Planes, Boats, Kites & Canoes!

Time flies by when so much is going on!  And we don't want to miss a thing!

The BERT airplane came time for an annual exam, and Wings of Hope sent a mechanic, Dan Lorenz, from St. Louis to do the FAA required inspection.  But the 28th of February was the end of the year, and since Dan did not arrive until March 3rd, Dave and I had a weekend to escape!  The timing may not have been ideal for me, as Natalie Lanni and Laura Connelly, the Children's Centre's faithful volunteers from Florida, were here.

Some of their work this trip was to establish Belize Hope, a high school mentoring and scholarship program here.  At least we were able to have them over for dinner one night!


                                                               Dave and I took a boat to St. George's Caye to stay at the resort in a cabana.

What a beautiful spot! Ten people were at the resort, which is on a private island with no roads. Very, very peaceful!  Meals were served family style, and we really enjoyed getting to know people from Georgia, South Carolina, and Edmonton, Canada.  Dave and I must have been exhausted, as we would come up with a good idea of something to do (like kayaking) and then change our minds to continue lying by the pool or on the beach, reading.  We did walk the length of the island!



The first night that we were there, I took pictures of sunset!  Such beauty!
  

I then took pictures of sunrise from our cabana, but the following morning I took pictures from the east side of the island, shown here.
  

The weekend ended too soon, and it was back to work.  Dave had his work cut out for him, serving as Dan's assistant and learning how the Cessna 206 works from the inside!  One night he came home with a pocketful of screws...I wasn't sure that was a good sign!  They were able to get all the pieces back together again, and Dave flew the plane back from International Airport to Municipal.  Today he really gave it a test flight to a new airport for him in Sartaneja!

The week was a busy one for me, too, completing another training for staff.  I also taught a Play Therapy introduction to the Counseling 2 class at the University of Belize.  I had such fun with the students, who had excellent questions and who gamely participated in my role plays!  

A 20,000 Women Strong Rally was held this week, organized by the Special Envoy to Women and Children, Kim Simplis Barrow, the Prime Minister's wife.  A march left Memorial Park and ended at the Marion Jones Stadium (still under construction after years of delays).  

The Rally was a kick-off to a number of planned projects in the months to come.

I walked over and was inspired by the attendance!  The day was really hot (93 degrees, if I remember correctly), so I did not stay long, just long enough for a couple of pictures!  (Umbrellas are to protect agains the heat!)

This weekend began with the Kite Festival held in the field behind the Central Bank.  Dave, Dan and I did see one person land his kite on the top of the bank, which is where I presume it still is.  

The colorful kites were great fun to watch! The breeze was perfect, and some kites stayed up, almost stationary, high in the sky for the entire time we were there!  People entered different kinds of kites in the competitions, and a very nice woman explained them all to us.  

The birds had to get into the act, too!

At the same time as the Kite Festival, a Regatta of small sailboats in honor of Baron Bliss, the greatest benefactor to Belize, was held.  I loved the sight of the small boats, but when a special sailboat (not sure what it is called) sailed by, I thought it made a lovely photo!

Today, Monday and a holiday in Belize, Dave and I took Dan to the Airport for his flight back to St. Louis.  We then walked over to the Belcan Bridge to watch the end of the 4 day La Ruta Maya Canoe Race.  The bridge was crowded with spectators, and cheers erupted at the sight of the first finishers! The winner of this last leg of the race was not the over-all winner, but I believe that the second place finishers won over the whole event.

With the Reals arriving in just a week, the adventures continue!  Time really flies by with all the entertaining activities that we have!

Ice Cream, Park & Play

Dave and I have been enjoying Belize City activities since the first of the year!  Yesterday, we went to a newly opened ice cream shop!  What a welcome addition to the City!  Dave has been grousing about the lack of good ice cream, though we have two nearby ice cream shops.  Now one has opened with home-made ice cream and over-21 flavors...that means you have to be over 21-years-old to buy a scoop!  Rum & Raisin, Guinness & Peanuts, and my favorite, Black Cherry Amaretto Chip! They have vanilla and chocolate, too, for those who are not as adventurous!  The interesting problem is getting there.  I call it the corner of "Wrong Way-Wrong Way-Wrong Way-Wrong Way!"  Seriously, you drive down one street, but can't go the next block to the shop as it has a "Wrong Way" sign, but you go one block to the left and the street is torn up.  So you retrace your steps, going now on the first street "Wrong Way."  Then you get to the Wrong Way end of the street that was torn up.  So you go on to the next One-Way street, only to find that the street is torn up at the corner of the street to the ice cream shop, which says "Wrong Way."  We chose to drive down that Wrong Way street anyway, as there was absolutely (literally) no way out!  But the ice cream was worth it!  Cute shop, too!  And open on Sundays!

Last Sunday we attended an encore performance of the play produced by the Rotary Club called "Every Rose has Thorns."  We were going to attend on Saturday night, but it was sold out--and we'd missed Thursday and Friday night performances.  Fortunately, they added a performance.

The play was written by a minister who had lived in Belize and now resides in New York.  Because I work with a crew of Belizeans daily, I not only understood the Kriol, but I also understood the jokes!  Poking fun at themselves!  I laughed and laughed!  And it was such fun to have a cultural event to attend!  We went to dinner at the Hour Bar after the play, sitting on the deck with the most beautiful breeze!

The volunteers who come from Florida are returning in a couple of weeks, and they are trying to arrange housing for a couple of months during the summer when they can bring their families.  They found a lead on a house, which I thought was closer to Ladyville than it is.  Dave and I visited it to assess the property for their summer stay.  What a spectacular house, now being divided into apartments, which overlooks the Sea and is alongside a canal!  Fun to see the home!  Dave and I then drove on to Ladyville to look for Big Mama's Kitchen, which I had seen advertised on FaceBook. After a little searching and asking directions, we located it!  A beautiful place with wonderful burgers and fries!

Friday, Valentine's Day, was the official opening of the new BTL Park.  The festivities began at 5:00 PM with shows on stage for the smaller children.  Dave and I walked to the park, which is not 10 minutes from our house, and found security tight.  Police had the street blocked off and were checking people for weapons and contraband.  The street also was blocked with carnival rides.  The park has cute little buildings that vendors rent, and I had been wanting to try the smoothie shop.  Excellent!  We then walked around to see what all was happening.  Ozzy the Clown was soon on stage!  He is known by Dave as Javier, one of the medics, but he is a very popular and sought after clown!  It was fun to watch his performance, then talk to him afterwards!

As we ate food from the Filipino Fast Food shop,

the Puseria shop, and the Jamaican shop, we watched the children play on the climbing structure.


We walked by the fountain, then stood and watched the mayor open the park.  A reggae band performed as more people arrived until the party really began to rock after 9:00 PM!  My personal favorite moment was when 3 of "my" high school girls shrieked and ran up to nearly topple me in a big hug!  I was so happy that they were able to attend!

A great fireworks show happened over the water!

We walked home under the full moon (see first picture at top of blog), and could hear the rest of the concert from our bedroom!  Fun evening!

Dave has not been flying as often as he would like.  He thinks it could be because of the end of the fiscal year approaching and clinics out of money in their budget, or it could be just normal fluctuations in need.  I, on the other hand, have been busy full-time and then some!  In addition to working with the children, I have developed a series of trainings for the staff as we try to improve the consistency and quality of discipline.  The reward system is being revised, and I have divided the residents and staff into teams to try to develop more cooperation and team-building.  I also have three social work interns from the University of Belize, and I have been asked to present at one of the counseling classes on the subject of Play Therapy.  Whew!  I am pretty sure that this is not retirement!

A Very Fun Visit--and an attempt to remember it!

I love this picture of Dave and the iguana!  One of many iguanas!  And one of many amazing experiences during the visit of Judi Simpson (Dave's sister) and her friend, Mary Wolf!  Now if my computer will cooperate I'll try to share the highlights.  (For some unknown reason, our internet speeds since Christmas have slowed to a crawl, and this blog may literally take several days to complete due to pictures that I want to include.  I have been waiting to see if we can find the problem, but we have not despite having taken our computer to a repair person.  Dave may try 4G to see if we can improve on things.  We wonder, too, if the system has been overloaded with the many smart phones sold recently here.  Who knows, but I am about ready to revert to a hand-written diary.)

Judi and Mary arrived on a Thursday afternoon, January 16th, probably the most spectacular day, weather-wise, we had seen!  And that was pretty much the last of tropical weather until after they left.  I think they were hoping for some sun, but instead they saw rain, more rain, clouds, and very cool temperatures!

On Friday, I had to do some work, counting ICU's (the reward program at DMCCC), so Judi and Mary went to Caye Caulker for the afternoon.  The weather was not great, but they survived the afternoon.

On Saturday, we packed up the car and left early to go to Cayo District to visit Xunantunich Mayan Ruins.  We first took a drive through Belmopan, the capitol of Belize.  There we saw the U.S. Embassy, which was embarrassing in its fortress presentation.  Other embassies are lovely old houses, and the Prime Minister lives in a nice house on one of my walks.  But this compound was scary!

The four of us stopped at Orange Gallery to shop and to have lunch.  When we next arrived at the ferry crossing to go to Xunantunich, we found that the river was raging and the ferry was not operating. "Maybe tomorrow," the guide said.

We decided to go to the Blue Morpho Butterfly breeding center.  What a beautiful place!  A resort or two are on the road off the highway, and the area in the mountains is beautiful!  The guide took us into an area where the butterflies were feasting on fermented pineapple, just a little drunk!  He caught one and showed us the differences between male and female and showed us the "eyes" on their wings that fool other animals into thinking that they are larger and scarier than they are!  Then he went through the life-cycle of a butterfly!  Really informative--and a peaceful place to be on an afternoon!  And no butterflies were injured during the presentation!

Judi, Mary, Dave and I had reservations at the San Ignacio Hotel & Resort where an iguana protection and breeding program is.  The first thing we did upon arrival was take the Iguana tour!  What an experience!  About a dozen of us were on the tour, and the young man was passionate about his iguanas!  We first went to see the "teenage" iguanas, which when ready are released into the wild. They can actually fall 20 feet without injury, so they are tossed into the wild.  A couple of them have returned in search of a mate.  But they are kept out of the breeding area as they would kill other iguanas in there.  The iguanas feel cold to the touch, especially on a day when it was barely 60 degrees outside. I took photos, while everyone else held at least one iguana.  I only pet one...this was not my favorite activity!  But you can see how Mary was totally involved!  After seeing the older iguanas, we went to the nursery, where even Judi held one...and Mary had one climb into her hair!

After having dinner at Fuego on the Square in San Ignacio, we awoke to rain, which cancelled the early morning bird walk that Mary and Judi were to go on.  Dave and I finally got up (I think Mary and Judi were about done waiting for us), and we decided to explore Spanish Lookout.  Spanish Lookout is the agricultural area of Belize where all of our chickens, beans, milk and eggs are grown.  It was developed in a rather unusual arrangement with the Belize government by the Mennonites in the 1950's.  We arrived at the Iguana Creek Ferry and crossed to the Spanish Lookout side.  Beautiful rolling hills and lovely homes were in the area, which is not developed with tourists in mind.

Still seeking new adventures, we returned to the Succotz ferry to cross the Mopan River, but it was closed.  We went on to Benque Viejo and to the Guatemala border, just to say we'd been there. (Someday, Dave and I will go on to Tikal.)  Given that we could not see Xunantunich, we returned to San Ignacio and visited Cahal Pech.  By this time, the day was sunny and beautiful, so I took more pictures in a different light from my previous visit there!  I love Mayan ruins!

It was interesting to find the archeological team at work at Cahal Pech.  What an interesting place to work!





Judi, Mary and I went to Old Belize, a tourist place on the Sea with a fairly extensive port for private boats, where we had lunch.  There is a very high water slide there, and it was fun to watch young people take the dive!  We went on to the Belize Zoo.  I vowed I was not going to take pictures, but that did not last long!  However, the pictures I'm posting here are actually from the pictures that Nathan and Megan took.  (I figured Zoo pictures are Zoo pictures!)  The pictures are of the Jaguar during a "Jaguar Lick" where people are in the cage on which the Jaguar sits and he licks off their heads something good to a Jaguar!  Next is the Howler Monkey, whose sound travels for a mile or more!  And then, I believe, we see an Ocelot in the bushes.

The three of us also walked around downtown Belize City on a weekday.  I loved seeing the streets, through which I usually drive, up close.  We went inside St. John's Cathedral (carved doors below),

and to the House of  Culture,

and walked by the Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts

 and the Supreme Court Building.

We saw Haulover Creek with its boats,

the new Battlefield Park, and shops along the way.

Judi and Mary went with me to the Children's Centre, and they handed out ICU rewards!  The best moment was when Mary made a mid-court basket to the delight of the boys just as we were leaving! They saw the Municipal Airport and the plane and met Yvette.  I think that we packed in just about as much is possible in a 5 day visit!  What a wonderful time Dave and I had--and I think that Mary and Judi would agree!