A more personal Christmas.

I recently read a post on Facebook by Amy Sprayberry.  She was done with Christmas like we've always done it.  Amy just wanted to enjoy her Christmas instead of getting caught up in all the hubbub.  I say good for Amy!  We moms especially get all wound up about getting things just so, making everything perfect.  We can be a lot like Martha instead of Mary.  Mary had it right.  She knew who she had right in front of her and she wasn't about to let the moment slip away without Jesus knowing how much she loved him.  It's not that Martha was totally wrong, we appreciate the Martha's in the world.  I think many of us have been both.

This year I find myself in the position of being a Mary.  It never occured to me that I would feel closer to Jesus this year than ever before.  My position as Martha has been officially resigned and now I am loving my Lord more than ever.  As I have learned to lean on him during the times of homesickness my faith in him has increased.  I guess you could say that I should have seen that coming but there are many things happening that I never saw on the horizon.  All the bible quotes you can think of are falling into place for me because I am living them out.  When I am able I will be expanding on how my heart is changing.  The words are not there at the moment so I figure it's in the works.

So anyway, here it is Christmas 2013 and I am happy to be alive and love my family and friends more now than ever before.  Your messages, emails, notes and letters have touched my heart dearly.  One of the benefits of being so far away is that you appreciate your loved ones even more.

My little $12.95 Christmas tree.  Can't find a star for the top yet.  I think I will just
cut it out of cardboard.

Willow Tree Nativity that I got from Amy L. last year.
 I smuggled it into the Bronco.

Made these especially for my boys back home.
If you're not into Star Wars you won't get it.
The husband in the background is an added bonus.

These are stockings that the kids in Mr. Uck's room made for Dennis and I.
They all say thank you and we love you.

Yes, I even decorated the outside.
Please ignore the giant washer and dryer.  They will be on
the back porch soon, and remember, they are precious.

Christmas in Belize.

Wanted to add this in case you didn't see the Facebook entry.
On the square in San Ignacio.

So our first four months are about over already.  At times it seems like we just got here and I can't believe that it's almost 2014.  Other times...well, other times will always be a part of living far from family.

Dennis and I wish everyone a Merry Christmas!  Our hearts are full and our joy is ever increasing.  God is good to us and I hope the same goes for you.  (By the way, if you feel He's not so good to you give me a call or email me and we'll talk.)

We love you guys!

Christmas in Belize

Today was the last day of school until 2014!  The whole school just shows up and play and eat and hang out with each other.  Dennis and I had to go an hour out of the way because the bridge was under ten feet of water again.  But we got there around 10:00, just after the other teachers arrived.

Dennis and I brought candy for all the kids.
The tall guy on the left is Yoni, he is always smiling
because he is always up to something.

Please note that the guy with the gun has candy also.
I wasn't about to skip him.  He must have gotten a
hair cut recently because usually he has all this wild
hair flying everywhere.

Dennis is helping Mr. Mefi with his computer.  Yes, Mr. Mefi got
candy also.  He is a pretty nice guy.  The young guy in blue is
Geldin.  We are getting to know his family.  His brother, Marvin
is the slate carver.  We will have more on that later.

This is Mrs. Blanco's room, Infant 1.  These are the youngest ones. 

The rain just kept on coming.  I felt like a little hen with her chicks.
I had to keep the candy up high because the kids kept
nabbing it when I wasn't looking.

And finally this is Mr. Uck's room. (ook)  I have been going through
a phonics program with them.  I also helped them make the little
decorations hanging from the strings.  They are good kids.

The teachers were busy getting the chicken ready for the grill and some of the rooms had movies playing.  (Not exactly movies that would be approved by the schools back home.)  There are always young men sitting on the benches on these kind of days and they got candy too.

Just to let you know, the man with the gun always has that gun.  I think it is broken.  First time I saw him I was all freaked out.  The teachers told me he lives next door and is always around.  I see him often now and he always smiles at me.  I think I will find out his name.

Dennis and I went to the Campos home to give Lauren her laptop a second time.  I guess the battery is messed up and Dennis had to take it out.  It works just fine when you plug it in and Lauren is happy.  They do not have a Christmas tree or decorations.  I have not seen any in the village.  I asked Lauren about it and she said they never have.  They celebrate Christmas by going to church that day.  

I asked her if she wanted to play Uno the next time I came over and she told me that she wanted to come visit Dennis and I at our house.  So, now we are going to have all the girls come over for a fun day of baking cookies and playing Uno.  It will be Lauren, Delmi, Noelly, and the older sister Raina.  Should be a really fun day.  We will have to wait for the river to go down first.

Hope everyone is enjoying this Christmas season.  Dennis and I are making the best of it.  The next blog will have our Christmas tree on it.

Love you guys!

Our first three Thanksgivings

Wanted to share with our friends and family back home what we did for Thanksgiving this year.  Thanksgiving is not a holiday here of course.  So, all the world around us was business as usual.  Dennis and I however had a great day eating and chatting with new friends.

Left to right, Mrs. Betty, the principal, Mrs. Blanco, Mrs. Yvette, Mrs. Melody
and me.

That is Mr. Uck in front of me.  (pronounced ook)

They are making potato salad.  We also had a great turkey and rice and beans with
bread pudding for dessert and fresh orange juice to drink.

Mrs. Jizelle is helping Dennis take apart the turkey, they didn't have a knife.

This is me and Noelly, she is Lauren's little sister.

About a half hour after we left the school in Buena Vista we were on our way to San Ignacio to our new friends house.  They are Pastor Jim Tucker and his wife Deborah.  We also had our meal with a few other people from Bridge the Gap.  

These are Belize pumpkins.

Yum!  We had olives!

Just wanted to show you the bed.  Pastor Tucker traded sheet rock
work for it.

Some of you may recognize this design.  Beate created it for the windows
at Bridge the Gap.

Look!

The Tuckers have a very nice home way up on a hill overlooking
Spanish Lookout and San Ignacio.  

My new friend Patti.  She lives a few miles away from my brother in
California.  She is a high school secretary and was here on a sabatical of sorts.

Then last but not least we had our third Thanksgiving feast on Saturday, at Pastor Mark and Brendas house overlooking San Ignacio.  John and Beate were there and our new friends Dennis and Anna Duek.  He is a really nice business man from Spanish Lookout. 

More yummy turkey.

In front is Beate.  In back is Anna Duek her son Clive, Dennis Duek,
Libby whos is Mark and Brenda's daughter, and John.

Brenda and Pastor Mark.  He is not Hispanic or Belizian
he is Peruvian.

Couldn't help the puppy pictures.

There was a litter of 13.

If you remember Bear from Bridge the Gap, these are his sisters pups.

Simultaneously, there was also a litter of Chihuahua's in the house.
This family loves their dogs.

They look like stuffed animals.

Her name is Ginger.  And we are not in the market for a dog.
No matter how cute.

So, we had three Thanksgivings this year.  We enjoyed all of them very much.  It was good to be so busy because we have never not been with the kids before.  I did get to talk to them on Thursday which made me very happy and very sad.  God is doing some good stuff here and I am glad we are here.  I wouldn't change a thing.  Except maybe have a monthly visit back in Tennessee.

Love all of you guys.  Keep up the facebook because it is my link back to all of you.

Thank You!!

God is in the process of a masterpiece.  I have been amazed at the number of people who are involved  in this work of art.  Much goes in to a work of art.  This beautiful piece of artwork will probably never be seen with our eyes this side of heaven.  But I think that when we are all together with divine understanding, we will be truly amazed at what God is capable of.  Dennis and I are just two people who chose to come to Belize.  I believe there are hundreds of others who make up the complete work.  We absolutely could not be here with out knowing that so many are praying for us.  So many are watching out for our children and grandchildren.  God has given us the gift of friends and family who are standing in the gap for us.  We know that everything works together for good for those who love the Lord.  There are spiritual bonds here that will carry over to heaven and last for eternity.

Our hearts are full and we know that you love us!  We love you too!

It is amazing how something like a box with candy and books can change your whole outlook.  You guys are amazing.  Thank you so much for the goodies!  Thank you Grice Family, Steve, Lauren, Lila, and Evie, and Doyle and Becky for the cards, they were beautiful!

Please continue to pray for us.  Things are developing all the time.

Love you guys!

P.S. God let me know that he is "holding my place" for my grandchildren!

Buena Vista, Water Filtration, Thor, and Crawdads

Dennis and I got back to Buena Vista today!!  Oh my goodness, it seemed like forever.  There was still water on the bridge but we went over anyways.  The sun was up and it was a beautiful day.  We were greeted by smiles and many waves.  I am feeling good because some of the kids will shout from inside their houses, "Hi Ms. Vicki!".  Now that is a great way to start any day.

When we arrive we usually sit on the benches and wait for the teachers to arrive.  We just hang out and chat.  They laugh at my attempts at Spanish and Dennis pokes Jamila and then its on!  He can sit for hours I think and not say too much.  But there is always giggles and smacking and poking going on.  Some of the kids are the ones who start it now.

As we are waiting this large van/bus drives into the school yard.  I guess Mrs. Betty was expecting guests.  All these gringos get out and introduce themselves to Dennis and I.  They are from a big church in North Carolina.  They are an organization called RowKids. (Reaching Our World)  They are here to finish putting in a huge water filtration system that will service the whole village.  So now we are spending the day with this very nice group of people.  As the day progresses I let it slip that Dennis is an electrician and you should have seen there eyes light up!  Oops, sorry Dennis.   That's alright because Dennis likes to use his skills to help whenever he can.  He is going back tomorrow to help finish the installation.

At one point we are all sitting on the benches eating our lunch and having a fun time sharing stories.  Then Dennis and I realize that Thor has joined us.  Not kidding.  This young man in the group looks like a sturdy Thor.  He was enjoying showing the kids his cell phone cover with Thor on it.  His name is actually Neil and he is twenty five and has three different businesses and works part of every year at the Belize Zoo.  It is always surprising who you meet in Belize.

After school we went to pick up Loren, her name is acutally Blanca Lorena, but we have always called her Loren.  Our church is sponsering her through high school and she needed some supplies.  So we took her shopping in Spanish Lookout.  We had to go get ice cream afterwards at Western Dairy.  It was a fun time.

So we get back to Buena Vista to drop Loren back at home and there is a little comotion across the street.  Of course I have to look because the kids called me over.  They were scooping water out of a huge mud hole and pouring it though a screen.  They told me that they were catching lobsters.  I laughed because I knew that it was crawdads not lobsters.  They showed me their bucket and they had about nine smaller ones and a few good sized ones.  After jumping over the little stream I watched them as the boys stuck their hands into the holes on the sides of the mud hole and pulled out crawdads.  I was impressed.  Loren told me where a good hole was but I said I would pass on this one.

Lobster/crawdad!

Can't see his face but this is Diego.  He is always smiling!

Loren is in the jean skirt and Rayna is her older sister next to her.

They told me they were taking them home to cook them.

These are fire crackers which can be found just about anywhere here in Belize.
The little kids play with them all the time.  My boys would love it here!
Another reason to pray for the safety of the children in the village.

We are home now in our little bungalow.  Thinking about what a wonderful day we had.  God is good.

Love you guys!

More about the water filtration system in the next blog.

The Bridge Again

Two weeks ago I couldn't get out to Buena Vista for five days.  The Iguana Creek Bridge was about ten feet under water.  It has been raining here off and on for quite some time.  At times little mini-rivers appear out of no where. The down-pours are tremendous and we have many times when the rain doesn't even stop when the sun is shining.

This evening Dennis and I went to check on the bridge because he has his electrical class tonight.  All the students live on the other side of the river.  How unfortunate is that?  So now this class will probably take much longer than Dennis thought. So, anyways when we get to the bridge you can still see the very top of the side rails which are about ten inches above the base.  People are still crossing.  Large oil tankers hardly slowed down before going over.  I guess if you can see the rails then its on!

So, we got out and decided to watch the show.  This really made me nervous.  This is a very low bridge, and the water is rising and it's early evening with the sun just starting to go down. Fortunately the rain had slowed down to a light sprinkle.  People were driving up and deciding whether or not to cross.  Most of the pickup drivers seemed to be confident and they just zipped over.  The semis and dump trucks were clearly undaunted and just plowed on through.

When we first arrived there were a couple guys on bicycles who made it about half way then had to walk the bikes the rest of the way.  I could see the current start to push their bikes.  The water was just to their knees.  Then a group of about five vehicles came over together lead by a dump truck.

As we are standing there a school bus full of kids starts over.  It stopped right in the middle!  It stalled.  All these high school kids were looking out the window and waving.  I even saw Lauren!  She shouted and waved at us.  All the while the water is rushing on and getting higher.  Then Dennis ran to the Bronco and got out his tow-rope.  Some guys in a dump truck from the other side drove onto the bridge and tied the truck to the bus.  So now there was a loaded dump truck and a school bus full of students out on this bridge.  All I could do was pray.  Now, I don't know if anyone else was praying but my prayers were getting intense.  I was really worried and I looked around and everyone else was hanging out watching the show.  Of course they pulled the bus across with out any problem.  And a couple of guys even brought back Dennis' rope.

A few minutes later a Menonite man rode his horses across.  There was a few moments there when those two horses were clearly not happy to be on that bridge.  They made it across just fine but now the man had to get his family and their wagon over.  About this time a backhoe came over the hill on the other side of the river.  If this was a movie the crowd would have cheered.  He started taking motorcycles across in the bucket.  He went back and forth a few times and then the Menonite family had a turn.  There was a grandma, a mother, a baby and a little girl all jammed in the cab of the backhoe.  They tied the wagon to the back and all made it across just fine!

I asked a few guys standing there if this was normal.  They said yup, happens every year....  So this bridge is under water on a regular basis and I'm not so sure it gets inspected near enough.  Everyone just figures that if the big trucks can make it and it doesn't fall in then it's just fine. The words, "structural integrity" are not even mentioned.

This is life in Belize!

Sorry, no pictures.

So, Lets Talk Food For A Bit

There are Snickers, M&Ms, and York Peppermint Patties here in Belize. (notice I start with the candy first) Anything chocolate is kept in refrigerators.  When you buy one you really should finish it before getting into your vehicle.  The kids at school all eat a lot of lollipops that have some hot pepper stuff on them.  Mrs. Vicki does not eat those, muy caliente!  Unfortunately, I see a lot of candy first thing in the mornings.

In Buena Vista all the teachers go across the street for lunch.  They get rice and beans most of the time.  Sometimes there is cut up chicken on top.  They do not use the same techniques that we do in America to cut them up.  I think they just use the stand- back- and- take- a- whack- at- it  method.  I bring peanut butter and mango jelly sandwiches.  I recently found some really good saltine type crackers that I take with cheddar cheese.  It’s quite yummy!

Speaking of cheese!  Western Dairy Cheddar Cheese is the best ever.  They put up a sign by the road whenever they make a fresh batch.  Western Dairy has a little restaurant in Spanish Lookout where they offer a great variety of ice cream, including Sour Sop, but I like their cheddar cheese better than their ice cream.  They also make really good burritos!

When you purchase a whole chicken from Dis Da Fi Wi Chicken Company they put the feet in the cavity with all the other giblets.  Now that was funny!  Chicken is what we are all about here in Belize.  On any Saturday when driving to the market in San Ignacio I will pass at least nine grills along the road selling chicken.  When I say grill I don’t mean Webber.  Think more creatively.  They make their own out of anything metal or any pieces of metal.  They all smell very good but we haven’t had the chance to stop and try any yet.  I’ll let you know when we do.

There is no brown sugar here, at least what we call brown sugar.  No lemons, only limes.  At least four varieties of bananas, my favorite is the apple-banana.  John says there are some coming up that are very creamy tasting.  Lots of Mennonites selling watermelon, but it’s almost out of season now.

The pictures below are Mangosteen and Dragon Fruit.  Mangosteens are pretty new on the scene here.  There are sweet little puffy white pillows inside which you just pull out and eat.  The Dragon Fruit are a lot like the taste of Kiwi except the color is an amazing deep purple with little black seeds.  All of these are like super-fruits.  Google them for more info.  We are going to try to grow Mangosteen which take seven to ten years before fruit shows up.

Dragon Fruit

Tastes a lot like Kiwi.

Mangosteen a very beneficial super-fruit.

Twist open carefully then pull out the little white pillows.
I liked these better than Dragon Fruit.

Fresh milk is very expensive and really not worth it.  I have been drinking something called LaLa Milk.  It’s almost the same as skim milk but it comes in little boxes.  The Ralston company sells their cereals here.  Although I am partial to Post Raisin Bran, Ralston Raisin Bran Cereal is pretty good.

Any kind of food item that is highly processed or packaged individually is extremely expensive.  Dennis got a six-pack of chocolate pudding cups for $7.00.  It took forever but I found Hidden Valley Ranch mix in the envelopes, $5.10.  Forget buying Doritos or Barbeque Chips, very expensive and you never know if they are stale or not.

On the other hand there is a huge variety of fruits here that are always in season.  And the cultural food is amazing, Belizean, Mexican, Taiwanese, Caribbean (Kreol), Chinese, and even German.  Couldn’t believe it!  We had a potluck lunch at Fountain of Life Church and the German food was awesome.

So that’s enough food info for now.  I’m sure there will be more to come.

Love you guys!

Been thinking of how much I will miss our church Thanksgiving Dinner this year.  Everyone needs to eat one extra bite of everything and think of Dennis and I when you do.