Arizona Diamondbacks

I went to my first professional leauge baseball game tonight. I am attending an Asics running conference in Phoenix right now and they took us to a Diamondbacks baseball game for one of our evening activities. Not only did we go to the game, we were given seats at the TGIFriday's Front Row restaurant and given all the free food we wanted. I ended up sitting with two guys from the Big Peach Running store in Atlanta, GA which was ironic considering the game was against the Atlanta Braves. Either way, it was a great time- the hometeam even won the game!

Things America Could Learn from Belize

America is known for being the land of the brave and the home of the free. The American Dream has driven the country to forget about the little things that less or underdeveloped countries still remember. These are a few of my favorite things that we could learn from Belize.

Fresh Food, Made to Order

Clothes Drying in the Wind

Water Storage for Rain off the Roof (this is actually illegal in Utah!)

Day 9

I am blogging from my hotel room with everything packed and ready to go to the airport in about one hour.

Day 9: Monday

This morning, I woke up before Ash and went in to take a shower. I noticed, since it wasn't dark outside, that we had the most beautiful view of the hillside from our third story bathroom. We decided to hit the road early since we had a few things on our list of things to see as well as a drive ahead of us.

After a breakfast of the last piece of bannana bread and a plantain, we left the hotel around 7:00 am. Ashley still wanted to play one round of frisbee golf at the Trek Stop so we went there first. The course was amazing as it was cut into the jungle. Most of the baskets were not visible from the box so we had to hike to the basket to figure out which way he had to throw the frisbee. The course was only nine holes so it was over after just about an hour.

The next thing on our list of things to do was to visit the Xunantunich (pronounced shoo-na-too-neech) Mayan Ruins. We drove down the road about five more miles to find the entrance. We were driving next to the Macal River and had to get across the river to get to the ruins. Rather than cross a bridge, there was a hand-cranked ferry that took cars and people across the river. Because there have been incidents of drivers driving off the end of the ferry and into the river, all passengers have to get out of the vehicle until the vehicle is off of the ferry. The hand-crank was one of the neatest things I have seen. The ferry was strung on a cable with a giant pully in the middle that was cranked by the ferry operator. It took only two-three minutes to get across. Once across, we drove the mile to the parking lot and paid the entry fee for the park. Ashley was feeling a bit woozy from the hike and from the frisbee golf so we went nice and slow. We started at the visitor center to learn more about the ruins and the Mayan history. This particular villiage was small but controlled the western valley of the Belize River for about 900 years. It even lasted about 300 years beyond the fall of the Mayan civilization.

We hiked to the top of a couple of ruins before we went for the big one. Even though the ruin looked high and towering, it wasn't hard to get to the top. Once we were up there, we noticed some howler monkeys in the neighboring trees above a different ruin. We quickly went to the bottom of the big ruin and went to the top of the neighboring ruin to get a closer look. I have been hoping that we would have the opportunity to see some monkeys while we were here so this was very exciting for me.

When we were finished watching the monkeys, we left to hit the road for the drive to Belize City. As we drove back through San Ingacio on our way to Belize City, we stopped at the local market (an open air market with fresh fruit and veggies as well as our favorite street vendors) to get some pastries and some lunch. We got some croissants, some celery, and more plantain chips. Ash purchased a tamale which was wrapped in a banana leaf instead of a corn husk. It had the best masa he had every tasted but the chicken inside was more bone than meat, an interesting surprise in every bite.

We left San Ignacio with full bellies. Two hours later we arrived in Belize City. We wanted to go to the Belikin Brewery, the beer of Belize, to go on a tour. The tour guide was having lunch so we were told to come back in a half hour. We went and checked into our hotel, the Raddison, and then returned an hour later. The tour was amazing. I have never been to a brewery but Ashley had. Everything there was so clean! At the end of the tour, we visited the Belikin Brewery Bar where we were able to sample all of the beers brewed at the plant from the tap.

After we arrived back at the hotel, we decided to purchase some pastries-again-and then go to the pool. We hadn't been to a pool yet since we had the biggest pool around, the ocean. When we finshed that, we decided to order in. Anyone who has travelled with me knows how much I love room service. So room service was our food for dinner, and breakfast the next day. After dinner, I spent several hours blogging before going to bed.

We did so much on Day 9! It was a great day and proved that renting our car was worth the expense.

Til later...

Belize: Day 6 (cont)-Day 8

Day 6: Continued...

As we finished out Friday, I went to the beach, 20 yards from our internet spot, and played in the small waves coming into shore. I also sat there and read my book while becoming mezmorized by the repetative sound of the waves hitting the beach. While I was being hypnotized by the surf, Ashley was looking up information about Decompression Sickness. This is a 'disease' people get when they surface too quickly or stay deep in the water for too long and Nitrogen gas is saturated in your body tissues and does not have time to escape while surfacing. Ashley wasn't able to ascend slowly enough during our final dive and was feeling some symptoms of this sickness. So he was looking up more information on it to find out more and to look for answers to his questions. Ashley was feeling a lot of pressure behind his ears and in his jaw. He was also feeling a bit of pain in his elbows, knees, and wrists that would migrate around and some tingling in his calfs. After doing some research he decided that the following day, his first priority was to see the dive master in the area to ask some questions.

After he was finished with the internet research, Ashley joined me on the beach just before sunset. We took a walk down the beach just as the water was turning pink from the sun going down. While we were walking, we were joined by a Raasta local who was interested in being our 'new friend.' He was willing to get, find, and sell us anything we wanted. The only problem is that we weren't looking for anything and we didn't trust this guy. He wouldn't leave us alone and ended up following us down the beach and popping up all over the place. After pestering us for about 40 minutes, Ashley asked him to leave us alone for good. He got upset and pretty defensive but left us by ourselves after a short conversation.

We walked back home and relaxed before going back out for dinner at the DeTatch Cafe. I ordered a shrimp stir fry that my mom would have died for. I also enjoyed it enough to name it "my favorite meal so far." Ashley, on the other hand, ordered snapper with a coconut basil sause that turned out to be more like a marinara sauce that wasn't quite as good. We have definitely noticed that dinner here in Belize is definitely hit and miss. You can order one thing at a restaurant and love it. Then the next restaurant has the same thing and it isn't anything like the day before. Always an adventure.

We walked home and went to bed early, like always, after a great, relaxing day.

Day 7: Saturday

First thing this morning, we walked down the road looking for a bakery and some juice for breakfast. We were recommended to visit Ms. Beulah's Bread and Buns which turned out to be a woman's house and a mediocre cinnamon bun. We continued down the city street (there is only one) in search of the dive shop and some fresh juice. We found them at the same time next door to each other. After talking to the dive master, Ashley's suspicions were confirmed: he was suffering from a mild case of DCS. Her suggestion was to go to the town across the lagoon, Independence, to see Dr. Pedro and get an injection and some oxygen. She also mentioned that since he was a diver, he would be able to tell us if we needed to make our way back to San Pedro to visit the hypobaric chamber for re-pressurization and decompression. While they were chatting, I went next door to The Shak to get our fresh juice and ended up getting a fresh smoothie instead. When I came back, she was putting a cocktail of rubbing alcohol and peroxide in his ears to try and dry them out as well as prevent any infection. We left feeling like we needed to have some sense of emergency and urgency.

After leaving the dive shop, we walked down the road to the water taxi to find out the schedule for travelling to Independence. The next taxi left in 40 minutes so we had just a short time to make a decision and leave. We walked to the hotel and decided to pack up and get to Independence. As we were leaving the hotel, we decided to rethink the process. We decided to call the hypobaric chamber in San Pedro before we went to the doctor where we thought we might be told to visit San Pedro when it wasn't necessary. We walked down to the hotel office to connect to the internet and then Ashley used the office phone to call San Pedro (something we found out wasn't allowed later so we paid the bill for the call.) The hypobaric chamber in San Pedro told Ashley that his case wasn't sever and didn't warrant a trip back to San Pedro. They recommended we find a place to get some Oxygen in order to relieve his symptoms. Instead of taking a water taxi to Independence, we asked the Police Station if there was a medical clinic in Placencia where we could receive Oxygen. We were told there was one just down the road so we walked there to try and find it. After a bit of searching, we found a place where the clinic should have been but it looked like a home. Ash knocked on the door and yelled for anyone who was in the home and after a few minutes, a women opened a woman to ask what we were looking for. Ash told her we were looking for the Medical Clinic and she said that she was the nurse at the clinic and mentioned that the doctor was not there to help. After Ash explained his situation, she said she would call the doctor to see if he could come by to help out. A couple of minutes, she opened the door and said she could not reach the doctor by phone but she was willing to help him anyway. We walked into the tiny clinic and she offered to have her husband, a Cuban doctor, check Ashley out. The nurse's husband did not speak English so the nurse interpreted the story. It was determined, once again, that Ashley definitely had a mild case of DCS and that breathing Oxygen should help. He sat in the chair with a mask on for about an hour and before we left. The clinic works on donations so we left some money instead of paying a bill. The whole experience was very interesting and a good lesson on foreign country medicine.

Ashley was feeling much better but we still did not feel we should push any limits and decided to spend the rest of the day in a very relaxed manner. When we left the Medical Clinic and walked back out to the street, there were three women who were cooking chicken on an open BBQ. We got some, along with baked beans and potatoe salad, and then walked to the run-down park to eat it. After gobbling the whole meal down, Ash and I went back to get more. We bought three more meals, two for now and one for tomorrow. While we were walking back to our room, and the beach, we stopped at the grocery store for some water. We found a tasty treat of freshly made bannana bread. We bought two pieces with our water. This turned out to be a great find.

After finishing our BBQ lunch, we took the nurse's advice and took a short nap in the room. We spent the rest of the day relaxing either in the room or on the beach. For dinner that night, we went to the Cozy Restraunt, attached to the hotel. We ordered Nachos and ate only half because they were the worst nachos we had ever had. Like I said, you never know with dinner in Belize.

We went right up to our room and went to bed early, as usual.

Day 8: Sunday

This morning, we got up at 5:00 am to watch the sun rise on the horizon of the Carribean Sea. It was a beautiful sunrise and one of my favorite things that we have done so far. After the sunrise, we went back to bed and slept for another hour. Later that morning, Ash and I got up and went back to the Medical Clinic for more Os. His symptoms had become progressively worse again throughout the previous day, so we went back. We went early because the nurse mentioned that she was headed to a Caye around 9:00 that morning. We arrived at 8:00 and it was a good thing because she was just about to leave! He sat back down and spent the next 36 minutes breathing Oxygen. While Ashley was breathing his medicine, I walked up to the top of the penninsula to purchase smoothies as well as return the alcohol and peroxide to the dive master. When he was finished at the Medical Clinic, we stopped back at the store to pick up more bananna bread, we bought the last two pieces.

We walked back to the hotel to finish packing. As I was walking down to the beach for my final 30 minutes of reading in Placencia, the guy from the car rental place asked if we were ready to go. I was surprised that he was there 45 minutes early but we were nearly packed so he didn't have to wait long. We had rented a Canarie Yellow Diahatsu SUV. The car rental is an expensive part of the trip but we decided it was the best way for us to see the last section of the country in the shortest amount of time. It paid off!

We left Placencia, navigating unmarked dirt roads, and made our way to the Southern Highway, one of the few paved roads in Belize. On the way to our next stay, we stopped in the Mayflower Bocawina National Park which was a jungle. After navigating the dirt road to the entrance, we parked the car and found the Antelope Island trail to hike. The jungle hike was 150% humidity where I sweat more than I ever had before. By the end of my hike, my non-cotton tank was soaked to saturation. Along the hike, we saw all kinds of thick vegetation, spiders, ants, and lizards. We heard a barking bird and a siren bug. Along the hike, we came to an unexcavated Mayan ruin which was interesting. Along the hike we came to Antelope Falls, the biggest waterfall in the park. The park host had mentioned that if we hike to the top of the fall, we would be able to see all the way to the Carribean Sea and then swim in a freshwater pool. We hiked the steep, rocky, slippery, muddy finish to find the viewpoint. At the very top of the trail, we found the pool. The water was so clear and tempting, we jumped in even though we had no suits. There were little fish in the pool that enjoyed nibbling at us which felt very funny and spooked me enough to persuade me to cut my swim short.

We hiked out much more quickly than we hiked in but still enjoyed coming down those steep trail and using the help of the ropes to hike/climb down safely. We didn't see anything new on the way back but we still thoroughly enjoyed being in the jungle.

We got back in the car and hit the road again. We stopped about an hour later at another swimming hole called the Blue Hole. This is not the blue hole that Belize is famous for, however. This blue hole is only 25 feet deep and about 50 feet wide. It was created when an underground river collapsed and created a freshwater pool. Instead of finding this pool vacant, like our last pool, we found it full of every overweight American in Belize. We didn't stay long and on our way out, we purchased some plantain chips from the son of the caretaker. This is one of my favorite treats.

After driving for about one more hour, we came to the capitol city of Belize, Belmopan. We stopped at a streetside fruit vendor and picked up some plantains, banannas, chips, and peanuts. One more hour of driving put us in San Ignacio, our final destination for the night. We wanted to stay at a little backpacking stop about 6 miles out of town, the Trek Stop, because it had a 9-hole frisbee golf course built into the grounds. They didn't have any vacancy so after a bit of discussion between Ashley and me, we drove back into San Ignacio to find a place to stay. The drive in search of a place to stay was quite interesting. We ended driving on the wrong side of the road as well as the wrong way down a one way street. Eventually, we figured out the little city and found the street signs that were only 2"x6" and hand-carved. We ended up stumbling on Marta's Guest House, where we rented the Jr. Suite for only $60US! This room had the quietest AC and the best bathroom of any place that we stayed. It also had a separate living area and a walk-out balcony on the third level, neither of which we used.

For dinner, Ash and I walked down the street looking for a street vendor that we trusted. After spending a week in Belize, we have discovered that the best way to eat is from street vendors. It is the most consistent food, the tastiest, and the least expensive. After not feeling sick after many meals, we assumed that the vendors were generally safe to eat from. We have eaten and slept for much less in the last half of our vacation than the first half. We found a little taco stand in front of the Post Office that Ashley thought looked good. I wasn't hungry so he tried one taco first and then ordered four more. While the woman was making his second helping, two of the crazy men sitting on the post office steps came up to talk to us, one to Ash and one to me. The conversation that the old man had with me put me in an extremely uncomfortable place. He kept telling me how 'sexy' I was and how he wanted me to come visit him at his home. After I told him to stop saying those things, he just changed to Spanish instead of English. Eventually, Ashley got his tacos and I told him to get me out of there. We walked around the corner and I was ready to go back inside and stay for the night. After cooling off, I fell right to sleep.

Well, I guess that is it til later. I am getting sleepy...sorry for any typos or confusing sentences, I know there are a few.

Belize: Day 6

Ahhh...I am blogging from the paradise of Placencia so now I will tell you how we came to be here.

This morning, we awoke around 6:30, after sleeping for about 12 hours, and were ready for the day. We knew that we wanted to try and leave the city so we pulled out the computer again to try and figure out how to get out of the crazy, dirty San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, and make our way to Placencia. We found a flight that left San Pedro at noon that would put us in Placencia by 1:30 pm. The flight definitely beats a 1:30 boat taxi, a 20 min taxi to the bus station, and then a 2:30 bus ride on dirt roads to Placenica. Next, we looked for a few places to stay. Since we are coming through Belize during the beginning of the slow season, finding a place to stay has not been hard at any point in time. We found a place that we preferred but if it was full we decided we would just walk down the beach until we found what we wanted: a $50 room with AC, internet, and a mini-fridge.

At 8:00 am, we left the room to try and find some breakfast. While we were walking down the street we found a little place that looked like a cafe so we went in and sat down. Once we looked at the menu, we walked back out. I have never paid $20 for breakfast and wasn't about to start while we were in a foreign country. So we walked on and soon stumbled upon our little bakery. I got a ham and cheese breakfast pastry and a jam pie and Ash got a cinnamon roll for and a little pig in a blanket for the road. Next, I was in search of some fresh juice. We walked into a store that was produce only and I asked if they could blend some fresh juice up. We walked away with some cantaloupe juice and paid only $4 for breakfast for the two of us. THAT is the way it should be done. It reminded me so much of baguettes and orange juice in Europe.

We went back to our room to find out if we could check out early and get a refund for the unused day and had to wait about 2 hours because the owner, Lily, was out in town. After reading, and another short nap for me, Ashley got us most of our money back and we were able to check out.

Soon after, we headed to the airport. This is not your typical airport. The planes hold 7-14 passengers and the runway is packed dirt. The gates were chain link fences and the boarding passes were laminated pieces of colored paper that said "boarding pass." This is where I wish I could download my pictures so that you could all understand the fullness of this tiny airport. Nevertheless, we got on an airplane, a seven-passenger plane, and we headed out to Belize City. We changed planes which was really getting off long enough for us to go in and use the restroom, before we boarded the plane again to go to the International Airport. After picking up our final two passengers, we flew the 35 min to Placencia. Ashley was very lucky and on our second flight, he got to sit in the co-pilot seat which is used for passengers. He enjoyed watching the pilot use the gauges and switches to operate the tiny aircraft and also enjoyed the 180 degree view from the cockpit. There is no barrier between the cockpit and the passengers as on regular planes so even from the back seat, where I was sitting, I could see most of the gauges and through the windshield. Again, I wish I had the camera cord so I could show you all.

Once we landed, we took a taxi to the town of Placencia and were dropped off near the SeaSpray Hotel, our lodging of choice. After walking down the sidewalk for about 10 min, we found exactly what we wanted for only $54. We are just 100 feet from the beach and the beach here is spectacular, unlike the islands we were on. Plus, we ended up in a great room with a very knowledgable office secretary who has helped us out quite a bit. Outside of not having a kitchen, we are in the nicest room we have stayed in so far. We have a beach, the seabreeze, the sand, the room, all for such a small price.

Placencia is truly paradise. I wish that you could all be here with me. This is my vision of a great honeymoon on the beach.

Some things that we have noticed

• All of the dogs here have no owners and the exact same snout. Whether the dog is a chihuahua or a lab or a mut, they all have the exact same nose...I'll let you think what you may...
• Americans could use a little more color in their lives. Here, everything is so colorful. In the states, we use reds, browns, etc but rarely use all of the colors to create art and beauty with all that surrounds us.
• There is this habanero pepper trend here. The only peppers we have found are habaneros. And they are everywhere. Habanero dishes, habanero sause, habanero peppers, everywhere habaneros! They are grown in the foothills of the Mayan mountains so I guess if figures but why habaneros? I am on vacation and I don't want to burn twice.
• The Belize accent is much thicker when they are talking to each other and we can't tell what they are saying. But when they talk to us, they use the watered down version of the accent and we can tell what they are saying.
• Everyone talkes about how there is so much crime in Belize but when we talk to people that actually live here, they tell us that it is the safest place around. Either way, I think we will still watch ourselves.

Till Later...

Belize: Day 5 Continued

Once we arrived at the bottom for our final training dive (60 feet) we completed our final skills demonstration to complete our certification: take your mask off and put it back on then clear it, navigate underwater with a compass, and hover just off of the bottom of the ocean floor. While I was working on taking off my mask and clearing it, a giant Hawksbill Sea Turtle swam by Ashley. Once I was finished with my skill and I reopened my eyes, the instructor signalled turtle to me and swam me over to where it was swimming away. It was about four feet in diameter and maybe six feet long! Ash said that there were two sucker sharks that were six feet long that were swimming along underneath him. I was so jealous that I didn't get to see more of him.

After we finished our first dive, 40 min, we surfaced and spent about an 1:30 on the surface eating lunch and chatting while two of the divers with us completed a rescue diver course. While we were up there, we ate PB&J sandwiches and a fresh watermelon that I had cut up earlier that morning. Can I say, I just love all the fruit here!

During our second dive, as certified divers and also to 60 feet, we saw a lot more fish. I saw many Anglefish that were nearly one foot in diameter. I also saw a spotted drum fish which is black and white, like a zebra. I find it so amazing that all of the colors we create are actually colors that exist in nature, something that is especially apparent while looking underwater at the reef. The reef was as healthy as we had seen it. Many hurricanes come through the area and damage the reef just outside Caye Caulker. This is one of the reasons why Caye Caulker is so quiet and laid back.

After finishing our diving for the day, we went back to the dock where we finished our paperwork and got our certificates as certified divers. We then rushed to pick up our laundry from the laundermat and we returned our bicycles. Then, we walked home, packed our freshly laundered clothing into our suitcases and headed for the boat taxi to take us to Ambergris Caye. The boat ride was about 45 min and mostly pleasant.

We arrived on Ambergris Caye to a bustling city and a very unpleasant surprise. The streets are narrow and full of cars, golf carts, bicycles, pedestrians, and street vendors. There just isn't enough room for everyone! We did not have a pre-arranged place to stay here so we started walking down the street with our suitcases in hand and asking questions of taxi drivers that wanted to take us around. We stumbled upon a little info cabana that had a few people at it that get paid to arrange tours, places to stay, dives, etc for each places but get paid a commission by the places not by the tourists. They gave us a map and helped us find a place to stay. It was a bit of a dive but it had everything that we wanted, wireless internet, AC, private bathroom, and a mini-fridge, for only $50 US/night. We walked around the town that afternoon to look for a grocery store and a place to get an appetizer. We found a bakery, Jedda- Smile, that was similar to a European bakery but with a Latino spin on it. Instead of 10 different kinds of rolls and hard breads and a variety of pastries, there were different kinds of flat breads, tortilla chips, soft rolls, and mexican pastries. We also found a little bar that made some great appetizers that filled us most of the way up. After leaving there and walking around a bit, we were so overwhelmed by the fast pace that we went back to our room before the sun went down to see if we could get out of there and onto another location.

Before leaving, I had read about a place, Placencia, that seemed very quaint and quiet- more of what we were looking for. We decided, while falling asleep looking at the computer, that if Lily, the woman who owned the hotel, would give us our money back for the second night, we would try to make it there tomorrow. Ashley and I fell asleep, he had the laptop on his lap, by 7:00 and didn't awake until about 6:30 this morning. It felt so good to sleep for so long and to rest from all of the stress of the city.

Belize: Day 5

Today, Ashley and I awoke early again in order to finish our dive certification at Frenchies Dive Shop. This time, we went to "The Waffle House" were there are breads and cakes made. Each morning, the woman who ownes this place also makes little meat pies. Yesterday, one of the women at Frenchies had some of these and they looked and smelled so good, I had to have one this morning. They were just as good as they looked and smelled. I bought three, two for me and one for Ash. Ash got one bite, I ate the rest.

After we took our final exam (after sweat and turmoil, Ash got a better score than I did) we went out to complete our final training dive. We dove to 60 feet for our first time. I finally felt like I understood the feeling of neutral boyancy (floating above the bottom and using your breath to steer) and Ash was able to equalize much better this go around.

More later...

Belize: Days 1-4

Day 1: Our first flight left Salt Lake City at 1:00 am on May 10, 2009. We arrived in Belize City after a long night with little sleep and little to eat at about 12:30 pm, local Belize time (same as Utah time). We got a taxi and went to the boat dock for our water taxi that would take us to our first destination, Caye Caulker. The boat ride was about 45 min and when we arrived, the property manager for our place, Bobbi, met us there on her golf cart to check us in and take us to Casa Roja, our home for the four days following.

Since there are very few vehicles on Caye Caulker, we have seen about 4 so far, everyone gets around on a golf cart, a bicycle, or two feet. Since the island is only 2 miles long and 1/2 mile wide, it is easy to get around on foot. However, after Ashley and I checked into our little home (we have the bottom floor) we left to rent a golf cart for the rest of the day to become acquainted with the island more quickly and to pick up groceries.

The island is so great! With no roads, the island philosophy is "Go Slow," people even holler it to you off of the street if you are riding your bicycle too fast! Here, everyone is barefoot, and we get to eat lots of fresh fruit! Right after we rented our golf cart, we drove to a place called Femi's Cafe and Grill where the food is cooked fresh when you order. It is an outdoor cafe where the seats are swings and the music is rockin every day all day (except Wednesday).

During the rest of the day, Ashley and I went to The Split, the top of the island where people go to the beach, and swam for a little while. We also went to Frenchies Dive Shop to pick up our dive textbooks and to check in for the next day of dive class.

For Dinner, Ashley and I went to Habaneros for a feast. The menus were the coolest I have ever seen. They were just like a scrapbook and the pages were even made out of natural fiber paper. I wasn't feeling very well (too much sun or something) and so my expenisve meal went mostly to waste. I felt horrible too, because everyone says it is the best place on the island to eat. I just wasn't up for it. Every time I took a bite, I wanted to lean over the side and hurl. However, Habaneros had the best Pina Colada I have ever had. Mmm...coconut juice and pineapple juice blend so much better when they are fresh!

Day 2:

We woke up late today, around 8:00 after trying to sleep through 3 hours of sun in our eyes. In Belize, the sun rises at 5:00 am and sets around 6:30 pm. So after trying to sleep with full sun in our room, we had enough and got up. I cut up a fresh watermelon for breakfast and packed our bag with PB&J sandwiches for the road. We stopped at Femi's again for frozen smoothie drink and then walked down the beach to Frenchies to start our dive classes. At 10:00, we started to watch the educational films on scuba diving. With all of the underwater skills, Ash and I were both feeling a bit nervous.

At 11:45, we took a break for lunch and went to The Split, where people swim at the top of the island, for a little swimming and some lunch. Swimming in salt water is easy but sure tastes bad once you get a little in your mouth. It also stings your mouth, nose, eyes, and throat if you get it in any of those places. But warm water is great and I enjoyed swimming in a giant bathtub!

Frenchies opened again after lunch at 1:30 so we finished our movies then. Most of the way the way through, another gentleman joined us, Guido, from Canada. He is also getting dive certified.

Once we finished watching the videos, we were walking home and decided to rent ourselves some bicycles. We noticed that by walking, we were spending much more time in the sun and getting more sun exposure, causing us to pass our threshold for sunburning with SPF 50. We cut a deal with the rental shop and got them both for three days for $40US. After a little studying at home, we went back out for dinner. We had a nacho appetizer at Femi's, a burger at the Sports Bar (Ash wanted to know the score on the Maverick's game), and then we went to the I&I Reggae Bar for dancing. We had made friends with a couple of local islanders and we met them there to dance.

It was a late night by then and Ash and I had to be at Frenchies Dive Shop by 8:30 the next morning, so we went home and went to bed.

Day 3:

First thing in the morning, I cut up a fresh pineapple for breakfast and made our sandwiches for lunch again. We went to Frenchies Dive Shop to start our underwater part of the certification. First, we got on the boat and drove out to just before the reef where the water was shallow but there was plenty of sand for us to kneel on to practice our skills.

Getting out of the boat was the moment of truth. You do what is called a back entry. This is when you have all of your gear on and sit on the side of the boat and lean back to go in back first. It is easy to do but it is really the moment of truth where you discover that you trust your equipment. Once we were on the bottom we practiced the skills. You have to do all kinds of things like, take the air regulator (the thing you breathe out of while under water) out of your mouth and exhale while you ask your buddy if you can borrow his air. Then you get his spare air regulator, and breathe out of it instead. Everything you do under there is designed to prepare you in case of emergency or accident. But, it is a little nerve racking to think that you could be in a place that you can't breathe with an accident or an emergency. Nonetheless, we got the skills down and it turned out to be quite easy.

After spending about an hour under the water at about 6 feet we had finished our skills portion of the class and drove out to a different part of the reef where we could go deeper and see more. We went on our first official dive. While decsending to the 24 ft. bottom, I had a really hard time equalizing my ears- "popping them" so that they don't have pressure damage. After trying once and resurfacing, I made it to the bottom where the sea life was. It was amazing to see all of the parts of the ocean that you only see on tv. Even though we were not in the most vibrant parts of the reef, seeing fish swim around me and brain coral was enough to sweep both of us off of our feet! We were down for about 45 min before we surfaced and drove back to the shore. Wow! Amazing!

Ashley and I had been in the sun all day and were feeling very tired when we got home so we went to sleep for a couple of hours. When the sun was going down, we went to the convenience store to buy and onion and a new tube of sunscreen. We went back home, made spaghetti, did some studying for class, and went to sleep.

Day 4:

Today we got to go on two dives, both to about 40 feet. This guy in the picture looks just like Ash with yellow fins and a yellow regulator tube. The reef looks just like it does in the pictures! We really enjoyed it!

We got home at about 2:00 and went to Jack's Shrimp on a Stick Shack. Jack takes care of Casa Roja, where we are staying, and he BBQs the most amazing fresh shrimp. They best part is that he cooks up one box of shrimp a day and once it is gone, he goes home. He is so popular that even guide books have his shrimp in them. He is an old white guy that has a completely pessimistic view on life because of his army days. But, man, oh man, his shrimp is good. Ash and I ate 8 each! LeeAnn, you would love it!!! There are eight flavors to choose from and I just can't say enough! After running a few errands and dropping our clothes off at a laundermat, we went home to rest and get out of the sun until dinner tonight when we go to Rainbow's Grill for a chicken quesadilla that comes highly recommended.

Here are a few other things that Ash and I think about Caye Caulker and Belize:

The Craziest thing we have seen:

Ash: The Baby on the balcony with no railing.

We are staying in an undeveloped country where shacks and shanties are abundant. Our first night here, we saw a toddler walking out on the balcony less than one foot from a 15 foot fall. The balcony had no railing and the baby had no supervision!

Rhielle: Barefeet everywhere!

I am a huge fan of bare feet and I love that no one here wears shoes. However, sometimes, I think it goes a little too far. Since this island is undeveloped, there is not a good trash collecting system. The streets are fairly clean but it is normal to see beer caps or bottles strewn about.

My Favorite Thing:

Ash: Seabreeze

Rhielle: Fresh fruit and good food.

I have been looking forward to coming here and having off the tree fruit ever since we planned this trip. The rest of the food is good too. I love beans, rice, and meat for dinner and we can have that all the time. I also just got some bannana bread/cake and fresh fruit always makes for more flavor.

My Least Favorite Thing:

Ash: Islander Theft Paranoia

Everyone has been telling us to watch ourselves, never to carry too much cash, to lock the doors, keep windows shut, etc. Most of this is all common sense when you are travelling but we have heard it so often that we are becoming paranoid about it all. We never take the backpack off and we don't even open the windows in our hot, muggy apartment.

Rhielle: Sweating and Humidity

I know I sound like a big baby but I am telling you, with little more than a swimsuit on, I am sweating so much that I am soaked. Ah, how I love the desert.

I forgot the cord to download my pictures onto the blog so I will have to do it later.

Til then...

Hendrix- Now I get a Husband and a Boyfriend

Ok, I was going to wait to post this but I just can't. He is sooo cute!

For our wedding gift to ourselves, Ashley and I adpoted a dog. I know, I know. Anyone who knows me well knows I am not much of an animal person and I am definitely not much of a big dog person- too much hair and too much jumping. After visiting the Humane Society to look for a small dog, and seeing nothing but Chihuahuas that barked their heads off, I asked if we could walk through the big dog section. Hendrix was the first dog that we saw. He never barked and after running with him by my side (something we have now had to work on at home) and sitting and shaking at the humane society, Ash and I decided that we needed him and he needed us. He is a Boxer/Great Dane mix but actually quite small for his breed.

Can I say, love at first sight?

Married

Some photos of my new hubby and me.

Photos courtesy of John Whetten