Bunny is a Bonnie

It turns out that my piano teacher’s name is Miss Bonnie and not Miss Bunny, like I always thought (Such a shame, I enjoyed calling her Miss Bunny. It’s such a funny name).

In most of the Caribbean including Belize, people like to put Miss or Mister in front of everyone’s first name. Calling people by their first name is not polite enough and using their last name is often considered too formal. So they’ve come up with an in-between version, you simply add Miss or Mister to any first name. I think it’s rather cute.

Anyway, tonight I’ll be singing at the George Price Center in Belmopan with Miss Bonnie. There is some kind of variety show on and we were asked to perform a song as well. Should be fun. I haven’t been on a stage for over 4 years now, so I’m looking forward to it. Sadly no one can come with me. Andy has to work, Karen is in Canada, John is San Ignacio & Lynwen has gone to Mexico with the Belize rescue team (I hope there won’t be too many casualties of the hurricane). So it will just be Miss Bonnie and me tonight.

Making my mind up

The downside of having spent most of my working life in television is that I never developed skills that can be used in other professions.

See, I was 16 years old I packed my bags and left for the UK in the hope of getting into “showbiz”. I never finished school. And after two years of humiliating rejections, I finally succeeded in my quest. I was given a record deal and a job as an MTV Veejay (in that order).

The skills that I did learn along the way were the following:

Presenting/hosting TV shows
Writing and recording music
Interviewing people (I especially enjoyed asking questions that I was told not to ask)
Talking to large crowds (this included silly things like quickly finding out where the feedback was on stage, insanely fast costume changes, coming up with time fillers whilst the stage was being rebuild, talking my way out of little disasters like parts of the stage collapsing, etc.)

So does anyone have any suggestions as to where these skills can come in handy? Apart from going back to what I did before? I can’t think of what to do next.

See, Andy and I are at a point in our lives where we may face another “retirement” soon. This will be our second “retirement”, with the first being the time we left our old careers and settled in the Belizean jungle.

Soon Tom & Marge are joining us in our Jungle Dome venture (if all goes according to plan). And of course Karen is part of the resort’s management too, so there will be 5 of us running this place. Such a large team is not needed for a small resort, so Andy and I will need to find other passions again and maybe even consider new “careers”.

Andy already knows what he’ll be doing; he’ll be spending even more time on the computer. He loves being a Webmaster and has an incredibly talent for it.

I feel blinded by the millions of options that are out there. Shall I go back to school? If so, what would I like to study? What am I passionate about?

If I were to start a business online, Andy’s Webmaster skills would move my site up to the top ranks of the Search engines in no time. But what business, if any, would I like to have? I keep looking back at what I have done before and try to figure out if I can use my old skills for anything, but I keep drawing blanks.


It seems that I am not the only woman who faces this problem. According to Oprah Magazine, many women in their thirties share this confusion with me. They want to reinvent themselves, but are unsure of what direction to take next. They want a career, but don’t want to make big sacrifices when it comes to their family. Their career has to fit around their home life and not the other way round.

And that’s where I am at right now. Confused, but also excited by what may come next. I’ll just continue with my piano and music theory lessons for the time being (loving it!) & will keep looking for that flash of inspiration and direction.

Latest on Wilma

Still no landfall for hurricane Wilma, but her winds and rain are already battering the Cancun area. Here in Belize (Belmopan) we feel nothing of it. We keep expecting bad weather, but apart from a short rain burst yesterday, it has been lovely here.

So many hurricanes have brushed past our little family this season. We have been on storm watch whilst in Miami, Aruba, on our way to Houston & twice in Belize, yet none of these places ended up getting hit. We must have a guardian angel traveling with us.

Hurricane Wilma

The air is surprisingly calm here. At this point, we are only expecting to get the tail-end of Hurricane Wilma & are awaiting its arrival. A direct hit on Belize doesn't seem that likely anymore, She is already too far North for that. Although, according to the Wunderground storm watch website, there still is a 10% chance. So we're not in the clear just yet.

Let's just hope that this erratic hurricane is going to fizzle out, because the last thing this world needs right now is another disaster.

Pregnancy annoyances

I tell you, we women get the weirdest physical problems when we're pregnant. I won't go into too many details, as it might frighten those of you who've never had a baby into never wanting one. But I can say that it could possibly cause things like losing our hair, getting weird pigment on your face (called a birthmask), spider veins, cracked nipples, etc. All very unpleasant.

Anyway, I'm dealing with my own pregnancy annoyances at the moment. No, I do not look like a rackoon and my nipples do not resemble the sahara desert. But whatever my problems are....they really are a pest. First I am told not to exercise, but to sit and lie down as much as possible. Now it turns out that I should not be sitting down or standing still, but that I should be doing light exercise after all. Anyway, whatever I do these days I'm uncomfortable. That's all I will share about that for now. Just wanted you to know that I'm rather fed up at the moment.

What else is going on here? Well, Lucas has been changing his mind about pre-school rather frequently these days. He's now at the point where he hates it when he has to go by himself (up to the point where we are unable to leave him there, as he cries the whole morning), but loves it when he goes with his little friend Emelda. That could prove to be a problem in itself as Emelda was crying like hell today at pre-school and was hitting the head teacher. So God knows if she still wants to continue going. Oh well.... we will see. Toddlers are simply unpredictable creatures.

By the way, if any of you out there are parents.....check out the book "How to talk so kids will listen and how to listen so kids will talk". It is brilliant! I read it once before and thought that the authors came up with some interesting ideas and suggestions about parenting. But now that Lucas is getting older, I have been able to read it again and put some of those "interesting" suggestions actually into practice. And it is amazing how effective they are.

For instance, when Lucas goes on and on about something that he wants (and that he can't have), I used to tell him why he couldn't have it. If he then started whining and/or started throwing a tantrum, I would fight with him and put him on "the naughty chair". The whole thing was one big struggle and we would both end up feeling angry and annoyed. The new technique that I have learned from this book is strangely simple (and surprisingly effective). We simply write a list of the things that Lucas wants and stick it on the fridge. The bizare thing is that that is all we need to do. Once the list is up there, he is happy. It's the same with sweets that he can't have right now. We simply write his name on the packaging so no one will take it and that's it. He'll then be happy to eat an apple instead (knowing that he can eat the sweets tomorrow, for instance). Anyway, that's just one example. The book is full with little suggestions like that.
Enough rammbling for today (sorry if I have bored non-parents with this posting)

Business meetings jungle style

Well, it’s been a while…..but then I sometimes enjoy a little procrastination.

Actually, we’ve had quite a full week last week. Tom & Marge (who are planning to become our new Belize Jungle Dome business partners) were here so we were doing all kinds of meetings, with lawyers, banks, shipping companies to help with their move, etc. And the four of us did quite a few board meetings in the pool (Obviously, the best place to do board meetings in the tropics)

Next to this we also had our rooms rented out for much of the week, John’s brothers are still over from Scotland and have been hanging out with us quite a bit, plus yesterday we hosted a football tournament on the football pitch next to our property. It's funny, this Slow season is turning out to not be so slow after all.

But anyhow, I’m trying to blog, even though Lucas has other plans for me. He really wants my attention. So I guess I’ll try again tomorrow…..

We went for a little swim at the mini-waterfalls at Gonzo's house the other day.

Our friend's little boy TJ is getting too old for many of his old toys so he's decided that they should all go to Lucas. This is Lucas in his new (hand-me-down) car. He really enjoyed playing in it with the children (Hanna & Alex) of some of our guests.

Current TV

The last week or so, we’ve been getting into watching a news channel called Current TV. It’s a station run by Al Gore of all people! With heavy links to Google (they run a show every half an hour, called Google Current). Current has got the same philosophy as the Internet. Basically, anybody can contribute to this station. People send in clips from all around the world.

It is by far the most exiting thing I have seen on television for ages. It reminds me of the early MTV Europe years. Back in the days when the station was still groundbreaking, young, political and had a slight feel of anarchy to it. Back then I loved working for MTV and was proud of working for them. Later, when it all became corporate, I lost much of my love for the station & was often even embarrassed of my work as a Veejay (guess I’m just not much of a corporate person).

Current TV is the kind of station that I would love to work for! They are so groundbreaking and funky. I love it.

The clips I’ve seen on Current so far range from Tokyo nightlife, Bodybuilding in Kabul, women running for parliament in Afghanistan, Graffiti artists turning into fashion designers, displaced students after hurricane Katrina, anti-war demonstrations, etc.

Whenever I watch these clips, I feel like I learn something genuine about a specific culture, country, ideology, etc. These clips do not always fit the stereotypes that we are fed by mainstream media.

Now, don’t get me wrong, not all these clips are fantastic. A lot are quite average. But they are real life & some times real life is just that, average. At least they are showing the truth.

So, big up to everyone at Current TV for being at the forefront of television! This is democracy at its best. You guys are rocking!!!!!

Children's picture books

How funny....I was just looking at some old stuff on my computer when I noticed all these little rhymes that I wrote a while back. I was thinking about writing children's stories, especially ones for picture books. But I don't know anyone who could do the illustrations. Anyone out there happen to know anyone? Let me give you some examples of some of the bits and pieces that I wrote (obviously, you need to use your imagination and imagine the pictures to go with it) :

Wrong-way-round world

In a wrong-way-round world:
Up would be down
Left would be right
and a square would be round

People would walk backwards
and grow smaller all the time
I'd bottle-feed my nanna
and what's yours would be mine

So let's just pretend
everything is wrong-way-round
Try to stand on your head
whilst your feet still touch the ground

Put your socks on your hands
and your trousers on your head
whistle whilst you're breathing in
point to blue and shout "That's red"

Brush your teeth before your dinner
shower whilst you're fully dressed
sit underneath your chair
point to east and say "That's west"

Eat your soup with a fork
and wear flip-flops in the snow
When I ask "How does a plant grow?"
Say "You reap, then grow, then sow"

Don't you think it's funny
to do things wrong-way-round?
Of all the funniest funny things it's the funniest thing I've found.


City head

Little Jimmy Brett
had a city on his head
It started as a village,
but grew and grew and grew
And though he tried to pull it off
it stuck to him like glue

The other children teased him
and called him City head
And it was really very tricky
to get comfortable in bed

One morning at the barber’s
he said, "Oh, could you please
rid me off this city?
Just the buildings, not the trees"

The barber tried his hardest
but his scissors were too small
He managed just to scrape the side of the city hall

So Jim went to a doctor
and asked for surgery
"Please take off as much you can,
city life just aint for me"

But the doctor said he couldn't
“Jimmy, you’re in perfect health”
The doc then even said
“I'd like a head like that myself”

Next up he tried the zoo
and offered them his head
Well, not the whole thing, of course
'cause then he would be dead

They were happy with his offer
and put him in a box
With the city sticking out on top
The kids came in for yuks

The children, how they loved it
to see a city, oh so small
But little Jimmy in his box
didn't like it much at all

That night at home, back in bed
he was sad as he'd ever been
Because the battle against this city
was one he couldn't win

But then the music started
Sweetest voices ever heard
On his head a giant party
what a rocking little world!

Oh yes, it was a grand fiesta!
And Jimmy felt so glad
To hear little people dancing
and laughing on his head

And so, our little Jimmy
did feel happy after all
Even when the city build a
brand new shopping mall.

Mini-update

What's been happening here? Well, nothing too earth shattering. Our new kitchen arrived, so did John's brother David, Karen emailed to say that all is well (but cold) in Prince Rupert and Lucas hates school these days! I think we rushed him in too soon after all our traveling and his operation, so I'm keeping him home for a few days to settle back into normal life again. Anyway, he may still be a bit too young for pre-school. I mean, he's not even 3 yet. But I'll discuss it with the teacher tonight at the first Parent/Teacher meeting.

Special picture for Ann Simpson: Your boys are doing well. I assume that David is as useless as John with regards to letting you know how he is. So here you are.....they are healthy and happy. Although, they are off the islands today, so they may be a bit less healthy for a few days, with a few more hangovers (still, I'm sure they've dealt with them before, right?)

Our new kitchen being delivered by the Mennonites. The idea is that Tella and Nora will cook for our guests in here instead of using our personal kitchen.

Parallel Universes

It is so interesting for me to hear old friends, colleagues and acquaintances on the radio or to see them on TV. It always makes me feel like I’ve landed in some kind of bizarre Parallel Universe. Because one thing I have learned over the years is that there are many worlds within this world. What I mean is that the reality that you are currently in seems to be all there is at times. You almost start to feel like the whole world must live the way you do.

For instance, when I was hanging out in the Amsterdam club scene as a teenager I felt like the whole world existed of “the three P’s”, Pushers, Pimp and Prostitutes (even though I obviously wasn’t one of them myself ; )

When I was working for MTV and hanging out with pop stars (a world only slightly less seedy than the Amsterdam club scene), it felt like everyone was constantly flying from Hong Kong to LA to London and went from photo shoot to photo shoot, performing at festivals, getting trashed in VIP rooms and got freaky fan mail.

To see and hear people that I once shared “that world” with & knowing that they are still in that place just seems so unreal to me now. It almost feels to me like it should have stopped when I stepped out of it, but seeing and hearing my old acquaintances in the media reminds me that that Universe never imploded after all and is actually still very much alive.

These days, I listen and watch them with mixed emotions. On the one hand I feel a bit jealous and on the other hand I am so glad that I moved on. For instance, I totally admire people like Moby, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers and others who are still making great dance music. But I could not deal with that lifestyle anymore. Late nights, smoky night clubs (if they are anywhere but in the United States), kids on drugs, VIP rooms, tour buses, hotel rooms, waiting back stage until it is time to work, fake friends, fake handshakes, dealing with “the guys in suits” (record labels, lawyers, TV executives, accountants, sponsors, etc.) and all the other crap that you have to put up with to be successful in that world.

I actually once had a nightmare when I was still working as an MTV Veejay. It was based on the movie “Whatever happened to Baby Jane” (did you ever see that?) Anyway, I dreamed that I was in the dressing room getting ready to do a show and looked like “Baby Jane”, an old woman with doll-like make-up and pigtails. In the dream I was surrounded by lots of young people. I, on the other hand, was an old woman but was still presenting on MTV. I woke up that morning and knew that it was time for me to leave MTV (I had already been there for almost 8 years at that point).

So, here I am now. I am 33 years old. I do not look like Baby Jane and am pretty sure that I never will. I’m living in the jungle, I try and raise my little boy as well as I can, together with Andy I have started an extremely successful jungle resort and adventure travel business, I have an expanding belly with baby-boy number two in there & I wonder what it all means.

If my past is anything to go by, I expect my life to drastically change again some time in the future. And this “jungle world” that I live in now will seem like a distant dream once again. But from all the Parallel Universes out there which one will I chose to spend time in next? That’s the only question I can’t answer yet.

A picture of the last photo shoot I did just before moving to the Belizean jungle.

First day of school

Our little man has gone of to pre-school. He has been excited about it for months, but this morning he seemed to get a bit nervous about the whole thing. It was only after I told him that they have swings and lots of toys there that he was up for going again. Andy took him in and just phoned me to say that Lucas was grinning from ear to ear when he left him. I'm happy to know that, I would have hated it if Andy had left him there in tears.

All "our boys" seem to be moving on now. John moved out yesterday night (thanks for not saying goodbye John!!!!! I was brushing my teeth & when I came out you were gone!) Anyway, John will be living in San Ignacio from now on. There is much more to do there for a young bachelor than there is in the jungle, so I think he's doing the right thing. I am still expecting him here a few times a week anyway as he will be coming over to play football.

Now.....I said that I would write some more about our Rochester trip too, so here are some of the things that happened whilst we were there:

• Andy and I picked out our wedding rings. They are making them to size right now and will be brought down to Belize in October by Tom & Marge (And no, we are not having a wedding. We both can't be bothered to organize that & it's too hard to get all our family and friends together in one place anyway as they are spread out all over the world)
• My mum and sister Miriam came to Rochester for a few days. It was so great to see them & Lucas absolutely adores them. As usual, it was hard to say goodbye & I couldn't help but cry when we dropped them off at the airport. Lucas looked at my tears and asked "Mummy are you okay? What's wrong with your eyes?" (Andy told him "That's what women do Lucas, they leak")
• We were looked after amazingly well by all the staff at Rochester hospital. I want to say a special "Thank you!" to Cindy Gordon and her husband Roy, to Dr. Ralph Penino, Dr. Mike De Vilareal (hope I spelled that right) & of course to man who did Lucas' eye operation, Dr. Rosenberg.

"Don't take my picture mum" Lucas did not want us to make a big deal of his first day of school.

It's a boy!!!!!!

Today has turned out to be rather eventful. I went to see my gynecologist and discovered that we're having another boy! I really did not expect that. I was convinced that this baby would be a girl. Mainly because this whole pregnancy is so different from when I was carrying Lucas. Still, my mum did tell me that she made that same mistake when she was pregnant with me. She thought that I would be a boy, because my pregnancy was so different from my sister's. So there you go. My mum was right yet again (she often is)

Also, over the last last week or so I have had a bit of a strange feeling....like the baby is pressing down or something. And now it turns out that that is exactly what has been happening. The baby's head is pushing down onto my cervix. Apparently, it is not at the dangerous stage (yet), but I do have to take it very easy for about a week. We wouldn't want this little fellow to show up yet, I'm only in my 20th week (according to today's ultra-sound I'm slightly futher along than we initially though)

So anyway, I'll be spending most of this coming week sitting or lying down. Which is a shame, as I just got back into working out again. I went to the gym a few times in Rochester and had brought back a pregnancy exercise DVD to do at home. Maybe I'm really not meant to exercise during this pregnancy. A month or or two ago I exercised and got strange shooting pains in my lower abdomens and now this again......all a bit worrying really.

On the up-side, I'll have lots of time to blog now. So expect lots of new postings in the coming days.

Adios my dears!

Home sweet home

Wow, it feels nice to be back at the Jungle Dome. We finally made it home yesterday, after the whole "Rita" issue. Lucas especially was delighted to get back. He kept yelling "That's my home! That's my home" as we drove up the dirt track to the house. When he met his best friend Emelda (the 3-year-old from next door), he gave her a big bear-hug and kisses. After having played with her for a while, he looked at her and said very seriously "Emelda....I am so happy to see you!"

There is still so much to write about with regards to our Rochester visit and Lucas' operation....I'll sit down a little later today and get into it all. For now, we're home and we're happy.

Lucas on Roy & Cindy's boat at the Finger Lakes

Very rare indeed....a picture of Andy & me without Lucas (we don't have many of them)

It was great to see my mum & my sister again. Here we are at Niagara falls.

This is one of my favorite pictures of our Rochester trip. My lovely boys at Tom & Marge's ranch.

Hurricane Rita

We should have been flying home to Belize today, but we're kinda stuck. Basically, we were meant to fly through Houston but hurricane Rita is heading that way so all the flights have been canceled. The weird thing is that our flight has now been re-scheduled for saturday and sunday (fly to Cleveland on saturday and then on to Houston & Belize on sunday). It looks to me like that is going to be a problem too. I was looking at the BBC News website & it looks like sunday may still be a bit of a mess down there. Obviously, no one knows for sure where it will hit or how severe it will be,although it looks like it's going to be another bad one. So God knows if and when we can actually make it home.

I feel really bad for Karen. That poor girl has been holding the ford at the Belize Jungle Dome for nearly three weeks. She must be going a bit crazy by now, being in that big old place by herself (well.....John is there in the evenings.....but still....)

So I hope we can make it back asap.

On our trip to Aruba recently we were narrowly missed by hurricanes three times in a row in the space of 2 weeks (Dennis sweeped past Miami, Emily just missed Aruba and then came close to Belize). So everywhere we went we were on storm watch.

It's really gotten out of control with all these hurricanes. Especially for the United States. I'm just hoping that Rita will not be another Katrina.

Check out Andy's new blog!

In case you've wondered why I haven't blogged for a few days.....Andy is on the computer all the time. We only brought his laptop on our travels to the States and he's blogging on it every spare moment we have. So if anyone wants to know what we've been up to just read his blog: http://escribbler.blogspot.com/

Seeing as Andy is the nerd of the household, I expect his blog to soon be the most prolific of all the Jungle Dome blogs. So make sure you check it often.

Technorati

Now, I don't know how it happend, but this website called Technorati has made my blog their number one featured blog for today. Incredible when you consider that they track 17 million blogs! Technorati is the authority on what's going on in the world of weblogs. So I feel pretty honoured.

Gracias Technorati!

We are still very much enjoying our time in the States. I especially love going to the supermarkets here. My God, these stores are big. The biggest supermarket in Belize would not even cover one isle in these monsters. My head spins when I look at the amount of choices there are for everything. Isn't weird though how you always end up leaving the store with things you never even knew you wanted? Today I only planned to buy some "Thank you" cards, but I came out with mascara, eye shadows, "Dora the Explorer" merchandise, smoothies, humous, flowers, a 2006 wall calendar, etc.

Anyway, we're having a blast! And Lucas is doing great!

Arriving at Rochester airport where we were greeted by our friends Cindy Gordon & Marge Gallagher. From the moment we arrived in Rochester we were being looked after so well. We're just so blessed.

Lucas an Cooper. Best buddies! Cooper is Cindy and Roy Gordon's dog & is an absolute sweetheart. I wish my dogs were as nice to Lucas as this dog is.

A minute before surgery. Lucas had received some kind of pre-medication and was having a pretty good time. Throwing his head back and cracking up laughing.

Lucas recovering from the annestetic. He went from being sleepy to trashing around violently, to being all sleepy and then trashing around violently again. It was quite a weird experience. Thank god that's all behind us now.

Lucas is fine

Today was the big day when Lucas had his operation. He is recovering really well. We won't know if the eyelid has been pulled up enough (or too little or too much) until the swelling goes down, which will be in a few days. But it looks pretty good.

You know, there is so much t write about today....but I am exhausted. I'll try and write more tomorrow. Right now, I'm gonna veg out in front of the telly for a bit & then have an early night.

Anyway, just wanted everyone to know that Lucas is fine.
Thanks for all good wishes!

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Five Sisters Falls

Andy and the kids climbing the Five Sisters Falls

William & Jimmy came with us for the day. In hindsight, not such a great idea. Because they are so much older than Lucas they can climb much better too. But Lucas wanted to do everything that they did, it was heart-stopping to watch him climb to the top of waterfall (Andy could barely hold on to him)

When the swimming and climbing was over it was time for chips & ketchup (never forget the ketchup!)

This is where Lucas decided to fall asleep after our adventures at the waterfalls

Expanding our options

In the last few days we've been visiting some of the other resorts in our district. Basically, we are looking for a nice place to send our guests to whenever we get fully booked. We are already a third full for December and are getting tons of inquiries every day. We should be booked up pretty soon. Not surprising when you consider that we only have 3 rental units at the Belize Jungle Dome and our website gets about 1000 hits a day (webmaster Andy has worked his magic there)

We found a lovely place to work with in the Mountain Pine Ridge, called Five Sisters Lodge. It's a place we've often visited on daytrips (they have the most beautiful waterfalls there), but I had never looked at the rooms before. Anyway, the rooms are great and reasonably priced. So many lodges in Belize are totally overpriced, it's ridiculous. Oh, and another nice thing is that this resort is one of the only Belizean owned resorts on the mainland.

So anyway, whenever we are full we can still offer the inland part our all-inclusive packages (we already have 3 resorts on San Pedro that we work with for the island extension). All we have to do is make sure that people would be happy to stay at Five Sisters instead of the Jungle Dome.

Now, let's hope that this resort is good to work with as far as bookings are concerned. It's amazing to see how many resorts don't answer emails or give you confirmation when you try and book a room. I often wonder how some of them survive when they are being so unprofessional.

Well, enough about all that. I'm slowly gonna start packing for our Rochester trip. We're off on Monday & I already have this nagging feeling that I've forgotten something. I'm quite sure that's only going to increase the closer we get to Monday. So I better get organized. That may help a little. Having this foggy "pregnancy brain" doesn't help, that's for sure.

Adios amigos!

Fish at Hol Chan Dive

Dolphins off the Belizean coast

Our BATSUB friends flying over the Blue Hole (famous Belizean dive site)

For all my friends who haven't made it to Belize yet (that's most of you).....get down here!!!! Come and sit on the beach with us.

It's great to know some people of the British Army in Belize. They take the best pictures from their helicopter! And Lucas loves it when they fly over and wave at him.

Testing, testing, one, two

Hmmm, interesting…..you can now write and upload blogs straight from Microsoft Word. This is my test posting, so if it happens to look weird, it’s because I’m experimenting.

Anyway, all is well here. My belly is slowly growing (running out of clothes to wear already). We finished tiling around the pool, making the place look even more beautiful. And we’ve had some lovely guests staying with us lately, which has been good fun. Everything is just very pleasant again.

Thank God we’re over that boring period, the one where there were no guests and we were crawling up the walls. Actually, saying that, we have another period like that to get through still, the month of October. That’s a very quiet month here with regards to tourism. So funny, everyone in Belize suffers from the same boredom and disillusionment in the slow season. Lots of people put their businesses up for sale at that time of year only to resume with new enthusiasm when the next high season arrives (and then you don’t hear them mention anything about selling up until they’re in the next slow season again)

Oh by the way, Lucas has been a terror this last week. I don’t know what’s happened. He has gone from being such a lovely boy to being plain horrible (not all the time, of course). According to the local women, it’s because he feels that something is changing. They say that a first child always plays up when the mother gets pregnant again. I always assumed that that kind of behavior wouldn’t start until the baby was here. But according to the locals, things actually start getting better again once the new baby has arrived. That’s when the first child accepts the new situation, they say. I’m not sure what to believe. I just hope that I can hold on to my sanity through it all.

Little boy growing up

Lucas seems to spending less & less time indoor these days. He is becoming so independent, it's crazy. Basically, we have a big pile of sand outside of our house that he plays on all the time and his best friend's house is right at the edge of our property. So Lucas and all his friends move between our house, the sandpit and next door's house all day. I am no longer "allowed" to come with him. All I get asked to do is walk him up & down our stairs (we agreed that someone always has to hold his hand on the stairs and he is sticking to that perfectly)

Here in Belize, kids of all ages play together & they all look after each other. So there may be kids aged 9 or 10 playing with 4 & 5 year olds and this group will also be wheeling a stroller around with an infant in it. It's not something we're used to in Europe, but I find it quite wonderful anyhow. Of course, we don't have to deal with any car traffic here and it's unusual to encounter any strangers where we live. We're in quite a protected little community.

Still, I do worry a bit. But I guess this is just how life is here & I wouldn't want Lucas to grow up separated from all the local children. And he is already amazingly good at judging what he is and isn't capable of. So he doesn't seem to get into too many crazy things.

Oh, as far as the pregnancy goes....I am getting a bit better now. Today is a good day, yesterday was another awful one. I felt so bad I couldn't even stand up under the shower, I had to sit on the floor as I was washing my hair. But overall I am getting better. Just waiting to "start glowing" now (don't they say pregnant women start glowing once they are past their first trimester?)

This is how Lucas looks after playing outside every day...covered from head to toe in sand. Here he is with one of his best buddies "Jimmy" who obviously loves playing in the sand as much as Lucas does. Those raskals.

Mosquito coast

Well, San Pedro was a nice break apart from the fact that it was full of mosquitoes. I mean, it was insane. There were so many mosquitoes that Lucas kept thinking that he stepped on a nest of fire ants. The poor little man had so many bites. The people of San Pedro said that they had never seen so many mosquitoes on the island. There literally were swarms of them, it was horrible. Anyway, the government finally sent one of the spraying trucks (apparently there are only two of those for the whole country). Once the island had been sprayed it all became a lot more bearable.

What else has happened? Oh, I handed out most of the school books. I only have a few more to buy.

And we've booked our flights to Rochester, NY. We are taking Lucas there in September for an eye operation. He has ptosis, which means that one of the eyelid muscles doesn't function properly. The eyelid muscle will be shortened a little, just enough to open up that eye. I'm not looking forward to it, but it's something we'd have to do sooner or later. We were actually hoping that the eye would open up by itself over time, but there has been no improvement whatsoever since he was an infant. And the nice thing is that we know the medical team in Rochester. They came down to Belize a while ago and we all became good friends. So we know that we're in good hands there.

Oh, Lucas made me laugh yesterday....he looked up my nostril and shouted "Hello, anybody there?" I told him that there was nobody up my nose. He looked up my nostril again and said "Mum, what is it? Is it some kind of jungle in there?"

Much better

Good news! Karen is not leaving us after all. We had a good chat earlier and have come to the conclusion that we are all crazy just sitting here in this big old house in the jungle whilst there is so little going on right now. No wonder we're all losing it a bit. So, we are going to take turns in going to the islands and doing other fun things. All we need is one or two people to "hold the ford" & the rest of us can go and have some fun somewhere else.

So Andy, Lucas and I will go to San Pedro tomorrow & Karen will change places with us on Wednesday. That's all I wanted to share right now. I'm gonna go and pack our bag.

Adios!

Stir-crazy

Living at the Belize Jungle Dome is a wonderful experience, but sometimes we all go a bit stir- crazy here. Especially at this time of the year, the slow season. There aren't enough guests around to keep us on our toes and sometimes it feels like the jungle is caving in on you. Everything is just so bloody quiet and predictable this time of year. And our nearest "town", the capital Belmopan is so incredibly sleepy and small (9000 inhabitants) that going there isn't much of a relieve from the boredom. There is no gym, no nice restaurants or cafes, no theatre, no interesting shops, no cinema (you can see 2 movies a month: one at the British High Commission and one at the Cultural Centre) & there is little that resembles a "social scene" in Belmopan. It is a pretty boring place. Safe though, which is a plus, but still quite boring.

The highlight of our day is the daily shopping trip. I guess we could buy food for a few days in advance, but then what would we do? At least this way we get out of the house for a little and have a short change of scenery.

Karen is feeling it too. She just went to San Pedro for a few days and was offered a job there. Now she's confused about what to do. San Pedro is definitely more exciting for a single girl like her. It's on an island and is Belize's main tourist destination. I mean, they even have 3 gyms there! What a luxury. Still, I honestly don't think that this job would be right for her. She'd be selling timeshare. And Karen is way too nice of a person for that. Because, let's face it, timeshare usually isn't that great of a deal for the buyers (you just have to convince them that it is)

If Karen were to leave us, we'd have a bit of a problem on our hands too. She is such a great person to have around and such a brilliant worker. She does all our paperwork, answers emails, runs the bar, plans the work schedules, etc. Plus, she helps with the pick-ups and drop-offs from the airport & takes turns in doing the food shopping.

If we have to do the coming high-season without her, there would only be Andy & me to do all these things. We would have to run the bar, drive up & down to Belize City to pick people up, do all the food shopping, answer emails, do all the paperwork & look after Lucas at the same time. Plus, I would be heavily pregnant at that point.

So, obviously, we hope that Karen will not decide to just leave us like that. I mean, I know things always work out anyway. But still....it would be so much better if Karen just decided to stay here. Plus, I would really miss having her around on a personal level. It's so nice to have some more female energy around this place. It makes living here much easier for me.

But then, what if she decides that she wants more excitement? How on earth can we give that to her? At this time of the year, it isn't exciting here. I totally agree with her. I'm going stir-crazy myself, so what can I say to her?

Getting ready for school

Okay, got almost all the schoolbooks for the local kids. Last year it took me weeks to buy the books, but this year it's a lot easier. One main reason is that we don't sponsor as many children this time around. A lot of families have moved from the area, some older children have started working instead of going to school (this is normal in this part of the world) & some families are in a better financial position this year, in which case they pay for the first child and we pay for their other children.

Also, I never managed to raise as much money this year as last year and the local people know this, so there are no other children coming out of the woodworks either. Last year was the opposite, someone made a rather large donation and the word spread quickly. Suddenly I got swamped with families & children that I had never seen before.

Anyway, I'm actually relieved to have an easier year this year with regards to the charity work. Next year I'd like to help a lot more children again (hopefully in collaboration with some PeaceCorps volunteers)

Still have to find the money to pay for the transport for all the kids for the year, but I'm confident that that will come somehow.

A bit late....but here are some Aruba pictures.

It was great to see my mum and my sister again.

Miriam and her husband Laurenz, After all these years together, they are still so in love with eachother. Very cute.

It was nice to see how gentle Lucas was with a baby that we met at the restaurant. Let's hope he'll be that nice to his future brother or sister too.

Lucas forcing my sister Miriam to lick a lime (he thought that was hillarious)

Already a party animal, just like my mum

My dear old London

My heart is breaking as I read about the latest London disaster on the BBC website. Oh my God, bombs going off, others almost going off, someone getting shot on the Underground....where does it all end? It's weird, even though I would never want to live in London again, I still feel such a close relationship to it. Almost like it's a dear old friend, a person more than a place. But then I did spent all my adult life there (11 years in total) until we moved to Belize.

It must be so hard living in London now. I mean, you are so dependent on public transport in a place like that. So what are you going to do? Stop living? Stay indoors all the time? Walk everywhere? I especially feel for my London friends who have children. Because, of course, you worry even more about your children's welfare than your own. And how are you going to protect them? When you don't know where the next threat is coming from?

My heart goes out to all of you there. I wish there was something I could do to help. I guess all I can do is send my love. I love you all.

Sick, sick, sick

Now, it's not like nothing has happened here recently, I've just been feeling too sick to write. This pregnancy is really putting me through it. That's why I never wrote anything from Aruba either. Oh well, one more month of this and I should be getting in the creative stage of the pregnancy. So don't expect many postings for a little while, as I gear up for the essays that will surely follow in the second and third trimester (when I was pregnant with Lucas I became this wild, slighly insane creative force in the second trimester)

Aruba was fun. Just hung out with family, really. Lucas was getting really spoiled by his nan and aunty & obviously, he was loving it. Oh, and we were being followed around by hurricanes. First, hurricane Dennis came right past us in Miami, then Emilly brushed past Aruba and then that same hurricane followed us towards the Yukatan. We didn't feel much of it in Belize, though.

That's all for now. My head is pounding, I'm gonna chill for a bit.

Adios!

Aruba

Right, we're off to Aruba tomorrow, we're gonna visit my mum and my sister. I haven't seen my mum since last October, so I'm really looking forward to this trip. And I'm so happy that Andy is coming this time. He's never been to Aruba before, it was always just Lucas and me.

It's gonna be quite weird being in Aruba whilst that American girl is still missing there. What a bizarre story that is! My mum tells me that the island is swamped with CNN reporters. Anyway, I'll let you know what the mood is on the island, I'll try and blog from there.

That's all for today. Being pregnant makes me rather lazy and braindead. It's unbelievable actually how dumb you get when you're pregnant. When I was pregnant with Lucas I would lose my shampoo bottle under the shower, lock myself out of the car, be unable to focus on anything for too long, struggle to take in any new information & other ridiculous things like that. Anyway, I'm well on my way to being that dumb yet again (and, once again, I hope it's only temporarily)

Pops

Our sweet old gardener "Pops" has died. He passed away 3 days ago. He was Tella & Nora's stepdad. Lucas keeps saying: "Pops really, really tired" & "Pops no wake up". He also says that Pops now sleeps on the clouds and waves at the clouds. Obviously, Tella & Nora are very sad. We visited them last night at the wake (first time any of us has seen a corpse). Pop's coffin was out on Tella's porch & everybody was asked to come and have a look at Pops. I found it all rather unpleasant & had to walk away once to have a little cry (was I just being hormonal?) Anyway, I didn't want to offend the local custom, so quickly returned and just played with the children a bit. Apparently, from about 10 o'clock onwards, Tella's house was packed. And people stayed the whole night (Unlike Irish wakes, all without any alcohol).
I believe they just held an incredibly long church service, by the sounds of it.

Today we went to the funeral, which again is quite unlike funerals back home. Basically, people build their own graves here out of bricks and cement. The whole structure is above ground and the coffin gets sealed inside of it. Whilst the men were bricking up the structure, all the children were climbing on the other graves and jumping from one grave to the other. I asked Tella if they were carving or writing Pops name on the grave. But she didn't think so. Still, I wonder if this might be a better way of doing things. Why spend a fortune on funerals, cremations or grave stones anyway? We better spend that money whilst we are still alive. That's a lot more fun.

By the way, my "morning sickness" is more like "morning, afternoon & evening sickness" these days. It's horrible. There are moment when I feel human (like, right now) & the rest of the time I feel awful. I can't remember feeling this bad when I was pregnant with Lucas. The worst thing is that I can no longer drink coffee! Especially my morning coffee I miss. That was always my favorite part of the day; breakfast, coffee & watching the sun come up. It feels so weird to just have breakfast with a glass of water or juice, but coffee makes me feel sick now, even when I just look at it. Again, this is something that never happened to me when I was pregnant with Lucas. Oh well, just another month and a half of this. After the first trimester, I should start feeling much better.