Monday, November 29, 2010 - UPDATED

Monday, November 29, 2010:

 

Wow, what a stark contrast from yesterday. This morning there is a wonderful easterly cool breeze and it’s sunny.  Love it!  We might go exploring today.  Otherwise it will be sitting and watching TV…blah! We’ll see what Gerald says. Nothing going on in the resort tonight – movie nights are Tuesday and Thursday and they are playing Inception and Robin Hood.  Haven’t seen those…so may have to go.  

IT’S A MIRACLE!  WE SAW A ROAD GRADER COME BY OUR CONDO!!!  OMG! A REAL ROAD GRADER!!!  A GRADER! BY OUR CONDO!!!  YIPEEEEEE!!! We’re gonna go ride the road…just back and forth, back and forth!  =) (it’s the little things here, you know?) Wonder if they have done anything on the other side of the bridge …  HERE IT COMES AGAIN! I HAVE TO TAKE A PICTURE! IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL!

As if seeing a road grader wasn’t enough excitement for me today, on our way back from picking up water, we stopped at the big Lebanese owned grocery store on the south side of town to see if they had butter flavored spray Pam. No luck, but…and I almost started to cry…they have Dr. Pepper. DR. PEPPER! You just have no idea what that means!  I also got some Spam for Gerald, Hidden Valley Ranch dressing and Stove Top cornbread stuffing and Country Crock butter.  We stopped at the local veggie stand and got some bananas, tomatoes, homemade salsa, fried plantains, sweet potato and taro.  It’s a wonderful day so far, and I just couldn’t imagine it getting any better…unless I win the lottery!    

No road grader on the other side of the bridge. They keep saying it’s coming though, but it will probably have to be after the rainy season.  They are expecting some rain here on Wednesday and/or Thursday. Governments don’t move fast anyway.  I’m pretty sure it was a private venture that did it on this side. Probably some resort up north and they made a good neighborly gesture by grading the whole thing.  They get points from me!

We came back, dropped the groceries off and went back to town just to drive around and walk down the beach to see the places and restaurants.  It’s something to do and we got to ride down the smooth road again (eheheee).  On the way, we picked up a young girl (early 20’s) walking by our condo. Gerald had seen her earlier in the morning by the Crystal water company, which is way south of town.  Lots of ride giving here.  Most workers can’t afford a golf cart, so if you have room…why not?  We also gave an elderly lady a ride this morning too. It’s good for the soul to help people. Anyway, this young girl (her name is Michelle) was walking from the north by our building.  She said she went to visit a friend, but he wasn’t there. Wow.  That’s a long way to go to visit a friend that you don’t know is there! Whatever. We’re going to town anyway.

We are scoping out an ice cream shop for Gerald. We’ve seen a couple advertised, and we haven’t had any since we left Placencia. Michelle ends up coming with us. She said she doesn’t have anything else to do.  Ok?  We walk up the park center and beach area. So many different restaurants! It would take forever to try them all! Little vendor stands and wood carvers. A Rastafarian has some bowls and platters he carved and he is talking up Gerald! (ha!) They are really beautiful, but now is not the time to buy things like that. (I know…did you pick yourself up off the floor?) We see the same Rastafarian further down the beach with another setup and more carvings. These are even better than the ones off the main road.  We stop and talk again and he has a little Belizean Raccoon. He’s a cute little guy!

We’ve had enough of being in the sun and walking today.  So we take Michelle back to her hotel/room south and go back home to get a bite to eat, talk to Erica and Bradley and get a nap in before Gerald plays across the street at Coco Locos. 

I’m resting on the couch and a worker comes by and wants me to open the laundry room so he can check and change the water filter again.  That’s twice in a week, and still not much difference.  It still looks and sometimes smells like used toilet water.  Makes me wonder if it’s doing any good taking a shower? My hair is reminiscent of that Seinfeld episode where everyone’s hair was all flat and greasy looking from the low flow shower head. We don’t have a problem with the shower head here, it’s actually great (better than the last place), but the crap (no pun intended) in the water is making my hair flat and greasy looking. I’m glad the dress and appearance code is casual here!

We get ready and start dinner – just a salad – then try Skyping with the grandkids. I’ve paid for premium high speed connection here.  But unfortunately, having to use a third party filter to be able to access Skype, has slowed down the internet connection and thus speed.  So our connection is not so good. They are only hearing parts of our conversation and the video from them pauses and stalls. Plus you get kicked off frequently.  The third party connection has to frequently change ISP addresses because the cable/phone company finds and block the sites. Oh well. At least we get a few minutes. Bradley can’t sit still that long anyway! So we say goodbye and head across the street to Coco Locos.

We get to Coco Locos – it’s about 6pm. We missed happy hour (4-6).  The bar stools are full – about 10-15 people there.  We say hi to Linda and she introduces us to the other locals and residents at the Bermuda condos. We talk a little bit and Gerald gets his guitar out and starts to play some songs.  They seem to enjoy his playing and make several requests of old country songs.  Gerald sure wishes Ron was here to help him sing some of the songs they are requesting! But it was a good night – we even had some dancers and it looked like we were real close to getting one on the bar!

The bar usually closes down around 8, and it’s getting close to bedtime anyway, so we head back.  Gerald wants to stop at the resort bar, there is supposed to be karaoke there tonight, but no one is there, so back to the condo! Eat a snack…head to bed!