Bella Tries Swimming

Yesterday morning was a bit confusing. We walked to the 10:45am service at the church that meets directly over Moncho's Golf Cart Rentals right next to the San Pedro Airport. The place was packed. That means almost all the 30 seats were full. Our friend Anna who was supposed to meet us wasn't there, so, after ten minutes, Shelley left the service and went back downstairs to check on her. That was the end of Shelley's church-going for the day! Hmmm.

Sunday Morning. More tourists arriving.

We didn't see Shelley outside when church was over, so Tom and I walked back home to help get pick things up in preparation for the two o'clock luncheon planned for Karen, Anna and her kids Markitos and Diane, Jason, and Mario. Surprise, again. Shelley wasn't at the house, either. We started making the bed, doing a few dishes, and picking things up for the get-together. 

Around 1:30, I started running the accident/hospital scenarios through my mind. Tom still doesn't have a local phone (by choice), but we figured someone would contact us if there had been a major problem. Out of desperation, Tom and I started eating some scraps of cheese and bread in the refrigerator since we had no authorization to eat the delicious food that had been earmarked for lunch. (Nobody wanted to actually go to the clinic to check on accident victims.) 

"No problem, mon, no problem." Just before two o'clock, Anna with her children, and Shelley sauntered in. We learned that Anna had been late getting to church, and so they decided it would be better to go with the kids to Estel's for a lovely brunch on the beach than to interrupt the church service. A long brunch, I might add. Since Shelley had already prepared lunch ahead of time, I was surprised to see them carrying in bags of groceries, but I'm always grateful for a good supply of food on hand.

Soon the other guests began to arrive, and we had a houseful. Though Shelley wasn't hungry (hah!), she set out chicken salad (alongside the delicious barracuda fishcakes that Karen brought) and watermelon slices.Five year-old Markitos entertained, endlessly, particularly with a spirited dance which accompanied his version of "dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones!" Another delightful afternoon on the island!

Give me a break!

Afterwards, I decided to join everyone on the beach out front and try a little swimming myself. Well, that was a mistake! When I hit the water, it felt like an electroshock! Cold, wet, salty. Next time I'll just stay on the beach. Besides, after you go swimming, they make you take a bath anyway. What's with that? An hour later I was bathed and dried and combed, but I'm not going swimming again anytime soon. I'll leave that to Allison who is coming to visit. She is looking forward to some ocean swimming in preparation for her next Ironman competition. Don't worry, I'll warn her they're gonna make her take a bath afterwards anyway.


Allison will probably want to meet Anna's husband Mark. He owns "Mark's Personalized Tours" and is the go-to guy for those cave diving and hiking and other "physical" adventures I am happy to pass up. Go to http://www.marksbelizemayantours.com/, Allison, for more information.

So what was all that other food for? Well, we had more company expected later, so Anna, a professional chef, had decided to make dinner for everyone!  We were joined in the evening by Rosie and Gladys and Anna's husband Mark (who was just returning from a cave diving tour on the mainland.) Plus, most of the other luncheon guests decided to stay as well. After all, Anna is a great cook! Stewed chicken, rice and beans, plantains, and cabbage salad made for one terrific and authentic Belizean dinner.

Our front yard

All in all, it was a wonderful Sunday in San Pedro. Except for the swimming part, I think I can get used to living here quite easily. Y'all come visit. We'll lie on the beach--that's better--and visit with new friends, then go visit a Mayan Temple with Mark. You're gonna love Belize!