Not Quite So Integrated as I Thought - and Merry Christmas!

Ah, Christmas time. 'Tis the time for good company and good food, Christmas songs and . . . firecrackers?!? The folks around here, mainly children and young men have been setting off LOTS of those poppers. I don't remember it happening last year at Christmas time. Yesterday, however, we heard not pops, not cracks, but B-O-O-M-S! Right in the street in front of our house.

I hollered at the kids to stop or to take it down to the riverside, that if they didn't stop I would call the police. Normally, I would just groan and put up with it, but these were beyond loud and were very scary-sounding, like a big gun. And there was nothing pretty to see, no big spread of color and light; the sole purpose of the "toy" was noise. Now in all my time here, I have only called the police twice, and it was when the music was blasting at 1:00 or 2:00 o'clock. They have a law that the "racket has to stop by midnight."  This time, in the afternoon, when the blasts continued, I called Dangriga's finest. Nobody came. As time went on, night fell, and more people started drinking, the whole situation escalated.

So I called a policeman I know, who came by to where most of the drunk group was hanging out (across the street) and rousted them. After he left, one of the guys came over a "cussed me out" big time, and so did his mother! How stupid am I? I was scared with how aggressive they were, and it occurred to me that this incident is the kind of thing that would cause Peace Corps to jerk somebody out of site.

Anyway, within a half hour, it was back up to the craziness level again, and I could hear it going on all over town. It was at that point that I realized that it really is the way that Belizeans celebrate Christmas. All our neighbors just put up with it, assume that nobody will get their arm blown off or lose an eye. The "celebration" continued until after midnight, and then was quiet until about 8:30 this morning, Christmas morning. It's been going steady ever since, not always on our street, but always close enough for good volume.

The dogs didn't like it. They are flat-out terrified of the explosions.
Stayed in the house for most of the last 24 hours. The dog at the
top of the picture, Princess, is FuWe Dog's mom. They both
stayed stuck up against Steve or me so they could feel safe.

We made Christmas cookies, a BIG batch to share with friends.

Steve did the rolling and sugar coating

Aidra and her husband came over for dinner on Sunday the 23rd.
Stew chicken, roasted potatoes and carrots, and some stir-fried
broccoli, string beans, and onions for dinner, and cookies for
dessert!

And here's a Christmas card that my friend, Ingrid, sent to me. So pretty! Of course, if you've been following the blog, you recognize this as the mural painted by Pen Cayetano for the wall of the Town Council meeting room.

The original painting is about 25 ft X 12 ft

Merry Christmas everybody. We miss you and would love to hug you in person!