November News

About 75 rain showers have fallen since I last blogged...and a few thunderstorms have caused havoc. The boobybirds have come and gone. The dragonflies have successfully launched two short, but powerful, invasions on the village. Fishing is good again - barracuda, shark, and snapper (black and red) and likewise the dinner menus. On a personal note, Laura and Clint spent a super weekend with me in Belize, bringing lots of replenishment for both the body and soul. One morning we toured the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. What a treat! No jaguar spottings, unless you want to count jaguar footprints! Along our path!! We saw lots of other wildlife, including toucans, vultures, wood thrushes, several otters playing in a stream, a snake peering up at us from the edge of our path, and huge ant mounds where ants were busy moving leaves inside. We also spent time relaxing at one of the nearby resorts. (Check out the new pictures.) The best part of their visit was seeing them, but maybe the next best thing was the new Chinese-made bike they bought for me at the Chinese store in the village...no more long walks in the hot sun for me!! Life is good.

More pics from Clint and Laura's visit

Parrot Cove Lodge Pool.

Bertie by the pool.

The view from the resort where Clint and Laura stayed.
Clint and Laura in front of the school where I teach.

Clint in the pool, while Bertie gets her toes wet.

Clint and Laura visit Bertie in Belize

This is my school.


Clint, Laura and myself on a tour at the Jaguar Preserve in Belize.




Laura and I, in the background Jim (an ex-pat) kite surfing.
Clint and I in front of the only pizza parlor in Belize.

More Belize pics

even more pics...

Some pics from Belize!

More pics

Catching Up

Thanks to all who've visited Bertie in Belize and sent me comments. I still haven't solved all my communications problems, but I appreciate your acceptance that time seems to stand still here and weeks go by when I can't get to the Internet. I really do enjoy hearing from you and look forward to the time when we can have a real conversation. And watch for photos from Belize soon to be published here! Laura and Clint are solving the technical problems to make this happen.
I want to write more about the beautiful and abundant flora and fauna that surround me...and I will soon. In the meantime, check out these websites: http://www.hamanasi.com/ ; http://www.turtleinn.com/ ; http://www.birdinginbelize.com/ ; and http://www.mayamountain.com/.

Hurricane News

In a 2-week span, Belize endured 2 separate hurricane threats. The first one, Hurricane Dean, resulted in property and agriculture loss to the northern regions of the country. And in the most recent scare, Hurricane Felix, only skirted Belize, but caused major damage in Nicaragua and Honduras. We in Belize are all saddened by the loss of life in these nearby countries.

Having participated in two evacuations now, I have real empathy for the difficulties of moving people out of harm’s way and providing safe havens. While many of the homes in my adopted village are made of concrete blocks, still many more are wooden frames with thatched roofs. Even strong sea breezes play havoc with these shelters. The relentless rains also create problems for coastal villages. In between Dean and Felix, my little village’s main road was flooded for several days, the effects of a strong, steady and long rain over a day and a half.

Musings

My toes are sun tanned!! For two months I've been wearing open-toed sandals and now my toes are perpetually dirty-looking and my instep is noticeably still white because of the straps that protect the rest of my foot from the sun.
Buses and feet are the main means of transportation, especially for those of us who are prohibited from driving. There are few cars in this country and even fewer roads. The country is connected by four highways and a few dozen or so dirt roads. The speedlimit on the highways is 60mph and with so few cars and virtually no intersections to contend with, I think that makes sense. The scenery along the highway that I travel most often is spectacular - mountains, valley, plantations. Most of the local citizens travel by bus for village-to-village or town travel and by bike for in-village travelling. Most villages are located on or just a few miles off a highway. So walking is also a common form of getting about.
Fashion here is very Americanized. I've seen more NBA shirts that I typically saw in Virginia. In one Saturday, I counted 9 Lakers, 7 Suns, 7 Bulls, 5 Rockets, and 1 Spurs!!

Greetings!

A little over two months I said goodbye and headed off to Belize. Little did I know I had so much to learn (the least of which is that my communications options are very limited, but I hope they will be improving shortly). I'm posting this first blog four days after completing the training phase. An today I began my assignment - literacy advisor for a church-sponsored school in a small sea-side village. Belize has adopted a church-state cooperation in the management of their "public" schools. Some of these schools are run by Catholic, Methodist, Anglican churches or by the government itself, but all follow the same state-sponsored curriculum with some room for individualization.

I'll try to share some of my impressions. Hope you'll find something of interest to you!