It's been really interesting and I've been dying to get on here and let some people know that we are alive and well. I actually picked up a pen and started writing things out by hand in a letter to my girls (you too Bridget~)..I am going to send one page to some of them and hope they spend some time talking to each other to figure out the whole letter that Mom's sent...
It's been a burden to try and get a household together here. We are living with the bare necessities right now, a stove, a refrigerator, a bin for food, one bed (CJ is waiting for his to come in so he is sleeping on piled mattress') a dresser for CJ, a cheap table and 4 chairs and One light. Roughing it truly. The internet had not worked until tonight which is interesting. Living a bit of a hard life really makes you depend on one and another. The other thing it does is that you have less "distractions" to family life. Charlie and CJ and I are spending more time talking to each other and I am feeling more bonded with the two of them than I ever felt before, even though I am hurting a bit...(Too much heat this week, temps aren't below 90, even at night) I still feel more accomplished than I ever did at the office. I was working on a painting that I had been struggling with for more than a year and had a break through yesterday. I am feeling really proud of it!
When shopping for goods, like furnishings and /or furniture, it's best to take it the Belizian way, slow down, network with the natives, and then go in for the kill. Seriously....there is a store called Cinty's , actually there are three stores called Cinty's, the Mom's, the sons, and his sister's. You walk into these stores and it's a jumble of product, everything from CD's to washboards, curtains, ect...You just have to keep your eye open, guess which one might be carrying the right product and then when all else fails, beg.......
The furniture is kept above the stores in the warehouse above and is brought down by hanging a hook from the upstairs with the product and lowering it down to street level. You are amazed by what they have, the prices and the lack of certain items. A big example is curtains, ALL curtains in Corozol are frilly lacy and pastel colored things...Pillows can't be found unless you are willing to settle for less in the chineese store, and amazingly you can get a dish drainer, a set of 6 cups, 2 storage containers in a "package" for only $23 bz, that is $11.50 US. Ragu on the other hand costs $7.50 bz for a jar ($3.75 US) wow!
We've "ordered" our kitchen they dont have kitchens here, they use the side boards and high boys as their kitchens with two buckets to do dishes in) and our living room furniture, was ordered.
When asking how long it's going to take I am starting to ask Belizian time or US time to clarify how long really and I've learned right now means probably never.
Never stop at a stop sign on the lower side of a hill where the sugar cane trucks can over come you and always do 65 at least on the highways, no matter what the signs say. and ALWAYS slow down for "topes" (speed bumps) which are near turn abouts and schools generally and the sign could say there is one where there isn't!
There is so much more I want to tell people, but it's late here and I am tired.....Manana!
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