sewing

Some examples of things I have been sewing.... I am particularly proud of the piping on the pillow, I've never done that before.  For the felt flowers I used this tutorial http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2010/1/23/mollys-sketchbook-rose-barrettes.html

fiesta

No Mom, I didn't ride any of the central american rusty death traps also known as "the ferris wheel." 

signs

English is Belize's official language, but for most people living in this part of the country, it's their second if not third language.  This can result in some amusing translations and spellings, which I like to collect.

Daniel and I have discussed this one a lot, and we're pretty sure it's supposed to say "inspired genius"

haha.

I wonder how much the interpreter at this factory in China gets paid?  Also, do they make "house thing," "kid thing,"  "car thing"....?

belize reality

Just in case I give the illusion that the only critters I run into here are cute baby goats and pigs and puppies, I would like to show you what I found in my bathtub.   Fortunately, I saw it before I stepped into the tub. Unfortunately, I had to wait an hour for Daniel to come home and remove it before I could take my bath.

yellow

orange

littlebrownpen, a blog I follow, has a great series of posts with photos of the colors of Paris.  Belize is such a colorful country, so I thought I'd do something similar.
Today: orange.....

chetumal part 3

Like I mentioned, we did a lot of shopping in chetumal, because you really can't get a lot of things in Belize.
Here is some of my stash:

I stocked up on chocolate.  You would not believe how expensive it is here.  I got some fun fabrics, and a bunch of children's books for my neices and nephew.  You also can't get books here.  Wait, no books, no chocolate..... what am I doing in this country????

anyways...  there is this big store in the mall that is like a super wal-mart, with food, household stuff, clothes, basically everything.  Including green sausage.   Yum?

One section of the store  had "international" food, with italian, greek, japanese, etc.  The american section had goldfish crackers, A1 steak sauce, and some of those packs of pasta that come in a box with sauce and stuff.   That was it.  I guess america doesn't have a very good international culinary reputation.

And finally, a shot of Daniel's favorite store in Chetumal

chetmal part 2

One of my favorite things to do in Chetumal is eat.  The street vendors sell some amazing stuff:  bacon wrapped hot dogs with fried onions, tacos, and my favorite:  Corn on a stick.

The vendor has a whole bunch of boiled corn still in it's husk.  He lets you inspect the corn before he starts.

Then he smears cream on the corn......

and then sprinkles it with cheese.  You can also get pepper, but I don't.

And it is soooo good.

kinda messy though.  (I look so intent cause they were dripping on my foot. plus I was hungry.)

chetumal part 1

sugar cane trucks in southern Belize

This past weekend we took a short vacation across the border in Chetumal, Mexico.  This is why we go there: air conditioning, cable tv, hot running water, Italian restaurant, movie theater, malls.  Basically, it is like being in the states only much cheaper to get to.  I had way too much fun dragging Daniel around shopping, but he got to watch 3 world cup games in air conditioned comfort so it all evened out.

We took taxis everywhere in Chet- they are really cheap, but scarier then Belizean taxis, I think because there is more traffic.  This is Daniel's hair standing up on end in terror after we almost ran into another car:

The mall in Chet has a huge movie theater, so we went and saw the latest Twilight movie.  I know.  However, it was made 100% more entertaining by the audience's reactions.  They laughed at everything.  Touching moment when Jacob gives Bella handmade gift:  audience laughs.  Edward tells Bella he won't have sex with her till they are married: audience laughs.  Although some also booed at that part.  Apparently we need some chastity education here.  The subtitles seemed to be pretty close to the dialog, so who knows. 

Daniel debating what purse to buy...

He almost went for that pink fringy one but I talked him out of it.