The flights to Belize went fabulously. Kids were very well behaved, and it
didn’t hurt we had two computers to help occupy the time. It took 3 flights to reach the town of
Dangriga where we now live. The
last flight was on a tiny Cessna.
Baxter loved the plane, he could actually see the propellers warming up
as we were boarding. We took off,
stayed low, landed 5 min later to pick up a couple of people and drop off some
mail. Then we took off, flew for
about 10 minutes and landed on a very narrow dirt strip. We got off and were greeted by
the local LDS missionaries. They
had treats for the kids and a church member there to drive us to our hotel.
I wish I had pictures of the hotel we stayed at the night we
arrived. We stay in a budget
room. Lets just say it was more
like camping in a primitive hut than sleeping in a room J.
The next morning we learned how early the town gets going. Due to the hot sun coming up at 5am
people are up and moving early.
All businesses open at 8 or 8:30 where as in the States they open at 9
or 10. So, at 8 am we hit the
pavement and were immediately soaked with sweat. Our mission was to locate the guys who had a key to our new
place. So we asked around and
followed some directions the missionaries gave us.
We have been in our place for 4 weeks and are getting used
to the area. Our current house
turned out not to be such a great deal so we are moving across the street on
the 25th. The kids are
going to school in the mornings. They enjoy it so far and have made a lot of
friends. Everywhere we go people shout hello to the kids. Baxter is like a town
pet. Everywhere we go, kids approach Baxter and pat him on the head.
But after school is over, it’s a struggle to stay busy (and
if you know Scout, you know she HAS to be busy all the time). It is just too
hot to play outside in the middle of the day. People start coming outside around 3:30 or 4 (more about
this later). That is when a breeze
picks up and the sun starts it’s early descent. Nighttime officially starts at
6:00pm. Almost everyone takes a very long lunch break in the middle of the
day. The school kids even go home
for 1.5 hrs! The school day is
over at 2:30 and you will find hundreds of kids wearing uniforms finding there
way home. Now back to people
coming outside…it is so strange.
The little kids (4, 5 years old) come home from school and have to do
homework, then they don’t come out to play. The majority of them for some reason have to stay inside
watching TV and just sitting. Kids that are old enough to take care of
themselves (10 yrs or so) typically are allowed out to play. They really aren’t allowed to go further
than the porch most days. Saturday
is a different story, all the kids some out around 3 and play. Sunday is quiet
most everywhere in town.
Cedric is getting into a groove at work. He works from 7 to 4 and it is very
leisurely compared to any legal internship in the States. He works alone most of the time, but a
couple of days a week he does see his supervising attorney. He also gets to travel to Belize City
and other areas via the Cessna a few times a month.
Enjoy these pictures.
Pictures of our house are soon to come.
