Feeling hot, hot, hot...

My goodness, it is absolutely boiling here today! Lucky enough, we have a wireless connection so I can sit outside and work on the computer. It's just unbearable inside the house right now.

Anyway, all is good here. The Route De Maya came and went. It was nice having so many people around. Andy drank a bit too much and fell asleep outside on a wooden chair (how does he do that?) And we ended up with a bar full of slightly rowdy (but funny) women. It was quite enjoyable.

Lucas had a fever last night and kept us up a bit. The weird thing is, he won't have his afternoon sleep today. I thought he'd be knackered (I am). It's gone past 2 and he's still charging around. Very strange.

Now, Lucas has 2 favorite "toys" these days:

1. A football
2. A broom (sometimes substituted by PVC pipes)

So I've decided that it's no use buying him expensive toys, because he doesn't play with them anyway. At least not for long. A toy can hold his attention for up to 5 minutes, a broom can keep him entertained for at least half an hour. The same with a football. He can play football for hours, but plays with his cars only for minutes at a time. Cuddly toys don't seem to do anything for him. All he does with them is throw them around the house. Actually, that's not totally true...he also tries to "feed" cuddly toys with whatever he is eating. If I don't spot it in time, we end up with moldy teddies stuffed underneath the bed or the sofas . Quite disgusting, really.

His favorite thing is copying the other men around the house. So if David is cleaning the pool in the morning, Lucas does the same a with a broom or a PVC pipe later (I prefer the PVC pipe, because it doesn't make the pool dirty). If John is shoveling, Lucas is shoveling. If Andy waters the plants, Lucas waters the plants (and then tries to destroy the plant). And of course, he sees them playing football, so he wants to play football. He now tries to keep the ball up, which is too hard for him of course. Still, it's funny to watch.

Oh by the way, I did something really exciting today (exciting for me....I'm sure it won't sound as exciting to anyone else...) I've started piano lessons! I have been wanting to learn to play the piano for years now, but never actually got round to it. The lady teaching me is called Miss Bunny. She is a Creole lady in her fourties, who plays the piano in the Anglican Church. She is a most amazing teacher. I can't believe how much I've already learned in just one lesson. I guess it's partly because I learned to read music before with my singing lessons (I had lessons from the age of 12 to 18). Still, I can't do that anymore...look at some random notes on paper and then sing them (we did try and it was disastrous). But there is obviously some part of my brain that still remembers this stuff & I'm sure it made the piano lesson a lot easier. Miss Bunny and I had so much fun and laughed so much, I can't wait to go back next week.

I'm also going to check out rehearsals for a community choir in Belmopan. I'm going a bit stir-crazy, not singing or dancing or acting. I need some kind of creative outlet again.

Oh, and finally, I now know where to go to get the non-profit status for the Jaden Foundation. I'm going to the offices on Friday. But first we're off to San Pedro for a night tomorrow. See ya!

Route De Maya

I always forget to check my comments. Just looked at them this morning for the first time in weeks and noticed some lovely comments and advice from Jaime & Bill Erickson about the "non-profit" status that I'm trying to get for the Jaden Foundation. Thank you both. I will read through the Belize Companies Act & see what it says about it. And Bill, please send me your email address or email me at Simone@greendragonbelize.com . I would love to hear about your experiences with setting up a non-profit in Belize and in the States.

Oh, and it's the Route De Maya today. Which is the big canoe race that goes from San Ignacio all the way to Belize City. It's a 3-day race and the first stop is at Banana Bank later today. So I believe that we'll have a very full house tonight. Lynwen is following the racers as part of the rescue team. She is staying with us, so is Sharane, our massage therapist and our tour guide Gonzo (and who ever else shows up). It will be a fun evening, I think.

Anyway, that's all later. I first have to do another "drop-off" in Belize City. One of our guests is checking out. Of course, we have lots more are arriving too. The rooms downstairs are all booked out. So we'll all be very busy. It's gonna be a crazy one....

The meeting

Had a wonderful meeting yesterday with Mr. Mustafa Toure. He is the head of the IT department of the Ministry of Education. I brought him the educational software that was donated by the InterVol medical team. It was perfect timing! The government of Belize is starting a teacher training program soon and did not have any software yet to work with. So now this software will be used as part of the program. Isn't that great? And, of course, the programs will be available to schools too.

Mr. Toure was very impressed with my digital camera (Fujifilm Finepix S700). It has 12 mega-pixels and is just the most perfect gadget. I can take pictures and then edit what I shot in the camera, zooming into people's pupils or in to a raindrop on a flower petal, without hardly losing any picture quality. Anyway, Mr. Toure introduced me to almost everybody at the Ministry of Education and made me show off my camera by taking everyone's picture. It was good fun.

The Ministry of Education now wants to include the Jaden Foundation in the charities that they officially work with & will post an announcement on their website about The Jaden Foundation. I'm very happy about that.

By the way, the thing that's most challenging to me is being diplomatic. Although I have to say, I'm getting better. Yesterday I kept saying to myself "you can never be too polite, you can never be too polite" & I think it worked. Usually when I meet government officials I slap them on the back and crack stupid jokes, but this time I reigned myself in. You see, in my old MTV job I had to do the opposite. I had to treat famous people like they were my old school mates. But I had already discovered that in a place like Belize, that type of behavior is not appreciated. Especially not in politics. So anyway, I'm getting better. It's quite a funny challenge, actually.

Right, that'll do for today. I was quite moody before I started writing this, but I feel better again already. Or is that the effect of the coffee?

Mr. Mustafa Toure from The Ministry of Education

Little update

It’s raining. I don’t mind though. It’s been so hot the last few days, it’s nice to have a cooler day in between.

Received a phone call from the Ministry of Education this morning. Their IT department will help me with the distribution of the educational software. They also want to know more about the Jaden Foundation and hopefully list us as a charity that the Ministry of Education officially works with. In this meeting today, we can also look at how to get the donated computers from Rochester shipped to Belize.

Now, the Belize Jungle Dome is doing great. We’re pretty much fully booked through the month of March. And since we cook meals for the guests too these days, it means that we will all be very busy.

Oh, and we've booked our flights to Europe! We are really going! We fly into the UK on the 7th of May and leave again on the 26th of May. I am so excited. We haven't seen our friends and family for much too long. And I'm planning a charity dinner for the Jaden Foundation for when I'm in London (some time between the 10th and the 16th).

My dad will celebrate his 60th B-day round that time as well, so all my brothers and sisters (there's 6 of us in total) will be together in Holland again for that. It must have been at least 4 year ago since we were all together. Miriam is flying in from Aruba to be there as well. We haven't seen her since she moved away from Belize, which was April or May last year. We have to find a way to see each other more often....

The Belize Jungle Dome library is back in action.

Handing out more toys (Donated by the lovely Taylor family and our InterVol friends)

The Jaden Foundation

Been spending the last few days in front of the computer setting up the new Jaden Foundation webpages (click on the name to be directed to the webpages)

It has been quite hard getting all the information together about the kids. Last year I bought books for children that I had never even seen, all I saw was their book lists. Anyway, it's all going to more organized and official this time around. Karen is doing the book keeping from now on (yeeha!) & we're setting up a Jaden Foundation bank account. And everything is going to be online. Our accounts, names of the sponsors & the children, pictures of fundraising events, etc.

The one thing that we're still having a hard time with is finding out how to get the official non-profit status in Belize (no one seems to know). Obviously, this is quite important, so we'll keep at it. I'll let you know how it goes.

Now, for those of you who live in a city and aren't aware of it....tonight is full moon! So I have organized a Full Moon Gathering at our place. It will be a way to unite the holistic community of Belize. The plan is to make a monthly ritual. It should be fun.

So, Namaste to you all. Try and out of the house tonight and enjoy this beautiful full moon.

Photo shoot for the new Jaden Foundation website

Lucas & Cindy

The annual Route de Maya canoe race will be held on March the 4th to the 7th. Caves Branch is providing the rescue team. They came to practice down in the river on sunday. Lynwen is part of the team (Respect, girl !) Lucky enough for me, they had enough volunteers for their practice.

Free Mojtaba and Arash day!

Today is the first action day of the Committee to protect bloggers. It's the "free Mojtaba and Arash day". These two cyber dissidents from Iran have been incarcerated by the Iranian government. The Committee to protect Bloggers is asking all Bloggers to talk about Mojtaba and Arash today. Please read their stories on the Committee's website .

Freedom for all. Don't let the blogging stop!

Party time at Banana Bank!

Wow, I'm just having so much fun with this medical team from Rochester. They are just a lovely group of people. They all give their time, money and expertise and, unlike some other charity groups that I've seen, they do this with such unending joy. Occasionally you get people volunteering here with huge amounts of self-pity and martyrhood, like they have to do it, but don't really want to. Not this group. They are all incredibly positive, funny and loving. And they are good party people too. Last night we had a blast! We cranked up the music as loud as it would go, drank, sang, danced and laughed till 10 o'clock (and believe me, that actually feels late in Belize : )

They brought lots of supplies for the local primary school and the children's homes in Belmopan. We handed it all out yesterday. It was enjoyable and sad at the same time. You just want to take all these kids home with you. They are all so adorable.

Our next plan is to bring second-hand computers to Belize. We just need to find a way to bring a 20-foot container from Rochester to Belize (for free or for very little money). They will fill the container with medical supplies for the hospitals and computers for the schools. Isn't that exciting? I hope we can get it organized pretty soon.

Have nice day everybody!

The kids all wanted to see what the doctors brought for their school.

Group picture of the teachers of the Lady of Fatima school in Roaring Creek and some of the Rochester medical team

The Rochester team brought tons of clothes, books and toys for the children. Here we are unpacking at Marla's House of Hope (local children's home)

His new toy elephant

A frenzy over teddy-bears

Kings children's home in Belmopan

She's fine!

Almost forgot to tell you guys....Iraida is okay. The results of the CT-scan already looked fine when we got it yesterday, but we had it looked over this morning by the Rochester medical team.

It is still quite possible that she's epileptic, but they won't put her on any medication for the time being. We'll just see how it goes. And who knows? She may not have another episode for years. At least she has not got a brain tumor. By the way, can you believe it that that doctor just send her home like that before? Saying that she probably had a brain tumor? Absolutely outrageous!

Anyway, all is well.

Iraida

Nora's 16-year-old daughter Iraida had a seizure last Saturday. Some of the women who saw it, said that she was vomiting blood as well, but I assume that she simply bit her tongue in the process. Anyway, today we are taking her to Belize City to get a CAT-scan. We need to find out what's the matter with her. She's had a seizure before, when she was still an infant & she has always been a bit "slow". Maybe that seizure caused some kind of brain damage.

The doctor who examined her on Saturday kept mentioning the possibility of a brain tumor (which, of course, freaked us all out a bit). Lucky enough, my dear friend Dr. Peter Alan was able to calm us all down again. I phoned him with the other doctor's findings & he said that the most likely cause of the seizure is epilepsy, not a brain tumor. Still, we need to know for sure, so we'll get in checked in a minute.

The CAT-scan will cost $400. I've decided that we'll use the donated school money to pay for that. Because Iraida was part of my original class & was the only one that never got to go to "real" school afterwards (she was 14 already and unable to read, write or do simple maths). I feel that the least we can do is offer her some help now that she needs it.

Once we get the results, we can take it back here and have it looked at by the medical experts from Rochester, NY. They are staying at Banana Bank for the coming week and are in Belize to offer free medical advice to the local community. They are such lovely people. They were the ones who offered to bring supplies for the local primary school. Apparently, they've brought lots of stuff. So we'll get to bring that to the school some time this week. That will be so much fun. Anyway, I better get going....

Iraida, in our old "class room" (the spare bedroom)

Very pleasant day

Today is just such a lovely mellow day. Karen and I spend some time lying by the pool, reading books. It's funny how you hardly ever do that kind of thing when you live in a place like this. Anyway, it was very enjoyable. The weather here, by the way, is just amazing. Blue skies, wispy little clouds, the works! It is getting quite hot though.

The strikes are all over now, at least for the time being. The kids are back in school and everybody gets their water and electricity again. The government agreed to increase the teacher's wages, but the issue of the raised taxes is still unresolved. We'll see how it all works out in the end.

Now, at the party of the International Women's Club last Friday I was told that a directory/newsletter for charities in Belize (listing volunteering opportunities, etc.) already exists. Thank God for that! I had started to work on it & it was proving to be a complete nightmare. Most charities were dragging their heels. I had to ask special permission, they had to discuss it in board meetings, I had to draft official letters, etc. And I just hate stuff like that. Why do things have to be so bloody complicated? All I wanted to do is print up something basic.

As I said, I was quite relieved that others are doing it. Apparently, there is an issue coming out in 2 weeks time. I hope it's really good.

Lucas is racing around me right now on his toy bike, sporting his new haircut (I cut his hair, Andy's hair and Max's too). I don't know how I managed to do it, but they all look pretty good.
So funny, Lucas is learning how to work with money. Well, actually, he's just learning how to spend it. We give him 5 cents every day, which he takes next door to buy a bubble gum. And today he fell in love with a little silver ring that this Mayan lady was selling. All the Mayan kids have jewelry, so it's quite understandable that Lucas wants some too. Anyway, I gave him the 5 dollar to buy it. He was so proud of himself. When he got he ring, he punched the air & is now showing everyone who'll look at it. He really feels like a big boy now.

Yesterday I said to him "I love you so much, you're such a nice boy. Do you know that? That you're a nice boy?" He answered "Yes mum, you're welcome". Bless him

Give us a cuddle!

Good friends

Out the sandbox

I'm not really into writing tonight, but just wanted to share with you all that we're out of the Google "sandbox". This means that after all the work Andy has done to our website
(www.greendragonbelize.com) it is now finally front-page material. Go to Google and type in stuff like "Belize family vacation", "All-inclusive Belize vacation", "adventure travel Belize", "adventure travel", Belize vacation" etc. (whatever you can think of)

Andy is such a genius! I'm very proud of him. Anyway, will write tomorrow....

John's cooking class

"The ladies that lunch"

It looks like the strikes may come to end soon. Many schools are back in today (apart from the ones in Belmopan and Belize City). Apparently, the government has now agreed to pay the teachers their promised wage increase. The taxes (income tax, sales tax, import duties, etc.) are going to be raised, though. All the government has proposed is to postpone the tax increase for one month. I'm not sure how that can be of any help to anybody. Anyway, we'll see in the next few days what will happen.

John has taught Tella, Nora and Linda (Tella's daughter in-law) how to make pizzas today. They all thought that it was hilarious to see John with an apron on in the kitchen & I guess they have a point. John's not much of a cook, but he can make brilliant pizzas. Funny that. Anyway, they all did a great job. I just ended up with a "naked" pizza as Lucas ate all the meat of mine (motherly love...in a few years he'll get his hands slapped if he tries that)

Tonight Karen and I will go to Belize City to a party from the International Women's Club. Should be fun. It's a big carnival bash. Rita is not joining us. She calls it a party for "the ladies that lunch" (because so many are diplomats wives, etc.) Anyway, I'm sure that Karen and I will have a blast. We are putting our sparkly dresses on and will have to cross the river like that to get to our car. I'm sure that all the Banana Bank workers are going to crack up when they see us. Rita is staying home with Andy, Lucas and John to watch a pay-per-view movie. Anyway, I'll take some pictures tonight. Adios.

My dear friends Tania & Gilly. Thank you for the nice pressies that you gave to Rita to take to Belize for me. I love the tops! And I love you two!

Why walk to yoga when you can be carried?

Yoga class for a two-year-old

The downward dog pose

Lucas is "big boy pants"

Yoga, strikes and loud music

It was so cute to see Lucas doing a little yoga class yesterday. We had walked up to the observation tower with Karen and our newly-arrived guest Rita Daniels (who's great fun, by the way) as they went for their late-afternoon yoga session & Lucas decided to join in for a bit.

It's so funny, Lucas seems to pick different people as his daily favorites & Karen was by far his favorite person yesterday. Because of this, he was terribly upset when we had to leave her and Rita at the observation tower to do their "proper" yoga session. He only stopped crying once I came up with the idea that we could make a nice drawing for Karen for when she got back. Seeing as he's still full of our Miami trip (especially the plane rides), she was given a page full of scribbles that were meant to be a plane. He really is starting to become a little boy now, it's so much fun to watch.

By the way, Belize is still on strike. All the schools are closed indefinatelly, a lot of public services have shut down or are running on minimal output (the electicity gets cut off a lot & water only trickles out the taps for many people) & lots shops have even shut down. Still, it's all being done in a peaceful manner and virtually the whole country supports the protests. And we are lucky, in that our water supply comes from the Banana Bank well and is not effected by anything. Thank God, being without water is just awful.

If you're thinking of coming to Belize, please don't get put off by the protests. You probably won't notice to much of it when you come here as a tourist. Most resorts will have their own power back-ups and their well water. All these protests are just something this country has to go through for a little while.

Anyway, I better go. I have the house to myself for a few hours, I better make the best of it (by playing rediculously loud music and dance around like a fool). Enjoy today!

Perfect people

Miami is such a weird city. It's just full of these perfect looking people (I assume that many have had a nip and a tuck here and there), who all seem to be wearing designer clothes and expensive handbags. South Beach especially is the place for young, single people. They are all out partying, dating, networking and looking fab.

I often felt like I was looking at my own past there. Seeing these high-flying, trendy 20-somethings, busy with the upkeep of their appearance and hoping to meet a nice guy or girl along the way. I felt a hint of nostalgia but also breathed a huge sigh of relief, as it reminded me how tiring my twenties were. Always trying to make a good impression, wanting to fit in (whilst also trying prove to the world how unique and "individual" I was), absorbed in my career & obsessed with being seen as "fun".

Now, my thirties are tiring too but mainly because I'm running after a two-year-old. I know that I'm not so much "fun" anymore and I definitely don't look as trendy and "with it" as I used to. But I'm so much happier, fulfilled and caring. I like myself so much better now. I'm blessed with a most amazing life partner, a delightful cheeky monkey of a child and a home in paradise. I honestly can't think of anything more fulfilling than that.

So when I saw all these "perfect" looking people, I didn't crumble like I would have done in the past. I just looked at them and smiled. Thankful for having experienced that part of life as well, yet even more thankful for having moved on from that.

Oh...And it's soooo good to be back home again.

"Look mum, a plane" (Lucas on the beach in Miami)

Enjoying the January sun on South Beach

foot prints on the sand

Home again with John

We're off again

The political situation in Belize is still a bit of a mess. Almost all the schools, for instance, are still closed. There were protests in Orange Walk yesterday and on Friday there will be protest again in Belmopan. We got stuck in Belmopan the other day when the protests were on, which was quite scary. There were gun shots fired, police in riot gear marching around and stones being thrown. No one got hurt, but it was an unpleasant atmosphere. God knows what's going to happen next. I hope it all stays peaceful.

By the way, the guys brought a Boa over yesterday that had been crawling around the stables. They wanted to show Karen, as she hadn't seen a snake yet since she's been here. It was so funny. Karen was completely freaked out. I kept egging her on, telling her to stop being a baby and touch the snake. She did in the end, but only for a second.

Got to go now, have a plane to catch. We're off to Miami for a few days (I know, we have a hard life ; )

Adios amigos!

Shouldn't you guys be in school?

A freaked out Karen

Little snake charmers

Big fat blog

Okay, it's official...we're all just a bunch of bloggers here at the Jungle Dome. Andy blogs, Karen blogs & now John blogs too. Does this mean that we all have too much time on our hands? Possibly.

Still, check out John's very funny blog: johnsjunglejournal.blogspot.com (note: this is not for people who don't like sarcasm)

Enjoy ; )

doesn't our house look amazing?

Sharane and Karen, the women who will lead the Healing Touch Yoga Retreat

Retreats and workshops

I never quite realized how many amazing people have made Belize their home. Since we decided to branch out into hosting retreats and workshops at our resort the Belize Jungle Dome, we have started meeting so many incredible healers here. And the funny thing is that I expected to find the teachers and workshop facilitators abroad and that we'd have to bring them down to Belize for a week or so. It's shown me yet again that we often overlook what's right in front of our eyes.

We keep looking elsewhere for whatever we think we want, when all we really need is already right here.

So, with regards to the retreats that we'll be hosting here...John has started planning the construction of our workshop space/yoga deck. It will be build on the river's edge, hidden away from view (tucked between our organic orange grove, the jungle and the river). It's such a peaceful place, perfect for retreats and yoga sessions. It will be build about 10 feet from the ground, with a large thatched roof, little bamboo walls and will be powered by some solar panels. It's not even there yet, but I love it already! It's going to be so great. I hope that many of you will come and see it when it's done.

We are running a Healing Touch Women's Yoga Retreat here from April 22-26. Maybe you'd like to come to that?

Oh, and I have found someone (a wonderful woman, called Mutuka) who, like me, wants to start a 5-rhythms or Biodanza class in Belize. Biodanza is something I discovered in London and miss (apart from my family) more than anything. Biodanza is all about expressing yourself through movement and music. It may look weird to an outsider, but it is one of the most liberating and inspiring things I've ever done in my life (5-rhythms is a different "system", but seems quite similar). Anyway, I hope that at some point we can get this going here. Oh, life just gets greater and greater and greater.........

In Lak'ech, Simone

My your days be blessed : )

Belize on strike!

It is absolutely mobbed here today. Everywhere I look are children. Basically, what's going on is that almost the whole country is on strike. So there's no school, no busses, no water in many areas, no electricity in other areas, etc. It's quite a crazy situation. Check out this Belize News Link (Especially the Reporter Newspaper article), to learn more. It's all too much for me to get into.

So anyway, all the school kids seem to have decided to gather here. It's all good fun, apart from the fact that they are running around me right now and are fighting over Lucas' toys.

Lucas, by the way, has picked up an awful habit from the Mayan kids.....Chewing gum! Can you believe it? He's only two. It's virtually impossible now to stop him from getting hold of the stuff (he'll even take it right out of other children's mouths if he doesn't get his own). So I tried to come up with a way to at least stop his teeth from falling out by buying sugar free gum. But it's hard to explain to the women here that he should only get one piece (or maximum two) a day as it can work as a laxative when you eat too much. Judging by the amount of time I had to change nappies today, the message is not coming across. I'm going to have to hide the gum now and be the only person in charge of giving him any. Let's see how that goes.

At the the temples of Tulum

Cheeky monkey, throwing sand

Beach bums

Well, I never did manage to post anything from Tulum; I was too busy being a beach bum. And what a great place that is for it. Tulum has some of the most beautiful ones I've ever seen. From little enclaves in between rocks, to long stretched out white sand beaches.

We shared our little enclave with what turned out to be a nudist resort next door. Quite funny, although I wasn't too sure about this lobster-colored chubby guy who's apartment looked out onto the beach and who kept touching himself (his apartment was on top of a cliff and right behind where Lucas was playing, so I kept having to look that way...Very distasteful)

Lucas (of course) loved the sea, the sand and all the kids he met there. He played football for hours on end, climbed the rocks with Andy, build sand castles, danced in the restaurants, etc. All great fun.

Andy and I ate tons of good food, drank lovely Italian wine (A lot of Italians seem to have settled in Tulum for some reason) & enjoyed the stylish resorts and restaurants. There are some backpackers places in Tulum, but the whole place has a touch of flair and class about it. Especially of course the resorts. We never saw any groups of rowdy guys & no one would be hassling you on the beach to try and sell you something. It was all very civilized.

So, a great little break. Although, it was quite a drive & I wouldn't want to do that again too soon with Lucas. It's really a bit much for him (7-hour drive)

Right now, it's good to be back home again. There really is no place like home, is there?

I'll post some pictures later....

Mexico

Just a quick posting today...got to hit the road. We're off to Tulum, Mexico for a few days. I may write from there (there seem to be a lot of Internet bars in Tulum). Anyway, I better finish packing...
Adios amigos!

Before we got stuck in a tropical rainstorm....

Drenched!

Doing the right thing

Our resort is developing nicely, I have to say. Sharane (our massage therapist) came from Cayo yesterday to give two of our guests a massage. They were totally blown away by her! Both of them talked of having a kind of "outer body experience" during the treatment. And they both said that she is the best body worker they have ever come across. Now, these are two people who have traveled the world, spend much time in Thailand, etc. So I'm particularly happy with their comment. Actually, they've left a message on our online guest book.

Karen's yoga classes are also a huge success. Virtually everyone who does a session with her returns (often with friends and family in tow). Other resorts and travel organizations are now trying to swipe her away from us. She's been approached by several already. That just shows how quickly news spreads in Belize.

Oh...did I mention yet that John is back? He's the person who designed our beautiful pool & he lived here with us for a year before. He is just the nicest guy you could ever meet, so we're very happy to have him back. When John left to go back to Scotland a year and a half ago I didn't expect him to ever return, but he obviously missed live in Belize.

I set up a meeting yesterday with the Banana Bank parents to discuss the children's education. Basically, I wanted to make them aware of the fact that most people have been sending donations to the tsunami victims and that this may result in not being able to find sponsors for their children for next year. I told them that we have $3000 of donated money left, which (if we were to hold on to that) would be more than enough to pay for next year's school books. But we are currently using all that money to pay for transport. So basically, we either find cheaper transportation for the remainder of this school year or we continue paying out $200 a week for transport and run the risk of not having enough money left for next year's school books. I wanted the parents to decide themselves on how to proceed.

We came up with the following plans:

1. The parents will to try to save up little bits of money here and there & I'm going to "be the bank", holding the money for them until the beginning of the following school year. This money will go towards their children's books.
2. We will contact some local church groups. Many of these have little vans and/or old school busses. Maybe they can provide the children with cheaper transport.

Well...that's enough news for now. Tomorrow I'm off to several local charities to start compiling information for the Charity directory/newsletter. Wish me luck. Adios!

Dancing queens! (having a boogie at the Banana Bank wedding)

Jump up, jump up and get down!

Oops!

I've just realized (actually, Karen pointed it out to me) that I've been receiving comments on my blog. Thanks for leaving those everybody. I haven't gone through them all yet, but noticed one from Rainie. Please email me Rainie, I'd love to chat. My email address is: Simone@greendragonbelize.com

He's out!

Thanks for all the sweet responses. My dad is ok. He has already been released from hospital and simply has to take it easy for a while. It turns out one of his heart valves doesn't shut properly, but that's not related to the accident. He has to try to avoid stress, that's all.

You know, everything just seems a lot worse when you're far away. When I was in hospital this summer, my mum and sister freaked out too & wanted to jump on the next flight out of Aruba. You just feel so helpless being at such a distance. Anyway, all is okay and we'll go to Holland as planned, next May.

Karen did a little speech about yoga yesterday at the International Women's Club. I was so proud of her. She normally hates public speaking, but she did brilliantly!

I also discussed the idea for the Newsletter, it was very well received. It won't be called the "Helping Hand" Newsletter though, as there is an adoption service in Belize called Helping Hands. Also, as the women pointed out to me, it's part directory and part newsletter. So I think I'll call it "Belize Charity and Public Services Directory" (BCPS Directory).

I'll upload some information about it in the next few days, for those who are interested. I want the first one to be ready by March. So I better get cracking! Adios!

she captivated the audience with her quick wit and bendy body ; )