Belizean Chocolate

Today I went to the Garifuna village of Barranco for a mobile clinic. It is a charming village on the coast south of Punta Gorda. The Garifuna are descendents of the Carib Indians and the Africans that were brought over as slaves. They are wonderful, garrulous people full of stories and we had a very enjoyable morning with them. They served us lunch before we headed back to PG.

Russell took the kids to a lodge/cacao farm called Cotton Tree Lodge. It is along the same gravel road that we took toward Barranco. Our first week here I came across some amazing locally grown and produced chocolate in one of the grocery stores. The cacao grown in the Toledo district is sold to the UK company Green and Black's for their Maya Gold chocolate bar. But, this Cotton Tree bar was also produced right here in Toledo. And, it is some of the best chocolate I've ever had. So I encouraged Russell to go check out the farm and try to procure more of the stuff for me.

It is actually a high end luxury lodge along the Mojo River. The kids enjoyed walking along the extensive boardwalk trails in the jungle. And, yes, Russell did bring me home some chocolate! I'd still like to see a cacao plantation and see what the cacao plants/beans look like. But, it apparently is not the season at present.

On his way back to PG Russell saw a very clever cow. I , for one, am glad to be out of the States during this election. But, I could hardly say that we are insulated from it. Just goes to show you that many worldwide are interested in who will be taking office!

We have one more week in PG. There will be only one student with me next week so he and I will be busy. The kids seem to have settled in. Just in time for us to pick up and disrupt their routine again. Perhaps off to see Tikal in Guatemala after we leave PG. Northern Belize got a ton of rain with this tropical depression (the south did too, but not as much). There is a fair amount of flooding and we are reconsidering our plans.

Placencia, Ruins, and Fishing

The Ball Field at the Mayan Ruin of Nim Li Punit




























































Placencia: Natalie snorkeling, playing in the water in front of the cabana, the cabana, and Liam enjoying the boat ride.


Russell with his yellow tail snapper on a fishing trip to the keys offshore Punta Gorda.

















The clock tower on Punta Gorda Main St.

Toledo District Explorations

Above are the ruins of Lubaantum - site of the Crystal Skull (ooh, aah). The Mayan village of Blue Creek is where we hiked in the jungle and went swimming.










Saturday market in Punta Gorda.

























Pictures of our house and view of the almost daily thunderheads on Front Street in Punta Gorda.









Internet access, while available, is not exactly convenient - especially to take time to do something like update a blog with pictures. We are enjoying a weekend getaway for this long three day weekend. Belize celebrates what I guess is Columbus Day at home as Pan American day. That this area would celebrate Columbus Day in any form at all seems rather ironic to me. We are in the town of Placencia which is the only area in mainland Belize that really has a sandy beach. It is definitely more tourist oriented than Punta Gorda, but still way less than the northern cayes. The cabana is just feet away from the ocean edge and the kids have already enjoyed a swim in the bath water warm Caribbean. While Natalie and Liam are sleeping inside Russell and I have been drinking our Belizean beers on the veranda and enjoying access to the wireless.

This past week was, I learned, International Elder Week. Appropriate that my Mom became an elder on Monday (sorry, Mom). I would not have known this except that I was involved in a Belizean Elder Health Fair of sorts. Along with another volunteer physician down for the week we saw about 200 local Punta Gorda elders (over 65) this week. It allowed me to experience and meet a wonderful cross section of Belize and hear some great stories from the people. A very rewarding experience all around.

Russell took the kids on a field trip to a local Mayan ruin - Lubaantum - about a 45 minute drive away. And we all went to Blue Creek, a Mayan village in the same vicinity, last weekend to have a little hike in the jungle and go swimming. The Saturday market in Punta Gorda is the big market of the week so we had to check that out as well. Russell ended up buying some red snapper from the fish market, but it ended up being a rather pathetic amount and didn't taste quite the same in our fish tacos as halibut. I'm not sure we'll eat rice and beans again for a good long while once we return home. But, it is quite the staple here and, fortunately, still a favorite of the kids'.

We went snorkeling today out of Placencia. Natalie swam with her goggles and life jacket the entire time and had a blast. Liam swam with his life jacket a little while and happily entertained himself on the boat. Three of the nursing students working at the Hillside clinic went with us as well. They were less into snorkeling than Russell and I and graciously watched Liam for a while. He was perfectly content hanging with the pretty young women. They both absolutely crashed when we got back to Placencia. Liam even nodded off on the boat ride home. With any luck maybe tomorrow morning will the first one in 3 weeks that they might sleep in??? Not holding my breath. It took all weekend to upload these pictures. So the ones from Placencia will be in the next post.

Meanwhile back at home a wind storm blew down 13 trees at our house.

Wave Jumping on Amelia







The Red Otter Superheroes










Doing laundry in our temporary housing.




















While we are living in our current pad we have had the use of some bikes. Not sure we would travel with the kids on our bikes at home this way, but it has been fun to tour around PG with the kids this way. We move tomorrow to a different house. It will have some advantages over our current place. It will be a lot quieter, has three bedrooms, is right on the coast so will be cooled by ocean breezes, and there is a hotel with a pool that we can use for a small fee right next door. But, no bikes and it is a bit smaller overall. Russell had already made some acquaintances in the "neighborhood" where we are. Namely a woodworker two doors down. Liam managed to lock himself into the bedroom a couple of days ago and was obviously hysterical when we couldn't get him out. Ultimately, Russell broke the door down to free our son. And, then remembered seeing the woodworking sign so went to befriend the guy and borrow some equipment to fix the door. We were both amused when the guy brought over some "scrap" mahoghany to use as a shim.

I went with the other physician and two medical students (all women from the UK and all 10-15 years younger than me - I feel so OLD!) to Monkey River today. It is a Garifuna village about 2 hour drive away. It reminded me quite a bit of doing Alaska Bush village trips. I'll be doing home visits with the nurse practitioner all next week and that should be quite interesting. Natalie accompanied me to the internet cafe and is getting antsy so more in a few days....

Will post some pictures later this week. We found an internet cafe walking distance from our current abode and I only have a half hour before it closes.

Natalie had a wonderful time wavejumping with Papa at the beach in Amelia. Liam enjoyed the sand and feeling the pull of the waves as well. We had cooler weather due to Kyle and now that we are in Belize we are thankful for that cool weather!

Things here in PG Town are slowly getting shuffled around and trying to work their way into a picture of what we will be doing here. We are adjusting to our new surroundings. This is humidity like nothing I've ever experienced - even in a Midwest summer. The past two nights we've had a fabulous evening storm. With the tin roof it really sounds as if the water is being thrown down on you from a fire hose. We have found ourselves waiting in eager anticipation for the shower because of how much cooler it feels once it comes. Natalie and Russell stood out in the street the first night watching the lightning prompting several Belizeans to inquire if all was okay. While seeking out a restaurant this evening we stopped to look at the leaf cutter ant expressway. One of the locals informed us that it happens every year during the rainy season as they seek out higher ground. We could see the ants high up on the tree branches and the leaves eated down to the stem. Then there was the stream of ants down the branches, across the powerlines, down the light pole, and traveling across the sidewalk and wrapping around the building as far as we could see. With the majority of them carrying their leaves 3-4X their size. Both kids enjoyed it. Russell got too close and discovered that their pincers do indeed hurt!

While waiting for dinner Liam loves to watch the geckos and lizards. "I see it! I see it!" Natalie was a bit dismayed when a little Belizean boy caught one of the lizards and flung it down on the street, mortally wounding it. She did not like it and was on the verge of getting upset. There really aren't any beaches in Punta Gorda although it is on the coast. The kids did enjoy walking in the ocean off some rocks yesterday and we'll try to take a trip out to some Cayes just 15-20 minute boat ride away in the Bay of Honduras.

There was some miscommunication regarding my "assignment" here. After my experiences in Nepal and Kenya I truly expected it to be nothing like what I expected. So I've had to strive for that balance between my urge to have control of the situation and know all that is going on and be patient and go with the flow in a country with a different tempo. I should know a few more facts tomorrow about what I will be doing and where we will be ultimately living. For now we have a comfortable house, but we have to be out of it this weekend because it is for some nursing students. It is up in the air where we will be.

I need to wrap this up and will add more in a day or two. Am hoping so much that Liam starts to fall into a better sleep rhythm soon!!! We are all safe, healthy, and enjoying the incredible hospitality and friendliness of the Belizeans.

Colors of Fall

Adding decorative touches to the window for the housesitter. Bonzai eggplants anyone? Or how about some fried green tomatoes...

September Harvest

As we were making our final preparations to leave, we harvested what was left on the greenhouse plants. It was the first year and very experimental. It was also the third coldest summer in recorded Alaska history with exactly two days above 70 degrees. Knowing that we were headed for the tropics for three months is what kept me somewhat sane. We are at Amelia Island with the Wilson grandparents enjoying the warmth of Florida. We will leave for Belize City on Saturday. I am new to this blog thing so bear with me. I hope to get more creative as the weeks go on.