Belize Journal, October 22, 2017

Re-entry                                                                     20 October 2017

I arrived back in Belize about 2:15 PM, 7 October. While the tourists milled around trying to figure out what to do with customs, I went right through with nothing to declare because I know what the word abroad means and that someone who lives in the U.S. and is coming to Belize did not buy anything abroad unless, of course, they visited Scotland or somewhere else. I arrived home a little after 4 PM to lots of chaos, or as my oldest son described it—the rabbit was in charge. In Southeastern lore, rabbit is the trickster. For me, it was “tain’t funny McGee.” I spent about ten days restoring order to my property, house, and belongings. To my pet/house sitter’s credit, the animals were fine and no one had stolen anything. Perhaps that is all I had a right to expect.

In Portland, I had a great time getting to know my grandson, Eero. We celebrated 3 birthdays—his, his dad’s, and mine—while I was there. Once he understood the idea, he got into the swing of things and observed—there will have to be presents. I went with him to the toy story so that he could pick out what he wanted, and it was a neat toy—a gun that shot soft darts. What made it neat was that it had a scope on it to increase his accuracy. He agreed to wear his Chahta Sia T-shirt along with me. We ate at Red Robin and had some cake and sherbet that Eero had picked out. He had never had sherbet before, but was keen on trying it. He liked it so much that the next night he had some more while we watched the movie Goonies upstairs in the kitchen on my laptop. He pronounced it the best movie ever made.

He also took Mr. Pickles (the ball python),  Banana (Matthew’s dog), and me on a long walk. On the way back, he suggested a short cut that ended in people’s back yards. In trying to get out of that, I slipped and my leg got bent back under me. Fortunately, I swing it out a bit before I landed so that I didn’t land on the bent leg, but I had heard a little crunch in my knee before I went down. After that, Eero was careful to tell me to hold onto the trees when we were coming down a steep part of the path. I asked him what he would have done if I had been hurt. He really didn’t have a clear plan—don’t think he had ever thought about this situation before. I recalled all the hatting I gave my kids on how to handle emergencies. I still believe hatting kids on some basic emergency and first aid handling is very important.

Matthew was busy as always—selling the house, keeping up with his work, and raising that son. He loves to joke around a lot, so we gave him a new name—Chukfi, the trickster. He has been my best friend for some time.

In Albuquerque, I was able to do one ensayo with Kalpulli Ehekatl, get back on my personal project, and visit with James. James and I always have a good time together. He introduced me to Hotel Beau Sejour, a Flemish murder mystery that was fascinating, and I fell in love with Flemish language. I ordered the DVDs from Amazon Fr, and they arrived before I left. Of course, the subtitles are in French, not English, so I may be doing some dual language learning. Actually, I had been studying some Dutch and was able to recognize some vocabulary here and there. One word of warning if you ever plan to do this, you do need an all region DVD player.

It is raining here—lots, and the weather has cooled a bit. I have been replanting my gardens, but I need more soil, which I hope to get next work. I am still experimenting with what will grow when and where. I had my police interview for my residency application. He said he had received the paperwork on September 29 and had started trying to contact me the following week. At any rate, he seemed satisfied that I wasn’t a criminal threat although I did tease him a bit about that stereotype about older women.

I am finishing up one course and starting another for University of Maryland University College. I did get a little work done on my metaphor article. I just printed out what I have so far so that I can get that up and running again. I am taking an online drawing course just to refresh my skills in preparation to doing illustrations for some of my children’s books.

I am moving along here, and I hope you are doing the same there.

Belize Journal, December 8, 2016

T’is Tourist Season

And all the local businesses are adding Christmas lights and replicas of snowmen. The weather has warmed again, and I have really been enjoying my exercise sessions in the pool.

Since I have been here, I have learned how to make nut cheese and seitan (a meat substitute made from vital wheat gluten). Also, I make my own flat bread from vital wheat gluten, garbanzo flour, amaranth flour, quinoa flour, and sesame seeds. I recently joined a vegetable co-op, so I get pesticide free vegies and fruits. I also found someone who makes furniture, and I am getting some custom pieces made.  My house is pretty small. And speaking of custom pieces, I have completed one futon frame (attaching a photo). I have started on shelves for the library/study. Those did not turn out as well as the frame, but I did learn a few things—what not to do next time..

In addition to finishing up the inside of my little house here, I am still landscaping. I have several avocado trees, some volunteers from compost. I may have mentioned I have one vanilla vine, three black pepper vines, a lemon tree, two lime trees, a cardamom tree, and an allspice tree. Recently, I have added a mahogany tree to give something back to the environment since mahogany is native to the forests here. I have two baby apple trees and two grape plants started. I also have 15 lemon trees started—I need to find homes for them.

I have added two cats to keep the rabbit company. I just wanted a kitten, but I wound up taking a female also. She is about two years old, and she was nursing the kitten although he wasn’t one of hers. Both were undernourished, but are doing better now. I just had the female spayed. She is convalescing on her silk palette. The little male is about 2 months old. Both cats are orange tabbies. And having them has been good company for the rabbit although a bit more work for me. I had forgotten how active kittens can be.  Also, the rabbit sometimes acts like he is a little jealous.

I am finishing up the fall semester with University of Maryland University College, and I am looking forward to a short break. I think we start up again the first week of January. I will try to finish up organizing the library/study and work on a metaphor paper entitled “Language is a place.”

Hope you have a merry one!

Belize Journal, July 11, 2017

Rainy Season

Rainy Season started on time June 1. It rained every day until the weather worked itself up to a spectacular three-hour thunderstorm on June 24 that dropped over 12 inches and knocked out the electricity. It drizzled on a couple of afternoons after that. Then we returned to warm, sunny days for awhile before the thunder storms started again. So far, the temperatures have been a bit cool.

All the rain caused the grass to grow at a tremendous rate, and my yardman decided he didn’t want to work anymore. I was able to cut a few places with my grass shears (wish I could find electric ones here). I tried chopping with a machete—I even got my machete sharpened. The guys at Juan Chuc’s hardware/grocery store get a kick out of me. Machetes work great with banana trees and bushes, but just bounce off the grass. I bought a sickle that would cut the grass, but it was going to take forever for me to cut my yard that runs for 1/3 of a block.

Finally, a charming young man, Samuel, came to my rescue. He and his father were working across the street, and he thought they would have time to also do my yard. He gave me his price, and passed on the instructions to his father in Spanish. They finished just as the sun was going down. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but at least it was cut and without too much damage to my little trees. I have ordered one of the manual lawn mowers, which I hope will be my final solution. I know how to push one of those things around.

I am putting in two more garden areas. To do that, I have to dig out the Bermuda like grass. It takes me a while to do that because I am only good for about an hour—the rows are 10 ft long. Usually, at the end of the hour my clothing is completely soaked in sweat. The sun gets pretty intense as the day goes on, and one of those experiences a day is about all I can take. Consequently, I am putting the garden in one row at a time. I have tomatoes against where the fence will be and onions and green beans planted.  I have three circles for the cucumbers. In the meantime, I have stuck extra tomato plants wherever I can find space. I don’t have to hurry because I am coming back to the States in September, and I won’t be able to enjoy the vegies anyway.

I brought desert seeds with me to try during the hot, dry season. The tepary beans did well, and I have harvested them and replanted. Neither the eggplants nor the zucchini have produced much, but that’s partly because those lazy bees won’t fly down to that end of the yard. The tomatoes (the seeds are from Baja California) sprang up and have needed very little tending, but they haven’t really produced any fruit—just a few blossoms. My poblamo pepper plants are still producing, and I did get a few cucumbers. I have some kale and Chinese greens going under the mango tree, which is dropping ripe fruit in abundance, which is both a blessing and a curse. Most of them go to my landlady, and I do give some away.

My rabbit injured one of his front legs. I thought it might be a hairline fracture. My online research indicated that rabbits have fragile bones and broken bones are common. Of course, the rabbit didn’t want me to touch the leg. I was able to determine that his paw wasn’t injured and the pain was at the elbow joint—he leaped into the air and ran and hid when I touched that joint. He was outside. It was raining hard, so I took a big towel and went out to scoop him up. He spent a week indoors recuperating. Once he started putting his full weight on that leg, I let him outdoors again, where he grazes most of the day. Actually, what I discovered is that he doesn’t like to come in at night if the cats won’t.  If they are going to stay out, so is he.

The rainy season has brought a few different animals—more lizards, frogs, and birds. On one of my walks that took me closer to the river, I was blessed with an encounter with an iguana couple and a pair of beautiful parrots. One day, I found a fairly good-sized lizard lounging on a large okra pod. There are signs that there might be a coatimundi in the neighborhood.

I had a nice visit with my friend Nadja who lives in Arenal, a village that straddles the border between Belize and Guatemala. She, her father, her daughter, and I walked through the village to the Guatemala side, crossed the swaying bridge, and took a “taxi” (actually a pick up truck) to the village of Melchor, Guatemala. I found ray o vac batteries (not available in Belize) and 2 Mayan blanket/spreads for $9.50 US each. The produce also looked much fresher than what is available in our market here. Arenal is not an official border crossing, so I was able to bring all my purchases home without impunity and avoided paying the exiting fee (tourists pay a fee when they leave Belize).

My article on “language is a place” is stymied while I wait—2 months—for a book from New Zealand. I have emailed the publisher, requesting some data, but have not received a reply for 2 days now. What century are we in? However, I do seem to get letters regularly albeit a month late. I am still working on completing the documentation for my application for residency.  I have had all my lab work done—no TB, HIV, or STDs, and I got my letter from the Taxation Department stating that I have not paid any income tax in Belize. I still need to get a physical, my police report, and a letter from Belize Social Security.

And you may now call me Professor Gregory. I have been promoted to full professor at the University of Maryland University College.

I may get to see some of you folks in September or October if you live in Albuquerque.

Belize Journal, October 26, 2016

October in Belize

Temperatures are cooler with daily rain showers. I still make it down to the pool several times a week. In fact, the other day biking back from the market, one of the resort employees was walking toward town and saw me. He shouted, “pool time, pool time. The big news in Belize has been the national teacher’s strike. Students were out of school for 9 days and then the teachers voted for another 2 days. They are asking for a 3% pay raise. Here is a link to a news article about the strike.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Belize-teachers-to-continue-strike-after-vote_76213

The rabbit has grown, and we have become more comfortable with each other. I had to leave him overnight for my visit to TumulK’in, and I thought I might come back to a torn up house. But everything was fine, and he seemed happy to see me—circling my feet and doing flips in the air. He can now jump onto my bed, so he visits me when I lay down at night. Rabbits are not exactly cuddly, but he lets me pet him when he is up there. I think he is beginning to learn how to do “kisses”—just to show you how silly a person can be with an animal. In case you are wondering, he doesn’t sleep on the bed and he has good bladder and bowel control. Apparently, in his world, what’s mine is his if he can get to it. He engages my attention for three things—food, play, and petting.

I was finally able to make it south to meet with the principal and the Maya language teacher at Tumul K’in (the Maya language high school), and I have been asked to act as a consultant. I am delighted and humbled to have this opportunity although they really know what needs to be done. I think my role is primarily moral support.

Other good news is that I have two chapters in an upcoming book—Honoring Our Teachers. Dr. Freddie Bowles is the co-author of one of the chapters. Also, as soon as I get the foreword from Dr. McCleod, director of the Scottish Gaelic program at the University of Edinburgh, I can complete the Choctaw language book co-authored with Leroy Sealy. Freddie was nice enough to give us a book review for the back cover. Ko, the Komodo Christmas Dragon a story by my very own grandson Eero Hand, has been completed and is off for proofing by the author and his parents. I am working as an editor for the Health Restoration Series by Dr. Kelly Miller. His first book, 13 Secrets of Optimal Aging, is available on Amazon.

I have two classes this term with the University of Maryland University College and two scheduled for the spring. I am also doing workshops for 5 to 8 year olds—children as authors—at the local library. I am keeping myself busy, and I hope contributing.

I haven’t made too much progress on completing the frames for the two futons. I am having a little difficulty finding the right sized boards. This is ironic in a country that was built around exporting lumber. And I have hit a little snag with setting up a website for a friend who wants to sell her Mayan baskets online. So everything isn’t perfect—I still have a few problems to solve. J

Belize Journal, September 11, 2016

I went to Immigration in Belmopan on Monday, August 29, and arrived about 8:30 AM. I was given number 59—the last number to be handed out. After sitting in the heat until 4:30 PM (the office closes @ 4 PM), I was told to return the next day and to come about 6:30 AM (Sunrise is about that time). Everyone always agrees that there should be a better way to get our visas renewed. As a matter of fact, I think that Central Americans can get visas for 90 days. Not even the commonwealth nations get any preference—the Canadians also have to renew every 30 days.

I did return the next day, arriving about 7:30 AM. I got number 40. My visa renewal was processed about 2:30 PM, but I waited until 3:30 PM for Nadia, a German citizen, who lives in Arenal, a village on the Guatemalan border. It is on a dirt road off another dirt road. I gave her a ride home. Otherwise, she would have had to take a bus and then a taxi from Benque Viejo to her village. Arenal is one of those villages that straddle the border between Belize and Guatemala, places where people can move freely without going through immigration. This is apparently the situation in the south with the Maya. No one here seems really interested in monitoring the comings and goings of the Maya.

One month down and eleven to go until I can apply for residency.

I found cotton batting for the futons at the Farmer’s Trading Center run by the Mennonites in Spanish Lookout. The bridge from the main highway was underwater, so my friend and I had to take the back way in by coming back through San Ignacio and heading out Bullet Tree Rd and then down a dirt road. That was another interesting trip. That is also when I found out that Hurricane Earl took out the wooden bridge into San Ignacio. At the moment, all traffic crosses a one-lane bridge. It does keep people employed directing traffic. Apparently, another bridge has been started somewhere down the river.

I finally did get both futons completed. I will look for some nice Maya cloth to make covers for them. Later in the month, I will begin buying lumber to make the frames.

I had a birthday in August and got myself a little rabbit. He was wee thing—very young I think. We are still working on just using the litter box, but he’s getting better. He has grown, of course. I made him a little obstacle course in the living room so that he can climb and jump from things. Also, I have taken to playing with him on the floor in the mornings. He always wakes up happy and tears through the house, leaping and climbing. Sometimes when I am writing in the living room, he lies down next to my feet just to keep me company. When I go to the kitchen, he watches to see if I am going to give him some food. He eats alfalfa pellets and cabbage, but he really likes cucumbers. When I have it, I give him a quarter of an apple although rabbits, like people, don’t do well with too much sugar. When he starts chewing on his foam climbing tube, I generally give him some nice hard almonds—better for his teeth and tummy.

I have found a pool where I can do my aqua jogging. It is down the hill at a resort. It is $15BZ a day ($7.50 US). I can bike down there and back. Not only is it great exercise, but I come home cooled off.

I start teaching online on Monday, and I have volunteered to do 4 Saturday workshops entitled “Children as Authors”—we’ll learn a bit about the parts of a book, read a story, and make our own books. Actually, I am making the blank books for the first go around. I have also been editing books for my brother and trying to convert his first book to Kindle.

Here in San Ignacio, people are getting ready for the September celebrations that culminate with Independence Day on September 21.

Belize Journal, May 27, 2016

This month’s log is short and sweet. Several people have asked me about living here—am I happy and such. Here’s the deal. I have a cute house with a large yard. I have friends who I can visit with from time to time. I have work and projects here. I have email and cable TV. Yeah, the environment is a bit different, but my life is pretty much as it has always been—just in a different place.

Today I spent the afternoon visiting with Maria Garcia about Maya women. I have read a lot about Belize, but there really aren’t any Maya voices here to tell their own story. I heard some good stories today. It makes me want to do a photo essay book on Maya women of Belize.

The next three months will be spent in Albuquerque—mostly, so you won’t hear from me again until the fall.

Belize Journal, May 2, 2016

April has been the month of meetings and the Maya. I seem to be getting more communication lines into different communities.

Earlier in the month, I met with a publisher in Benque Viejo del Carmen, on the border with Guatemala, about the possibility of creating some dual language readers of traditional stories.

Week before last, I spent a restful lunch with a Mopan Mayan basket maker and her family in Armenia, in the mountains just south of the capital of Belmopan. I plan to create a website for her and her mom so that they can increase their sales. Also, we discussed getting her son into high school. In Belize, all the high schools cost money. I had a lunch of black beans and hand made corn tortillas and some hot sauce while sitting inside the shade and coolness of her Mayan house with wooden walls and a thatch roof.

The next day, I spent the morning with the administration, teachers, and students at Tumul K’in Maya Learning Center just west of Punta Gorda in the south. We had a lunch of rice with a vegetable/chicken soup (mine without the chicken) and juice from some native plant. I volunteered to help them with writing grants. There are photos up at <nmdreamin.blogspot.com>.

On the way back to Punta Gorda, I stopped to visit with Simon, who lives by the sea. She and I reminisced about what we missed most down here—the smell of green chile roasting and Daiya vegan cheese.

On the following Monday, I met with Maria Garcia, a Yucatec Maya healer. I am helping her with a grant proposal. She eventually wants to build a school for the village of San Antonio. Her sister has a school for training in natural healing further south in Maya Center. The Yucatec Maya were pushed into Belize because of war in the Yucatan peninsula in the 1800’s. I think for Maria I have become hers. She did tell me when I first went out to talk to her that she had been looking for a new “volunteer.”  After consulting on the grant, she showed me her medicinal plants and we talked about putting in some vegetable gardens. I have become a kind of vegetable consultant here. She wants me to show her how to make kambucha tea. For lunch, we had scrambled palm hearts with a little egg and freshly made corn tortillas with some chopped onions and habanero peppers. Chile has medicinal value, and Maria recommends eating it daily. Her 83-year-old grandmother talked to me in Spanish. I understood about 2/3 of it and was kind of able to make myself understood.

My mango tree has produced hundreds of mangoes, so I have been giving lots of them away. One morning, I handed out mangoes to some of the neighborhood children. They are vanilla mangoes and are highly prized for their sweetness.

I have added more plants to my yard—cardamom tree, allspice tree, black pepper vine, red ginger, yellow ginger (just budding), and bamboo. Before I leave, I want to set out some lemon and lime trees—just in time for the rainy season. I am seeing more lizards, including a green iguana. They love the mangoes and have eaten my spinach. I guess I will have to plant my spinach in pots if I want any.

I finished up April by hiking across the Macai River to Santa Elena and out the highway to Eden High School to drop off a payment for lunches for a Maya student--$30 US/month. I was able to meet her, and her name is Maria Consuelo Pop. She told me that without that money, she would have had to drop out of high school. High school is not free in Belize. Then, she asked if she could give me a hug.

I am thinking that it would be great to get my daughter-in-law down here to talk to high school and college students about turning art into careers or jobs. Young people here need their imaginations nudged a bit.

I ended the month with a shopping trip with my landlady to Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico. The Belize town across the border is Corozal, on the Caribbean. I really like that area and want to explore it more. It took us about 1-1/2 hrs to cross both borders. There is an hour difference in the time between the two countries as Belize, being closer to the equator, does not go on to daylight savings time as there is very little change in the number of hours of sunshine between winter and summer months. Our hotel was on the main highway—186. We drove straight there, checked in, parked the truck in the secure parking structure, and took taxis everywhere—about $3 US for each ride. We went first to the mall—Plaza de los Americas, where we ate in the food court. It was a zoo, and a noisy zoo to boot. My landlady didn’t like the selection of shoes there, so we headed to Walmart, which was a little disappointing although I did find two reasonably price wooden bar stools along with some other smaller items like the dental floss that I use.

Then, we went back to the mall. It was dark by then. There was a great variety store at the mall—it was a better Walmart than Walmart. I found a pie pan there. People in this area don’t eat many pies. We checked out some clothing for my landlady, but they were made of synthetic materials and pretty shabbily made with high prices. From there we asked a taxi driver for a taqueria, and he took us to a nice open-air one. We tried to order me some bean tacos, but the waiter was having a difficult time grasping the concept. Now I know to just order tortillas with frijoles charros. They were tasty though. By that time, we just wanted to head back to our hotel room and lie down—our feet hurt. The hotel—Fiesta Inn—is very modern, environmentally friendly, and secure hotel. We enjoyed the air conditioning as we put up our feet.

The next morning, we headed out to the zapaterias just down the street from the hotel. My landlady was able to find all the shoes she needed and at much cheaper prices than what we saw at the mall. I checked out sewing and material shops, where I found some good sewing aids. We headed out before 1 PM CDT. As it turns out, you can’t bring wood into Belize without a permit, so I got a lecture, which I just went along with. I was given a permit for a reduced price after one of the men wanted to know where I had gotten stools and for how much. I have a feeling he will be heading to Walmart himself. I told him just to be sure to get his permit first. We found a great place to eat—Cocina Sabor—in Orange Walk (Belize) and made it home before dark. Today, May 2, is the celebration of International Worker’s Day, a bank holiday here in Belize. I had a bumpy, dusty ride out to the Garcia Sisters to meet with Maria about the grant proposal. We were bumped up to a deadline and one of the signers lives down south.

Belize Journal, March 27, 2016

Sounds, Smells, Sensations

Sensations

Early morning breeze from the sea in Punta Gorda

Early morning fog in San Ignacio

Heat gradually rising with the sun

Sweat trickling into my eyes

The light breeze that comes up after 3:30 PM every day

Ants biting

Smells

Chlorophyll after mowing

Stagnant grey water

Burning trash

Food cooking

Orange blossoms

Sounds

Horns beeping--taxis and water and gas merchants

Children talking as they walk to school

Clopping of horse hooves

Dogs barking

Turkeys gobbling

Roosters crowing

Hens clucking

Geese honking

Crackles calling

Small yellow birds singing

Silent mosquitoes

The days are dry and hot, so hot that the ground is cracking. Fortunately, the day begins to cool off about 3:30 PM. The schools are out for another week for Easter. All the major businesses closed down from Good Friday through Easter. Last weekend, I was in Punta Gorda celebrating Maya Day and wading in the warm, shallow Caribbean. This weekend, I got lots of work done, including final exams for my online class.

George Ann

I finally got curtains up and some art work.