Its now mid to late October and we have been here for 5 months, man time flys! The locals have been saying that the weather starts to get cooler toward the end of the year and with this in mind we have been wondering if we would notice the change.
Well I have, not sure about Dave, he thinks the current temp is just perfect. I though am starting to get very cool and have been wearing long pants and occasionally breaking out a long sleeve t-shirt too!
While on the internet the other day we looked at the current temp and saw that it was 32 degrees, this was at 8pm and there I was with my long pants on and goose bumps on my arms! (true story)
Still not that much rain considering it’s the rainy season, which when it comes is quite refreshing. The days are normally long and extremely hot. Top it off with the fact that we bike everywhere from dawn till dusk, we arrive home covered in sweat, quite delightful really, NOT!
When there is no rain for weeks on end the roads which are mostly dirt get very dusty and when a car goes by it showers you not with water but clouds of dust. This is also delightful, NOT! So its after periods with no rain for weeks that we all start hanging out for the rain, even just a little would be nice. Even me with my polar bear exterior cant wait to be cooled down a little.
So yes the cooler weather is approaching and soon it will be cold. We are adapting to the weather very well and now don’t think its that hot now at all. Even on days when the locals are dying from the heat we aren’t doing too badly, that’s good, but not good when it gets cooler as we then think we are dying of frost bite, well okay its not that bad. Funny how quickly the body can adapt to new surroundings.
Monday, October 26, 2009
THE BURNING BOAT!
So we are sitting at the “café” (where we get internet) and suddenly Dave says “look at that, what it is?” We both sit there looking at what looks like flames way out on the horizon.
Slowly its getting bigger and Dave exclaims that it must be a boat on fire.
Then it all becomes clear. What we can see “burning” was in fact the moon rising! It was bright orange at first glimpse and huge and as it rose it slowly morphed from orange to gold to light yellow to cream and then finally to its brilliant white, taking on its normal size along the way.
The moon was full and a gem hanging upon nothing. The light from it glistened across the surface of the Caribbean as though guiding us. I couldn’t help but think of PS119:105.
Since we have been here we have been hoping that we will be at the beach at the right time to see the moon rise and there it was before us. Stunning!!
Slowly its getting bigger and Dave exclaims that it must be a boat on fire.
Then it all becomes clear. What we can see “burning” was in fact the moon rising! It was bright orange at first glimpse and huge and as it rose it slowly morphed from orange to gold to light yellow to cream and then finally to its brilliant white, taking on its normal size along the way.
The moon was full and a gem hanging upon nothing. The light from it glistened across the surface of the Caribbean as though guiding us. I couldn’t help but think of PS119:105.
Since we have been here we have been hoping that we will be at the beach at the right time to see the moon rise and there it was before us. Stunning!!
Friday, October 23, 2009
A VERY FULL MOON
As we were biking toward Pelican Beach to sit on the pier and eat our dinner we realized how full the moon was and wondered what it would look like from the beach. This we were soon to find out.
On approaching the beach we could see the moon sneaking a peak at us through the fronds of the palms. Full and bright it was, sending beams of light toward us. Our view changed with each step, giving only more appreciation.
We sat with our feet dangling in the water, surrounded by towering palm trees swaying softly in the breeze. The sound of the Caribbean waters gently lapping the sandy shore tickling our ears.
For ages we sat there just staring up at the bright night sky. The stars gleaming, the bright moon standing resolute among them. Awe inspiring you might say, I definitely would!
Photos were taken but, they really do the sight no justice, neither do words really. We only hope our memories can contain such delights.
As we left we hoped that we would be there one night to see the moon rise from behind the vast sea. One can only hope.
On approaching the beach we could see the moon sneaking a peak at us through the fronds of the palms. Full and bright it was, sending beams of light toward us. Our view changed with each step, giving only more appreciation.
We sat with our feet dangling in the water, surrounded by towering palm trees swaying softly in the breeze. The sound of the Caribbean waters gently lapping the sandy shore tickling our ears.
For ages we sat there just staring up at the bright night sky. The stars gleaming, the bright moon standing resolute among them. Awe inspiring you might say, I definitely would!
Photos were taken but, they really do the sight no justice, neither do words really. We only hope our memories can contain such delights.
As we left we hoped that we would be there one night to see the moon rise from behind the vast sea. One can only hope.
TRANSLATOR PLEASE!
Check this out, its funny.
Dave was talking to a group of sister at the hall the other day. The sisters were all Belizean. Dave says to one “Hi Sister Lewis, how are you?” she says “what?” so Dave repeats himself, to which she said “what?” again. He slows down his speech and says the same thing again at which point she leans over to her daughter and asks her “what did he say” the daughter explains and then the lady answers Dave, everyone is laughing. Dave then jokingly says to her “you need a translator ha!” To this the lady again says “what?” Dave just looks at the daughter smiling. The lady leans over to her daughter asking what Dave had just said. The daughter repeats to her that Dave asked if she needed a translator,
at which point everyone in the room erupts into laughter including the sister who now finally understands.
This sister is not deaf or old, she just simply couldn’t understand a word that was coming out of his mouth!
Poor Dave, this sort of thing happens quite often to him, but he and all of us have seen the light side of life and we all just laugh at each other.
Hmm on reading this, it doesn’t really sound that funny, “I guess you just had to be there!”
Dave was talking to a group of sister at the hall the other day. The sisters were all Belizean. Dave says to one “Hi Sister Lewis, how are you?” she says “what?” so Dave repeats himself, to which she said “what?” again. He slows down his speech and says the same thing again at which point she leans over to her daughter and asks her “what did he say” the daughter explains and then the lady answers Dave, everyone is laughing. Dave then jokingly says to her “you need a translator ha!” To this the lady again says “what?” Dave just looks at the daughter smiling. The lady leans over to her daughter asking what Dave had just said. The daughter repeats to her that Dave asked if she needed a translator,
at which point everyone in the room erupts into laughter including the sister who now finally understands.
This sister is not deaf or old, she just simply couldn’t understand a word that was coming out of his mouth!
Poor Dave, this sort of thing happens quite often to him, but he and all of us have seen the light side of life and we all just laugh at each other.
Hmm on reading this, it doesn’t really sound that funny, “I guess you just had to be there!”
SPECIAL ASSEMBLY DAY
On Oct 11 2009 we had our very first assembly to attend. It was the Special Assembly Day to be held in Punta Gorda, Belize. Punta Gorda is a seaside town just above the Guatemalan border.
We went down the day before to help with cleaning and setting up of the stage and seats etc. We had such a blast. There were brothers and sisters from all over who came to help and the atmosphere of love and unity was thick.
The COBE of Dangriga congo was given the assignment of painting the sign that held the theme scripture for the programme. This brother was struggling a little with this and when I asked him if he would like some help he was ever so grateful. So I went along after him making the edges straight and realigning the letters slightly so that it was as uniform as possible. We had to do the whole sign by free hand as there were no stencils or rulers or tape to use. I have to say it came out pretty well. The brother later told me that when he was asked to do the sign he was freaking out as he didn’t really know what he was doing, so had a quick prayer to Jehovah for help. With that I came along and offered him help, how Jehovah provides aye.
The building itself starts at the ground with tin and then thatching above that, then a small gap with nothings covering it and then the roof which is also tin. As you can imagine it can get very hot in there. Weeeel, hot it was! The day of the Assembly the sun was fierce, it beat down upon that building melting all that were within. The poor brothers with their long pants and jackets (for the stage parts) were dead on their feet. It was not a strange thing to see one go past with not a dry patch on his shirt. There were even brothers that did not have speaking parts that were wearing light colored pants, this was not a good idea as even the butts of the brothers were soaking wet from sweat. You could not tell this with the brothers with the dark pants on, but the light pants, oh dear!
The speakers were all very good and the interviews and demos were wonderful. I have videoed 90% of these so I can share some of the experiences with you all. There were a number of ones from our congo that were interviewed so it will be nice to show you them too. Kind of an introduction of sorts.
The night before the Assembly we went out to dinner with some of the brothers and sisters. The place we went sit out over the water and in the distance you can see lights from both Guatemala and Honduras! This night there was a massive storm and the thunder was shaking the building we were in! No kidding either. The rain was so heavy you could have sworn someone was out side dropping buckets of water on the roof. One of the brothers was saying that back in his hotel room, when the lightening would flash it would arch inside the room over the walls where the appliances were! Hmmmm how safe that is I don’t even want to wonder! Don’t tell Marlene about that part!
All in all, we had a wonderful time. It really shows that even though we are on the other side of the world, Jehovahs organization is exactly the same. We were taught the same things we used the same books, even the program was exactly the same! Don’t think you can say that about many other religions.
This has given us a little taste to keep us going for a while again and we cant wait until we go to Ladyville in Jan for the District Convention. I don’t think I will have to paint any signs for that one, well not yet anyway.
We went down the day before to help with cleaning and setting up of the stage and seats etc. We had such a blast. There were brothers and sisters from all over who came to help and the atmosphere of love and unity was thick.
The COBE of Dangriga congo was given the assignment of painting the sign that held the theme scripture for the programme. This brother was struggling a little with this and when I asked him if he would like some help he was ever so grateful. So I went along after him making the edges straight and realigning the letters slightly so that it was as uniform as possible. We had to do the whole sign by free hand as there were no stencils or rulers or tape to use. I have to say it came out pretty well. The brother later told me that when he was asked to do the sign he was freaking out as he didn’t really know what he was doing, so had a quick prayer to Jehovah for help. With that I came along and offered him help, how Jehovah provides aye.
The building itself starts at the ground with tin and then thatching above that, then a small gap with nothings covering it and then the roof which is also tin. As you can imagine it can get very hot in there. Weeeel, hot it was! The day of the Assembly the sun was fierce, it beat down upon that building melting all that were within. The poor brothers with their long pants and jackets (for the stage parts) were dead on their feet. It was not a strange thing to see one go past with not a dry patch on his shirt. There were even brothers that did not have speaking parts that were wearing light colored pants, this was not a good idea as even the butts of the brothers were soaking wet from sweat. You could not tell this with the brothers with the dark pants on, but the light pants, oh dear!
The speakers were all very good and the interviews and demos were wonderful. I have videoed 90% of these so I can share some of the experiences with you all. There were a number of ones from our congo that were interviewed so it will be nice to show you them too. Kind of an introduction of sorts.
The night before the Assembly we went out to dinner with some of the brothers and sisters. The place we went sit out over the water and in the distance you can see lights from both Guatemala and Honduras! This night there was a massive storm and the thunder was shaking the building we were in! No kidding either. The rain was so heavy you could have sworn someone was out side dropping buckets of water on the roof. One of the brothers was saying that back in his hotel room, when the lightening would flash it would arch inside the room over the walls where the appliances were! Hmmmm how safe that is I don’t even want to wonder! Don’t tell Marlene about that part!
All in all, we had a wonderful time. It really shows that even though we are on the other side of the world, Jehovahs organization is exactly the same. We were taught the same things we used the same books, even the program was exactly the same! Don’t think you can say that about many other religions.
This has given us a little taste to keep us going for a while again and we cant wait until we go to Ladyville in Jan for the District Convention. I don’t think I will have to paint any signs for that one, well not yet anyway.
Monday, October 5, 2009
A SIGHT TO BEHOLD!
I just had to tell you all about this one.
I was out in Pamona village doing studies on Friday and before heading home I was waiting for the bus. (No rain this time!) The sun was setting behind the mountains and the sky was clear apart from one or two whispy clouds guilded in pink and gold. A glow rested just above the high grass waving slowing in the breeze.
As I look out over this beautiful sight my eye catches something glorious.
Flittering just above the grass were hundreds and hundreds of dragon flies. The setting sun was catching the wings of the Dragon Flies, winking golden lights across the field. Gracefully bobbing from one grass head to the other.
All I could do was sit there in awe of another of Jehovahs creations. If only a camera could do this sight justice.
I love the end of the day here, especially out in the valley as the land comes alive with all this little creatures. They have no idea how wonderful they are or the joy they can bring onlookers, what a sight to behold!
I was out in Pamona village doing studies on Friday and before heading home I was waiting for the bus. (No rain this time!) The sun was setting behind the mountains and the sky was clear apart from one or two whispy clouds guilded in pink and gold. A glow rested just above the high grass waving slowing in the breeze.
As I look out over this beautiful sight my eye catches something glorious.
Flittering just above the grass were hundreds and hundreds of dragon flies. The setting sun was catching the wings of the Dragon Flies, winking golden lights across the field. Gracefully bobbing from one grass head to the other.
All I could do was sit there in awe of another of Jehovahs creations. If only a camera could do this sight justice.
I love the end of the day here, especially out in the valley as the land comes alive with all this little creatures. They have no idea how wonderful they are or the joy they can bring onlookers, what a sight to behold!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
IT ALL STARTED WITH THE CRAB
Im sitting out on our porch the other night and something moving caught my eye. On further inspection it was one of the many rather large crabs that wander through the section (forgot to mention them in the animal blog). I watched it until it disappeared into the shadows.
A while later after going inside we suddenly hear this scuffling, banging, crashing, scrapping noise on the corrugated iron outside the window. We thought, here we go someone trying to look in the window. But nooooooooo.
The noise carried on and on until we finally thought we had better investigate what was making such a racket. Dave exclaims when I arrive that a cat had just caught the crab that was wandering around. We tried to see it but could not for lack of light. Dave goes and sits back down again, not having to attack anyone with the machete tonight. I however was still curious.
I went inside and got our little torch and went exploring as now I could hear this crunching noise. I thought to myself, surely cats don’t eat crab here!
I snuck around the corner all stealth like so as not to frighten the cat away. I found a good spot and shone the torch back and forth in the general direction of the noise, fully expecting to catch a greedy cat in the act with crab all over its face. But Nooooooooooo.
I shone the torch and there it was, caught in the light, not a greedy cat at all, but a large Opossum that visits each night! He has to be the ugliest, mangy looking thing Ive seen in a long time. He looks up at me with this, “oh a moon” look on his face then shys away like he didn’t want his photo taken. In his little paws was a very crushed very munched very dead crab. Now that I was not expecting!
I watched him for a while and called Dave to come see the “cat”. We just cracked up laughing as we had just been saying to each other that we wonder what land crabs eat! We still don’t know but we sure know what the Opossums eat!
I tell you from our porch there is all sorts of strange wild life entertainment, something we will really miss!
A while later after going inside we suddenly hear this scuffling, banging, crashing, scrapping noise on the corrugated iron outside the window. We thought, here we go someone trying to look in the window. But nooooooooo.
The noise carried on and on until we finally thought we had better investigate what was making such a racket. Dave exclaims when I arrive that a cat had just caught the crab that was wandering around. We tried to see it but could not for lack of light. Dave goes and sits back down again, not having to attack anyone with the machete tonight. I however was still curious.
I went inside and got our little torch and went exploring as now I could hear this crunching noise. I thought to myself, surely cats don’t eat crab here!
I snuck around the corner all stealth like so as not to frighten the cat away. I found a good spot and shone the torch back and forth in the general direction of the noise, fully expecting to catch a greedy cat in the act with crab all over its face. But Nooooooooooo.
I shone the torch and there it was, caught in the light, not a greedy cat at all, but a large Opossum that visits each night! He has to be the ugliest, mangy looking thing Ive seen in a long time. He looks up at me with this, “oh a moon” look on his face then shys away like he didn’t want his photo taken. In his little paws was a very crushed very munched very dead crab. Now that I was not expecting!
I watched him for a while and called Dave to come see the “cat”. We just cracked up laughing as we had just been saying to each other that we wonder what land crabs eat! We still don’t know but we sure know what the Opossums eat!
I tell you from our porch there is all sorts of strange wild life entertainment, something we will really miss!
AND THE RAIN CAME DOWN!
So I was out in the village of Pamona Newsite the other day after an 11 hour day of bible studies (no I’m not kidding or exagerating).
Im standing at the little bus shelter waiting patiently for the bus to come along. I had about 20 mins to wait. As I was looking around I noticed that there were some rather larger extremely black clouds building on the horizon. I think to myself, man I hope that bus gets her soon, cos Im gonna get wet if that keeps coming!
Im waiting and waiting and still no bus but the clouds are now massive and the sky has turned black around me. Next thing I hear is the pitter patter of rain drops creeping closer and closer. The they are upon me. At fist not too heavy but wet, yes. Within just a moment the rain is pelting down and coming in sideways under the shelter. It is now so heavy that I have to move to the very far corner of the shelter that has no sides to try and get some kind of protection from the rain. Still no bus.
The rain now is no longer falling in droplets, its falling by the bucket and slicing right under the shelter and right across my back. Im not getting too wet just yet but if I have to stand there much longer I will be quite wet.
While standing there, hearing the rain get heavier and heavier Im wondering how Im going to get from the shelter out to the roadside to alert the bus to stop and pick me up without getting absolutely soaked. It appears that there is no chance of that! With that the bus rounds the corner in the distance and I have to make a mad dash for the road. I had not stepped even a whole pace before I was a drowned rat.
The rule in Belize is that if you are getting on the bus, you have to wait for the people to get off before you can get on. Makes sense right, WELL NOT WHEN YOU’RE THE ONE STANDING THE TROPICAL DOWNPOUR!!!!
Anyway….. I get beckoned onto the bus and don’t have to wait for others to get off, how kind of them. But even in the short space from the bus shelter to the bus, I managed to get every little possible speck of dry on me, absolutely drenched to death. Am talking you have never so wet in your life wet. When I took my seat I was glad the I had the seat to myself as I was so wet there were little rivers running off me in all directions. I ran my hands over my hair at least 10 times and every time great streams of water would run down my back and onto the seat. I ended up sitting in a puddle or water that felt as though it was at least a foot deep, well okay that’s an exaggeration maybe it was only a cm deep! A foot sounds better though.
I have to say that I was laughing my head off and thinking to myself how different it was here to home. Not that you can make comparisons, but I couldn’t help but think that at home I would have just sat in the car and waited for the rain to stop before getting out. Or how I would have just driven the car around instead of having to catch the bus in the rain. I really did laugh and believe me so was everyone on the bus! At least I wasn’t the only wet rag on the bus.
The funniest thing, well now its funny, was that in town there had been no rain at all, so Dave was perfectly dry looking at me like I was a freak walking to the door dripping from had to toe, oh and so were the locals!!!!
So yeah, that was my day last Wednesday, how was yours?
Im standing at the little bus shelter waiting patiently for the bus to come along. I had about 20 mins to wait. As I was looking around I noticed that there were some rather larger extremely black clouds building on the horizon. I think to myself, man I hope that bus gets her soon, cos Im gonna get wet if that keeps coming!
Im waiting and waiting and still no bus but the clouds are now massive and the sky has turned black around me. Next thing I hear is the pitter patter of rain drops creeping closer and closer. The they are upon me. At fist not too heavy but wet, yes. Within just a moment the rain is pelting down and coming in sideways under the shelter. It is now so heavy that I have to move to the very far corner of the shelter that has no sides to try and get some kind of protection from the rain. Still no bus.
The rain now is no longer falling in droplets, its falling by the bucket and slicing right under the shelter and right across my back. Im not getting too wet just yet but if I have to stand there much longer I will be quite wet.
While standing there, hearing the rain get heavier and heavier Im wondering how Im going to get from the shelter out to the roadside to alert the bus to stop and pick me up without getting absolutely soaked. It appears that there is no chance of that! With that the bus rounds the corner in the distance and I have to make a mad dash for the road. I had not stepped even a whole pace before I was a drowned rat.
The rule in Belize is that if you are getting on the bus, you have to wait for the people to get off before you can get on. Makes sense right, WELL NOT WHEN YOU’RE THE ONE STANDING THE TROPICAL DOWNPOUR!!!!
Anyway….. I get beckoned onto the bus and don’t have to wait for others to get off, how kind of them. But even in the short space from the bus shelter to the bus, I managed to get every little possible speck of dry on me, absolutely drenched to death. Am talking you have never so wet in your life wet. When I took my seat I was glad the I had the seat to myself as I was so wet there were little rivers running off me in all directions. I ran my hands over my hair at least 10 times and every time great streams of water would run down my back and onto the seat. I ended up sitting in a puddle or water that felt as though it was at least a foot deep, well okay that’s an exaggeration maybe it was only a cm deep! A foot sounds better though.
I have to say that I was laughing my head off and thinking to myself how different it was here to home. Not that you can make comparisons, but I couldn’t help but think that at home I would have just sat in the car and waited for the rain to stop before getting out. Or how I would have just driven the car around instead of having to catch the bus in the rain. I really did laugh and believe me so was everyone on the bus! At least I wasn’t the only wet rag on the bus.
The funniest thing, well now its funny, was that in town there had been no rain at all, so Dave was perfectly dry looking at me like I was a freak walking to the door dripping from had to toe, oh and so were the locals!!!!
So yeah, that was my day last Wednesday, how was yours?
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