Pretending to be a Local

Well I’m not really pretending to be a local but I am in that in-between place. I’m not here just on holiday, I live here now, but I’ve only been here just over a week and know less than many of those here on holiday.

If you want to know where a grocery store is or a bank or the post office, if you give me a minute to get my bearings I can usually point you in the right direction. But ask me where I live and I have a hard time describing it, is there even a name to the dirt road that I walk down to get home? I’ve never seen a sign and I haven’t asked.

I usually talk in landmarks, “you know where the soccer field is (futbol field if their European)? On the other side of the soccer field between the ocean and the lagoon, where the lagoon narrows”.  Someone finally said it was out towards Sunset Pointe. But here, just for you I have a map. If you look down on the lower left, #71; according to the legend that is called Sugar Reef (Sunset Lounge and Cabanas). That actually is where i live although it is now called Nikolai's Place. And if you look directly across the lagoon there, to the right of #70, that is where the house i will be renting starting in March is.

I only made the map this big so you could maybe read the legend. I still needed to enlarge it to read it.

Please don’t ask me how to get somewhere and really don’t ask me if something is north, south, east, or west of where we are at that moment or we’ll both be hopelessly lost.

But I am starting to feel more like a local than just a tourist.

I was telling a friend just the other that just about every morning for the past six years I wake up, sometimes early, sometimes not so early and I dread the idea of getting out of bed. And it has been this general malaise, I wasn’t doing anything that made he excited usually to start my day.

Since I have been here, I often stay up late reading (I’ve gotten through four novels since arriving here a week and a half ago) or writing. I turn out the light and fall asleep quickly and sleep well.

The little cabana I am in, and I think most places in this part of the world, has windows with screens and then louvers on them. No glass. I think the louvers will only get closed if some really severe weather comes in, the rest of the time I am lulled to sleep or awakened by the sounds of life outside.

And it isn’t cars, or sirens, or television or any of those things that made up the cacophony of noises in our daily lives.  I lie in bed and can hear the water lapping up onto the sand from the Caribbean, or I can feel the wind, a gentle breeze, or bird of undetermined species but they can be loud.  When it has rained it has not been accompanied by thunder or lightening. It is more that it comes sweeping in, starting with just a few sprinkles and then the skies open up and it pours.

It continues to come in like the ocean does at the beach, the rain breaks above me like a wave that washes up on shore then recedes,  it gets a little quieter, and then another wave comes in.

It seems to last an hour or so and just as suddenly as it had arrived it is gone. Shortly I’ll hear the birds again and then I”ll feel it begin to warm up as the sun reappears.

In the mornings if I wait in bed I hear a few boats, usually small skiffs, I imagine their owners are “commuting” to work from somewhere a bit further south.

Often though I get up and go out to see what that morning’s sunrise will look like. They have almost all been spectacular. I watch the sun come up and the boats, mostly sailboats, that are anchored offshore as they gently rock on the water. I have yet to see any boat yet “under sail”.

I find myself feeling guilty often, what do I “do” all day? I have no work, I am on no ones schedule and no one would know if I chose to just stay in bed. But then I try and remind myself, I am allowed to enjoy my life. I know how fortunate I am to have a great retirement that allows me to live this way, but I earned that retirement so I needn’t feel guilty for making the most of it.

I am truly loving not having a TV. I had become used to watching a few shows regularly back in the states, but I feel just fine without them. I just skip over all those posts on social media about Breaking Bad and House of Cards and whatever else is the popular shows these days, I didn’t watch them before and can’t watch them now. Have no clue what all the fuss is about..

It has become a bit of a treat these last couple of weeks to go out in the evening to a local restaurant/bar and be able to watch bits and pieces of the Olympics, but that satisfies my desire for TV and I go home and read. I would have enjoyed seeing some of the ice skating performances but wasn’t there at the right time and can’t find clips of them online. Guess I’ll just do without.

I got my stove working (thank you Greg for the help), and finally cooked a little for myself. Nice not to just keep spending money, going out for every meal. The "kitchen" here is a little tough. A very small stove, next to a sink with about 8 inches of counter space on one side and about 20 inches of counter space on the other. Below the twenty inches of counter space is a small dorm sized refrigerator. Under the sink is a cabinet. Thats it, no shelves, no drawers nothing. So that "large" counter space is taken up mostly by a dish drying rack that holds the dishes that I have here, and the rest of the counter space is taken up by the small amount of food I'm keeping in the house.

Have enjoyed meeting people, both people who live here and those here visiting. Met a great couple the other night, here from Wisconsin (I’d be out of Wisconsin too in the winter). They were traveling throughout Belize, they hope to one day retire somewhere in Central America. They liked Placencia but were most impressed with inland places, the jungle and mountains. They talked sustainability and self sufficiency. When I asked where they were staying they told me they were camping. That husband was originally from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan (insert comment about real winters and huge amounts of snow), he is currently unemployed and his wife is a nurse. They are leaving Belize at the end of the week, hoping (wink, wink) they don’t get stuck here due to bad weather back home. I’ll leave the camping to others.

Went to a restaurant today for lunch, “The Pickled Parrot”. This is my second visit here. It is owned by an American couple from New Jersey (south Jersey I’m told). They have been here for almost 3 years and have owned the restaurant for just over two. Really nice people, their son tends bar there,  and another young man who is Belizean but spent about 12 years in Chicago and fairly recently returned. He is this great mixture of Belize and Chicago, his hair is shoulder length and braided, he speaks with a Belizean accent, I think he speaks Creole, but he dresses a little like a hip hop artist. I'll have to get a picture of him tomorrow.

The food is good, very American style food, the special the other night was meatloaf, today was Chicken Parmesan. Who eats meatloaf when they come to Belize? But, they ran out. I guess many of the expats enjoy coming in for an "American" meal. I had a burger and I’m not sure if it is because I’ve had almost no beef in the last few weeks or what, but it was an awesome cheeseburger and maybe the best onion rings I’ve ever had. I think they make them with a tempura batter. And, of course, a Belikin to wash it down.

The Pickled Parrot

Have a date to return there tomorrow, to watch the USA vs. Canada Women’s Hockey match with a couple from Canada. Should be fun. Go USA!!!