Short Entry

The week after...after all of the celebrations for Belize as a country!  Children are back in school, there are no parades, and life is back to normal.  Normal and hot.  We have been in a pattern of high humidity and high temperatures, and my friends who grew up here say that it has not been this hot for this long in the last two years!  I'm hoping that next year will be more "normal"!?!

Laura Connelly and the pastor of her church in Florida, Vicki, were here for much of the week, bringing smiles, clothes, and gifts to the children at Dorothy Menzies Child Care Centre.  The children were delighted that Miss Laura was here!  We have added an educational incentive program, which I think that the staff are dismayed by the high standards that we expect.  I have been on a rampage about education this week, prompted by the broken arm of a six-year-old (he jumped, fell and broke his arm at school).  Now he cannot go to school until his arm is out of a cast (6 weeks or more) because he can't perform in class!?!?  I will probably get myself in trouble next week as I want to find out the logic behind this.  I am pretty sure that this very smart little boy still has use of his eyes, ears, and the other hand.  Of course, I DID send my children to school with pneumonia on more than one occasion.

Flying has been somewhat slow, too.  Dave made a few trips, but not at the pace of the first months that he was here.  I don't think that there is any reason for the ups and downs of the patient traffic.

I felt so hot here that I went and purchased a thermometer.  Our house stays right at 90 degrees inside, and when we turn the air-conditioner on at night to sleep, our room gets down to 86 degrees.  Then I took the thermometer to work.  The kitchen is about 100 degrees, the office above the kitchen comes in at 96 degrees, and after an hour session with the door closed, my office came in at 91 degrees.  I think that qualifies as too warm to work.  Do we get "hot" days like NM gets snow days?!?

A new resident arrived at the Centre.  She is beautiful and brilliant and wanted to get back into school, but did not have the shoes and socks required, though she had her uniform.  In the evening (after dark) and after Dave arrived home from a flight, he and I took her downtown to purchase shoes and socks.  It was a great experience for me!  Dave parked outside the shopping "mall" and someone "guarded" our car.  We found what we were looking for, and I was able to see some downtown shops!  I love how situations arise that send me out of my comfort zone and into new experiences!

The weekend was spent at home.  We worked out a couple of days.  And we took Laura and Vicki to our local Indian restaurant, which has such wonderful food!  It was so great to spend time talking with them with no children interrupting!

Independence Day 2013!!

Independence Day (32 years) began on Friday night, 20 September, with a big event at Memorial Park that included music and dignitaries.  At midnight, the national anthem was played and an hour-long fireworks display happened...I know that because I heard the sound, though could not see anything from any of my windows!  We stayed home for this part of the celebration, and Dave slept through it all.

Dave and I did go out to dinner to a new restaurant, the Barcelona, which is so pretty and which had such wonderful food!  More like a California restaurant than any we have visited here!  Quite gourmet!

On Saturday morning, Dave and I drove toward Memorial Park until we were turned around at the roundabout where parents were dropping off their children for the parade.  The Independence Day Parade features the children from many schools, and they were all dressed in their uniforms.  We had not arrived at a vantage point when Dave was called by BERT to fly to Punta Gorda!  He turned around to return to the car and to the airport while I walked on to find a good place to view the parade. Many children were still flocking to the area, so I could see that the parade was not going to begin any time soon!

I found a place under the balcony of the City Council building, which was shady.  This day turned into one of the hottest days that we've seen.  (When I arrived home, weather.com said that it was "90 degrees, feels like 102!")  I was glad to have the shade!  A 3-year-old tapped me on the arm, engaging me in conversation, to show me his sunglasses and his spinning toy!  We spent the entire parade in discussion (including my chastising him for littering)!  His father was there, watching, and seemed to think that I did not appear a threat!  I'm glad to have had Bama to talk with!  Here's a picture of him, demonstrating his marching to the drums!

The mayor and his wife arrived in the pickup with the license plate "Mayor" and went in to watch the parade from the balcony!   I thought this a good sign for a key place to be!  (The mayor is in the blue shirt and his wife is just over his right shoulder.)

The parade began with the military marching, followed by cadets, then scouts and then schools.  Trucks with people followed them, and BERT had two ambulances in this parade!  Here are a few pictures.

I think Mis Belize City is in the BMW that looks nearly like my old one!  OK...it is a little newer!





With the parade over, I needed to walk home.  I decided to walk by the Sea to get the advantage of a sea breeze.  I considered going to the Radisson for a drink and to wait for Dave...in hind sight, that was a very good idea.  I was nearly home, nearing Hecklers' Corner (a corner near our house which is about the only place where we get hassled) when I realized that I had not brought a key along!  So I went home to wait outside for an hour until Dave returned from his flight.

Now I have not mentioned that the last two days have been spent with contractors and plumbers working on our house.  We have been unhappy with the sewer smell, and we noticed that a wood eating bug has been attacking the kitchen cabinets.  Then there is the flood that occurs each time it rains hard with water flowing across our bedroom floor.  Well, the plumbers were disturbed to find that the plumbing was never properly vented, so they are addressing that (digging in the yard, literally, as the gardner worked to trim the yard).  The kitchen cabinets were emptied and under the sink treated (it actually has never been that clean), and the cabinet doors treated.  Then the window/sliding door in the bedroom was re-caulked.  But this project kept me home all morning Friday and Dave there all afternoon.  Cooking was out of the question!  (Hence, the dinner at Barcelona.)  Tomorrow I shall clean house all day, and the kitchen will look spectacular!  I am so glad that things are repaired!

Dave and I needed to go to the grocery store after we both arrived home, not knowing for sure if any store would be open on this holiday.  Actually, we still don't know if any supermarkets were open, because in the bank's parking lot, Rattletrap died--right after we backed out of the parking place, which meant that we had to push it back into the parking place so the car next to us could leave the ATM!  Dave called BERT to have them send over some jumper cables.  On Friday morning, Dave had taken the car for a new battery, and when Dave opened the hood at the bank and touched a lead to the battery, it instantly burned his finger!  Hmmm...not a good sign.  BERT called back to say that the ambulance had to wait for a repair truck to come jump it, as the ambulance's battery was dead, and then the medic would come to help Dave with his car!  Well, BERT doesn't own jumper cables, only a battery charger needing electricity.  So Dave and Sam got a cable hooked on, and the ambulance (after a couple of starts and stops) towed the car to BERT where they could use the battery charger!  Dave and I decided that the store would have to wait, so we drove home.  I opened the gate to the driveway, and Dave put the car in reverse to back it in...when it died again!  Dave and I were working at pushing the car up a slight incline to get it out of the narrow street and into the driveway when a very nice young man drove around the corner, stopped, and helped us push!  People are so nice here!!

Dave is anxious about three things in his life around this job:  the airplane, the phone, and the car, in that order.  The airplane is in great shape!  He spent some time lubricating it this week, and he washed some of the mud from the potholes in the tarmac off the plane!  But his phone broke.  It had apparently been glued together in the past, and a second gluing did not take.  The phone is hanging by a thread. (I hope that BERT has my phone number in case his phone doesn't work!)  And now Rattletrap is dead in the driveway, so the ambulance will have to pick him up tomorrow if he needs to get to the Airport!  Life is always an adventure!

Carnival!

Carnival was a colorful event!  Above is someone walking in the parade with an elaborate costume!  I sometimes forgot to look to my right in the direction that the parade was passing so as to see the backs of the costumes!

Dave was called in the afternoon to fly to Punta Gorda to pick up a patient.  I had the car, and decided that my best vantage point for the parade was near the child care centre and at the roundabout towards the airport.  I arrived early to get a spot on the sidewalk and was glad that I'd staked out my claim on the sidewalk.

Being about an hour early, I enjoyed the time waiting for the parade as a really nice man and his wife introduced themselves!  He is the new ambassador from Panama (and his wife) and he wanted to practice his English.  We had a great time sharing stories of our time in Belize, the differences between Panama and the U.S. and Belize.  And I was able to practice my Spanish a bit, as his wife did not speak English!  I would like to see them again!

Then the parade began!

The following are pictures from the parade.  The parade began with costumed children.  Mind you, the parade began about 1:30 PM downtown, and by the time I saw my first glimpse of the parade, it was 4:00 PM!  Imagine children walking all that way in costumes, in the heat, and dancing to the music! The energy of the young!  Following the children were the adults in colorful costumes created for the event and for the competition that is part of the festivities.  Take note that all sizes, shapes and attitudes have a place in this parade...and everyone is in good cheer, if only for the beer and rum!

I am still amazed that these kids could carry these heavy costumes! Fortunately, the day was very overcast, but no rain, which helped with the heat index.  They probably thought it was a cool day!














These groups were great to watch!

As well as people marching in the parade (and there were plenty of people walking along, not in costume), there were floats (not Rose Parade floats), big trucks that carried members of the sponsoring group or the Steel Band, etc.  However, the low-hanging wires/cables were a problem, so someone had to be alert to lift the cable for the truck to pass under!  I was just hoping that they knew what they were doing and that we wouldn't have an electrocution!

Just as the parade began, Dave and the medic, Hiram, arrived at the airport.  They walked the half mile to the intersection where I stood.  Not long after their arrival, a fight broke out probably 20 feet from me!  In the melee, it was hard to see what was happening, but within a minute or so, one guy was on the pavement, knocked out and with a slash in his neck!  Within the same minute or two, policemen and soldiers swarmed up, and they caught someone, who they put in cuffs.  Meanwhile, I'm saying:  "Where's Hiram?"  I figured the fight occurred in a pretty convenient spot to have a medic right on scene!  Sure enough, he went to render aid until the ambulance showed up!  The parade, of course, was stopped in its tracks.  Within a few minutes, the guy was gone, the ambulance was still there with the medics all talking together, and the parade began!  Where did the victim go?  Hiram said that the police took him away!  So I guess they didn't think his injuries warranted a ride to the hospital, which was also just around the corner.  I never heard a word about the incident, so in the general scheme of things, I guess the excitement really was a minor event.

The weekend also included a big Expo at ITVET, the technical high school across the street from our house.  Very convenient for us!  Many people were there to buy staples...paper towels, toilet paper, etc. plus upgrade their phone.  I enjoyed seeing the booths of artisans and bought a butterfly necklace out of clay and some wooden earrings (those from the YWCA group of women entrepreneurs from the south of Belize).  We ate barbequed chicken with homemade tortillas--made right in front of us!  So good! And here I am drinking my Coke from a plastic bag (poured from a glass bottle)!

The next weekend will be Independence Day parade, and many of the children from the Centre will be marching in it.  I will have a lot of kids to look for!

Sometimes living in Belize can be a challenge.  Ms. Augustine is on a 6-week to 2-month vacation!  The feeling of stability is lost when she is gone, and really, there is no good reason for it to feel like that. The children all miss her and no one else seems to fill the need.  Ms. Stephen is in charge, and she has done a great job of filling in at budget and care plan meetings!  Walking in cold to those kind of meetings has to be a challenge!  One day a group was here to distribute clothing, and it was chaotic! Ms. Ogaldez was interviewed for TV, and she did great!  This week we've had a dentist from Santa Monica present dental health workshops for the children, and we've had two different high schools come to volunteer as community service for George Price day (first Prime Minister who only died two years ago--what a young country!).

Dave had a day, too.  He successfully lubricated the airplane, but he couldn't change the oil in the car because of frozen joints, or something.  Then the car wouldn't start well, seemingly the battery.  And then his phone, which is a very necessary part of his anatomy, died.  We were to go to the Pan Yaad Steel Drum Concert, but decided we were to frazzled for that.  So we thought we'd go out to dinner to a restaurant we've wanted to try, forgetting that the car wouldn't start.  We had pizza delivered instead! Then we watched the concert on TV!

Dave has today replaced the car battery and glued his phone!  So hopefully, both are back in business! And now we have a plumber trying to determine what to do about the fact that the house plumbing was never vented (hence, the smell).  And varnishing the kitchen cabinets, apparently in response to the wood eating bug that we have.  Plus silicone caulking our bedroom door.  And I have to now go to work to count ICU's--the reward program for the kids, a very, very necessary routine!

Belize in You, Belize in Me!

Above, the Bayman officially begins the Battle of St. George's Caye Day parade!  The day, September 10, was a Bank Holiday, so I was able to take in the festivities--and Dave had no emergency calls!  We had great fun!

In 1798, I believe, the Baymen of St. George's Caye defended themselves from a larger, more well-equipped Spanish contingent.  I just read a book, which somehow I found in the digital library of the University of Florida, that was written by a Bayman who was there (old book!!).  The book, "The Baymen of Belize and how they wrested British Honduras from the Spaniards," was wonderfully written.  I learned about the early settlers of Belize and laughed that they, too, were annoyed by the mosquitos and sandflies!  The Baymen knew the waters around Belize city and in the Cayes, so the Spaniards made errors of judgement and floated onto low-lying reefs and sandbars, giving the Baymen the advantage.

St. George's Caye Day began at Memorial Park with ceremonies attended by the government leaders.  Dave and I actually arrived there rather late, but heard some of the music and saw the Queen of the Bay and her Entourage on stage before the parade began.  The parade is called the Citizens' Parade, so citizens just joined in the march.  Here are a few pictures from the event:

 The ambulance brings up the end of the parade!

"Belize in You, Belize in Me, Land of the Free" is this year's September theme for the holidays.   I realize that the major events of history happened in the month of September here, but the weather must have been challenging each step of the way!  Here is a picture of the rain band that I saw on the way back to the house!

We have a new lizard living at our kitchen window.  This lizard is a bit too big to sneak into the house, but Izzie is most interested in it!  She's been great fun to watch!

Next celebration is Carnival!  A blog for that separately!

September in Belize has arrived!

September has arrived in Belize!  And as mentioned in a previous blog, it is a month of celebrating the birth of Belize early in history (with the pirates on St. George's Caye--which is probably Politically Incorrect to say) and Independence Day, in addition to Carnaval!  Lots of photo opportunities!  And the above photo is of a near-by roundabout decorated for the month!

My friend, Karen Simplis, suggested that Dave and I might enjoy the "Mass in Blues" concert, which was really a reprise of a concert held in 1971.  The concert was held at the Bliss Centre, which is a 600 seat performance house that is lovely!  The concert featured Frankie Reneau, who is a classical pianist, composer and director of music, who I believe lives in the UK now.  He agreed to return to Belize (he actually returns often, but some persuasion was necessary to have him agree to this reprisal), and worked with a group of vocalists and a band to recreate the concert from 1971, with a few changes to the program.  What wonderful music!!  The night was the first "date" that Dave and I have had since coming to Belize, and it was so wonderful to get dressed and go to a concert!  The music, much of it gospel in style, was simply wonderful and uplifting!  Dave and I were not sure what it would be like to park downtown, so we took a taxi, which worked out great!  Then, in thanking Karen for the idea of coming, she and a friend gave us a ride home!  I will buy the "album" from iTunes, but it was interesting that some people at the concert were holding up the original vinyl LP!  And a few of the singers were in the original concert and in this concert with their son or daughter in the chorus, too!  What a special night!

Dave and I also went out on Thursday night to Wine Club.  We actually joined the Wine Club, which is a different group of people, largely, whom we do not know.  The Aliwen wines from Chile (Undarraga) were excellent!

(I don't know what I do to make the pictures go to these positions, but oh, well...those are pictures from the concert.)

Work continues to dominate our lives.  Dave has had some challenging weather for flying.  And I've had some relief with the beginning of school and children gone for the day and at home still enthused with homework.

Rattletrap has had a lot of issues.  I was going to have Dave tell the story of the air conditioner being repaired by the shade-tree mechanic...yes, the tools were spread out, under a shade tree!  These kind of activities take all day.  First, the problem needs to be determined.  Then, with the air conditioner, it was found to have a leak, so Dave had to drive to a store to pick up a piece.  Then the piece was installed, and Dave drove to another store to buy the freeon.  After that was put in, the a/c worked!  Hurray!  But don't get too overly confident, because two days later, it quit again.  Now the compressor seems to be dead.  And let me tell you...when the Weather Channel says that it "feels like 100," it really does!  Added to that issue, Dave backed out of the driveway into the street, which happened to be crowded with cars (we are close to two schools), and he took off the left hand rear view mirror.  So it is now reattached in a typical Belizean way.  We definitely look like we belong!  On a positive note, we were driving home last night from the gym, and someone yelled out to us (we, obviously, had the windows open), saying "Hello, Pilot!"  Our car is recognizable!  However, if anyone has a yearning to drive a less used vehicle to Belize, we would so appreciate someone finding us a small SUV (not a Subaru, Albuquerque...we haven't seen one here), we would really like to get another car!  BERT will pay!

I hope that my blogs don't sound like a litany of complaints.  As we drove home from the gym beside the Sea, and going along past Memorial Park where yet another celebratory concert was being held, I said out loud how happy I am to be here.  Yes, it can be challenging, but what a wonderful opportunity for us!

St. George's Caye

September has arrived in Belize!  And September is a month-long celebration:  Battle of St. George's Caye, Independence Day, Carnaval.  So many activities!

We began the month perfectly with a trip to St. George's Caye with the Rotary Club!  The September celebrations were actually opening on St. George's Caye with the Governor General there to do the honors, but our boat first headed to the Royal Palm Resort on its own little Caye for a day in the sun.

While waiting for the departure from the Radisson Pier, a rain squall hit!  And then we boarded the boat and never saw another drop of rain on the trip (though Belize City received rain during the day).

As we approached St. George's Caye, sculls were sailing in a regatta! So pretty!  The coastline of St. George's Caye is lined with private homes and one resort.  This island is a popular one for vacationing, but we are currently in the rainy season when the houses are generally boarded up.

We went beyond St. George's Caye to a small island with the Royal Palm Resort.  This was a beautiful resort, also closed for the rainy season except for their hosting the Rotary group.  What a beautiful place, warm with gentle breezes, beautiful colors, and the relaxing ambience one expects in the tropics!

The Royal Palm Resort has small houses, cabanas, and one was open for our use.  Yvette, Dave and I, with others who joined now and again, sat under a thatched roof with a table and rum punch, beer or water.  We arrived mid-morning, and watched the children play in the water.  Lunch was served in the center of the compound. Adjacent to the compound was a spa and a beautiful wood-lined room with couches and big screen T.V.  A restaurant is on the premises, and they served a wonderful lunch.  Some people took naps in the hammocks.  What a relaxing day!

These are some scenes from the Resort, including Yvette in the hammock!
And a rare picture of me, since I am usually the photographer.

One of the nice bonuses for us was a chance to talk to our neighbor, Angelo, who lives in the other half of the building.  He is seldom here, as he is often in Greece (from which he came), Mexico, or the United Kingdom.  He gets around!  He is actually going to live on a very big boat in Cancun, if I remember correctly, but he will keep this place, too.  He has a housekeeper, whom we see and talk to frequently.  Anyway, he was up early on the 1st, and motored over to the resort on his own boat, which is in the picture below.

In mid-afternoon, we hopped back on the boat, and quickly went over to St. George's Caye.  We first went to a small aquarium that a British man has developed over the years.  Then we walked to the St. George Caye Resort, passing people partying with the beginning of September.  The person who runs the resort is in Rotary, and we stopped there to have a drink before returning to Belize City.  I took several pictures:  a picture of a typical house in Belize, a picture of a summer home, the path to the town, and the bar at the Resort.  

The day was a wonderful respite from the business of life!  Dave had a day off from flying, which was great, and even better that there were no emergencies that had to be denied.  A tropical holiday!