The Others

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.