Done!  A strange, almost never used word here in Belize. 

The towns are full of unfinished houses in every stage of partial.  Usually there’s a foundation, with a lot of rebar sticking up in the air.  Sometimes the walls, invariably concrete block, are four / five blocks high, indicating that the house plans got some thought.  In terms of method, they dig out a trench, and put in a footer for the outside and maybe some inside walls.  They level this and begin to lay block on it.  Later, when they’re done, they will shovel out the inside, through the windows and doors, and “pour” the floor.  (No readymix, they mix it by the bag, usually by hand, with a shovel, on the ground.)  If they stop, the jungle grows up in the middle of the house.  At least half the lots in Corozal have a half-done house, surrounded by tall grass, weedy bushes & vines, engulfed, it seems, because everything is also growing on the inside.   The reason they start these houses is that they get the land on a lease from the government, and they have to begin improvements within six months.  The lease includes conditions like what kind of a house they will build, and how much it will be worth when it’s done. (Of course this is totally imaginary.)  You can attach any worth you want to a property, but it’s only worth that when it sells.  And almost everything is for sale, especially to some “rich American.”  Then, one of several things happens.

1.       They almost finish the house and move in. (rare.)

2.       They run out of money.

3.       The land turns out to be a swamp during the rainy season.

The lease contains conditions like “you must complete this $25,000 house within three years of the date of this contract or the lease is canceled.”  Clearly they don’t lose the lease.  This might be because they got an extension, but it’s probably because they just don’t have anyone going around enforcing these contracts. 

Even if they move in, the house will still have rebar sticking out of the roof.  This makes it look unfinished.  The rebar is because:

1.       They intend to put on a second floor.

2.       If there is a second floor, they intend to put on a third floor, or an observation turret/cupola.

3.       If they don’t finish it, they don’t have to pay a capital gains tax on it!!!!!  

Belizeans seem to be pretty good craftsmen, but there is always some hitch down toward the end, which screws the finality (doneness) of the job up. 

Example:  We had a new toilet put in.  When the plumber finished doing a very serviceable job of putting a pipe into the septic, sealing everything with cement, etc. the toilet tank was sitting about a inch and a half away from the wall.  It clearly needed a shim between the wall and the tank.  I found him a block to use as a shim, and he put it in.  However, it was too long, and so it sticks out on both sides of the tank.  He could have cut it off so that it didn’t show, but he didn’t know that I had a saw.  He could have centered it so that the same amount sticks out on both sides of the tank, but no, it sticks out two inches on one side, and three on the other. 

Example:  An 80-year-old cabinet maker built a kitchen cupboard for our house under orders from Mrs. Olga Marin, our landlady.  We were overwhelmed by its beauty.  (It is covered with white formica, and really looks nice.)  He came over to the house, in a major hurry, and put in the cabinets for us.  He set the sink/base in place.  He set the cupboard on the sink, on a couple of blocks & plastic buckets,  drilled two holes all the way through the wall, and hooked the cabinet to the wall.  Unfortunately, since he forgot a level, the cupboard was 2 ½ inches higher on the left end than it was on the right!  It was also up so high that Charlotte couldn’t reach the middle shelf.  This was unusually remarkable since the cabinet maker was about 5 feet tall. (Newer.  I eventually lowered the cabinet myself.)

Example:  Every house has a shower.  Invariably, these are done in tile, and very nicely done indeed.  Except for the drain.  They break out a hole in the middle for the drain,  Sometimes they put in a strainer, and patch a little cement around that, but sometimes not. 

Example:  They make beautiful carved doors here, out of mahogany.  Usually, the Belizeans install them as is; no sanding, no stain, no finish. 

Example:  The cabinet maker’s son, also a cabinet maker, built a little shelf for our microwave to sit up on the wall.  He finished it smoothly, painted it glossy white, with strips on the back of the shelf supports so that we could screw it into the wall.  When we went to put it up, he had to drill holes through the finish in order to put it up.  So now, we have this beautiful little white shelf with four rough woody holes and screws in them. 

Example:  Invariably, they don’t put enough electrical outlets in a house (if any!!)  and of course, there are no telephone wires.  After they move in, they begin to add wires, with little fasteners that they nail into the concrete.  Then later, someone paints over the outlets and switches, which are now painted shut and unusable, so they put in new switches and outlets and wires.  Ad infinitum.

Example:  When they cut the sugar cane (by hand, of course) they don’t cut all of it.  Now they have a field half full of cane pieces.  Not fit to grow in until they burn it down.  (In the states, they cut it all, with a mower, and plow the stubble under for fertilizer. 

Doors don’t fit.   Louvers don’t close.  Or, don’t stay closed.  Locks are put in upside down.  Hasps are put on backwards so the screws show.  (A smart burglar would have a field day here, but all of the burglars we know are stoned on crack cocaine by the time the sun goes down.)

It seems to me that Belize itself is an unfinished work.  The government, independent since 1981, is still experimenting with bureaucracy and automation.  (At this point, both immigration and customs are about half automated.)  Half is done in big journals, a la Bob Cratchett.  Anything that doesn’t work well is attacked by the party that’s out of power (they each have their own newspaper!!) and the party in power plays catchup to try and fix it without disturbing the cash flow. 

It’s charming, and we’re a part of it.  But of course, Charlotte and I are both unfinished works, aren’t we?

Sr. ric