This past Thursday Scotty’s had quite an event – we were contacted to provide the venue and cater for a luncheon for the US ambassador to Belize, Mr. Vinai Thummalapally, and 40+ US citizens.  Scotty’s doesn’t experience many days of heavy business so this event was a big deal.  We happily agreed to the offer and started in on planning the menu immediately.  We could not offer our regular menu items since our grill does not accommodate that many orders at once so we recruited a friend to help us with the menu.  The decision was made to offer braised beef or lemon chicken with a variety of side dishes, drink and dessert.   We were told to expect about 40 people so we also had to order in additional tables and chairs from a local company.

The event was to happen right in the middle of my trip to Southern Belize so unfortunately I was not there to help out.  From what I understand it all went off without too many hitches.  Mom had to run out to the store a couple times but that was the extent of any problem that was had.  My mom had all three girls in working during the luncheon so we had a full staff operating.  There ended up being over 40 people and everyone was very happy with the food and venue.  The Ambassador told my mom that he liked the atmosphere and would be back with his wife.

It was an extremely hectic day for them but everyone did an outstanding job.  The exposure for Scotty’s was incredible and we were extremely happy to get the opportunity to have the event at our restaurant.

left to right: Jennifer Sutherlan, Anna Mc Fadzen, Tom Wallis (consul), (awaiting name), David Jones (vice consul), Honorable Vinai Thummalapally

On Sunday Valentine’s Day came and went and we had a special dinner at Scotty’s.  I’m not really in to Valentine’s Day personally but there are a lot of people out there who are so we obliged.  I got comments on my blue dress – why no red?  I wore orange last year and decided black would probably be a bit too morbid.  Last year we did something similar and it was a success – a pasta dinner by candlelight and romantic love songs playing in the background.  This year we had a $20 BZD special that included pasta, bread, salad, a dessert and a drink.  Our first customers that day were friends from Progresso and they ended up staying to socialize until closing time which was fun.  We really didn’t have a lot of couples in overall but we did have a few groups of Belizeans in to drink – towards the end of the night the singles crowd came in for some dinner too.  Overall it was fun and successful but there really isn’t a lot to report about the event besides that.

After Valentine’s Day I spent a couple days in Progresso since it was my weekend from the bar.  While there I went kayaking in the dark for the first time – it was extremely peaceful even though my arms weren’t very happy with me at the end of the trip.  Kayaking on Progresso Lagoon is always a cool experience for the simple reason that there is never anyone else around.  It’s like having the entire lagoon as a personal playground.  I’m sure it won’t stay that way forever but for now it’s a pretty cool experience.

Next up on the agenda is a trip south to Punta Gorda, Belize.  I’ve never been there so I’m really looking forward to this trip.  We’re leaving on Saturday and plan on spending a couple days in Livingston, Guatemala which would mark my first trip to Guatemala too.  Hopefully I’ll have a ton of exciting stories to report when I get back.

After a slight lack of adventures I finally have something to write about.  The Super Bowl came and went last Sunday and we decided to throw another Super Bowl party this year at Scotty’s.  Our party last year was successful and we needed a good day of sales for a change – the year has started out a bit slow.  The plan was to use our projector to show the game on a bigger screen, have a special game-day menu and drink specials.  Mom got to work on the food preparations with Vanessa on Saturday but we both decided to take a break to go on a boat ride that afternoon.  Capt. J was going out on his skiff that day and I needed a break from the barrage of hate emails I was getting from Will – why I even opened, read or responded to them I’ll never know.  So we set off in the boat that afternoon with no particular destination.

Our first stop was Copper Bank lagoon to check on a friend’s property – the lagoon was shallow so we didn’t spend much time there.  While we were there Capt. J beached the boat and we had a few Belikin before it was back out to the bay.  Everyone decided it would be fun to stop off at Cerros Beach Resort for a drink or two so we headed to their dock.  I don’t make it there very often for the simple reason that we don’t have a reliable enough vehicle for the roads to get there, but it is a very cool place to hang out or stay if you get the chance (http://www.cerrosbeachresort.com/).  On this particular day I had the unfortunate luck that one particular Belizean woman who happens to hate me was there with her friends and boyfriend.  So Saturday became the day for hate to come my way – all day long.  I guess it was a good thing that all of the blatant loathing happened in one day so I could accept it and get over it by Sunday.

This woman’s rationale of her utter dislike towards me is so laughable that I can only come to the conclusion that there is a second, more realistic reason for it, and my guess is some sort of jealousy.  In any case our group of four walked in to the bar already aware she was present since her children were playing outside, so we weren’t sure just what to expect but we were all on guard.  I have had a few run-ins with her – if you can call it that – where she yells insults at me across a bar full of people and I ignore her.  I didn’t expect any less from her this day.  I was not disappointed – from the second I stepped in to the room she started in.  She literally yelled to her friends – maybe she thinks I’m deaf – as many insults as she could towards us.  It was so ridiculously obnoxious we couldn’t help but laugh about it.  That afternoon I learned from her that because I’m white and have a much smaller ass than her I could only get away with charging $10 to sell my body while she, and her ass, could easily bring in $50.  What can you possibly say to that?  So I stuck with my normal strategy of totally ignoring her – which, by the way, is extremely difficult when she was literally the loudest mouth in the bar.  Her and her posse finally left and we finished our second round of drinks and headed to the boat before sunset.

I don’t typically like to wish days away but I was extremely happy when Saturday night came and went.  Sunday started early for us.  I had my money on the New Orleans Saints, well; actually I had my alcohol on the Saints.  My duties that morning were to get the betting board ready, get the projector set up and help put up the black paper on every window to keep the light out.  By the time we were all set up and ready to go pre-game had already started and I had to jump in the shower to get ready for betting and kickoff.  People started to arrive around 4pm and they slowly trickled in throughout the game – at kickoff we were already packed and then people were still coming in and out up until halftime.  It was a huge success.  We were a little worried about turnout this year since there were two other bars in town running a similar event and last year we were the only bar in town throwing a Super Bowl party.  Everything ran incredibly smooth – we took the lessons we learned last year and applied them this year.  Our three employees were busy all night long, mom and I were running around helping as well so overall I think I saw about a quarter of the game but I was exceptionally happy that the Saints came away with the win and I won my bets.  Now I have a bottle of wine and a cold beer coming my way.

Next up is our Valentine’s Day special at the bar – here’s to another successful event at Scotty’s!

It has been a bit of time since the last entry about Scotty’s Bar and Grill and it seems I left off at Valentine’s day.  My emotions were all over the place after I left Will and I am so incredibly lucky that I had my mom around me to help figure it all out.  She was very supportive with the roller coaster of emotions that erupted.  My immediate reaction was unfortunately to try and suffocate my emotions – this happens to be a very easy strategy when you own a bar.  I started to drink so that I wouldn’t feel, but I quickly realized that trying to smother my emotions was not the way to move through this so I just let the feelings come and go as they pleased.  It was a strange feeling to realize that my entire life had just changed and I really didn’t know what that meant, but over the next few weeks I started to really hold on to the feeling of independence that was surging through me with each day.  I immediately started to like myself more – not for what I had done but because suddenly my focus was on me and no one else.  It was what I needed because over the years I had started to become frustrated and hateful towards myself and I could never figure out why.  Now it was very clear that I had never given myself a chance to focus on myself – I was always concerned with everyone else.

About a month after all this I met someone and believe me the rumors started to fly.  Corozal is a very small town and gossip is like water to a lot of these people – they seem to need it to survive.  Well, this was big news in town; there had already been speculation that I was cheating on Will with another one of my friends here so when I left Will the immediate assumption was that I left for this other guy.  I grew up in a small town in Oregon so I was very familiar with rumors and how they can easily get out of hand, but this was something I had never witnessed before.  No one ever tells you about the gossip when you move to an expat community and it is a big negative.  I suppose it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, or at least easier to ignore if I wasn’t the subject of it for a few months.  Suddenly my mom and I were rumored to having slept with at least a dozen different people in town – how could we not have been, two women on their own here who are attractive enough?  Sarcasm aside, this was beyond frustrating.  So there I was, moving on too quickly for everyone else’s taste.  I had met this guy before Will and I split and there was a connection but I was still with Will; I met up with him again about a month after the split and we really hit it off.  Our chemistry was like something out of this world – I’ve immediately clicked with people before but this was different – I barely knew him but I felt as if we had known each other for years.  This totally threw me for a loop because my focus was supposed to be on me and suddenly here was someone else I wanted to be around.  I really didn’t know what to do but in the end I decided to go for it and see what happens because connecting with another person like that doesn’t happen that often.

Well, some of my other male friends who suddenly had become a little eager when I split with Will were not so happy about the news that I was hanging around with another guy who I really liked.  That’s when things started to go wrong with poker night.  Dave, who ran the poker night with us started to ask me with disgust why I would want to be with this guy – the insults and stories started to come out.  They all had something else to tell me about what they had heard about him (a person none of them really knew) and why he was no good.  My only option was to ignore them because if there is one thing that I have learned here it is that I cannot believe anything told to me about someone else unless I have first-hand knowledge of it since chances are it’s just a nasty rumor.  It really is a very bizarre way to have to live –sifting through all the bullshit on a constant basis.

Poker had been going on but mom and I had started to hear rumors that Dave was upset with us; it wasn’t clear why and he didn’t want to volunteer any information to us.  I would soon learn that he is a guy who cowers away from direct confrontation after the fact – he simply makes his scene and then he’s done with you.  So one poker night early last year everything was going as usual but there were a couple new faces that night.  Capt. J had heard about our place from a couple regular customers and had decided to come in that night.  He wasn’t a poker player but he just wanted to check it out so we met him early that night.  Unbeknownst to us Dave had been telling some people that our bar was his place – I really don’t know if he simply implied this or directly stated it but either way Capt. J was under the impression that the bar was Dave’s.  My mom met Capt. J first and straightened that out immediately which was a good thing since he had such a negative first impression from Dave that he was about to head out the door and never come back again.  Instead he stayed around the bar for awhile and mom and I both hit it off with him – it was clear that this bothered Dave.  Capt. J ended up leaving fairly early that night since he wasn’t going to play poker but later another new face turned up.  This time it was Andy, a Belizean friend of Dave’s.  We hit it off with Andy as well; he reminded us of a friend back home and was just an all-around interesting guy to talk with.  He bought me beer all night which I wasn’t about to refuse that night.

On poker night you can’t beat entertainment and alcohol because otherwise this is an extremely boring night for those who do not play in the game.  So mom and I decided we would sit at the table and watch the game, which we normally do not do.  Everyone seemed to be having a good time; then it happened.  Andy made a comment about a certain topic that didn’t sit well with Dave, why he brought this up I will never know, but he did and chaos ensued.  Andy started to use the fact that Dave didn’t like the topic to his ultimate poker playing advantage, or so it seemed.  Andy’s observations were hilarious and everyone was laughing along with everyone else.  No one else really chimed in but Andy – only laughing came from the other people around the table.  Dave was laughing along with everyone else although his laughing was a little more cautious.

All of a sudden Andy made a comment that Dave really didn’t like and suddenly it was no longer funny according to Dave.  So he looked directly at me and said, “Stop, I mean it.  That’s enough” or something along those lines.  Dave’s tone was deathly serious and this caused an immediate tension in the room.  It was extremely awkward.  No one continued on, mostly because we didn’t realize that he was so upset about it.  Andy extended his hand to Dave and offered an apology, which Dave seemingly accepted.

That pretty much ended the poker game for this night, but that’s not where the drama ended.  In fact, it was really just beginning.  I went behind the counter to start giving out money for the chips and then Dave comes up to the bar and demands a beer.  He is obviously not happy with me or my mom.  I didn’t say much about it and just gave him his beer.  Then I decided, in my slightly drunk state, that I would apologize to Dave for something I didn’t do, only because he was so obviously offended.  So I simply said, “Dave, I am sorry if I offended you in any way, nothing was meant to be offensive, I was only having fun.”  Dave responded shortly, “you were laughing like a f**king schoolgirl.”  I shot back, “Dave, I laugh all the time, especially when I’m drinking.”  Well, needless to say, Dave did not accept my apology and this infuriated me.  I don’t get angry often but tonight was an exception.  I was fuming and wouldn’t have been surprised if there had actually been steam coming from the top of my head.  I didn’t say anything else and continued closing up for the night.  I shoved Dave’s money at him, “Oh, you’re going to throw my money at me?” he snapped.  I didn’t say another word to him; I simply gave him a look that should have made him drop down dead.  At this point my mom could tell that I was angry and she told me that I can just go in the house.  I jumped at that and stormed out of the bar slamming every door I possibly could.

The rest is second hand information because at this point I was in the house trying to find something to smash.  This is a guy who has no qualms about laughing along with people at my expense and now he suddenly snaps when it gets thrown back at him.  I couldn’t believe that he was acting like such a toddler and that I had actually apologized for actions that I didn’t even take because this guy was a so called friend.  I can’t even begin to say how many times I have been made fun of in my own bar, all without malicious intent, but still made fun of.  I don’t take it to heart which is why it works, but one of my biggest pet peeves is people who can give it out but can’t take it.  On top of that Dave was actually acting as if he “owned” us and that is why he was so offended that we were laughing.  He wasn’t upset at anyone else at the table even though everyone was laughing at Andy’s comments.  So now my mom is in the bar talking with Dave and he starts in on her, saying outrageous things to her.  She struck back saying, “Dave, you are out of line and this conversation is over.”  She started to turn off the lights and iPod and at this point Dave stormed out.

After a few days I started to find the situation very comical.  I was done with Dave – I had apologized once and he didn’t want to accept that so there was nothing else left for me to do.  Mom, on the other hand, was taking this extremely hard.  She had considered Dave a good friend and couldn’t believe he wouldn’t even agree to talk about the whole mess with her.  Needless to say poker night would never happen at Scotty’s again.  We attempted to reestablish it but Dave’s part in the whole thing had been to get the people in and so they went wherever Dave told them to go.  It was a very good lesson for us; don’t ever let someone else be that big a part of anything happening in our bar.  Also it was a rude reminder that some people here will pretend that they are a friend with ulterior motives.

Valentine's Day at Scotty's

My Dad has been visiting us in Belize for the past five weeks and his trip is quickly coming to an end.  Since he had not yet had the experience of deep sea fishing in Belize we needed to get a trip to San Pedro in before he left.  That trip happened last Sunday through Wednesday and we had high hopes.  Maybe we were a tad bit optimistic because the weather has been unseasonable chilly for awhile now.  Sunday morning we all woke up to a cold and breezy morning – typically a boat ride over to San Pedro, which takes about two hours, is an awesome experience, but this time over was pretty cold.  We had layers, jackets, hats and blankets but we were determined to have fun and go fishing.

When we got to San Pedro the sun was actually out.  Since we had left Corozal in some drizzling rain we were pretty happy about seeing the sun.  This was promising.  So we tied Capt. J’s boat to the dock and started to unload our stuff.  The plan was to stay three nights so we checked in at the Princess Maya which has been our lodging of choice in San Pedro lately.  After we got settled in we all decided that we would just take Sunday and lounge around San Pedro since the sea past the reef looked a little rough with the wind whipping from the North.  Capt. J and my parents hung out on our balcony while my guy and I went down the beach to the Crazy Canuck’s bar to meet one of his friends Lara, who just launched her luxury bikini line Lemon Crush (http://www.lemoncrushbelize.com/), and have a few drinks.  It turned out that the day just kept getting nicer so we sat out on the dock with our drinks and enjoyed the sun – we had all been missing it.  When you walk around the town and people are wearing parkas and ski caps in Belize there is something very wrong with the picture.

That night we all took the boat over to the Palapa Bar to have some drinks; by then it was dark and getting cold again.  It was back to the hotel pretty early that night to try and warm up.  Our attempt at fishing would happen Monday.  Monday morning was beautiful when we all woke up but the plan was to eat breakfast and go out on the boat around 10am.  We were all headed to the boat around 10:30 and at almost the exact time that our feet hit the dock the wind kicked up and the clouds rolled in.  We were determined to catch a fish though so we all piled in to the boat and took off for the reef crossing.

As soon as we got outside the reef it was very clear that this would not be a warm ride.  I had put my bikini on in the hopes that the weather would get better but it never happened.  So we all made a mutual decision to troll close to Caye Caulker and then pull the lines in and hang out on Caye Caulker for awhile if we didn’t catch anything.  Nothing even came close to hitting our lines on the way over so that was a bust.  We crossed the reef again to get on the island, beached the boat and went on the hunt for something warm.  We found a little place to eat soup which we all ordered along with hot tea.  I was a site in men’s sweat pants, a swimsuit cover-up and my fleece jacket all over my bikini, but I was cold.  We didn’t stay on Caye Caulker too long; it was about two hours later that we were back on the boat to get back to San Pedro.  I stayed in the cabin for the ride back since my teeth were actually chattering out in the wind and I was happy that it was a quick ride back.  That night we went out to Fido’s for dinner and listened to live music for awhile.

After our hour long fishing experience this time we all decided there would be no more attempts at fishing outside the reef – it would have to wait for a warmer day.  So my guy and I flew back to Corozal on Tuesday afternoon while the rest of the crew stayed one more night.  The tiny little plane we flew back in was the smallest plane I have ever flown in – it only had four seats which included the captain’s seat.  It was a great ride back though and it was actually sunny when we got back to Corozal.

A couple of weeks ago I had the very cool experience of seeing a wild cat up close and personal.  Of course the events which brought this cat in to my life are very sad – it was a very young baby margay (http://www.belizezoo.org/zoo/zoo/mammals/mar/mar1.html) that had been orphaned and found by a Belizean in the jungle.  This cat is listed as an endangered animal so it was very sad to speculate that its mother had seen a worse fate.  A friend of mine decided to acquire the cat for the sole purpose of getting it to the Belize zoo located in Belize City – it is illegal to keep an animal such as this for a pet.  This little cat was so cute, but sounded just like a big jungle cat so it was a little nerve racking to be around the little guy.

The baby margay was very scared and simply stared at us.  He was maybe one or two pounds at the most.  In the cage he came in he tried his best to disappear in to a corner – we were glad to know that he would be in a much happier habitat soon.

The next day I coaxed him in to a cat carrier – appropriately a leopard print – with some tuna on a plate.  He seemed to be hungry enough since he went right in the carrier and I was able to zip him in for the trip from Corozal to Belize City.  So my friend and I plus another family all piled in to the vehicle and headed off to the zoo – we figured that we may as well make a day of it.  I had yet to see the Belize zoo so I was excited to make the trip.  We had called the zoo previously to make sure this was the best thing to do with the cat and they assured us it was and that they would take him in.

The trip to the zoo was about an hour and a half but we finally made it.  The skies were a bit cloudy and there was some light rain but we were determined to see all the animals.  It was probably ideal weather for viewing the animals since the hot sun wasn’t beating down.  First things first though, we stopped in at the front desk and told the attendant there that we had the margay to turn over to them.  They hustled around trying to find the correct person to check the cat out so they told us to go ahead and make our way around the zoo while they figured it out.

We made our way through all the exhibits and, as suspected, the weather was perfect because we saw all but one animal that day.  Most of the animals were in plain sight and walking around their enclosures.  The experience really felt as though we were simply walking through the jungle observing each of these animals.  There are over 125 animals at the zoo, all native to Belize and each exhibit provides a brief summary of the animal with a few facts.  I have visited the zoo in Portland, OR many times but this provided an entirely different experience.  I had never seen most of the animals that I had the privilege of viewing at the Belize zoo.  The kids were especially excited about each animal – there was some brief hesitation from some of them at first since they weren’t sure what they would be seeing, but that quickly went away and they were all running around to see the next animal.

The kids all decided that they liked the tapirs the best – probably because it was the one animal they were actually able to touch.  It was the first time I had seen a tapir though a few of my friends have seen them in the wild here.  After an hour or so we had seen it all and the kids were getting tired so we headed back to the front desk to see what had become of our little margay.  The carrier was empty and they were busy checking him out so now he’ll be safe in his new home at the zoo.

If you happen to make a trip to Belize in the future or you are here and haven’t been to the zoo yet; make sure that activity gets put towards the top of your list.  It’s a very worthwhile experience and a must see if you spend any time in this country.  Hopefully in the next year I’ll make another trip to the zoo to visit that little cat and see how he’s doing.

A few days in to the New Year, I would like to wish everyone a very happy and healthy 2010! Check out http://www.expatdailynews.com/2010/01/racy-calendar-girl-pictures-cause.html for a brief summary of my New Year’s Eve experience here.

I would also like to make a note that any new entries of my experiences here will not include “real time entry.” Now, since most of my entries are of my current experiences, I will only distinguish the past experiences of setting up my restaurant with, “Scotty’s Story” at the heading of each of those entries.

Thanks for reading!

As I mentioned in my previous post we attempted to start a Christmas boat parade here in Corozal and there were high aspirations for this project.  The venture started off three months before December even arrived.  The idea emerged at the tail-end of a night out drinking with friends.  Mom and I were sitting around a table with Rod and Ken at Haley’s, a local bar, when the topic of Christmas boat parades came up.  Rod had been in a few big parades in Florida and thought that it would be fun to try and rally all the boat owners in Corozal to be a part of a boat parade here.  Unlike nearby San Pedro (on Ambergris Caye), Corozal doesn’t have this tradition.  Mom and I both thought it would be a lot of fun so we said we were onboard for sure (we don’t own a boat so our involvement wasn’t much of a commitment).

The three of us planned on having a committee meeting every Wednesday until the middle of December when the event would take place.  Our intentions were good, we even assigned each committee member a position (I was the secretary), but as the weeks moved ahead our enthusiasm waned.  All hope wasn’t lost yet; we had spoken to about 12 couples who all owned boats and told us they would be involved.  It really would have been a sight for the Corozal Bay if everyone had participated.

It became clear a couple weeks before Christmas that Ken and Rod would be the only two boats appearing in the parade.  No matter, we were still determined to make this happen and had planned on it up until the weekend the whole thing was to take place.  Then the weather turned and Rod still wasn’t even back in the country with his boat yet.  So the three committee members in country (me, mom and Ken) decided, with regret, that we would be canceling the boat parade.

Then Rod got back in the country and the project had life breathed in to it again; Rod convinced us all that it could still be done and they would decorate the two boats.  Two days later, and two days before Christmas we were on the bay in boats surrounded by Christmas lights and having an absolutely awesome time.  There were two boats with seven people total and we had our Christmas music blaring as we made a slow pass back and forth the town of Corozal.  We weren’t sure anyone would see us from shore since our parade had sort of fizzled before it sparked back to life.  There had been no announcement this would be taking place, but there were plenty of people along the water that night.  So we waved and yelled, “Merry Christmas” and spun the boats in front of each crowd we passed.

In the end we provided some entertainment for the kids along the water that night and for ourselves.  It is the start of a tradition for us as long as we’re in Corozal for Christmas and we may even add another boat next year.

This Christmas was a fun one – besides the missing my family part – we had a great day.  The holiday really started for us on Christmas Eve.  My mom cooked a dinner for the girls who work for us and we had some small gifts to give them so it was our version of the staff party.  We also invited a few friends to join us for dinner.  Mom fried a whole hogfish (caught in Belize) for our appetizer and then the main dinner was baked chicken along with a few typical holiday side dishes and it all turned out fantastic.  We closed the bar early so the girls were out the door before 8pm and since we would be closed for Christmas day and Boxing Day they had the next two days off.  One of our waitresses had brought over a sampling of the rumpopo her mom had made for the holidays.  Rumpopo is a traditional eggnog type drink in Belize that is made with eggs, cream, nutmeg, cinnamon and overproof rum and is delicious.  After we ate and opened gifts we all took a few pictures by the tree (fake).

A very typical sound in Corozal during the Christmas season – especially on Christmas Eve to bring in Christmas day – are the blasts of various fireworks and firecrackers that are let off all day long.  As the night continued on, more and more blasts are heard and we all knew that we would not be falling asleep before midnight so I grabbed a book and knew exactly when midnight hit by the obvious finale happening all around town.  In Corozal that night it sounded like New Year’s Eve sounds in the states.  After midnight I did fall asleep easily and was woken up by a 7:30am phone call so I drug myself out of bed and spent the next few hours hanging out with my parents and getting ready for the party later that day.

At 11am we were in the truck headed to Ken’s house for a ride on his boat to Progresso Lagoon.  My friend Matt and I were going to ride in the boat with Ken and then my parents were going to take a truck to the same party so that they would have a way to get back home.  It was a perfect day for a boat ride – the bay was calm and the sky was mostly sunny – we zipped over there pretty quickly with just one pit stop in the Copper Bank lagoon to catch Rod on his way over too.  Rod had his own boat and he zoomed off ahead of us, long gone by the time we even hit the Progresso Lagoon.  We got to the party around noon and the food was already out.  We were among the first to arrive and my parents got there almost exactly the same time we did.  Bruce and his wife Nicole already had the place ready for guests.  They had put a pig in the ground the night before and it had cooked all night long, there was also an abundance of Indian food purchased from one of the local men in town along with the various side dishes and desserts other people brought with them.  We all grabbed a drink and a seat to start in on conversation.  Slowly, more and more people started to arrive and by the end of it all there were about 40 people there.

The boat ride was already a far cry from the typical holiday activities when I was living in Oregon but it was about to get even better.  After dinner the water toys started to come out.  Water skis, tubes, a wakeboard, boats and kayaks; I knew that I wanted to water ski so I put on my swimsuit and headed out to the boat.  Matt hadn’t been waterskiing since he was a kid so he wanted a go at it too.  So Matt and I got on Rod’s boat with Rod as captain.  It was a ton of fun on two skis but I did take a nice fall to end my first trip around the lagoon.  It sort of stunned me so I passed the skis off to Matt and he got right up and made a nice spin around the lagoon before he fell.  I got back up on the skis and we made our way back to the dock were I made a much more graceful landing.  While all this was going on there was a big group of Belizean kids who were very excited to go on a boat so they piled on Ken’s small boat and from the dock it looked like an accident waiting to happen.  Luckily all the kids were wearing life jackets and the lagoon is very shallow, but sure enough, as Ken’s boat was coming back in to dock the kids were getting nervous because the front of the boat started to take on a little water due to the amount of weight on board.  Suddenly some of the kids panicked and went to the bow of the boat; well this was the very last thing that should have happened because as all their weight shifted to the front the boat took on more and more water.  Rod saw what was happening and ran his boat over to the scene to help as Bruce did a quasi dive in to the lagoon as the kids (most of whom have never been on a boat before) were insanely screaming in terror.  In the end everyone was okay but a few of the kids were very upset – I knew one of the little girls from other trips and I grabbed her hand as she was crying hysterically by herself on her way to the house.  We found her mom and eventually she calmed down, but it was quite an experience for them.

After everything had calmed down I went back out on the boat to try my luck at getting up on one ski.  I had done it before a few years ago during an Oregon skiing trip but it had been awhile, so I fell on the first attempt and the next 10 or so attempts.  At one point I did get up but did not stay up for any amount of time, but on my last try my hip popped and my leg went numb so I figured that was enough for the day.

Most of the guests left soon after that and there were just a few of us (who were spending the night) visiting before everyone made their way to bed.  As you may have already guessed I was extremely sore from my slalom experience but the worst part was that I actually injured the right side of my neck so for the last four days I’ve been nursing that.  We also attempted Corozal’s first annual Christmas Boat parade which I will write a separate entry on.   Happy New Year everyone!

It is the holiday season again and this will mark my second Thanksgiving and Christmas in Belize. Thanksgiving went by a few weeks ago and my mom and I did celebrate with friends here in Belize. Thanksgiving is, for me, easily the hardest holiday to be in Belize and away from family. It is almost surreal – the weather really doesn’t change here, and it is extremely hard to even realize that Thanksgiving and Christmas are here. I am so used to seasons; in my mind those two holidays mean cold, snow, rain and real pine trees to put up in the house. Here in Corozal I’m still sweating and the trees are plastic. So this year we had two turkey dinners with two different sets of friends. The first came the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and since Scotty’s was closed that day we were able to go out to our friend’s house for a potluck style turkey dinner – my mom made the pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes. Since we are not surrounded by our family it is common to create a pseudo family comprised of close friends we meet here – not quite the same but the practice does take away some of the loneliness I feel when the holiday season arrives.

Mom and I picked up our manager, Vanessa and her family and headed out to the party. The event was even more fun for me because my very tired boyfriend (yes, this is a fairly new development) had just arrived the night before from a long trip back to Belize and was going with us to the event. We arrived with a truck full and ended up being unintentionally, fashionably late. The night was fun; good friends, good food and good conversation.

The second Thanksgiving event was at Scotty’s. My mom had planned to prepare a turkey dinner and we were selling each plate (turkey, mashed potatoes, candied yams, stuffing, bread, salad and pie) for $20 BZD. Our main group in that day was a totally different set of friends here and it went off without a hitch. There were a few other options around town for turkey dinners so it is common for some Belizeans to go out and eat a Thanksgiving dinner on this occasion. Our dinner was a hit although that night I got really sick with some sort of stomach ailment; my mom was terrified that she had poisoned everyone but luckily that was not the case and I just had the stomach flu. Sadly for me this meant I missed out on all the leftovers since I was not eating for a couple days. We did sell a handful of dinners the next day as well so all the food was consumed and enjoyed.

After Thanksgiving I was going to get a dose of Christmas in the cold on a week-long trip to CT with my boyfriend. His family has an annual Christmas party during the first weekend in December and I was going along with him this year. I was understandably (in my opinion) nervous having never met any of his family but the trip was outstanding. I got my dose of cold holiday weather which put everything in perspective for me; I got to participate in a snowball fight, wear sweaters, worry about icy roads, go to a Christmas tree farm and drink lots of red wine (not abundantly available in Belize). Since a trip to the States also involves a list of items to bring back to friends in Belize, for the first time in my life I made two trips to Wal-Mart in one day. Even though I do appreciate the cold weather it was very nice to fly in to Cancun and enjoy a day on the beach in the warm, sunny conditions. The day we flew back was a 60 degree temperature swing for us.

Next comes Christmas. My dad flew in to Cancun yesterday and will be in Belize tomorrow evening so he will be here with my mom and me for Christmas and to bring in the New Year. It is tremendously exciting to have him here for awhile; I can’t wait to see him tomorrow. The plan for Christmas day is to go to a big party at our friend’s place at Progresso Shores. There will be no real Christmas tree or traditional gift giving, no snow on the ground, stockings on a mantle or any other family but there will be a carefully selected group of good friends who are all in the same boat as me, laughter, good food and conversation. A new experience is created which is certainly different than the one I am used to during this time of year but nonetheless very special in the sense that we are lucky to still be surrounded by love and friendship when we are missing everyone at home.