunted dinner; you get the idea.
A plain old regular bike can be a useful family vehicle. Children still in diapers with soothers in their mouths can be successfully taught to sit sidesaddle on the crossbar of a bike and hold onto the handlebars. These same children will grow up to ride the same way, on bikes driven by their beloved, well into their golden years. It is also not unusual to see young parents riding their bikes with an infant cuddled up on mom or dad’s shoulder or on the careful parent’s knee facing out with an arm around baby’s middle. The largest family unit I have seen riding together on one bike? A mom with the infant on knee as described above, toddler on crossbar, also as described above and young child riding on the handlebars. This configuration also seems to work on scooters but with less success as scooters are harder to steer than bikes are.
Finally, these simple bikes, can be and often are, used to tow other modes of transport. Examples of this would be a bike rider holding the handle of a riderless bike and traveling down the street at full tilt. This is done with total comfort and ease which amazes me. I can’t ride one bike with total comfort and ease, let alone tow another one in this manner. I have never seen a Belizean do this and have the riderless bike decide to take an unexpected turn. I don’t understand how it’s done. And the head shaking-est thing I’ve ever seen ‘towed’ by a bike … the other day I saw a biker riding down the highway on his beach-cruiser with his horse in tow. That’s right, he was riding with one hand on the handlebars and the other hand holding a rope tied to his horse. I keep thinking I’ve seen it all when it comes to bikes in Belize and I keep being proved wrong. No wonder Brynn and Kori are desperately trying to figure out how to get their beach-cruisers home when we leave Hopkins.

The Belizean Hockey Team

2008-02-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

Brynn has finally managed to pull together a consistant group of kids to play hockey. They come every day after school and in the mornings on no school days. They are learning fast and actually managed to beat Brynn the other day. Of course it was all of them against her but it is still an accomplishment. Post game activities include glasses and glasses of water and a small snack enjoyed on the front deck. It has become a routine that everyone looks forward to. The security guards, cleaning staff and grounds guys make up the fans. We have managed to put smiles on lots of faces. Here's our team picture:

And this is the result of the fast learning that has been going on.

The boy that did this felt really, really bad! Brynn had a hard time convincing him that this was part of the game and she should know better than to stop the ball with her face. One thing I have learned for sure: it's lots more fun watching hockey in the +30 than it was in the -30!!

Back to the Future

2008-02-02T12:35:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! Today I had to do a fairly normal thing but I had Alfred's mom with me and, just for a moment, I was able to see through her eyes. It looked a little strange so I decided you might find it interesting. So here's my attempt to make a very short story, long.
The other day I was out on a boat tour of the sittee river. Because I was going to be in the boat and bugs aren't usually a problem out on the water, I didn't 'spray down'. What I didn't realize was that it is doctor fly season. I should have known because one of the suckers got me a couple of weeks ago. I deluded myself into thinking it was just a one time experience. Not so. Another one got me in the boat. A doctor fly is about the same size and shape as a smallish house fly but it is yellow. They bite. They are sneaky about it, though, and they don't hurt at all. After the bite, however, you get the joy of reacting. Now the daughter that isn't my favorite when it comes to this is Brynn. She gets bit and a small red dot appears. I get bit, on the other hand, and ... well ... this happens:

You might notice that my right foot looks like it needs to go on a big time diet. It doesn't hurt but the amount of itch is directly proportional to the amount of swell. The only thing I can do is ice it to death. I ice it at regular intervals all day and all night. Notice it doesn't seem to help the swelling. (or if it does, I don't want to know what it would look like without the ice!) Can everyone hear my Mom yelling 'take Benedryl!' at the computer. Good plan except I don't have any. Here's where the whole 'normal for me, maybe not for you' part comes in.

Today I am in Dangriga and I stop in at the pharmacy to buy antihistamine for my bite. (yes, in case you thought I was attacked by a heard of doctor flies, it is just one bite) I walk into the pharmacy. Pharmacies here are very small stores consisting of one room edged on three sides by glass counters with items shelved behind them. I hope you get the idea. If not, go to the western development museum and check out the pharmacy. Change all wood to chrome and shrink it by about 2/3. Two or three guys work behind the counter and customers just position themselves in an empty spot by the counter. Soon one of the 'pharmacists' comes over and asks what I need. I tell him contact lens solution and Benedryl. He hands me the contact solution (there is no choice involved, you take what he has) then reaches for the cough syrup. I say: no, do you have the pills? Oh for allergy, yes. He goes to another end of the store and brings back a huge bottle of pills. '25 cents' he says and looks at me expectantly. No it is not 25 cents for the big bottle, it is 25 cents a pill. I tell him '20, please' and he proceeds to count out 20 pills on one of those pill counter things and then pours them into a small ziplock baggie. On the baggie he carefully prints the name of the pills - not benedryl, but 'diphenhydramine tab. 25mg' and hands it to me. It is my job to know how many of these I can/should take and to know if the big d word is actually benedryl. This is how all pills are dispenced. Even prescriptions. You pay by the pill and have to remember the dosage. It's like being back in the 1800's - with a modern twist.

Time Flies ...

2008-01-30T19:42:00.001-07:00

... When we're having fun. And we are. Here are the pictures to prove it.

Here's Rafe driving the ferry across the river on the way to Xunantanich. (and, yes, I can pronounce that). He must have looked like he knew what he was doing because, both coming and going, the ferry driver needed to do something and had Rafe drive for him.

Ernesto took Adrianne out on her first kayak ride. They survived and didn't even get wet. Well, not very wet anyway.

Brynn and Adrianne don't look too sure about the whole wet suit idea but they got into it eventually (and literally) as did Rafe. The kids went SCUBA diving for the first, but definitely not last, time. They had a great time diving with the manta rays, lobster and fish.

Alfred's brother, Darrell, his wife, Sheila and their kids Julia and Joseph came to visit. As we drove through an orange orchard, all the kids opened their windows and plucked an orange for a snack. They ate them the Belizean way. Like and apple - but spit out the peel. A warning, though, as Brynn found out, the orange oil on the peel burns like heck if it gets on your lips.

Walking through the jungle you are bound to find a vine or two. What else are you going to do? You have to take a swing! Watch out for that tree, Brynn.

And, after swinging through the jungle, what better way to cool off than to jump into a waterfall? There is no better way. Ask Derrick and Rhonda (Alfred's sister). They came along on the hike and Rhonda even 'swung on a tree' and swam in the falls.

Today at the zoo, Kori got a treat. She's hanging out with the boa. It was so soft and smooth ... and strong! The muscles in that snake pulling against my arm were definitely stronger than the muscles in the arm against which she was pulling. (OK awkward but fun)

It's been a great month! Heck, it's been a great 6 months. One thing, though, I miss the cold, the snow, the blizzards. For true!

Off Shore Snorkling

2008-01-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

So maybe 'plethera' was a bit of an over statement as I seem, once again, to be out of ideas. I am surrounded at the moment by the definition of a peanut gallery trying to help me come up with ideas. So far I have: we are moving to a new church building (no one really cares); I have lots of company (again with the no one really cares) and (my personal favorite) 'sometimes I have good ideas but this isn't one of those times.' Consequent to that, you will get my snorkling story. If you find that you're bored to tears, don't quit reading just send questions and ideas. On to the snorkling story:
The Players: Alfred's sister, Rhonda
Rhonda's husband, Derrick
Alfred's mom, Betty
Brynn
Me
Terry the guide
The Place: Southwater Caye (pronounced 'key' for the uninitiated)
The story: Our company wanted to go snorkling so I set it up and out we went. Neither Rhonda nor Betty swims so we went to southwater to snorkle off the beach. Now, I must admit I was somewhat disappointed as I love to snorkle on the reef. I was not thrilled about just hanging out by the shore where the reef was dying and the fish were scarce. But, as you all know, I am a good sport and decided to make the best of it. Terry and I had a quick confab and decided that he would take Brynn and Derrick out further kind of around the reef and I would stay in by shore with Betty and Rhonda. After some false starts, Betty and Rhonda become comfortable enough witht he equipment and water that Rhonda is ready to try and get out a little further. So we head out to where our flippers barely touch the ground and start looking around. After bemoaning the fact that all the fish were white (they are so colorful out further in the reef), I notice that there is a fairly large school of yellow fish hanging out on, under and beside a large rock so I motion to Rhonda and we head over there. After a careful look, I get excited and dive down for a closer look. Sure enough, I poke my head above water and grab Rhonda. I am so excited. "Do you see what's under the rock?!" Rhonda looks confused and says 'no'. "A SHARK!" I am ready to dive back down for another look, Rhonda starts flailing around (sorry Rhonda but it was rather humerous) and decides she is heading back to shore. I decide I'd better get Rhonda to shore safely and leave the shark. After some serious talking on my part (it's a nurse shark; it won't hurt you; if it was hungry would all those fish be hanging around - you get the idea) Rhonda decides to brave it and we head back out to find the rock. I dive back down but the shark is gone. Bummer. I look over to tell Rhonda and ... there he is. Swimming along right beside and below Rhonda about two feet from her. YAY! Success! I point and Rhonda just stops. It was a variation of 'maniquin man'. She just stops. The shark swims over, kicks out a few fish and settles back down under the rock. And people pay big money to swim with the sharks. I guess snorkling off the beach isn't always a bad thing.
(caveat: Our internet is being stupid so I'm not spell checking, sorry)

Belizean First Aid

2008-01-19T21:05:00.000-07:00

This morning the girls and I spent about 3 hours and 1/2 in the Silkgrass community hall learning CPR and first aid. The fun part was that the first aid was tailored to Belize. No 'what to do about frostbite' instead we learned what to do about jellyfish, stingray and scorpion stings and snake bites. We also learned what was wrong with Kori's hands. (that's supposed to be the hook that keeps you reading till the end - no peeking ahead!) So for those of you planning a visit to Belize or other warm coastal regions, here's the scoop on your Belizean first aid kit:

Jellyfish first. The only fatal jellyfish are the man o' war and they aren't actually real jellyfish, just shirt-tale cousins. If you get hit by the tenticles of the jellyfish we have here, close to shore what do you do? I hear all of you yelling 'pee on it!' Ok, you could do that. It's kinda gross and not the best choice but it would help. The best choice, though, is the one I would choose over that one - vinegar. Preferably at room temp. So your Belizean first aid kit should include a small bottle of vinegar to pour over the painful jellyfish 'sting' until the toxin that is on your skin is neutralized and the pain stops. The absolute worst choice (useful if you are really angry at the jellyfish victim and want revenge) is to pour fresh water on it. This will intensify the pain by releasing more toxin.

Next, stingray. There are lots of stingrays that hang out in the sand close to shore. They get irritated if you step on them and they fight back. The scarey part of the stingray is the tail. It can actually pierce right through your leg if you get hit just right by a fairly large ray. More likely is a puncture or poke. The tail releases a toxin into the broken skin and this toxin travels through the bloodstream causing the pain to move up the body. Not even close to fatal but painful! Sadly there is nothing you can put into your first aid kit to help with this. You need to get inside and soak the wound in the hottest water you can possibly stand without scalding yourself. Do this until the pain stops and the toxin is neutralized. Then treat the puncture with anti-biotic cream and a bandaid. (or see a dr. if you are one of the few unlucky ones that gets stuck straight through.)

On to scorpions. Contrary to popular belief, scorpion stings are not deadly. They are, however, painful. The scorpion will slice you and leave .... yes - a toxin. It hurts! Into your first aid kit goes one of those cold packs that you pop. That's right, ice or an ice water bath takes care of the scorpion bite. If you don't have access to cold, the mayan remedy is to kill the scorpion and squish the guts onto the sting. Mr Peck (our resident mayan that knows everything) says it will heal the sting in five minutes flat.

Snake bites: don't cut and suck! The one and only thing to do about snake bites is to grab the snake and run to the hospital. No first aid - just go!

So those are some of the important ingredients in the perfect Belizean first aid kit. Since you are still reading, here's the scoop on Kori's hands.

These are bruises that showed up about a week ago. She also got a blister on one hand so we thought she had maybe burned herself somehow. But it just didn't seem right. Then we thought maybe she had accidently brushed up against some coral when she was scuba diving. But, again, it didn't look quite right. We took her to Nurse Judy and she was stumped but told us to keep a very close eye on it in case there were more blisters or it started to spread. Then, today at our first aid training, Judy took another look at it. Because Kori's hands are actually clearer and less bruised now than they were (the pictures were taken today so this is them looking better) Judy could see the bites. Yes, bites. Kori was bit by fruit flies. They inject an anti-coagulant and usually leave a small bruise. For some reason, Kori reacted rather severely to the bites and got this bad bruising across her hands. We didn't even know fruit flies bit! Another proof to the rule: everything bites in Belize!

Curassow Hike

2008-01-11T15:53:00.000-07:00

I thought it might be fun to take you all on a virtual hike. Let's go to the Cockscomb Basin, the only jaguar preserve in the world, and take the self guided hike through the jungle. We'll let Rafe lead.

Ok here's our first stop. Notice the log/stump on the right of the picture. 'This downed nargusta tree stump is evidence that the forest has been selectively logged, at first for mahogany then later for secondary hardwood like this nargusta. ... The rate of decomposition and nutrient cycling in the tropics may be up to four times faster than in temperate forests'

'The ceiba tree is a forest giant reaching a height of 50 metres and is found on forest margins and near rivers. Five or ten years may pass between flowerings, but one ceiba tree can produce up to 4,000 fruits each containing 200 or more seeds. The ceiba is a sacred tree to the maya, representing the tree of life. When a field is cut for a plantation, the ceiba trees are left.'
Continue walking down the path and look at the river flowing along beside the trail. The water is so clear. You can see the rocks and small fish swimming along with you. It is a beautiful day, not too hot but sunny with a gentle breeze blowing the tree tops. The forest smells fresh and green from the recent rains, the air is a little muggy but not bad, the birds are chirping along the way. You get the idea. But what's that? Loud noises in the tree tops. Animals? Birds? Leaves falling? No ... look ... howler monkeys in the trees. They are hard to see. Stand still and just watch. See that black thing swinging in the leaves? Howler monkey. No way to get a good pic of those. They are too far away. But you can remind yourself what they look like by checking out the pic you took of the last one:Hey, look at that vine. Cool! It's all curly.Oh wow! ' Notice the leaning tree has scratch marks made by Jaguars sharpening their claws. There are several marks up the tree, each older than the one before as the tree grew.' Really hoping we don't run into one of those!Well, it's been just over an hour of walking through the jungle. Lets stop by the Stann Creek for a snack.And home to make supper. Thanks for joining us on our hike. We'll definitely be back here. Lots more hikes in the basin.

Politics

2008-01-09T07:48:00.000-07:00

I am not a terribly political person. Sometimes I think I should be but I just can't muster up the energy. Oh, I vote in all the elections and I have very strong views an one or two issues but I just don't care enough to get all hot and bothered about it. So, despite the blog title, don't be expecting any heavy duty, in depth analysis of Belizean politics. I just have a few items that, I hope, will be of interest and a picture that I love.
Everyone knows there is an election pending in Belize. I don't think it's actually been called yet but it should happen around March sometime. Were I in any other Central American country, I'd probably be getting out about now. Last year during Guatemala's federal election process, 50 candidates, family members and campaign workers were murdered. Scary!! Luckily Belize is less politically volatile and I feel quite safe.
The election process here is much like Canada's. The exceptions seem to be in the campaigning rules. Although the election has yet to be called (unless it has been called in the last week or so and I missed it), posters and lawn signs started going up about 6 or more months ago. There are two basic parties in Belize and then a few fringe ones, like in Canada. The main parties are the People's United Party (PUP) and the United Democratic Party (UDP). The PUP are blue and the UDP are red. Don't ask me their political platforms - I have no real idea. I know that the current government has been in for about 12 years and are totally corrupt. I know that the expectation is that they will be voted out and the other party will take over. I know the new government will also be corrupt but it will take a few years before the people care too much. I also know the UDP got into some serious hot water for painting all the power poles red in Belize City because they didn't have permission and BTL (the power company) doesn't want to be politically aligned with any party. I know that the cops in Hopkins went around to all the druggies in town and asked them to take a weekend vacation about two months ago because the PUP was coming to town for a political rally and having druggies all over town looks bad. And I have to laugh because all the outward 'political correctness' doesn't even begin to fool anyone. It is crazy because there are so few people in Belize that everyone knows the political candidates personally or knows someone that does. Consequently, the life story of each candidate is public knowledge. There are no skeletons to uncover because there are no closets. Those skeletons just sit out in the living room with everyone else and their grandma. It is almost like children playing make believe. They all know what they are doing and saying isn't true but they choose to believe it for the time being. I guess that could be said about all political activity in this world, by the cynics if no one else, but it seems to me a little more blatant in Belize. I have been enjoying the campaigning - probably because I can't vote so I don't have to take it seriously. The following poster is hanging in the ladies bathroom of the Pickled Parrot Bar and Grill in Placencia. I think it contravenes all copyright laws but Belize in general contravenes all copyright laws in all areas of life anyway. I thought the poster was great and definitely pays tribute to the Belizean sense of humour!
Gotta love Belize!

Holiday Traditions

2008-01-06T08:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess the holidays are officially over. Our tree is down, as are the decorations, school and seminary are back in full swing. It was an interesting Christmas season for us and enlightening. There are a few new traditions I learned about this year that were totally foreign to me. I thought I'd share:
In Belize: The time before Christmas is a time to spruce everything up. Houses are cleaned inside and out. Repairs are done and very often the house is painted (also inside and out). Yards are raked and cleaned and cleared of all garbage piles. It is a time of constant activity and all must be done before the big day. It is important to Belizeans that everything is fresh and clean and in order for the Christmas season. Obviously this is a tradition best left in places that don't have spring thaw and mud! A bit of a waste of time in cooler climes when you know you are going to have to start again in May.
Another Belizean tradition we were fortunate to be included in this year is the jankunu. Actually, this is more a Garifuna tradition carried over from the days in Africa. The jankunu may happen at any time during the holidays but likely on Christmas Eve or New Year's Day. For us it came on New Year's Day. I looked out my back window and saw a group of about 15 kids coming across the yard. Some were carrying drums and shakers and the rest were dressed in outlandish costumes. The costumes included paper masks to hide the face, dresses and sticks. All but one of the costumed kids were dressed as ladies in dresses with stuffed bras and butts, carrying walking sticks. One of the costumed kids was dressed in a white shift with a pattern, the ever present mask and carried a very long stick. I asked what was going on and was told (in that 'how stupid are you' voice kids use) that they were here for the jankunu. I must have looked pretty blank because one of the drummers took pity on me and explained that they play and dance for Christmas. I asked if they would dance for me and they very happily set up on my back porch. The musicians played and sang and the mummers began to dance and, in their dance, act out a scene. The white figure sneaks around, hiding behind bushes and crawling on the ground until he is upon the others. Then he begins to hit them and poke them with his stick, eventually killing one of them who falls to the ground in the throws of death. It was all very dramatic and fun. We gathered quite a crowd. Afterwards they 'collected' by passing the hat and then all came in for some water. I asked around later to find out more about the whole thing and got conflicting answers. One lady said the white figure is a cow and it gives lashes. The internet says it is a hold over from the slave days and the white figure is a slave getting revenge on the plantation women. My kids thought it looked like a jaguar hunt. I don't know what the real answer is but it was very enjoyable at any rate. A rather sharp twist on the British tradition of caroling, for sure!

Guatemala take 2

2008-01-03T07:19:00.000-07:00

After months of blogger's block, I am now faced with an entirely opposite problem. There are a plethora of possible posts vie-ing for the honor of first post of 2008. What to do? OK, here's the deal (pronounced deel not dill in case Ashli or Todd are reading this) I think I'll start with the one I have pictures for and move from there. This indicates there may be a flurry of posting over the next few days for those of you that complain when the posts go on Belize time and show up less often.
As our big family Christmas present this year, we took the kids to Guatemala to visit the Mayan ruins at Tikal. (just an aside here for those of you who, like my kids friends, believe that the Mayan people are extinct. The Mayan empire died out for sure but there are still large communities of Mayan people living in Central America. They have a distinct look and culture and most still practice the ancient Mayan religions) So, on the 26th we all piled in the car and headed out to Cayo. We had found a fairly inexpensive resort in San Ignacio where we could stay and they do a day tour to Tikal that we could get in on. The resort was very quaint. More like camping than resorting. The cabanas were cute and very, very clean which was the important thing for us.
The kids had one cabana and we had another which was also great for all involved. The first day, after signing up for our tour, we took a walk to the river. The road we walked along was nicknamed 'iguana's lover's lane' by one of the other tourists. It's true! There was at least one iguana in each tree lining the shore of the river. I can't see that there was much lovin' going on, though. There seemed to be an over abundance of male, and we didn't see one female, iguanas.

The next morning, the dining room opened early just for us and by 6:30 am we were on our way. Within an hour, our hosts had us through the border loaded into a van in Guatemala and we were on our way down the road headed for Tikal. It's a two hour drive from the border to the ruins and the scenery is beautiful. Guatemala (as I've probably said before) is a beautiful country.
After entering the park gates and driving up to the ruins, we discover that there are no english guides available for at least an hour. There is, however, a lovely little Guatemalan man that speaks english only slightly better than we speak Spanish (un porcito) and we agree that we will be fine with him. His name is Naftali and he is very fun. It was actually more fun, I think, to have to work at communicating than it would have been had we found an English guide. Naphtali took us straight to temple iv so that we could climb it and see the view before the crowds started to gather. Later we were very grateful for this foresight! The temple is being worked on but we were still able to climb the millions (OK maybe not but it felt like it) of steps to the top. It was amazing!!

That was the last climb of the day for me. Alfred and the kids did others but I am not fond of heights and once I'd conquered that climb I no longer felt the need to prove myself! I'm sure you'll concur when you look at the next pic which is of the next climb we came to. I should point out that the Guatemalans are really not much better than the Belizeans when it comes to safety measures!
The ruins are the most elaborate and well restored of any we've seen. Originally the city of Tikal comprised all the land 16 km in all directions from the centre. All of that was paved roads and buildings. The guide we had said that to see the ruins properly and in their entirety it takes about three days. There are hotels on the site and people do stay there and take the time to really see it all. We are not that obsessed with ruins nor could we possibly retain more info than we got. It was totally overwhelming. We did buy a couple of books at the gift shop that explain everything so we can go back over it at our leisure.
By the time we made our way to the town centre (so to speak) there were hundreds of people everywhere. This is when we realized how smart our guide had been. It would have been a crowded, frustrating mess trying to get to the top of temple iv in that crowd but seeing so many people milling about this part of the city gave us an idea of what it would have been like back in the day. It also helped to put the size in perspective. The last pic I have for you is of the main plaza and the last word I have for you is this: if you ever get the chance go to Tikal.

month and YEAR end!!

2007-12-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year everyone! We have had a fabulous year and Dec has definitely been a high point. A very busy month as evidenced by the lack of blogging done this month but what can I say? Priorities, you know. Rafe and Adrianne are here for Christmas/New Years and a holiday. Alfred's brother Darrell and his family are also here on vacation. Here is the run down of the month:

Brynn finally managed to gather a fairly dedicated group of hockey players this month. They have caught on to the game so fast and really enjoy playing. They play barefoot and (coaches be proud) once they discovered there is no penalty for banging a player's skates, decided that rule also applies to feet. Some days I'm surprised they can even walk after 2-3 hours of playing!

The four of us took a weekend trip to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye to do some Christmas shopping. We had fun, decided we weren't fond of San Pedro (that's Belize - not to be confused with the one in Honduras) and got lots of shopping done. The plane was full on the way home so Brynn got to be co-pilot!

I know I've already told the story but thought you might like to see a couple of the pics from the shoebox christmas. Definitely a high point for the month.

All four of the kids are enjoying being together again. Lots of high jinx in our house lately!
And finally, the trip the entire family has been waiting for: we spent the day in Guatemala at the Mayan ruins of Tikal. It is the most amazing place. We had so much fun and even enjoyed the fact that we had to work at communicating.

From our house to yours, a very, very happy new year to all!!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!! We hope you are enjoying family and friends today and that all is well with all of you. We are having a wonderful Christmas although it hardly feels right without the snow. We are trying to bring a little 'Canada' to Belize by running the A/C at full blast and building a lovely 'snow'man. Tomorrow we leave on a little family trip to top off the season. Keep safe and keep well. I'll see you in 2008!

From Pergatory to Paradise

2007-12-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

This is maybe not my story to tell, but, of course, I'm going to tell it anyway. Belize is a beautiful country and, like anything worthwhile, sometimes there is a price to be paid before attaining the goal. Rafe and Adrianne learned this first hand. They got up all excited and happy to be heading out ... at 5:00am on Tuesday morning. Arrived at the airport and all was well. Now, most of you know what Rafe looks like. He is a wonderful, good looking man but he wears his hair long and had on a kangaroo skin tilly hat, beard, you get the idea. Consequently, when going through security, they had to wait while security did it's search through his luggage. This pattern was repeated at every security (what do you call them, station?) place along the way. Adrianne, on the other hand walked right through. They arrive in Houston on Tuesday night and check in to the hotel for the night. Now, in my defence, the hotel looked lovely from the pictures on the internet. I don't know how bad it really was but Adrianne refused to sleep on the sheets. She just rolled up on the top of the bed. Obviously not the best sleep was had. Next morning they are, once again, up bright and early although, I'm sure not as awake as they had been the day before. They arrive at the Houston airport and go through their new security 'routine' not realizing that they were about to enter purgatory. They board the plane. 'yay, just two more hours'.
Meanwhile, back in paradise ... I leave home at 12:00 noon to drive to the Dangriga airport and pick up my kids. I get there a few minutes early and decide I'll go in and ask if the kids made the flight. I had booked it a little tight but I knew if they didn't make that one, the guys at Tropic would get them on the next one. So I ask and discover that the international flights have not landed at Belize City. Here I panic - just a little. Going through my mind is 'why not? I know they took off. how much gas does that plane have?' Instead of acting like the hysterical Mom I am on the inside, I say 'Oh? What is going on?' The ladies at the office have no idea but they are bored and willing to 'phone around for me. We discover that the plane won't land because the weather is bad. This confuses us all because the little puddle-jumper planes that Tropic and Maya fly are bouncing in and out of Belize City like it is nothing. The ladies 'phone their counterparts in the city to find out if the weather is really that bad. The response is 'there's just a little rain'.
Cut back to the plane. The pilot has tried to land three times and has missed the runway each time because he can't see through the rain. [aside - here we have to wonder about the Belizean people as a whole. We have come to the conclusion long ago that the gene that tells us 'you know, this may not be the best idea' is somehow missing in Belizeans. evidenced by the lack of safety rules in every aspect of this society.] The pilot, not being Belizean, decides not to risk the lives of my children (yes, they were the deciding factor) decides to go to Honduras and land there. They make everyone get off the plane and wait for the weather to clear.
Back to the Tropic office: I have called the office here at the resort to tell them what is going on and ask them to call Alfred. I have no idea, ,at this point, what exactly is happening just that they can't land. Elizabeth, the receptionist, decides this is her new mission in life and begins to make 'phone calls. This sets off a whole chain of events where I become the clearing centre for information. It got funny pretty fast. The ladies at Tropic would answer the phone and point it at me: 'Dana, it's for you'.
In Honduras: There is a break in the weather. Everyone back on the plane. Except for 'those' people. You know them, the ones that decide 'hm, we're here for awhile, I'll go shopping.' [This is where the earlier described genetic deficiency shows up in the rest of the nationalities] Consequently, the fast take-off is foiled and by the time the plane makes it back to Belize, the window is closed. But now the pilot has seen that there is hope and returns to Honduras to refuel (again) and wait for another chance. This time, the pilot not being stupid, no one is allowed off the plane. Another window, another try, another trip to Honduras. This time the pilot decides there is no hope. You can't land anywhere in Belize after dark. No runway lights. So everyone gets off the plane while arrangements are made for them to stay in Honduras.
[I get the 'phone call informing me of this and go home to wait for further instruction]
After haggling with the Honduran powers that be, everyone is re-herded onto the plane. Apparently the Hondurans will only let the passengers stay if the plane also stays (Hondurans sound like they are not stupid!) Since the plane is going back to Houston, the passengers are too.
So, after 13 hours on the plane, my kids are right back where they started. But they have made about 200 new friends. When they finally land in paradise the following afternoon it is to the sounds of celebration. Both from inside the plane and from those of us waiting outside.

Christmas Angels

2007-12-19T08:02:00.000-07:00

When I was small and the school or church did a Christmas pageant, I always wanted to be an angel. I thought they got the prettiest costumes. In this post I am going to introduce you to a year 'round angel and maybe you'll get some ideas of how to be a Christmas angel.
On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, Kori and I go to Equity House in Hopkins to help Nurse Judy in whatever way we can. Nurse Judy is a Belizean lady that was educated in the States. She worked there for years as a critical care nurse. Her husband is a Dr and was the epidemiologist for the Belize Government before he retired. When they moved to Hopkins, they built a large house with two garages. In one of those Garages, Judy has built a pharmacy and clinic that serves the people of Hopkins and surrounding area. She is available 24/7 for emergencies and will always come out if the patient can't get to her. She is out for emergencies at least two nights a week if not more and has open-door clinic during the day. If she runs across a situation she is unsure of, she googles it and treats it. She gives away medication to those that need it for donations, if she knows they can afford it, or free if she knows they can't. Besides this, she runs diabetes and hypertension information sessions out of her home once a week. She has an AIDS awareness group and does AIDS testing and counselling. Recently she was awarded a $9000 grant to do a project in Hopkins to try and derail stigma and discrimination against HIV+ people. Kori and I are heavily involved in this right now. Kori is in the process of making two different information pamphlets and I am designing t-shirts. We will have information sessions early in the new year. Judy also works one evening a week at the Dangriga hospital and volunteers once a week in the mental health unit doing counselling. On top of all this, people have started giving her children that they won't or can't care for themselves. She has found a home for four of them and is in the process of raising money to buy land and build an orphanage in town. She also manages to get to all of the schools in our district once a year and give each child a complete physical, including medication they may need and referrals to other agencies and doctors if necessary. She and her husband, Rich, are also raising a lovely 10 year old daughter, Victoria. Oh, and she has vet clinic the third Saturday each month. Now for the clincher: she is not paid for any of this and all supplies must come from donations. She gets supplies from her nursing and doctor friends in the states and from others that know about her work here. She is the medical saviour of this area. She is trying, along with some volunteer help, to get a web page up and running (www.equityhousebelize.com) if you want to check it out. There is also hope for help in the form of a non-profit organization that builds small hospitals in third world countries. They are called the world hospital project (http://web.mac.com/themikans/Site/Home.html) and they are planning to build a small hospital in Hopkins to get Judy out of her garage and get doctors and nurses involved in volunteering on a rotating basis. Now I'm going to ask for some simple help for this amazing woman who is just full of love and charity. If you want to help us out, the world hospital project will be selling t-shirts for about $20 each off of their web site. You might consider buying yourself one. Or, if you are coming to visit us, think about bringing some cough medicine (especially children's) or anti-fungal cream or benedryl of any sort. Those are the meds she is most in need of right now. Don't send money through the mail. It likely won't get here, but if you want to help with money for the orphanage, let me know and we can find a way. One definite change in our attitudes and values that has come from living here is that we now understand the true definition of poverty. (that is a really awkward sentence, sorry) The girls often say they will never take anything for granted again. And yet, these people with nothing (think of your definition of having nothing and subtract from there) will give you anything they have if you need it. They are so generous, happy and kind. It is a very humbling experience living here. I will never again be able to say 'we can't afford' now it has to be 'we don't want to afford'.

Guess who came to town?

2007-12-13T18:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Santa came to town! And he was really hot and sweaty in his heavy red santa suit in the 30 degree weather! I sure wouldn't want to be him! We (a bunch of expats) set up a tent on the beach decorated a tree and set out cookies and juice, and all the kids in town (about 400 of them) came and waited for Santa. They were way excited!!! We had them sing some Christmas songs ... they have a few that I wonder about. One called 'Daddy don't get drunk this christmas' and their twelve days of christmas starts and ends with fried fish in a basket. The youth choir sang (they were amazing!!) a song about all men being free. It was beautiful. There were even 'drummer boys'! The garifuna boys/men drum at every occasion in Hopkins. (Even if the occasion is just Friday night at the bar.) It was one of those cultural experiences. And then HE came! and he had with him about 400 shoeboxes full of goodies. One for each child from the tiniest baby to the teenagers. It was great to see the shoeboxes from this side of things. The kids were so thrilled with their presents. They lined up to get them and have their picture taken with Santa. Then they ran off with their group of friends to a spot on the beach and opened their boxes. It was so fun to see them all wandering around later with their boxes full of goodies under one arm and a mouth full of candy. I'll tell ya, next year when I'm packing those shoeboxes for the school, it will have a whole new meaning for me!!

Guatemala - Take 1

2007-12-11T08:34:00.000-07:00

Hi All! I have been trying to write a blog giving you my first impressions of Guatemala. It turned out to be a ‘first this, then this’ kind of thing. In other words: long and boring. You’ll be happy to hear I deleted it in favor of a tour of the highlights. So here it is!
At the border between Belize and Guatemala as we were waiting for the rest of our group to arrive from Belize City we heard two shots. The kids are a little wild eyed so I was explaining to them how it was a bus backfiring when two army guys with guns drawn ran past us into the bush. So much for the backfiring bus theory. Turns out someone tried to sneak over the border. Word to the wise – if you are going to try and sneak over a border of any sort, probably the actual border crossing is a bad choice of location!

The actual getting through from Belize to Guatemala was surprisingly painless. Basically we were just waved through. Getting through the men trying to get you to exchange money with them or hire them to drive you or whatever was much more difficult. I did OK exchanging money but Brynn managed to get us 50 Quetzals for $20 Belize (the exchange is x3). Whatever. If crossing the border was painless, the trip from there to Guatemala City made up for it! There were 27 of us in a bus that sat 29 if all the aisle jump seats were used. Crowded and uncomfortable – for 13 hours!!!

Beautiful countryside, though. Guatemala City is a thoroughly modern city of about 12,000,000 people. Lots of highrises and glass buildings, McDonald’s, Burger Kings, Pizza Huts, you get the idea. The traffic is unreal! Think of Edmonton at rush hour and then take out all traffic controls. That’s right – no traffic controls. Word to the wise #2 – when in Guatemala City, don’t drive, take a cab! Guatemala is not the safest country for tourists and Guatemala City is less safe than the rest of the country so we were surrounded by safety measures. On the bus, someone ‘phoned every 15 minutes to make sure we were OK and find out where we were. Now, is it just me or does this seem to be a rather lame safety measure? I think it was more of a ‘find the bodies fast so it doesn’t scare the other tourists’ measure! We stayed in the church MTC compound in the church guesthouse. Security here was somewhat more reassuring. It was gated, locked and guarded by church members with guns. I chose to believe said church members knew what they were doing as far as the guns were concerned. The temple is gorgeous! Unfortunately it is too big and the grounds too small to get a decent picture.

The grounds are fenced and armed guards patrol the fence line outside the grounds. I took Brynn, Kori and another young woman from our branch (Juana) to do baptisms and they joined up with a group of youth from Honduras. These youth were great! They just swallowed up our girls and made them part of the group. The language barrier was totally ignored and they were immediate friends. It was so nice for our kids. The trip home was unreal: we got on the bus at 4:30 am and got home at 9:30 pm. Traffic was bad and there was a bad accident on the highway held us up for 2 hours. Definitely not a trip I want to take every week but a great experience none the less.

November month end

2007-11-28T10:46:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I hope you all are keeping warm! We are managing to keep very, very warm. (ha) The months are flying by. Christmas is just around the corner. And you wouldn't believe how hard it is to Christmas shop when it's 30 degrees ABOVE zero outside! We won't even mention the lack of stores. Oh well, we all have our crosses to bear, I guess.
So here are the pics and the low down for November. Hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed the month!

The locals call this a 'tourist tree' because it turns red and peels in the sun! Pretty fun. Belizeans are known for their great senses of humor. I don't know what it is really called.

In November we attended our first (and, hopefully, not last) baptism. It was interesting because Joshua (in the middle, if you need a hint) was baptized in the Sea.

The Belmopan youth and our Dangriga youth got together for some soccer, basketball, and a trip to the Mayan ruins. It was a very long day - especially for the leaders!

Kori turned 13! We had a fun party and then went horseback riding. Ernesto came with us and he and Kori went body surfing down the rapids. Kori got a little banged up but they sure had fun!

Last picture of the the month: I didn't know Rafe had a store in Belmopan. And a computer store at that!!

A Few of my Favorite Things

2007-11-24T17:40:00.000-07:00

Not being nearly as talented as Julie Andrews (or whomever wrote the song, I guess) my list of favorite things doesn’t rhyme or flow like her raindrops on roses. It has been a fun list to compile, however, and I thought I’d share. So here it is, my favorite things about Belize (in random order).
We don’t get weather like you guys in Canada do. The weather varies from 30 – 33 degrees and rains usually at night or early morning during the rainy season. But sometimes, if we’ve been really good, at night, and I mean all night, we get an amazing, shake the walls, bright, loud thunder storm. Alfred thinks it’s funny because the thunder will wake him and he’ll be alone in bed. When he comes out to find me, he will find Brynn, Kori and me on the couch in front of our glass wall watching the storm. You can literally see the glass shake with each roll of thunder. That’s my favorite weather.
I have never been a morning person. (forgive the understatement) but here, my favorite time of day is the early morning. OK by early I mean 8:00ish but still … Especially if I need to go to town. Everyone is up and about making the most of the day before it gets too hot. People are washing clothes in buckets in their yards, or raking the sand in the yard (no grass here) or eating breakfast. The kids are playing carefully, trying to keep clean in their school uniforms. There is music everywhere. People are happy and smiling and everyone says hello or good morning. It is an amazing way to start the day!
Ask anyone that has been to Hopkins what they remember and they will almost always say something about how bad the sandflies are. They are really nasty. Consequently, my new favorite perfume is eau de Off!!
When people come to visit us, they often ask what they should see or what tours they should take. My favorite activity here has to be hiking in the jungle. It’s cheap which is a huge plus but more than that, it is exciting. The trails are not what we would call groomed. They are cleared. You may find that you have a choice between wading through the stream or trying to balance your way over it on the log that has been pushed across the banks. There will always be a ton of birds and, if you keep your eyes open, you will see lizards and snakes and, if you are really lucky, maybe a monkey or two.
Most of you know I’m mormon and those that don’t, should. A big part of the mormon sub-culture is food. So no favorites list would be complete with out that particular discussion. ‘New favorite food’ is an impossible category so we’re going to go with ‘new favorite foods!’ Rice ‘n beans tops the list. I love it!! I have tried every way I know how and every way I’ve been told how but I just can’t make it. Any time I get a chance, I order it when we are out. Also on this list would be fried plantain. I CAN make this and do at every opportunity. It is sweet and yummy and goes with anything. It is really good with rice ‘n beans. There are lots of ‘givens’ on this list and I won’t go into detail but, of course, most of the fruit is fantastic!
Just because it sounds so upper crust, I have to say that my favorite day of the week in Belize is Monday. That’s the day the cleaning ladies come.
So there it is: my non-complete, non-rhyming, can’t make a song out of it, list of favorite things. Maybe on some bored blog day, I’ll let you read my list of least favorite things. Something to look forward to!

Celebration

2007-11-21T17:45:00.000-07:00

November 19 is a very important date, here in Belize, for two reasons: it is Kori's birthday and it is Garifuna settlement day. So we celebrated both! Garifuna settlement day (GSD) was to start on the beach in town at 6:30 am with a reenactment. In typical Belize style, we were there by 6:30 and the re-enactment started promptly at 9:00 am. It was quite a sight, though. Two dugout canoes came in to the bay and one of them 'docked' on the beach where one of the boatmen got out and read a list of the Garinagu on the boats and asked the 'governor' for permission to come into Belice. The governor initially says 'no' and the boatman returns to the boat ... but wait ... they are all tired and hungry so the boatman returns to the governor and begs on bended knee for permission to land. The governor relents and the boatmen come to shore. This re-enacts the events in the early 1800's when 2000 Garifuna people left St. Vincent and came to Belize (then Belice) to escape persecution. As the boatmen come ashore (in the re-enactment) to singing and drums, they parade to the church for morning mass. I should mention here that almost all of the Garifuna participants and not a few of the audience have been drinking all night and the mass is actually the end of the celebration for them rather than the beginning. Here are some pictures of the day:

Garifuna women and little girl in traditional dress headed for the beach.

The drummers, dancers and singers provide background music for the re-enactment. The blue flag is the flag of Belize; the yellow and black is the Garifuna flag; the women are in traditional dress and the drums are still a big part of the culture here in Hopkins. They can be heard almost every night and definitely at every celebration and funeral.

Garifuna kids are so cute in traditional dress!! Also love the braids.

These guys were coming to the end of their party. They are holding some of the symbols of Belize and the Garifuna: shakers; the garifuna flag and Belikin Beer! It was quite a party! Later we went horseback riding in the jungle to celebrate Kori's 13th birthday .... but that's a story for another blog.

Bad News

2007-11-18T19:35:00.000-07:00

OK, it has happened. I swore it never would but it has. And now all of you will mock me just as I used to mock those like me. Yes, that's right, I have become a cold weather wimp!! It has been chilly here the past week or so. I have put away my shorts and pulled out the jeans. At night we sit in sweats cuddled up in blankets to watch movies. I even looked out today at the tourists around the pool and commented that it was really too cold to swim. What is the temperature, you ask? Well, I'm not sure I want to tell you. Suffice it to say that it has yet to fall below 22 at night and during the day it's at least 5 degrees warmer. I am hanging my head in shame. Yesterday we went snorkeling and I was actually huddled up with my arms across my body as I was snorkeling because I was so cold. I could only stay in for about 1/2 an hour. Then I went back to the boat, changed into my dry clothes and sat in the sun to warm up. I don't know the conversion but the water was reading a temperature of 85 degrees F. I can't even imagine the teasing I am going to take when we get back to Canada and I break out my parka at temperatures above zero. I feel somehow that I have failed my sturdy Canadian upbringing. Sorry this post is a little short. My fingers are turning blue and seizing up. I need to go turn off the fan above my head. Stay warm!

What I learned

2007-11-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

There is truth to the saying “you learn something new every day.” I have been learning lots of new things and this past week has been stuffed full of learning experiences. Some of the more interesting things I have learned this week are:
1) The resorts are not allowed to shine lights on the sea at night. They can shine lights on the beach if the lights are behind something so that they don’t shine directly on the sea. This is important because the lights attract turtles and it messes them up and they get ‘blown off course’ so to speak.
2) Fishing at night yields many, many fish except on the new and full moons. Always stop fishing a couple of days before and after each as it is a waste of time.
3) This one seriously blew me away! Alfred came home chuckling the other day because his co-workers had been teasing him about being mormon in Belize. (Confused me too) Polygamy is totally legal and practiced in Belize. In fact, the prime minister has two wives complete with, now grown, kids. Wild, hey?
4) We took about 26 youth and 8 leaders to the mayan ruins for a youth activity on Saturday. The branch president had planned for 10 youth plus 5 leaders and rented a van that seated 15. We ended up traveling with the van, our Tahoe and a small car. I learned that, if you put 5 in the small car, the Tahoe will hold 8 plus the driver and the 15 passenger van will hold the remaining 20. Would never happen in Canada but is just par for the course in Belize. (I was terrified the whole trip we’d be in an accident)
5) The freakiest thing I learned this week was what a coconut bug is. I don’t know the real name but that’s what the locals call this guy.

We found him when we stopped at the bakery on the way home from the ruins. He does bite and also flies. I kept thinking, if he flies into the car we will have a real girly, bug in the car experience!! I’m starting to wonder if we are living in the real Jurassic park.
Can’t wait to see what this new week holds!

Fruits

2007-11-07T15:17:00.000-07:00

As I was buying fruits the other day, I realized how much our knowledge of said yummy things has increased. I thought someone should benefit from this knowledge besides us. After all, what is the point of being knowledgeable if you can't show off for others?
Many of the fruits we eat here are the same as the ones we enjoy at home. Apples, plumbs, peaches are all imported from California and are just the same as those at home. Almost no one here eats them, though, because, relatively speaking, they are way expensive. They are $1.00Bz each (that's 50 cents American or like nothing Canadian).
Some of the fruits look familiar until you bite into them. These definitely include pineapple and bananas. When you buy a 'fresh' pineapple at the local SaveOn, the taste, as you know, is lovely and sweet but quite acidic. Then you eat a pineapple lifesaver and think 'why do they taste like that? That's not how pineapple taste.' WRONG! That is how pineapple taste. Sweet and juicy and no acid to speak of at all. And they also cost between $1Bz and $3Bz each depending on the size (that's between 50 cents and $1.50 US or like nothing Canadian!) Bananas the same. They taste like banana flavoring. The ones at home have absolutely no taste in comparison. Banana's cost 8 for $1Bz (that's 50 cents US or like nothing Canadian - you get the idea) Oranges at 7 for $1Bz, look awful. They are green skinned and rotten looking. BUT peel them and they are the sweetest, juiciest oranges I have ever eaten. We squeeze them for juice and never add sugar.
A few of the fruits are sort of familiar looking. I've seen them at the local SaveOn but have never bought them because of the cost. Fitting squarely in this category are dragon fruit. They are pink skinned fruit about the size of a small apple and the skin kind of peels back in spiky 'petals'. Here they are $1Bz each. so we buy them and YUM! You cut them in half and eat them with a spoon like a kiwi. They even look sort of like a kiwi, if kiwis were fuchsia colored instead of green. The taste isn't as sweet as some other fruits but very pleasant and refreshing.
Then there are the weird looking, sounding, tasting fruits that seem to be unique to the Caribbean. Sapodilla looks like a kiwi on steroids. Cut it in half and eat it the same as a kiwi or dragon fruit. The meat is kind of a burnt orange color and the taste is strong and not really pleasant. It is a taste, though, that I could see getting used to if you eat it with like 1/2 a gallon of ice cream. Star fruit look like opaque green stars and are very sour but juicy. People like them as juice but they are so much work to make taste good that it's hardly worth it. Craboo, on the other hand have absolutely no redeeming qualities! They are small yellow fruits - about 1 inch in diameter - and they look appealing ... till you bite into one. Kori describes the taste as vomit flavoured sawdust and I'd say that's pretty accurate. The locals love them and eat them by the handfuls. If you get stuck on a bus with a lot of craboo-eating locals it is awful - craboo smell like they taste.
The one type of fruit that is conspicuous in its absence are berries. We so miss berries! Strawberry is almost every Belizian's favorite flavor because they just don't have any. Cravings for blueberries and raspberries are common occurrences in our house lately. I'm sure that when we get home it will take ... maybe forever before we get over missing the good, cheap fruit we are enjoying but the thought of a world devoid of craboo sounds like heaven!

Antelope Falls

2007-11-04T17:18:00.000-07:00

This is the hike I have been studiously avoiding. I keep telling people I'm not in good enough shape yet. Brynn found the loophole! She asked that we go on the hike as her birthday party. So on Saturday we did it. And even having done it I can still say I'm not in good enough shape for that hike! It starts out reasonably and, thankfully, it wasn't too hot. Brynn is in the lead and all of a sudden she jumps backward with a "holy crap!!!" Of course we are all right behind her and there is a small pile up while we all try to adjust to the change in direction. Seems she almost stepped on this:

Green tree snake. It was about 5 or more feet long. Note the pretty blue tongue. It's a totally harmless snake and we were fortunate to see one. Very cool! I had heard that the trail was quite steep and at one point there would be a rope to help with the climb. So when we got to the rope I was totally thrilled! It wasn't too bad for steep and we were almost there.
Yah, right! Turns out this was just the beginning. We stopped half way up to enjoy a rest, a snack and the view.

Now, I want you to notice how far we are from the top! By now, I am drenched through with sweat and almost out of water and totally out of reserve energy. I am still, however, a Mom and this was Brynn's birthday party. So, I sucked it up and continued on. Turns out we had just finished the easy part of the hike! The rest was almost straight up with very little in the line of trail. Sometimes we were literally hanging off the side of the mountain. Then we got to the view point. WOW!! The picture doesn't do it justice. We could see the Sea and our house! Amazing!

But the hike wasn't done yet. We were now headed for the real payoff!!

A swim in the pool! Way cool! In more ways than one. There were lots of cleaner fish in the pool and they sucked on our skin looking for bits of dirt and bugs to eat. It was a bit of a shock when they started but we quickly got used to it and it was fun. Then we had to trek back down. It's way steeper going down! How does that work? I guess getting us up the mountain wasn't enough for Brynn because she decided to give us all a heart attack on the way down. She tripped. Luckily her martial arts training kicked in and she managed to roll. Unluckily she was going so fast she couldn't stop rolling and was headed off the path and really DOWN the mountain. Kori caught her just as she hit the edge of the path. I made everyone stop while I learned how to breathe again! After that the biggest thing of interest was this ant hill:

The ants are about 1 inch long. Everything grows bigger in Belize!

Halloween Ghosts

2007-11-01T18:43:00.000-06:00

Last night we were visited by two of the Halloween ghosts. Appropriate, don’t you think? The first of our ‘spirited’ visitors was the ghost of Halloween past. He showed up early in the afternoon as we reminisced about past Halloween costumes and activities. We talked about our favorite costumes of years past and last year’s trick or treating as we thought about you all out in the frozen north. Brynn and Kori were especially animated as they remembered last year. They set out together in the typical Halloween weather just after supper. As they went from house to house, they forgot to pay attention to where they were going and eventually realized they were lost – in Heritage Hills. (don’t laugh, they are definitely their mother’s daughters) Being teenagers, they decided to just keep trick or treating until they recognized something and could find their way home. After some time, they had enough candy in their pillowcases that the weight of them was starting to cause problems and besides that, they had lost all feeling in their toes. That was when they reevaluated their priorities, quit trick or treating and began to concentrate on finding their way home. To make a very long story somewhat shorter, they eventually got home, totally frozen and the first thing they did was get out the scale and weigh their bags. Each had over 20 pounds of candy!
Back to yesterday. At about 4:30 in the afternoon, the ghost of Halloween present showed up in the form of two little girls. The girls (about 8 years old) were shyly standing at the bottom of our steps trying to decide what to do. They were both dressed in their play clothes but one of them still had on her school uniform shirt. I opened the door and said hello whereupon they whispered ‘trick or treat?’. I excitedly handed them each one of the little treat bags I had prepared. Each of the girls shook my hand, thanked me and wished me a happy Halloween. All told we had about 17 kids come to our door last night. They were all dressed in shorts and t-shirts because it was about 29 degrees out (ha ha). Only one had what might pass as a costume. He was wearing a home made mask. None of them had even a grocery bag for candy. There are very, very few people in the village who could afford to give out candy. I’m sure each of the kids went home with less than 20 candies let alone 20 pounds of candy. But they were all laughing and having fun which was the important part for them.
The ghost of Halloween future didn’t pop in yesterday but I wonder what he would have shown us. Part of me hopes he would show me a time when the kids of this village would be able to leave their houses on Halloween night with bags and take for granted the bags would be full by the time they returned home. And part of me hopes they never lose the joy they found in the little things last night. Maybe they will manage to hold onto both?

End of October ... Already??!!

2007-10-28T16:56:00.000-06:00

I cannot believe it is the end of October. What happened to July through September? The months are absolutely flying by. We hardly notice the passage of time because the weather never changes. Each day blends into the next as does each week ... month .. the year will be over before we are ready I'm sure. Anyway, here are the month end pics and stories for October:

Our first critter visit of the month was this green head snake. He was just hangin' out on our deck and moved to the palm tree when we all crowded around to see him. Don't you love the smile?

Can you find the frog in this picture? I think our eyes become trained after a while. When we first got here, I'd never have noticed this guy!

So we're hanging out at the Mayflower park with our friends Todd and Ashli and we were trying to sneak up on the resident crocodile. All of a sudden, this amazing, loud, end of the world type noise comes out of the bush. It was a howler monkey and he was MAD!! I wasn't, though, I got a great picture of him howling!

Chad, Dyan and Noah came to visit this month. Noah is the only person I've ever seen who had absolutely no problems getting into a hammock. Even the first time. Whenever he wandered off we could find him hanging (literally) on the beach.

It has been a month for lizards. We have seen at least one almost every day all month long. The male iguanas are orange right now trying to attract the ladies.

The other seriously important event of the month was Brynn's 15th birthday. (yes, I said 15) I am darn proud of her cake so I'm including a picture of it. Try and figure out how I did it without food coloring!! Go Sens!!

These next three pictures are my favorites for the month. The one is of the Sitee River, one is of the mayan ruins at Cahal Peche and the other is of the full moon over the Sea.

Lodge at Chaa Creek

2007-10-26T18:57:00.000-06:00

Well, our first visitors have come and gone. From all accounts, a good time was had. The high point of the visit, for me, was the weekend we spent at the lodge at Chaa Creek. It is a lovely resort in the mountains - quite different from our beach resort. When she found out we were going, Kori exclaimed "I'm so excited I get to go to a resort!!" After we quit laughing, we explained to her that she LIVES at a resort. It turned out to be a marvelous experience. Driving down the Western Highway looking for signs we drove right past the turn off before someone noticed the small sign half hidden behind some other signage on the road. Then we drove down, what could be described as a 'country hick' type dirt road. It did not look like a promising beginning. At the end of the road, you find yourself in the parking lot for paradise. The reception desk is outside under a palapa. We were led to our cabanas and told about the free hikes included with our rooms and also the optional hikes and tours we could sign up for. We had three cabanas so Brynn and Kori had their own and so did Chad's family. Each cabana had two beds (and Chad's and ours had a third daybed) a bathroom with a huge shower and a door leading to a fully walled and private outdoor shower. Noah was especially impressed to be able to shower outside. (he's 5) That night we signed up for a night hike to look for nocturnal nature stuff. We each had a head lamp and we followed the guide for about a 1 km hike through forest and field. In the dark, the night critter's eyes glow and that's how you find them. The first thing we saw was before we even left the yard. A red eyed tree frog! I had been hoping to see one while we were here but didn't think I'd get the chance. I was thrilled. Then we continued on and it started to pour! The guide gave us the option of going back or finding shelter but we convinced him we wouldn't melt and continued on. The freakiest thing we discovered was that there must be about ten million wolf spiders living in every square inch of the forest. Wolf spiders have a very impressive name but really they are just little brown spiders - not even on this arachnophobe's radar. Our head lamps attracted lots of bugs and the bugs buzzing around our heads attracted lots of insect eating bats which flew a constant pattern above our heads. All the rest of the animals seemed to have taken cover from the drenching rain further in the jungle. We did scare up an opossum, which I was grateful for because Brynn and Kori had plans to leave food out in their cabana to bait the possums. Now they didn't have to and we were spared the chaos when the food attracted not only possums but whatever else was hungry out there. It was a fun hike and we were all happy to get 'home' and out of our dripping wet clothes. The next morning, we had signed up for a birding hike at 6:30 am. It seemed like a good idea at 4 in the afternoon! Luckily Alfred is more awake at 6:00 am than I am and luckily the bat decided to sleep in the 'cave' of Alfred's shoe instead of mine. I didn't even think to shake my shoe out before I put it on! The poor little bat that got shook out of Alfred's shoe looked some put out as he crawled off to find friendlier accommodation. Luckily birding can be done from under shelter with the aid of scopes and binoculars, as we had the same guide and the same weather as the night before. It was fun, though, and we saw many colorful birds including green parrots and toucans. I am now in total agreement with Kori - I loved staying in the resort!

Fish

2007-10-17T19:39:00.000-06:00

I'm sorry ... I'm sorry ... I'm sorry! I know I have been neglecting you. Blame it on Chad, Dyan and Noah. It's hard to find time to blog when one has company. Also, I've been running short of material. Same old, Same old.

So - not really my story but very cool. Chad, Dyan, Brynn and Kori went snorkeling yesterday. As they were boating from one spot to the next, the guide says "eagle rays. you can get out if you like" (not big on long convos is Lloyd!) So they jump into the water and swim with the eagle rays. Brynn and Kori get close enough to touch them but didn't. These things are HUGE! This is the info on them from the net: The spotted eagle ray reaches a maximum length of 8.2 feet (2.5 m) not including the tail, with the total length including an unbroken tail reaching close to 16.4 feet (5 m). The maximum disc width is 9.8 feet (3 m) and maximum published weight is 507 pounds (230 kg). Everyone on the trip says the rays they were swimming with were definitely this big. Here's a picture of one. (Also from the net. Sorry. Chad got pics but I don't have them.)

Now that was an experience I'm sorry I missed! I was home babysitting.

My fish story isn't nearly so exciting. I finally got my hands on some fresh fish! Barracuda! The only problem was, it wasn't cleaned. So I go home and said "who wants to teach me how to clean fish?!" Surprisingly, no one did. Alfred did come with me next door to ask Gary (a guy Alfred works with) to help. So I stood in the sea and Alfred stood on the shore and we watched Gary, in his work clothes, scale and clean the fish. I wish I had had a camera just for the pic of Gary in his nice clothes with scales stuck to his face! Well, at least I now know how to clean a fish ... act helpless and ask Gary! Then you have to perform the ant test. Some barracuda are apparently poisonous. The way to tell is to toss a piece of fish outside and see if the ants eat it. They will only eat it if it's not poisonous. So I tossed the tail out the back and the ants loved it! So did I. Lovely non-fishy taste with really big bones. And we all lived so the test must have been accurate!

Horns of Plenty

2007-10-08T19:42:00.000-06:00

In honor of thanksgiving I have decided to blog about horns of plenty but maybe not the thanksgiving kind you are used to. In North America most of us are somewhat judicious with the use of our horns. We save them for moments of extreme frustration or danger. We hesitate to use them for fear of waking the Road Rage Monster. And with good reason. If we accidentally bump the horn and it blasts, we mouth 'sorry's to all those within lip reading distance. In Belize, the horn has an altogether different purpose. The horn is used as a method of communication instead of a method of agitation. For example: if you are driving down the road and you pass the house of someone you know and you honk your horn, the people that are home feel loved and remembered. So here is a crash course in the art of Belizean horn honking:
As already mentioned, you honk your horn as you pass the house of friends, relatives or acquaintances to say 'Hi! I'm just passing through!' Carrying this a little further, if you see someone on the street that you know, you can honk your horn to say 'hi' and then wave when they look your way. Or, if you see that friend wave just a second too late to wave back (you've all been there) a quick honk on the horn says 'I see you. Hi back'.
Driving in Belize, as has been touched on in past blogs, is an exercise in avoidance. To make it easier to avoid ... walking people, biking people, stray dogs, stray kids ... honk twice as you approach anyone/thing that may not be looking your way. The first couple of times it happened to me, I jumped a mile and guiltily tried to figure out what I had done. Then, one day as I was barreling down the Southern Highway at about 105 km/h, a man on a bike swerved out right in front of me. I slammed on the brakes and almost lost control of the car trying to avoid him. Now I am a dedicated 'I'm right behind you' honker. This is not 100% guaranteed, however. Lucky was in a bad accident after he honked and the kid swerved out in front of him anyway. It helps if the one-to-be-avoided isn't deaf. Also, animals may or may not know the purpose of the two honk get-out-of-the-way.
The only situation in which I have never heard a Belizean honk their horn is if they are angry at the driver in front of them. They may glare. They may swear. But they do not honk. That would be like yelling 'good morning' with a smile on your face. Not terribly effective in that situation. Somehow I think the Belizeans have it all over us on this one! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

September month end

2007-10-02T19:14:00.000-06:00

Ok, so this has become my favorite time of the month. I love showing off all the pictures that haven't fit anywhere this month but are cool. This is our September in 'photos.

Let's start with hurricane Felix. This is what it looked like when it finally got here as nothing more than a blustery day. And what were Brynn and Kori doing during this dastardly storm? Swimming of course!

Then, on the 7th, Alfred and I celebrated our 16th anniversary with dinner out. These are the flowers he managed to scrounge up for me. It was an amazingly beautiful bouquet!

Here are some of my favorite wild animal pics for the month. If I've posted any of them before, just enjoy them again.

This guy was sunning himself on the road and was kind enough to pose for me.

And here's a pelican in Belize City. I just love pelicans. They are so awkward looking and they fish by diving head first at top speed into the water. It looks like they should break their necks but so far I haven't seen that happen.

Now some pics of the not-so-wild animals from our zoo trip.

The locals call these animals 'squash' but I think the official name is 'coaties'. They are kind of like Belizean badgers. Really nasty. I have heard of one squash killing a german shepherd dog.

This is a scarlet maccaw. In a few months we will take the trek to Red Bank and see hundreds of these in the wild. They stop every year here on their way to or from wherever they go.

And what do we do when the kids get bored? We take them outside to torment the crabs, of course!

Hope you all had a great month too!

It's a Whole New World

2007-10-01T20:49:00.000-06:00

Belize is an English speaking country but it is still a foreign country. There are a few idiosyncrasy's to Belizean life that you may find interesting.
1) Acceptable greetings: Good Morning is appropriate as a greeting from sunup until noon; good afternoon is the greeting used from noon until about 3:00 in the afternoon; good evening is used from about 3:00 until sundown (about 6:00); good day is appropriate all day long; good night is not equal to good bye, it means hello after sundown. It has taken awhile but I am finally comfortable saying good night when I enter a room after dark. When you see someone you know on the street, it would be rude to ignore them. You must either yell their name as loud as you can, or point at them, wave or nod. If you are in a car, honking the horn is also a polite ‘hi’.
2) Meals: Breakfast is breakfast but it is a hot meal as are all the meals in Belize culture. One of my cookbooks has a recipe for a great breakfast that includes boiling a pigs head with garlic and other spices. Yum! Our new favorite breakfast is Letu: Boil 6 ripe bananas until soft and tender (I do it in the microwave) then mash them up. Add 1 cup coconut milk, 3Tbsp sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla to taste. Stir it all together. It is great!!; Dinner is the mid-day meal and is the largest meal of the day. To accommodate this, the schools have a 1 ½ - 2 hour lunch break. The last meal of the day is tea and is a lighter but still hot meal. Most local women cook over open fires either in pits in the yard or fireplaces in the house. Some do also have gas stoves. For snacks, if you can get hold of kids with 5 gallon pails they will have lovely pastries most of the time. The coconut crusts are my kids favorite and they buy four every afternoon from Shaquille for a dollar a piece.
3) When it becomes necessary to go to someone’s house and ‘call’ on them, there are definite protocols to follow. Never go to a door and knock! If there is a fence and gate, stand outside the gate for a few minutes and see if anyone notices. Usually they will and will come to the deck to talk to you. You still do not go inside the gate unless invited. If no one takes notice of you you do what you need to to get their attention. Honk the horn or yell. Some one will come. If there is no gate, you may approach the stairs and yell. Someone will come out and talk to you. Do not go up the stairs unless invited. One of the things that has been hard to get used to is to go out when we see someone hanging around the stairs of our villa. Some people will stand out there for a very long time waiting for you to notice. Even though some of the workers here know that door knocking is OK in our culture, they will come up and knock and then go to the bottom of the steps to wait for us to answer the door.
4) The society here is very matriarchal. If someone wants to know how many people are in your family, they will ask how many kids your Mom has. Most of the mothers I deal with are very protective of their kids, especially the daughters. I hold a youth group activity for the girls in our branch every other Saturday. Even though the activity is scheduled and I talked to each girl’s Mom at the beginning, I still have to go to each mom and ask if the girl can attend before each activity. If one of the girls wants to bring a friend, she will tell me and take me to the house of the friend so that I can meet the Mom and invite the girl. It is very time consuming and many of the moms don’t speak English. The girls translate which makes me wonder why I’m there since the girls could be saying anything and neither the mom nor I would be the wiser. But it seems to keep everyone happy and the attendance at our activities keeps going up so it must be working.
There are more that I can think of but this post is getting really long so I’ll leave you with that for now. I hope it satisfies Mom’s interest in knowing more about daily life for us here in paradise. Keep the comments and questions coming. It really helps when I’m trying to come up with something to write.

2007-09-28T12:39:00.000-06:00

Let me tell you about our Saturday excursion. We decided to explore the coastal highway. It is basically a dirt road that runs along the coast but far enough away that you can’t actually see the coast. If you just drive the road it is about an hour and a half or so one way. For those of you that know Alfred, we could never just drive a road. We had to drive down every little path off the road to see what was there. This makes for a much more exciting trip. (one of these days even the four wheel drive won’t save us, I’m sure.) So, for those of you that may be looking for things to see when you visit and for those of you that are simply living vicariously through the blog, here’s what you can expect from the coastal highway.
Our first detour was down an overgrown ‘maybe once was’ road. It had been hacked through with a machete at some point which made it possible to drive without actually having to go through the trees. At the end of the ‘road’ we found ourselves in the most amazing bamboo forest. It was beautiful! And eerie! The breeze blowing across the top of the bamboo created a deep moaning sound and the bamboo banging together created a hollow clacking sound. It was very easy to imagine that we had stumbled upon some kind of enchanted, haunted place. I was wishing we had remembered our machete because some of the bamboo really caught my attention and I would have loved to take some home.

Carrying on down the highway, we found a very well groomed dirt road that seemed to have had a gate at one time. Of course we headed down there to ‘have a look’. We found that it led to the Sea where someone at some point had cleared the mangroves and made a beach. We spent a lot of time there beachcombing looking for the most colorful or different shells we could find. And we found quite a lot. We tossed them into the cubby of the truck and carried on to Gale’s Point.
Gale’s Point is a little village who’s only claim to fame is the manatees that live in the lagoon. We thought we might take a tour and go visit them. So we stopped at Gentle’s Cool Spot (in Belize almost anywhere that sells drinks is called ‘cool spot’) where he advertised food, drink, and tours. Mr Raymond Gentle is quite the man. He met us as we mounted the steps to his house. The cool spot part is his deck, the rest of the house is where he and his wife live and not open to strangers. He ran back to tell his wife to throw together four plates of food and then he joined us on the deck. He explained that he couldn’t take us on a tour because someone had stolen his gas. He knows who but doesn’t want to cause trouble. Then he spent the rest of our visit telling us the history of the village and all about the manatees. It was a very pleasant interlude. Here’s the picture I took of Mr Gentle:
The rest of the trip down the road was totally uneventful although the scenery was lovely. All was going well until we needed to stop at the end of the road for gas. Standing in the door of the gas station was a police officer. Just outside the door was a very drunk man, about 50 years old or so, dancing punta. For those of you unfamiliar with punta, it is the (possibly unofficial) dance of Belize. It is basically a continual display of suggestive and blatant sexual moves on the dance floor and very embarrassing to watch. They teach it to the kids in school. As Alfred hops out of the car and goes into the store, the drunk man begins to dance just for me. The police man eggs him on laughing and Brynn and Kori are laughing uproariously in the back seat. (OK I was laughing too – mostly) Alfred took what seemed like three hours in the store and when he finally came out, the drunk guy asked for a two dollar tip for keeping me entertained. We gave him the money and he happily returned to the store to buy more beer.
This would have been the capper on the day if it weren’t for the evenings events. After returning home we proceeded to arrange our beautiful new shells on the table we have reserved for that purpose. Later one of the shells fell on the ground. Kori grumbled about me putting it too close to the edge of the table and went to retrieve it. That’s when it moved. Kori did the girl thing and called her dad who managed to catch the shell and put it outside.
So our lessons for the day were these:
Drunk old guys dancing punta don’t do it for free
When collecting shells, check carefully to be sure you aren’t transplanting some poor, unsuspecting crab.
Words to live by!

Canada night in Belize

2007-09-21T09:02:00.000-06:00

So it's Sunday morning and we are happily sitting in Sacrament Meeting and the branch president gets up to read the announcements for the week. Imagine our surprise when he announces there will be a branch activity on Thursday night and the Burgess family will be in charge. Blink ... OK ... we should be able to do this ... Thursday is a long way off. That was the thought process on Sunday. On Tuesday when we thought of it again, it was more of a panicked 'What the heck are we going to do!!! Thursday is in TWO days!' Well, we brainstormed our way to Spanish lessons on Tues night and came up with the idea of having a Canadian culture night. Believe it or not, guys, we have culture! Of course the only 'culture' we could think of at the time was hockey. Brynn did bring 8 hockey sticks, tennis balls and nets with her when we came to Belize. (A year without hockey was too much to bear) On Thursday morning we are still in a bit of a panic because we have close to 20 people showing up and all we have planned is hockey for 8 and some other vague thing in the primary room. Finally it dawns on us that there is nothing more western Canada than cowboys. We need to teach line dancing! Brynn and Kori run off to Alfred's office and the internet to download 'Cadillac Ranch'. We are ready!

Now it is Thursday night and we are at the church with hockey equipment and CD in hand. One little Spanish girl picks up a stick and says 'I don't know what this is.' Brynn explains that it is a hockey stick and we are going to play hockey. 'Oh' says adoreable spanish girl 'I've seen these on TV.' Meanwhile along comes little spanish girl's big brother. As all good sisters anywhere would, the little girl sees an opportunity. 'Do you know what this is?' Brother answers 'YES! It's a golf club.' Now, you all know the look and voice of sister 'NO it's a hockey stick!' Well, let me tell you, for people who had no idea what the stick was when we started, Belize took to hockey. As Brynn put it later: 'Belizeans are INTENSE hockey players!'

(for those of you that are interested, the room we are playing hockey in is our chapel/classroom/cultural hall at church)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (so to speak) how was the line dancing going? We were having a blast! I must say, though, dancing in a stuffy room in the +30 heat takes it out of you! We had two groups going and switched off halfway but, of course, I had to dance the entire time. We did have to take a short recess while Todd (American peace corp) got over the name of the song. Apparently he's never heard of a Cadillac ranch. At the end of the evening we all got together for one large line dance. While we were dancing, one of our young men wandered in and asked Kori if we were doing a traditional national dance. She said 'well, kind of. It's a cowboy dance.' So I guess we now have a national dance.

pictures

2007-09-20T16:37:00.000-06:00

Hi All!! Here are the pictures I've been promising for the last couple of blogs. Hope you enjoy them.

Our hike to the falls:

Big, Hairy, Ugly spider!!

Our trip to Belize City:

The Princess Hotel. It is one room wide. Each room opens onto a balcony on one side and overlooks the sea on the other.

Bowling...

The department store! Yay!

Downtown, Belize City

The Zoo:

The Tapir

So that's it for now. I'll catch you all later.

A Ramble from the Jungle

2007-09-16T18:01:00.000-06:00

ARG! It can't have been a whole 6 days since my last blog! I am in blog withdrawl! Sadly I'm also in blog block (kinda like writers block but ... well... basically the same) so I will probably just ramble for awhile. It is your own fault. Only Shelda has asked any questions and I warned you I might run dry. I've also been very busy and haven't gotten around to downloading my pics for awhile so this will be another thousand words to make up for the picture I'm not showing you.

On Thursday, we decided to take the girls to Belize City for a few days. We know people here who go every weekend to get away from Hopkins and back to civilization. I don't know where in Belize City they go but we definitely didn't find much in the way of civilization. OK, not quite true. We did find the only movie theatre and bowling alley in Belize - oh, and an actual department store. Along the lines of a SAAN or Woolworths but considering where we are, that's a department store. The kids were very excited when the marquee at the theatre said Harry Potter was playing. So was I. A movie we actually wanted to see. Sadly, the marquee was just to set us up for disappointment. In reality 'Harry Potter' was meant to be read 'Invasion'. So instead of the British wizard we watched a bad remake of the invasion of the body snatchers. And, for those of you that missed the original, the fact that the remake was worse than the original says a lot! We did enjoy the bowling alley, however. It turns out it is a 10 pin alley which made life interesting, to say the least. Think of Brynn and Kori with ten+ pounds of brightly colored projectile in their hands. Alfred did a lot of turning away to laugh uproariously without hurting our feelings. Brynn did eventually knock a pin down and the ball Kori threw backward by accident didn't do any permanent damage.

We did hit the museum and that was cool! It is in the old colonial jail and includes exhibits of the jail and life therein; an exhibit of Mayan history; a pictorial history of Belize including video of the bad hurricanes in the 60's and before; and an exhibit of the bugs of Belize. Now I will know what it is called as I run screaming from it in the bush!

The best part of the whole trip by far (and possibly the best part of the entire adventure to date) was the stop we made at the zoo on the way home. It is amazing!! It is built without much impact on the environment: Just adding paths and fences. The enclosures are huge and the animals are all orphans or rescues. The animals are also all acclimated to humans so they actually come to the fence to say 'hi' when they hear you. It was especially cute when one or more of the animals in a cage were sleeping and the roommates would try to wake them up when we approached. It was like they were saying 'Wake up! We have company!' Then they would proceed to show off. The otter climbed the fence in front of us so that he could look us in the eye. The jaguar cub acted like a puppy trying to get our attention as he played and the best was the harpy eagle. Panama (the eagle) loves people. He even refuses to eat unless he is hand fed. He was a pet that was rescued but doesn't seem to hold a grudge. He was up in a tree when we got to his cage. Brynn and Kori started talking to him and he immediately flew down to get closer. (for those of you who don't know what a harpy eagle is, you should really google! They are beautiful, amazing, HUGE birds) Well, after visiting for awhile, the girls noticed that there was a viewing stand up some stairs by the cage. So they left and ran up them. Then they started talking to Panama again. He looked around for a minute or two and then flew up and grabbed the fence right in front of Brynn and Kori. It was like he was playing hide and seek. It was cute but somewhat intimidating to be inches away from talons about two inches long and sharp! The zoo is definitely worth the two hour drive and if anyone is interested, when you come, we'd love to go again!

Sorry about the lack of humor today. Blame the block! Ask questions! Comment! Inspire! And, I promise, as soon as I get to it I will download my pictures and do a total pictorial for the past couple of blogs! Love you all (well, OK all of you that I know but I'm sure the reast of you are very nice too.)

Are we really as dumb as we look?

2007-09-09T17:47:00.000-06:00

If you are looking for a totally pointless, make work exercise, you can get a piece of paper and write 'yes' and 'no' at the top. Now, as you read this blog, you can mark 'yes' every time we prove our stupidity and 'no' when we prove our intelligence. Just don't send me the answer. I don't want to know. For the rest of you that actually have a life, just enjoy the blog.

On Saturday we decided to go on a hike. We enjoy hiking as a family and really haven't done any since arriving in Belize. There is a national park not far from our house with an amazing hike to Antelope Falls. (Now for those of you playing the game, here's a 'no' moment) This hike is very difficult and so steep that, in places, there are ropes to help you climb up. There is no way I am in good enough shape as of now, to even consider attempting this hike. So we decided to start slow and work our way up. The Antelope Falls hike is our goal and we will reach it before the year is out. But there are other hikes at this park and we carefully considered them all before deciding to take the 'moderate', 35 min, mostly flat hike to the top of other falls. (I can't remember the name ... starts with a B) Before leaving home, we pack 1 litre water bottles for each of us, our cameras and a can of Off. We also make sure we have the first aid kit in the car. Sounding good so far, right? If you answered 'yes' you might want to re-read that paragraph. Don't feel bad, though, we missed it, too. When was the last time you can remember (or perhaps you will have to use logic and common sense if you don't hike or travel much) that a hike to the top of a waterfall was flat? By definition, don't waterfalls start 'up' and fall 'down'?
But I digress, let me start at the beginning of the hike. Or really just before the beginning. That would be when we got lost trying to find the trail head. (this would be the 35 minute flat hike part of the day) We finally ended up in someone's back yard and he and his 5 month old german shepherd came out and pointed us in the right direction. (Cute puppy!)
Finally we are on our way. Embracing hiking safety, Alfred leads and we put the girls between us so that no one can get lost (again). For those of you that don't know, Alfred was born and raised in Alberta. This means he has, inherent to his make-up, a gene that dictates that whether he is driving down the highway or hiking up a mountain in 33 degree heat with 100% humidity, he goes '10 over'! After jogging for the first 10 minutes or so (no one said I was quick on the uptake) I realize that I am dissolving into a puddle of water. This is where I use my prerogative as wife and decree that we are all going to slow down and take our time. This is when Alfred uses his prerogative as a husband and gives me his 'oh brother', frustrated, eye-rolling face and announces we only have three hours before dark. But we slow down.
We see some great things on our 'flat' hike up the mountain. There is highway after highway of leaf-cutter ants crossing the path. It is amazing to see all these leaves walking across the path with ants under them. There are enough that we now know for sure that ants can take over the world any time they like! There are butterflies flying around that are literally the same size as Kori's head and birds that sit comfortably on a blade of grass. It is beautiful. Pretty soon we are deep in the rainforest. It is fairly dark and there is no breeze. It is hot! The smells are incredible. Then we hear crashing in the bush. The girls and I stop and take stock. We have seen deer tracks and tapir tracks but don't think either of those are making the noise we are hearing. Did you know that Belize has the largest jaguar population in the world? And the park we are in is a jaguar reserve? Then we hear a ROAR. All of us jump, someone screams (not me) and Kori nearly runs me over to start back down the path. This would be when we notice that Alfred is laughing at us from his vantage point much further up the path. He shouts down to ask if we are afraid of humming birds. Yes we are being attacked by humming birds. Ok, maybe attacked is too strong a word but they are buzzing around our heads. And humming bird wings beating around your head sounds like a roar. Really! Alfred did admit he could hear them even considering how far he was ahead of us. After surviving that life threatening episode we continue on to the falls. They are so gorgeous! The water is tumbling down huge boulders of limestone. we take lots of pictures (I'll show you later. I haven't downloaded them yet, sorry) Kori and Brynn take off their shoes and socks and dangle their feet in the water (we could have gone swimming in the pool at the bottom of the falls but we didn't bring our bathing suits). As soon as their feet hit the water they are surrounded by little fish. They are 'cleaner' fish and they swarm around and clean all the dirt off of the girls' feet. All in all it was an amazing hike. And we got back to the truck long before dark. Luckily we didn't see the HUGE spider until we were in the car on the way home. (big, hairy, can you say tarantula?) Again, I'll post pictures later.

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

2007-09-06T15:18:00.000-06:00

One of the funniest things in Belize are the signs you run into. The Belizeans don't think they are as funny as we do but they have been known to chuckle over a few themselves. These are a few we have run into so far:

This may seem like a no brainer but think about it. The pavement you see in the picture is the runway for the Placencia airport. If you look closely at the end of the runway just above it on the right edge of the picture, you can see the only road into Placencia Village from the highway. That's right, it creates a T intersection with the runway. We know of one person who forgot to yield (don't ask) and ended up with tire tracks denting the roof of his truck cab. Not kidding!

Also in Placencia, this possible solution to all (OK half) the world's problems. I have no idea why this sign exists. It is just stuck in the ground in the middle of downtown.

This sign is just outside Hopkins. Looks perfectly logocal right? It is on the fence around the garbage dump and we all agree life is much prettier if the door is closed. Problem? You can see the door hinge just to the left of the sign but ... no door. The fence just ends. The door has been gone for what looks like many years by the amount of growth in it's place. Someone, however, keeps repainting the sign to keep it looking nice.

This is my favorite so far. Mostly because we have to buy our gas at the Texaco (in belize the accent is on the 'a' not the 'tex'). This sign is down the very questionable road between Hopkins and Sitee River. You will notice there is no arrow on the sign. It is situated beside the road at the juncture of four roads that intersect in a kind of a diamond shape. (it looks like there should be five corners but there are only four) To find the Texaco, you take the road on the far right. The sign is beside the road on the far left.

Those are my favorites so far but I'm sure there will be more. I expect there will be a part two to this segment. If nothing else, it breaks the monotony of long drives. Perhaps southern Saskatchewan should take note? The final picture here is Brynn and Kori's favorite. They love the pirate Calico Jack because he allowed women to crew for him. The flag they made in order to be 'pirates of the caribbean' on our yacht trip last month was a recreation of his pirate flag. (in case you aren't up on your pirate lore, each pirate had his own, unique flag) Imagine the excitement in our car when we ran across this:

Month End

2007-09-01T15:42:00.000-06:00

I live my life surrounded by business people and always 'month end' is a big deal. Well, I've decided I can have my own month end! Kind of a wrap up of the last 31 days. Of course, the big news of August was hurricane dean. (now we are awaiting hurricane Felix supposed to hit Wed.) But there was so much more to the month. And stuff that didn't really fit a blog. So here are some pictures of the month. (I know - business month end are a study in chaotic organization. My month end is more a study in total randomness. I do things my way)

Now we know why the houses are built on stilts. To keep out unwanted crawlie things and water!! This is the underneath of my house right now.

We finally met our first croc. He was sitting beside the road and we stopped and all jumped out to take his picture. The kids tried to get closer but, thankfully, scared this guy back into the river.

We got our first ride on a yacht. Very cool. A boat with a bathroom. Definitely my idea of boating! Kori got seasick which was kind of a bummer but the rest of us had a blast. We went snorkling and swimming off the back of the boat and when we came out of the sea there was a handheld shower to rinse off with.

Kori cut my hair on the deck of our villa. Then I cut hers. Both of us did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself!

Now, to finish off, just a few of my favorites from August. See you in September (I know it already is September but I was just thinking of the song!)

We are so not cooking!!

2007-08-30T19:01:00.000-06:00

When I first wrote this segment (sometimes I write and save and then paste when get to the internet.) I was feeling so proud of myself because I had cooked a really good meal. At that point it was titled 'Now we're cooking'. You will notice the change of title and get the idea. Tonight's supper actually went into the garbage and the kids ate KD. I had chocolate cake. I used to think I could cook. I could throw together a nice meal that was totally edible and even earn myself a few compliments from time to time. You too, right? Well, I have learned that I only know how to follow a recipe; maybe create something yummy after reading a few recipes; and I know what tastes good with what. I’ve decided that is not really knowing how to cook. I am having to learn how to cook here in Belize. Firstly, you north American cooks start by going to the grocery store and picking up whatever ingredients you may need for a week or two worth of meals. Here in Belize, you check out the Chinese store and find something that looks somewhat familiar and may be useful but you’re not sure since the label and directions are in Spanish. (also how can you be expected to know the difference between coconut water, coconut milk, coconut cream and cream of coconut - therein lies the problem with tonight's meal. These are not interchangeable!) You fill your ‘cart’ (in quotes because they are roughly the size of the ‘shopper in training’ carts you find at your grocery store) with a bunch of these vaguely familiar items. Filling your ‘cart’ means parking it at the end of each aisle while you run up and down it picking up stuff. The carts don’t actually fit down the aisles. If you need eggs you get a plastic bag from the Chinese guy and buy what you need. You shop and buy by the ‘one’ in Belize not by the carton or bag or whatever. Now comes the scary part. You need meat. First think: ‘when was the last power outage and how long did it last?’ ‘Have they had a delivery since then?’ If all answers are favorable you head down the ‘freezer aisle’. The freezer aisle defined is the three rusted out deep freezers stuffed in the middle of one of the aisles. You steel yourself and open the first one. Peek in. Do you recognize the meat? Is there a label with a name you know? No? Then move to the next freezer. Stew meat is good (has to cook for at least 8 hours but definitely can be used) and so is chicken. One day I decided I would make a roast chicken for a treat. I won’t do that again. I, foolishly, thought that the innards would have been separated from the chicken BEFORE freezing. Now I stick to breasts. I still have to debone, deskin and finish the defeathering but the meat is nice after you chop off the bloody parts. (I just realized that some of you are coming to visit and will probably, now, be on a strict vegan diet while you’re here. I can’t cook for that so you may be on your own!) But I digress. You buy your meat and pseudo-familiar items. Notice anything missing? Right, fruits and veggies! (No smart remarks. ‘fruits’ is so a word. It’s kriol) For these you must go to the fruits and veggies guy up the road. He sells his wares out of what can, optimistically, be described as an open, non-airconditioned shack. The best selection is to be had before 10:00 am before the heat and flies get to the produce. There are onions, cucumbers, carrots and potatoes as well as a vast assortment of unknowns in the veggie boxes, and tons of pineapples and papaya’s on the shelves. Sometimes there are grapes and once in a while apples but these are very expensive. Again you buy by the one not the bag or pound. At home you realize that you have no idea how to make a meal out of this odd assortment of things. (I once made the mistake of thinking I could put cheese on almost anything and make it edible – you know you do it! Well, the cheese here isn’t edible and therefore is not helpful to meals. We are becoming lovers of ‘plastic’ cheese – the packaged slices we avoid at home) You also realize that you only have enough for about two days which is OK because nothing keeps longer than that anyway. We have had some very … interesting and pretty yukky meals but I think I’m finally getting the hang of it. (HA! That's what I THOUGHT!) You don’t need veggies to make a meal – substitute fruits. Coconut milk is a staple and fixes lots of things from baking to veggies to meat (avoid cream of coconut!). Meat has to thaw for at least 24 hours in the fridge (because of the heat and humidity you don’t take the shortcuts we are used to) so you have to think ahead. Also, to move past the problems of power outages, order your meat from the guy with the meat truck. The meat is safer and cleaner. Beans are available everywhere and are very versatile. Again with the thinking ahead, though, they have to soak over night and then be boiled for 10 hours or so to soften them. On the plus side, I have a stove. Some of the best cooks I have met here, and there are quite a few, cook over an open flame in the yard. If I added that in, I’d have to hire a chef and be the laughing stock of Hopkins. Thank Heaven for stoves!!! And for friendly locals. Tomorrow I start wandering the streets like a beggar asking for recipes. The sad thing is that I may have to go through all this again in reverse when I get back to Canada.

It's Just a Phase

2007-08-25T18:52:00.000-06:00

I have learned that there are phases we go through when we move to a truly foreign place. I thought I would share this new and exciting information with you! (Do you think I could get grant money to travel from place to place and study the hypothesis? I've always wanted to find some stupid and obvious thing to study)
Phase 1: When you first move to this totally foreign place, everything is so new and different that your brain can't adjust. So It only accepts a small amount of the info your eyes, ears and nose try to send it. You look around and see only a part of the reality.
Phase 2: Your brain has had the time it needed to adjust to the fact that you have thrown it into an alternate reality. Now you start to see things you hadn't noticed before. Your brain begins to let in all the info your senses send it. This should be good, right? It's always good to get the whole truth. Well, it may be good but the shock can be a little disconcerting. Questions like: what have I done? and how could I have missed this? start to creep in and you get a dose of culture shock. Don't worry, this phase doesn't last too long it just feels like forever.
Phase 3: You have adjusted! You can see the places and people for what and who they are and love it anyway. It seems perfectly normal to see: men cutting grass with a machete; twenty people in the back of a pickup careening down the highway at 100+ km/hr; a dad riding his bike with a newborn on his shoulder and a 2 year old riding on the crossbar. You know where to go to get most of the things you want and need and where to find out where the rest might be hiding. It no longer seems strange to have people yell at you as you drive through town (they are just saying hello) or to have them honk as you go by (also just saying hello - isn't it nice that you no longer hit the ditch trying to figure out what you have done wrong?) or to shop at three different stores or trucks for two days worth of food. You begin to realize that the way you used to live may not be the only, or even the best, way to live.
Phase 4: You can speak kriol! This phase doesn't occur for most people until after at least 5 years.
You will be excited to know that I am now firmly embedded in phase 3. This poses a slight problem for the old blog. Nothing seems too weird or wild anymore and I have trouble figuring out what you will enjoy. I have a few ideas yet but am afraid I'll start to run dry. This is the part where you get to help out! YAY! If any of you have questions or subjects you would like to explore, please e-mail me or leave a comment. I'm not going to promise anything but I'll see what I can do. If nothing else, I'll get to laugh at your naivety for a while instead of the other way around. This is your chance to be a contributing editor. Maybe, if you fudge just a little, you could add it to your resume. I'll write you a reference.
Can't wait to hear from you all!!!

This is not a drill! ... or is it?

2007-08-21T18:53:00.000-06:00

Last week, Alfred woke me in the morning as he left for work (at the usual time of 5:00am) and told me there was a big storm headed to Jamaica. I am not my best at 5:00am so I rolled over and promptly forgot that there was a big storm headed to Jamaica. Imagine, then, my suprise when, a day later, he tells me to go and get mucho dolleros from the bank and buy a ton of canned goods. In response to my look of total confusion, he informs me that the big storm is now hurricane Dean and is headed our way. Well, I go on high alert and begin to question the locals. "what are the chances we'll be hit?" The unanimous answer was "we won't be - never will happen". No one is panicking so I slowly go about buying a ton of canned goods and other supplies. A day later we are under a tropical storm watch and everywhere we go people are talking hurricane. I start to pack boxes of food and get the girls to pack bags with clothing, etc for three days. (finally I need a 72 hour kit and I can't remember what I'm supposed to have in it!) Friday I make my last trip into Dangriga for supplies. We have decided that we need rubber boots (OK, don't look at me like that. It may be obvious to you but I didn't think of it! There was a lot going on) and that, in addition to all the candles I had bought, we should have hurricane lamps and keroscene. By now I am living on fumes as sleep deprivation has overcome me and I go to the store muttering 'If we needed hurricane lamps why did you tell me to get candles and if we have candles why do we need hurricane lamps? I'm pretty sure the candles work. I guess because they are HURRICANE lamps and we are in for a HURRICANE ...' Whatever.' So I find hurricane lamps in, what can only be described as the bad part of Dangriga. (An oxymoron if ever I heard one.) I buy two lamps for $10 each. Then I head out to find keroscene. I ask at no fewer than three hardware stores before someone tells me I can get it at the Texaco store on the way out of town. Yay! I'm outta there. At the texaco store (gas station for the uninitiated) I discover that the keroscene is in the pumps and you need a gas container to get it. Does the Texaco sell gas containers? Of course not, what are you thinking? I need to go to the hardware store for a gas container. Back I go to the hardware store where I can only buy a 5 gallon gas container. Feeling quite confident we don't need 5 gallons of keroscene for two very tiny hurricane lamps, I ask for $20 worth. Now I am done! I head home feeling very prepared. Later I show Alfred my purchases feeling pretty smug. He decides to try the hurricane lamps. Both of which promptly fall apart! I guess $10 Belize ($5 USD) doesn't buy much for quality. This would be when I find out that one of the chinese stores in town has hurricane lamps. I ignore the feelings of disgust when I think of the unnecessary half-hour dive back and forth from Dangriga and we toddle off to the chinese store to try and discern, through the shrink wrap, if any of the hurricane lamps looks more likely to work than the others. Finally we just guess. Then Alfred has to endure being laughed at by the chinese guy when he tells him he needs more water. Apperantly 5 large jugs of water is an unheard of ammount. Even when you are looking a hurricane in the eye, so to speak, and may be unable to get water for a very long time. We are ready just in time. The TS warning has been upgraded to a hurricane warning. We are otta here. Off to Belmopan in two vehicles, so we can take a generator with us, we head to the sister of one of Alfred's co-workers. Tina is just a real sweetheart and her family are wonderful, even if they do dress a little funny. (they are mennonite) They have prepared for the hurricane too. They have bought all manner of junk food so that while we stay up all night watching the storm, we have something to snack on! Someone checks the hurricane web site every 5 or 10 minutes for updates. No one seems to care that the site only updates every 3-4 hours. And we wait. At 11:00ish, we all decide to go to bed and get some sleep while we can. We are sure the storm will wake us when it arrives. Sure enough, at 3:30, I wake to the sound of rain. I wake Brynn and Kori so they won't yell at me for letting them sleep through it and then I go back to bed. It rains for about half an hour. No wind. No thunder. No trees down. Nothing. The next morning we go home secure in the knowledge we did the right thing. After all, we got rain. Hopkins got nothing at all!

To Read or not to Read

2007-08-15T20:13:00.000-06:00

So, those of you that know us, know that we have an all consuming addiction to books. It is genetic and hasn't skipped anyone that I know of in at least two generations. Armed with this knowledge, we left Canada with one or two books each tidily stuffed in our suitcases. We all thought that would hold us until we found a book store in Belize. We were soooo wrong!! The books ran out on about day two. We searched Belmopan... we searched Dangriga... No luck. We asked in Belmopan and were told to find Angelus Press, they have books. We found Angelus Press. They have primary readers and lots of school supplies but no books. We were told to find Dakers. They have one shelf of used books but mostly steamy romances. Not exactly what we had in mind. Then we moved on to Dangriga. Of course they have books ... at the office supply store. (you'll notice no one has ssaid 'try the book store') They have one copy of a Danielle Steele hardcover and, suprise, lots of office supplies. Finally we ask at the office. someone must know where there is a book store! 'Hmmm, have you tried Dakers?' Well, yes we have, actually. Finally someone comes up with the idea to try the 'phone book. (just as an aside - how small is belize really? Well, the 'phone book is both white and yellow pages for the entire country and is about half the size of the Sherwood Park 'phone book) Guess what? There are exactly no book stores in Belize! I am complaining about this in the car one day to one of the girls' new friends. (I was in the crabby stage of withdrawl) and she says 'Miss Dana' (here all the women are called miss something. It is a term of respect) 'you need to join the library.' THE LIBRARY!!!!!!!!! Why had no one mentioned the library? ('Oh, we thought you wanted to own books' was the common response to that query) So off I go and join the library. It is a very nice little library. One room with lots of wood and sections for children, non-fiction and fiction. All of the books have been donated and most are old but they are books! And many, many of them are not steamy romances! They are stacked three deep so it takes a while to look through them and I'm sure we will have read them all by the time our year is up but ... There are books!! We have been there twice now. The second time the librarian remembered us - not just our faces, our names as well. There is no card catalogue that I have seen and it's probably not the place for serious research but it will fill the craving for now. It is kind of like a blast from the past as they use the old card and date stamp system of signing out and everyone whispers and walks on tiptoe as they 'search the stacks'. For me it is like being home.

Odds and Ends

2007-08-13T14:10:00.000-06:00

I have just a bunch of pictures with very little story attached that I thought you all might be interested in. A lot of flowers, I know but they are so beautiful! I wish I could send you the smell it is like nothing else. These are the bananas we bought off the banana truck for $6 Bze or $3 USD.

The best time to find the creepy crawlies is at night. Brynn and Kori didn't seem to scare this guy at all.

Just one of the many varieties of bird of paradise flowers that grow everywhere. They are like weeds here. I don't think I'll ever be able to pay for them again!

Here's another variety.

Sadly, this picture doesn't really do this guy justice. This moth had a wing span of about 6 inches. He was hanging out on our deck one Sunday morning.

This is Linda. She is the girls' pet praying mantis. Mostly she stays outside but has been known to come in for a visit. She got mad at Alfred when he tried to tell her it was time to leave and jumped onto his chest. Then she got to fly!

And the wildest life of all. Our very own pirates of the Caribbean!

Wet and Wild

2007-08-05T20:10:00.000-06:00

As the title suggests, this was a wet and wild weekend. I'm going to mix things up a little and start with the wild. On Saturday we went out to our first big social occasion since coming to Belize. One of the men Alfred works with had invited us to his daughter's wedding. It was to be on a beach on some property the family owned and was going to be a small family event with a few friends included. He was quite insistent that we attend and, although we thought that we'd be rather uncomfortable and out of place, especially considering the size and makeup of the guest list, we agreed to attend. The wedding was to start at 3:00. The thunderstorms started at 7:00am and continued through the day. (The, heretofore absent, 'rainy season' had apparently decided Saturday was an auspicious day to begin) As we drove into, what was later described as, the parking pond at 10 before three we were congratulating ourselves on being neither too early, and therefore conspicuous, nor too late, also a conspicuous problem. We found a seat at a table in the back and proceeded to take a look around.

Very colorful and the sun had agreeably come out which boded well for the beach ceremony. We watched as more and more people arrived ... and more and more ... and more. The bride and groom were from the same extended family (third cousins or something) and the extended family was a very close extended family. We continued to wait and watch as more people yet arrived - none of whom seemed to be the bride or groom. The 3:00 wedding was quickly becoming a four o'clock wedding but no one seemed worried or even to notice. We amused ourselves by chatting and drinking little water as we hadn't seen a bathroom advertised. At 5:00, one of the other guests informed us that this was Belize and the wedding would start sometime after the bride and groom arrived. By 5:30 the father of the bride had arrived and there was a glimmer of hope. The wedding may happen before the flower girls all fell asleep. Finally the guests were directed down the beach for a beautiful sunset ceremony.

This is one of the five very adorable flower girls. There were also 5 bridesmaids and one maid of honor. All the men, groom, groomsmen and male family members wore copies of the same clothes: panama hats, white or off white button down shirts untucked, white or off white loose cotton pants rolled at the cuff. Apparently it is some kind of family tradition but it made it difficult to distinguish one from the other as there was also a strong family resemblance. As a testament to my tan, people kept coming up and introducing themselves to me thinking I was somehow related and I would then introduce them to Alfred at my side and explain that he works with Johnny (the brides dad). After the ceremony, the sun felt it had given enough of it's precious time to this occasion and turned the time back over to the rain. We had a lovely buffet supper of bbq chicken, plantain, breadfruit and rice'n'beans. I guess the guests had decided they had done enough waiting for the bride and groom and, immediately on returning to the tents began to line up and eat. The MC kept trying to get everyone's attention with the mike but no one seemed to care. So we lined up. The coolest thing was that, as we went through the line there were tables set up with every type of candy you could imagine. There were small paper bags at the first table and, as you went through the line, you took a few candies here and a few there until your bag was as full as you wanted it to be and you had reached the buffet. (Brynn and I both suffered terribly from candy induced tummy aches for the rest of the night!) When we left to go home at about 8:00pm, the bride and groom were still waiting in line for their food and the music could be heard for many miles!

As indicated already, the wet part of the weekend was the start of the rainy season. We decided to go for a sunday afternoon drive and showed our ignorance. The rainy season is not the best time to go for meaningless drives. Here are a few pictures of the road we ended up on without hope of turning around.

As we drove, the road got wetter and wetter and it started to pour. Creatures were literally swimming alongside the truck. We raced lots of crabs, a snake and an otter. Finally we looked ahead and there were two men and two boys wading toward us through waist deep water. They informed us that they were stuck some ways down the road when the water got too deep for their car. We had already been through water that had risen above the running boards on the side of the truck and had been pushing water for the last few miles. We decided that we needed to turn around before it got worse and we also got stuck. As per our adventure traditions we had left home without a cell 'phone, survival kit or telling anyone where we were going. We did have the ever present first aid kit. Unfortunately it doesn't include a rubber dinghy. We did manage to turn around before we ended up in too much trouble and decided that our afternoon excursions from now on will be confined to paved roads and roads we know the condition of.

So that was our weekend. Hope you had a good one, too!

A Day in the Life

2007-08-01T20:00:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I am finding that I really love living in Hopkins! Brynn and Kori feel the same and Brynn keeps looking at the white people with their backpacks in town and thinking 'tourists' in that special derogatory way we think of tourists unless we are one! She keeps forgetting she is white. (although both she and Kori are much, much less white that a month ago!) Anyway, I thought I'd share the joy. Close your eyes (figuratively speaking since it is hard to read with your eyes closed) and imagine.
You wake up with the sun at about 6:30am and laze in bed until 7:00.
After a breakfast of fresh fruit and whatever else you may have on hand, it is time to go to town and hit the markets for your daily (or every second day) supply of perishable foods. The stores are all open by 8:00am and the town is 'hoppin'. Gotta get stuff done early so you can be out of the sun by 10:00ish.
You drive through town with the air conditioning on, to give you that feeling of a cool breeze, and your window rolled down because it's impolite to have it up at this point. The fastest you drive is about 20 km/hr on a good stretch and people on either side of the road are waving or saying 'good morning' into the window. Smiles all around. The kids are playing on the street and in the trees as kids everywhere tend to do.
First stop, the fruit and veggie stand. The old man that runs it lights up as you go in. He has been waiting for you. You look through the carrots and tomatoes and decide what you would like for veggies today (and maybe tomorrow) and start to pick stuff up. Old guy comes over and takes the veggies from you telling you that there is fresher stuff over here. He's been saving it for you. Then you start on the fruit - pineapple (better get two or three if you want them to last two days), papaya looks good, some limes (a staple here) and what the heck is this? You hold it up and look questioningly at old guy who laughs and tells you what it is and if it is sweet or has to be cooked. What the heck, give it a try. Old guy has been weighing and bagging everything you have picked up as you have been shopping and you now have three or four bags of the good stuff. He adds it all up on his calculator and gives you the bad news. $13.50 belize (that's about $7 in Canada). Say good day and head to the Everyday Superstore.
The Everyday Superstore is better known as the chinese store because it is owned by a chinese guy. Don't think this will help if you ask where the chinese store is because literally every grocery store in the entire country of Belize is owned by a chinese guy and called the chinese store (I'm not joking. That's true). This is the good chinese store. Meaning they have a better selection in the four rows than the other chinese stores do in their four rows. Here you pick up fresh bread and maybe some banana bread (the kids love it) and whatever canned goods you need maybe some OJ. Milk if you know you will use it within two days otherwise it will go bad. Stop and exchange gossip with the girls working. Maybe someone sees your truck outside and comes in to say hello.
Home again and the kids are just starting to get up (actually not true - Brynn has been up since 7:00am and Kori won't be up for another hour unless you wake her).
Clean house for a bit (Sorry that seems to follow you no matter where you live)
In the afternoon you have lots of choices. You can go swimming, drive out to the resorts on the other side of town hoping to catch some internet that may be working, go for a drive to where you heard there were toucans nesting, whatever. Again, windows open in town so you can stop in the middle of the road when you see someone you want to talk to.
Hey look, that guy is trying to wave you down. Must need a ride somewhere. True story: today I am driving Brynn and Kori to Belizean Dreams (BD) to catch some internet and this HUGE man tries to wave us down. Now hitch-hiking is a recognized form of transportation in Belize and I often pick up women with kids or guys that I know but I don't as a rule pick up anyone that looks like he could overpower me with his pinky. Today as I think to myself 'Wow! That guy is huge and his two front teeth are gold. No way!' I find myself stopping. Now this guy is about 6'4" and built like a brick outhouse. His arms are as big around as Kori and Brynn put together. 'Hi' Says the mountain, 'Are you headed out to BD?' 'Hm' thinks I 'he must know who I am'. Then I hear myself saying 'Yes, want a ride'. AHH!! Are you crazy!! Shouts sane Dana but insane Dana just smiles and lets the hulk into her car. Sane Dana must have shown herself because the hulk smiles (not very reassuringly but at least he'll be happy as he grinds our bones to make his bread) and informs me he is security for BD and his last name is Caballero which means 'gentle man'. And he was just a big teddy bear. Only I'm going back to only picking up women and kids!
So you get to BD and hang out gossipping with the workers, visiting with the guests and walking the beach with whichever kid is not on the computer at the moment. Kori loses a bet with Ernesto and now we owe him KD and a salad for lunch.
Nancy asks if you are heading home soon and could she get a ride. Sure! (she is tiny and looks like a strong wind could take her away - should be safe!)
The rest of the afternoon looks like a good time to sit on the beach and read.
The sun goes down at 6:00pm and it is DARK! Absolutely no light pollution here.
After supper it's time to go to the chiese store and buy more water and say good night to the people you meet in town. Here 'good night' is a greeting. (I may never get used to people saying 'Good night. How are things with you?' and going on to chat for a while). Check out who is hanging at King Cassava's and how many fires are burning in the yards (their way of getting rid of everything) and whether any of them look like something to worry about.
Then home to play cards and visit with the family. Maybe watch a movie.
Bed for sure by 9:30pm and get up in the morning to do it again.
We really are 'Living the Dream'!

Mayan Ruins

2007-07-30T10:36:00.000-06:00

Saturday we decided to do the tourist thing and visit a couple of the lesser known ruins in Southern Belize. I know so many of you are interrested in the ruins so I thought I'd share some of my pictures today. These two ruins were Nim Li Put and Labaantun (I think the spelling is correct etc. but I'm not sure). They were inhabited for about 200 tears starting around 700AD. The first, NLP (for short), was a centre of religious worship and ceremonial activities. The second, L (for short), was an economic and business centre. They are both in the southern mountains of Belize at the top of separate 'mountains' (another time we'll get into the definition of 'mountain' in Belize) We had no guide and the signage was pretty sparse so I don't have a lot of details but I'll share what I know. Now, keep in mind, that these two ruins haven't been set up for tourists really and aren't as well restored as some of the others in Belize.

This picture doesn't really do it justice but this is the view from the first ruins (NPL).

This is a plaza at NPL.

These are tombs. In one of them they discovered 5 members of the royal family were buried along with urns of treasure, of course.

Here is the plaza of the stellae. The stellae are large pieces of stone carved with stories or events or important people of the time. Some of the largest and best preserved are found here.

More of the stellae.

Here is Alfred preparing to use Kori's head for a ball on the ball court. Heads were a preferred form of ball for the ancient Maya.

These are the second ruins we went to. There was more to see in the form of rocks but not as well preserved.

Well, Kori is begging for the computer and the internet is really slow so each picture is taking me forever. I hope your appetite has been whetted and that you will want to see more. Maybe come for a visit.

Be Belizing

2007-07-25T19:33:00.000-06:00

Hi all! Well, we've been here two weeks now and I've had time to make a few observations. Number one is that, believe it or not, Belize is different from Canada! So here are some things that I have learned that might be of interest:
1) Driving in Belize is unlike almost all Canadian driving. The roads are worse than the reputation Saskatchewan roads have and even worse than hwy #1 in Ontario! So the number one driving rule is - do whatever you have to do to get where you are going without hitting any dogs, kids, bikes, other cars and potholes. If this means driving on the wrong side of the road, in the ditch, or in reverse, then so be it! Also those pesky speed limit signs (if you happen to be so lucky as to see one. They are very shy and seem to be endangered) are really just suggestions as are the solid and broken yellow lines in the middle of the highway. Mostly those are just there so you know when you are driving in the middle or on the wrong side of the road. Not that's it's a problem - just so you know!
2) Hitchhiking is the primary source of transportation for all Belizeans. If that fails they do resort to taking the bus but only in a pinch. So, if you see someone standing in the middle of the road waving, you have two choices - you can stop and give the person and his/her family and friends a ride to wherever; or you can pretend you think they are just being friendly and wave back. This tends to confuse them and the look on their faces is pretty comical if you need a chuckle.
3) All bizarre ideas you may have about the seating capacity of any given vehicle is wrong. No, don't try to argue, it is wrong! The seating capacity, for example, of your standard half-ton truck is about 10x that of the standard minivan. If you have running boards on the side of your vehicle, your seating capacity goes up by two or four depending on the length of the running boards. Any tractor can take at least five. Bicycles can take two or three usually and the age of rider can be anywhere from newborn to 100. And, if you knock the front of the box off of a basic uhaul type cube truck, the seating capacity is about the same as the population of the village.
4) Contrary to popular belief, it is perfectly acceptable and safe to buy lobster out of a 5 gallon pail in the back of some stranger's truck. That is how we got our freezer full of lobster and the results were very tasty! Also the best pasteries you have ever tried can be bought from small boys wandering around carrying pails full of stuff their mom just made.
I'm sure there are more differences and I'll try and keep you up to date. Have a good one, everybody and thanks for reading!

Brynn and Kori's Big Adventure

2007-07-22T18:51:00.000-06:00

So it finally happened. On Thursday I heard those words that every parent dreads "Mom, we're bored!" Under normal circumstances, I have (as, I'm sure does every parent) my standard answer to this dilemma. It goes something like this, with variations added as needed - well, your room needs cleaning. Those are the magic boredom vanishing words. Sadly we are not, at present, living under normal circumstances and my pat answer wasn't going to cut it. Ok, time to ad lib. (Just in case you don't know me and can't see where this may be headed, ad libbing may not be the best choice under any circumstances.)'I know,' say I, 'tomorrow will be an adventure day. We will just get into the Tahoe and go see whatever takes our fancy.' So, Friday morning, armed with water and sunscreen and bug juice and first aid kit we head out. (You may notice the lack of one very important item, the cell phone. This will become important as the story goes on.) As we are driving down the Hummingbird Highway we see a sign that takes our fancy. It says "Davis Falls". Cool, lets go to the falls. So we start down the road. As roads in Belize go, this one is pretty good. Dirt but pretty wide-ish and pleasant. After we have driven for about 2-3 miles, we come to a river. I mean we come to a river. The road just disappears into a river. We can see a little blue truck some distance ahead of us that must have come the same way (duh, there is only one road) and we have 4 wheel drive so why not! We're on an adventure. We drive across the river and continue on down this beautiful (OK maybe at this point 'road' would be a bit of an overstatement) car path. We drive through a lovely orange orchard and there are literally thousands of butterflies in yellow and orange and green (believe it or not). This is amazing, we think. Then we come to the second river. None of us can see a road on the other side but it must be there, right. Right! In we go. Sure enough, a little right hand jog in the river and you can access the road on the other side. OK again road may be an overstatement as, likely, would be car path ... maybe fairly clear tire tracks would be more appropriate. You might notice a trend, each time we cross a river, the road becomes a little less like a road. By the time we figure this out, somewhere after the third river, there is no humanly possible way to turn around. This would be where I remember the forgotten, very important item discussed earlier. This would also be where I remember that, since we were on an adventure, we hadn't told anyone where we were going. Ok, not to panic the girls but looking to brainstorm a possible solution, I mention these things. Kori panics - just a little. Her voice just seems to jump an octave. Brynn, ever practical, has the solution. 'Mom, we have water and it's hot out so I say we just keep going and if we get stuck we can walk out.' Ignoring the fact that we have just DRIVEN for about 40 minutes, I agree that this seems like the best solution at present. We continue on. After the fifth river crossing we are now on what can optimistically be described as a washed out, mud ridden cow trail. There is still no hope of turning around and the butterflies are still incredible!! We keep stopping to take pictures of them. Brynn continues to dub this 'the best adventure ever!' and Kori is complaining that her hands are starting to hurt from holding onto the door so tightly. It has been almost an hour and the fact that the wiper fluid is low, which didn't seem like an issue when we left, has actually become a problem. The water we splash up in the multiple river crossings doesn't even begin to attack the mud we splash up on the cow trail. Finally we come to a sign. 'Davis Falls' with an arrow pointing ... where? All I see is a bush that looks like it is cleverly masking a cliff. We take a vote and decide I am a good enough driver ... to be able to turn around in this sorta open spot we are in. It has been an hour and we won't be seeing the falls this time out. On the plus side, we know we can get out because we made it in! And we have lots of pretty butterfly pictures. The look on Alfred's face when we pull into the parking lot of his office driving an actual mud puddle still has his coworkers laughing. And Alfred is still chuckling because he has been to Davis Falls and we turned around in the parking lot! Yes, a mere 40 minute hike through that bush would have taken us to the falls. 40 MINUTES!! No way! Brynn, Kori and I all agree that that is much too long a hike to see some stupid falls.

Our Church in Dangriga

2007-07-19T15:10:00.000-06:00

Ok, even those of you that don't belong to our church should get a kick out of our first Sunday in the Dangriga branch of The Church of Latter-day Saints. We arrived on time and assembled in a room that measures about 12 ft sq. We all (all 19 of us including 5 visitors, two missionaries and our family) sit in chairs facing the white board. We begin with song and prayer and then Alfred teaches the relief society/priesthood lesson to everyone (children and youth included). After that meeting concludes we all stand up and visit for a few minutes and then sit back down for sunday school. After sunday school we all stand up and turn our chairs 90 degrees so that we are now facing the pulpit. At this point the branch president pulls out a microphone. There are three rows of people and we have just had two meetings without a mike in the same room but, apparently, you can't have sacrament meeting without one. We also now have music to sing our hymns to. True it's a CD but music none the less. The hymns were another interesting point of the morning. Each person came in and grabbed a hymn book, either spanish or english, and that was the language you sang in. Luckily I grabbed an english one by total fluke or life really would have been fun! Everyone sings out very nicely but a full half of the people are singing in Spanish while the other half are singing in English. Talk about confusing! If you lose your place you can't just rely on the person next to you. It was fun and the people are so nice! Everyone laughed together and worshipped together and it was a truely uplifting experience. We are now going to the church on Tuesday nights to take spanish lessons from the missionaries and improve communication withing the branch. Maybe we'll find out those spanish members weren't really laughing WITH us! Till next time ... Keep smilin'

The Beginning

2007-07-14T15:21:00.000-06:00

So, I naively think, all we have to do is pack and we're out of here. Well, three trips back to the suitcase store and a few 'phone calls from Alfred (don't forget ...) we are finally ready to go. I look around, six large suitcases and three carry-on and three purses? Didn't we already send all our stuff? Wasn't it just clothes left? Apparently not. New lesson learned: girls can always find more to pack!

Up at 4:30 am and off to the airport. It was so hard to say goodbye to Rafe and Adrianne but I didn't end up crying all the way to the airport as I had feared. I was just too tired!

Lunch and layover in Minneapolis were very uneventful. See:

On to Houston. We are staying over night. That means we have to claim ALL of our luggage and lug it to the hotel and back. Thank goodness for hotel bellmen that jump to our rescue. One even picks up our luggage in the morning and drives us to the airport. Kinda humourous as we are staying in the hotel in the airport. He drives us from the hotel between terminals C and D to terminal E. Then it's on to Belize.

We are all settled into our house now and mostly unpacked. Want a tour? OK.

Come on in my front door. Yes, that's the view out the door but you are supposed to be looking in, remember? We are touring the house not the sea.

That's better. So this is the living room. Cosy. The couch faces the TV. No, we don't have TV but we can watch movies. If anyone wants to send us a present you could burn some episodes of House or Bones or Criminal Minds. Alright then, on with the tour. We continue in past the living room and we are in the kitchen. There are Brynn and Kori making a snack. The working space is a little small but there is a large kitchen table and an island as well.

Next the bedrooms. Ours is to the right of the living room as you come in the front and Kori's is to the left. At the back to the left of the kitchen are the stairs to Brynn's room. Here's 0urs: Bed and bathroom to the left.

Kori has a blue room. Sometimes I think she'd be happy if we just left her there all day!

Now to the stairs and up to Brynn's room. Brynn has two balconies off her room. One to the front and one to the back. The picture is of the front balcony.

Well, that's all folks. For now anyway. Don't forget to stop by the pool and say goodbye to Brynn and Kori. Have a good one!!

Butterflies

2007-06-28T22:36:00.000-06:00

I know it's been a while but I've been busy. Now we are all ready to go and the caterpillers that have been cocooning in my tummy have burst forth to become an army of butterflies! In case you all need reminding (read: in case your envy of us has begun to diminish) I'm going to post some pictures at the end of this post (should be enough to green up your envy and set the butterflies into attack mode). Our tickets are bought; our supplies have been sent; Brynn and Kori are at Grandma and Grandpa's for a final visit and all systems are go. So how am I going to pass the time until the 10th? Well, like any self respecting female, I'm taking Adrianne to the spa for the weekend and then I will clean the house one last time. Then I may read a book or two; have a rest before I get to Belize and have to spend all my time working so hard on my tan. I expect the next blog I write will be from the shore and will include all the first impression pictures, etc. I'll talk to you all then.

Our house.

Our pool

Hopefully NOT our new pet!!

Retiring the Pincushion

2007-06-08T10:07:00.000-06:00

For weeks and weeks now my arm has felt like a pincushion. The couple of times I have visited Belize, I haven't bothered with travel shots but since we will be there for an extended period of time we decided to bite the bullet. It started with an initial visit to see what exactly we might need. I thought hep A and B would be sufficient. Right! I wonder if those health nurses are on commission? Brynn and Kori are up to date on their regular immunizations so they need one shot and a trip to the doctor for malaria pills. As for me - three trips for Hep A and B shots and a trip to the doctor for malaria meds. Sounds pretty OK so far. Until you realize that all shots are into the muscle on the arm. OW! Just remember not to reach for anything on the top shelf for a week and don't let anyone touch your arm and you'll be fine. Then I started to feel hard done by. How come I need all these shots and my kids get off pretty much scott free? What can I do to make their lives more miserable (as is every mother's mandate - just ask the teenagers)? I know! There are stray animals everywhere and my kids couldn't leave an animal alone even if it were frothing at the mouth. They should have rabies shots!! I've heard they really hurt!! (evil, maniacal laughter) So I talk to Alfred. He thinks it's a great idea. We should definitely do all we can to protect our family. BUT he thinks I should have them too. I didn't realize that a husband's mandate was to make his wife's life more miserable. Actually it explains a lot. So in some moment of total insanity I agree. Do you know that the rabies vaccine is a bright fuchsia color? And if you hold your arm under a black light after getting the shot, your arm glows? That can't be good! These vaccines really hurt! And we bruise and swell after each shot (there are a series of three). But it will all be worth it when we don't have to fly out to Houston for treatment every time we are licked or bit by a stray, right. WRONG!! What they didn't tell me until we were already into the series (here is more evidence for the commission thing) you still have to go for treatment if a stray slobbers in any way on an open cut or scrape. So why are we going through this torture? So that we can wait a week after contact before we hit Houston instead of having to be there in 5 days. Are you kidding me? A mother's mandate may be to make her kids lives miserable but we draw the line at putting off needed medical care to accommodate a hair appointment. I cannot think of one reason I wouldn't get the kids medical attention as fast as possible. Did I mention that rabies is 100% fatal and that as soon as you start showing symptoms it is too late for treatment? Well it was too late to turn back and we finished the series. Yesterday was our last visit to the travel clinic. Today Brynn's arm looks like it swallowed a baseball and Kori and I can't lift our arms past 90 degrees but it's over!! No more pincushion arms! And one more step closer to Belize!! Only a month to go.

Let's Go Already!!

2007-05-17T12:58:00.000-06:00

Here's a question for you ... Which sounds like more fun:
1) Taking Brynn 14, and Kori 12 and myself to the travel clinic for our first of three rabies shots. (We have to decide which arm hurts the least from the last round of shots and get these there.) Then dealing with sore, tired, miserable feeling teenagers.
OR
2) Swimming in the Caribbean Sea at 5:30 in the morning when it is calm and quiet. Seeing and hearing fish jumping behind you and seeing dolphins playing a little further out.
Those of you that chose 1 need your heads examined!! So how come I get to live 1 and Alfred e-mails to tell us he's living 2? It hardly sounds fair. And he has the audacity to complain about the heat!
On the plus side:
I've held off long enough and nagged hard enough that our doors in Belize now have screens on them. This will not keep the nasty, little sandflys out but will keep out the bigger nasties (I hope).
Only 9 days left of seminary! I am so looking forward to 'sleeping in' until 7:00! I will really miss the kids, though. If you ever get the chance to teach seminary don't even hesitate - one of the best callings ever.
Soon it will be me swimming with the dolphins (although not likely at 5:30 am) and you who will be shoveling snow and scraping windows. That I can live with!
Well, keep smiling. I'm off to the rabies shots.

Watching the Pot

2007-05-04T11:38:00.000-06:00

We have now entered the most difficult part of our pre-journey time - waiting for the pot to boil. Yes, for those of you that understand that confused use of cliche, I think I'm basically done. I have cleaned my house till we all think we're in someone else's house, the girls are registered in the virtual school we chose, we all have luggage, our tickets are bought, Alfred is living in our villa, so it's ready for us - I can't think of anything else that needs to be done until June. I know that statement is going to come back and bite me in the bum. The stress of wondering what I'm forgetting is almost worse than the stress of doing. So - your mission, should you choose to accept it ... is to remind me of what you think I've forgotten. Maybe, if we all work together, we'll be able to figure it out.