Well we are still here, waiting for a visa.  We hope to be traveling before the end of the month, but we aren't really in charge of anything at this point, so we don't know for sure.

In the mean time, we are having a bit of a summer vacation in February.  Daniel already started leave and is home, which the girls are just loving.  We are mostly living out of our suitcases, and I have time to thoughtfully pack, store, and get rid of stuff.  We are only bringing 4 suitcases with us, and I'm being very choosy about what stays behind in storage.  Things don't store easily here, between heat, bugs, and moisture.  My brother-in-law will be staying in our house, so our furniture can stay here, and everything else has been winnowed down to a couple dozen tupperware boxes.  I'm looking forward to not being tied down by stuff!

Miss M and Lu like nothing better than being outside, especially if they can help their daddy with chores.  Their daddy is looking forward to the day that he can send them out to do chores on their own....

The girls are growing and changing moment by moment.  Ms M has already outgrown the next up size in shoes that I had planned to take with us.  She's speaking in full sentences, and likes to bust out with random reminders in quiet moments, like "We don't eat soap!"  Truth.  Lu is a perpetual motion machine, and is in trouble the moment my back is turned.  Her favored method currently is dragging a chair over to reach anything out-of-bounds up high-- door latches, the top shelves of the bookcase, the back of the counter.  She is impervious to any method of discipline, which does not bode well for our future.  Both girls are able to count to 10 in English and Spanish, which sounds impressive but actually is because I count at them all the time ("I'll give you to the count of 3 to come over here!!!" ) so mostly reflects on their naughtiness :)  For two-year-olds they are pretty mellow though.  We aren't struggling with temper tantrums, knock on wood.  Crossed fingers for our upcoming looooong flights!

This summer was rough.  Normally the rains start in August, but this year they were late, which means temperatures were out of control.  An article in the paper said this September was the hottest on record for Belize since 1857.

The problem with the heat is that the girls and I just can't escape it.  Our house is so tiny, all of us in one room all day long.  By 9am it is too hot to be outside, so we bounce around the (un air-conditioned) 12X20 ft downstairs, everyone getting a little crazier each day.  Everything edible/throwable/breakable has migrated to above 3 1/2 ft and yet the house still looks like a hurricane has hit it approximately 10 minutes after the girls wake up.  Once a week or so we journey out into the world, for a playdate or a visit to see Daddy at school.  Nowhere is air-conditioned, there is no escape from the 90 degree heat, so these trips (with the in/out of the car carseat wrestling matches, the inevitable toddler faceplants, and the dreaded car seat naps) wipe me out for the rest of the day.   Coping mechanisms have been lots of iced tea (for me) and Disney movies (for them).  Ms M now knows most of the words to the songs from Annie, the Lion King, and Mary Poppins.... which actually I feel is quite an accomplishment for a 2 year old.

I've been reflecting on this summer, though, and I decided I want to remember the good things.  The funny toddler sayings, their weird little quirks.  I have a pretty poor memory, so by writing down the good things and ignoring most of the bad things (AHEM potty training) in a few years I will look back at these toddler years with happiness.  Hopefully.

So on to my babies.  Since Ms M turned 2, her language has exploded.  Every day she tries out new words and phrases, and often Daniel and I turn to each other, puzzled as to where she heard her newest expression.  Her face and expressions are so animated, that even when she is just babbling in baby talk people often ask me what she is saying, convinced maybe she is speaking some other language.  She is quite, quite certain that there are monkeys in the fridge, and points that out to us several times a day.  She belts out show tunes and nursery rhymes, and dances with total freedom.  It's a joy to watch.  She is gentle with babies, but not with her sister.  She takes my face in both hands every night, and gives me a run down of her day in baby babble, often ending with, "monkeys upstairs?"  She talks to herself in third person, saying, "Look Emma, look!,"  She still hasn't figured out the logic of names, and calls pretty much everyone (including Daniel and I) "Tio." (Spanish for uncle).  Lu she has nicknamed Isa.  She is a night owl and a morning grump.

Lu is up, awake, and smiling by 6:30 every morning.  She talks a lot, mostly about her favorite things: flowers, balls, and the cat.  The cat she loves with much physical affection, and the cat really does not reciprocate. She is an independent miss, not really affectionate, but she likes to lean against me when I am sitting on the floor.  She is always dirty, even minutes after a bath.  She eats everything (even non edible things) with gusto.  She is absolutely fearless. When she falls she never cries, just picks herself up and barrels onwards.  She likes to spin in circles until she falls down and walk around the house with her eyes closed.  When you ask for a kiss, she shuts her eyes tight, sucks in her bottom lip, and turns her face up to yours.... which looks like a beaver.  She is obsessed with giving fist bumps, and will circle the room at family gatherings giving bump after bump.  She sits on her sister whenever she gets a chance (revenge I think for all the times her sister sat on her as a baby).  She has the longest eyelashes I have ever seen on a baby.  

So that is us, at the end of the summer.  Hanging on, looking forward to rainy days and cool nights.

Caye Caulker with babies and toddlers

*pictures stolen from my sister's instagram :)

We just got back from a few days in Caye Caulker with my family, and it was so, so good.  This is my second trip to Caye Caulker with babies in tow, and I'm convinced it is the best beach in Belize for babies.  Adults, too, actually.

What makes Caye Caulker special is the area known as the split.  The water here is extremely shallow-- it starts at about 6 inches deep- and the waves are buffered by the reef that surrounds the caye.  Combine this with bathtub warm water, and you have the perfect baby swimming spot.  The girls could have stayed in the water all day.

The lee side of the island doesn't have a nice big cleared area to swim in, but you can find some relatively seaweed free spots if you look around the docks.  This side of the island is blocked from the wind, so there are virtually no waves.  Palm trees grow right to the water's edge, so I was able to sit in a shady part of the water while the girls played.

This time around I think we hit on a pretty good combo of transportation and accommodation.  Last time we took the water taxi from Belize City to the Caye, which is cheaper but takes a few hours.  It was pretty draining. This time we drove to the municipal airport, parked there, and took a literally 10 minute flight to the island.  I was afraid the babies would be scared of the loud engines-- some of the planes are very small and can be loud-- but Lu was so relaxed she fell asleep.  Miss M alternated between looking out of the window and waving to other passengers. Flying from the municipal airport is significantly cheaper than from the international airport-- about half as expensive.   So much better then wrestling a toddler on a speedboat for 45 minutes!  (My fellow Belizean blogger Laurie has Tropic Air discount codes on her flights to Belize page, email her for a 10% off code.  Maya Air also flies the same route, and is a bit cheaper.)

We stayed at Costa Maya, right near the split, and it took us about a minute to walk down to the swimming area each morning.   I wanted a place with a little kitchen and this hotel was great-- clean and quiet, with nice big modern rooms.  I would definitely stay here again.  We've stayed in nice places farther down the island, but it is such a production to haul babies and gear to the water that we hardly ended up swimming-- which rather defeats the purpose of going to the beach. This time I could leave everything in the hotel room, not worry about extra diapers or even towels, and hop back and forth easily.   There are a couple of similarly priced hotels right next to Costa Maya that we also looked at,  Barefoot Caribe (looked nice but right across from a rather noisy restaurant) and Blue Wave guest house (no kitchenette).

Next time we go I'd love to hit the slow season in September and October.  Prices are a lot cheaper and there are way less tourists.  We will be back!

I'm linking to everything for those who are interested, these are my own opinions-- no one asked me to review or is compensating me :) 

rain and bunnies

Every year we get a week like this, where it rains all day every day and everything molds.  Crossing the 100 yards of mud to get to the car with 3 little ones in tow becomes an exercise in strategy, strength, and patience.  Rubber boots are a necessity, and a spare "nice" shoes are kept in the car for quick changes in case we go somewhere where boots are a bit gauche.  And the laundry just piles and piles because line drying is impossible in torrential downpours.

But this year, I got a dryer.  Suddenly life is so easy.  I did 5 loads of laundry in 2 days, and everything is DRY.  I'm sure the novelty will wear off eventually, but for now I'm washing everything even when it is raining out. Because I can.

All this rain means the ground is so saturated that water actually seeped up through our concrete floor and flooded our bathroom for a few days.  Of course creatures also are being flooded out of their homes, and often chose our house for a bit of a nice dry vacation.  I'm glad I don't have anyone crawling this year, because the inevitable crumbs that toddlers seem to multiply and spread to every corner are attracting ants like mad.  Then there was the tarantula in my towel incident. I'm still not sure how I spotted the dark spider sitting on my navy blue towel as I was stepping out of the bathtub, since I'm blind without glasses, but I am forever grateful that I did because my next step would have been to dry my hair.  With the towel and tarantula. Ugh ugh ugh.

Not everything that has moved in is gross.  A new batch of baby bunnies were getting a bit cold and damp, so they have taken up residence in a tupperware box on my kitchen counter.

They are indescribably soft.  I don't mind about the lost countertop space, cause I get to pet them whenever I like.  Bunnies are nice stress relief.

Fuego bar and grill, San Ignacio

In Cayo, there are two main categories of restaurant.  You have the places that cater mostly to locals, and your plate of rice and beans is $5.  Then you have the places that cater mostly to tourists, where your plate of rice and beans is $10 but it  has a garnish so it looks a bit fancier.  When I heard about a new restaurant scheduled to open in the Cayo welcome center, I got a bit excited.  This restaurant seemed more current then most  Belizean businesses:  they built hype using a facebook page, and they promised new adaptations of Belizean favorites with a focus on using fresh local produce.

excuse the low quality pics.  I was in stealth mode, trying not to embarrass my husband too much

For my birthday last week we decided to check it out.  We made reservations for 6:30, and of course were running late (Belizean time, anyone?).  Surprisingly we got a very polite phone call at promptly 6:31 asking if we were still coming.  When we walked in, the host greeted us by name (I guess no one else was late?) and escorted us to our table on the deck.  We dressed up a little, and most of the other customers also were nicely dressed. The night was absolutely lovely, and the view of the park was perfect.

The restaurant gave me some decorating ideas.  Instead of importing everything, it looks like they took materials readily available in Belize and used them in new ways.  There is a lot of zinc and colored lights, and along with the white walls and bright macro photos of the farmers market, the overall feeling was modern and fun.  The space is small but they fit a lot in.  The grill is in full view, as are the drink making stations, which is amusing to watch.

we were seated outside, so this is a wonky through-the-window pic

My husband was impressed because the waitresses use an ipod touch to take the orders :) The waitstaff was very attentive and friendly, and even though it was fairly busy service was not slow.  Anyone who has eaten at places in Belize knows how unusual this tends to be, and we really appreciated the service.

The menu definitely was adventurous.  Starters included pigtail wonton, and a dessert option was curry chocolate cake.  Everything really did include some common Belizean element though.  I started off with a cocnutz cocktail, which was a combo of coconut milk, coconut, and rum.  It was amazing.  Since I love getting corn on the stick in Chetumal, I went for the market elote for a starter.  Also really, really good.  The corn had an interesting salsa/ cheese garnish which I fully intend to try and recreate at home.

For my main course I got the special, picanha steak.  Um, wow.  The steak was grilled perfectly, with a crispy-sweet outside glaze and melt-in-your-mouth tender center.

As I'm typing this, I know that readers who have never been to Belize are a little puzzled as to why I am sooo excited about a steak dinner.  Let's just say that when you go outside the rice and beans/ bbq box, you never know what you are going to get.  I can't count the number of times I have gone to a highly recommended restaurant and been so disappointed in the quality of food.  Then I swear we aren't going to waste more money eating out, cause I could cook better at home.  Fuego exceded my expectations.   I  can't speak for touristy areas like the Cayes, but there is no other restaurant in San Ignacio that compares.  The best part is that the prices were extremely reasonable.  It wasn't all perfect-- my husband had a pasta dish, and while the pasta was freshly made, the sauce was overwhelming.   But the rest of the experience was totally worth going back for.  I'm excited to try the short-rib lasagna... and maybe the curry chocolate cake.  Highly recommended!

Details:
hours--closed mondays, 4-11pm
parking-- right behind the restaurant is the new parking lot, $2/ hour.  It is centrally located and easily walkable from downtown Cayo.
reservations-- probably a good idea.  There were a few tables open at 6:30 pm on a Saturday, but it was pretty busy
dress code-- men were wearing polos and khakis, women were wearing casual dresses or nice tops
children--  not good for those who can't sit still on their own.  Some of the tables have high stools, and it is a small space so wanderers would not be appreciated.  No children's menu.
price range-- $5-45 Bz

Caye Caulker

Mom came to visit last week, and we spent the last few days at Caye Caulker.

No matter how many times I come, the first view of the turquoise sea and brillant colors always amazes me.

Mom and I on the roof of our hotel

the view from the roof

We spent our time snorkeling, sea kayaking, eating amazing Italian food, and wandering about taking in the light, the colors, and the sea breeze. We stayed in a hotel with AC and cable, and watched Usain Bolt run.  I took 5 hot showers in 2 days.

It was pretty perfect.

Saturday market and changes.

Things are changing in Cayo.  This is the new "visitor's center," which is located where the bus station used to be in the center of town.  I'm pretty sure that it will include public bathrooms.  This is momentous, people. 

Burns Avenue is the main thoroughfare downtown, and it has been nicely paved with bricks.  Right now they have it blocked off to vehicles, and in the evenings the restaurants bring their tables out onto the street.  It's really nice, I hope they keep it pedestrian only.

Yes, it is now possible to get a can of root beer in Belize.  What next???

quirky things about Belize

Living in Belize can be quite frustrating.  Things take a lot longer to get done then you can ever plan for, things are hard to find, it is ridiculously hot (the forecast for the the next week is 90's every day!).  To stay relatively non-cynical, I try and notice things about Belize that make my day a little lighter.  Here are some amusing things you can find in Belize:

1.  Randomly, there is a great appreciation for lawn art, specifically bushes carved in the shape of something.  Birds seem to be the most popular.

2.  Horses are still an acceptable and rather normal means of transportation.  It's not unusual to drive by a farmer riding his horse on the side of the road, or to find a couple of horses parked in the shade by the market.

3.  "Babes" is commonly used by men and women, (usually) without any bad connotation.  I am always tickled when I am being serious and businesslike at a bank or somewhere, and the large creole lady in charge comes up and says, "Yes babes, how can I help you?"

4.  Continuing with the non-PC Belizean slang,  there is a large Asian population in Belize, and most of the grocery stores and chinese restaurants are owned by this community.  Belizeans thus refer to all grocery stores and chinese restaurants as "the chinese." (I have to admit I was rather appalled by this when I first came here and stuck to 'grocery store' but... it is a cultural thing and not meant maliciously.) Also, the favorite thing to get from chinese restaurants is fried chicken (I don't know either).  So this is a common phrase: I'm going to the chinese, do you want a fry chicken?

5.  Police methods are a bit different in Belize.  Instead of  hiding on the roads and catching speeders and other rule breakers sneakily, Police set up check points on the highways to make sure the cars are properly insured and licensed.  This is what I like to call the Belize radar detector:  Someone stands in the back of a pickup, facing forward over the cab.  If he sees a checkpoint up ahead, he bangs on the roof of the cab and the driver stops and turns around. 

6.  Instead of police monitoring vehicle speeds, we have speed bumps.  I would say about 70% are marked in some way, with a sign or with yellow paint.  The rest... you have to have sharp eyes, or know where they are.  This is probably only amusing to people like me who have a weird sense of humor, and find it funny when a non- local comes zooming by and hits a speed bump...

A short history of me

I started keeping this blog to give my family some idea of what my life is like, but now it looks like more people then just a few friends and my mom are reading, which is great! (Thanks Grace for the link!) And I bet people are wondering, why does this girl keep talking about goats?  And where the hell is Belize anyways?  Below is a bit of a sketch of my life, to catch everyone up.

-I grew up in a small town in the States, but NOT on a farm.  The last few years have been a bit of a crash course.

-I went to college at Franciscan University of Steubenville, which is an awesome place. (And for FUS grads, cause I know you are wondering, I wasn’t in a household.  I was in Honors, though.  That’s probably why I still feel compelled to read books and then write about them.)

-My senior year, I went on a medical mission trip to Ecuador.  It was the first time I had ever seen extreme poverty close up…. and when I got back I knew things had changed, and I couldn’t keep living the same way.  I decided to take a year after graduation and do mission work.

- But Hey!  It turns out it is really hard to find volunteer positions abroad in medicine (my preferred field) when you just have an undergrad bio degree.  Luckily, my friend Alison also had a life changing mission trip experience and was headed to Belize… and asked me to think about coming along.

- Yeah, the Belize thing is a teaching position—like teaching actual high school students.  I was not very interested, to put it mildly.  But nothing else came through, so I decided to try one year.

-I’ll give you a sec to google Belize.  I didn’t know where it was either.  I was told everyone spoke English, so I figured I was set!

-Haha.  My first semester was spent teaching 70 sophomore boys biology.  Much craziness ensued… and then I decide to commit to a second teaching year.

-Later that year, all the teachers in the entire country went on strike, and school was closed.  Bored, a bunch of teachers and I start spending time at the farm of the agriculture teacher… named Daniel.

-We start dating when I return for a second year.

-I went back to the States for 2 years, and we dated long distance. Then we get engaged.

-In one week, I graduated from my Physician Assistant program, move to Belize, and got married.  That was quite a week.

-We built a tiny, tiny house on Daniel’s family’s farm… and over the years have acquired cows, horses, chickens, guinea hens, rabbits, and an obnoxious amount of goats. Life here is very, very different.

-And that brings us to now….

So any more questions? Leave a comment  and say hi…. I’d love to know who is reading.  And if I know you already, what's new?

a visit to the museum of belize

I've wanted to visit the Museum of Belize for a while, mostly because I'm fascinated by the fact that it used to be a prison.  Look how gorgeous this old building is! You would never suspect it was a prison.  Besides the Mayan ruins, there aren't many historical buildings in Belize.... probably because wood doesn't last too long in the tropics, especially when said buildings get hit by hurricanes.

The bricks were brought over as ballast in ships, then recycled into buildings.  I haven't seen many more brick buildings in Belize, so perhaps all the bricks were used here?  Who knows.  But it held up well during hurricane Hattie, when most of Belize city was flattened.

This was a cell.  I could stand in the middle and touch both walls.  Apparently for punishment the window was covered, and the cell would be dark.

I found this prison menu from 1870 quite interesting-- apparently they weren't big on fruits and vegetables back then, which seems strange because of all the fruits and veggies that grow so easily here.  The only veggie was the onions added to the soup on Sundays!

The museum also has some Mayan artifacts, though the majority of things are in museums in other countries (I was actually quite surprised at how few artifacts there were).  Mayans valued jade-- but I had no idea they actually inserted jade into their teeth.  I cringe just thinking about the anesthetic-free drilling that must have been involved.   

This is cool- it is a prehistoric GIANT SLOTH leg bone, found about 15 minutes from where I live.  I wish we still had giant sloths here.

The other reason why I've wanted to visit this museum is their bug and butterfly collection.  It is impressive-- made even more so by the fact that all of it was collected by a mom and her 3 sons.  The only disappointment was that the labeling was very general, and didn't give specific names.

I would love to know what these are called.  They were beautifully iridescent.

 

These are some of the variations of the Sulfa butterfly.  They are very common here.



And some of the many, many bugs that can be found in Belize.  For my amusement, I put a little butterfly stamp on those bugs that I have personally encountered.  See the one on the bottom with a purple stamp on it?  That is a tarantula wasp.  It eats tarantulas. I saw one dive bombing a tarantula in my front yard once.  And we won't talk about my encounters with scorpions (marked with a green stamp), I have to mentally block it else I'd probably run screaming to the airport. 

Prince Harry and politics, past and present

driving through Succotz

 Prince Harry is coming to Benque and Succotz this weekend.  Or, as officially reported, he will be attending an art exibit at the immigration facilities and exploring Xunantunich with children from the Belize special olympics. It all sounds very fancy... much more so then saying he will be at the border crossing in Benque (with art provided by local school children) and then take a little tour of the ruins in Succotz :)  I'm considering some sort of installation in my front yard, since you can see my house from Xunantunich.  Perhaps some goats eating a British flag?  Cows wearing outrageous hats?  I haven't decided yet if I will hang out at the grocery store in Succotz Saturday -- the store happens to be near the ferry to Xunantunich, so I would certainly get a glimpse of the Prince and his crew.  There is just something fascinating about royalty, I guess... but I'm especially fascinated by the juxtaposition of a figure I've seen in magazines with the humble little village I pass though every day.  I wonder if security will stop the ladies from doing their saturday laundry washing in the river?

vast amounts of red paint have been used to paint every single telephone pole in Cayo

Belize's General election is next week, and the two parties' colors are red and blue, which means the country is looking quite festive for a visit from British Royalty. The Prince's visit will be commemorated with a street in Belmopan being renamed for the Queen, and the unveiling of a new set of postage stamps with pictures of the Queen.  I find this deliciously ironic, since Belizeans are quite vocal with their opinions that all problems in Belize can be traced to it's colonial past.  Never mind that Belize has been independant for 30 years, and self-ruling for years before that.  Also never mind the huge, huge amounts of corruption present in politics.  For example, politicians are pretty open about  buying votes.  What can they do for you?  Some land, pay some tuition, or how about just cash?  The elections were actually called an entire year early, because the opposition party is currently in disarray, so the party in power openly decided to take advantage and hold the elections while the opposition is at their weakest.  It doesn't seem very sporting... It is also interesting to compare the election process here to that of the primaries in the States.  The date for the general election was set only about a month ago, so candidates have been scrambling.  There are no endless tours, or debates. Candidates don't really seem to have positions on issues. Sadly, the only questions for most are what will you give me? And are you red or blue?

ufo

unidentified fruit object

I have no idea what this is, but apparently it was planted on purpose by one of the farm workers, as it is a homeopathic cure for something.  I'm guessing it's a homeopathic cure for astronauts.  Or aliens.

how to ride a bus in Belize

I’m in the process of convincing Daniel that it would be a great idea to take a bus trip through central America this summer, and I was looking at some blogs from expats for helpful travel tips.  Then it occurred to me, hey, I’m and expat and could give helpful tips! So, first up, a topic that I’m pretty good at: Riding Buses: more then you ever wanted to know.

-Buses are a really cheap way to get around Belize, and they go everywhere the highway does.  Don’t expect fancy air-conditioned models, you will be riding in an old school bus, which often still sports that little fold out stop sign.  People sit 2 adults to a seat, and add as many kids as can squish.

-You can get on a bus at a bus station in town, or stop a bus as it goes down it’s route.  Buses have boards in the front that display the end destination, but not the stops.  So ask the driver if your town is on the route.  For example, buses headed West out of Belize City will say “Benque” in the window.  These buses will stop anywhere along the western highway when requested, and make longer stops in Belmopan and San Ignacio before the route ends in Benque. 

-There are two types of bus, express or stop-stop buses.  An express bus will not stop to pick up or drop off passengers along the route.  This can be a huge difference—for example, the express bus from Benque to Belmopan takes about an hour.  A regular bus can take anywhere from 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours.  Express buses are usually identified by a sign in the front window.

- To board a bus from the side of the road, stand on the side where traffic is going the same direction you want to go.  Watch for a bus in the distance. When you see a bus, start waving your arm at it.  When it stops, jump on quickly and start moving down the aisle, but hang on tight cause it will start moving right away.  If buses go by without stopping, don’t be discouraged- it might have been a private or express bus.  One will come along eventually.

- If you have a huge huge backpacker backpack, be polite and get in through the back door so you don’t knock everyone on the way down the aisle.  Or give it to the conductor and he will put it away for you.

- You get your ticket AFTER you get on the bus.  The conductor will come down the aisle collecting the money.  Tell him where you are going and he will tell you the price (try to have small bills, less then $20US).  You may not get an actual ticket but the conductor will remember you.

- Guess what? Paying DOES NOT guarantee you a seat!  Sometimes you will have to stand in the aisle.  Sometimes the aisle will be so jammed packed with people that you can’t even move, which is good cause when the bus stops fast you won’t fly too far.  If you are standing, hold on to the seat.  Don’t try to be all suave and think you can just balance.  This is how you end up in people’s laps.  I may know this from experience. 

- Ok, stopping.  This is where it gets complicated.  If you need to stop along the road (instead of at a station where the bus normally stops) you have to signal this somehow to the conductor and driver. This means you yell, whistle, or pound the roof of the bus loud enough to be heard by the driver.  Or you can wimp out like me and always sit near the front of the bus, and then politely ask the driver to stop.  Wait till the bus actually stops before you stand up though, you don’t want to go hurtling through the windshield. 

-That's all! I might continue these posts if I'm bored some day... I could do "catching a taxi" and "grocery shopping in the third world."  I'm quite the expert.  Any requests?

snapshots

Sometimes I don't realize how random my life is until I download pictures from my camera.

Some things I have been up to in the new year:

This is an agouti, or gibnut, a nocturnal animal about the size of a cat.  One of Daniel's cousins caught it.  This animal is legendary in Belize because it was served to Queen Elizabeth when she visited years ago.  I had never seen one in real life, and my first thought was, they served this to the Queen??  It is closer in relation to a rabbit, but it mostly looks like a large rat.  You know those urban legends about 15 pound Mexican rats?  Right here.  The thing GROWLED at us the entire time.  Freaky.

There is a village down from the farm that you can't get to by road.  Instead, there is a bouncy wood suspension bridge.  I wanted to take a picture from the middle of the bridge but I was too busy hanging on.  And we won't talk about the gaps where boards had broken.  Villagers ride their BIKES over this.

We went to visit one of Daniel's student's family.  This is an example of what an outdoor kitchen looks like here.  They are very common.  It makes sense to have your stove/ fire outside in the heat.  The fire hearth is made of cement or clay which is formed on top of a wooden platform so it is comfortable to reach.

This little guy was born prematurely right before Christmas.  It is chilly here (50's at night) and his mom didn't have any milk, so we moved him into the house to bottle feed him.  

Actual conversation at Christmas dinner with my in-laws:

my niece:  I got to bottle feed the baby goat at Tia Cathleen's today!

other aunt: (teasing) Eeeww! You stink like the goat shed!

me: Actually, she wasn't in the goat pen, the goat is in our living room, haha!

table: ....(silence)....

And to bring home the point that not everywhere is accessible by car, here is an alternate form of river crossing.   This was fun-- they have a line set up, and you pull yourself across the river in a dory.  I'm sure it's not quite as fun when it is rainy and the river is high, but we did see a river otter, so that makes up for a lot, right?