Last days in the Tropics!

Yesterday was Labour Day in the country. Nothing was open, and due to the Swine Flu scare, nothing was happening either. All of the major events scheduled for this weekend were cancelled or postponed. So the city and the country was pretty quiet. Dawn and Ralph's place at Sunset was particularly quiet throughout the morning. I enjoyed one of the most relaxing days of my life here in Belize.

I slept in until 10:30 which I've never been able to do here because the sun rises so early causing it to get hot. However, my blood seems to have remained quite thin throughout the year, as I woke up yesterday morning with my sheet right up under my chin as I was a bit chilly! I took my time getting ready and then spent my morning reading while Ralph went to run errands and Dawn studied for upcoming exams. Dawn and I also cooked for ourselves yesterday. I didn't realize that she's not a cooker nor does she like to cook. So the night before we went to the store and picked up some meat, rice, veggies and plantain and decided we were going to cook a big meal for ourselves. I'm happy to report that it turned out beautifully. Ralph and Dawn got a rice cooker as a wedding gift, I was in charge of rice (even though I don't actually know how to cook rice). Thank God for rice cookers, I made the rice, taught Dawn how to use the cooker and it turned out very well. Our entire meal included Meatballs, Rice, Fried Plantain, Green Beans and Corn! It was delicious. Lorna, Joe and the kids came over for the afternoon. I hung out with the kids in the back yard we played ball, laid in the hammock and listened to music. It was great!!! Lorna's youngest grandson Kayvaghn is quite shy, and was quite shy last year when I met him. I was not expecting him to remember me or like me this trip, but he seems to remember who I am. Every time he sees me he runs up to me screaming my name coming to get his daily hug and kiss. The Sampson's refer to him now as my new boyfriend!!! He's super cute!!!

Dawn and Ralph decided to take me "out on the town" last night. We got ready and headed out at around 7:30. Stopped by the Sampsons in the city and then made our way to the Casino. Now, I've never been to a Casino, the closest I've come to gambling is Bingo with my grandmother, and that was a long time ago. At the beginning of the week, Dawn had asked if I go to the Casino and if I'd be interested. I told her, I've never been and thought experiencing the Casino in Belize would be great story to share with people. Ralph and Dawn are not gamblers. When they do occasionally go, they spend about $10 and eat at the resturant. So we went. Dawn and I got $10 in quarters, Ralph $7 in nickels and we headed to the machines. The guys working the tills laughed out loud at us, as most people who come through usually spend hundreds of dollars. I felt totally out of place there, but I tried my hardest to make it look like I knew what I was doing, while the whole while I kept leaning over to ask Dawn what all of the lights and buttons on the machines meant. She laughed pretty hard at me. We had a lot of fun. In the end, I broke even, I won my $10 back. I'm sure the woman sitting beside me thought I was nuts...1) because I only spent $10 at the Casino and 2) because I decided not to keep gambling it!! In the end, it was fun, we had a lot of fun and laughed a lot!!

We woke up late again this morning (not as late as yesterday) and took our time getting ready. I drove Dawn and I into the city to pick up Lorna, Joe and the kids and we made our way out the CrocLand on the Western Highway for the day. It's a tourist attraction with a petting zoo of different crocodiles, a resturaunt and swimming pool. We made our way through the zoo, stopped for lunch and spent most of our time in the pool. It was a lot of fun, but quite exhausting. I was the only adult in the pool (the Sampson adults didn't swim) and two of the kids couldn't swim and needed to be held. So when I wasn't looking after one of the lee ones in the big pool they were hanging out in the kiddy pool until it was there turn. So I'm beat!! They had an absolutely wonderful time and that's all that matters to me, it was great to be able to hang out with them all day.

After getting out of the pool, I quickly dreaded not bringing along my contact holder and solution. The chlorine got into my eyes from all of the splashing the kids and I did that I couldn't see. Once we got into the city we stopped at a store and thankfully was able to find some solution to soak my contacts in. From there, Dawn and I found a great fruit stand, loaded up on fruits and vegetables and made our way home. We will soon be enjoying freshly made watermelon juice and a whole lot of fresh oranges from the orange farms here. I CANNOT WAIT!

I'm scheduled to leave tomorrow. It's going to be sad and hard to say good-bye, but at the same time I'm ready to go and begin preparing to move out west. The trip has been great, even though I've only been here 11 days, it honestly feels I've been here for months, mainly due to the length of days and the laid back atmosphere of the country. I really do feel refreshed and ready to take on packing up my stuff and saying my goodbyes to people back in Toronto as much as I don't want to. The next week is going to be busy, so I'm glad I've had these few days to enjoy some time taking care of myself and enjoying the company of my Belizean families. They certainly are a blessing, and this trip has made me realize that I don't think I can go more than a year without seeing these folks again. Dawn and I have already started planning where we will go on my next trip!!!

I arrive in Toronto at 8:30 tomorrow evening. Please pray for safe travels and continue to pray for the Diocese of Belize and the people here!! They have become incredibly close to my heart and I know that I will continue to keep them close in prayer as my minitry continues!!! See you soon!!!

Chelsy