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.

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

We have had some big news at Scotty’s Bar and Grill recently.  All summer long we’ve been trying to get either dominos or darts in Scotty’s for small tournament stuff maybe once a month or so and it seemed as if it wasn’t going to happen.  Then suddenly, late last week, we got notice that a Corozal domino tournament was going to happen last Sunday and it was possibly going to happen at our bar.  Mom and I were very excited about this because it would bring new people in and hopefully we would make a good first impression.  Saturday rolled around and we still weren’t 100% sure that the tournament was going to be taking place at our bar so we started to get a little nervous about what was going to happen and what we would possibly need such as extra tables and chairs.  Also, one of our newest waitresses had stopped showing up to work so we were down one employee.  There were two girls who we could possibly try out but that would mean that Sunday would be their first day.  Finally late Saturday we got a phone call that the tournament was on for the next day.  It was scheduled to start at 10am and our friend Adam – who was going to be in charge of the tournament – said he’d be at our place at 10 the next day.  So right away my mom called one of the girls to come in and try the job out – we planned on having all three employees there for the entire day since we didn’t really know what to expect. 

The next day no one had shown up by 10am and we were starting to wonder if this was really going to happen.  Adam called a little after 10 and asked if anyone was there yet and we told him no.  He said that he would be over in about a half hour.  At 11am still no one.  I was beginning to think that maybe it was being held somewhere else.  Our new employee had shown up on time and seemed to be doing fine but with no one to actually wait tables for it seemed sort of pointless.  Around 11 Adam showed up and told us that no one really knew that the tournament was on so he would start making some calls to get teams to our place.  We had been told that this kind of tournament can go late even if it starts around 9 or 10 in the morning so I was starting to get nervous now that we would be up all night hosting this tournament. 

12pm came around and still no start, but now we actually had some people in the bar waiting around for it to start so that was a good sign.  There was just one problem now, the new girl stopped doing any work suddenly and just started sitting behind the bar.  We asked her to do things here and there and she would say, “right now” and then nothing.  Finally she told my mom that she had to leave because some of her ex-husband’s friends were here and she wasn’t comfortable waiting on them.  About 10 minutes earlier our other waitress Sherie told us that she was sick and needed to go home.  So here we stood with no waitresses at all, only Vanessa was left and we knew we would be getting busy soon.  So we called up the second girl who had asked about a job and luckily she was immediately available so she showed up right as the other two had left.  Vanessa started right in on training her for the day and she picked everything up right away. 

Finally around 2pm the tournament started.  There were only three teams for Corozal so we knew it wouldn’t run too late.  The bar was packed – there were three tables set up for the first two teams to start, each team had 6 players actually playing at a time.  Then another couple tables were occupied on the other side of the bar where people not in play were practicing.  I’ve never witnessed a domino tournament so this was pretty cool to see, not to mention the sight of our bar being full.  I was designated official scorekeeper so I was occupied the entire time and it was cool being part of the action.  The first game went to 50 wins and took about 2 hours.  As the game grew closer to the end the excitement level in the bar rose.  Scores were being yelled out, cheers escaped with every win that brought the leader closer to the finish and dominos were being slammed on to the table.  You would never know that one of the official rules was no talking amongst the players because the spectators surrounding each table made up for any lack of sound coming from the actual players. 

As that game ended they all took about a 20 minute break and then the final game started up.  This time the game went to the first team to 100 wins.  Everyone had been drinking and it was getting later so the excitement level rose along with the noise.  I expected dominos to start breaking based on the force of those pieces being slammed down on the table.  The winner was to receive 20 cases of Belikin beer and the second place team would get 5 cases.  The winner would also get a spot in the final tournament happening October 11^th for cash prizes.  As the tournament was happening my mom and I were introduced to the men in charge and they had told us that they were going to try and push for the final to happen at Scotty’s on the 11^th.  As the head of the tournament left the bar he told us that it was a 99% chance that we would host the finals but he would call later to confirm.  We didn’t want to get our hopes up too high because this was a big deal.  It would include radio and television coverage across Belize as well as introduce our bar to people coming from all over the country to watch or participate in the tournament.  As the final game ended and the winners were celebrating we got the call that it was official – the final tournament would be held at Scotty’s!  So at this point everyone was celebrating – this could be the break we’ve been waiting for.  We snapped a few pictures – the whole thing was over around 7:30pm and as everyone left we sat back and relaxed.  It had been a very successful day.