saturday at the market, main street

This is what Cayo's main street looked like a few weeks ago:

Why yes, the ONLY path through the construction was under the backhoe.  No pedestrian ramps to be seen.

Also notice the large hole on the left, totally lacking in fencing.  It went down about 10 feet.  I checked.

One of those only-in-Belize moments, where americans just shake their heads at lost lawsuit opportunities.

hey look!

I added a page for book reviews and a page for recipes-- see the links up there next to 'home' and 'about'?  Just in case you are looking for something to read or eat.

Did you know rice and beans goes really well with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce?  Belizeans take their rice and beans seriously.  No meal is complete without it, even Thanksgiving :)

thoughts

* Really, having electricity is amazing.  Refrigeration! Irons! WASHING MACHINE.  I seriously did about 7 loads of laundry the first week we had electricity.  Curtains, rugs, pillow covers-- everything is now clean.  The cat went into hiding.

*with the refrigerator now working, somehow the grocery store stars aligned, and I was able to find sliced turkey and pickles.  This resulted in my all time favorite sandwich of turkey, cheese, mayonnaise, and pickles.  This is the first time I have ever been able to find all the ingredients here!

*However, I can now say I feel a bit more relaxed about food safety.  I mean, I left spaghetti sauce with meat out for almost 24 hours one day (pre-working fridge) and it was fine.  The secret is boiling and covering (thank you Dr Pasteur).  Who wants to come for dinner?

*I made the most amazing from-scratch fudge brownies the other day and gave one to Fr John.  The superiority of the brownies was confirmed yesterday at the rectory, when several people asked for the recipe when I walked in.  Apparently the brownies are now famous. 

*We are bottle feeding a baby goat named Henry.  He lives in our yard, along with the guinea hens, the 2 rabbits who are loose, and of course the cat.  When I come home at night I feel like Dr Doolittle- I get rushed by goat, cat, and bunnies, all demanding FOOD NOW.

*our male bunny has figured out how to push the back door open.  Sometimes when I am reading on the couch (from which only the top half of the door is visible) the door will silently swing open.  A few minutes later a large white bunny hops by.  Sometimes he is followed by a small goat. 

*this weekend we will be assisting at a fund-raising fair (for a sick boy).  Daniel and I have been put in charge of the blow-up-jumpy-house-thing.  I'm pretty sure Daniel has never been in one.  This should be fun. 

*anyone have any book recommendations? Perhaps some non-fiction to keep my brain from shriveling?

expofair Chetumal

A few weeks ago we went to the Expofair in Chetumal, Mexico.  It's basically like a State fair.  Only the hats are WAY bigger.  

There were animals of course, and we spent lots of time gazing longingly at cows.  And when I say we, I mean Daniel.  I liked this little guy's hairdo.

There was tons of food.  I have no idea what any of this stuff is, I was told they were "sweets."  I was also forbidden to eat anything at the fair by the Belizean family we were with.  They do not trust Mexican food (I wonder if there is much difference between Belizean and Mexican Giardia?).

I did sneak a strawberry popsicle.  Sadly, it did not taste like strawberries.

There was a huge building filled with artisans selling their crafts.  I didn't bring much money, which was a big mistake.  Next year.

And of course there were rides.

I discovered that Daniel had never been on a bumper car!  That needed to be remedied promptly.

I think he liked it.



The night was finished with a round of bull riding. 

So much fun, we will definitely be going back again!

snapshots

Daniel likes birds.  Unfortunately, they don't seem to like us.  We've gone through about a dozen chickens, bantams, and guinea hens over the last 2 years.  Inevitably, they show up mysteriously dead.  Right now we are down to four guinea hens, and I am content to stay at that number.  Daniel would love to add to the flock.... he said this little one fit perfectly on his finger.  A requirement for a chicken, apparently.