CAMPING OUT

I have always been stricken by how similar Belizean Living is to camping

out. My friend Lila say "It's like 'going up to the cottage'" in the

States. Generally, you forsake a lot of normal "creature comforts" that you

have in civilization, in exchange for a return to basics, and a chance to

"commune with nature" or "get back to your roots" or whatever you call it.

I always appreciated backpacking, because it highlights some things that we

take for granted like a) clean cool water b) a warm, dry bed c) a good

meal after a hard day's work. It also pointed out that you can have almost

anything you want, as long as you're willing to pay the price; i.e. to carry

it along. I.e. -- if you want to enjoy a bottle of wine on that mountain

top, you're going to have to carry it up there, or sneak it into your

partner's pack. But I digress.

At any rate, some of the joys of Belize are flavored like this.

+ You're basically sleeping outdoors. (Back in Colorado, I felt stuffy and

cramped for the first month or so because the windows were always shut --

even in the dead of summer.) Here, there are no windows -- only louvers &

screens. (Louvers are window slats hooked together with a connecting board

so that you can open them or close them all at once. Most houses have

windows with wood louvers rather than glass panes. And, if you're lucky --

screens! )

+ You can hear every sound. Dogs bark. Car doors slam. Cars shift gears.

All of this is right here, "right now" because you're not locked into a

closed semi-soundproof box.

+ "You're losing all your highs and lows..." the Eagle's song goes, and

surely you can lose them in Stateside Civilization. Belize lets you get

your highs and lows back!

+ Cold showers (not really that cold -- the water is about 70! at the

worst.)

+ The birds wake you up

+ The sun goes down, and you start feeling sleepy, because you got up at the

crack of dawn. (because the birds woke you up.)

+ You can go outside, and walk on the concrete (or the grass) barefoot,

without freezing. (It's December, for Cripes sake, and if I tried that in

Colorado, I'd have frostbite in 30 seconds!!)

+ You are happy for little joys, like screens to keep the mozzies

(mosquitoes) out

+ The pace is totally non-hectic. "I have to be somewhere -- I have to do

something today," I think and just it's not true. Nobody has a stop watch

on me... hell, most of the Gringos don't even wear a watch... and if I don't

get it done today, there's always tomorrow.

Actually, there are some important things I don't want to miss. My BZ car

insurance expires on the 17th, and I don't want to get caught without it. I

need to cancel my HMO, because I can't take advantage of it in Belize, and

it will take money out of my account that I need HERE! But there really

isn't a list of things that I have to check off. Things to do, but no

deadline.

But Whitey, my landlord at the moment, loaned me a drip coffeemaker, and I

bought some ground coffee (Maxwell House French Roast -- good stuff, about

$3 for 12 oz.) So I run outside at 5AM, fire up my Coleman camp stove, and

boil some water for the dripper. (See why I call it camping out?) I do

this barefoot -- "because I can" even tho it's cold enuf for me to wear my

sweat pants & down vest. And then, hot brewed coffee becomes another of my

little pleasures.

Later this week, I will move into my own house and finally settle in. But

for now, I'm enjoying camping out.

Rick Z.

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