Are you kidding me?

After a 3 hour drive from Belize City up to our destination we were pretty darn tired.  As some you may have wondered, where are we staying the bulk of our time while here on this ride for 33 days?  Well, I have to say the Biblical truth that God gives you more than you could ever ask or hope for applies here.

We arrive well after dark in a remote part of Belize that for anonimity sake, I'm not going to get too specific.  I'll let the pictures do all the talking...  But with that being said, I'm going to reserve a separate post a little later just on the accommodations as I learn what they are!

So, like I said, we arrive late, pitch black night.  The last time I've been here was over 3 years ago.  I studied the google map enough in my mind that I knew that I needed to go north of our property ~5 miles and look for a road that that goes 90 degrees to Consejo road then when it curves around I turn again then folow it to the house right next to the water with 2 miles of jungle next door...no problem, right?  Well, as it turns out, Right!  We found it without any real hitch. 

Tired, hungry and with a metric ton of luggage, we unload at the place where we can finally call home for a while.  Mr. Jeff was very gracious, helping us unload our luggage and offering our traveling companions refreshments.  Because of the complication of getting back to Copper Bank, they were taking the truck back with them and we would rendezvous tomorrow to get the truck for us to have the entire time we are in Belize.

After Aheiser and the gang leave, we have time to officially meet the dogs then we sit down for a wonderful evening of getting caught up.  In what I'm getting used to as "Belizian hospitality", Mr. Jeff shows us to our room.  It's the master bedroom.  He has graciously agreed to let us sleep in there even though he's not leaving for 4 days.  We pretty much crash after a stern warning that the sun will be popping up over the bay promptly at 5:30 am and we will wake up, he says "it never fails". 

Well, 5:30 rolls around and sure enough, the sun is popping through the meticulously cared for landscape that flows toward the sea.  I kid you not when I say that I sat there in bed looking out the window for 20 minutes in complete awe that this is really happening.  Below is a picture that does not even come close to capturing reality, but since I'm posting how it happened and when it's getting the nod.  As I mentioned, I'll do a more complete blog on the place in the future.

Not even close...Bud!

Mr. Jeff takes us down the pier for a morning discussion on life, all the worlds problems (and how we are going to solve them from here) and our goals while we are here.  The pier has a palapa (thatch roof gazebo) about halfway down the pier.  Perfect size for 4-6 people to really enjoy the sea.  Again, I'll try to do it justice with pictures on a future post.  Belize me fellow Kansans, this is what we are conditioned from birth where we want to be living when we are independently wealthy (as my mom used to say).

So I got to start on my new Day job.  Seems I've given up on being a Production Planning Engineer in printing and started my new job Personal IT, housekeeper, nutritionist, sanitary engineer and K-9 Aid (dog feeder / walker). 

The fruit of my labor

Today is the big payoff on packing.  Did the equipment get damaged in transit or will I have to somehow navigate the maze of downtown Corozal shopping looking for the 9 volt widget that got broke?  Time to get to work...

Since Mr. Jeff has the spare room, he insisted that we setup on the dining room table.  Again, the view from this finished workstation is unbeliveable and also darn near impossible to communicate with pictures, but I'm going to try on a future post.  Anyway, nothing is broken, it all there and sets up within minutes.

Triple monitor workstation

No monkey business in background...yet

The internet is incredibly speedy and stable.  Everything is hooked up and ready to roll within just a few minutes.  Not sure if I said Easy Peazy though.

So, right on time, Aheiser, Elizabeth and Jr. show up with the truck to do the exchange (me keeping the truck).  We start in toward Corozal town and I have the chance to get caught up with him (he was riding in the back of the truck last night).  They had a few errands to run before dropping them at the park to catch the bus back to Copper Bank.  First, they dropped by a church that they had the opprotunity to do a VBS at this week to check the grounds.  Then they had some business at the hospital so I was happy to deliver them and ask tons of questions.

The hospital is located on "Hospital Hill"

The Corozal Hospital is a governement hospital free for all humans to use.  I'm not sure if they attend to cyborgs there, but humans for sure.  Doesn't matter who you are, if you're in need of medical attention, you're welcome inside free of charge.  Notice, that you can read the language?

You gotta do stuff though

But they can't do stuff you don't want

The waiting room is right inside, air conditioned and clean.  There was a kid who had a cut on his foot.  He stayed outside in the vehicle until they were ready for him, I suppose they don't want anyone bleeding on the tile.  When the time was right, he came hopping in on one foot (no assistance, no wheelchair) and went right into the triage room.

Everything is in English

So, Aheiser finished his business with the doctor and off we went.  Since "Hospital Hill" is the highest point in Corozal, there is a very important tower up there.  With wireless technology the way it is and us fat, dumb and happy gringo's are on our 6th version of the iPhone (and the like) all of those old phones are being used in the developing countries.  The neat thing is that they get to by-pass all of the stress and strain of running wires everywhere to make communications work.  They get to erect cell towers and go completely wireless, just like we can in the USA.  Frankly, I think it's a little better than back home because we still are conditioned to think that our internet has to be delivered through a wire or fiber optic in order to be fast.  No so here cowboy, pretty darned impressed with this $85 modem that works anywhere you have power.

Just like mom used to make

Transportation to/from hospital can be out of the elements and doctor fly's

I took Aheiser and Elizabeth down to the dome to see the progress.  The first layer of concrete was being applied on the "bubble".  When coming into town last night, we stopped off to see the progress and they had started spraying concrete, but only got up about 6 feet and called it a night.  By 2 pm they were wrapping things up for the first layer.

General Contractor (not a K-State fan)

First layer applied (1" thick"

Concrete applied in a fraction of the "traditional" time

Now, keep in mind that the "bubble" must be inflated (pretty darn tight) for 72-84 continuous hours.  I think that my experience of working nights is going to come in handy!  Once this thing is done, I'll do more postings on it.  This is pretty much the exact thing we are going to build just a couple miles away.  This is gaining a ton of attention.

So after dropping my Copper Bank friends off at the park in Corozal, I stop by the ATM and get some cash (1% fee for each transaction) and head back up to our Casa (that means house, pronounced Case-uh with a Texas accent).  On the way back, I take a quick snapshot of the development we thought we were going to invest in, unfortunately 6 months lead time on the meeting date and time and confirming the night before was not enough for this developer.  Might of had something to do with the fact they were selling swamp-land for $9,995 per quarter acre...not sure.  Heck, they didn't even have a sign there when we came up in December 2012, amazing how many lots have been sold, no kidding, they are almost out of inventory of lots that have standing water below your house during the rainy season.  Must be folks from Minnesota buying them since they can't import their own mosquitoes?

"The Palms" means "The Swamp" in Belize, must be a translation thing

Well, the day was a complete success.  Mr. Jeff worked his tail off at the development and we were able to fix dinner for him when he came home.  We had a wonderful time of fellowship along with a great meal out of the patio.  He's just a good guy, the kind of guy that needs to be pictured next to the definition of integrity and hard working.  He's just that type of person that works hard and earns his keep, takes care of what he has and tries to make this planet a better place to live along the way.  I will ask permission to do a special post just on him in the future.

In the Gospels Matthew Chapter 6:25 The Lord says "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?"  When it really comes down to it, whether we wake up under a multi-million dollar roof or a multi-million dollar bridge God still loves us and reminds us in this passage that there are much more important things than food and clothing.  Yeah, sure, it's a tough situation when you see someone starving or an even tougher situation when you see someone starving in a country with plenty.  I'm convinced (as was the apostle Paul) that no matter what the living situation you can be content with what God has given you...are you content?