Thanks for all your questions and interesting comments. I’d love to hear more experiences from others who have lived or perhaps just traveled around. Doesn’t have to be far, even in your own backyard. Please keep them coming. I shall answer your questions in my Wednesday Belize Buzz.
LadyFi said…
Please tell me more about driving to fetch fresh water! Was there none in the village? No pump or anything? Or did you mean drinking water?
In Consejo Shores, the first place we lived, we had the sulphur reeking water from a well. Let’s call it sh*t smelling water. The expat developer believed this water had healing powers and drank it himself, but my kids refused to take a shower in it for a week, until they stank more than the water did. We had to drive the 7 mile migrating pot-holed road to Corozal, to buy 5 gallon bottles of water for drinking and cooking.
How big was the house on stilts?
It actually had 3 bedrooms and 2 showers interconnected with long non-windowed hallways, with screens to supposedly keep the outdoor wildlife outdoors. More later.
Jientje said…
It reminded me of the butcher in France, where the butcher makes your hamburgers, grinding the beef and molding it while you’re waiting. Or if you want lamb stew, he takes a shoulder of lamb and removes the bones. I love to watch him do it!
You’re right Jientje. I almost wrote about how the Louis Vuitton butcher in Corozal, reminded me of the French butchers who take their time to cut up the meat to your liking. They seem to take pride in their work, unlike the butchers at my local Ralphs and Albertson’s supermarkets in Orange County.
What made you choose Belize as opposed to any other place? Please check out Danie’s book, “The Expat Arc” on her blog. I just ordered it from Amazon and love reading about her life with her husband, son and dog in Chennai, India. Lots of great color photos too.
Great question. In my travel memoir, I tell our funny story on how we were introduced to Belize, not having ever heard about the country. Since my husband isn’t gifted in languages, (unlike me, hahaha) we had to select a country where English was the main spoken language. All of Central America has Spanish as their first language except for Belize. Also the education of our 3 sons who came with us.
I would also love to know what made you choose Belize. And are you still there?
The answer to your first question is above. We stayed in Belize for one year. Could it have been because we missed the comforts of California, the lack of money, the humidity, or something more dramatic? I’ll let you guess. Let me just say for now, we had planned on staying for the rest of our lives. Miss Footloose, your stories sound fascinating though. How old are your kids now?
How did you do your laundry, because with five of you, there surely was dirty laundry? Did you go to the river and pound it clean on the rocks? LOL
Believe me from the day we moved to Belize, I learned to lighten up about laundry. I did have an ancient washing machine, underneath the hut and was worried the wooden stilts would crack and I’d end up with a hut on my back. There was no hot water, only cold, so I had to boil the water in saucepans. I shall write about the whole experience. What a story!
Did you get sick when you first moved there? I know that’s normal and just wondered if it took you awhile to get used to the water and different germs floating around. 🙂
I never thought of that until you brought it up. Unlike Mexico, we didn’t get sick, although there was a scary incident with my 13-year-old got hospitalized, but not for that.
Sounds like you had a wonderful time in Belize. How long did you stay there?
One year, although that was not the original plan. There could have been many reasons why we left. What do you think?
I am curious to find out about the Belize diet if the meat from the grocery stores isn’t the the most fresh. Are they mostly vegetarians?
Belizeans eat mainly chicken and fish with rice and beans. Most locals can’t afford steak. Vegetables consist mainly of onions, peppers and carrots. Things like salad, mushrooms, green beans, asparagus. Forget it. Coleslaw is common though.
how long did it take to settle down? (i mean time after the honeymoon period=3 months) It took us about six months to finally settle down.
what do you miss from you ‘previous life’? I missed good coffee, books and stimulating presentations and lectures where you learn something. Your brain can easily stagnate on an island.
could you live there rest of your life? why? (yes or no) 🙂 NO, but 3 months/year YES
Oh, how fascinating! Sounds like hard work – but also very rewarding in some ways to get back to a simpler way of life.
So sorry to hear that it didn’t work out for you to stay there for the rest of your lives.
That leaves me wondering: Will you be staying in OC for the rest of your lives or at least for the foreseeable future?
Why did you move back? Or is that a separate post?
Very interesting answers.
What a great idea for a post, and thanks for the link! I loved reading this, you can tell more of your life there any time!
I have enjoyed catching up on your posts. I have been without internet for several days. It is a long story but involves a volcano…I don’t make this stuff up!!!
I kept thinking if questions but then others had already asked them, but I am wondering if snakes were a problem there?
I love reading about your life in Belize. I think I repeat myself, each time I leave a comment. LOL
The biggest move my husband and I made, was 11 years ago, when we sold the farm 😉 and moved from Western Maryland to Eastern Iowa. It was only an 850 mile move and we were still in the USA! It is still a lot of things to visit in Iowa that we haven’t visited yet. Sometimes we take the camper and visit a small lake with campsites about an half hour from home for a few days. If I travel it will be in the USA, because there is so much that I haven’t seen here at home.
Today, I just bought myself some videos of “Must See Places of the World” I can’t wait to start watching them. They are places I know I will never get to visit, except in my Lazyboy. hee, hee!
It is all very interesting. Its too bad you could not have stayed longer than a year. I find that when we repeat landmarks, when things happen for the second time,they take on a whole different dimension. One year is very short 🙂
I agree with LadyFi, it does sound like a lot of work. Paradise is not as easy as I thought. Beautiful though!
How did your children like it, did they miss their friends? What about you, what did you miss?
Thanks for answering these questions. This is just fascinating. I want to read your memoir!!!
As to your question, “What do you think?” I think you stayed as long as you thought it was appropriate, given your situation.
I also think you probably want to go back there, and probably will.
so now you’re back – was that difficult to come back?
now you have comfy life – is it better in ‘mental way’?
i like this idea of posting… 🙂
I could maybe hang there for about 6 months before getting bored. I get bored out where we live now and town is 12 miles away.
LadyFi,
Betty,
Jungle Mom,
Brenda,
Peggy,
Rob-bear,
BLOGitse,
Thanks for all your questions. I shall answer them next Wednesday on BELIZE BUZZ WEDNESDAY.
I shall also have a new MONDAY is BELIZE DAY post. Hope you visit, and in the meantime I shall check you out too.
Gramma Ann,
I think any move is stressful in one way or another. The thing is it gets easier the more you do it. Glad you enjoy the camper. That must be FUN.
Lady Glamis,
I wish you luck on your novel, “Monarch.”
Greg C,
I think you miss people and intellectual stimulation on an island. So being in two different places is ideal.