Bella Takes the Plunge

It's Friday. While others celebrate the coming of the weekend, I know Friday is dreaded "bath day." I pretty much know it's coming when I've turned the exact same color as the beach, but as my favorite singer, Gloria Gaynor, says, 

"As long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive.
I've got all my life to live,
I've got all my love to give and I'll survive.
I will survive!"

Tom and his bicycle have done it again. We let him loose for about an hour this afternoon to do whatever he wanted. (You can read that as "run errands.") The national softball champs from San Pedro High School were playing a game against the boys from Belize City as Tom took his usual shortcut across the city soccer field. Although usually clueless, this time he noticed, as he was midway across, that he was directly between the batter and the center fielder. Shouting "hurry up" to Tom on a bicycle, I assure you, is a total waste of time. He was too embarrassed to stick around to see who won the game.

German Schoolteacher in Belize

  German Schoolteacher 

Here's a shout out to "Irmi" from Germany who stopped by late this afternoon. She has been traveling for about six months in Latin America while on sabbatical from her job teaching elementary school children. After six months in Latin America, she is not particularly interested in returning to school children--or, for that matter, even Germany. People have moved to Belize for reasons less good than that!

And another shout out to Lisel Alamilla, the Belizean Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and Sustainable Development, who has been named as a finalist in one of the world’s most prestigious wildlife competitions, the  Whitley Awards, for her work promoting the Mayan Ya’axché Conservation Trust. Trust me, it's a big deal! See www.whitleyaward.org. And, besides, I'll bet your Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and Sustainable Development isn't nearly as pretty as Lisel!

Passport Alert: Due to his ever-increasing interest in "Bella in Belize,"  my Uncle Aaron from the Woodlands, Texas, is finding himself drawn to San Pedro and is actually in the process of getting his passport. This is of particular interest since it took Uncle Aaron over twenty years to get his rear end out of Missouri. And that is of particular interest since great portions of Missouri are gravitational "black holes" which effectively prevent its residents from ever going anywhere. We look forward to introducing Aaron to Irmi from Germany and the dance contest at Fido's. It won't be pretty, but they'll probably win. By the way, my Uncle Craig is a dud [that's dud, not dude] who isn't remotely interested in leaving his couch. Way to go, Craig.

The tourist scene has slowed a little bit following Spring Break, but there is still the Friday night half-price tacos and margaritas at Caliente's. They have really great food and chair swings in the bar. How cool is that? Here's a photo taken last Mother's Day to prove the place has class. Unsurprisingly, the momma in the middle won.

Well, auf wiedersehen. Y'all come visit. We'll arrange for a tour of the Mayan ruins on the mainland and still save you a swing chair at Caliente's. You're gonna love Belize!