Sun, 17 Jan

Sun, 17 Jan ok, i've been asked exactly how 'chores' work here .... Madi gets up somewhere around 5-6am .... first she takes care of her 'own' 4 cats that she brought with her from NYC, that stay in her room. then she comes down and let's the cats out that live in "Tiger's Den", 18 of them. they get an hour of 'playtime' while she prepares the food. it's easier to do that when they are out from under your feet, meowing ............ Photo of her getting ready to let the cats out. the round big orange structure on the right is her rain water tank. after all he rain they had in Dec, she said it is almost full. she uses this water for the cats ... NOT the water that comes out of the faucets in the house .... so i figured i shouldn't drink it either :) i'm still asleep but usually wake up around 6:30am to the sound of cats meowing ... Madi is already down there with them preparing their bowls, and they know it. so i get up and start helping her. just me ... Peter, Anna, and Mikko, are not helping with the chores. they are not going to be here that long, and it's too time consuming to try to get them acquainted with all the routines... so, it's Madi and i for now. it's a LOT! Since i'm here, i've identified a lot of little things that need to be done. so, Peter has been doing these 'fix-it' things in and around the cat areas. believe me, there is a lot to do, just little things; like fix the hooks that keep the doors closed. they had rusted off, and Madi was using a cement block wedged against the door to keep it closed. i was tripping over the block and it took precious minutes to move them, open the door, place the food, close the door, and replace the block! so getting those things done has been very helpful. Madi and i work together until about 8am, when she needs to get ready to go to work and catch the 8:30 water taxi into Belize. After she leaves, i continue to finish up where we were, ....cleaning litter boxes, filling water bowls, and washing all the food dishes .... after EACH feeding ..... do any of you do that ????????????? i never did! and then i go to another room where the kittens and young cats are living, and take care of them; then the cats across the street that really aren't 'hers'. after that, i need to get something to eat. i'm not much of a big breakfast person, so i've found some whole wheat bread from the local bakery and peanut butter (not skippy nor jif-- went to the grocery store and found a young guy and asked him which brand he liked best... i bought that one. it's good!). and i have some fresh fruit, bananas ... there is nothing like a fresh banana, papaya, pineapple, melons. more on chores later ... back to Sunday, ...even though it is Sunday, chores still need to be done. in fact the weekends are usually busier since Madi is here all day, and she keeps working, non-stop. this is the time that she 'flushes' the floors, shelves, and litter areas with water, then applies some biodegradable soap, then flushes again. since the soil is so sandy here, it drains pretty quickly and does make a difference. the morning was cloudy, cooler and windy, so snorkeling is off for today :( however, the afternoon turned out very nice ... and we could have gone ... but did not instead i walked around the island and took some photos. The Caye Caulker Water Taxi Dock. these boats go to San Pedro and Belize City, about every hour. This is the company that Madi 'works' for ..... or is trying to 'save' our Meijer's -- even though it says "Bar and Grlll" it is a combination grocery store with hardware in the back. Just like home :) Our Bakery ... whole wheat bread ! some nice sugar cookies :) my bug bites are making me miserable ... i can hardly stand myself, itching, itching, all the time. i finally thought to take some benadryl ... it seems to help. Peter is leaving tomorrow, so we took Madi out to dinner tonight. i was really tired, maybe the benedryl ... doesn't usually affect me like that.

Monday, 18 Jan

Mon 18 Jan: Peter left for Guatamala and Honduras this morning. it was a perfect morning. after chores, i set up snorkeling again with Janne and Henk, the friends of Peter from Holland. we will go snorkeling while he rides a hot dusty bus to Flores... poor Peter :( our snorkeling boat took us out to the reef in front of Caye Caulker. there were 3 different spots. the first place was wasn't too deep, altho we did see a few divers at about 35 feet. saw a stingray as soon as i entered the water. our guide really guided us. i stayed close by so i could see whatever he pointed out. he coaxed a moral eel out of his 'den' with some fish. he came out and headed towards us with his mouth open. they look so vicious, but they have to keep their mouth open because they don't have gills, .. it's the way they breathe. lots of fishes and different corals: brain, star, lettuce. saw a pretty big grouper under a bank of coral. we snorkeled for almost an hour... i was getting cold, even tho i had my new wonderful neoprene jacket on. the next stop was Stingray Alley. Similar to the one at Grand Caymen.... for years the fishermen cleaned their fish at this spot, and the stingrays used to come and feed. they still come today and swim with us tourists. i actually got to hold one . they are like soft wet velvet. very soothing! the next spot was Coral Gardens ... lots of coral outcroppings quite close to the surface. you can just stay in one place and continue to see lots of little fishes, anemoes, and sea urchins. it clouded up for awhile and actually rained quite heavily while we were with the stingrays, but who notices when you're in the water. it was a great snorkel experience. i can't imagine what a bad snorkel experience would be; hopefully i never do. i have not posted this because i was hoping that Janne would send me some photos of our trip ... but ... i'll send them later ......when we got back to Janne and Henk's place, they 'insisted' that i come in and use their HOT water to shower and wash my hair. WOW ... simple pleasures :) my bites are still driving me crazy. i went to the pharmacy to get something for a couple of the cats, who seem to have allergies and have raw patches. the pharmacist said i could take the same thing for my bites and it wouldn't make me sleepy. so i got some for myself too. and it works! on the way to the pharmacy i took some more photos: golf cart taxi: they made their fences out of the dead coconut branches: if i had time :) .... i'd research this and let you know what it is :) Catholic Church ... this one i know. i tried to get in, but it was locked,.... is there a message there ? when i got home Madi also suggested putting aloe on them, so i slathered up, and that gave some immediate relief. no other topical creams have worked. i even bought one here that is hemp based, and got some from Janne that she said works ... none of them worked for me. but the aloe did .... go figure! Janne and Henk invited me to join them for dinner at their place tonight. it is their last night. we ate outside at their picnic table. i stopped for ceviche on the way there, we had rum and cokes, visited, then ordered Chinese, take out of course, to eat at their picnic table. a good night

Sat, 16 Jan

Sat, 16 Jan hey! i've been here a week already .... and we are finally geting some nice weather! YES ! what a wonderful day ... PERFECT, best day yet. it was hot, sticky and buggy doing chores today. i took a quick jump in the water at the house just to cool off. Peter was reading under the tree, i suggested we take advantage of this beautiful Belize day and go down to The Lazy Lizard at The Split. The 'split' was caused by a Hurricane Hati in 1961 ... it literally cut the island in half. Arial photo of Caye Caulker, at the top of the photo you can see where it split. it is now a nice sandy beach with a little bar, picnic tables in the water, hammocks on the deck. The split is quite deep and the tide is strong there. you just get in the water on one side of the bar, and float, and let the current take you down a little to the other end of the bar, and get out, go to the bar, get another drink, repeat ...... easily entertained, aren't i? i had been here in December, so i knew about their signature drink ... Lizard Juice ... and it's reputation. i had 2 of them in Dec and don't recommend it, .... if you need to function. Peter and i shared one. that was plenty. as you can see, it is very GREEN ! on the way back home, we stopped at Peter's friend's from Holland, and arranged to go on a snorkeling tour with them tomorrow! let the sun shine in :) as wonderful a day as it was, it did have a lot of sadness in it. Cloudy, the young and gentle tiger cat lost his fight against the poisoning of his system due to his urinary tract being plugged. it is especially sad when this happens to one of the more affectionate cats; since not all of them are. Madi was very sad, of course, because she did all she could. this is what happens when you do not have resources available here on the island. we buried him there on her property, and i consoled her the best i could. we made a nice resting place for him. back to Rose's for dinner. tonight it was grilled Hogfish ... awesome ! met another guy, Josh, who is also travelling. he was there with his parents and they are going to get scuba certified. i love it here :)