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!