No, this is not a Honduran love fest or holy religious event. It is a holiday for one. That special one is Jim Henderson. It’s celebrated by two people only, and that would be Jim and me. Matter of fact, I made the holiday up just for Jim.
The Nine Days of Valentineka are the 9 days from February 6th, my birthday, to February 14th, Valentine’s Day, better known here as El Dia de Amor y Amistad (The Day of Love and Friendship). This holiday has been celebrated by the two of us since our first Valentine’s / Birthday together. Jim gives me birthday and Valentine’s presents on the appropriate days, and I give him small presents for nine days. It is our thing. It is nice to have a thing.
Over the years, my birthday was a big deal to me. I mean, I had to make it a big deal. I had the need to celebrate and celebrate big, parties, dinners out, lots of friends, or a trip away was the way to go. If it was not celebrated big, then I was kind of sad. I have been mellowing out since I met Jim, celebrating with just him seems okay. Well, we usually go away for a long weekend, but it is just the two of us! Our plan this year was to go to one of the islands off the coast of Honduras and dive so I could see a sea turtle, but the weather was not going along with our plans and we decided to stay on the mainland last minute instead.
The day, my birthday, went rather uneventfully so very nice. I spent a lot of time reading facebook and email, and all the happy birthday wishes there. Thank you by the way! I even got to have a good IMing session with Patty too. I also called Rina Bo Beana and we chatted it up like I was down the street. And then I called my parents. Have to talk to me Mum on the day she birthed me! I also have to give kudos to my Mother and Step Father because they have been such a huge help. They are not only taking care of our car, but all of our mail and bills too. Not to even mention, what they have done to help us with our computer issues! Thanks guys, we really appreciate your help! Telephone calls to the states, are always quite a treat!
At some point in the early afternoon onthis day I get older we decided to go out in search of a pedicure for my cranky dry feet. We found it and Jim stayed by my side for the 2 hour long process! He insisted he did not want one as well, he missed out! Two hours, now that is a pedicure. She scraped and she scraped and she scraped the dead skin. She then massaged a rough exfoliation cream all over my feet and ankles, and then scraped some more. After a bit of a painful cuticle cutting session, she then went into a lovely foot and leg, all the way up to the back of my knees, massage. Some people just do not know the art of pedicures because they get them regularly, or from the staff’s point of view they want to finish one to get to the next. This woman knew it was an art and I appreciate her in every way. I have been wearing sandals for 5 months now non-stop, many times in hard driving rain, through puddles, in sea water, on dry sandy beaches, and through dirty dusty city and country roads. I now appreciate the art of pedicures like I have never done so before. And the budget traveler in me appreciates that it all only cost $5.00. I can’t wait to tell you about the $7.00 massage, but the place was closed so we have not yet gotten to appreciate that art as of yet.
As a special treat, we had Pizza Hut pizza for lunch. Yes, I know an American chain, argh! But it is the only pizza in town and I wanted pizza…birthday girl should get what she wants, right? After our late lunch, we did not have a lot of time on our hands to relax before our last minute planned get together with some friends. Since we were supposed to go out of town, we did not have an agenda for the evening, but between the two of us we were able to gather 4 friends on a Friday night to eat cake with us! Cake is always a good way to entice people! Before we walked out the door, I got the biggest treat of all, a call from my brother to wish me a happy day! Although I had to cut it short because we were leaving, I was able to hear him read a report my nephew, Carl, wrote for school on the Poison Dart Frog, another great birthday treat! It was really nice talking to my brother! We had to leave just then because our landlord was insisting he drive us to our destination. You see, there was a bit of a scene not but 20 minutes earlier where a gang was trying to extort money from the owner of the downstairs hair salon, the landlord’s mother. I just looked at it as a bit of birthday excitement!
We went to our regular hang out, Expats, shared a dinner since we had that late and filling lunch. We chatted a lot, got to know some people better, had a drink or two and then the cake came! Jim ordered if from a near by American style bakery, so we were all excited to taste the chocolate on the inside, white creamy icing on the outside and cherries on top cake. I blew out my candles, made a wish and then we dug in. Jim for some reason was passing out these little whimpy pieces…I asked for a big one. It was chocolate, the icing was creamy, and it was good, but the cake scene here whether it be a local or American style bakery just does not stand up to what we can get at home! It was tasty enough and our sugar need was filled. Not too much more time after that we all left into the rainy night with a sugar high. It was really nice to have friends, all new, some newer than others, to help me celebrate this very nice low key 45th birthday. I did not get that tattoo I said I would get on my 45th, unlike the chocolate cake; I will wait until we are back in the States for that!
Before I skip ahead to Valentine’s Day, I had a couple more birthday treats, like seeing and talking to my brother again, as well as my sister in-law Dawn, Carl, Olivia and Isabella on Skype! Although we had some technical difficulties it is always great to see the whole family. Talking on the phone is one thing, but seeing them there live in front of us is just special. I love Skype! And not just because it is free computer to computer or not that expensive for us to call to a phone in the States, but because we can see people who have cameras! We like that! Now go get Skype and call us at HenderBalz!
Then on top of that a couple of days later, I get a call from my sister, Carlene. We have not been able to talk since a 2 minute call on Christmas day, so that was a very nice treat! It was good to hear from her, especially since she told me they are trying to organize some time in August for a visit down here with the boys, my two teen nephews, Austin and Turner. Wonderful belated birthday news!
Now, as George Michael’s would say, “Let’s talk about sex!” Gross! I mean, let me tell you about our Valentine’s Day. Again we were very low key for most of the day, until we get a call reminding us we kind of made plans to have dinner with others that night. Yes, Valentine’s Day, a night for lover’s and we decide to spend it with a group of people, wait, not just people, but all women. Seeing as here they celebrate the day as a day of love and friendship, we were happy to celebrate and share our love with new friends. I am sure Jim could not ask for a better Valentine’s Day, Ladies Man and his 4 women!
First we started out with a cocktail and appetizer at our place which lasted a lot longer than planned, but the conversation, ideas and drinks were flowing. Then we walked down to Zona Viva where they were having a street fair. Kind of like the chocolate cake thing, fun but nothing like the street fairs back in San Francisco! There were lots of people walking up and down the street with a few game vendors here and there, including people setting up blocks in the middle of the road for a bowling like game, and of course, a band or two. We walked through it all straight to Mango Tango for a nice dinner. After a long sit at Mango Tango, we walked farther down the street and went to Hibou, THE one nice bar / disco in town. It is swanky compared to anything else I have seen around town. We went to the back part that looks over the beach and which is also the free “area” (the inside disco part is not so free). We hung out there, took some Ladies Man and his Women Valentine’s Day photos, and talked a lot more. When we left, the street was packed and it was hard to stay together. We stopped here and there to listen to music, watch the scene or just because we could not move any further. When we finally made it to the end of the fair, we all parted ways and headed towards our respective “homes.”
Not so romantic, but fun none the less. Jim and I have so much time together these days, one night out with friends does not hurt our romantic time at all (wink wink). Matter of fact, I was just enjoying watching him wash our whites by hand shirtless and the other day he was mopping the floor shirtless as well! Now that is romantic! What more could a girl ask for?
Although well after Valentine’s Day, love to all who read this!
We had no idea who was playing in this particular American football tradition, nor did we care. All we knew was that it was a packed house at Expats, with TVs tuned in, drinks being served, and a poster board with a football pool being passed around.Jim and I wanted in…50 lempira a person.What the heck…$2.50…pools are not cheap here!For a side bet on top of the pool, Jim and I picked teams.I let him pick first, of course he went with Pittsburgh.I am an underdog kind of gal anyway, so AZ was fine with me.
The game began and we were actually watching it, but only until our French friend, Audrey, showed up that is.Between talking to Audrey, eating our super meat special meal and ordering more Salva Vidas…a lot of the game was missed.But to me that is what a super bowl party is all about…hanging with friends.
We did get to see some good bits, like when that Steelers dude (# 92 James Harrison) got the ball and ran all the way down the field with it.Damn, not good for my team, but a good play none the less, apparently the best in super bowl history.Exciting, but talking to Audrey about her designer clothing shopping sprees in Paris was much more fun.Just to be able to do that once, without financial worries, would be like my own little super bowl!
The evening did not end there as there was a Budweiser girl there giving away schwag.Now we are not Americans who need to drink American beer while in other countries, especially Budweiser, but free schwag is another whole story!I was in need of a little backpack for my trips to the boy’s home.There is a style that is popular here; simple with a drawer string top that doubles as straps.The Bud Girl was giving them away with a purchase of a bucket of buds.I could do with maybe one more beer…but 6 more…that is just crazy talk!I tried my honed skills of getting free schwag, but I was rusty and got shut down by the Bud Girl.She shut down a girl leaving her family and friends for a year to work with the children of Honduras.How rude!I thought that bit would work, but the Bud Girls here do not wear hot outfits OR give away things for nothing!My loving husband came to my rescue, bought the bucket (mind you a whopping $6.50 total) so I could have my backpack.For his heroic behavior the Bud Girl kicked in a hat as well.Now that is proper Super Bowl behavior!The Bud Girl redeemed her self.
We drank and shared the beer, the Steelers won and the crowd dwindled.We did not win the pool, came close a couple times, but close ain’t good enough.Jim joked that he would make me pay up on our little bet, but to this day he has not.Shhhhh! We walked home with good cheer and got there safely.That in itself makes for a perfect night!
I have been trying to figure this out since we watched our first futbol game here, I do believe these big games are play offs up to the next World Cup.So, in that aspect Super bowl ain’t nothn’!Of course, not every country plays football, American style.
The game did not start until 8:30pm.They can start a game that late here because it is a much faster game with fewer interruptions.We got there a bit before 7:00pm and the place was already packed, a sea of the blue and white Honduras team jerseys.Probably twice as many people as for the Super Bowl, but then again we are in a country where soccer is basically the only sport.Fortunately, our friends got there around 6:00pm and saved a table.
We had more people to enjoy the festivities with this time around, funny enough, all Americans well, accept Audrey.There was Paul and Andy, women Jim volunteer with through Global Community Development.Kate is volunteering at the Jungle School, through Helping Honduras Kids.And Heather is a 4th year med student in Boston here for the semester learning Spanish and volunteering at the public hospital.As well as a handful of other people scattered around the table from the language school.
Buckets of Salva Vida were brought to the table, if you are not sure what a bucket of beer is, it is just that. Some beer lovers may envision a bucket of beer with a straw in it, but it is only a bucket with 6 bottles of beer in it with ice.It is usually less expensive to buy a bucket than one beer at a time. Some of us ate dinner, Jim opted for a huge pork dinner and I had some steak on a salad.With our bellies full, we were ready to celebrate.
Soon after our buckets showed up, so did the Salva Vida girl.Okay, I was not particularly happy about buying buds to get free stuff at the super bowl, but at last we got free stuff.Now Salva Vida’s gig was you fill out a piece of paper for a drawing at the end of the game.We fell for it, but there was no drawing at the end of the game!!!Beer Girl party fowl!At least this one dressed up in a hot outfit, unlike the Budweiser girl, jeans and oversize t-shirt, come on!
Between the time we got there and when THE game actually started, people were watching the US vs Mexico game.I did not watch much of it, but US won!There was a lot time just talking, getting to know some of the new peeps, photo taking and laughter.
And then it was time, the game was starting, the main event!People were “Sssshhh-ing!” during the national anthem, the excitement level was high. And then from there I am not sure what happened with the game.I think a few close calls, but no scores for quite awhile.I got distracted with trying to set up the two 4th year med students, talking about having our Valentine’s dinner with 3 extra girls (not a bad scene for Jim), and music.Both Jim and Audrey are very much into music, well, I am too, but I usually can’t remember the name of one song from my favorite band, much less all the new bands constantly coming out.I leave it to them to introduce me to new stuff.
Then, damnit, Costa Rica scored.Not bad, there was still time for Honduras to score…uh…until Costa Rica scored again.But being optimistic and with 43 minutes still left in the game, I was hoping, as well as everyone else at Expats, Honduras could turn it around.Time slipped away, more talking and then the game ended without any fan fare at all.People just quietly and slowly dwindled out the door.No cries of shame, no fights, no loud yells of anger at the loss.I was not sure what to expect because when Honduras wins, the whole town goes nuts!I thought, maybe all the emotion goes the opposite way for a loss, but no.They took the very big loss like soldiers.I think that although Honduras has been doing great so far in the running, they may now be out of the running for the World Cup.If so, a very sad day for Honduras.
By this time, most of our crowd had also dwindled down and left was just Jim, Audrey and me.We were talking music…again.You see Audrey is doing the music for Expats now, ever since her husband bought the place.Well, he is partner with this older Canadian guy.Anyway, she introduced us to the Tin Tins or Chin Chins (see I can not even remember the names of the bands now)…great music.Very retro, I like old stuff so it is perfect for me!
After declining an oatmeal cookie shooter from Audrey, Jim and I made our way home.The streets were extra quiet which put us on alarm, but it was probably just due to the loss.We got home safely, another perfect end to a nice night out.
Super Bowl vs Honduran Futbol Match
This is a hard call, we did have a blast the night of the super bowl, but there were less people at Expats and in our group that night.But with the super bowl not everyone is upset at the loss because the crowd may be half and half, as with the futbol game…EVERYONE was for Honduras.For the super bowl we did get schwag, but not for the futbol game.But the Salva Vida girl was dressed sexier than the Bud girl.Why I care about that, I do not know, maybe I am just that good of a wife!Yeah, right!
I think there is no winner or loser in this competition.We had a great time at both; it is all about the time we had, not who won or loss.Now, our next sport adventure is going to a local futbol game at the big stadium near our apartment. Now we hear they are really fun, raucous, but fun!
In honor of the Random Things running rampant on Facebook, I came up with this for the blog! Sorry I went over the normal 25, but there are so many random things here!
**Disclaimer: Although some of these randomn things may seem unattractive, this country has some of the most beautiful jungle / river scenery as well as island perfection. The people are great and it is just a wonderful place. Please do not be turned off from a visit from here, life is just different here than in the States.
CLICK ON PHOTOS BELOW FOR SHORT ALBUMS!
1. One of the best things we have discovered here is Licuados, fruit shakes made from fresh fruit, ice and if you do not monitor it, a lot of sugar. As Jason would say, “Very refreshing!”
2. We live less than 2 blocks from the market place and buy veggies, fruit, and tortillas fresh, which is awesome, but we have no idea what kind of pesticides were used to grow the veggies/fruit or what kind of products are used to make the tortillas. They all still taste great, so we really do not care!
3. Nightclubs are actually strip clubs here; a discothèque is where you dance with your clothes on. We learned that from some visiting friends. Important information is always needed!
4. Men of any age (even under 18) will sssst, whistle, comment, look, and stare at women, even when they are with their husbands (Okay, maybe they do the last bit more with the Gringos because a Latino man would not stand for that)!
5. There does not seem to be an urgency to do get most things done here. Manana manana! I like it because it makes for a more laid back feeling, but it also means things do not get done when you want them to be done!
6. We live near/on a beach, but no one goes to it to swim or sunbath because neither the beach nor the water is clean enough, but take a boat 1 hour away or drive only ½ hour away and you are in nature’s wonderland from small lush islands with turquoise colored clear water, to jungles in the mountains with waterfalls and rushing rivers.
9. Evangelical churches dominate the religious sector of this country; since we have seen good and bad, we have not decided what we really think about it all.
10. Second hand American anything is considered hot commodity here and is not cheap.
11. Plastic items cost a lot and furniture costs even more, but you can have a meal for two for under 5.00 and unskilled/semi-skilled labor gets paid only around 5.00 a day.
12. The fashion here is there is no fashion. Anything goes. Don’t get me wrong, there are the more hip/stylish clothes, but it just seems not as important. I like the no fashion thing…it is like uniforms in schools. everyone is equal. One thing that is in common here, most women wear their clothes very tight.
14. There are tons of non-profits and volunteers working down here, some of the nonprofits were started by very young people from the States. It is so great to see so many people doing so much good!
15. A lot of kids here are happy with just drawing on a piece of paper.
16. Taxi drivers think the more they beep at you, you just may change your mind, and actually get in their car.
17. When you think your hear gunshots, they are probably fireworks …and vice versa.
18. Not sure if it is officially legal or not, but many men wear guns, and at most restaurants and nicer bars, you have to leave then gun in a locked locker at the front door to get in. A nice thing, we think!
19. Dive bars here make the dive bars back in Sacramento (and most of the rest of America) look like country clubs!
20. Egg shells are harder than heck, but the chicken is delicious whether fried, boiled, grilled or roasted.
21. Many people walk, but there is either no sidewalk at all, the sidewalks are in really bad shape or they built something right in the middle of the sidewalk (telephone booth, sign post, telephone pole), and if you walk on the street you have to watch for missing man hole covers (why a huge giant slab of cement is missing, I do not know).
22. There is a lot of garbage in the streets, but after awhile, sadly enough, you do not notice it as much anymore. But we still notice every time someone liters in front of us. We cringe and shake our heads, especially if they can see us.
23. There is cable TV and wireless internet, but many streets are not paved. Who needs pavement on the internet highway?
24. Geckos poop, but we so far have not seen any Gary the Gecko poop in our apartment.
25. There is some kind of weird wedding chicken dance they make you do after they sing happy birthday to you!
26. Most drugs (uh…prescription drugs) are cheap, and you do not need a prescription. Most medical needs are low cost as well…can I tell you about our boils?
27. Most homes/apartments do not have hot water, and if they do, it is only in the shower and it is through this little electrical plugged in above the shower head contraption. Fortunately, we have one of those contraptions.
28. Although Spanish is the official language, people from the islands speak English and are taught it in schools. Also on the mainland many people speak English which makes it harder for us Gringos to use our sad Spanish.
29. Although there is some element of danger living here, day to day, it is just like living in a big city anywhere in the world. You have to be careful, know your surroundings, not walk alone in some areas at night and so on. And anyway, if there was no element of danger…would it be as exciting?
30. Personally, our universe has turned upside down because now it seems Jim is stressed more, and I am the one saying, “Tranquilo!” which to the many that know us, I am sure, is just odd.
31. Although some coffee is grown here, it is just not as good as the stuff we can get back in the states. We were told that the really good beans get sent out of the country.
32. Tarantulas in Honduras can not kill you; you will get numb fingers and lips, but you will not die.
33. There are more Gringos here than we expected, mostly retired Canadians and Americans, and young American volunteers.
34. You learn to sleep with dogs barking and roosters crowing at all times of the night. Roosters are our new crickets.
35. Dogs do not get “fixed” here, so there are homeless ones running rampant in the streets, but I have to say I do not see many rats running around.
Saga time period: January 13th – February 3rd (and still going)
Feb. 20th, 2009:
An update on the length of time these are taking to heal. Jim’s is quite almost done healing…but not back to complete 100%. I have probably another 2 weeks to be completely healed. Crazy, eh?
Have you seen that movie, “How to Get A Head In Advertising?” Movie Info
Well, Jim has a new friend, instead of it being on his shoulder, it is on his elbow.
Before you read more, first this is a super long post but it has photos and video clips (!), and secondly, if you plan on coming to visit and you are already squeamish about bugs or getting any kind of tropical ills, do not worry, we now know how NOT to get what we did get. Do not cancel plans or rethink about visiting, just bring bug spray with Deet and use it!
Now back to the boil. Last week before Jim went out of town he showed me a bite he got on his elbow. I brushed it off; he shows me all his bites like they are tropical trophies. I was neither impressed nor shocked. He then goes off to Yoro, a mountainvillage, for 3 days and I hear nothing of this bite, but almost the first thing he shows me when he gets home is the bite again. It is still there, I continue to brush it off, it is normal here for some bites to take even a week to go away. Then Jim really starts to complain about the pain. Pain? Pain with a mosquito bite is not normal? Now, I am thinking this is odd. So, I look. It is red and swollen. I kiss it. I put some Neosporinand a band aid on it, and I tell him all will be better soon. Hoping my feeble attempts at mothering him will work. I figure from him being out in the element, it just got a bit infected. Well a doctor I am not! It did not get better. The next day half of his arm was red, swollen and hot to the touch. Not ready to give up my doctoring or maternal ambitions, I decide it now needed ice. So, I make him lay with ice on it for awhile. Again, my medical knowledge is lacking and the next day he wakes with his arm in even more pain. His whole arm was at least an inch thicker everywhere. It was like a giant hairy sausage! A red hot hairy sausage!
Now a little background before I go further, every time we go to our favorite cafe, KiBok, we walk by an alternative medicine clinic. We had figured it was nice to know where one is, just in case, until we saw the man who runs it. An older guy withnot only really long hair, but he does a “comb over” withit too. Now that is not too bad, but the hair does not stop on his head, it is on his chest and back as well. How do we know this? Because he usually does not have a shirt on and on his bare chest he wears a beaded necklace with some kind of large animal tooth pendant on it. If that is not enough, not only does he have a gold tooth, but there is a star cut into the gold. We like to call him “The Witch Doctor.” The locals call him Medicine Man. His name is Chilo. Well, Jim, a little confused from carrying his enlarged elbow, gets this great idea that he will go see The Witch Doctor for his ailment.
We walk by The Witch Doctor’s (TWD) place one Sunday on our way to Cafe KiBok and notice he is out front, so Jim shows him his now bloated red blob of an elbow. TWD says, “Boil! I do ozone treatment on it tomorrow, come back in the afternoon.” Ozone? We are oddly intrigued. We figure we have to wait another day, so he can boil newt eyes and lizard guts as he dances fully naked outside under the moon for the perfect elbow boil sap. Anyway, we were still intrigued, so we go back at 1pm the next day. He is eating lunch. Even Witch Doctors have to eat. I thought I would let Jim go back on his own, but Jim asked me, “Don’t you want to watch him pull chicken bones from my stomach?” This I could not miss. We go back at 2:00pm and he was finally ready to do his voodoo on Jim.
When we first walked into TWD’s office, Jim noticed small electronically devices being made on the desk. His first thought, “Bombs?” He bravely asked TWD what it all was for, and he got his answer. “I make zappers for healing purposes!” Enough said. Before he could go any further, Jim had to get rid of all his metal, cell phone and wallet belongings. Shed from his bounds to modern day society, Jim then laid down in on the homemade “doctors bed” in TWD’s office. He looks closely at the massive hairy sausage wound. Chilograbbed some turn of the century looking like contraption and then turned a few knobs on a black box. The thing started to glow and buzz. He has his back towards me, but I am looking at Jim trying not to laugh or worry. He started to rub the glowing electrified glass bulb all over Jim’s elbow. He did this for awhile, stopped, got a bigger glass bulb, and then rubbed Jim’s elbow more with it. The Witch Doctor and Jim are having a nice conversation about Tesla and Marconi. That Tesla invented it all, but Marconi stole the ideas. Okay, he is sounding knowledgeable and we do believe there are very many forms of alternative medicine that do work. Why not this one? Although it is illegal in the U.S. Somehow this contraption is creating ozone and the ozone will, well, I forgot what he said it would do for Jim’s boil, but it made sense at the time. Check it out for yourself:
After that treatment, he gives Jim some Vitamin E and Kelp to help cleanse his body. According to Chiloa boil forms from within from bacteria that was eaten or inhaled, so Jim needs to relieve himself of any of the other bad bacteria. That will be fun for the 3-7 hour bus, truck, horse trip he has to take for one of his projects in the next day or two. Uh, Jim never made it out of town nor did he take any supplements. Nor was it really from something we ate or inhaled. Any way, it all made sense then, but how he came to the conclusion of what supplements Jim should take kind of ruined any confidence we had in him. He had Jim hold a sealed plastic bottle of supplements in one hand, the other hand he held open withhis palm up. The Witch Doctor then hung a clear crystal over his hand watching it swing side to side or in circles. I am sitting back watching all this, trying my hardest to get Jim’s attention at the same time trying not to laugh again. Jim never looked at me but he did ask the doc, “What exactly are you doing?”
He said, “It is telling me which supplements you need.”
Oh, yes he did say that! Jim takes just one of the supplements the crystal suggested, paid the $15.00 we owed and off we went. When we were far enough from ear shot, I asked Jim why he wouldn’t look at me during the crystal procedure and he said I could not because I would have laughed in the guys face! So, we are now giving it two days of the old Witch Doctors voodoo and then if nothing has changed Jim is running fast to the nearest doctor, one with a medical degree who wears a white jacket and showing no inappropriate body parts.
Ha, I laughed at Jim’s boil and the procedures he chose to remedy….now I am laughing last. I too now have a boil.
The next day after our Witch Doctor experience, Jim’s arm had swollen to new proportions and he was in bad pain. We did not give Chilosvoodoo anymore chance to work, we hurried to an emergency clinic. We had met one of the doctors there at an bar, called Expatriates (original, eh?). We asked for Dr. Padilla, National Director of these particular Emergency Clinics. Like the head man was going to work on us, but as soon as he saw us, he stopped what he was doing and took a look at Jim’s elbow. He said, “Abscess!” and then shuffled Jim into a curtained off area. I followed, but was kicked out when the procedure started. The procedure being the doctor using a razor blade type tool cut and scrap an opening for the infection to ooze out. And he did this without giving Jim any Novocain or pain killers as he said it would not work on the infected area anyway. Ouch!
Now, it was my turn. My little thing looked like Jim’s did a week ago. The doctor just said that he had some cream for it, antibiotic cream. He handed us a list of medicines to buy, pain killer and anti-inflammatory, antibiotics, and the cream. We went straight to the farmacia and bought what we needed. Off we went for Jim to heal and for me not to get worse.
But noooooo! The next 2 days, on top of our infections, we come down with some kind of stomach bug. I was in bed trying not to move all day and walked bent over the few times I did get up. Jim was the same the next day. One of the days, we crawl out of our trying to sleep to escape the paincomas to go to the doctor again, this time for both the infections and the stomach problem. Although by the time we did get to the doc both our stomachs were feeling better, but not completely back to normal. Dr. Padilla told us the stomach thing was probably something we ate and gave us the name of a drug to help out and suggested Tums as well. Anything stronger than Tums here costs one dollar a pill!
On the other hand or should I say abscess, Jim had to have his infectious wound lanced again, and after seeing my now worse spot he told me to come back the next day. By this time, Jim’s pain was on and off, and mine was getting worse. Again, we headed home in hopes of our insect bites come boils come abscesses would soon heal.
Low and behold…not quite yet did we come to anything close to being healed. Jim’s still did not look good, and again the doc had to lance it and by the color and looks of it Dr. Padilla said it was now a staph infection. Lucky Jim! Then it was my turn and I tell you, I am not as stoic as my quiet while in pain husband. Dr. Padilla squeezed and pushed and cut all in and around my wound and I peeped, then grimaced, I also squirmed a little, I looked away in hopes that would take the pain away, gasped for air several times, I made funny heavy breathing noises and finally I let out some good painnoises. No screams or yells, mind you, but enough to let the doctor and others around the curtained off room that I was not happy. I was told, I too, have a Staph infection. But I have to tell you, after around a half hour, my leg felt a lot better. But then again, it could have been the painkiller I took before seeing the doctor in preparation of him poking at me with sharp tools. We filled more prescriptions, which cost us more than the appt. with the doctor. We had to get all the cleaning and wound dressing supplies on top of more antibiotics.
Being it was Friday and the doctor was going away for the weekend, we were on a 2 day break from being squeezed and poked. Well, we thought we would be, but like good little patients, we clean and squeezed the abscesses on our own for the 2 days. No poking though, well, Jim was thinking about using my tweezers to get this particularly stubborn glob of puss out of his wound, but I had to put my foot down. That thing, that keeps my eyebrows so shapely, was not going to go any where near oozing globs of infectious goo. We got out as much as we could without the use of my old tweezers, and then it was my turn. At this point, mine was not letting go of its goo, so although Jim squeezed and I winced, it was more of a cleaning than anything else.
On Monday we headed back to the clinic, but Dr. Padilla was still not back. So we let the nurse have at it. I do not like that nurse any longer. She squeezed like she was digging for gold and it hurt like no one’s business. Jim got his squeezed too. His was past the ultimate pain stage, so he took it like a man. The worse part of this whole episode at the clinic was that a young female doctor came in and started to ask us questions about the open gaping wounds.
Here is our conversation:
Doctora: “Have you felt any thing moving around in there or are you itchy?”
Dawn (whimpering): “Why?”
Doctora: “Well, a bug can lay eggs in a cut…
Dawn cut in (whimpering even more): “That is real?”
Doctora: “Oh yes and the eggs would hatch and come out of the wound.”
Dawn trying not to vomit: “Ewww! I have not felt anything move or itch.”
Doctora: “Good!”
Dawn not sure of herself: “Well; now I will probably feel something in there since you told me about it!”
How gross is that? Fortunately it is NOT that. I asked Jim if he would still love me if bugs flew out from my arm. He said, “No, but I would love you even more if monkeys flew out of your butt! Now that is cool!”
But we did find out why we are having such a bad time. It is simple; our wimpy American immune systems do not adjust to new strains of bacteria. Strains they have here in Honduras, ones that we do not have in the States. Our body does not know how to fight them, so we get infected in the worse way possible. We have learned to use anti-bacteria soap all the time here, have screens on all windows and doors, to make sure our hands are washed more often and to use bug spray if we think we will be outside longer than usual. The doctor even suggested that we spray bug spray around our apartment every morning. Jim does not like that idea. We just do not how to weigh inhaling toxic chemicals and/or putting them on our skin against getting another nasty abscess or even worse, malaria. It’s like picking between a hot poker in the eye or getting your left pinky cut off! Well anyway, as we already have the infection, we have to go to the doctor again.
In hopes chocolate would give me that all is well high that chocolate is supposed to do, I have some before we go into the office. How stupid am I? Chocolate ain’t gonna help with the kind of pain Dr. Padilla was whipping up. And now I no longer like him either. He not only squeezed the puss pot, he took a blade to it as well. I thought I made a fuss the first time he worked on it, this time I almost kicked him on top of making so much noise people were walking by looking in at us. Yeah, so I am an adult hollering like a baby, what you going to make of it? And then the doctor has the nerve to tell me I have to come back the next day, but he did suggest two shots of tequila before I come in. Oh yes, he did say that, mind you we did met him in a bar to begin with.
Ha, I just pictured that old drunk doctor on that movie Cannonball Run with Burt Reynolds. Check this out, so funny:
No, Dr. Padilla is not like that, not nearly as old, okay, and not a drunk either!
We are not done yet. The doctor has to see Jim’s puss pot too, he saw it and then made Jim lay do. He was going in and this time the doctor was going to win. The doctor started with gauze and squeezing, that did not give him the result he wanted. Then he turned to this long cotton q-tip thing. He dug in, he dug around and still not the right result. I am watching Jim’s face; he is contorting it in an assortment of directions, but says, “It’s not too bad!” His face said, “It hurts like hell! ” That’s my little not so macho man. When the doctor returned for the third and final time, he had a large pair of tweezers in his hand. He went in a yanked out a fist full of oozing infectious goo leaving a gaping hole in Jim’s elbow. I mean a hole that was ¼ inch wide and ¼ inch deep, but the infection is goo gone gone! Dr. Padilla even had a young intern come in and look at the hole, he was proud of his work.
After the doctor was done with both of us, he tells us he is changing my antibiotics. Something stronger and that covers more bacteria bugs. Along with the stronger and more coverage, it costs a lot more too, $6.00 a pill! And that is at the farmacia where I have a frequent sickie card that gives me a discount! Ouch! These little bug bites are costing us a small fortune and taking 2 weeks off our stay in the country!
Three days in a row of this stuff, my stamina is down. I procrastinate on going in to see the dreaded Dr. Padilla. In preparation, I take a pain pill that I have for my migraines. This stuff here has codeine in it, so I got that going in my system, and then right before we leave I shoot back a shot of rum. I know alcohol and pain pills should not be mixed, but if the doctor is not going to administer Novocain or any other pain killer, I am going to self medicate. And although it hurt like hell, it was not as bad as the day before. I am now all for self-medication! And apparently they got a lot of the oozing infectious goo out of me. Jim was very excited at the amount. I was not watching.
So, I have a day off from seeing the doctor, but what do I do? I allow Jim to squeeze. I am not sure if you know this about Jim, but the man is determined. He has to do a job the right way and does not like to leave things unfinished. I say he is crazy. It is like he became a mad scientist and needed to get that last bit of stubborn puss out! I had to stop him before he caused any real high intensity pain. I told him he can try again tomorrow. Little does he know that I am going to take a gander at his now healing very well abscess just to make sure he doesn’t need one little last squeeze! Argh, it did not need a squeeze.
Went back to the doctor again, and he gave me the healing nod, so that is good. The funny thing is, it almost looks worse in the healing stages then it did in the very painful growing stages. So, we go on with our weekend, cleaning once or twice a day and all is well. Then we see Dr. Pain at the super bowl party at Expats Bar and Grill. Jim showed him a photo he took of my healing wound earlier that day. Damn, the doctor told me to come in on Monday. Now I am starting think he just wants to make some money! Like good little patients we go to the doctor again, but Dr. Padilla-Painwas not there. A young, way too young looking, doctor was and took a look at both of our owies. We are now officially past the worst of it all. It will probably take 1-2 weeks for a complete healing. All is fine in the Dawn and Jim boil-abscess-gushing puss wound arena.
Although our wounds from the infection are not completely healed, I will not longer write about them. If we ever do have them again, we will just quickly mention them. This post was traumatic enough for you. But if it was not traumatic enough, read the following:
For those hard core people who like to see gross things…here is a video showing a quick version of what we went through day after day. His was not as bad or as big as ours, but equally as disgusting during the squeezing process! WARNING: This is really gross!
I will leave you with that image. I say, “Good-bye!”
The end of our holiday trip brought us to Lago Izabel (Lake Izabel) and more so, El Rio Dulce (The sweet river) which led us right to the town of Living…ston. Yes, a town named Livingston in a Latino country.
We took a direct bus from Flores to the town of Rio Dulce right on Lake Izabel. The town is not much to see, so we jumped on a boat right away for the tour down the Rio Dulce to the town of Livingston. We first went by the Castillo de San Felipe, a fortress and castle built in 1652 to keep pirates from looting villages. Then we looped by to see a tiny island not only covered in trees and bush, but the trees and bush were covered in birds. We then zipped across the lake to the entrance of the Rio Dulce. After a bit we came along side this wonderful water lily bed with birds walking across from pad to pad. As we were photographing nature, a little girl and boy in separate dugout canoes came up along each side our boat. They were adorable, freakin’ adorable. We were told by the guide we can take pictures of them for propinas (tips), we gladly handed over a quetzal (big spenders that we are) and shot away. Did I say, “Adorable?”
After that we zipped on over to the agua caliente section of the trip. Hot water drips right from the lime filled ground into the water at the edge of the river. It is like taking a bath in rotten eggs. Oh, didn’t I mention there is a strong sulfur smell there too. We pulled over to put our feet in, have a coconut to drink and hang out. We bought this cool hand made paper bowl for around $2.50 too! After that we zig-zagged through the snaking river between vine covered cliff walls. It was very scenic with the birds were flying low and fast besides us. And yes, we actually got on another boat ride, but low and behold we were not done with the boat rides yet. After this particular 2 hour boat tour, we ended up in Livingston, Guatemala’s very own Garifuna village.
In this blog I have brought up the word Garifuna word a lot. It is not just a word, it is a people, a culture, a language and a way of life. Here is a link for more information and history: GARIFUNA
We spent an afternoon and evening in Livingston and enjoyed the laid back lifestyle. We first sat and just watched life go by. Then we gathered up enough motivation to shop for a hammock. Although we did not find our favorite material and color, we got a nice for a really great price. All the negotiating worked up an appetite so checked out a few different places to eat. In the midst of this checking out, we came upon a group of people, some of them dressed rather strangely. It was yet another Kings Day Celebration. People of all ages dressed in bright, sparkly, and even shredded costumes with their faces hidden behind a mask and elaborate hat. The beat of the drum accompanied by singing started the “show” off. People joined into a circle with the “Kings” on the inner ring. One king would dance, doing very fast paced footwork. After a bit, he would slow down, back out and then it was the next Kings turn. I think there were 10 Kings that danced and when they were done, they moved on to their next location. They did this all over town, gathering up more followers and admirers at every stop. We just wanted a dinner, but we got a dinner and a show. We had to bow out of the Kings Day celebration in order to full-fill the dinner part of the evening. In honor of local tradition, we tried the local tradition, Tapado, a stew made from seafood, coconut milk and coriander. There was a fish tail hanging over one side, a crab claw sticking straight up, shrimp curled up along the side and clams resting on the bottom. It is was as tasty as you can get.
We had an early morning, yes, boat ride to catch, so we called it an early night. Slept well and we were ready bright and early the next day. We did not get anything to eat, but saw a wonderful sunrise as we waited for our 7:30am boat to Puerto Barrios. The boat ride was the calmest so far and what was great about it, the others on the boat were actually commuters on their way to work. How cool is that? We were not in Puerto Barrios for long as we got picked up by a collective for a ride to the Guatemala / Honduras border.
This border crossing was much less eventful than the Belize / Guatemala one, but this time we did pay the $3.00 the immigration worker wanted, but she had paperwork posted on her window to prove the validity of the request, uh, we think that is what it said! The collectivo dropped us off on one side of the border. We walked to the immigration window, got a thumbs, and then walked to get a bus to Omoa, where we planned to stay a night. We got to Omoa after a very bumpy 2 hour school bus ride, got out, and got something to eat quickly before the grouchies came on. Sometime during lunch, we decided to jump back on a bus and just get back to La Ceiba. We were tired of traveling and making our last day of it a long one, 12 hours long, was not too smart. But low and behold, at least the rest of the bus ride, the next collectivo ride, the last bus ride, and the final taxi ride home were all uneventful!
We were “home” in La Ceiba and very happy about it! It is nice to have a home.
We left San Ignacio later than we planned due to a late bus, but we got over the border and then to Flores, Guatemala before sunset. After we were picked up, it was not long before we were at the border. First one line for one guy to take the first look see at our passports, then another guy took a look see and stamped the books. Then we had to cross the border by foot, going directly into the Guatemalan immigration office. This line was going slow because it seemed some travellers were confused, and we found out why when we got to desk. They wanted $3.00 from us, legally there is no charge to go into the country. If we had the money in Belize dollars, US dollars or even Guatemalan Quetzals we might have given the corrupt so and so worker the money, but Jim slapped some Belizian coin on the counter, equaling up to a whopping 22 cents US, and said, “That is all the money we have!” I was so proud of him, but scared too! Later on he told me he had seen the guy stamp both our passports already, so what was he to do, not give us passports back! He did give us our passports and feeble 22 cents too! We found our bus and waited for the rest of the passengers to make it through the ever so fun immigration process. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, except the herd of cows blocking the road, but that is the norm down this way.
Flores is a great little town on a little island in the middle of a big lake! It has the feel of a isle, but instead Greek of the whitewash, there is color everywhere. The cobble-stoned winding streets lead up to a main park in the middle of the island which is at the top of the hill. You can be entertained at the park, by non-stop basketball games or the local cheer-leading squad practicing their throws and jumps, mind you in Flores, there are more boy cheerleaders than girls. There are also the secret little pathways squeezed in between buildings, as if the tiny island really needed short cuts. Stuck in door fronts are a plethora of Guatemala artwork gift stores. Guatemala has the most wonderful textiles of all of Central America, and the multi-colored hammocks, skirts, and purses just added to the festivity of the place.
Speaking of festivity, we were there for the starts of Kings Day, January 6th, when the three wise men went to see baby Jesus bearing gifts. Big huge explosions started at around 4am which was followed by throngs of people singing, laughing and stampeding around the jig-saw puzzle streets. After a couple of hours of this, I got up to see what was all the racket and all I saw from my room was a really really nice sunrise. There are worse ways to be woken up!
Speaking about getting up, we had an early start to get on over to Tikal to check out the massive ruin site. Jim and I decided to go on a guided tour, since we really like to learn as much as we can when we visit places. This guided tour was a bit much, like 20-30 people too much. Caesar was a great tour guide with a lot of information, but trying to keep a bus load of people together is not easy. And all the waiting we had to do for the slower looky-loos was kind of irritating. Besides that, Tikal, was majestic as ever! I was there 6 years ago, and although there were much less people, there was probably less money for upkeep too. With that in mind, there was a lot of fixing up going on around the place. Nice for future visitors, but seeing a Mayan Temple with scaffolding around it, just takes something away. I am impressed with the changes they made to get to the top of Temple IV, the highest temple. The last time I was there, you were basically climbing a tree and then a ladder in a tree, now there were sturdy, yet steep, stairs.
After some guided information on the way to Temple IV, we finally got there. It was not only the place I was excited to share with Jim, but I hoped to share the experience I had the last time I was there with Jim too. At the top of Temple IV you are well above the tree line. Now picture this, a ball of light shining through the foggy mist that hovers over the tree tops and all you can hear is the prehistoric sounding grunt-growl of the howler monkey, hundreds of them, all over the ruin site. When I was there the first time, I was awestruck. I felt I was back in time just waiting to see a Brontosaurus head pop up with large branches of leaves hanging from its mouth. I see him turn his head side to side making sure there isn’t a T-Rex around to spoil his breakfast. It was so surreal. Unfortunately, I did not have the same experience. Maybe it was because part of the top of the Temple was covered in scaffolding, maybe because there were 30 other people tucked into one little area, or maybe it was because the few howler monkeys left in the park could not be heard over those 30 other loud people. None the less, you could still see the other temples popping out way above the tree line and the mist, yes, the mist was still there. It is still a beautiful sight and I hope Jim enjoyed it this time as much as I did the first time.
After scrambling back down the long stairwell, we headed on to other Temples. We climbed some, some we watched others climb and some only one of us climbed! We whisked our way through the dense forest that surrounds most of the ruins, finding a surprise here and there. A new discovery to see, even a temple we can now climb, and then there were others that were closed off for preservation. Wear and tear is not kind to 2000-3000 year old structures. We were there for over 5 hours, walking every bit of that 5 hours, and we did not even see the ball court! We did snaked in and out of living quarters, old market places, an acropolis or two, and probably a palace as well. Amazingly made, much sturdier than stuff is made today, but why did they leave? Besides the ground being basically made of Lime and the area having no water source, why did they settle there in the first place? Interesting people, amazing history!
I would say we completely enjoyed our trip to Tikal, but at some point there must have been some kind of weird Mayan ju-ju going on because Jim and I had few spats. It did not effect how we felt about what we saw, the history we learned, or the photos we took, we just wanted to kill each other, nothing too serious! Fortunately, we got over it and by the time we were back in Flores we were back to normal.
We showered, napped and then later set off for the evening, well, for dinner at least. We made it for sunset dinner on the lake and then after we took a walk around the main park where we sat and watched the local life pass us by. Glad we stayed in Flores, instead of at Tikal, it is a quaint island village one should not miss when in the vicinity.
After we got to the mainland, Belize City, we directly got on a bus to San Ignacio, in Western Belize, near the Guatemala border. We arrived in San Ignacio mid-afternoon that day. We got our cheap, completely basic room, at Elvira’s and then checked out a tour to take the next day. San Ignacio town is not that much in itself, but it is near so many great outdoor day trips. There is cave tubing, hikes to waterfalls, trips to more Mayan ruins and then there is the cave trip to Actun Tunichil Muknal(ATM), a Mayan ceremonial site cave. The cost was a bit too dear for our budget, but our interest was peaked when the tour guide kept on going down in $5.00 intervals. He got to the right price and then we made the plans to join in with the group going the next morning. We had dinner at Serendip Restaurant, a Sri Lankan place, who knew! We had a nice dinner in their comfortable back patio. After that we had an early night in our tiny no-nonsense room.
The next morning we had a filling breakfast to make sure we kept our energy up for the swiming, wading, bouldering, climbing and ducking we would be doing later that day. Our drive was around 1.5 hours, we got to know our fellow cavers. Once out of the car, we had a 45 minute hike to a “base camp” which was used for actual camping when archeologistfirst started to work on the site in the nearby cave. The hike took us through 3 rivers, around large roots, hanging vines and I am sure an animal or two, but I was not looking!
We got to base camp where we left our bags and boxed lunches. Then a quick walk brought us to the opening of the cave. One that was full of water. We had to swim into the cave to a dry spot across from the opening, not very far at all. From there we had to get back in and wade in chest deep water. For an hour or so, we walked from ankle deep to shoulder deep water being careful not to touch certain, na-tur-al (that is how our guide said it) formations. We stopped along the way getting information on the cave and the Mayans that lived around and used the cave. We finally got to a spot were our wading stopped and climbing started. Once we were at the top of this over hang, we had to take off our shoes becausethey could harm some of the artifacts and we had to have on socks because the oils from our skin could do damage as well. I appreciate their concern and safety, but once we got into the ceremonial site I figured they could have done more to protect the 2000+ year old pottery and skeletons! There was just a piece of orange ribbon nearby some of the artifacts…that was the only thing that kept people from getting too close to the items. Amazing! Our guide was very concerned about us tripping and falling on something, the cave ground we were walking on was very uneven and wet even. Every where we turned we saw something, small, big, broken into pieces, just chipped, or in full blown original manner. Did I say amazing?! The final show was not the pile of Mayan bones, or the skull cocked as if still praying to the gods, but a full skeleton of a Mayan women from 2000+ years ago laying about like it was just a few years after her death. I have done a lot of caving and been to several Mayan Ruins, but this trip putting them both together was now beyond amazing. Our guide thinks soon, people will not be able to go as far as we went and even later, people may not even be able to go into the cave at all to preserve the so well preserved history! Here is a link for some more information on the ATM Cave and the Mayan history around it: Belize Audubon Society
Low and behold, before even getting down from the upper ceremonial only-walk-socks area, I stepped on a particularly rounded wet spot and twisted my already very weak right ankle. I was so far from getting out of the cave, I had to grin and bear it. Of course, it was after I cursed, sat there for a minute wincing in pain, and then slowly got up with the help of others did I grin and bear it. Climbing down off the high spot, through small cervices and then hiking over a lot of uneven territory was not easy, but at least the cold water probably did some good for the swelling. Funny thing I say that, because after getting out of the cave, an English couple together said, “Keep it warm and dry!” Warm and dry, a twisted ankle? Those limey folks are whack-a-doodle! I thought you were supposed to put ice on it and raise it above your heart? Well, I did not do either and am paying for it still, 2 weeks later!
After leaving the cave, we hungrily ate our boxed lunches and relaxed for awhile before the hike back to the bus. Sitting there, I watched one tour guide from another group come up to one of our tour guides, they had words. I looked over to my fellow cavers and whispered, “Guide Fight, Guide Fight!” But to no avail, as they were professional and dropped it! But we giggled none the less!
Back in town, we showered and got ready for a big meal. We decided on Martha’s across the street from our hotel. We ended up sharing a table with the twisted ankle odd advice English couple and had a jolly good time. He is a lighting guy for huge events and she is a promoter for EMI records in London. Her latest work was doing street music with Tom Jones, yes old Tom Jones! How funny would it be to be walking down the street in London and Tom Jones is crooning his heart out right there in front of to you! Needless to say, we not only had a great day, but ended up with some good stories about winging British musical stars.
We were off on the boat to Caye Caulker, a wonderful day and yet another boat ride. Jim and I, with our big packs, Laith with his little pack and three fishing poles. Yes, even one for me. You did not know it, but I can fish.
We got to Caye Caulker safe, sound and dry. So much travel, so many boat rides. We found our plain white no-thrills hotel, Tom’s, down the beach. It was well past lunch time, so immediately we went looking for a place to eat. We walked to the Split because I wanted to see it. You see I had been to Caye Caulker some 6 years ago, even celebrated my 38th birthday there. I wanted to relive the memories. Ah the memories. No, I just wanted to see how much it had changed. It has not change tons, just a lot more businesses, hotels, restaurants and bars. The Split was still there and the Lazy Lizard was as well. After we checked things out, ate lunch, bought some sardines, and then before we went to dinner, some fishing needed to be done (if you did not figure it out, the sardines were for bait). Laith got the poles ready and fish we did.
I was the first to land a fish, a red snapper, an okay size, but a bit small. The sun started to set and by the time it was down fully, I again pull in a snapper, this time a grey one and much bigger. I think Jim pulled in some tiny little thing after that and Laith had no luck at all, so I win! I caught the most and the biggest fish of the night! What was even more cool was the large manta rays we were seeing in the water. It was dark, but the shadows were huge! It was all so fun…yes…I said it…fishing is fun! Having some ceviche made from those snappers would have been even more fun, but we were not prepared for cooking so we threw them back.
Without ceviche in our bellies and it being later than we thought, we headed out for dinner. We found this roadside stand, mind you a road here is a sandy beach path, just feet away from the Caribbean Sea. Many people were crowded around the picnic tables, so we wanted in. For 30.00 Belize ($15.00 US, a big splurge for us) you got 2 cocktails, a dinner and a dessert, not bad especially when one of the options was lobster. It was not a huge lobster, but it was really good. That was enough for me! When we got back to hotel, the boys fished more, and I opted to read in bed. From the stories I heard, Jim caught a big manta ray, but Laith never caught that spotted eagle ray he was after. All was thrown back in the water, so there was no evidence of the catching of anything!
Ah, New Year’s Eve day on Caye Caulker. It started out with some breakfast. We filled our bellies and did a bit of walking. Jim and I could not decide if we wanted to dive or do any other day activities, but finally we gave into the island life and went with the flow. The flow was going back to the hotel for more fishing. I really did not do much this time around, as I met some local girls that I went swimming with, well, swim is not the word. They would jump off the dock on top of me, splashing water all over the place. It was fun. Jim and Laith (now chest deep in the water fishing) were not having any luck, so we all decided to go to the split. Jim brought his pole, but when we got there he just found a spot on the wall next to me trying to keep on eye on Laith fishing way out in the water. It seemed like hours had gone by and we had lost track of Laith. I got a bit worried. Jim got in himself to do some fishing and saw Laith close by the shores of the island across the split. So, all was okay. Jim did not last that long fishing, so he came back to take photos. Fortunately enough, he was able to get a great shot of Laith, now closer to the split again, catching this big barracuda. The Barracuda was jumping out of the water in the photo, perfect! We waited until Laith came in and found out he had caught another one too, a bit smaller.
As we walked back to the hotel, with grilling the fish in mind, many locals were asking to buy the fish and he finally sold the big one. The small one was more than plenty for us to snack on. They bought supplies to cook the fish and some extras, a bottle of rum and some coke. The idea to start our New Year’s Eve celebrating later in the evening was dropped due to some fish catching celebrating we needed to do. Laith grilled the fish and we nibbled at it with our fingers on a picnic table outside our room, good times. We were not even able to finish the fish, but it was damn tasty!
After the fish, we went to the I & I, a reggae bar that has swings for seats and even hammocks, and is built up like a big tree fort! We found a spot on the upper level, soon to be joined by 2 Canadian sisters and a Polish, but living in London, guy. We had great conversations, and before we knew it, it was count down time until 2009! We brought the New Year in with a cheers, a sparkler, and a crazy palm leaf hat! After many laughs, we decided to see what the rest of the island was doing, we made it as far as the very crowded Oceanside Bar and Grill. We went in for a short bit just to experience the low ceilings, shoulder to shoulder crowds, and steamy as all hell scene. Then food was calling Jim’s name. The closest place was a Nazi meat pie maker stand! No meat pie for you! I tried to talk to Jim as he stood finally next in line, but he pushed me away because I was in her light. You see the last person that stood in her light did not get a meat pie. Jim was that hungry! After waiting for 20 minutes for Jim to get his damm meat pie, we headed back to the hotel to sleep, sleep, sleep!
New Year’s day brought us to a nice breakfast at 9:30 with one of the Canadian sisters, the other one was out diving. More laughs, we did talk about some funny stuff the night before. We had a nice meal. Although mine was soft, I broke a toothsomehow. Now, I had to spend the rest of the trip out of Honduras with a hoopty tooth. At least, it was in the back hiding. Our day was very low key. Laith slept part of it, and Jim and I played with the girls on the dock. These girls loved to fish and they usually caught stuff with a hook, some raw chicken skin and a line, that is it! But Jim let them try the fancy rod and reel that Laith was loaning him. They were so cute, gathered around Jim. Jim worried that the pole would end up in the water! They had fun, but did not catch anything.
Later in the day we went back to the Split. Laith did more fishing, Jim and I snorkeled some. The snorkeling was nice, star fish, angel fish and so on. It was just nice to swim and see under the water. Laith was not out that long, and did not catch anything this time around. On the way back to the room, one island guy said “Every daysa’ fishing day, but not every daysa’ catchin’ day!” How true. Later on we went out to catch some dinner with our new Canadian/Polish friends, we had a nice quiet low key time. We all went back to our rooms for an early night.
Our last morning on the island was nice and quiet. Interesting enough though, I ran into an old friend, Jimmy (pronounced Jimmay). He was the Captain of the Gilligan / Cheech & Chong baot trip I took from Caye Caulker to Placencia, Belize 6 years ago. He was doing well, he now has an official business, Ragamuffin Tours, perfectly named mind you. He had replaced the little ragged around the edges sailboat we had used 6 years ago, and added 3 more! That trip I took was 2-3 days and cost me $50.00, now it is $250.00! Good for him! Well, after that we did a walk around to get a last glimpse of the island before we had to jump back on another boat to the main land.
What a great way to bring in the New Year…Wow…2009! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
On our way to Belize City to catch a boat to the island of Caye Caulker for the New Year holiday, we stopped by some ruins. These are much bigger than the Cerros Ruins we had already seen, but not as big as the Tikal ruins we will soon see, but a great look-see none the less.
I really do not have much to say about it, we went, we saw, we conquered, we held a turtle, and then we left. Wait, here is a link for more information about the Ruins: ALTUN HA MAYAN RUINS
I am giving my loyal readers, all 8 of you, a break and that is all I am going to write on this post.
Now for your viewing pleasure, clink on the link below for photos:
Warm, hot even, is what it is down here for Christmas. It is strange to see Christmas trees decorated to the hilt while sweat is beading up on your brow, but that is the way it is here.
First we were introduced or re-acquainted to all the holiday hosts, Aunt Audrey, cousin Laith, little cousin Seth and let me not forget, Flex and Tyson their trusty and very friendly pit-bull companions. After we got settled in, we took a tour of the house and property. The house is great, not on the huge side, but perfect for Audrey and Seth. With Audrey’s great sense of design and the treasures she has picked up along the way through her life and travels, the place looked so internationally shabby chic. Looove it! Audrey made the tropical, normally bamboo only furniture, type place into a home anyone would feel comforted. To top it all, there was a 10 foot Christmas tree dripping in what looked like hundreds of meaningful ornaments of years gone by. That was not the end of it, around the house there were touches of holiday surprises to keep the spirit going!
Beyond the house there is a large backyard right on the water with palm tree swaying in the breeze and birds swooping on by. There is a greenhouse t00, loaded down with blooming orchids. There is also a big garage with all the toys in it, a small motor boat, a jeep, a ATV, a couple of kayaks and even a boa constrictor snake Laith found in the yard. Fortunately, the snake was in a cage. Above the garage is Laith’s one bedroom fisherman bachelor pad. And no tour of the grounds would be complete without mentioning not only, Seth’s biggest sand box in the world complete with a whole set of tonka construction trucks, but also Laith’s new toy, a nice fishing boat, much much bigger than the one in the garage!
Our Christmas eve started with a great breakfast and then errands to run. Jim and Laith took off for town first and then later Audrey, Seth and I went as well. Last minute gifts to buy and veggies to pick up. Got a good feel of the small town of Corozal, nice place to live near, but a place only for a stopover going in or out of Belize / Mexico for serious travelers. After our trip to town, Seth, Audrey and I had a baloney sandwich lunch on the back patio. I have not had baloney in years and thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the pickles that came along as a condiment. Although you can get pickled veggies in Honduras, the pickle itself is not a hot commodity here. I love the pickle, especially a good New York Kosher Dill, but at this point, I will take a pickle of any kind.
After playing with Seth and the dogs, all quite entertaining, for most of the afternoon we all went to Tony’s place, a nice restaurant and resort near town for a special Christmas Eve dinner. The place was lighted up, well, like a Christmas tree. Christmas lights everywhere, yes, even in the Palm trees! Although it was still on the warm side and we ate on an open deck, all the lights did make the evening feel that much more Christmasy! After dinner we watched an animated movie, Disney’s Kung Fu Panda. We loved it! After the movie, we laid out cookies for Santa and all snuggled ourselves into bed for the night.
Santa did find us down here! Early Christmas morning, six year old Seth did not get us up too early, we started to open presents. It was so festive, the dogs even wanted to join in. They were christened with bows around their necks after getting in the middle of everything. Breakfast came next and then the big plan for the day, a trip to Altun Ha Mayan Ruins. Seth decided the ride would be too much and he wanted to play with his new Christmas presents, so Audrey stayed home with him. It was just us three on this Christmas Mayan adventure. Laith decided to take the back “scenic” way loop, which was fine with us. I am not sure if it was all the talking going in the car or that the sign was just way too small, but we seemed to miss the Ruins completely, by the time the loop made it back to the highway, it was getting late, too late to go back to actually find the ruins, so we headed back to Corozal! We laughed about it and like we say, “The adventure is getting there…and sometimes not getting there!”
We made it back to the house in time for the awesome lamb leg holiday dinner! We all sat around the dinning room table, it was so nice to be with family for the holidays. And it was really nice for me to get to know Laith better, and to meeet Audrey and Seth. All very nice, smart and super interesting people. What a Christmas treat.
Boxing day, the day after Christmas, we decided to take another try at the Mayan Ruins, but this time something smaller and closer to home, the Cerros Ruins. It was a nice drive and we had to take this quaint hand cranked barge across the river to get there. First, Laith gave a hand to the hard working crankers and then Jim got the other side. The boys cranked us on across the river. The Cerros Ruins are small, but very nice. There was some climbing, but nothing too bad. They are right on the bay and the grounds were quite nice, many mounds were not even uncovered. After that we went to the Purple Tucan for lunch, Audrey, Laith and Seth’s favorite spot in town. We had yummy ceviche and lots of it! Back to the house for hammock and dog play time. Never knew pitbulls were such swimmers, but they sure do like to swim out into the bay to get the ball Seth can throw to them over and over and over again. My favorite dog watching activity was when Tyson would completely and whole-heartedly tear up a coconut, even eating the meat! After a few days, old Flex, decided to try it himself, but he went only for either Tyson’s leftovers or tiny little baby coconuts.
The next day was monumental for me, I not only had my first ATV ride, I drove one too. On top of all that, we had High Tea at a neighbors house as well. Driving on the back of the ATV, behind Jim, was fun. I directed him down overgrown passage ways and paths along sugarcane fields , and he…well…uhh…took me to the dump. The man knows how to impress the ladies! I got to drive it when were back on the road, not as exciting as paths, but it was still exhilarating. After the ATV hoopla, we headed over for a civilized tea at, if I recall correctly, Beverly and Bob’s place. We had tea on the front deck over looking their big garden front yard. Beverly, with her quiet and proper accent pushed a cart filled with goodies and teapots out to the already set table. Bob strolled out in a button up shirt, slacks and a pipe, making us all look like work-hands in our casual clothing. Bob is English and moved to Belize when it was still an English colony many many years ago, met Beverly, a Belizian, and off they went traveling the world together. The scene seemed to me from back in the colonial days, the proper English accent, the proper dress, the fancy tea complete with plum pudding and all in a tropical setting. It was awesome, and learning about Bob and Beverly’s life was very enjoyable. They are soon off to Columbia to help some big company look for oil, so much for retirement!
The day was here, not the day to leave, but the day to christen Liath’s new boat on her first maiden voyage! Jim, Seth and Laith put her into the water and came around to the dock to pick up Audrey and me. We set off across the some-what choppy bay. It was not a smooth ride, but nothing like the ride we had on Christine, the hell boat. Jim and I sat up front, Seth, First Mate, sat next to the Laith, the captain and Audrey, Social Director, sat in the smooth seat at the back. We headed for the Cerros Ruins, took a couple of pictures and then went to a quiet smooth river for the rest of the trip. The water was like glass, with mangroves dripping into the water on both sides. Several times during the ride a bird would fly along side as if he was racing us, Laith would speed up and the bird would speed up. We saw parrots and some wonderful large pink birds, no they were not flamingos. Then we saw a tug boat pulling barges filled with molasses from the sugar can factory. We had a wonderful time with gthe wind in our hair, the water under us and the sun in our eyes.
Our last day was low key, so low key, we did some fishing. Yes, I even fished. We did not catch anything, but I got the hang of casting out. More fun, was driving Seth around on the ATV discovering the wooded area and dodging spider webs.
We had more of our share of good times, good food, and good people which led us to stay much longer than we had planned. Thanks to Audrey, Laith, and Seth for their hospitality, we hope to see them again and soon!
.WE.ARE.GNOMADS. 