A Not-Good Blog

This week did culminate in a new cultural experience for me and one that I would have preferred not to have experienced...a Belizean funeral.

Ms. Augustine, officially the Foster Mother of Dorothy Menzies Child Care Centre, but who could be better described as the director, has been on holiday since the 8th of September.  Spending one's life employed with the Ministry allows for a good long vacation!  She was due to return on the 23rd of August.

About 2:00 AM Friday morning, Ms. Augustine's son died in a house fire.  His house, a wood house on stilts, was on the street behind Ms. Augustine's house.  From what I read in the news, several houses shared electricity, and the fire may have been caused by an electrical malfunction.  Anyway, Michael, aged 33 and the father of two young children, was found in the wreckage in the hallway, having died of smoke inhalation.  The fire started in the hall between the bedroom and the door out the front.

Yesterday was the funeral and burial.  I attended with many of the Centre's staff and a number of the children.  As Michael also worked for the Department of Human Development (and I had met him a number of times at the office), the church was filled not only with family and friends, but also with many co-workers.  The service was held at St. Mary's Anglican Church and was not different from what one would expect in the U.S.  Interesting was that a bus had been chartered to take people out to the cemetery, 13 miles out of town.  I went in "our" van (our Centre has a van and driver), and I did have some momentary thoughts about how many were in this van...probably nearly 20!  I was lucky to have a very light-weight girl on my lap!  It seemed like nearly everyone from the funeral also attended the burial.

Burials are different here than what I am used to, but may be similar to what one would find in coastal areas of the southeast.  The casket is lowered into a cement vault and then covered with cement as part of the graveside ceremony.  Sealing the vault was certainly the most emotionally wrenching part of the ceremony, especially as Michael's little daughter helped smooth the wet cement in place.

I cannot imagine Ms. Augustine's pain, especially having lost her youngest son one year ago to illness. There is a supportive community around her, including at the Centre, but I don't know when she can return to work after this.  The children were so wonderful.  On the way to the cemetery, the 10-year-old girl on my lap seemed to know where we were going.  She told me that she had been there last year for Ms. Augustine's other son's burial, and that it was "a very peaceful place."  It was dusk by the time that we arrived at the cemetery and after dark when we left.  The beautiful full moon had not risen yet, so it was very dark, and I cannot see in the dark very well.  A 14-year-old boy held my hand and directed me:  "a little to the left because there is mud here; ok, now there are rocks; now we'll just walk toward the light in the van over there!"  So sweet!  How lucky I am to have them in my life, and they will be the support for Ms. Augustine when she returns.

Another interesting event this week was the late call that Dave received on Friday to go to Punta Gorda to pick up a child with a head trauma.  He knew that he could not get back before sunset, so he had to arrange with International Airport for them to remain open (they close at 6:00 PM) so that he could land there where they have lights on the runway.  Then he rode to the hospital in the ambulance, which later dropped him off at home.  On Saturday morning, I drove him back to International so that he could pick up the plane and fly it back to Municipal Airport.  He's had some challenging weather to fly through this week, as well.

I am having difficulty getting one of my medications.  I'm glad that I started a week before running out. At my third pharmacy, I left the prescription.  They said that they could get the medication for me.  (The previous two pharmacies did not have it and had no idea when they would have it, though I've purchased it previously.)  But the pharmacy downtown did not call me back, so hopefully I'll get an answer tomorrow.  I'm not sure what I'll do if I can't get it.  Talk to my doctor about alternatives, I guess.  This is an example of how things are not always readily available in Belize.

We have been here 6 months now.  I can't decide if I feel like I've lived here forever or if I feel like a newcomer still.  Given my circle of friends and the routine of my life, going to work, etc., I definitely don't feel like an outsider.  I tell Dave that I have to stay here until the children graduate from high school, and now we have a couple of one-year-olds in the Centre!

This is Volunteering?

I wish that I could capture the depth of involvement I have in this so-called "volunteer" position.  As I agreed to work 25 hours/week, my 39 hours this week sets a new record!  I think the result of this over-commitment is the narrowing of my view on what I might do here in Belize for fun!  Dave, who is flying at the moment, does impact our ability to get away.  I know that my mind-set, i.e. that there is work to be done at the Children's Centre, also impacts our spirit of adventure.  For example, I have not yet been to the House of Culture or to the Belize Museum.  Both of those are only open on weekdays, and there is no logical reason that Dave and I can't go to those during the week!  I make my own hours, and if we had to leave for Dave to fly, we would still be close to the airport!  I think I am writing this blog to kick me back into a bit of tourist mode!

This week was really action filled.  Without revealing too much confidential information, I will try to generally describe the kinds of situations with which I dealt.  The week began calmly enough, so I offered to help "my" assistant in reviewing files for missing documents and in separating sibling files.  In the past, families have been "lumped" in one file, useful when there are four or five children listed on each visitation form, etc.  But the Centre is in the process of becoming licensed and privitized, and files must be individually completed.

I had a meeting with the Acting Director of the Department of Human Development,  with Karen Simplis, who is a social work professor at the University of Belize, with Yvette Burks, who is the director of BERT and in Rotary and who asked me to volunteer at Dorothy Menzies Child Care Centre, and with the Assistant Foster Mother for DMCCC, Marcia Stephen.  The purpose of the meeting was to review how my presence at the Centre is going, results and challenges.  I think the group heard way more than they were expecting!  Besides the problem of 60 children in a limited amount of space with a limited number of staff to supervise and a limited amount of money/resources to address problems, I have been very frustrated with the lack of response by the social workers assigned to the children.  We have had a number of children that have been involved in incidents that have alarmed me!

I must have been heard, because the Director of Human Development called a case staffing for five children, all of with whom I have serious concerns!  16 people were involved at one point or another in this all-day meeting!  Our conference room never had so much action!  And some of that action was pretty loud!  From the meeting, I am hoping that the action items/tasks identified with dates in the next week really happen!

Some of the problems are really overwhelming for the Department, for us, and really for Belize in general.  There are few treatment programs.  There are few places to house, treat and supervise highly reactive, disturbed children.  Where is the 13-year-old boy who was raped as a youngster and who is now sexually acting out going to go?  He is a risk to himself, and he is a risk to our young residents, but those issues are true at the other facilities in the country, too.  Where is a girl who threatened a staff member with a machete going to go when she is too young for jail, there really is no juvenile detention facility that I've heard about, and there is no treatment program for violent youth?  And these are only two of five whom we addressed, and I have one more equally serious case that will have a staffing separately, hopefully soon.

So when I wake up at 2:00 AM to consider what medication might be used and who might monitor the dosage given, I feel like I am not in the volunteering world, but in the trenches of work.  And yet, I wouldn't trade it!  I don't know that I am impacting anyone in a positive way, and I don't know how I will ever measure that.  But I feel engaged in a process with others who are concerned and committed, too!  And when I say that, I mean the over-worked, over-extended social workers who receive the brunt of my complaint that these high risk children are not getting the attention they need.  I recognize that the social workers are struggling, too.  While I think that there may exist some systemic issues, the problems are certainly not new to me.  I found them in the U.S., too.

One of the funnier moments for the staff at DMCCC this week was when I was walking down the long hallway to the office, where a staff member was holding our 1-year-old new resident.  To the staff's great amusement, he pointed down the hall, saying "Mommy!  Mommy!"  (Sometimes I'm not even sure of my own identity!)

Maybe I will do something fun this weekend and my next blog will sound more like a tour book!  At least Dave and I had a fabulous shrimp dinner by the Sea at the Hour Bar & Grill last night!  Perfect temperature, wonderful food, and wine!  A treat after a long week!          

Flying by Dave!

Sunrise from Municipal Airport

Hello from Dave!  Pat invited me to be a guest writer, and since I just returned from picking up two patients in San Pedro now seemed like a good time to give you an update on my flying activities. Besides, she is in front of the TV watching NASCAR and screaming for blood, so you won't hear from her today!

Since today's trip was not atypical, I thought I would share it as a sampling of my work here.  The weekend BERT (Belize Emergency Response Team) dispatcher called me with a recent, critical stroke patient in San Pedro.  I pulled on some decent clothes, got to the airstrip ahead of the medic, and preflighted and backed the plane out of the hangar.  We were quickly on our way, over 30 miles of the Caribbean, to the San Pedro airport.  Due to this frequent route, I carry a life raft and 4 individual preservers at all times.  The elderly patient and much family drove up as soon as we landed.  Not expected was a second unreported patient.  This young woman was doubled over in much pain and was holding a hand-written note from a physician (our medic guessed appendicitis).  So we put the elderly patient on the stretcher, the young woman in the usual passenger seat, and informed family members that we would be unable to transport one companion as usual.  We get very creative attempting to accommodate everyone at minimum expense to the Ministry of Health, but strictly abide by seat belt and insurance requirements.  After the quick 15 minute hop back to Belize City, we were greeted by the BERT ambulance that transported the patients to the hospital.  I snapped some photos along the way today which hopefully will magically appear along with this text.

The Caribbean on the way to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye

                Patient transfer








For you pilots out there and others interested in aviation, I thought I would tell you more about the flying environment.  With the exception of the International Airport and San Pedro (which recently completed an upgrade and runway extension to serve the growing international tourist business), the airstrips I use are around 2000 feet long (about half what we might be accustomed to in the U.S.), with my home Belize Municipal Airstrip the shortest at 1800 feet.  There is no correcting a bad approach on short final; it has to be on the numbers (except there are no numbers) and airspeed to work.  Though the runways are paved, they are rough and there is much loose gravel in the turnouts and parking areas, making protecting the prop a constant concern.  With the exception of ATC radar services in the 25 nm veil around International, all flight is "see and avoid" VFR with voluntary position reporting.  The weather is not usually as violent as a New Mexico thunderstorm, but the constant high moisture (a temperature-dewpoint spread of more than 5 degrees is unusual) and multiple cloud layers are a navigation challenge and the source of frequent pop-up showers and thunder.  There is a welcome doppler radar facility at International (unusual in this part of the world; much larger Guatemala City does not have weather radar) that is accessible through the weather service website. Unfortunately, it is down about half the time (the half when I think I need it!).  Another unique phenomenon is the constant pedestrian flow across the runway in Punta Gorda, including the nerve-racking game of chicken that the school kids sometimes want to play with departing aircraft.  Look at the satellite view on Google Earth of Punta Gorda and you will see the very well worn path that continues a major town street right across the runway.  Belize Municipal, my home airstrip, is listed at 4 feet above sea level, but at high tide with any wind surge from the east, the runway goes underwater and debris is left behind when it recedes.  This closes the airport while a large crew attacks it with shovels and brooms to get the aircraft back in the air.  There is a terrific and much-needed improvement program underway that will double the length of the runway and raise it a few feet, but is likely 2-3 years from completion.

A highlight of this adventure is getting to know the BERT team.  There are, I believe, 17 total employees, virtually all certified medics, that fill roles including driving, dispatch, medic, and training. Yvette, the National Director, is the dynamo that keeps the place going and doesn't seem to realize that you can't do what they do on that budget!  She could be a very successful serial entrepreneur!  Barbara runs the office and handles dispatch on weekdays, but no longer flies.  Dennis is a long-serving BERT veteran who also has the unenviable responsibility for keeping at least 5 of the 8 ambulances running at all times.  Javier, the training director and senior medical advisor to the team, is a professional clown on weekends.  Lavinia is an engaging and energetic presence that takes rotations on call for flying in addition to her other duties in training and administration.  Carla is a team veteran that simply loves to fly.  She usually shuns the headset and chatter and gazes contentedly outside.  Hyram, a bright, earnest young man that soaks up knowledge like a sponge and is very proud of his medic role, is addicted to the flying experience and has determined he wants to be a pilot!  Of course, I am encouraging that by giving him training materials and inflight tips on our way to pick up patients.  His interest has been part of my motivation to begin studying for the written exam in pursuit of my CFI rating.  He has even investigated training possibilities in the U.S. and Canada (learning here is almost not possible).  Juliana's home is Punta Gorda, and each time we land when she is aboard she is greeted by a family member with hot food!  I accuse her of making up these emergencies so she gets fed.   Ronya is a quiet, unflappable young woman that cooly deals with whatever comes her way.  Sam is another relatively short tenure staff member that always reassures me that the co-pilot is ready to take over if needed!  Though Dennis and Javier occasionally fly, the others are the regulars I fly with frequently.  This isn't everyone, but I wanted to give you a sampling.

I've now been "the BERT pilot" for just over 5 months, logging over 200 hours in the process.  This compares with an average of 100+ hours a year in our Bonanza the past decade in the U.S.  I have gained even greater respect for commercial pilots and the demands for precision and consistency along with the need to fly on someone else's schedule, not my own.  While the flying is a huge challenge and rewarding experience, the experiment in a different kind of service and my attempts to judge the value of my contribution is the real lesson.  As the leader of Wings of Hope likes to say: "you are not a pilot but a volunteer field worker that happens to know how to fly a plane."

Many of our patients are not urgent and sometimes you wonder if the plane would really be necessary in this case, but there are many clear illustrations of the value of the service we are providing.  Several weeks ago I was returning from Punta Gorda (our most distant pickup point) with a very tiny premature baby and properly concerned medic as darkness approached and a storm formed in Belize City (our home airstrip has no lights).  Yvette called the International Airport and they stayed open in case I had to divert.  The storm moved out of the way, we met the ambulance in darkness, and I was very certain that we had given that baby a chance.  A great outcome to a great team effort!

So goes a day in the life of a BERT pilot!

Clouds on the mountains of southern Belize 

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!