26 Jan, Sun

Madi went into Belize City yesterday and bought some Oil Based Wood Primer for 3 outside doors that need to be protected from the sun, rain, and wind.   I started painting the doors today.    i do not enjoy this kind of painting.      Oil-Based paint is smelly and messy .. well, i am a messy painter .... 

it was a painting day all-around.   the top scaffolding, comes down tomorrow, and moves to the other side of the house.   but this side of the house needed to have the new siding painted ... before it is taken down ... so today was the day.

a very nice couple, Dana and Jaman are camping here.   they are from NCarolina and are traveling ... no end date, just traveling... how i envy them!    they are not volunteers, but said they would like to help out doing something ... so we put them to work ...

meanwhile, i painted both sides of the shower door, the door frame, and one side of a door upstairs.   also finished the last coat of paint on the shower floor.

it was hot, sticky, and i had had enough oil paint fumes ... and ... it WAS Sunday ...  i took a shower and washed my hair and took off for The Split ... for the first time this year!    when i got there, i saw that Happy Hour started at 4pm ... it was 3:50; ...and  i realized i had left my camera sitting outside and it looked like it could rain.    i walked back and got my camera.   on my way i ran into Lukas and Andrew and told them about Happy Hour.   when we got to the bar at The Split ... the Happy Hour sign was gone ... they decided they wouldn't have a Happy Hour today  :(     .... i argued, but it did no good.   i ordered a rum and coke anyway, and i think he poured me a double  :)    we found Gavin and Judy (the couple who have been working on the renovation since Nov)  on a new pier that's been added since i was here last time.    i look pretty happy to be here  :)

it was a fun time ... finally !  ...... this is Lukas (from Germany) and Andrew (from Seattle) ...

although it was cloudy and threatened rain all day, the sun came out just before it set over the sea .... and it was brilliant !

we left and found another Happy Hour place that really had a Happy Hour;  and then Andrew and i went to the Enjoy Restaurant/Bar ... and we had our first whole lobster dinner .... it was AWESOME !     The Caribbean Reef Lobster here is so far superior to our Maine Lobster ... in my opinion  ... maybe it's the island atmosphere, but whatever the reason .... it sure is wonderful !

after dinner, we returned home and found Jim on the dock for just one more, before we ended a productive and fun Sunday !

25 Jan, Sat

it was nice enough today to put another coat of Masonary Sealer on the concrete walls of the shower.     i also decided i might as well put some sealer on the floor too.    no tellin' when it might get tiled.

i think i'll start a 'sign' business.   made more signs today with some 'things you can do to help us'  ....   more recycling stuff ... turn off the lights and fans ... take short showers  ...  close the gate  ...  no outside guests .....     i took them to a shop and had them laminated, and posted them in the rooms.     this shouldn't have taken the rest of the day ... but it did  :)

on our way to dinner, we passed this bucket of lobsters at one of the restaurants ...

believe it or not, i have not had a 'whole lobster' dinner yet .... soon ... very soon  !

24 Jan, Fri

woke up to torrential downpour .... then it quit and the sun just barely peeked through. but that was it for the sun today.   it rained on and off, hard, all day long.    i walked to the store twice for Madi today.   it took me twice as long because i had to zig-zag my route through the huge puddles in the road

this is the road in front of Madi's .....

it was too wet to put another coat of sealer on the shower walls, and too wet to start on the shower doors, so
i finished the other panel in the door in the toilets this afternoon.

i learned today that some people are coming tomorrow, and will be in the Pink Cabana ... so i'll return to Madi and her Mom's again.   the saddest part of this, is that little Dulce will have to go back in his cage in the cattery   :(      .... so  i spent some time in the room with him again.   he wasn't the wild crazy kitten this time; he seemed to be a little tired, and happy to just hang out with me ...

does anyone know of someone who would give him a good home ... he is so sweet !

i think he's going to be a big kitty ... look at the size of his paw ......  !










and taking naps too !!!!!!!

Andrew, Jim and i went to a Lebanese restaurant for dinner tonight ... i had Flaval, it was pretty good, considering there wasn't any meat in it   :)

they hung out in my room for awhile, playing with Dulce.

 ....then we went out and sat on the dock with Gavin and Judy.    another great group of people i have had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with.    this is one of the best part about my traveling!

23 Jan, Thurs

we started the day out with a good downpour.  but, then the sun came out and it was pretty humid.    i did a few odd jobs, said good-bye to some folks and welcomed a few others.   the 'hostel business' is good, we have a full house.   the guys continue to work on the dorm room, time is running out.

Madi went to Belize City to try to find some primer; so i worked on another door in the toilets ...

i moved into the Pink Cabana tonight ... a room, all to myself  :)     it's been fun living with Madi and her Mom, but i'm just not used to having people around all the time.   i will be nice to have a place to have some 'quiet time' all to myself.

....well, almost, all to myself ...
i asked Madi if i could keep the little kitten, Dulce, with me in my room.   she said i could  :)      yeahhhhhhhhhhh    :)
i thought he'd just cuddle up in my lap ... ha !    ...he's a kitten;  ... a kitten who has been confined ... and he's gone wild with the freedom to run around, and climb, and jump, and play.    ...and he likes too get into my duffel ...  :)

Andrew and Jim came to visit with him this evening before we went to dinner.   Everyone loves playing with a kitten  :)

22 Jan, Wed

Madi gave me some money to buy some Masonary Sealant 'paint' for the concrete walls in the shower.   before i went to the Hardware store, this i went on a mission looking for some tiny donuts that Jess had.   i don't really like donuts, but they were really good.    i found the little coffee shop ...  i really need to stay away from that place !    ...they reminded me of the cinnamon and sugar donuts i used to get at HillCrest Farms during apple season.    the guy had this cute little donut making machine and made them fresh for me

 


and then dropped them in cinnamon and sugar

they are only about 1.5" in diameter.... so wonderful !

so i get back with my 'paint' ..... Have you ever painted with Milk or Half and Half ?   ...that's how thick/thin this stuff is ... strange.     i got one coat on today and it looks pretty bad  :(    do i need another coat, or is now 'sealed'  ?????????????????

i also went around to the stores looking for some oil based primer paint for the shower doors.   there is no primer paint on the island.   one owner told me that it is so expensive that they don't bother to order it because no one would buy it.   so that means people don't prime before they paint here ....

enough 'paint' for today ....

Madi told me that my Trash sign told people NOT to put their food in the bin, but did not tell them where TO put it ... so i was on another 'sign' mission for the rest of the day ...

here the result ...

 

we had a sunset tonight ... :)

kind of a funny story:   a couple arrived today to camp.   they said they arrived on the island last evening and couldn't find Madi's, so stayed at Bella's Hostel down the road.   they said they were tired because there was loud noisy music all night and they weren't able to sleep.   Madi and i assured them that this was a very quiet place, and they would be able to relax and enjoy themselves here in peacefulness.
well ... about 5pm ... loud music came blaring from just around the corner!   OMG! ...  it continued all night ..... i've never heard that here before.     ...we felt so bad for that couple.
 
Andrew and i went to Wish Willy's for dinner.   we got the last 2 Lobster Tail dinners of the night   :)     ..on the way home we walked past the house party ... they had tables and chairs set up in the street ... it was a birthday party ... so hopefully, the tent couple will stay another night and it WILL be quiet   :(

21 Jan, Tues

Jess left this morning and took the water taxi to Ambergris Caye.   she would have stayed longer, but there was 'no room for her in the inn'.    i am sorry to have her leave.  :(

i spent the morning upstairs in the construction area, straightening up the work bench and sorting screws and nails.     now they probably won't be able to find anything ... :)

Andrew and i went around the corner to the 'beer distributor, who is also the purified water distributor, to refill of our 5gal jug of water.    they do bottle returns there as well.    i knew they paid B$.25 for glass coke bottles; but was very happy to learn that they are also refunding for plastic coke bottles ! ... this was great news for me.   Madi also mentioned that people were putting everything into the trash containers here.     so, i got into my 'recycling' mode; and made the posted this sign.

we'll see how it works  :)

it's Tuesday ... that's Taco Tuesday !!!! ... so we all went to 88 Degrees West for dinner.    they did not disappoint  :)

20 Jan, Mon

the weather was warmer and sunnier today ... i hope this 'cold front' is over.
i painted another door today.....

we actually had some color this evening, even if it wasn't a 'sunset' ...





Andrew, Jess, and I went to Marin's for Jess' last dinner with us on Caye Caulker. 

 

19 Jan, Sun

today was one of those days that i didn't do anything i planned on doing.   i actually started preparing to painting the other set of doors.   then Madi remembered that we had to move out of our little pink cabana because renters were coming tomorrow.    this is the little pink cabana

it sat about 3 blocks away and she had it moved, down the streets, to here  !     i would have loved to see that going down the street .... amazing !

so the day was spent moving myself, Madi and her Mom into the Garden Room.   This is the room that i always used to say in.   it is now Madi's mom's permanent home ... with Madi and i sharing it until the other rooms open up.   All of Madi and her Mom's belongings are in this one room!   ... along with Madi's 3 'personal' cats ....  and me  ... one big happy family !

it was another strange-weather-day ... cloudy, rainy, some sun and hot, then cloudy and a downpour at the end of the day.   at which point i remembered that i had hung my pants on the line to dry .... :(

Jess and I grabbed a quick bite at a little Mexican food place tonight, then headed to the Sport Bar to watch 'American' football.   the bar was packed !
and, once again, i was temporarily stunned when someone asked if we were 'Mother Daughter'  ...... and i thought we looked more like sisters !   :(     Jess is very natural and pretty, so i told him i was flattered and thanked him  :)

18 Jan, Sat

i finished the other door today ...

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it was cloudy, cool, and rained off and on all day today.   this is not typical weather for here!   but since i am working, it doesn't really bother me.   i feel bad for the people who are here only a few days.    a girl, Megan, from Arizona is here for a long weekend and has either snorkeled or went diving everyday ... in the rainy cloudy weather  ... i wouldn't be happy about that.

Megan met Dan on her dive to the Blue Hole today.    we invited him to join us for dinner at Tropical Paradise.   i had been wanting to go there because Andrew said they had good Ceviche.   and that's what i had, plus Jess and i split a Lobster Kabob ... and ... Dan picked up the tab for our meals ... WoW !    ..that's 2 nights in a row!     nice, generous people !

17 Jan, Fri

i got a late start today on the other side of the bathroom door and got it part way finished.     i am going through my underwater photos to get ideas of what to paint.   i am having fun.
we went to La Cubana for dinner tonight.   they have an all-you-can-eat buffet that looked pretty good, but i wasn't that hungry; so i had grilled shrimp.   we were joined by Andrew and his friends from Seattle.   they are such a nice couple and very generous and they bought our dinners!    WoW !

we walked to the I & I Reggae Bar again and sat on the swing table and chairs.  

it's very relaxing in there ... of course, i leave before all the 'craziness' begins   :)

16 Jan, Thurs

today  ... i spent the entire day in the toilet !!!!!!!!!!!!
ok, it's not what you think :)
  
i began my project of making the toilets more 'interesting'.    i plan to paint 'fish/island themes' on the doors.    i finished this one today.

we have had a few new people show up to rent a bed in the cabana, or put their tent up.  These were not 'volunteers' ... not everyone that stays here is a volunteer.  Madi could have 'sold' 2 more beds if she would have had them ... it will be great when the new dorm room is finished and can start generating some income ..... income to buy food for the kitties !

we ate at the Enjoy Bar tonight ... good food and they give you a lot ... you get a seafood kabob with every meal, plus fresh fruit for dessert.    there was a cute kitty hanging around after we were finished ... Andrew shared the remains of his Snapper with the kitty  :)

15 Jan, Wed

it rained hard last night, and it was cool, drizzly and windy all day.  poor me  :)
it was a good day to bleach and scrub the walls in the other toilet stall.   ... they needed it !

i also put another coat of paint on the wooden doors.
I took some time off and played with some of the kitties today.    i feel bad that i don't spend more time with them.    other than being feed and kept healthy, they really need attention !
i ate Chinese with the volunteers tonight.  the restaurant is called Panda and i love the Chinese lady that works there.    she is always smiling and laughing and talking ... and i can't understand a word she says  !!!!!!!!    the food is good and fast !

14 Jan, Tues

i did more painting in the toilets.  the other stall today ... i only do one side a day, so people can use the other side without getting paint on them.    considerate aren't i ?

we went back to 88 Degrees West tonight for Taco Tuesday.   i'll be going back there again on Tuesdays .... tacos were only B$3 (that's US$1.50).   and they were really good and generously stuffed ... the guacamole was excellent as well !      nice to find a reasonable place to eat ... on Tuesdays at least  :)

the group was in a party mood and we headed for the Sports Bar after dinner ... it was 'open-mic' night.   ..and it was the guy on the right's birthday ... he was buying .... we were there pretty late ....

13 Jan, Mon

i put up a shelf next to the sink, so we'd have someplace to put 'things' when you wanted to brush your teeth, etc.   and since i had so much fun hanging the basket in the shower, i did the same thing with some smaller baskets next to the sink, so they wouldn't take up the shelf space there.

i had just finished that project when i saw another volunteer, Sandra was going to lunch.   i asked if i could join her.    she is leaving to return to L.A. tomorrow and i wanted to visit with her a little.   we walked to The Split only to find a sign 'No Food Today'  :(  ... so we checked several places along Front Street and didn't find anything that wasn't pricey.   unfortunately, Caye Caulker is no longer a very cheap place to eat.   prices have really gone up in the last 2 years  :(    we finally settled on a place called Bamboozer; placed our order and waited an hour, while other people came after us, ate and left.   i finally asked and was told they still had the other side of the restaurant to serve and it would be another 15-20min ... i told them to forget it and we left.   we ate the Plantain Chips that we bought from the guy on the street.  grrrrrr :(

when i got back i opened a can of white oil-based paint and tried to be creative on the walls of the bathroom.   they were dark blue, and Madi and i decided it made the small toilet stall too dark.   sooooooooo, i 'ragged' them ....

i've never done this before; and i was fun;  .... and everyone commented that they really like it  :)      the shutters had never been painted before either, so that helped brighten it up too.

for Sandra's last night, we went to a place i've never been before called the Little Kitchen.    way back off the road, at someone's home, up some stairs onto a deck that over-looks the water on the back side of the island (same side Madi is on).   unfortuantely, it was after dark when we arrived, but there should be some real pretty sunsets there, ...some evening ... if we ever finish with our 'chores' before dark ... that's not going to happen, ...ever ...
and .... we waiting over an hour for our food again.   but at least they did tell us it would be a long wait, and we weren't in any hurry.   it was an enjoyable evening.   these little 'eating places' are just homes, with kitchens that accommodate a family ... hence the wait time.

that is Andrew, Jess, and Sandra

we returned to our Deck over the water where Madi joined us.   we talked and watched Stingrays pass under us  :)

12 Jan, Sun

i did some maintenance projects today; a few minor things Madi wanted done.
--Replaced the rusty broken brackets that were supporting a shelf in one of the catteries.   this should not have been a huge project, but they all seem to take much longer than i think they should, due to my lack of expertise  :(
--put a latch on the outside of the new shower door so it would stay closed, keeping the cats from going in there (and spraying)
--went to several stores looking for a few things:
       -a container to hold shampoo/conditioner bottles in the new shower... that won't RUST ,,,,, keeping in mind the walls are concrete
       -hooks that won't rust for inside the shower to hang your clothes on ...
--engineer and installed the basket in the shower ... holes in the bottom of the plastic basket for drainage, tied up with cording ... i am quite proud of this one .... :)

i am wearing my nylon mesh bug suit again this year .... i treated it with Permethrin before i left which is supposed to kill any insects that land on it  :)     and ... i am happy to report that it is working ... everyone else has hundreds of no-see-um bites.   and... Gavin has a new name for me ... An-Net  :)    i quite like it  :)

us volunteers went just down the street to Meldy's for dinner ... good food, but it sure takes a long time to get it here ... :(

11 Jan, Sat

Today was a bitter-sweet day for Madi.    In July, 4, six-day old kittens were found at the dump, umbilical cords still attached, eyes closed.  She spent hours/days/weeks trying to save them, two of them survived.    One of them, Kisses, left today to go her 'forever home' in  Oklahoma.   she was quite a hit on the Delta Airlines flight she was on.   one lucky little kitty !

   

the other kitten, Dulce is still available ... :)   if you know of anyone who would like to adopt Dulce, please let me know.   wouldn't it be great to say you have a Belizean kitty?  and it is very easy to bring a cat into the U.S.  .... we would just need to find an 'escort' to take her on the plane and Madi can prepare all the paperwork.




Back to the job ... Madi and i worked upstairs in the construction area today ... cleaning up, putting scrap lumber in piles, and throwing it out the window, then picking it up and carrying it to the trash piles ... where someone was supposed to come pick it up days ago ... such is life in Belize ... it's very difficult trying to get anything done here. there is no 'work ethic'...or at least a very very poor one.     time and time again, she pays for work to be done only to have it done 'half-assed'.     it is so nice to have Gavin working here, who is skilled, responsible, and a nice guy.

i road a bike to the airport this afternoon and picked up my camera ... it was just the way i left it ... everything there:  camera, bag, extra battery, new card  .... SO thankful to American Airlines !

in the evening all the volunteers went to dinner at a restaurant called 88 Degrees West, (as in the Longitude of Belize), which is just down the street.   We had a great time ... one of the girls discovered the local drink here ... the Panty-Ripper ... although she continued to call it the Panty-Dropper.    it was a good opportunity for everyone to get to know each other ... nothing like alcohol for a quick bonding experience  :)

we returned to Madi's and resumed our party out on her new large 2-story deck over the water ! 

that is Peaches in the photo, one of Madi's 4 rescue dogs. she is the sweetest little girl :)