Hmmm… As soon as I cleared customs and immigration in Belize I placed a call to Peter to see if he’d heard from our friend Tricia. It seems that she was arrested in Miami on 3very serious federal charges. He said she thought she was safe because of the statute of limitations having expired in New York. She’s been out of the states for 8 years. Well it seems there is no limitation on federal crimes so she was on a watch list and they got her as she stepped off the plane.. He didn’t know the particulars about the crimes though. Her arraignment is set for September 24th and he has been trying to arrange for a lawyer for her. My guess is she will have to use a court appointed lawyer though since she is basically broke. And, since the charges are federal, she is still in Miami and her trial will be held in the federal court in Dade County. With her past history she is a flight risk so it doesn’t look like bail is a possibility either. Another thing Peter said was that he was told the court is severely backed up and it could be a year before her trial. Not a good thing!!! We need our friend Tricia back at Kismet.
I had a 2nd phone conversation with Peter later Sunday night and he said that he and his wife Myra are taking care of Kismet. Either he or she spends the night there and Myra, when she isn’t working, is the cook for anyone wanting dinner. He’s also been keeping up with email reservations from her website. So that’s one less worry for Tricia. Ron and I talked on the phone as well. He’s still in Omaha but is planning to drive back starting at noon on Monday. He bout an 86 Toyota pick up truck that he said is severe;y overloaded with the tools that he is bringing down now that he is making Belize his permanent home. So we should see him in about a week or so. It will be nice to have him back again and he will be a big help around Kismet as well.
Peter also said that Steve is checking into a drug treatment clinic in Cancun on Monday. He’s working out the payment arrangements. Hopefully he will be diligent and listen to what he’ sees and hears in the group and private sessions and takes it to heart and turns his life around.
Now that all that is out of the way… I’m almost back home in Hopkins. The bus ride to Belize city was fine, not up to the ADO (Mexican company) standards but comfortable and 2 I met a German couple who live in a small house behind the Wind Chief Bar in Hopkins, and 2 young girls, Australian medical students, who will be working for 2 months in the cancer clinic in Dangriga. We got to Belize City at 2:15pm, just missing the 2:30pm Maya Island Air flight to Dangriga because it’s a 20 minute taxi ride to the airport. So I was forced to sit for 2 hours until the 4:30 flight. That also meant that I would miss the 5pm because the flight gets into Riga too late for a taxi ride to the bus depot and last Hopkins bus of the day. I wanting to sleep in my own bed Sunday night but it galled me to pony up US$60 for a cab, when the bus costs only US$3.50. So I spent the night at Val’s Guest Hostel (where I’d spent so many hours using the internet keeping up with all of you) for US$10.50 and had a fried chicken for dinner (US$2.50) a spent a nice quiet night watching the 3:47 hour 1962 movie “Lawrence of Arabia” starring Peter O’Toole. As a side note I last saw that movie when I was 11, growing up in Oak Lawn. I remember my Mom taking the 7 of us kids to Walgreen’s Drug store every Saturday and giving us 25 cents for candy (you could buy 5 candy bars for a quarter then) and dropping us off for the day at the Coral Theater with the 25 or 50 cent admission (I can’t remember) and enough money to buy a soda. Those were the days of double feature movies and a cartoon or 2. Its one of my fond memories of growing up. Anyway, the taxi driver who brought me to Val’s from the airport told me he was headed for Hopkins Monday morning to pick someone up so he offered to bring me home for US$10 at 9:30am in the morning and I took him up on it. I’ll hit the vegetable market before hand and stock up on fruit and veggie. Later in the morning Peter will drop off the fishing gear that I lent to Joe and James before I left and, later today,I’ll be happily fishing in the lagoon again! It’s the one thing I continually miss when I’m away from home.
And…I’ll be finally be sleeping in my own bed tonight!
As always, stay well, keep happy, and practice peace. I am!!!
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