Investments

Bracelets made from coconut shells.

Evan's work shop for classes.

Little boy who came to play with me.

K working on her woodcarving project.  (Mallet is made from green-stripe bamboo)

For those of you who follow the blog who may not know, our trip to Belize began nearly 2-1/2 years ago.  Now, the people who know us well are scratching their heads, because B and I hadn't even had Belize mentioned to us until the very end of June this year.  Remember B was released from Delphi in 2009, just a couple of months after we were married.  Being without a job has been one of the biggest blessings and became the first step toward our investment business about 6 months after that event.  As with many start up businesses, ours wasn't exactly profitable.  OK.  It wasn't profitable at all, but we were standing in faith that God had brought us together as a couple and as a family and that He always provides for us and that He always wants what is best for us.  His ways are not our ways though, so by some people's standards, we were (are) crazy.  Long story made very short, our investments in the oil and gas sector led us to a company who ended up purchasing one of our properties and eventually hired B as a contractor to come to Belize and start up a new project.  Now he is the Vice President of International Operations. 

Since coming here, we have been investing in some art work.  If you have been following, you'll remember that we have befriended a local artisan, Evan Leslie.  He made the bracelets pictured above.  We are heavily invested in his life too, and trying to work with him to build life skills and walk with him in his renewed relationship with Christ.  B prays with him and lends moral support.  I am using my business management and teaching skills in our covert mission to make him self-sufficient with his business and teach him to get through the lean times when tourist season is dead.  This is not a fun task for me.  Learning tough lessons is not pleasant.  Teaching them is equally trying.

Coming to Belize has also afforded us the opportunity to invest in our children's education of the wide world in which we live.  They are learning about third world countries' people, politics, and customs.  We are all learning about living outside of our comfort zone.  We are learning how hard it is to be away from family and friends.  Part of this we pick up from our classes with Evan.  Above you can see his workshop which is located on Main Street.

The open space of Evan's shop and being on Main Street, allows for many opportunities to greet people.  The little boy in the photo above stopped by to watch the kids work on their projects.  He saw me check my phone for the time and he asked me if my phone had games.  I snapped a picture of him and showed it to him.  He liked that.  Then I showed him some of the games that I have loaded on the phone.  I became his new best friend.  Within minutes he was reclining against me and we were talking as he was playing.  We are investing in people here.  I never learned his name, but he'll remember me and come to me if he sees me again.  The people here long to have closeness with others.  There are many who have suffered greatly at the hands of family.  Rape.  Physical abuse.  Drugs and alcoholism.  Abandonment.  Girls being prostituted out by their mothers for drug money.  Children living with step parents only or no family at all.

Look closely and you can see the tap root of our avocado pit.

We are putting roots down here just like the pit above.  We have been plopped into the Caribbean and God has told us to swim.  Just like the pit, we are growing as individuals and as a family.  God has taken time to invest in all of us.  If we allow Him to, we will grow, but sometimes we have to do some things that seem a little crazy...like packing up and moving to Belize. 

Lubaantu

Once again, time has gotten away from me.  Between teaching the kids, cleaning the house, cooking, the holiday on Wednesday and having a last minute dinner with some new found friends in Maya Beach, there has been little time to sit down to the computer to write.  So, for all of you asking, I did NOT fall off the face of the earth.  We're still here in Placencia; however, due to some friends we did get out and do some site-seeing this week.

This Wednesday was Belize's 30th birthday.  The celebrations started on Tuesday night.  We walked down and there was a band playing 50's style music that had Christian lyrics!  Yippee-skippee!  We stuck around for a bit and watched C & K participate in a hula hoop contest.  C was even a good sport and played "air drums" with 3 other boys.  He won some candy for that performance.  Fireworks were to begin at midnight to usher in the birthday celebrations following a flag raising ceremony at 11pm, but the fireworks were detained on a barge in Punta Gorda.  Apparently someone hadn't gotten the proper clearance to have them shipped up on the barge.  (sigh)  We came back home, put the kids in bed, but our friend, Freddy, was asked one hour prior to the flag ceremony to do a speech on the passing of the founding father of the country a few days earlier.  He called Brian to come and listen, which he did. 

The next day Freddy and Janet came and picked us up in their pick up truck to ride to Lubaantu Ruins.  Here are some of the pictures we took.

We found it interesting that some of the corners were rounded and not squared.

Rain forest canopy seen from ruin site.

The portion of rock that butts out from the ruin on the left is a place where sacrifices were placed.

Lubaantu contains many vistas as it is an entire Mayan city.

Some buildings were close together and some were farther apart.  Here you can see Janet, me and the kids climbing back up from the bottom of one of the ruins. 

While as the crow flies, Lubaantu isn't that far from our village of Placencia, but since we can't fly we had to drive.  Click here for the map to see how we had to drive up and around the peninsula.  Freddy is a pastor who has planted many churches in the area, especially for the Spanish/Mayan.  We made several stops before heading to Lubaantu to take fish heads for soups to some pastors in and around Big Creek along with some clothes and toys.  We drove to Punta Gorda to take a generator that Freddy had repaired to a pastor there.  We just missed the holiday parade, but the family was coming home to eat and they invited us to join them.  Wonderful family and felt very welcomed.  I'm not sure I could've handled 7 extra guest dropping in and being as hospitable as there were.  Thank goodness for BBQ in town for the celebration!  Next we headed to the ruins on our way back home.  I think for B and me, the best part of the day was visiting the people along the way.

We were allowed glimpses into the very personal and every day lives of the people here.  We saw the Mayan women in the rivers washing clothes on the rocks, cleaning dishes and bathing, little boys climbing trees and jumping into the water.  We smelled the wood smoke clinging to everything as we drove close to houses they use to cook with and fight off mosquitoes.  We saw entire families out in the yard, playing with children, doing small hand work, repairing equipment.  They walk and ride bikes and horses.  Saw drunk men staggering up the road.  Children miles away from home going who knows where.  Gangly horses tied by the edge of the road for hours with nothing to drink.  Girls grinding corn next to the hand pump for that evenings' meal.  Beautiful, worn faces and eyes that speak of simpleness.  They have no jobs.  The only job they have is living and providing for their family.  They raise chickens, use fruit from the nearby trees, they grow corn, beans and root crops.  Sometimes they might have a pig.  So much Americans take for granted.  Toilet paper.  Running water that is safe to drink.  Roofs that don't leak.  Electricity.  Cars.  Medicine. 

I feel so blessed to be here in this time and sharing it with my children and with all of you who read the blog.  I wish there were some way to bottle up some bit of Belize to bring to you, but to really get the feeling, you have to be here.  We haven't been out much since we still don't have a vehicle of our own, but we hear there is much more to see.  I'm looking forward to sharing more with you.  God bless!

Week in Pictures

I have attempted many times and have failed miserably to blog this week for one reason or another and now I find myself so far behind that I cannot pull together everything that happened in a fashion that I would be happy with, so instead I will simply post pictures. 

 

The video is a small snippet of the parade celebrating St. George Day and Independence Day.  See if you see anyone familiar... 

A wonderful story about how seriously this village takes having fun together is demonstrated through the parade last Saturday.  As with parades we are familiar with at home, Placencia's parade starts at one end of town and circles back and ends up where it started, except for here there is only one road, so they turn around and come back.  B & C dropped out of the parade shortly after the video was taken, as they'd traveled most of the length already.  At that time we didn't know exactly how far up the peninsula the parade went, but we thought that surely it shouldn't take too long.  Over two hours later here the procession came back.  We thought they must've gone clear up the entire peninsula instead of just the town (a 40 minute trip by regular speeds and not parade speed).  Come to find out, the parade did just go to the water tower to turn around (about 10-15 minutes more than B & C coming back), but the truck that B & C had walked behind had broken down and instead of the parade continuing on, the entire parade halted while the truck was fixed and THEN they all came back down--still dancing, singing and partying.  Now that is was I call dedicated to having fun!

Sea Urchin

Safer way to handle a sea urchin

For all of you following the blog, I need to make a correction to one of my past posts.  I referred to one of the shells that H found as a sea anemone, but it was actually for the urchin.  I knew that was what it was, but the word escaped me at the time and I knew the mistake I'd made the minute we saw the live urchin.  Forgive me for misleading you!  It was not intentional.

The knit sweater project I brought with me.

It fits!

Next plarn project--outdoor rug.  I'm makin' it up as I go along, folks....

 

Friends from church gave away avocados and we are starting our own tree.  Maybe.  

 

 

Woodworking Class--Evan and KR working on Cat (ended up with flower)

H has a knot in his board and is getting some help

C getting instruction on how to use the chisel

Evan's gift to us.  It is a natural abstract that cannot be fully enjoyed by the pictures alone.  We LOVE, LOVE this piece.  Thank you, Evan!

OK.  So there you have it.  A good week.  A full week.  A diverse week.  A school week.  A rainy week.  A cooler week. 

Creation

We successfully completed our first week of school.  Hip-hip-hoorah!  In years past, the curriculum we use has had two schedules to choose from; there are 4-day and 5-day schedules.  The Upper Room (our school's name) opted for the 4-day curriculum, which pushed us through the year a little faster and allowed us time for more non-desk days, aka field trips and extra curricular activities (play rehearsals for TACHE, IRT performances, museums, zoo, etc.).  This year C is an 8th Grader and the schedule provided was only 5-day.  Now, I know that homeschooling allows me to mix and match and rearrange to meet needs, but I decided to stick with that schedule for him since it allows him to be much more independent, which we as a family are working more on this year with C.  He is thriving, like I knew he would.  He has a sense of pride in his work and is developing the appreciation of things done for him.  All of that to say, that H and KR had a very light Friday with only Bible time with me and then we all started our new elective, Draw Today.  Our family strongly believes that art should not be removed from school and we make a special effort to include it any way that we can.  Draw Today uses charcoal as its medium, fairly new to us.  Here are some photos of our first attempts:

Our "Studio"

C's aim is perfection

KR is really giving it her all!

H--"Are we done yet?"

H really does love to draw, but his eye works differently than this course teaches and he and I were having a power struggle since this part of the course concentrates on using a different method so that one can really notice the details and not the overall picture.  It teaches to see from the inside out rather than the other way around.  It is fun to see how their creativity flows in different ways.  

After C finished up his day, and reviewed it with B, the four of us headed down to the beach to see if we could find the source of the music we'd heard coming from that direction.  Come to find out it was only 2 guys with huge speakers, probably getting ready for festivities later today.  (Belize is celebrating their Independence this week.)  I hadn't walked the beach southward since being here, so that is what we decided to do.  H found another anemone shell.  (He had broken the first he found and I thought the chances of finding another was extremely rare.)

The picture doesn't show that these have a greenish tint to them.

Later H found a conch shell, or so we thought it was only the shell until he picked it up.  At first the blackish color of the muscle that touches the sand made me think it was dead, so I thought that it would be messy to take the conch shell home (I mean who wouldn't want to find their own complete conch shell!), but then the kids noticed that it moved!  After taking some pictures, H put it back into the water.  

The black muscle is facing the viewer and the shell is on the backside.  

When we got home it was time to fix supper.  Another fun fact about this village is that when people come to visit, they don't really come to the door and knock.  They stand at the foot of the stairs and serenade us with "B!  B!  B!  B!", or "Hey!" until one of us figures out that it is US they are calling to come and answer the door.  Before school started and the neighborhood boys were thick during the day, they would just walk in and not even announce themselves.  (I'm having fond memories of going to Grandma M's and giving a "Yoo-Hoo! when you walked in.)  While I was in the homestretch of preparing supper (boiled whole chicken seasoned with salt, pepper and thyme and homemade mashed potatoes and corn), I heard the call come from outside for B.  Our visitor is one of our most frequent.  His name is Evan and he is a local artist.  He is a woodcarver by trade.  I've asked that he come and give instruction to the kids on Tuesdays on carving.  Here are the two carvings our family has purchased:

This is of two toucans on a found board.

Faces and masks are popular here.  This one features a soaring bird as the eyebrows and start of the nose.  This carving is done on bark, which can be clearly seen in the "hair".  

Evan has had a difficult life.  I could not do justice to his story to abridge it for today's entry, so I will not.  So many Belizeans work very hard and yet still cannot scrape together enough for basic needs.  Their plight brings new meaning to the phrase, "living hand to mouth".  Our family could not ever purchase enough from any one of the locals to assist them in any meaningful way.  As I take my daily walks I am approached from men and women to look at their homemade wares.  They are beautiful, but I cannot buy all of it, and don't.  Many here are entrepreneurial, setting up a table in front of their home to sell trinkets, cutting holes in walls to create a window to order food from their kitchen, carrying backpacks and walking the beach, setting up barbecues made from discarded LP tank and sitting in the hot sun ALL day hoping to grab someone to buy from them.   The system in place illustrates Einstein's(?) definition of insanity: "Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results."  They need different help when the tourist season is not at its peak.  They need a new strategy.  First, they need Jesus and a church family that is there for them when the going does get tough so that they might share all that they have as the church did in the Book of Acts .  Second, well...my head gets full of "what they need to do is..." but I haven't been here long enough or truly walked in their shoes to dole out advice.  I never think that handouts are the answer.  I don't like the welfare system in my own country, so why would I want to start that here, even if it is on an individual basis?  I just know they need something different.  But, I digress.  Evan is truly talented and he gave his heart to the Lord a long time ago, but struggles with the daily walk, as we all do.  He needs encouragement, grace, unconditional love, guidance and some desire and discipline of his own.  Pray with us that he joins in fellowship with believers for edification.  He is in the budding stages of creating outwardly Christian pieces and is a little hesitant to display the pieces for fear of getting flack from his friends.  Pray for protection of this venture and that it succeeds beyond his human expectations and dreams.  

Everything that God created is good, and He created everything.  It is us who gets in the way of that goodness.  Whether or not we agree with the HOW of creation, like H with the sketching, or me with not seeing the life in the blackness in the conch, or with repeating the same thing and expecting different results, it is all good.  The only thing that changes it is how we react with it and think about it. 

First Day of School

C my 8th Grader

H-my 6th Grader

KR-my 5th Grader

How many kids do you know who get to study in another country?  I am really looking forward to this year.  This weekend Belize is celebrating their Independence Day.  B brought home a couple of flags for us to wave.  Perhaps I'll get some time to find some information about this holiday for the kids to learn.  Maybe I'll remember where I found the meaning of their flag too.  These are a couple of qualities of homeschooling that I just love--mobility and diversity!  I don't have much to say today, so I'll leave this entry short and sweet.

Here are some photos of the kids today working:

C on the back porch reading behind the sheets hanging to dry.

H & KR sharing the math book after the lesson.

I'll post this final picture of the kids AFTER classes were over yesterday:

Don't they just LOOK smarter?

This has been one of those weeks when I feel I've had much to say, but not enough time to get to the computer to blog and of course by the time I do get to the computer, I've forgotten much of what I thought I wanted to say.  This is a recurring problem.  Note to self:  carry pad of paper and pen at all times. 

Last night our church here wrapped up a 3-day revival.  The pastor's son is also a preacher in Belize and it is he who gave the messages each night.  Delightful to hear.  His messages were on target and encouraging, humorous (at one point saying that God didn't even mind if he prayed with Him in his underwear!), relational, loving, firm, instructional, full of energy and power.  I went alone on Friday night.  It was a gift from B to take the kids and let me go by myself.  I needed it.  We were able to witness 4 baptisms in the sea on Sunday!  What a beautiful gift.  One of them was the pastor's wife.  She had been baptized 40+ years ago, but she said at the time that she didn't fully realize the significance of it and she wanted to be re-baptized.  So blessed to be surrounded by sisters and brothers in the faith that are real and let down their guard. 

Can you imagine being baptized by your son and husband?

We love this church.  Everyone sings as if it is a contest to be the loudest regardless of pitch.  Some nights we sing a song about loving each other and travel around the room singing and greeting one another with hugs and kisses.  There are no Sunday Schools or nurseries or programs.  We are all there together, worshiping, listening, loving, helping.  I think this must have been like it was for the church in its beginning when they met in homes.   We are asked and encouraged to stand and give personal testimonies of God's work in our lives.  Some come in dress clothes and some come in t-shirts, shorts and barefooted.  Some speak English and some speak none.  We come in all colors and income levels.  But we all share the love of Jesus. 

First Outing

The family plus Kayla, B's office assistant, took our first outing to Independence where the work site is located.  To get there, one must either drive up and around the peninsula, which takes about 45 minutes or take the Hokey Pokey water taxi, which costs (I think) $6BZ (or $3USD) per person.  Since we are still without a vehicle we haven't taken any personal outings yet, so B was kind enough to ask the family along as a field trip while he got some work done and introduced Kayla to the work site too.  We opted for the water taxi.  That is an experience!  The boat is about 18-20' long (I'm terrible at estimating, but this seems right.  B may implore me to make corrections later.) and seats as many as can be crammed onto the built-in fiberglass bench seats.  I'd say there were close to 30 people on board.  The seats are well down into the boat, but visibility even for shorter kids is very good, which is a good thing.  The whole boat ride from Placencia to Mango Creek (Independence) takes only about 15 minutes, tops, but there were many new sites for us.  We slowly cruised the lagoon, and saw houses we've only seen the front sides of and some smaller side streets of houses, a new mangrove protected site and of course the lagoon itself.  Once we were in more of the open water, our captain got us up to speed.  All of a sudden we took a swift turn and saw out the left side (I have no idea what the nautical terms are.) the back of a manatee rolling.  We swerved to avoid it.  Before we knew it we pulled up to the dock in Mango Creek.  We called a taxi, our driver was Nelson.  It was lunch time so we invited Nelson along with us to Rosa's restaurant.  Good stuff there and a heck of a lot cheaper than eating here on the peninsula!  I wish I'd taken pictures.  B had taken some on his earlier visit, so some have already seen Rosa's.  She makes excellent fried chicken and I tried fried plantain for the first time and I liked it!  I think I am the only one in the family who does. 

Next Nelson took us to the customs office.  We have been here nearly a month and it is still not clear to us if B needs a work visa, but the agent there was very helpful and friendly and offered to assist us in anyway that we might need.  All of the locals we've met have been extremely helpful and friendly. 

Following our trip there, Nelson drove us over to see the drill rig and other vehicles that were shipped over to use on the drilling site.  He wanted to acquaint Kayla with what everything looked like and where everything was located for future reference.  He is so smart to make sure that all the hands know what the other hands and parts of the TBE team are doing.  Good management knows to train and acquaint all members of the team with at least some knowledge of what the other parts are doing.  I learned that in the law office first hand.  Here are the photos that I took of the day:

This is the first layer of the pad for the storage building for the equipment.  Can you see the mountains in the background?

This is a picture of KR.  Can you see her next to the drill rig?  Our taxi is in the foreground.  B & Nelson are discussing the equipment.  They were having a good time.  

(In Crocodile Dundee's Voice)  Now THAT'S a wrench!

Getting a hand up.

H climbing on board as Dad and Nelson look on.

I'm good at saying cheese.  

Miss Kayla finally found her shade. 

A tanker, a bulldozer and a backhoe.  I feel like I'm making a new version of Bob the Builder or Thomas the Tank Engine.

Flatbed truck that TBE is donating to Independence for their garbage removal.  Thank you Independence for allowing us to be here and for your hospitality!

It was a whirlwind tour, but we all had smiles on the Hokey Pokey back.  That's what it's all about!  (Sorry.  I couldn't help myself.)