Some Nashvegas time then back to Paradise

So, I arrived in Tennessee on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, went from the airport to South Street, a restaurant/bar in Nashville, for a beer other than Belikin (did I really say that?), then on to Jonathan's Grille for drinks and dinner and a visit with Brian before he jetted off back to California.

It was a great stay in Tennessee, made so very easy and relaxing by Greg, who not only picked me up at the airport but allowed me to stay at his home and use his vehicle during my stay. I got all my errands taken care of and then Greg and I met Paula and her lovely daughter Livie at Drake's where the adults had a couple beers and Livie just was her usual adorable self.

Thursday  night many friends gathered in Cool Springs at the Cool Springs Brewery, it was so great to get to see everyone again, and continue to try and convince them to come to Belize for a visit.

Allie

Lindsay

Lindsay, Tony, Kelli, me, Sandra, Greg, Rob, Alex, Jan,  Natalie & Cindy

Jan

Natalie and Cindy -- Natalie just gets more beautiful as she grows up!

Greg, Rob and Alex

Many thanks to all who came, sorry I missed those of you who couldn't make it.

Had a quick cup of coffee with soon to be new dad Kevin Sage, great to catch up before he is inundated with new dad duties. And thanks Kev for the intro to Aaron, we're meeting for a drink on Thursday!

Thursday the 1st finally came and Greg finally got to get rid of me, although at a price, he had to get up at 3 a.m. to get me to the airport for a 6 a.m. flight. I don't think there are adequate words to express my appreciation for all he did for me during my stay in Tennessee. Thank you again friend, and please thank Rob and Hasty for letting me "move in" to the guys house.

So it was off to Belize again. Have I mentioned how much I love having TSA pre check? And that Global Entry thing for coming back to the states. Worth every penny. Uneventful, easy flights from Nashville to Houston to Belize City to Placencia.

And when I arrived I got to move in to my new place:

I'm in the downstairs unit, a one bedroom with a reasonably large living room (comparatively). It is just right for me and behind this building not far is the ocean -- which is perfect for me.

Within a couple of days I was able to go snorkeling out to the inner reef with a group of medical students from India currently doing a two year program in Belize City, here for a long weekend. Best way to describe it was interesting, they were lovely young people although some of them didn't really even know how to swim, putting on mask fins and snorkel and getting in the ocean was almost overwhelming although they all did great and were amazed at what they could see under the water. In fact a couple hope to come back and learn to dive! The snorkeling was not the best I've ever seen but it was a good way to introduce these kids to the ocean in a safe environment. And I got to get wet which made everything better.

New neighbors have moved in to the cabanas where I live, including a really interesting man from Texas who is a vet and a published author, and I'm meeting more new people which is good. Working on really seriously getting back to the writing after a period of self doubt. And dreaming of an upcoming dive trip to Utila.

Might as well Jump In with Both Feet!

When I arrived in Belize city it was already 4:00 in the afternoon. I had tried, the night before, to book a flight from Belize City to Placencia for Sunday and it wouldn't let me. I tried both Tropic Air and Maya Island Air. I had a sneaking suspicion I was going to have to find a room for Sunday night and get a flight for Monday.

But, as I got through Belize Immigration and Customs a Belizean man came up and told me he would help me with my bags. I must have given him one of those looks, you know the one, because he assured me he wasn't going to try and charge me anything, he just wanted to help me get out of the way of the doorway. Oh, okay, sorry dude.

Then he asks me where I'm going and I say I want to go to Placencia but it seems I've missed the last flight for the day. He says, "no, we can get you there ... and off he goes to the ticket agent. He's gone five minutes or so while I stand around and think about how I will find a hotel in Belize City, one within my budget. The guy comes back and says "no more flights for Tropic Air but I can get you on Maya Island Air". And with that he personally assists me through the entire process until I have a ticket in my hand and my bags are checked for a 5:00 p.m. flight.

Wow, that was nice.

It is a $116  USD one way flight. I could have waited until Monday and tried to take a bus (which is actually I believe several buses) which would have likely taken about 5 hours, or I could have rented a cab for about $250 and taken about 3.5 hours. Overall it was worth the cost for the 35 minute plane ride and a beautiful look at Belize from about 1500 feet.

I turn on my phone enough to text the leasing agent for the one month rental I have and tell her I'm taking a 5:00 flight. I am getting on the plane so I turn off my phone and have no idea if she received my text. My busy little brain that loves to worry, starts trying to figure out how I'm going to know where to go and how to get the keys to the place.

I step off the plane and there she is, like an angel, Desorine from the leasing office is awaiting my arrival. A fairly quick cab ride from the airport and through the village, pointing out places of interest etc.  ($7.50 USD). The soccer field, where I am told just about every Sunday you can find  games going on. There are booths around he field that appear to maybe sell food and/or drinks, banks (there are 3 in town), the post office, the police and fire stations and grocery stores --the largest ones are Chinese owned so she said you will find Chinese food ingredients. In fact I noticed at least two Chinese restaurants on my short tour, who knew? Desorine also says that along the road from the airport to the village a lot of people trot. It took a second for me to realize she meant this was a favorite jogging route, she said there were lots of people out at 5 or 5:30 in the morning or in the evening. I wasn't planning on being up and about at 5:30, but maybe I'll try and evening walk soon to start, we'll see.

As we pull into the parking area of the little cabana where I"ll be staying I can see that the house I will be renting longer term in March is directly across the lagoon from where we park the car. Convenient, no?

I get to my little tiny cabana, and it is small, but all that I need (except no place to put my luggage either empty or not), but nothing I can't cope with. I meet a couple neighbors, one of whom (an American) says he and his wife own a small bakery coffee shop down the road. I'm all about coffee and bakeries so I'm sure I'll see him in the morning.

Once I get all my luggage into the room and freshen up a bit I decide its time to go for a walk and get some dinner. As I walk out the door and to the street, it is dark but it is warm, shirtsleeve weather and I'm already happy. I walk towards the soccer field where I can see they are still playing and i can hear music. When I get closer I realize sitting on the bleachers are not only the local soccer fans but several guys playing drums. It was lovely. I walk over to a little stand and buy a Belikin, the local beer and get a warm welcome to Placencia from the guy "bar tending". I watch a little bit of soccer then wander on towards restaurants. I don't go far before I just decide to try this place:

Yeah, I have no idea where the name comes from or why .....

I sit at the bar order a beer (Belikin of course), and Jerk Chicken Quesadillas with black beans and cheese.

Quesadilla: Jerk chicken, black beans, cheese with fresh pico de gallo -- YUMMY.

Belikin on draft, the National Beer of Belize, not bad and not expensive.

I ate dinner, watched the Olympics, drank a couple beers and met Fabio from Italy, in Belize with his wife for the past month, here for his company as they are scouting a place in Central America to build a hotel/resort. Also met some guy from Montana (can't remember his name), here on holiday and planning on going boar hunting this week. I asked what he planned to do if he shot a boar, he said he would have it butchered and ship the meat home to Montana. I mentioned it seemed it would be really really expensive to ship meat home and he said he didn't care. Well okay then.

Mr. Montana ordered himself a double shot of Crown Royal with a splash of water. As he was waiting for his drink I got my bill for my Quesadilla and two beers, total of $22 Belizian -- $11 US. He gets his Crown --$40 Belizian ($20 US) YIKES!! I think I'll stick with the Belikins which are $2.50 US.  (Another reminder, if you come to visit and want liquor you might want to stop at the duty free and pick up your own).

After dinner I took the leisurely walk back to my cabana. I think I'm going to love it here. Although Placencia is known for having the longest sidewalk in he world (I hear it is in the Guinness book of World Records), many of the streets are dirt roads. Desorine tells me that many people rent golf carts rather than cars, I think I'd prefer a bicycle.  Monday I plan to spend the day wandering, figuring out where things are and making a stop at the grocery store. I don't see myself cooking that much, although my little room does have a stove, oven and refrigerator. We'll see. But I did notice a fruit stand that I will definitely visit.

I had posted on FB that I had arrived and my friend Cheri said the feeling of arriving is great but the first wake up will be the best. @CheriShaw, you were right, best feeling in the world although still have to get used to the idea that I'm not here for just a week on holiday but I'm staying long term.

By the way, one of my worries about the flight from Belize City to Placencia is that the airline had baggage policies that said they allowed two checked bags of 30 pounds each and one carry on of 15 pounds. Several people said to me, don't worry, they don't care. I'm a rule follower for the most part and I was sure I'd be the one person they singled out and made an example of  -- trying to get on their plane with two 50 pound checked bags and a small roller bag of indeterminate weight and a backpack carry on. But no, I was wrong, they took my bags without question, never weighed them. Desorine tells me that they are very relaxed, if you need to catch a plane and you're running a couple minutes late you can just call them and ask them to wait. I don't think I'll try that.