If you’ve been reading, you may remember that when I got off the plane at Philip Goldson International Airport, we walked across the airport to the Embassy Hotel, where I met John Collier. Well, he told me about this Christian bookseller in Chetumal who would probably be glad to serve as a mail drop for me. John didn’t know his number, but he called Moses Chan, the pastor of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, and now, after some conversation, he is going to help me bring the Scout & Trailer down to BZ. Moses is from the Corozal area where I’m settling (Chan is a common Mayan name.) Moses is married to a Mississippi lady he met while he was in seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. She plays the organ for the church services, which are probably more traditional than GPC in COS.

Moses attended the Belize Presbytery meeting Saturday in Corozal, & was going to pick us up afterwards, but we went to a Wedding!! Last time, I told you about my new friend Francisco, who runs a bar & dive tours out on Ambergris Caye. (say it, "Kee") Well, Saturday, he married off his nephew Ezekiel to a pretty young thing. The whole village of San Joaquin showed up, along with a few expats from San Pedro, the city on Ambergris Caye. [So, now I know some people from out there.] There was a band, playing Punta Rock, at about 160 db. They had one 1500 watt amp, and one 2500 watt amp, and a stack of speakers about half the size they use for the 4^th of July concert in the park in COS, and the band was standing well behind this stack. I thought about suggesting to them that they might like to put a couple of "Wedges" (monitor speakers) on the stand, but it would have been a waste of time. They had two keyboards, playing mostly synthesized Caribbean rock, and three singers, singing (I think) Creole lyrics which I couldn’t understand. Except for one line dance, which reminded me a little of the Cotton-Eyed Joe, people didn’t dance a whole lot. Mostly, everyone was trying to stay a respectful distance from the speaker stack. Harold, one of the expats from San Pedro, is a retired restaurant owner from Houston, and when he found out that I have run a C&W band, he started talking about us opening a country restaurant & bar on the 3-acre lake he just bought in S.P. Apparently there is no C&W band in the whole country, and the tourists on Ambergris Caye get tired of Punta Rock after one night. (I was tired after one tune at 160db.)

So, Sunday morning, we got up and caught the 8AM bus for Belize City. (Bleece) I thought it was the regular bus, which takes about two hours, but it was a "renegade" driver, taking a bus back down to Bleece and picking up a few passengers for some extra bucks if they didn’t slow him down. The fare was $5BZ (normally $8) and he made it in an hour and a half!! I didn’t expect to get to attend the morning church service but we did. (Mysterious, eh?) There were about 35 at the service. The church is downtown, on regent street, right next to the supreme court (good address.) It was built in 1964, and Moses is the first Belizean pastor (one was Scottish, two were American) The ring the bells before the service, and then it is quite traditional. Since it was St. Valentine’s Day, Moses preached on love, using John 13:31-38. "Love one another, as I have loved you...by this all will know that you are my disciples" Very appropriate, since there is a lot of wrangling which goes on here, at least in the newspapers. (Every political party has its own paper, and then there are a couple of "independents" which seem to print almost any letter you send them.)

Right after the Presbyterian service, the Chinese come in and have their own service for about two hours. It is Christian, but I think pretty non-denominational. We didn’t stay. We went to the manse, which is on Forefront street, on the shore, next to the office of the Belize Diocese (RC). The house was built in 1928, right before the first of two hurricanes which everyone remembers. "The hurricane of 31" and Hattie, in 61, both destroyed much of Bleece, including St. Andrews Church. There was a 10-ft surge (wave) and 150 MPH winds. Mitch was blowing 185, one of the biggest on record, and then quieted down a little (135) and missed Belize altogether.

I would like to attend services here in Belize City, but it is too far to drive every week, unless I was working here. Then I could drive down on Sunday afternoon, work a couple-three days and go back. That may work out. At the morning service, I met a Quaker (!!!) Michael Cain, who runs the "Friends Boys School" here. (They have a school but not a church.) He has six 486 computers, donated by Federal Express, complete with Win95 & network cards, coming in on a plane tonight. It will take time to get them thru customs, and then I will come back down and help him set them up. (The guy at the computer store is trying to sell him a bunch of stuff because "he needs a server") So, if he will let me, I will help him set it up.

As you can see, I am "networking" and I think that’s what we’re supposed to do here. The presbytery has a lot of other projects going up north, and Moses is all tied up with the international branch of Habitat for Humanity, so I’m sure I can find something to keep out of trouble.

TTFN, (Ta ta, for now)

Sr. ric y Sra Carla

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