Finally settling in

Well I’m settling in quite nicely. Today I finally finished repacking and moving the unnecessary items from my trailer to the 2 storage sheds. It’s amazing how much room I have to knock about in now! And moving some of the stuff has opened the place up so that the breeze flows more easily throughout and it’s now much cooler in here. I actually took a nap on my couch today. One of the things that I’m having a time with is trying to keep sand outside where it belongs. No matter how well you wash and/or wipe your feet there is always the feel of grit as I walk about. I’ve taken to leaving a towel at the end of the bed to do a final wipe before crawling in at night. But that is the penalty (if that’s a penalty!) for living on the beach. I think I can live with it.

I’ve met quite a few of the “locals” as well as all the paying guests that stay at Kismet. It’s an eclectic bunch all around and very interesting conversations erupt constantly as one or more passes through. I’ve learned so much about the tribulations of dealing with the local and national Belizean government offices when one owns a business. I sure am glad that I didn’t come down here for that!

I took my first canoe ride yesterday to the “Oh God” tower in the lagoon. From the top of this tower, approximately 60 feet that they built in the middle of nowhere and had to float all the lumber in, you can see quite a distance. Across the lagoon and to the west are the beautiful Mayan Mountains. To the northeast is Dangriga. To the south is a small resort, Kismet and Hopkins Town. And 180 degrees north, east, and south the Caribbean Sea. I could have spent all day up there but alas I forgot my sun block and got a minor burn to prove it. I was smart enough to bring a beach towel with me so that went around my shoulders as I paddled back to Kismet. Now the sun block and my Repel bug spray is on my counter just inside the door and ready for use at a moment’s notice. I started growing my hair back now as a partial sunburn prevention. It will never be as long as it was a year ago though. Probably only an inch or so long. Just enough to cover my head. As for the bug spray. It’s necessary in the late afternoon and evening here because the mango trees are blooming. When that happens there is a serious “doctor fly” problem. And boy do they bite! My legs below my knees look terrible I’ll be writing home for someone to send me Skin So Soft which everyone here swears by. I’m already looking for light weight pants and shirts to put on but haven’t found any. I asked my cousin Jodi if she could find me something to wear to stop the biting and end this darn itching. I have a list of things that I didn’t think of when planning my move and will need to find a way to procure the new necessities of life.

I’ll start taking pictures of my new home soon and will post them to Facebook. I wanted to wait until I had the place all situated as I had stuff store all over outside and it wasn’t a pretty sight.

Monday will be bank day. I finally have all the paperwork necessary to open an account here. There are 2 banks in Belize. Belize Bank, Caribbean Bank, and Scotiabank (yes that’s how it’s spelled). I chose Scotiabank because it’s actually a Canadian bank and I can split my account so that I have savings in both American and Belize dollars. I can do my online bill pay just as I do now through my FL credit Union and my money is more readily available through ATM machines in the states for those times when I come back to visit. Scotia is opening branches in Florida and already has several in the Miami area with plans for the Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville areas.

I will be opening a new Digicell cell phone account next week too. Its pay per use but the rate to call the U.S. is only 50 cents a minute as opposed to the $4.50 a minute that my current U.S. company is charging me. I probably spent a couple hundred dollars last week finalizing my personal business in the states and talking to my kids. But at 50 cents a minute I can call them more often. My greatest sadness is not being able to see my 4 kids and my granddaughter or to just be able to pick up the phone and talk to them. I’m also going to ask one of them to send me a computer camera so that we might be able to schedule some video chats and make life a bit more normal. I’m going to miss Kayla’s 3rd birthday on February 22. Not sure what to send he but I have an idea. I’ll let you know what I send. I’m headed to the internet café in a few minutes to post this, check my email, and birthday shop. So…more later!