My ol’ daddy told me that they used to send recruits down to the flagpole (where they fired the cannon before they raised the flag) to get "the morning report".

It is morning here, and the day is trying to decide whether it’s going to be sunny & hot, or cloudy & hot. (actually, if its cloudy, it won’t be very hot.) It is only hot here if you stand around in the sun. In Corozal, there is always a sea breeze. Instead of glass windows, our little house has horizontal wooden louvers which we can open or close. Each window has two sets, upper & lower; if you want to cool the room fast, you open both sets; you close the lower set for privacy. When the sun is hitting one side of the house, you close the window. As you can tell, we are kept busy opening and closing louvers. (Hey, no lounging around in the tropics!!)

It rained a lot last night (for maybe an hour) and really cooled down. We were glad we had the bedspread which we just bought in Chetumal yesterday. (more on that later.)

Monday, we went to Ladyville to further explore the possibility of moving the trailer in behind the Embassy Hotel. The space would be free, but it looked pretty swampy and the view was of the Ladyville powerstation (actually 50 ft away) so we’re going to try it for a while here in Corozal. (whenever I say swampy, you should mentally translate to "mosquito land" ... after all, this is "The Mosquito Coast") The mosquitos were a primitive indian tribe which lived in this area, I think after the Mayan empire had declined. The current mosquitoes are the flying variety; they show up at 5:45PM on the dot. Everyone buttons up the house (or hotel) at that time. They are not thick, but they are ubiquitous. We are steadily using up our tube of Benadryl antihist/anti-ich cream, which works well if you put it on a bite. (It doesn’t do a thing for you while it’s still in the tube.)

Yesterday, we went to Chetumal with Francisco, a local who wants to sell us a lot. He owns a bar in San Pedro, and does dive tours, so we will probably see a lot of him. Charlotte thinks he took one look at our little temporary abode & decided we were "poor americans" (as opposed to "Rich Americans") and we may never see him again. I have more faith in humanity than that. He invited us to his nephew’s wedding (whom we went to Chetumal with) on Saturday, and Francisco is supposed to come and get us. I will stock up on wedding supplies (White Carribean Rum, a basic staple here which goes for about $5.50 US a litre) and hope for the best. I know they had wine at Cana, but wine is really $$$ down here. (grapes need a cool climate; rum is made from sugar!!!)

The border is 7 miles from here, and Chetumal is 8 miles beyond that. A quick ride. Chetumal reminds me of La Jolla (a San Diego suburb) only bigger. It’s pop. ca. 100,000, with two really big shopping "markets" and a really nice supermarket. The sooper is about like a King Soopers or Ralphs or H.E.B. only the prices are much lower. The markets remind me of the permanent stalls at the COS flea market, but they have everything (probably mostly "seconds") at super low prices. The rate is 10 pesos to the US Dollar, so I bought a pair of sandals for 70 pesos, chorts for 60 pesos, and two really nice tropical dress chirts for 230 pesos. Charlotte bought 2 pr of chorts for 100 pesos. A six-pack of beer is 33 pesos, Jose Cuervo Gold is 63 peso a litre. (less than half what it costs in the US.) You can buy tequila in Mexico and bring it back to Belize duty free, but they will confisticate mexican rum (and drink it) because Belize produces rum. Scotch is expensive anywhere you find it!!

The retrieval of the scout & trailer from Houston is an interesting plan in itself. John Collier introduced me to Moises (pronounced "Moses") Chan, who is the pastor of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in B-City. They are not affiliated with any US branch of the church but are supported by several PCA churches in the US and that is their theology, I think. I will find out as time goes by. Here is the Plan.

Moses needs time to arrange for a substitute pastor, so, monday week (Feb 22) we will leave Belize for the US. I will go to Houston & do a day of shopping. Moses will go to Missisippi & pick up a minivan for the church. He will come back to Houston, and we will caravan down to Brownsville, down the coast of Mexico, and across to Chetumal. He will go on to B-city in the Minivan. That is the tentative plan. I will let you know how it turns out. (it will doubtless be an adventure, just like everything else so far.)

I was mistaken about the veggie prices; $0.50 BZ a pound; which is 25 cents. Oranges are 10 for a BZ dollar. Limes are "more expensive" -- 3 for a shilling (BZ quarter) The internet is $40 a month but that’s $40BZ, or $20US for 8 hours a month. Additional hours are $2US. Not too bad. You have to put down a big deposit for the telephone, according to one of our Gringo advisors. Almost $100 US. I didn’t tell her that if she went back to the states, a Bell company would want at least $150 if she doesn’t currently have a US phone.

Many of the gringos down here have only been here a couple of years, but they have forgotten how much things cost in the US. Gasoline IS expensive, (about $2.50 US a gallon) but Americans usually go to Chetumal and buy Mexican gas a lot cheaper. Tires are expensive everywhere, so I’m going to put new boots on the Scout and stick the old ones in the back. We already got a complete set of plugs, hoses, & belts, and a set of new brake shoes to put on the back. I paid Urodel to do a brake job but the bum that did it skipped the back wheels!! I will do it myself.

You’re probably tired out by now, so I will quit, and go down to the local "virtual office" and see about sending this, and picking up your mail. Write, short or long, and I will enjoy it.

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