We are finally building my porch!!
This is the inside view of my house. Not bad eh?
Moses' ears make me laugh.
This reminds me of something you would see in a JCrew catalogue. Dunno why..
Mo an Zip
I went to Lamanai, a maya ruin, climbed the tower (2 pics down) and came across a group of mennonites speaking lowland german. Had to shake my head and say "where am i again??"
Me an pooch
At the bottom of the main Lamanai pyramid
Glamour shot
Jacob and Suzy all dressed up for new years!
Our Cabana at Backpacker's Paradise, Sarteneja
Us. Yep.
Sarteneja's main street...ocean to left.
The sunset there is incredible
Whoops..duplicate!Hey
Lets do some updating…last time I wrote I was in a bit of a funk…like I wrote…”whats next” still haven’t totally figured it all out, but I am feeling like I am in a whole lot better of a head space. In training they told us that there would be highs and lows, ups and downs and I guess that’s what I was dealing with (little did I know that Peace Corps would bring out the Bipolar side of me! Thanks for the kind words.
What have I been doing this past week?? Well, I started a garden in the primary school here in Carmelita. I have started with one class. Thirty three students from Standard Four. Its pretty exciting for a couple reasons: I haven’t done any gardening and I will get to learn as we go and the students are really into it! We will be meeting on Mon, Tues and Fri for an hour to dig/plant/weed/water. Now yesterday was Wed and as I was riding by the school I saw the students working on digging their beds. They had begged the teacher to let them go work in the garden! (students being motivated helps with this whole process!) Ill keep ya updated and put up some pics to record the progress.
I have also gotten serious with starting the 4H group. The past two meetings have had age ranges from 5-18. Too big a gap. Starting this week I will be separating the group into a Youths branch (ages 13-18) and a kids branch (the young’uns). I have found a few teens who are really interested in the idea of basing the group around community service, fundraising and taking trips. (they have suggested a caye, caracol, a ruin, the belize zoo, and others) this seems to have a lot of potential and I am excited to see how it all pans out!
We have finally gotten started with building the porch on the front of my house. Before I was stuck inside whenever it rained or I wanted a comfy seat. With a porch My house should feel a bit larger and I will have a Belizian style mudroom! At the moment the cement has been laid down (and subsequently tramped upon by the dog and cat when wet) and the posts laid. This also means there is a 3 foot pile of sand and another of dirt in my front yard. Also, the cement was mixed right beside the porch area, So I need to figure out how to remove a 10x8 area of hardenedness. Should be a lot of fun with a pry bar! I have learned that you need to push to get work done in this country, and then again to make sure it gets finished. As far as cleaning up goes: youre on your own. J
Random aside: Moses has discovered his tail and is chasing it while bumping into everything and growing like crazy. Cute.
So last night I was lying in bed thinking about this blog. I was wondering what I could write about that would be more than just “and then I” or “after that” etc. Talk about my life here without necessarily running through the steps of my day. What did I come up with you may ask…wellll…how about I tell yall about a few of the things/places/people etc that make me happy here in Orange Walk town and in this here district. Maybe I’ll even do a Belize version at some point! (but for now lets stay local!)
1. La Popular Bakery- This place will blow your mind. They have these sugar coated donuts (granulated not powdered…very important distinction) that taste like a lil piece of heaven. (some say heaven’s clouds are made of cotton candy, I disagree. Donuts. The white fluffy that you see in cheesy paintings and when you look in the sky is a result of an optical illusion.)
They also sell fresh baked whole wheat bread, the only I have found in Belize, everyone else gets down on white bread.
2. BBQ Saturdays- We have a central square/park in Orange Walk. It’s a big gathering place any day of the week. With the sellers of cds/dvds (all bootleg btw) hammocks, used clothing and much more displaying their wares. BUT on Saturdays out come the 55 gallon drums. A bit of backyard welding has turned these former oil vessels into a damn nice grill. All of Orange Walk starts to smell like BBQ chicken. A plate will cost you about BZ$7, or US$3.50. Alongside your pick of leg or breast (if it’s the good vendor he dips the whole piece in BBQ sauce before handing it to you) y’get potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans and a flour tortilla. Its an incredible meal.
3. Seaweed & Watermelon Juice- If you have ever had a Chai tea, you know what this seaweed drink tastes like. Im pretty impressed. A guy at the bus area sells both for BZ$1.00. They are served in a bootlegged bottle of sol beer with a plastic cap that juuust barely misses fitting properly J
4. The DVD guys- Since the entire country steals cable from whatever company’s satellite I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to see a movie that just came out last week here on DVD. Any movie I could want, as long as its been around for a week or so, will be copied here. Now the quality may vary quite a bit, which is why I have found my guy. Ron G. Don’t know who he is, but at the start of every movie that he copied, up will pop his name and his phone number. I’ve found his quality to be better than a lot of others, with none of the recording in the theater nonsense.
5. Boundary Store- Oh how marvelous Boundary is!!! About a 10 minute walk out of town there is this whitewashed warehouse. Inside is everything from old clothes to bags to hats to belts to mugs to dishes to cups to plates to mirrors to books to pictures to tables to jars to toys to…well, you get the point. Its like a crazy combination of goodwill and an antiques place. In my house I have seven “pictures” or other wall hanging thingies from boundary, my fridge comes from the store, all my cups, mugs, dishes, silverware. I use the place a lot!
6. The Library- Other than an inordinate amount of Tom Clancy/Nelson Demille, there’s actually some decent stuff in there! Plus it has a gorgeous view of the river.
7. Friendship Restaurant- So Belize has a huge Chinese/Taiwanese population. Don’t ask me why. But a lot run shops and a lot run restaurants. Standards on all the menus include chow mein, chop suey, some form of sweet and sour something and bean curd stuff. But all the “chineys” as they are called here (pc hasn’t caught on in Belize) also serve burgers and fried chicken. Ever had one of those meals where you asked the waiter if the plate was going to be enough food/too much food? WELL..the folks at these here restaurants have figured out a way to deal with such issues. You have a choice! From $3 on up you may pick out the exact amount of chicken that your lil heart desires! I usually go with a $5 plate. Seems to be enough without killing me.
There’s a bunch of other places on the list…ill do some brainstorming and report again on new discoveries, new favorites and old standbys that deserve a mention!
Now a few thankyous: Alisa, Amy, Sam and Isa; thanks so much for the knife/shirt/goggles!!! The shirt gets tons of compliments and the knife gets used every single day!!
Mom, Dad, thank you for the dog training book and the flea stuff! Same goes for the flash drive (I can post pics again!)
Now lets put up some pictures!
What have I been doing this past week?? Well, I started a garden in the primary school here in Carmelita. I have started with one class. Thirty three students from Standard Four. Its pretty exciting for a couple reasons: I haven’t done any gardening and I will get to learn as we go and the students are really into it! We will be meeting on Mon, Tues and Fri for an hour to dig/plant/weed/water. Now yesterday was Wed and as I was riding by the school I saw the students working on digging their beds. They had begged the teacher to let them go work in the garden! (students being motivated helps with this whole process!) Ill keep ya updated and put up some pics to record the progress.
I have also gotten serious with starting the 4H group. The past two meetings have had age ranges from 5-18. Too big a gap. Starting this week I will be separating the group into a Youths branch (ages 13-18) and a kids branch (the young’uns). I have found a few teens who are really interested in the idea of basing the group around community service, fundraising and taking trips. (they have suggested a caye, caracol, a ruin, the belize zoo, and others) this seems to have a lot of potential and I am excited to see how it all pans out!
We have finally gotten started with building the porch on the front of my house. Before I was stuck inside whenever it rained or I wanted a comfy seat. With a porch My house should feel a bit larger and I will have a Belizian style mudroom! At the moment the cement has been laid down (and subsequently tramped upon by the dog and cat when wet) and the posts laid. This also means there is a 3 foot pile of sand and another of dirt in my front yard. Also, the cement was mixed right beside the porch area, So I need to figure out how to remove a 10x8 area of hardenedness. Should be a lot of fun with a pry bar! I have learned that you need to push to get work done in this country, and then again to make sure it gets finished. As far as cleaning up goes: youre on your own. J
Random aside: Moses has discovered his tail and is chasing it while bumping into everything and growing like crazy. Cute.
So last night I was lying in bed thinking about this blog. I was wondering what I could write about that would be more than just “and then I” or “after that” etc. Talk about my life here without necessarily running through the steps of my day. What did I come up with you may ask…wellll…how about I tell yall about a few of the things/places/people etc that make me happy here in Orange Walk town and in this here district. Maybe I’ll even do a Belize version at some point! (but for now lets stay local!)
1. La Popular Bakery- This place will blow your mind. They have these sugar coated donuts (granulated not powdered…very important distinction) that taste like a lil piece of heaven. (some say heaven’s clouds are made of cotton candy, I disagree. Donuts. The white fluffy that you see in cheesy paintings and when you look in the sky is a result of an optical illusion.)
They also sell fresh baked whole wheat bread, the only I have found in Belize, everyone else gets down on white bread.
2. BBQ Saturdays- We have a central square/park in Orange Walk. It’s a big gathering place any day of the week. With the sellers of cds/dvds (all bootleg btw) hammocks, used clothing and much more displaying their wares. BUT on Saturdays out come the 55 gallon drums. A bit of backyard welding has turned these former oil vessels into a damn nice grill. All of Orange Walk starts to smell like BBQ chicken. A plate will cost you about BZ$7, or US$3.50. Alongside your pick of leg or breast (if it’s the good vendor he dips the whole piece in BBQ sauce before handing it to you) y’get potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans and a flour tortilla. Its an incredible meal.
3. Seaweed & Watermelon Juice- If you have ever had a Chai tea, you know what this seaweed drink tastes like. Im pretty impressed. A guy at the bus area sells both for BZ$1.00. They are served in a bootlegged bottle of sol beer with a plastic cap that juuust barely misses fitting properly J
4. The DVD guys- Since the entire country steals cable from whatever company’s satellite I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to see a movie that just came out last week here on DVD. Any movie I could want, as long as its been around for a week or so, will be copied here. Now the quality may vary quite a bit, which is why I have found my guy. Ron G. Don’t know who he is, but at the start of every movie that he copied, up will pop his name and his phone number. I’ve found his quality to be better than a lot of others, with none of the recording in the theater nonsense.
5. Boundary Store- Oh how marvelous Boundary is!!! About a 10 minute walk out of town there is this whitewashed warehouse. Inside is everything from old clothes to bags to hats to belts to mugs to dishes to cups to plates to mirrors to books to pictures to tables to jars to toys to…well, you get the point. Its like a crazy combination of goodwill and an antiques place. In my house I have seven “pictures” or other wall hanging thingies from boundary, my fridge comes from the store, all my cups, mugs, dishes, silverware. I use the place a lot!
6. The Library- Other than an inordinate amount of Tom Clancy/Nelson Demille, there’s actually some decent stuff in there! Plus it has a gorgeous view of the river.
7. Friendship Restaurant- So Belize has a huge Chinese/Taiwanese population. Don’t ask me why. But a lot run shops and a lot run restaurants. Standards on all the menus include chow mein, chop suey, some form of sweet and sour something and bean curd stuff. But all the “chineys” as they are called here (pc hasn’t caught on in Belize) also serve burgers and fried chicken. Ever had one of those meals where you asked the waiter if the plate was going to be enough food/too much food? WELL..the folks at these here restaurants have figured out a way to deal with such issues. You have a choice! From $3 on up you may pick out the exact amount of chicken that your lil heart desires! I usually go with a $5 plate. Seems to be enough without killing me.
There’s a bunch of other places on the list…ill do some brainstorming and report again on new discoveries, new favorites and old standbys that deserve a mention!
Now a few thankyous: Alisa, Amy, Sam and Isa; thanks so much for the knife/shirt/goggles!!! The shirt gets tons of compliments and the knife gets used every single day!!
Mom, Dad, thank you for the dog training book and the flea stuff! Same goes for the flash drive (I can post pics again!)
Now lets put up some pictures!
5 comments:
que linda, linda, linda!
now everybody can see what a goofball/stud/handyman you are.
can't wait to hear more about the gardening project and to have another of those mouthwatering donuts....
and maybe i'll skip the seaweed juice next time. :)
xox
HOORAY, HOORAY! Pictures!! Bridget is happy. More soon about this great post, but for now just wanted to tell you how happy I am to see pics! Your house is adorable!!! So, so great. Happy to see my poster on the wall!
love you, we fixed our computer so hope to call you this wkend. xoxo Bridget
WOW WOW WOW! Jake! I can't believe you are living in Belize. What an awesome journey! I can't wait to follow your blog and adventures. It is so great to see you again. Miss you, kid. It was funny to see your tatoo poking out in one of your pictures. I remember the day you got that tatoo in St. Louis with us. Talk to you soon! I will be reading :)
just bec Suzy is visiting doesn't mean you can slack on your blog! love you
Bridget
Sowwy bridget. I'm slacking on mine, too, if that's any consolation. I promise we'll both update soon... we can't stay away from the air-conditioned cappuccino-serving Internet Cafe for long. :)
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