We are continuing our tradition of having lunch out after church.  Don’t you just love it when restaurants have a play area for the kids?

After lunch we did a little grocery shopping…Julia and Sam are sampling the fresh squeezed orange juice.

This morning (Monday), Whit and I had breakfast at a popular local joint.  Apparently, you have to get there very early because they sell out of meat pies.  We now know why! So good!

When we got there at 8:30, they were already out of “Johnny Cake” and “Creole Bread.”  We had the “Stuff Jack” which is sort of a thick flour tortilla (more like naan) filled with egg, cheese, bacon and something like black bean dip.  Sorry, I forgot to take a picture…too hungry.  Here Whit waits on our food:

If I were marketing living in Belize, these are the photos I would show for how to spend your Saturday lunchtime:

But, of course, there is always reality…

Pictured here are Olivia and Campbell, our neighbors and new friends from school.

Great news!  The Georgia game is on down here!  Go Dogs!

OK, I know this isn’t supposed to be a cooking or food blog, but those of you who know me know that much of my life revolves around food!

Today, we heard someone calling to us from below the balcony.  At first we didn’t think it was for us, but we finally figured out they must be trying to get our attention.  It was a guy asking if we wanted to buy some lobsters he just caught.  Whit went down to talk to him and after hearing that Charlotte (another resident here) had sent him to ask us, we agreed.  We bought four tails and 2lbs of fresh tuna.  Lobster for lunch anyone?

Here are two of the raw tails before prep:

Believe it or not, I have never cooked lobster, but the handy dandy internet makes all things possible!  Before cooking:

And before eating…

And if you are wondering, “Do they eat beans and rice and mango with everything?”

Yep, we do.  When in Rome…Have a great holiday weekend friends!

So on one of my first days here, I stopped by the Belize Sailing Club (the name belies the simple shack in which this esteemed club is housed) to inquire about sailing lessons for the children.  The children’s instructor was not there (apparently he only shows up on Sundays), but the guy told me that I should come by on Wednesdays at 1:30 and sail with Joy, who runs a ladies sailing group.  So…yesterday, I showed up at 1:30 to meet Joy, Teepee, and Sabrina on a small Hobie Cat.  Joy is a relatively new resident of San Pedro, having moved here from Greenville, SC, three years ago.  She learned how to sail, taught her daughters to sail, and decided it was going to be her hobby to teach other women how to sail.  Whoever shows up on Wednesdays splits the cost of renting the Hobie and Joy teaches them how to sail.  It was fabulous.  I learned all about the diverse and interesting women, while also learning to sail.  By the end of the hour, I was sailing, tacking, and jibing with the best of them.  I have a long way to go, but you can be sure this is where I will be finding myself on Wednesdays at 1:30.  In even more exciting news, she is also going to teach a beginner children’s class!  I’m sorry I don’t have any pictures, but I did not want to have my phone on a tiny Hobie Cat with three beginner sailors!

Here are a few fun random ones!  Iris lost her tooth last night.  Yes, the tooth fairy does know where Belize is.

Carpool line was long today:

Julia’s orthodontic appliance fell out…argh.  I called the orthodontist to ask if we should look for one on the mainland.  His response: “Absolutely not.  We’ll see you in January.”

Great…

We don’t actually see the sunset from our condo because of the side of the building we are on, but here is a cool reflection of the sunset in the eastern sky.

Here is an artsy picture of Julia in the pool, taken from the 2nd floor balcony.

Today was one for the memory book!  Whit and I planned a fishing trip and we had the boat driver pick up the children along with us so that we could drop them at school on our way to fish.  Pretty cool bus stop, huh?

Island Academy has their own dock, so we can just drop them there and they walk right in the gate!  I think we may have to do this at least once a week.  It’s far more pleasant than the golf cart ride.

Now for the fishing!  This was our first chance to get out on the water since we’ve been in Belize.  It was amazing.  We motored over to far south of the island and our guide threw the seine net to catch sardines for bait.  Whit was the spotter and found the schools of fish as the guide tossed the net.  I couldn’t see a thing.  Clearly, fish spotting is not my gift.  HOWEVER, I did catch the first (and biggest) fish!  A 25lb barracuda!

Our guide was kind enough to filet it for us and Whit and I had some of it for supper.  It was amazing, if I do say so myself.  Of course the kids didn’t eat it…

I’ll tell y’all about my sailing lesson tomorrow!

Not much to report today.  Just mundane living in paradise…school, grocery store, commuting, etc.  I did have a great meal at our dinner last night to celebrate the first day of school – whole grilled snapper!  Elvi’s Kitchen continues to be our favorite restaurant in San Pedro.  Maybe I’ll be able to cook like this some day.  I asked if I could help out in the kitchen!  Tomorrow, we are taking the children to school in a boat and then going fishing ourselves.  Somehow I don’t think mine will look like this.

Today was the first day of school at The Island Academy!  Whit and I picked up Iris at 3pm and it was obvious that her teacher was already smitten.  Iris was all smiles and seemed to enjoy the day.  Iris says her favorite thing about school playing was banana tag at recess.  One hour later, we picked up Sam and Julia.  They will get out at 4pm three days a week because PE is after school.  We were impressed when we pulled up and the boys were running wind sprints!  Sam was drenched.  So much for wearing the same PE clothes all week!  Sam says his favorite thing about school was the fact that they have THREE recesses – one before school, one at snack break time, and another after lunch.  Julia says she loved the lunch and getting to use her new school supplies.  The “school lunch” is brought in by Mr. Lelo (for those Heiskell families reading this, it reminds me of the setup they had with Ms. Kim), whose wife cooks lunch and he brings it in his taxi cab.  On Wednesdays, they have a formal lunch where they have to sit at the table with napkins in lap, eat “real” food with a knife and fork, and converse with the teacher.

I managed to catch a shot of the almost sunrise.  The sun rises around 5am, but I got this one at 6:

We were very excited to go and check out Sagebrush Community Church today.  It’s a church plant out of Albuquerque, NM.  Whit thinks they must have been to the “Drive” conference at Northpoint because it’s so similar in format to our church.  They meet in the movie theatre, and truly, thank GOD, it is air conditioned because it was a brutally hot still day today.

The sermon was fantastic.  The pastor is the son of a Baptist preacher (sound familiar?), so there was a Baptist feel, with a contemporary vibe.  I have to say, I walked out of there full of the spirit!  Look up the writings of JC Ryle on “A Zealous Man burns for one thing.”  Woo doggy, I need that sucker printed on a poster.

After church, what else but to go to Starbucks…oh I mean MARBUCKS, for a frappacino.

I’m happy to say that Whit arrived safely today, so we’ll get to add him to our adventures tomorrow!

Today was orientation day at The Island Academy.  It was blistering hot without a breath of wind.  I thought I would pass out under the palapa.  I was stunned by the number of people in full “business” attire who weren’t even sweating!  We took a little selfie on the bench:

Here is the headmistress, Lady Dixie Bowen addressing the group:

I spent the most time in Iris’s classroom, so I was able to sneak this pick of her in her class.  Typically, they will wear uniforms, but today they got to be casual. There are six students in “first grade,” known as Infant 1 and another 7 students in Infant 2, which aligns with US second grade.  The two grades are in one classroom!!!  I’ll be very curious to see how this works out.  Sam’s class is the same, with the equivalent of 3rd and 4th grades combined.  Same room, but two different curricula.  Julia’s class is all “6th” grade with 11 in the class.

OK, this last one is the money shot.  This is the view from Iris’s classroom (thankfully, the classrooms are air conditioned).  They will play in front of the beach and eat lunch in the palapa in the right side of the photo.

Today we took the ferry to the island next door, Caye Caulker.  It is smaller than Ambergris Caye, where San Pedro is located.  We were basically looking for a relatively inexpensive way to get on a boat.  Caye Caulker is like a movie set, it’s so quaint.  Here we are at the ferry “departure lounge.”

On the ferry:

In Caye Caulker:

Amazing ceviche at the Lazy Lizard.  Of course the kids ate French fries with cokes…

When Whit gets here we’ll have to add our fifth Yates to the picture.