Hopkins

There is an interesting paradox in Belize (and I’m sure many other places).  Tourists want authenticity in their travels, and so they search out new, “undiscovered” places.  But it turns out that real life mostly isn’t all that tourist-friendly, with people living their ordinary home/ work/ eat/ sleep lives on bumpy dirt roads with  no AC and nothing much to do after dark.  So slowly these little towns change, with fancier restaurants and airconditioned hotels and  lots of tours on offer.   People get jobs, and travelers are comfy, so it mostly works out well.

Hopkins is definitely a  town in transition from sleepy fishing village to tourist beach destination. I was last in Hopkins almost 10 years ago, and the bus ride from the main road into the village was one of the most horrible bumpy hour I have ever spent traveling.  Now construction is underway on a smooth, wide road and access is much easier.  

All throughout town I noticed changes--  nice new grocery stores, tons of new places to eat, tours and shops to entice tourists.  It seems Hopkins is well on it's way to becoming the new Placencia or Caye Caulker.

For now, though, it it still pretty quiet.  Tourists haven't completely taken over.  Early mornings the main road is mostly empty, with a few cars mixed with lots of bikes.

Hopkins is a Garifuna village, and I was quite charmed when I noticed school uniform for little girls is a traditional Garifuna dress.   (Here is the official Garifuna council web site for more info on this culture, and a nicely concise Wikepedia page).

The village of Hopkins is quite small- only 3 streets wide and about a 25 minute walk long.  In the picture above, I'm standing on the roof of our hotel which was on the beach.  The yellow house in the picture marks the inland border of the town.

Right now there is one primary school in the town, and no high school.  A few years ago we would get students from Hopkins all the way at Mount Carmel (about a 3 hour car ride), but now students can go to some newer high schools less then an hour away.

It was interesting to walk around, and notice all the changes.  There is a lot of contrasts, with nice new concrete hotels next to old one room wooden houses on stilts.  Hopkins won't be the same place even a few years from now.  I think the village has a good chance of keeping it's unique culture and spirit though.  New jobs from more tourism are keeping young people in the village, when before most left to go to school and get jobs.  

It's a peaceful place, and a nice place for families to travel.

Even if sand is an insult to one's person.....

life in pictures

1. Lu got baptized.  Father John allowed us to have it during teacher's mass (every week all the Mount Carmel teachers go to Mass on Thursdays after school) and it was just perfect.  Such a wonderful community celebration.  And after, we had Dona Betty make her famous pizzas, and everyone feasted on pizza and homemade fresh ice cream and cupcakes.  Welcome little Lu!

2. RASPBERRIES.  They are not something you find in Belize anywhere.  Last year we were surprised to find a Mennonite nursery selling a tropical variety, and got a couple of bushes.  This seems to be the time of year for berries.  I'm only getting a handful at a time, but I'm freezing them so maybe in a year or two I'll have enough to make some jam :)

3.  Miss M has a problem with that other baby getting a bottle when she does not.  She is also fascinated by Lu's eyelashes, which has resulted in several unfortunate eye-poking encounters.  

4. Don't worry, Lu's fine. Those eyelashes are pretty tempting though.

5.  Morning view, with guinea hen

6. This is some kind of toucannette (Daniel told me but I am horrible with bird names). This pair apparently loves papaya, and spent several mornings devouring the fruit which was conveniently located just a few feet from my window.  They are just glorious to watch.  

7. Bonus toucan shot.  Isn't he a gorgeous fellow?

linking up with Jen for 7 quick takes today.

dairy-ing

Our goats are producing a ton of milk this year.  Last year we had enough to drink and for the Babe's bottle, but this year we are getting 2 1/2 liters a day.  Thats a lot of milk. It's a rather fantastic problem to have.

  I finally  made some good batches of chevre, which I had tried multiple times in the past with no luck.  This year, I watched a very zen cheese-making video on youtube, and then made my first batch.  It was SO easy once I learned the proper technique.  I find myself saying that a lot about making things from scratch.

This is how you make cheese:  warm milk, add culture and rennet, let sit for 12 hours.  Drain whey, let drip in cheesecloth for 8 hours.  Done.  Told you it was easy.

This house is stuffed full of baby things.  I needed a way to hang the cheese to drip, and this mobile was handy, so....

I'm also making 2 or more batches of yogurt a week, and I still have extra milk.  So I'll be branching out to frozen yogurt, custard, yogurt muffins...  anything I can think of. 

fresh yogurt.  We add  jam for flavor

chevre

I'm kinda surprised at how much I like cheese-making, I guess it was always  a mystery, and figuring it out has been quite satisfying.  Eating the cheese is even more satisfying :)

This one has developed a deep love for yogurt.  Besides the eating part, she also likes to use it as a belly rub and hair conditioner.  Yum.

traveling in Belize with small children

I think at this point I can say I know something about this topic, right?

First, let's start with the good stuff. The most important thing to remember when you are hauling little kids around Belize is that, pretty much across the board, Belizeans love kids.  When your toddler is fussing, rather then getting dirty looks from those around you, someone is more likely to hand your baby a cookie with a smile and an encouraging word. (This has actually happened to me several times).   Don’t be surprised if grannies come up to you and ask if they can hold your baby for a bit.  At the parish I have gone to for years, there are still kids that I am not quite sure who their parents are, because during Mass they are passed around from person to person, with everyone getting a chance to fuss over them a bit.

That being said, it is also important to understand that Belize’s standards of hygiene and safety are very different then places like the states.  For example, there is no law requiring car seat use, or even seat belt use in the back seats.  Water and food-born parasites are extremely common here, so extra caution should be taken with young eaters. There are few conveniences like shopping carts or parking lots, and most of all, it is HOT.

So how do I do it?  Sheer determination to get out of the house, preplanning, and a method.

First, car seats.  I use them, but most other people don't, and like I said that is not against the law. Rental companies here mostly do rent car seats, but I wouldn’t count on it being a nice new model.  If you will be in Belize a while, it is worth it to buy a car seat. New car seats are extremely expensive and hard to find, but there are a few places that sell used car seats for between $50-70 Bz.  The Boundary store in Orange walk usually has the biggest selection.  If you plan on picking up a used seat, do your research before hand to know the best models and what parts should be included, because if there is a strap missing or it is a 3 point harness instead of 5, it is up to you to know that.

I try to avoid situations in which I do not drive my own car or have a car seat, but sometimes it happens.  If I have to ride in a taxi or bus or water taxi with no car seat, I strap a baby in my front carrier and then use the lap seatbelt for myself (if there is one).  I figure it’s better then just holding her in my lap even though it’s far from ideal.

When I have all the kiddos with me, I only go to the few grocery stores that have carts.  Using a stroller inside isn't practical, cause the aisles are often narrow or filled with boxes.  I  also like to park in the new lot behind the welcome center in Cayo, which allows me to use a stroller because it has sidewalks straight to the market. However, there are a few places in Belize that are stroller friendly. Sidewalks are fairly rare-- even on part of Burns Ave, the center street in Cayo, there are no sidewalks so I have to push the stroller in the street while avoiding potholes.  Not fun. Those big-wheel jogging strollers can come in handy over rough roads but are nearly impossible to find here. I also have a baby backpack with an attached leash for my toddler in case we need to walk along busy streets. 

As for supplies, diapers and wipes are easy to find anywhere.  If your little one is potty training or newly potty trained, consider going back to diapers for a bit when you are out.  Public toilets are few and far between here, and some of those are so disgusting that I would never take a child in.  Always carry wipes, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper, because many restrooms will not have toilet paper or hand soap.  You won't find changing tables anywhere, so bring a changing pad with you.  

If your baby is on a special formula, bring it because formula selection is limited to about 5 kinds, mostly nestle.  Healthy snacks can also be a challenge.  You won’t find prettily packaged toddler organic snacks here.  When we are out and about, I stick to crackers, cheerios, and small boxes of raisins.  I try and bring water with me for the kiddos, but all grocery stores sell bottled water if I forget.  

I think that is about it.  When I bring people with me, they are always surprised at how exhausting it can be.  Most of this is just due to the heat-- imagine moving babies from car seats to strollers to carriers and back when it is 90 degrees outside, then repeat 4 more times because there is no mega store where one stop has everything.  And by the way, there is no AC anywhere.  Bringing help is great, and being reasonable about how much time things will take and how much the kiddos can handle is essential.  

and now, for the rest of the story....

(Anyone else listen to Paul Harvey on road trips growing up or am I the only one who will get this post title?)

The Babe's social worker came to our house to give us the news that he would be going back to his family.  We had a pretty good idea that it was coming; the social worker seemed enthusiastic about the Babe's family's efforts over the past few months, and had told us the judge would not consider his foster family at all in the court's decision.  But still, we held on to a little bit of hope.  When we heard the decision, I lost my breath and felt numb at the same time.  So you can imagine we weren't really in the right state of mind for what she told us next.

Social has been inundated with children this month. We need homes.  Are you interested in a newborn?

My husband and I are Catholic, and believe that marriages should be open to new life.  Our situation has turned out a bit different from most families who have to consider adding another biological child to their family, but we try and follow the same guidelines.  We have actually never "gone looking" for babies (besides signing up for fostering), but somehow babies keep coming.  When we get a call that there is a baby that needs a home, our question is: do we have any grave reason not to accept this child?

We need a little time to think about it, we said.

To add to our emotions, in December we had been in the exact same situation.  We got a phone call-- there is a baby due in a week and the people who were going to adopt have backed out.  Would you be willing to adopt this baby?  At that point we had a 2 1/2 year old and a 7 month old.  I had a ticket to go to the States a week after the due date to take my boards.   We took 2 days to decide: Yes.  We will take him. 5 days later he was born.

He was with us for 2 days, we gave him the perfect name and admired his 5 dimples and fattened him up.  Then we got a call: his birth mother changed her mind. We had to give him back.

In Belize, the mom has 90 days after the child's birth to change her mind about adoption.  In that time, the adoptive family can care for the child, but has no right to keep the baby if the mom decides she made the wrong decision.  We knew this, but were still quite blindsided by her decision.  No one had been given any indication that she was uncertain about her decision at any time.  But we had no legal rights to him, so the day after we got the phone call we handed him back to his mom.

So as you can imagine, we had a lot to think about when the social worker told us about the newborn.  This new baby most likely would eventually be up for adoption, but there is always a chance it won't happen.  We will be sad about our little Babes, and oh by the way we have an 8-month old and I babysit a 2 1/2 year old 5 days a week.

And.... a week after our Babes went to his family, we went to the city to pick up little Lu :)

So this is our life right now.  It is crazy and I seriously question my sanity at least once a day, usually when everyone is crying at the same time.  The pace is a lot different, more "I-need-more-hands" then "little-boy-with-SO-MUCH-ENERGY." Another challenge has been getting out of the house with three under three.  The current solution is front pack, stroller, and leash, although sometimes I end up carrying the stroller occupant....while still wearing the baby in the carrier.  I'm getting a good workout.

 Lu and Miss M are 7 1/2 months apart.  Hopefully both of them will be with us forever.  I can't wait till they are old enough to play together, I am so excited to have 2 little girls who are almost-twins.

I hope this explains a bit also why we don't let friends know ahead of time our plans.  It can be so uncertain, and it just makes it that much harder to have to send emails and explain that we don't have our baby any more...  we are excited, and want to tell everyone, but we need to be sensible.  With Lu our parents didn't even know till the evening after we got her! I can't imagine we will be adding more kiddos anytime soon, cause two babies and a toddler seem to be our limit.... give us a year or two to recover.

catching up, and a story

So many things have happened in the last few months that getting stung by a scorpion, something that should rate an epic post based on my past history of talking about every critter I encounter, seems unimportant.

So let's start.

I passed my boards in December (thank goodness, now I have another 10 years to forget everything I learned again).

We also learned in December that our little Babes, who had been with us a year and a half, would probably be heading back to his family soon.  Then early in January we got the call, and he headed to his new (old) home.

Because of privacy concerns, I have never talked about being foster parents here on the blog.  We probably won't be getting into another long-term fostering situation any time soon,  so I feel like I can be a bit more open about things.  And maybe I can be a source of information for others who are interested in learning more, because there really isn't a lot out there about Belize's system.

Belize's foster system is probably a lot like every country's, in that it is government run and holy cow it can be super frustrating to try and work with the system.   It's just a fact, and anyone who wants to get into fostering needs to know that up front, and have a really solid reason to become foster parents, because sometimes you will need to repeat that reason like a mantra to keep from poking your eyes out with a spoon in frustration.  We decided to become foster parents as a sort of ministry, I guess you could say.  I am trained in health care but am unable to work in Belize, and I wanted to find another area to serve.  I've already worked with teenagers, and I felt like my husband and I could offer something to the littlest needy ones. So we signed up to foster children two and under (we figured we could squish a couple of tiny ones into our tiny house :)  There is a process of interviews and paperwork to go through, and then they called and asked if we could take our Babes.  We said yes.

We saw him grow from a shy little baby, to a giggling crawler, to a tantrum-throwing 2-year-old, to a confident, crazy, athletic, and caring little boy.

And then we had to let him go.

In Belize there aren't enough foster parents, so those kiddos who can't stay with their families are put in children's homes, which unfortunately tend to be overcrowded. I can't imagine the challenges of running a children's home, and I'm sure those in charge do their best.  But I believe that if it is possible, a child should be with a family.  That is what we think about when we are sad about our little guy.  We gave him a family when he needed one.  We accept the sadness as our price to pay for his comfort and safety and happiness.

We are still foster parents, but we have chosen to move towards adoption and foster-to-adopt for the moment.  Perhaps in a few more years we will go back to long term fostering.

As for the scorpion sting.... short story is it was in my closet, on my skirt, and stung my STOMACH when I went to put the skirt on.  It felt like a needle punched into my belly.  I panicked and googled and then was quite relieved to find out that scorpions here aren't much more dangerous then a bee sting.  My lips did go numb for 4 hours though...

This update is not over, more to come....

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.