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!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Moved in and settling in...
I was packed up and on my way by 10:30am Tuesday 02/09/10. The drive was an easy one, giving me no indication of the problems I would have backing down the long semi-twisty driveway and into the spot Tricia and I picked. It took me, with the help on a German guest, about 45 minutes to finally get me into place. We did have to hack away at some vegetation so that I could fit into the spot and it’s a nice fit. Sadly no shade though but that will come later when I add my palapa roof. The day was calm and hot so I didn’t get much accomplished. All that I did was level my home, hang no-see’um/mosquito net screen on my windows, and drag a few plastic storage buckets out onto the ground so that I had some room to move about in the trailer.
Wednesday found me very sick with an intestinal virus. I spent the day in bed fighting a fever and suffering the other symptoms of the bug. I have a course of heavy duty antibiotics that are always a part of my traveling meds so I started taking them. Needless to say I got absolutely nothing done!
Thursday morning finds me feeling oh so much better! I checked in with Tricia to let her know that I was still alive. She said that she had come down a few times to check on me and “make sure I was still breathing”. One of the German guests asked if she could hire my car today to go into town. My 1st paying gig! Good timing too because I need to check with the bank to see if they got the fax from my stateside bank. That’s the last piece of documentation that I need to open my account.
We had a heavy down pour during the night. I haven’t gotten my water catch and storage system set up (a 40 gallon plastic garbage can that Pat and I added PVC hose connections to) yet so I missed all that. It’s one of the things on my to-do list today without fail. I got a lot of the stuff out of the trailer and into the various storage sheds that Tricia has graciously given me access to so at least now I can sit at my kitchen table. Because of the load balancing that you have to do inside of the trailer when you are traveling things are stored everywhere and it’s not a pretty sight. So if I can get my butt in gear today I’ll have the nice spacious trailer that I saw when I bought it.
Wednesday found me very sick with an intestinal virus. I spent the day in bed fighting a fever and suffering the other symptoms of the bug. I have a course of heavy duty antibiotics that are always a part of my traveling meds so I started taking them. Needless to say I got absolutely nothing done!
Thursday morning finds me feeling oh so much better! I checked in with Tricia to let her know that I was still alive. She said that she had come down a few times to check on me and “make sure I was still breathing”. One of the German guests asked if she could hire my car today to go into town. My 1st paying gig! Good timing too because I need to check with the bank to see if they got the fax from my stateside bank. That’s the last piece of documentation that I need to open my account.
We had a heavy down pour during the night. I haven’t gotten my water catch and storage system set up (a 40 gallon plastic garbage can that Pat and I added PVC hose connections to) yet so I missed all that. It’s one of the things on my to-do list today without fail. I got a lot of the stuff out of the trailer and into the various storage sheds that Tricia has graciously given me access to so at least now I can sit at my kitchen table. Because of the load balancing that you have to do inside of the trailer when you are traveling things are stored everywhere and it’s not a pretty sight. So if I can get my butt in gear today I’ll have the nice spacious trailer that I saw when I bought it.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Finding a home - Day 5
I woke up at my normal 6:30am “up with the sun” time and after cleaning myself up a bit, wandered over to the Pelican Resort for breakfast and the internet. Hopefully today will be my last day in Dangriga. I’m waiting for a letter of reference from my Credit Union in Orlando so I can open my Belizean bank account at Scotiabank (a Canadian bank) here. If my mission is completed today I’ll move out to my new home at Kismet in Hopkins tomorrow around noon.
It will be nice to finally be able to off load some of the stuff I have packed in the front of my trailer to a spot outside, or in Tricia’s storage/garage, so that I reclaim the living space that I’ve had to give up due to traveling. Actually the only area that I can’t use is the kitchen seating area because that area is located both near, and over, the tow hitch I have a couple hundred pounds of books, canopies, and other essentials stored there to put weight on the hitch and keep the trailer attached to the car and load balanced. Now that I know that I won’t be living off the grid some of the items I brought with me won’t be necessary. But, had I not brought them, I’d need them. Maybe there is a market for some of it. Until I am comfortably situated and I know for a fact that Kismet is the place for me I’ll hold on to it. Like a marriage, until you are living together full time you never really know how compatible you are with someone. I don’t foresee any problems though.
After I move I'll have to change my blog subject to "Settling into my Belizean life" or something similar. Any suggestions?
More later!
It will be nice to finally be able to off load some of the stuff I have packed in the front of my trailer to a spot outside, or in Tricia’s storage/garage, so that I reclaim the living space that I’ve had to give up due to traveling. Actually the only area that I can’t use is the kitchen seating area because that area is located both near, and over, the tow hitch I have a couple hundred pounds of books, canopies, and other essentials stored there to put weight on the hitch and keep the trailer attached to the car and load balanced. Now that I know that I won’t be living off the grid some of the items I brought with me won’t be necessary. But, had I not brought them, I’d need them. Maybe there is a market for some of it. Until I am comfortably situated and I know for a fact that Kismet is the place for me I’ll hold on to it. Like a marriage, until you are living together full time you never really know how compatible you are with someone. I don’t foresee any problems though.
After I move I'll have to change my blog subject to "Settling into my Belizean life" or something similar. Any suggestions?
More later!
Finding a home - Day 4
Today was basically a day of rest. The only thing of import that I did before heading into the Malibu Beach Bar to watch the Super Bowl was to put together my bug screen for around my trailer awning. When the wind isn’t blowing there are plenty of no see’um bugs with a terrific bite. While I was in Houston I located a no see’um /mosquito netting that was 4 foot wide and bought enough to enclose my awning, the gap underneath the trailer, and extra to cover my windows and overhead vents. Hopefully that will take care of the problem! The rest of the day was spent sitting on the beach reading and cigaring and enjoying the day. I did spend about 30 minutes fishing and I now have 2 nice freshwater catfish in my freezer and they will be dinner on Monday.
At 6pm when the bar opened, and during the last few minutes of the 1st quarter, I moseyed over and grabbed a seat. It definitely wasn’t the exciting event that it is in the states as most people here are soccer fans. I did walk in and find the bar owner (Papa) and 2 gentlemen (I’ve forgotten their names) who definitely were interested in the game, one who is quite knowledgeable about the game of football. And, luckily, they were all rooting for the Saints! A great time was had by all powered by an exciting game, 4 Belikan Beers (me) and 4 pints (yes pints!) of rum with coke chasers for the 2 gentlemen. It was odd to see the bar owner filling and refilling an empty pint rum bottle. It’s definitely something you won’t see stateside! And for dinner I had one of the best hamburgers that I think I’ve ever had anywhere in the world. Since I’m not much of a drinker I was feeling the effects so stumbled home, all of about 100 feet, sank into bed and for some unknown reason dreamed of being neighbors with Morgan Freeman. It was quite a pleasant dream.
At 6pm when the bar opened, and during the last few minutes of the 1st quarter, I moseyed over and grabbed a seat. It definitely wasn’t the exciting event that it is in the states as most people here are soccer fans. I did walk in and find the bar owner (Papa) and 2 gentlemen (I’ve forgotten their names) who definitely were interested in the game, one who is quite knowledgeable about the game of football. And, luckily, they were all rooting for the Saints! A great time was had by all powered by an exciting game, 4 Belikan Beers (me) and 4 pints (yes pints!) of rum with coke chasers for the 2 gentlemen. It was odd to see the bar owner filling and refilling an empty pint rum bottle. It’s definitely something you won’t see stateside! And for dinner I had one of the best hamburgers that I think I’ve ever had anywhere in the world. Since I’m not much of a drinker I was feeling the effects so stumbled home, all of about 100 feet, sank into bed and for some unknown reason dreamed of being neighbors with Morgan Freeman. It was quite a pleasant dream.