Settling In

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 25^th.  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.