Gonz and Rosa's Super-Mini

We have been at Smuggler's Den since the 14th and we will stay until the 20th. It is the best place so far...private and quiet with the Caribbean straight out the front door. We have a kitchen and sitting area and a teeny tiny TV that only speaks Spanish. We took Besos out for a stroll the first night here and met some locals that are building here. It was so good to meet people and not struggle with the language. These people are from England, Canada, and Minnesota....and are in the process of building or have built or are planning to build. Of course all love it and strongly suggest we do the same, there are only a few lots available. They have been so friendly...my experience with local expats was beginning to worry me. They haven't been very friendly but these people are just like the folks back home. Apparently there is some kind of class system that I am not real aware of and these folks are not the super rich. Who knew.
We have been enjoying the view from the porch of our cabana, wading in the sea and driving into town to get groceries. David made spaghetti one night and we made beans and rice with eggs and spam today! We are not eatting out very much and the diet isn't what Mr. Smith is used to...PB&J just isn't that exciting around the 5th time you've had it in 3 days. I haven't had good luck finding good cheap veggies and fruit. The weather being hot and moist really reeks havoc with the fresh foods. Refridgeration is still sporadic.
I went on probably the only blatantly tourista thing I'll do the whole vacation and that was go on a river trip to the Lamanai Mayan ruins. It was a whole day trip and lunch was included! I went by myself and enjoyed the history and all the flora/fauna. Did finally see and hear the howler monkeys...they are very loud and sound like roaring lions. Iguanas, crocodiles, birds everywhere, butterflies, blooming trees, medicinal plants...an informative all day tour.
But after that, I just wanted to not be so surrounded by this crazy traffic(school had just let out) and the sugarcane fields are being harvested which they do by burning first(to scare out the poisonous snakes) and every communication is time consuming and costly, the dusty poverty and stagnate men, the dangerous sugarcane trucks piled so high if they take a corner they'd be sure to tip. All the struggling to survive and the cutting corners to make every little bit of cash they have, go way further than what is safe. Tilting houses, driving on flat tires, the shredded clothes of the beggars (all mostly young men)..it exhausts me.
But that was yesterday and today it is all part of the steamy way of life here in Belize.
I do think we are getting ready to come home...we miss our friends and family, but not the cold!
David goes to Caye Caulker by boat tomorrow for an overnight with the fishing buddies and I'll stay home with Besos and do some swimming and reading.
Saw a clothing boutique called Hamburger Jeans... can only imagine. But my favorite is the Gonz and Rosa's Super-Mini...a grocery store!