We had Sam’s birthday party at the Tuffy Inn cut. Sam and friends snorkeled, jumped off the boat and ate cupcakes in the beautiful Belizean sea.
Guest Post – Nancy Mathews
Many of you may have been wondering (or relieved?) why I haven’t posted in a while. I have been entertaining guests and then recovering from entertaining guests! For you entertainment, Nancy has written up a little description of her visit. Now, y’all know Nancy is not a woman of few words, but you can rest assured that this is her rated G version:
What a great fall break we had visiting the Yates, or as locals call them, the “Yah-tez” family! (Belizian accent is kinda spanish). I was hoping to escape the past few months of Atlanta sweltering heat, but, nooooo, we chose to visit our long lost friends, in Belize, instead. 98% humidity and 90 degree weather greeted us as we stepped out of our tiny 6 person airplane. Air thick as blackbean soup draped across my brow, as we rolled our carry-on luggage. Yes, my husband is one for packing light…but I still stuffed my bags with essentials, like bug spray or liquid, divided up into 3 OZ bottles, sunblock, in 3 OZ tubes, granola bars, fruit roll ups, aka kids vitamin C, Kraft Mac and Cheese, freeze dried chicken noodle soup and of course, CANDY!!!! Along with Halloween decorations, Stephanie’s important magazines (I didn’t look at the package Karina sent her…. was that an Enquirer or People?). Anyway, when TSA asked me if someone had given me anything to carry…well, frankly, I was scared…
I looked at the row of golfcarts, and I wondered how they could even tell the difference between them. Remind me to send them some green fuzzy dice to distinguish the Yatez family golfcarts.
Driving thru town reminded me of the town I grew up in, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Except, we didn’t have a beach… and we drove cars…or rode horses…or motorcycles… but pretty much the same. Little stores…the butcher, the baker, the fruteria, etc… Dirt roads, the same. Mosquitoes, the same, ferocious and hungry.
Their condo was beautiful! The one we rented, beautiful. The pool, beautiful!
The kids were so excited to see Sam, Julia and Iris! Julia was more than happy to give Bebe and Emmi a tour of the house and pool area. Sam sure could have used some boy time, but has made friends with boys in the building. Later, I found him snorkeling out in the water right outside of their building. Fancy meeting him, there…
The following day, we made it out to Hol Chan Reef, a nature preserve filled with protected fish. The girls, Julia and Sam had recently taken their PADI Bubblemakers course. So out into the ocean we all went, to scuba and snorkel with all kinds of ocean creatures. First up, I stepped on a 3 foot nurse shark… no worries, they are like puppies, wanting to know who is coming into their neighborhood. The kids were so excited, they didn’t have time to be scared. I had a turtle come sailing over my head with a couple of ramoras stuck to his tummy… reminded me of people that sit and wait for the airplanes that land in St. Marteen just meters away. I watched in awe. Schools and schools of lazy fish, just daring us to swim after them, knowing they are protected from me inviting them to dinner….on my plate!
Sunday, we went to the Yatez’s church, which reminded me of Buckhead Church. It was a video stream, of a church in New Mexico. The message was about friendship, and he asked us to write out the names of friends that we believe would do anything for you and vise versa. A friend that helps see you thru good and bad times, and can work with you reading the Bible and talk about Gods will and word in our lives. Of course, my hubby and Stephanie were on my list among other peoples names too. What a friend we have in Jesus, was the main idea, that he will never turn his back on you. If we follow his teaching and his words, we indeed have a great friend. Great message!
Monday, we took a boat ride out to the reef with the kids and fished and snorkled. Later, our captain cleaned the yellow fin snappers we caught, the lobsters he caught, made a fire on a nearby beach and we had a magnificent feast. Of course, the kids ate PB&J’s. Good, more for the adults!!!
Our last full day in San Pedro, we made our way to Island Academy, to see Sam do a presentation at his school, and the girls got to see what an island school looks like. Later, Stephanie, Stephen and I got on the dive boat again and went to the outer reef and did an incredible 87 ft dive. It was truly an amazing site to seen groupers, sharks and turtles, oh my, all swimming together. Beautiful! A small malfunction with my equipment startled me a bit, but fortunately, my FRIEND and dive buddy, Stephanie, was right there to assist me. We continued the dive with no further incidents, and felt blessed to have had the chance to dive the second largest barrier reef in the world! Awesome!!!!!!!
God’s masterful handywork is so inspiring!
I am truly humbled and blessed to have spent time with friends in Belize. Thanks Yatez family!
Cheers and Salud!
This is Stephanie again…here are a few photos from our weekend:
Julia and Bebe
Fun times on the boat!
Is there a way to look attractive under water?
Nancy learning valuable skills…cleaning a lobster and opening a glass bottle with a plastic one:
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Happiness is…
A cold coke on a hot day!
Belize style.
There are a few quirky things about Belize that I like to call “Belize Style.” I’ve already posted about the over abundance of plastic bottles with no real recycling (other than re-use by the people who fresh-squeeze juice and sell in old water bottles – the squeamish need not visit here). The exception to this appears to be with Coke products and beer. The only coke product sold in plastic is “coke light” and I’ve yet to see a can of beer. Everything is glass and a glass bottle is worth 25 cents! The Bowen family has the corner of the market in this area. After over a month of paying too much for cokes and beer because of the bottle deposit, I finally figured out where to go and buy cases at the time and where to return your empty bottles for the deposit return. Welcome to Bowen and Bowen:
I should mention that we LOVE the Bowen family. Not only because they make the best beer – Belikin, AND they distribute Coke, but because Lady Bowen has founded the wonderful school that my children attend and she gives the school the beautiful land the school is on rent-free.
Here is what an afternoon “walk” with your husband looks like – “Belize Style.”
Ladies lunch – “Belize style.” We all brought food and sailed down to our condo beach and had a picnic.
Rigging the Boat
Come Sail Away!
Landing the fleet on the beach:
Here is what a school assembly and science presentation looks like – “Belize Style.” Julia is in pink presenting on magnetic force.
When you wish you had your camera!
I hate making posts without pictures, but some things just must be remembered and shared! On Saturday I went into town with the girls to do a little shopping. Julia had birthday money burning a hole in her pocket and Iris needed a gift for a classmate’s birthday party (more on that later).
Let me set the stage here…you have to imagine the craziness of Saturday shopping with everyone buzzing around in golfcarts, motor bikes, the occasional taxi, and lots of bikes. There are no passing laws, everyone just drives all over the road and passes however they can. Amidst this frenzy comes a young man riding toward me on his bicycle, weaving in and out of traffic, carrying waiter-tray style…wait for it…an ornately decorated, full sized, uncovered WEDDING CAKE!!!
As if a bride does not have enough to stress over on her wedding day!
We also passed this fun cart. 3 chocolates in the back and one up front. I wonder how he chooses who rides up front?
Iris’s class had a field trip to the Belize cultural center on Friday. It was also the last day of the month, so it was free dress day. You know Mrs. B would never let that happen!
Finally, the birthday party on Saturday was on a private island so we had to go by boat. I know, the the sacrifices we must make…
Iris and her friends Zahara and Tesla.
I must say that Whit made the real sacrifice on Saturday because I had to call and ask him to bring Julia’s friend to the ferry station and he missed the last 10 minutes of the Georgia game. Let’s just say he was NOT pleased. What could happen in the last 10 minute anyway, right? Doh!
Got the Go Pro!
Whit and I got to go diving today with the Go Pro!
Whit and Steph
Cool (or creepy?) eel.
Eeeeeeel!
Shark!
Shark inside a wrecked sailboat!
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Pretty fish!
Words from Whit
Riding down bumpy sand roads in an open air golf cart.
Stephanie was kind enough to ask me to write in the blog on my experiences in Belize. Her reporting thus far has been so spot on that I think I will write something a little more esoteric.
When Stephanie, Julia, Sam, and Iris came and picked me up from the airport, the first things I noticed were their slight tans and happy demeanors. We had lunch and they happily filled me in on all that I had missed since their arrival predated mine by one week. After lunch we piled into our two golf carts and headed home to paradise, or so I thought. What we got was 3 ½ miles of a sandy, bumpy road. By the time we arrived at our condo I was ready to throw myself on Stephanie’s mercy because we were going to have to do that trip a minimum of twice a day and the average time it takes to get to school, town, etc. is about 25 minutes, 25 minutes of bumps and dust. And I was the one who chose Hol Chan Reef resort as the Yates residence while in Belize. Instead of recriminations, in Stephanie’s own inimitable way, she just said that she had gotten used to the trip the first day and didn’t mind it at all. I love my wife.
On to esoteric…now I ride that trip on average of twice a day with half of that time being by myself. There are many things to see on the road – from the multimillion dollar mansion “Whataview” (why do people feel compelled to name their large possessions?), to literal one room plywood shanties – we see it all. There are a couple of fruit and vegetable stands along the way and many different levels of dining options. Because the mode of transportation is a souped up open air club car I also see all of the people; in other golf carts, walking down the side of the road, and in the occasional taxi. I see all of them and interact with many, whether it is giving a hitchhiker a ride for a mile, or stopping at the MULTIPLE speedbumps, I see, wave, and converse with people in a manner that is impossible in Atlanta. In Atlanta, I go from my covered garage at home to a covered garage at work in my climate controlled vehicle and never have to or get to interact with anyone.
I also get to think about and miss my sister when I’m riding in the golf cart alone, down the semi deserted sandy road looking out at the beautiful water. Living here is so different from Atlanta, but I for one, love it.
Whit’s home!
I’m so glad to have my guy back!
I found this cute pic of Iris on my phone. It’s so cute I can’t even get mad at her for taking the phone.
The Pit Stop
Today we volunteered at our church (Sagebrush) in a program they do monthly called “The Pit Stop.” The “mother” church back in Albuquerque started a monthly program where they do basic maintenance on people’s cars for free. The Belizean version of it is a free bicyle repair shop. You would not BELIEVE the condition of these bikes. The salt air just corrodes metal and rubber so quickly. They had about six volunteer “mechanics” and we acted as runners to get parts, bring water, feed the mechanics (literally put the food into their mouths as their hands were so dirty), and bring the bikes in and out of the work area. I don’t remember the last time I worked that hard or sweated so much. I am so proud of all of my children and how hard they worked. Whitefield – mark Julia down for four volunteer hours! I think they fixed 60 bikes. Most of them needed new wheels (rims, tires, tubes), new chains, new grips, new seats, or new pedals. If someone showed up with a frame, they could pretty much outfit it. I think they repaired over 60 bikes. My new hero is a woman named Matilda who could fix bikes and use tools as well as the men or better. I need to learn how to put together a bike! We’ll be back to do it again next month!
Sam worked “the field” to keep the bikes in order and bring them to the mechanics when they were ready. It was dirty buggy sweaty work. I’m so proud of my guy!
Julia is pictured here with Mike. He used to live in the US and was a truck driver. Now he lives here in Belize and works three jobs to support his wife and two children. He is a greeter at the church and Whit and I met him last Sunday. I’m sure life is not easy for him, but that didn’t stop him from giving his Saturday to share the love of Christ through service. These foks are the real deal.
I don’t want to leave out Iris’s contribution! She made two batches of brownies on Friday and brought them to feed the volunteers. They were VERY appreciated.
Happy Birthday Julia!
Since Julia’s birthday was on a holiday here in Belize, we celebrated her birthday on Friday. She invited some girls in her class over after school to swim, do crafts and have dinner. Iris and Sam each had a friend over, too. I don’t know why, but the prep for the party took me longer than if we had had a formal dinner party for 50. I forget how much work even the most basic of entertaining is in a tiny kitchen with limited supplies.
When I was out shopping for the food and stuff, I did find a place that made me happy!
I had a delicious cheddar jalapeno bagel with honey chipotle cream cheese! Sorry I didn’t take a picture…
At Julia’s “party” we made stressballs with balloons, water and cornstarch. No, that wasn’t messy at all…I needed a stressball to get over the stressball making!
Cake time!
Unbelizeable! 