And Yet Another All-Night Concert

Happy New Year, everyone! This has been a fun week, and I want to share some of the highlights.

We continue to watch the newborn puppies. Tomorrow they will be two weeks old. They are just starting to open their eyes. I just learned that puppies EARS open at about the same time; they have no hearing yet until that time, only smell, touch, and a little taste.

They have become much more active when they are awake, and do not always sleep in one big lump of puppies. Sometimes they spread out into two or three smaller lumps. We have selected which puppy will be ours. Even though she is the runt of the litter, she is growing very well and she is the most active, already tottering forward on her four splayed out legs. Her coloring matches her mother's. We are going to name her Fu We Dog, which in Kriol means Our Dog, FuWe for short (accent is on the second syllable). Please prepare for more dog pictures. I WILL be an obnoxious dog owner.

Some of the bracelets. I made about 12.

We had an easy week (what else is new?), but much interaction with our Belizean neighbors and friends. I had made some bracelets for the POWA women, and delivered those around town. They were fun to make (Kirstin helped with them), and extra fun to see everybody over the holidays.

On Friday we traveled to Belmopan to visit with another PCV couple, Ken and Mickie Post. This is their second tour of PC duty, having also served in Jamaica 30 years ago (??). They met and married in Jamaica. It's fun to hear their stories of the Peace Corps "back in the day." While we were there, we visited the McCords for a little pre-New Year's party. Paul McCord is the work partner for another PCV, Shaz Davison. They work with an organization called VOICE, a seniors advocacy group. Paul's wife, Aurora, is a charming hostess, and the perfect foil for Paul's dry wit. We had lots of snacks and dinner, and then had a fun time with a game called Po-Ke-No - kind of Bingo with cards.

Cathy and Steve, Aurora and Paul McCord, Mickie and Ken Post,
 Shaz  Davison

By the way, Aurora made all the decorations on that tree. They are crocheted doilies. Really pretty up close. The top I'm wearing in the picture is a very popular Belizean style, a gift from our neighbor, Rafi.

The next day, we and the Posts went to San Ignacio Town for a Festivus celebration at Gabe and Shannon Wheeler's home. They are another married PCV couple. PCVs from all over Belize came to the party, so we had a great visit with folks in a nice relaxed atmosphere.

We did NOT do the true Festivus party, Seinfeld version. Gabe and Shannon had more upbeat activities (and lots of food and drink). They called them Lawn Olympics, and they got the games from a website that had Win It in a Minute-type competition. For instance in the Shoe Kick, we had to see who could kick their shoe the farthest. Steve won that one. We don't know which team came out on top, because we left early. I DO know that PCVs can be VERY competitive when presented with the right combination of challenges.











So - back on the bus to Dangriga. Crowded, hard rain, bad roads. I was a little alarmed by the dangerous combination, but we got home and went to Kirstin's house to snack away, watch the Times Square entertainment on her TV, and cheer TWICE for New Year - the New York midnight and the Belize midnight. For the Belize countdown, televised from Belize City, the host held up a big plastic clock, with a sweep second hand, and counted down the last 60 seconds. Wish I had a picture to show you . . . .

More New Year's Eve pictures:

Can't remember what's going on here. We were probably
goggling at Lady Gaga

Rafi, her son Anthony, and her friend, Nicole,
were just back from church when we got home
from Kirstin's house.

As you might have gathered from the title of this blog entry, we were blessed with a concert from the riverside opposite our house. It started about 12:30 and went till 5:00a.m.. I'm learning to get those earplugs in pretty tight, but it still doesn't block the sound at that decibel level. It's Dangriga!