Category: November Real Time

More Boating Disasters – Real Time Entry 9/22/09

Garifuna Settlement Day fell on Thursday, November 19th and my mom and I chose to close Scotty’s for the holiday. We did the same last year simply because we didn’t know what to expect on this holiday – we have to pay our staff double their wages if we are open on a national holiday and since it is still the slow season here it isn’t worthwhile for us to be open. In Corozal not a lot happens for this holiday – more of the celebration happens in the Southern parts of Belize especially in Dangriga. Since most of the town is shut down we decided to go out for a boat ride on a friend’s new boat. We left around 1pm and the plan was to go across the Corozal Bay in to Copper Bank lagoon and then on to Progresso lagoon to visit friends. The bay was fairly calm that day – a little choppy but as soon as we moved in to the lagoon the water became very still and the ride on the boat became a lot more fun. Our first stop was in Copper Bank lagoon and this started the barrage of mishaps that day. The boat’s reverse was not working and since I was in the front of the boat I would get the privilege to jump out of the boat and stop us from hitting a wall of rocks as we pulled in. This wouldn’t have been a bid deal if the engine had been cut much earlier but instead I got ready to jump out and as we got closer to the rocks and because of the deceptively slow speed we were moving at I put my legs out and my feet crashed right in to the rocks – they were no match for the rock wall so the boat hit as well. We had stopped but there was no finesse involved at all. We picked up the 4th person to be on the boat and we were off again with a few more Belikin in the cooler.

Next we would maneuver through a series of channels that separate Copper Bank lagoon from Progresso Lagoon. This is where our second accident occurred; since the boat is new, our friend’s experience operating it was also a little raw. This particular boat is a jet drive and it has a very tight turning radius so it was being tested on the frequent curves through our path to the next lagoon. At one point it seemed we were headed straight in to a bunch of mangrove on the shore but I didn’t really think much of it since the turns had been so tight, but then as we got closer and closer it was evident that the boat wasn’t going to make the turn. We all ducked at the last minute as we smashed in to the mangrove and managed a slow turn out of it. Since it would have been such a close turn apparently backing off on the throttle in the middle doesn’t work on this type of boat. Again, there were no injuries but we didn’t let anyone forget it had happened with the teasing that followed. Little did we know that we would still have a much harder crash later that evening. We finally made it through the curvy waterway and in to Progresso Lagoon. I was never so happy to see a lagoon in my life – I was starting to get a little concerned that we may not make it back in one piece.

After a short visit with our friends in Progresso we hoped on to the boat again as the sun was starting to set and took off back to Corozal Bay. None of us really wanted to be in the boat at dark so we weren’t going to be able to take our time. This time our friends switched the operator of the boat thinking that someone with a little more experience would get us safely back home. The ride back was amazing – the water was just like a mirror – the sunset was being reflected perfectly on the water. We were all in awe of the scene we were lucky enough to witness as we continued on to the bay. Unfortunately we did not make it to Corozal before dark so we slowed down and took our time through the bay. Then our third and final catastrophe took place. In a testosterone driven act the boat was sped up close to the shore of Corozal despite the dangerous amount of rocks that are hidden under the shallow water. We powered along closer and closer to a jetty of rocks that was directly in front of us – the three passengers started to yell to turn the boat away from the rocks but to no avail – the operator was not listening. We crashed directly in to the rocks and as the boat’s momentum was suddenly halted our bodies were all slammed to the left of the boat. No one was seriously injured and the boat made it off the rocks and back on to its appropriate dock not far from there. We finally got back on to dry land and I decided on the spot I would not be taking a ride on that boat for quite awhile – to top the day off I fell in to the bay as I got out of the boat. Cold, wet and a bit shaken I was very happy to get home.

The next day I realized just how hard we had hit those rocks; I could hardly move the left side of my body. I was so sore where I had hit the boat. Happily the whole day is something I can look back and laugh at since there were no serious injuries and the boat seems to be in tact (although it has not been in the water yet since then). Sometimes being in the water I forget that accidents can easily occur but I got my reminder that day.

The sunset we were lucky enough to experience

The sunset we were lucky enough to experience

Throwing a Wedding in Belize – Real Time Entry 11/14/09

Yesterday our manager Vanessa got married to another good friend of ours here in Corozal and the reception was held at our bar. They got married by the bayside at another friend’s house and it was a very small wedding – my mom was Vanessa’s witness and I took a ton of pictures. When we first met Vanessa a little over a year ago she had vowed to us that she would never be married but, as with most things, attitudes can change dramatically and quickly, so this was the case here.

The day was perfect; beautiful blue skies, a slight breeze and not too hot. Vanessa was a nervous wreck – the tears had already been flowing a few times before I had even seen her to help get her dressed and ready. To calm the nerves she took a shot of Crown with my mom and me before the wedding. The pastor performed the ceremony in Spanish so I really only caught about half of it – having been present at multiple weddings I was able to follow everything as it was said – I really need to work harder on my Spanish though. During the ceremony the couple was as happy as can be – ribbing each other every once in awhile and looking into each other’s eyes with deep love; it was just like them. By 4pm the whole thing was over and I was headed back to Scotty’s to get everything opened up and ready. Everyone else would follow after a few more pictures. We had planned on closing down the bar for the event so when I got to the bar I unlocked everything and turned the music on. Everyone else started to show up about a half hour later and, wow, did they show up! It was supposed to be a small affair (maybe 20 people at the most had been invited) but people just kept coming in so by the time everyone had shown up we had close to 70 people in the bar. We had not planned on this many people so we were worried about the amount of food that we had. Luckily a friend of ours had brought two huge containers full of tamales as a gift. That completely saved us and there was enough food to go around. Since there were so many people I was incredibly busy handing drinks out and just making sure everything was running as smoothly as possible. Another friend of Vanessa’s had made a wedding cake and brought that which was beautiful and provided more than enough cake for everyone. I had to take a quick break after most drinks had been handed out so I rode around with a few friends – we stopped to take a look at the huge tigers penned up next to the circus tent in town.

We were in full swing from about 4:30 to 9pm so by the time people started to leave we were exhausted. It was also slightly draining emotionally for the simple fact that this was the first wedding I had attended since my divorce so that brought up all kinds of strange emotions. I’m not sure I could even explain that one and I tried my best to shove all that down somewhere where it wouldn’t surface. During the reception Vanessa had a ton of emotions going through her – she was excited and happy for her and Ducky’s celebration yet she was upset at some of the people who had arrived uninvited. Overall they had a blast and took their leave around 8:30pm to the honeymoon hotel we had set up for them in town at the Almond Tree Resort.

Amongst getting prepared for their wedding we had some horrible news early this week. My mom’s best friend passed away after a diagnosis of cancer just late August of this year. She lived in Oregon and this was extremely difficult news for my mom. Overall it has been a draining range of emotions throughout this week.

The Night Halloween Was Almost Ruined – Real Time 11/4/09

Halloween; one of my very favorite holidays to throw a party. I love finding a costume, dressing up, seeing what everyone else comes up with and having a party – specifically I love throwing a Halloween party. In the States my mom and I started our own Halloween party tradition and went all out for this ghostly night, but last year Halloween was a bust for us. We had just moved to Corozal and didn’t have a proper costume or a proper party to go to; this meant that we would simply have to throw a killer party this year. We began the planning early October because Halloween decorations are not very easy to come by here – not even in Chetumal. Luckily there is a resale shop in Orange Walk which imports items in from the US and typically they stock holiday items. Sure enough when we stopped in to check out what they had they were stocked full of miscellaneous Halloween décor. We filled our baskets and were very happy that we had also hit a 50% off day which meant we got a ton of stuff for almost nothing ($25 US).

We put things up here and there right away but saved most of the hardcore decorating for the week of Halloween. We had both ordered our costumes off a Halloween website and our friend brought them down from the states for us so we were really all set and I was even more excited that Halloween day would also bring a huge college football game for the Oregon Ducks vs. USC which we would get to watch on ABC. We had personally invited our friends around town and everyone was planning on coming all dressed up. Jell-O shots, Lime Cello and dancing were on the menu. Friday soon came around and we did all of our last minute decorating – the place looked fantastic. We had little kids coming in to order burgers and walking at a snail’s pace looking all over in awe, or possibly fright.

That week at the bar had been slow so we were also looking forward to having some people actually occupying the bar. Saturday morning I woke up slowly and turned on ESPN – I had totally forgotten about College Game Day setting up in Eugene, OR that day so I got to watch the Duck fans going crazy with excitement for the game and it really set my mood on high for the day. Then it hit…

The rain came in suddenly. I had seen the grey clouds in the distance but hadn’t thought much of it since we hadn’t heard of any major storms coming through. All of a sudden the clouds burst with huge drops of rain – the sound was deafening and everything immediately started to get wet. Water came in the business, my room, the living room and I was running around shutting up the house while my mom and the girls were dealing with the water coming in the business. I looked out at the sky and it was dark as far as I could see – this didn’t seem to be just passing through – my mood dipped slightly but I was still holding out hope. Of all the days for this to hit it had to be this day. I started to feel a twinge of homesickness knowing if I was in Oregon I would be at the game and at a party with no flooding.

Then the lightning started striking and the thunder was rolling. At first it started at somewhat of a distance as usual but then it started moving much closer until it was directly on top of us. It was the most intense lightning storm I had been in and a little unnerving. The power started hitting and I turned off all the electronics; I unplugged the laptop and stereo but failed to unplug the TV. At one point Vanessa was nailing stuff up to the wall in the business and a bolt of lightning struck close throwing everything off that wall and shocking her. This was serious. The cats were hiding in the cupboards, the dogs were whimpering around my mom. I was sitting in the living room putting a playlist together for that night wondering if we would even be having a party later when a big spark came snapping through the electrical outlet that the house TV was plugged in to – at that moment I knew we no longer had a working TV although I did not confirm that until later once the storm finally passed. We never lost power for too long and the cable didn’t go out but once it was all said and done both the house and business TV had blown as well as our modem. The skies were still a heavy grey and I wondered if we would get more rain that day – by 3pm I was frantic about being able to watch the Duck game but luckily we were able to borrow a friend’s TV to put in the bar to watch the game. The rain never really started up again so the party was also on, but that day we got as much rain in a few hours as we had all year.

We ate dinner at 2:30, went over to another friend’s house to get our makeup applied and back to the house to put costumes on and get to the bar just in time to catch kick-off. Everything was set and we were just waiting for people to arrive and slowly they did. In the end the Ducks pulled off a major win and we danced and drank all night – it turned out to be an outstanding day and Halloween – the only downside was that I didn’t get to enjoy my annual Halloween viewing of Rocky Horror Picture Show. In the aftermath of this storm we had to purchase a new TV for the bar and for the time being will have to live without a TV in the house, and we’re currently awaiting a new modem from BTL. So it is internet cafes for me right now, luckily they are all over the place here.

Me and Mom Ready for Halloween

Me and Mom Ready for Halloween

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