Driving a Stick

Some highlights from the last few days:
Driving a stick:
The first car I ever drove was little orange Nissan pick -up stick shift. I feared this would be my first car and began to figure out ways to make it presentable to drive. I never thought I would say this, but I am very thankful for that Nissan truck. This weekend, all the guys were out of town and Presh and I were left with a little taste of freedom in the form of a silver pick-up truck..and you guessed it..a stick shift. We decided to take a little road trip south. We couldn’t decide between a baboon sanctuary and cave tubing so somehow we ended up on a beach (of sorts) in Old Belize City followed by a very exciting grocery store trip. We did get to see a good bit of the country driving 2.5 hours one way and may have loosened up our internal organs a bit with all the speed bumps and potholes. Good day though.

Moving on up:
Well, all our hassle with not getting our apartment may have paid off. Saturday we got the good news that we would be moving to the “house” attached to Hotel Maya. It overlooks the Bay which is now turning into more of a well, copper color. We are very hopeful that it is a shade in the emerald green family and it is only a matter of time until we can send post cards. Anyway, the apartment is very spacious- no AC but we didn’t expect that anyway..lots of fans and windows with a nice breeze coming off the bay. So, Presh and I each have our own room and bathroom. We have yet to feel warm or hot water but by the time we shower, we don’t care. Cold and lukewarm water are very welcome friends after being soaked with sweat from the day. We cooked our first meal in our casa tonight..pasta and some tomato sauce, along with some random cantaloupes we bought today..and Oreos and milk for dessert. Not too bad but we are planning to go to the market tomorrow for some fresh vegetables and fruit now that we have a refrigerator. I am feeling much more settled now that we are here and can spread out a bit.

OCD:
Presh is picking up on some of my old OCD tendencies..Since we have been here she has told me at least 6 times a day that she wants a hammock, she needs a hammock, where is she going to get a hammock, where can she hang her hammock, what color hammock should she get..you get the point...So, lo and behold, if while moving our couch in our new pad, if we didn’t look up..and I am not kidding you, there were two hammock hooks ready and waiting for Presh’s new hammock. Who ever said God is not a God of detail.

Sunday- A Day of Rest:
Not if you are trying to keep up with Helen Lacey. Three church services in one day. Helen, 77, and I video-recorded interviews with 2 pastors and their congregations in order to document the early church history of the congratulations that Helen’s husband planted in his lifetime. The parts I understood were interesting but they were mostly in Spanish..No matter what travel guides tell you, they speak SPANISH as their first language here, though most can speak at least some English. Helen has more energy than Jon Lucas and Presh Killebrew combined- good grief. We got to see the medical clinic and I imagined a few of you working there- especially you Spanish speakers.

Waiting on the Bus:
After a morning of writing and reflection a Tony’s (picture coming soon), we were off to catch our first bus to Cristo Rey village for our first day of girls camp. Suffice to say that our efforts to track down a bus schedule were not fruitful.Oh we found a schedule, problem is, no one uses it..no one meaning the bus companies. So, the 12:30 bus didn’t come and so we finally caught one around 1:30 to the “turn off” to Cristo Rey village. Well, the turn off is the end of paved roads and the beginning of the biggest pot holes I have ever seen in my life. I will have to take a picture so you will believe me. So, Abby picked us up at the turn off to get us to Cristo Rey village.

Choco Bananas and Day One of Camp:
About 20 girls showed up, from age 5-14. Ellie and I were in charge of the older ones while Presh and Courtney had the younger ones. We did soccer drills and then took a break and did some intro volleyball drills. It has been quite a while since my high school volleyball days but it was coming back to me and the coaching part was fun..just helping them master a skill. Very fun. The picture below shows me playing around with a little girl named Michelle. She sort of attached to my hip for whatever reason and has some pretty tricky little feet when it comes to soccer. She and a few other girls lingered after camp and showed us where to get Choco-bananas- just what it sounds like- bananas dipped in chocolate and frozen- very tasty little treat.

I’m looking forward to Day 2 of Camp. These kids don’t really get a lot of affection and so, even more than wanting to play soccer, they just want to be loved on. Don’t we all.
Here are some pictures to help fill in some of the gaps.
Keep writing when you can. It so fun to hear what’s going on back home.

Mel