The Hokey Pokey and Monthly Visit to Immigration

Good morning from Paradise friends! It's a balmy morning, a healthy breeze with cloudy skies. It's 74 degrees at 5:30.

Going to ride the Hokey Pokey to Independence this morning about 8 am, catch a taxi to the Immigration Office, pay my $25US to stay another month. I should be back by noon.
Here's a picture of the Hokey Pokey. It is a 15 minute ride across the harbor, passing islands of Mangos (where the lobsters reside and I'm sure a few crocodiles!) The ride over and back costs $16BZ/$8US. The boat holds 30 people and it's usually full. Students cross to get to high school and adults to get to and from work. It's a fast rough ride, especially when the waves are kicking up. Everyone must have a life vest. 

All kinds of boats, in all conditions, even a few sunk, are along the shore in close to Placencia. You ride a canal out to the bay, passing shacks next to expensive vacation homes. The disparity between poverty and wealth is obvious, but I have not experienced much hostility...these people are a kind and generous lot on the whole. Hispanics, Mayans and Garifuna seem to mix well. It's more like a tossed salad, rather than a melting pot, implying the mix of separate cultures is more than it's individual ingredients.

Belize Chocolate Festival 5/21-24/2015

Please follow this link to photos and narrative related to the Belize Chocolate Festival held 5/21-24/2015 in Punta Gorda and Mopan

Placencia Lobsterfest 2015 Winning Art Work

While eating breakfast on 5/15 at Wendy's I met the woman who won the local art competition for the official image for the 2015 Lobsterfest here in Placencia on June 19-21. Her name is Jessea Gay Marie. Jessea is retired from Santa Barbara (too expensive to live there anymore) so she moved "lock, stock and barrel" to Placenica several months ago. So I've rubbed shoulders with yet another "famous" person in the village , Poet Bob being the first.. Here is her winning painting from among 14 entries, being printed on T-shirts and announcements.

 This is a mock up of the T-shirt with five open spots for sponsors.

Poet Bob, Placencia's Resident Poet

Well now...this morning at the Above Grounds coffee shop in Placencia I had a conversation with the man who is known locally as Poet Bob, the resident poet of this quaint village. I've seen him on the back deck most mornings I go for coffee, but today I sat and talked with the poet and the owner of the shop.

He turned 70 in February, looks like an old wrinkled bum with long hair, but I found him charming and very comfortable with his life here. He's lived in Belize for over 30 years and came from the US.

He celebrated his birthday by getting tanked and smoking some weed. Apparently weed is a staple and the drinking he just does on his birthday. "After all you have to have some vice," he said. It apparent that more than a few people drink "weed tea" here to treat ailments like arthritis. or rub DSMO on joints (illegal in the states for human use but you can get it in Spanish Lookout at  feed stores in gel form. It's made from tree bark.)

He said he developed the first postcards for Placenica for the tourists and recited from memory a lengthy poem he wrote on that first card.

Yes, there are some real characters here that can become what I refer to as "Unforgettable Characters" and I think he will become one on this adventure.

Everybody have a great afternoon!

From Paradise...

Happy Mother's Day!

Well, I've been in Placencia, Belize for 40 days today. Time to update my selfie. I'm more tan than the first one I took and more relaxed. The weather in Paradise is beautiful and mild today with a nice breeze.

My novel is slowly coming to form...I decided on a working title to help focus my story line, "The Little Girl Who Stopped a War." It will be a first person account of a young girl of seven who is now in her twenties looking back at the events she found herself in and the impact she had inadvertently on key characters that transformed the nature and character of a drug war and a national boundary dispute between Belize and Guatemala. (I know, that's a long sentence.)

Happy Mother's Day to all my friends who hold that title! I trust your day has been great one with your families!

Moonlight in Belize

I took these pictures from my deck last night...thought you might like the play of light, darkness and clouds.

Einstein...Protector of the Island!

Here is the little dog who acts like the protector of the island I live on. His owner lives down the canal from me. Einstein roams the island, chasing whatever moves...he is fearless. He also will bark at almost everything and I've watched him swim the canal, about 60 feet across, to play with dogs out walking a human. He's my bud. I put out a bowl of water whenever he comes to pay me a visit on my deck. I pet and rub his chest to make him feel welcomed. Here are a few pictures I took of him this morning.

 He wants to go inside and checkout my place...

 Waiting for a chest rub...

Taking a few obligatory drinks...