The 6 Month Mark

Don’t think I haven’t been thinking about you. I’ve drafted at least 3 posts that I have not published, due to the general tone, which may be considered “a downer.” But now, I’ve got some solid, uplifting news to share: I took a break.

We’ve been in Belize for about 6 months now, and we’ve all felt the stress of the new life. Sure. We’ve also felt the joys, like the beautiful sunsets and moon risings, and the daily swims. But we’re at that 6-month mark. It happens with any relationship. Matt and I were ready to break it off with Belize, but we choose to take a short vacation instead. I planned for it to start on Wednesday.

I booked 2 nights for us at the Trek Stop located in the Cayo district, near the Guatemalan border. The Trek Stop is a friendly little arrangement of tiny Mennonite-style houses coupled with a kitchen, dining deck, medicinal herbs, and a butterfly atrium. This first night, I saw 3 hummingbirds all in the same moment-just sitting on the dining deck!

Our drive here was successful. We stopped at the Hattieville Prison Gift Shop and purchased fine woodcrafted items and some hoop earrings. The entire room was filled with very beautiful hardwood sculptures and some functional items – mostly for the kitchen. In the corner of the glass case, I found some black hoop earrings. They looked metal, like iron? They were hammered out though, and have a fine swooping clasp. Carlos was very helpful and offered to call the artist to get a price. Apparently the earrings had been sitting there for years, and Carlos had found them when he was cleaning up. He got us a great price - $15. Thanks Carlos.

Then we ate sweet bread while we continued our journey to the Trek Stop, outside of San Ignacio. I also peeled off the price tag from the earrings, and found untarnished silver! Then, Tetra sang her dada to sleep. And when he woke up, he read books to her. I drove. After entering Cayo, I noticed we were passing the BAHA Office. I remembered that the woman who helped us get Doug’s paperwork was at that office. I turned around so that I could stop and thank her personally. It was great getting to say hello to Melody and shaking her hand (in standard Belize form, which is always loose, whether male or female).

Not but 5 miles down the road, I saw a post with 5 or so green circles attached vertically, each one with a different word and in the style of the Land Rover logo. Sure enough, it was a Land Rover parts dealer! TJ was asleep, so I stayed with her in the car while Mateo chatted with the man behind the counter. The property was nice. I wonder if LR sent him to Belize or if he’s doing it of his own accord. There was a strong breeze blowing, and eventually TJ woke up. I got her out of the car and we checked things out. There was a old small plane with a light dusting of moss, another metal building with a loading dock, and the garage/shop that we were standing in. Matt got a temp. sending unit that he needed, and we were on our way. Oh – we also found that the man was familiar with Steve, the dude we bought our Rover from.

It wasn't much farther til we got to a little town whose name I forgot. We ran smack dab into a wooden high-chair that was in a shop at the T section of the road. I insisted we buy it, then we continued on our way.

Within a mile, we were meeting a shallow riverbed, complete with people splashing and enjoying themselves. A simple but sturdy bridge took us to the other side. This was San Ignacio.

The city got more and more cute and we drove through. Mateo pointed out a promenade, and we parked the car. Walking around was nice. We found a complete unit stove/oven for use with gas. We also came across a beautiful park with food vendors and Raw, Vegan, Smoothie joint. Roots, as it was called was a nice place to take a stop and finally get some food in our bellies. The owner, waiter, and even patron were all very friendly and the food and smoothie were quality made.

After leaving there, we picked up a few bananas, seeds and a mango from a street vendor and got back on the road. I drove us back to the main road. We drove about 6 miles before we saw the sign for the Trek Stop. We drove past it and toured the next little village; then came back to finally settle in our accommodation.

Mateo and Tetra have been in bed for a while, and now that I’ve got this blog post drafted, I should go to bed too. Thank you, good luck, and good night.