And I am quoting the President, because I could not agree more! What a week!
I had an interesting professional task early this week. I felt that a girl with whom I've worked needed an evaluation for medication. This meant that one of the staff and I walked something more than a half mile to the Kings Park Clinic with the girl so that she could be seen by a psych. nurse. Belize seems to have no psychiatrist, at this point, so psych. nurses are doing evaluations and prescribing medication. The first psych. nurse we saw only worked with HIV/communicable disease patients, but with persistence she was able to set us up with the correct psych. nurse across the parking lot. What a wonderful experience! After waiting a long time, because she takes time to evaluate her patients, we were seen by the nurse. I spoke with her for quite some time, reviewing my assessment and looking in the computer records of the child's previous appointments in the south of the country. Then she spoke with the child for a long time, and we left for the return walk with medication in hand! The nurse made a good call, in my estimation, on the type of medication. I was so impressed! Excellent service!
Dave, though, has not had a good week. He flew premature twins to Belize City to the hospital, but one of the babies died. Then he was to fly the next day to Guatemala City with an infant with a heart defect, but the baby died the night before. The same thing (a planned trip to Guatemala City for a baby with a heart defect), and that baby died the evening before. Dave also had an out-of-control psychiatric patient whom he flew (strapped down and sedated, more or less), which was nerve-wracking. I mention these flights to illustrate how stressful his job can be. Today he has been gone since early morning, transporting the same patient to two different hospitals, ever moving to the better equipped hospital here in Belize City. He has good medics with him who take care of the patients well, but he is in the left seat, flying under very stressful situations.
And Dave had to deal with "Rattletrap," which tried to rattle its last rattle! Dave and I went out the highway one morning on our way to the hardware store when he received a call that he would need to get back to the airport for a flight. As the phone rang, and we were trying to turn left into the store parking lot, the car died. He was able to get it started and into the parking lot. No time for the errand, so we headed back on the highway--when the car died again. This time it refused to start. Dave called the BERT office, and they sent an ambulance over to pick us up. They dropped me off at the Centre, which is on the way to the Municipal Airport, and took Dave to the plane. Later the car started, so Dave returned to the BERT office to pick it up. Rattletrap didn't rattle for long. When Dave came to pick me up at the Centre, it must have died 8 times returning to our house. I was pretty sure that I was going to have to push it! We made it into the driveway. The following morning, I walked to work, and Dave took the car to a mechanic, fortunately just down the street. After something with the radiator was fixed, it seems that we have Rattletrap up and running!
On Wednesday night we joined Yvette from BERT at the annual Rotary dinner where the new officers are installed and awards are given out. Noteworthy was how cold the room was! Loved it! And dinner was great! We saw many people whom we have met in our short time here. Four people received Paul Harris awards, including the founder of the Belize Zoo. Hidden under her shirt through the dinner until nearly the end was a baby crocodile! I believe her name was Rosie! I wanted a picture of it, but didn't get one. Rosie is being trained to be a "petting zoo" crocodile...well, that may be going a bit far, but one who can be shown to children and adults who visit the zoo. She was the cutest thing!
Speaking of the Radisson (which I was when talking about the Rotary dinner), they gave us a discounted membership in their fitness club and pool access!!! I am so excited! We worked out last night after Dave was off call, and today we need to return there to get our official cards with our pictures on them. I had hoped to go do some water running and get a little sun today, but it is mid-afternoon, and my chauffeur has not yet arrived home.
Next week will be a busy one for me at work. A number of people from Florida will be here for their annual trip to work at the Centre for a couple of weeks. We have already received from them 4 computers for our learning centre for the children. They are huge supporters of Dorothy Menzies Child Care Centre! And on Friday, we will be going to a Sports Day in Belmopan with all of the children, including those in children centres around the country. My goal for today was to find a yellow shirt so that I can be identified with the yellow clad children from DMCCC!
As if all of those local activities and stressors were not enough, we were watching closely about news from the Supreme Court on DOMA and Prop. 8. We were thrilled to hear of the decision that clears the way for Jeremy and Jonattan to marry! In fact, we spent an hour talking via Facetime with them last night. Jeremy and Jonattan have talked with their immigration attorney, who has been in a meeting on the ramifications of the decisions on binational gay marriages. The outcome of that is that they will be getting married on August 11 (we think--date needing some finalization)!!! They are so excited, as are we, and making quick plans for a blow-out party celebrating their union! The quick date poses some challenges for Dave, though he hopes to find a solution to be there for at least a day or two, but I want to get there the week before so that I can shop in San Francisco for something to wear!! When I read the Supreme Court decisions earlier in the week, I dared only be cautiously optimistic, but California has moved quickly to reinstate gay marriage, and all looks good. More legislation and rulings will likely be needed in the future to guarantee this right for all, but it is a solid beginning for equality!
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Weekly Update
A no picture week! And only because I forgot to take pictures!
The week was full of work for me, including a meeting with a social worker with and on behalf of a child. My laptop is now totally geared up, so I have been creating some record keeping tools for myself. And most interesting was a meeting with the Department of Human Services and representatives from most of the child care centres in the country. (BTW, I love how my computer at work corrects my spelling to the British/Belize standard! Behavior=behaviour!) The meeting was really engaging with a lot of discussion. One agency, Laugh out Loud (isn't that the greatest name!), which is located in the jungle of south Belize, is fairly new. As they are trying to develop record-keeping and trying to understand all of the regs, they stimulated a lot of interesting discussion. Interesting to me is that DMCCC, where I work, is the model for the country in terms of record-keeping--interesting, especially, when considering that we have the most children to keep records of! The Department is moving to an electronic system of record-keeping, so some of the training was to educate us on the way the fancy Excel spreadsheet works!
The other exciting occasion of the week was having Yvette Burks (Dave's boss at BERT) and her children (well, young adults), Clayton and Jess, over for dinner. They are such fun, interesting people! Clayton and Jess spent much of their time entertaining Maddy, who was devastated when they went out the door. She hasn't had so much entertainment and attention in her life! And Maddy is certainly the people cat, who will forever be a two-year-old. Special, too, was the gift that they brought along: a set of dishes! We washed them quickly and used them! They look beautiful in blues and yellows with my table runner from Cayo...and I forgot to take pictures! Too busy cooking! Cooking was a bit of a challenge in that I could not find all of the ingredients that I wanted, so adapted, and I had to use the oven, which is calibrated in Celsius! It is a wonder that it came out at all!
Dave did a bit of flying, including through some fairly intense weather. Tropical Depression #2 is gone. (It was not officially declared a tropical storm until it reached Mexico, as the winds here were at about 35 mph and storm declaration is at 39 mph sustained wind.) But the amount of water that fell from the sky is more than I've seen in all the years in New Mexico, I swear. We are still in the rainy season, thus the weather that Dave has seen while flying. More rain falls in the south of the country, where he most frequently flies, than here.
Maybe pictures next week?!?
The week was full of work for me, including a meeting with a social worker with and on behalf of a child. My laptop is now totally geared up, so I have been creating some record keeping tools for myself. And most interesting was a meeting with the Department of Human Services and representatives from most of the child care centres in the country. (BTW, I love how my computer at work corrects my spelling to the British/Belize standard! Behavior=behaviour!) The meeting was really engaging with a lot of discussion. One agency, Laugh out Loud (isn't that the greatest name!), which is located in the jungle of south Belize, is fairly new. As they are trying to develop record-keeping and trying to understand all of the regs, they stimulated a lot of interesting discussion. Interesting to me is that DMCCC, where I work, is the model for the country in terms of record-keeping--interesting, especially, when considering that we have the most children to keep records of! The Department is moving to an electronic system of record-keeping, so some of the training was to educate us on the way the fancy Excel spreadsheet works!
The other exciting occasion of the week was having Yvette Burks (Dave's boss at BERT) and her children (well, young adults), Clayton and Jess, over for dinner. They are such fun, interesting people! Clayton and Jess spent much of their time entertaining Maddy, who was devastated when they went out the door. She hasn't had so much entertainment and attention in her life! And Maddy is certainly the people cat, who will forever be a two-year-old. Special, too, was the gift that they brought along: a set of dishes! We washed them quickly and used them! They look beautiful in blues and yellows with my table runner from Cayo...and I forgot to take pictures! Too busy cooking! Cooking was a bit of a challenge in that I could not find all of the ingredients that I wanted, so adapted, and I had to use the oven, which is calibrated in Celsius! It is a wonder that it came out at all!
Dave did a bit of flying, including through some fairly intense weather. Tropical Depression #2 is gone. (It was not officially declared a tropical storm until it reached Mexico, as the winds here were at about 35 mph and storm declaration is at 39 mph sustained wind.) But the amount of water that fell from the sky is more than I've seen in all the years in New Mexico, I swear. We are still in the rainy season, thus the weather that Dave has seen while flying. More rain falls in the south of the country, where he most frequently flies, than here.
Maybe pictures next week?!?
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Tropical Storm 2, 2013
A short blog to mention the forecast today: "incessant rain!" And that is a quote! Above is a picture of an intrepid neighbor headed down our street. I am not a bit sure how I am going to get to work this morning! Our street and drive are definitely underwater!
The children are home from school. Instead of snow days, I guess they have Tropical Storm days! Tropical Storm 2 for 2013 is stalled on top of us. Yesterday, I was at the grocery store, and the television there had The Weather Channel on, which featured this storm with pictures of Belize! I figured that was a bad sign, and it looks like we have days more of rain before us!
Here is another picture of our street!
And for Dave's friends...here are a couple of pictures of the engine in the BERT Cessna. I don't know why I found these pictures on his camera, but I'll share them!
OK...off to work! Umbrella in hand!
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Weekend Pictures of our Holiday on Ambergris Caye!
Dave had his first weekend off, so we left Belize City late Friday afternoon to fly to Ambergris Caye. Dave was able to "borrow" the airplane (since there is no back-up pilot right now to fly the ambulance), which gave me an opportunity to see a bit of the area from the air and to land on a couple of the runways that Dave frequently uses in his job.
We took off from Belize City, and I spent most of my time taking pictures. (A really great thing about a digital camera is the ability to take a lot of pictures and to edit them later. The only problem with that is the two hours that I spent since arriving home doing the editing!) Here are some pictures from the Belize City Municipal Airport runway. Yes, it is certainly close to the Sea! And I can see the building in which I work in the city scene! I'd have to point it out to you in person for anyone else to see it!
We flew over the Caribbean Sea within the Barrier reef, and I wish that the photos could do justice to the many colors. (Picture-taking through an old airplane's window is a little challenging!) One of the noteworthy land scenes is the shallow water and the many cayes or islands, most uninhabited. I think we should buy an island--as long as global warming is stopped in its tracks!
We passed Caye Caulker, which has an airstrip, and arrived in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye only 15 or 20 minutes after leaving Belize City. Ambergris Caye is a major expat community. Lots of people from the States and probably elsewhere are coming to Ambergris to retire in the subtropics. There are many resorts which make it a big tourism site as well. I chose a resort far out of town to the north, the X'Tan Ha Resort. I think I liked the name, the price was good (it is off-season) and the beach was described on their website as "pristine!" Once landing in San Pedro, we were picked up by a resort van and taken the few blocks to the water taxi, which we rode about 20-30 minutes to arrive at X'Tan Ha. The first photo is a not really clear one of the runway into San Pedro, taken through the propeller. The second picture is of Dave waiting for the water taxi, and the third is of our approach at sunset to X'Tan Ha Resort.
We were greeted with rum punch, and since they had no diet Coke, I was forced to drink rum punch all weekend! What a sad story! As this weekend was short on time and as Dave really wanted to relax, we chose not to do any tours this trip. We considered a snorkeling trip, but it would have taken most of the afternoon. Instead, we chose to read books and lounge by the pool! Oh, and eat!
X'Tan Ha Resort is beautiful! The rooms are beautiful, the view spectacular, and the people are incredibly nice! There is a nice restaurant on site, and you can actually eat anywhere--the seaside bar, the restaurant or your room. We chose the bar and the restaurant. One of the exciting features in the beautiful room was the king-sized bed!! (I never thought that I would have a double bed since we bought our first queen after college in 1972...but here I am, full circle!) We had views of the Sea and of the pool.
The following are pictures of my rum punch upon arrival, the beach, the pool area and me standing in the Sea!!
I read almost two books, as did Dave, and swam in the pool. Now for the most annoying part of the trip: the bugs!!! What a problem! We came prepared with insect repellent, but it was no match for the insects. Since I had repellent on almost every part of my body, one found my ear to bite! And hands were a favorite feeding place. We had sand flies, mosquitoes, and what they called "doctor flies" (or at least that is what I think he said), which had yellow wings and had a vicious venom! Dave does not usually get bitten much (hence, I think he does not coat himself in repellent as much as I do). But he is the one who had the big reaction to a fly bite: his hand swelled up, as did his forearm and elbow! I gave him benadryl, which may have helped, but it is still swollen--a lot! This is the season for bugs with all of the moisture. I think it would be better in the dry season!
Speaking of which, we had a thunder and lightening storm and rain in the night! I had to get up to watch the lightening flash over the Sea! Beautiful! But it also was a sign that a rather significant storm is approaching Belize. So we had to get the water taxi to come early, and rush to the airport to take off and reach Belize before more weather arrived. I missed going through the shops of San Pedro (which is what I was planning instead of that snorkeling trip), and I missed the lobster feed at the Resort! Lobster season opened on Saturday, and I really wanted to have some fresh lobster!!
Here we are flying out of San Pedro (note the clouds) and into Belize City--and the short runway at Municipal!
While the weekend was a do-nothing weekend, in terms of activities, it was relaxing. Lots of pool-time! And at least I have a little color to look like I don't belong in Ireland! (I was very good about sun-block, though!) Dave learned that he doesn't want to take the plane on holidays, as I guess he worried about it being safe and sound on the runway in San Pedro. And we want to take some driving excursions to see more of the country with our feet on the ground, like our trip to Cayo! But as far as having a break and pretending that we were tourists, it was perfect! Of course, our story at the bar was a little different than the other tourists! LOL!
The rain has poured here in Belize City for part of the day, and Dave couldn't do an ambulance trip due to lightening this afternoon. So I would say that we made good decisions all around! I am grateful to have had the vacation!
Dedication of the New Building at the Child Care Centre
The week has been a busy one! Clean-up for the dedication/blessing of the new building at the Dorothy Menzies Child Care Centre occupied much of the attention of the staff and children alike for the first half of the week.
The building, which houses the office for the house mother/director, some administrative staff, my office and a conference room, was completed shortly before I arrived in Belize. Then some additional repairs to broken tiles had to be completed (the day before the dedication on 12 June). We barely had time to clean up all of the tile dust! Meanwhile, Cisco Construction came in with loads of gravel to line the walkways, and they built a couple of play structures. The Centre looked so clean and spiffed up! I wish it could stay like that!
On Wednesday afternoon, the invited guests began arriving. A minister from the Salvation Army did the blessing, children performed, and the U.S. military liaison office was present to represent their role in actually constructing the building. The Board of Directors was present, as well as people from the Ministry of Human Development. And all three television stations! The children were great through the rather long ceremony. Refreshments were served and tours given! It was a special day!
Above, people are gathering under the shade structure, also built by the Rotary Club, the greatest supporters of the Centre!
Mrs. Virginia Echols from the Board of Directors is welcoming everyone!
On the left is Mrs. Hortense Kelly-Augustine who is the house mother/director and my boss! She is absolutely the most wonderful person to know and with whom to work! And the children all love her!
As the ceremony ended and people were touring the facility and getting refreshments, a short down-pour of rain fell. Of course, it was after the rain that the television station interviewed me, as having a counselor, sponsored by the Rotary Club and the Wagner Foundation, was a featured topic of the ceremony. I looked a little like a drowned rat! But the sound bite wasn't too bad. Fun day!
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Mosquitos & Lizards
I was always uncomfortable with the idea of living in an area where lizards crawl on the walls inside the house. I remember that in Malawi the cottage, so to speak, in which we stayed in the hippopotamus park, had lizards all over the walls, mosquito netting, and no electricity! And we arrived after dark! I had a sleepless night. Well, I guess I've matured (no kidding), because now I live in a house with lizards, who manage to get in through the tiniest cracks! The cats believe that we are providing them wind-up toys and are very grateful. But when Maddy found a small lizard on the wall as we were going to bed last night, the lizard was less of a problem than one cat trying to get to the ceiling! So far we have found no carcasses, and I don't know where the lizards go when I'm not looking.
This week was rather a low one for me, though it had some wonderful moments. And it sounds ridiculous what influenced my attitude: mosquitos. I look like I've been eaten by rats or something. I really hate insect repellant, but I can see no alternative. The first can of "Off!" was gone in a couple of days. So we bought another can, and this one had Deet and was "sweat resistant." I don't know which, if not both, caused my detestable reaction, but I was in misery all day! I felt like my skin could not breathe, holding in the heat, sticking my clothes to my skin, and generally increasing my heat discomfort multiple times! So back to the store for more insect repellant. This time one with Deet and one without. As Dave had the same reaction to the sweat resistant kind and he used the non-sweat-resistant Deet kind and still felt it generated heat, I have been sticking to the picaridin kind of "Off" under the assumption that the Deet is the culprit. I don't think that the "Family Care Off" is supposed to be as effective, and within the first 3 minutes of leaving the house with it on, a mosquito bit my arm right where I sprayed. I may be wasting my time trying to avoid the mosquitos. Standing water in the ditches is a lovely habitat for the mosquitos, as well as for the crocodiles (which I look for whenever I leave my house, but none have been seen here). Ms. Augustine from the Centre suggested that I pour any leftover cooking oil in the ditch, as even a little oil will help reduce the population of the bugs. I just wonder where that Belize City pest control program is hiding.
The week has been extraordinarily hot and humid, and the Belizeans have been miserable along with me, so I don't feel like such a wimp. And tiles were still being replaced at the Centre in my office, so we had no a/c on during the day. I worked long hours with some new experiences. I attended a permanency planning meeting, and actually had some influence (I really wanted a little girl with crossed eyes to have an eye examination and treatment, which was approved). I wrote a letter to the Director of Human Development about a child whom I had seen and felt needed a psychiatric evaluation. I presented my training to the second half of the staff. And I went to a school with a child and Ms. Augustine to try to convince them to accept her back after behavioral issues. The good part of that visit to the school was getting to see inside some classrooms which all look dark (sun is an enemy here, in many ways), but which were delightfully decorated and had little children in uniforms happily working together at tables. Not so good was the unsympathetic principal, who was so insensitive to the child who was standing with me (well, cowering behind me is a better description) as he railed against her! I was absolutely appalled! And this is at a "good" school! As Ms. Augustine said, we would not even want her to return there after the things he said! Ouch!
Dave flew a little less in the long run this week. But one day he made about three trips to Punta Gorda and back, hardly touching down between trips! His accomplishment was changing the oil in the plane, a first for him, and having the airplane fly again when finished!
Dave and I went to the Wine Club meeting this week with Yvette and a young medic who just arrived from Alberta, Canada. She and her husband had been there for a month on break from his medical school here (an off-shore program, fully accredited). The meeting was held at the Radisson. Richard (I forgot his last name), who owns Premium Wines here, gave a rather interesting talk on sulfites. I actually learned quite a bit! Anyway, we then tasted 3 Sauvignon Blancs. However, there were a number of other wines being drunk (I'd not call it "sampled") along with hors d'oeurves in the hour before the actual tasting. A lot of people were there. And yes, I knew a number of them. (I also saw a friend at the grocery store...I must really belong here now.)
Most frustrating for Dave and me has been the lack of exercise. The heat is a funny thing...it is so draining that even with good intentions, it is next to impossible to get moving. If my house were air conditioned, I probably would do more at home. And honestly, the mosquitos are so bad that I don't want to leave the house unless absolutely necessary, which with the heat, seems impossible anyway. So...we have a new idea. We went to the Radisson, and learned that they have a workout room that actually has a membership one can buy. And a personal trainer works there, too! So now we are looking into doing that, though it will cost about the same as Midtown, I think. It is air-conditioned and has good equipment. You can even Google it and see for yourself: Lamanai Fitness Center. And use of the pool goes with it! I may get that tan yet!
This week was rather a low one for me, though it had some wonderful moments. And it sounds ridiculous what influenced my attitude: mosquitos. I look like I've been eaten by rats or something. I really hate insect repellant, but I can see no alternative. The first can of "Off!" was gone in a couple of days. So we bought another can, and this one had Deet and was "sweat resistant." I don't know which, if not both, caused my detestable reaction, but I was in misery all day! I felt like my skin could not breathe, holding in the heat, sticking my clothes to my skin, and generally increasing my heat discomfort multiple times! So back to the store for more insect repellant. This time one with Deet and one without. As Dave had the same reaction to the sweat resistant kind and he used the non-sweat-resistant Deet kind and still felt it generated heat, I have been sticking to the picaridin kind of "Off" under the assumption that the Deet is the culprit. I don't think that the "Family Care Off" is supposed to be as effective, and within the first 3 minutes of leaving the house with it on, a mosquito bit my arm right where I sprayed. I may be wasting my time trying to avoid the mosquitos. Standing water in the ditches is a lovely habitat for the mosquitos, as well as for the crocodiles (which I look for whenever I leave my house, but none have been seen here). Ms. Augustine from the Centre suggested that I pour any leftover cooking oil in the ditch, as even a little oil will help reduce the population of the bugs. I just wonder where that Belize City pest control program is hiding.
The week has been extraordinarily hot and humid, and the Belizeans have been miserable along with me, so I don't feel like such a wimp. And tiles were still being replaced at the Centre in my office, so we had no a/c on during the day. I worked long hours with some new experiences. I attended a permanency planning meeting, and actually had some influence (I really wanted a little girl with crossed eyes to have an eye examination and treatment, which was approved). I wrote a letter to the Director of Human Development about a child whom I had seen and felt needed a psychiatric evaluation. I presented my training to the second half of the staff. And I went to a school with a child and Ms. Augustine to try to convince them to accept her back after behavioral issues. The good part of that visit to the school was getting to see inside some classrooms which all look dark (sun is an enemy here, in many ways), but which were delightfully decorated and had little children in uniforms happily working together at tables. Not so good was the unsympathetic principal, who was so insensitive to the child who was standing with me (well, cowering behind me is a better description) as he railed against her! I was absolutely appalled! And this is at a "good" school! As Ms. Augustine said, we would not even want her to return there after the things he said! Ouch!
Dave flew a little less in the long run this week. But one day he made about three trips to Punta Gorda and back, hardly touching down between trips! His accomplishment was changing the oil in the plane, a first for him, and having the airplane fly again when finished!
Dave and I went to the Wine Club meeting this week with Yvette and a young medic who just arrived from Alberta, Canada. She and her husband had been there for a month on break from his medical school here (an off-shore program, fully accredited). The meeting was held at the Radisson. Richard (I forgot his last name), who owns Premium Wines here, gave a rather interesting talk on sulfites. I actually learned quite a bit! Anyway, we then tasted 3 Sauvignon Blancs. However, there were a number of other wines being drunk (I'd not call it "sampled") along with hors d'oeurves in the hour before the actual tasting. A lot of people were there. And yes, I knew a number of them. (I also saw a friend at the grocery store...I must really belong here now.)
Most frustrating for Dave and me has been the lack of exercise. The heat is a funny thing...it is so draining that even with good intentions, it is next to impossible to get moving. If my house were air conditioned, I probably would do more at home. And honestly, the mosquitos are so bad that I don't want to leave the house unless absolutely necessary, which with the heat, seems impossible anyway. So...we have a new idea. We went to the Radisson, and learned that they have a workout room that actually has a membership one can buy. And a personal trainer works there, too! So now we are looking into doing that, though it will cost about the same as Midtown, I think. It is air-conditioned and has good equipment. You can even Google it and see for yourself: Lamanai Fitness Center. And use of the pool goes with it! I may get that tan yet!
Sunday, June 2, 2013
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
I thought it was going to rain and reduce the humidity today, but the rain was short-lived and the humidity is 100%...it is sprinkling. Yesterday it was 90 degrees, and when I went to the Sea to walk, there was no cooling breeze.
For a Sunday morning it has been a little too dramatic. First, the ugly: I heard a dog fight, and made the mistake of looking out the window. A big dog was attacking a young woman's small dog in the water-filled ditch, and two people were trying to separate the dogs. I ran from the window! It was awful! I dislike seeing stray dogs, so hungry and scared, and there are a lot of them. And I hate having nearly all dogs off leash. But after this morning, I think I'll always walk with my big, pointy umbrella. When I think of my crazy well cared-for cats, it is a dramatic difference here. Many people do care for their dogs. In fact, after the fight, someone was getting the attention of my neighbor to see if the vicious dog was theirs, but their dogs are well cared for and contained behind a fence. Izzie and Maddy have had to adjust to Friskies, and they seem to be doing ok. Dave may have found a source for designer pet food, but I am not eager to be spending the money.
For the bad: I was dusting (which is nearly a daily activity between cat hair and every window and door open). I heard a commotion outdoors and saw a man talking to someone (my neighbor on the opposite side of my yard). I investigated further, and there was a major fight happening on the next street. I watched some of the activity through my upstairs window, but I don't understand Kriol well enough to know what the problem was. It was a pretty serious fight.
For the good: I went yesterday to a wine tasting at the prettiest little wine shop, inside of a hardware store!!! I found a wonderful Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa (Exselsior). So many people were there! At one point, I saw Chris, who is on the child care centre board, across the crowded room, and I waved! Yvette laughed! I must be at home when I am waving at people whom I know across the room! A caterer, Jan, provided wonderful food! I wound up buying a cheese spread, too.
One of the things which Dave and I have looked for is a bakery. Yvette stopped at one where she said she always buys whole wheat bread, right out of the oven. And they were out of it. But now I know where to go! Yvette bought Dave a piece of rum cake, since he couldn't go wine tasting. Dave and I shared it, and it was fantastic!
Dave summarized his flying for the month of May. He flew over 50 hours and carried 37 patients. That is big month! Yvette said that she anticipates about 30 hours of flying on average, so this was a busy month! We are planning a weekend off, with Yvette's blessing, to go to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, hopefully to a pristine beach and quiet spot.
For a Sunday morning it has been a little too dramatic. First, the ugly: I heard a dog fight, and made the mistake of looking out the window. A big dog was attacking a young woman's small dog in the water-filled ditch, and two people were trying to separate the dogs. I ran from the window! It was awful! I dislike seeing stray dogs, so hungry and scared, and there are a lot of them. And I hate having nearly all dogs off leash. But after this morning, I think I'll always walk with my big, pointy umbrella. When I think of my crazy well cared-for cats, it is a dramatic difference here. Many people do care for their dogs. In fact, after the fight, someone was getting the attention of my neighbor to see if the vicious dog was theirs, but their dogs are well cared for and contained behind a fence. Izzie and Maddy have had to adjust to Friskies, and they seem to be doing ok. Dave may have found a source for designer pet food, but I am not eager to be spending the money.
For the bad: I was dusting (which is nearly a daily activity between cat hair and every window and door open). I heard a commotion outdoors and saw a man talking to someone (my neighbor on the opposite side of my yard). I investigated further, and there was a major fight happening on the next street. I watched some of the activity through my upstairs window, but I don't understand Kriol well enough to know what the problem was. It was a pretty serious fight.
For the good: I went yesterday to a wine tasting at the prettiest little wine shop, inside of a hardware store!!! I found a wonderful Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa (Exselsior). So many people were there! At one point, I saw Chris, who is on the child care centre board, across the crowded room, and I waved! Yvette laughed! I must be at home when I am waving at people whom I know across the room! A caterer, Jan, provided wonderful food! I wound up buying a cheese spread, too.
One of the things which Dave and I have looked for is a bakery. Yvette stopped at one where she said she always buys whole wheat bread, right out of the oven. And they were out of it. But now I know where to go! Yvette bought Dave a piece of rum cake, since he couldn't go wine tasting. Dave and I shared it, and it was fantastic!
Dave summarized his flying for the month of May. He flew over 50 hours and carried 37 patients. That is big month! Yvette said that she anticipates about 30 hours of flying on average, so this was a busy month! We are planning a weekend off, with Yvette's blessing, to go to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, hopefully to a pristine beach and quiet spot.
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