Look at this sensational pool!

This is the first week that the pool has been open for use, and in this climate, it is incredible!

Today at the office there was a power failure, so we had no aircon from lunchtime; it was therefore great to hurry home and get straight in the warm silky waters of the pool.

We took some of these pictures on saturday, when another volunteer,Louisa, was here. Spot the dragonfly!

PS we discovered that the noni fruit we mentioned in our last blog, was also called vomit fruit; we lost interest in trying it after we knew that!

Food in Belize!

We have been enjoying the different food here and thought it was time we shared it with you

Rice and beans is staple food here and after a couple of trial runs, Liz has got it sorted out.

You pre-soak the beans, so they do not take too long to cook. You then add the rice to the beans, add coconut milk powder, and cook until the liquid is absorbed.

Baked or grilled chicken with green or potato salad is common too.

We have been enjoying the fruit: I bought a noni from the lady who sells me vegetables, this is green and nobbly - see photo. You mash it up with water to make a drink.We also like sour sap which you mash up and add condensed milk! and put it in the fridge until it is really cold.

There is a breadfruit tree in our garden - see photo. You slice it thinly and fry it and it tastes like potato chips. We've had plantain and the oranges are green here but still taste sweet.

We could if we wanted have crab - one has moved into our laundry room - we do not know whether to eat him or keep him as a pet.. see photo

We'll tell you about the pool next time

Snorkelling at the Reef at Ambergris Caye!

We took the water taxi yesterday morning to San Pedro, the main (only) town on Ambergris Caye and stayed overnight. In the afternoon we went out with a guide and another couple to Hol Chan marine reserve and Shark Ray Alley and snorkelled round the reef. Our guide was excellent and knew the names of all the millions of fish we could see and would dive down to indicate them to us. The water was shallow (no more than 30 foot deep) and the visibility was good. Our friends who had snorkelled everywhere said it was the best ever

We saw loads of fish - groupers and snappers and also a moray eel .

We then moved to another part of the reef where there were young sharks in the water with us, and our guide got hold of one for us to touch! Rather like sandpaper! Liz saw a ray( when I was taking her photo from the boat) and a turtle.

We had been apprehensive (very scared!) about this beforehand, not having done it before, but we really enjoyed it (afterwards!) and Bernard found the snorkel easy to use. Liz said the snorkel was better than the one she used in Mansfield

Hope you like the pictures. We were proud of ourselves!

Haven House

I thought you ought to see my office at Haven House. My desk is the one on the right and I share the space with Dorla my boss.

You can see Dorla on the left who does all the managing and counselling and really makes sure Haven House keeps going. As you know Haven House takes in women and their children who have suffered domestic abuse. In the middle is Pamela who keeps an eye on the family overnight and Nellie is on the right who also helps in an all round capacity but is also an excellent cook.

Stacey comes in a few times a week and she is a teacher and often does work with the children. I think she also visits families outside the house.

The last is of Pamela with a resident who is 14 and undernourished as you can see. He also has head lice and I had to use that lotion again......

Belize Zoo!!

On Saturday we took a taxi out to the Zoo; it is about 45 kilometres out of the city.

It has an excellent variety of animals and birds from central america,well displayed. Many animals we had never heard of - we saw a puma and jaguar, but I had never heard of an agouti (see picture above, with its baby) or a jaguarundi or a tapir.(well I know what they all are - he should read his Gerald Durrell)

We had the place to ourselves, which made a big difference.

What a fabulous way to spend an Anniversary!!

Thanks to Martha and Dionne, we were invited to join an outing to Goff's island today. As you can see from the pictures, it is paradise!

We swam in the warm sea,which was pretty shallow round the island itself: our friends had taken chicken, potato salad, rice and beans and chocolate cake+ beer etc - the ingredients of a perfect Belizean picnic!

This evening we will watch 'district 9' on the laptop; the perfect end to a perfect day!

Office life in Belize

Liz shares a room in Haven House with her boss Dorla Rosado who is basically in charge of everything! Nellie comes in every day to keep an eye on the present residents, the children really and she is a great cook. She has been busy making bread and cooking crabs. Millions of crabs are migrating at the moment and they are coming into our enclosed compound much to the delight of the boys staying here who instead of watching television most of the time are out crab hunting.

I'm getting ready for the Board meeting on Tuesday night when I meet all the directors and let them know how I am progressing registering them as a charity.

I started work on Monday and had a meeting with my boss,Icilda where she asked me to deal with 3 problems; The Sexual Harassment act, looking at a new sexual offences Act for Belize and also putting forward proposals to revise the laws on divorce. So I have spent the last few days preparing a memo for Icilda on the sexual harassment Act, which I aim to give her tomorrow.

Everyone in the Womens Dept is friendly. I am using an old pc with a Pentium 3 processor, but it still works, slowly! I am sharing a room with Christina who is in her early 20s, a volunteer from Seattle. The coffee machine has now been moved into our room! We have aircon.

I attach a photo of our office party, to which Liz was invited. Today is a day of celebration in Belize - details in tne next blog.

Still 90 Degrees. We are enjoying the fruit; Liz's taxidriver gave her a bag of mangoes from his garden, which were very sweet,and I bought 8 bananas for a dollar - 33 pence.

See if you like the attached view of Haulover Creek.

Safely arrived in Belize city!!

We arrived here on thursday evening and it has taken us 2 days to sort out a broadband connection.

Our first impressions of the city are that it is mainly composed of wooden fronted buildings only 2 or 3 stories high, most needing a lick of paint. The last picture is of Albert street on sunday morning. This is the main street in the commercial centre.

I have also enclosed a picture of the Womens Department building, where I am going to work tomorrow.

People seem very friendlyand we have had no trouble.

We are staying in a cottage at the back of an expensive property about 10 minutes walk from town centre. The landlady lives in the rest of the property and is very friendly. We had lunch with her and her family today. I attach pictures or our cottage, theproperty as a whole and our view of the sea.

It is 90 degrees, but fortunately we have aircon in the cottage.

It is therefore tiring to do very much in the heat of the day, and Liz has been attacked by mosquitoes. I've been taking piritin and enjoying a gin and mango juice in the evening, hence the next pararaph from Bernard

We have been sleeping very well and are looking forward to work tomorrow.

Charlotte's engaged to Joel!!

As referred to in our earlier blog, Charlotte is now engaged.

I gather Joel gave her a 'token' ring only, and they are therefore looking for a 'proper' one.

I have told them that they cannot get married before 2012 at the earliest!

I have found a photo of them together from Caroline's wedding, which is attached.

Exciting Celebrations!!

We had a really wonderful send off on Sunday from most of our local friends, arranged by our kind neighbours ,the Robinsons. See photo.

Yesterday I had a call from Joel, asking permission to propose to Charlotte!

I naturally agreed and he proposed to her in a churchyard in Cornwall, where they are on holiday. She accepted, so we fetched out a bottle of the best bubbly last night to celebrate!