We're figuring things out.

Hi! Hope everyone is doing well. Bob & I are doing great and have adjusted back to the island life. This a fabulous lifestyle. We can tell we're going to love living on an island when we do settle down but in the meantime we've been exploring this small island and figuring how things work around here. I had mentioned that it's expensive here but we've been living in Mexico for the past 6 months where it's dirt cheap compared to the states. We've had a reality check and there are some things here that remain outrageous but most things are comparable to the states pricing. We've learned where to shop on the island for much better bargains. Apparently there's a community of Lebanese that live here and own the larger grocery stores. These guys are ripping off the tourist but at the same time tourist tend to like their American brands. The Lebanese carry pretty much anything you can get back home & there's obviously a demand for this market. We're fortunate, we've learn to adjust to eat what the local folks eat, cook w/the products the local folks use and keep cost down. Sure we miss some items but we've been able to find great substitutes. We no longer shop like we used to back home where a Randalls or Krogers provided all the essentials; here we go to a meat market, vegetable/fruit stands, and bakeries to get the freshest products possible. We could shop for it all in one store but freshness in the produces & breads lack. We have nothing but time and flexibility, so why not. Since we walk or bike everywhere we can't exactly buy trunk loads and stock for the month like I did back home. If anyone saw or remembers my pantry; I was ready for a hurricane at all times. For the time being those days are gone. We travel to the stores with our backpacks, once those are filled time to go home. We do make daily trips to town to pick up a few items here & there which is fun for us. I make fresh salsas every other day so we go thru tomatoes, onions & cilantro like crazy. I don't buy too many can goods anymore...fresh is best. I do try to buy in bulk spinach & broccoli so I can blanch and freeze. I love to cook w/both. What I'm digging about living here is that there are Asian markets too. I can cook my Thai Food w/out any problems. Mazatlan was the last place where I could find spices & rice noodles. That seems like a long time ago. We've also learned the island is divided between North & South by a small river where a toll bridge connects the two. We live a 1/4 of a mile north of the bridge. The north side is primarily a Residential area. There are a couple of small restaurants and cute bars but it's the quiet side of the island. The south side is called San Pedro which is mostly businesses...hotels, restaurants, vendors, beach bars, stores & the airport. It's the heart of the island. Most people get around town by walking, biking, golf carts, taxis or water taxis. Yes, there are taxis but unfortunately they drive cars & vans. I think vehicles ruin the appeal of this town. It's too small & not necessary. They should have stuck w/golf carts to taxi people around. Plus, taxi's are not allowed on the north side of the bridge. So folks who arrive here & have their place on the north side has to take a taxi to the bridge and walk over to the other side or use the water taxi. People are friendly & my suggestion would be hop on a golf cart coming by. They are more than welcome to drive you around plus you meet people. I've done this twice when I was in town without my bike & became too lazy to walk. It pays to be nice. Bob & I made friends w/the people who stop you for the tolls when crossing the bridge...we no longer have to pay a toll. We now wave to one another & say Hi. The tolls aren't expensive but they can add up if you use daily like we do. If walking over there's no fee. Bikes cost $1.00 USD/round trip and golf carts are $5.00 USD/ round trip. The exchange rate is 2-1. American money is always welcomed but it's always best to convert to the countries currency. Prices are in Belizean currency and they call it a dollar. So, if your not careful...they may say "cost $5.00" and if you give them a $5.00 USD they may not give you change. You have to be on your toes and know that they were talking Belize dollars not American dollars. Part of the countries charm! Bob & I have to get our passports renewed. So, we're thinking tomorrow morning we'll catch the ferry to the mainland...Belize City. From there we'll have to bus our way to the capitol which is Belmopan and visit the US Embassy. Belize is a very small country so we'll be able to do all this in a few hours and be back to our house by dinner time. I'm sure we'll take our time & check out Belmopan while we are there...No rush! Hope you guys have a wonderful day! We definitely intend to as well. Love to all - B&B

Hi

Hi! How is going over there? We're seeing all kinds crappy weather across the states. Hopefully it's not effecting you. The weather has been awesome here with full sun, cool breeze all afternoon & a little nippy at night. We hit a "gold mine" this week. I had mentioned in a previous email that our house is across the street from a restaurant/bar called Hamilton's. We've spent a little time over there & got to know the owners. Steve runs the bar while his wife Claire runs the kitchen. Boy, did I pick their brains and they were so open and had fantastic insight. Bob & I have no idea what we'll be getting into when we open up our restaurant/bar. YIKES! I'm not discouraged though; I think the information we receive along the way is a huge help and guide for future business. Claire is from San Marcos, TX. No wonder she was so open & friendly. She told me she never lets anyone in her kitchen but for some reason was open to me being there. We whipped up some battered fish, shrimps & fries. She had valuable information on how a kitchen should operate, we talked appliances and layout of a kitchen. Steve is from South Africa. He too, opened up & shared his knowledge on the bar business. Trust me when I say it's not easy to find people who open up and share experiences. A lot of the time when we tell people our future plans on Guanaja they clam up. It's retarded. It's not like we would be taking business from them. So, when we meet people like Steve & Claire it's golden. I'm sitting out on the porch since there's a small corner where I can utilize someone else WIFI. Bob has the the radio on inside and I'm listening. The local station here cracks me up. There's continues music no doubt but the range is so funny to me. I've heard some Shakira, to Spanish meringue music, to Wake Up Little Suzy, Kenny Rogers & Nat King Cole. Just never know what to expect. I've recently gotten in touch with a lot of my High School & Junior High friends thanks to Facebook. This website is so addicting & fun. I want to say hi to Terri Pepper, Stephanie Porter, Jamini Lakin, Julie Beck, Lynn Colmar & Aimee....these were my buds from way back when. Terri, Stephanie & I try to chat daily or as often as we can. We've picked up where we left off all those years ago and its great. I should be thanking my friend, Liz Thormaehlen. She's the one that influenced me to sign on. I had been avoiding this website like the plague. O' and I've gotten in touch with my old neighbors that lived across the street from us, Robert & Albert Estrada. Robert told me that Albert is vacationing here on this island with his family. I have been searching up & down the streets in hopes of seeing him. Wouldn't that be a riot. I know, today I'm just rambling on. I still don't have pictures for you guys. Especially for my friends (fake) Trechell, Cindy & Ina. These girls know how much I love crawfish and it's the season. Weekly, I'm getting emails from them with pictures of them chowing down on crawfish. Ina cooks up a mean batch of them too. So, she sent me an email of what I was missing during her crawfish boil. Nice friends, huh? I love them & miss them dearly but they're still my fake friends right now. I'm really bummed I haven't been able to talk to my Mom. I was able to use Skype one day only and that was a fluke. We had the privileged of talking to my MotherNLaw, my Dad and my Aunt Luz. Since then, I'm not able to call out but I am able to listen to messages that are left on my Skype voicemail. Weird, huh? So, Mom keep the voicemails coming. Love hearing your voice. I'll keep trying on my end too. Just maybe I'll get thru one day. Bob & I usually ride our bikes into town in the evenings. Lots of great happy hours & live music going on around town. But for the most part it's quiet around here. The majority of the people here dive so, their day is out in the ocean. We have access to kayaks at any time & we have snorkeling gear to use. But every time we want to go out the wind is blowing pretty hard. One day we'll get out there. Otherwise the hammock suits me just fine. Well, that's all I got. Hope you are doing well. Missing everyone - B&B

Internet at the house! Woohoo

Hey everyone, looks we have internet at the house. Bob found an area out on our deck where we can use someone's wireless for free. I'm loving that! Of course it may just be today & the way the wind is blowing but I plan to take advantage of it. I guess if we continue w/the process I can post some pictures. Guess, I need to take some 1st. We actually used Skype this morning too. Not sure how that happened since the Island supposedly blocked this access. But, I'm not complaining. Bob was able to talk to his mom & I was able to talk to my Dad. Bob would like to thank everyone for all the warm birthday wishes. He turned 45 on Tuesday. He's getting up there but he still looks great! We didn't do a whole lot for his special day. We're holding out for our guests. We'll be ready to tear up the town with them & celebrate all over again. He's learning from me. It's a nice cool breezy day today. We're just hanging out at the casa catching up on emails & banking things. I'm so glad we have internet at the house for banking. I hate using a internet cafe to transfer funds, look at statements & pay credit card bills. You never know who is looking over your shoulder. Other than that, life is good! Hope everyone has a great day. I'll be in touch & hopefully with some pics to share. Hugs - B&B

In Belize

Hey my friends & family... It's been awhile, huh? Sorry about that! We don't have internet at the house and we've been getting our bearings on the island. Last we chatted, we were heading down to Chetumal for an evening before crossing the border. I have to say Chetumal was pretty uneventful. It's a border town so, it wasn't the cleanest. But, they did have a small mall; however, they didn't open till 11:00 a.m. That was crazy! With that being said, we didn't have much time to shop. We needed to be across the border to catch a 3:00 ferry to the island. We were originally going to take a bus across the border but we had a taxi driver take us instead. It's not far & it only cost $7.50 usd. The car had a/c and the driver spoke English. He apparently lived in the states for years. He waited for us to get our passport stamped as we exited the Mexican border & took us on into Belize which was really nice of him. We have a good friend Dave Brysch who is married to a Belizean and he gave us the phone number to his in-laws in case we had any problems. So we called them while we were in Mexico just to ask questions about crossing the border. Marie is the mom-n-law & she was so nice. They wanted to come pick us up in Chetumal but we told them no, we'd make our way over. They insisted we stop by their place when we crossed the border. They just happened to live in Corozal where we would be taking the ferry. We had a taxi drive us over to their house. Everybody knows them. Marie works for the Mexican Consulant. We got to their place & met Joe, the father-n-law. Marie was at the courthouse working. We spent a good hour & half with Joe. Fantastic visit. We clicked so well. Bob & he were two peas in a pod. Unfortunately, Marie still wasn't home & Joe took us to the water taxi. He worked us hard to stay the night but we didn't want to impose. We just met them! While at the water taxi just a few minutes before it left....guess who shows up? Marie! She insisted that we stay. She had been looking forward to our visit. We told her that we would but our luggage was already on the boat. She talked to the driver of the water taxi & asked that they take our luggage off the boat. She drove us back to the house, cooked a great dinner, and we enjoyed our visit with them. We've never met their daughter Yvette but we hope to do so soon. With parents like that; she's got to be a wonderful person. Marie & Joe took us in as their own & we spent the night. So, we arrived on the island a day late...No worries! The ferry was a 2 hour boat ride from Corozal but it was nice. When we got to the island we had no idea where we were going. All we knew is that the house we rented is north of the bridge, whatever that meant. Turns out taxi drivers are not allowed on the north side. We had to take another water taxi to Basil's Restaurant dock. Where the heck are we going? The dock we got off at was the pier to the bar. Apparently we're suppose to find a guy named Steve to get the keys from. We asked the bartender there & wha-la...It's Steve. How easy was that? ! Now, where is the house? Ha-ha, it's literally across the street from the bar. Gotta like that! We take our luggage up to the house....let's just say pictures are not always what they seem. When actually was the picture on the web taken? We laughed. We had to do quite a bit of cleaning & the trees were huge all around the house. I really don't think this place has been rented out since it's glory days, many years ago. Not to mention we had a racoon that liked to take a dump at the front door. After the 2nd day of cleaning pooped; Bob found some mesh fabric to try to deter the little rodent. But he actually saw those beady red eyes on the 3rd night & it scared off the coon. That was easy. We haven't had any more surprises left behind by our furry friend. Other than that...Belize has blocked Skype. No where on the island can we utilize it. Big bummer! We really miss hearing our family's & friend's voices. We do have bikes that came with the house which has been nice. But get this, we're suppose to pay a toll for crossing the bridge. We have to cross the bridge if we want to grocery shop, get to an internet cafe or check out restaurants. Isn't that crazy. If you walk then there's no toll. Bikes have to pay $2.00 bez dollars which equates to $1.00 usd. Not bad but it adds up with the two of us. If you ride a golf cart they charge $10.00 bez dollar/$5.00 usd. We've talked to some of the folks living on the north side and they just wave off the little guard sitting there. They refuse to pay. So, we've done that a few times too. They've never said anything to us. It is very expensive on the island we're finding out. Groceries are way more expensive, at least double of what they cost back in the states (if not more). We've lived on an island before, Utila and prices weren't this high. That's all part of our travels though. We hope all is going well back home. Since we're not able to use our laptop, I won't be posting pictures. Sorry! Maybe I'll find some links to post. It is pretty here. Love you - B&B

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Hope everyone is having a lovely day! We haven't done too much today other than clean out the refridgerator and start the packing process. This is our last night here in Puerto Escondido. Tomorrow will be a travelling day for us, but still not out of Mexico. We'll be catching a bus to the Huatulco airport at 11:20 in the morning giving us plenty of time to catch our flight out to Mexico City leaving at 3:10. The bus ride should be an hour and forty-five minutes to the airport. That's pretty nice for the busline to drop us off at the airport terminal. It's not just for us but anyone needing to go to the airport. We just need to tell the bus driver of our destination when we board the bus. Otherwise they bypass it and head straight to the bus terminal in Huatulco, which is another 20 minutes beyond the airport. All flights within Mexico have to go to Mexico City first. So that will be the 1st leg of our flight (leaving Huatulco at 3:10 and arriving in MC at 4:30). We will have a short layover and then we'll head back out to Chetumal (leaving MC at 6:10 and arriving at 8:05 p.m.) . We do have a hotel in mind that we'll be checking out. It's in the central downtown area of Chetumal. We're hearing this is a pretty big city. I'm kind of looking forward to a day of shopping. I'm getting sick of my clothes. I did buy a couple of sun dresses while in Puerto Escondido. Yes, sun dresses! They are much cooler in these warmer climates. We hope everyone has a wonderful St. Patty's day! Love you & we'll be in touch as soon as possible. Bonnie & Bob. The unfortunate thing is we'll be without internet. The house we rented in Belize doesn't have internet but don't worry. We will still be in touch. There are plenty of internet cafes and restaurants that provide WI-FI so that we can keep in touch with everyone.

More Pix of Puerto Escondido

Hey...how's it going? Here are more pics of Puerto Escondido. A small sleepy surfing village. I say sleepy cause if your not catching waves your hanging in a hammock napping or under a palapa reading a book. At this time of the year the breeze is constant. Highs are in mid 80's while the lows are in the low 70's. It's been fantastic. I do miss seeing some rain though. We haven't seen rain here in Mexico since the end of September. That's a long time especially since I love a good storm.

This is the median that

separates the hotels,

shops & restaurants

from the beach area.

To the left are the hotels

while to the right is

the beach

I mentioned in a previous blog that Puerto Escondido doesn't have the fancy resorts or high rises that block views or host private beaches. Most of the hotels are up to 3 stories.

This is what most

of the hotels look like. This is actually a large one.

Umbrella's and lounge chairs are easy to

come by.

This is Playa Marinero Great for swimming

boogie boards & new surfers

Playa Zicatela

As you can see

lots of beach

which is great

for exercise.

But it's also for the experienced swimmer and surfer. Strong currents and large waves crash the shoreline. Our apt overlooks this beach. We enjoy hearing the waves in the mornings & evenings. We eat most of our meals outside on our deck.

These 2 photos are at Playa Principal. Most

of the locals bring their

families to this beach and

hang out on Sunday's.

We've been told that the waves are not perfect this time of year. They are large but they are crashing too close to shore. Humm.... They look good to me! Anyway, hope you enjoyed. It's been very nice here.

Unfortunately are time here is coming to an end. We fly out on Wed the 18th. Did you catch that? "Fly" out. We decided to fork out the money since we are so far from Belize. We would have had a 25 hour bus ride from here to get to Chetumal Mexico before crossing over into the Belizean border. We'll spend one evening in Chetumal to check it out briefly before heading to the island of Ambergris Caye.

We miss everyone and hope all is going well.

Love - B&B

Pix from Puerto Esconido

As promised....Here a few pictures. Hope you enjoy. Some of our sunsets.

Pictures from Fat Tuesday Celebration. A very small production but we had a great time.

They had about 15 floats w/dancing girls. Some threw out candy while other handed out cups of beer. Care to guess which float we hung around?

Puerto Rock N Blues 2009

Featuring The Flying A's from Austin TX.

and Matt Schofield from the UK A great blend of Rockin Country, Southern Blues, and Texas Jazz.

The Flying A's

Not a good pic Sorry!

Lead singer

Hilliary Adamson

of Flying A's

UK's Matt Schofield Blues Guitarist

Had a New Orleans

flair.

More Pictures to follow...Need to take a break!

Lots of hugs - Bonnie

Green Flash

A sunset view from

our apartment.

As everyone knows Bob & I really enjoy watching the sunsets. If we're not out by the beach we stop what we are doing 15-20 mins before the sun sets and find a place to take it all in. When we were living in Mazatlan, people would gather on the Malecon/Boardwalk to watch so intently. We learn that everyone watches for the "green flash" at the end. What green flash? I have never heard of that or seen it. We watched evening after evening but never saw it. I was beginning to believe what a crock of caca. Not that Bob & I ever get bored looking for it but I wanted to see a green flash. Well, here in Puerto Escondido we see that green flash 2 -3 times a week. How cool! There really can be a green flash at the end of the sunset. In this months issue of "El Sol de la Costa" (a local magazine) an editor wrote and explains the science behind the green flash. I'm not a scientist and some of the reading was blah...blah...blah...to me but maybe I can explain what I read in between the lines. Apparently this green flash is visible anytime the sun is rising or setting on a clear (no clouds or haze) and low horizon. The flash lasts one - two seconds after the sun sets, the effect is very subtle so don't look for the sky to be lit up with green light. They say it helps to look away from the sun at the last possible instant so your vision isn't over saturated with the intensity of the sun. Although I never do in fear I'll miss the flash. So, what causes it? It has to do with refraction, scattering, and absorption. Anybody remember that from class?

Refraction. It's when the sunlight is bent by the earth's atmosphere. Refracting white light, combining all the colors thru water, glass or air that causes the different light wavelengths to be refracted at different angles. Sounds familiar, right? A rainbow!

Scattering. The size of the air's gas atoms causes blue wavelengths to be scattered across the sky which makes the sky blue. In the color spectrum Blue is the shortest wavelength while red is the longest. Green is actually the last color.

Absorption. Air apparently has a slight yellow absorption. When the sun approaches the horizon the solar light has to travel thru a lot more air. (38 times more air) So the sun loses the yellow coloring and the blue is scattered away leaving the colors red, orange & green. So, if we are lucky we'll see the green burst at the end of the sunset. It really is cool. Some days the burst of green is larger than others.

I know most of you don't have time to take in a sunset but next time you're at a lake or beach relaxing maybe you too can see the Green Flash.

My actual favorite time is after the sun sets. When the sky has layers of colors... pinks & purples mostly. The Pelicans are dive bombing into the ocean for their dinners. These are awesome birds and so acrobatic. We saw this one Pelican (poor thing)...he was floating on the water and didn't pay attention to the upcoming wave. That bird rolled several times in the waves before being slammed into the shore. We went and checked on him; he just had the wind knocked out of him. After few head shakes and he was fine. We couldn't believe what we had just seen. Does this happen often? I would think they would have better instincts as to when a wave is about to plow on top of them.

What's going on?

Hi...How is everyone doing? Are you adjusting to the time change there? Mexico doesn't participate in the Day Light Savings. So, for my friends & family back home in Texas we are now an hour behind you guys. We were panicked over the weekend. What's the saying...? Everything happens for a reason. Works for me! I had sent an email out saying we had our place booked in Belize. Well, we did and we had sent them our deposit only to receive an email saying they were double booked. They could only accept our reservations for 20 days of our 30 requested. Goes without saying we were very upset and scrounging to find another place to live. Not to mention we have house guest coming. We pulled it off though. We found a better place. WooHoo! We got it booked last night and we are thrilled. We'll be renting a house versus a condo giving us more room. Here's the link if anyone is interested in seeing the place. It's http://ambergriscaye.com/lafloridita/index.html You can just click on the link and it will open the website. So what else is going? I'm not reading too many comments from you guys. My Aunt Luz tells me she is having a hard time putting a comment out on the blog....Are you experiencing the same problem? I do enjoy reading from you guys too. I miss you guys. Have a great day! Bonnie & Bob. O'by the way! We now have a Houston line tied to our Skype/computer. Anyone from Houston can call us as a Local call using your home or cell phone. And any friend or family outside Houston can call us too. It would be a long distance call and not an International. If you want our phone number send me an email to www.bonandbob@msn.com Didn't want to post it for obvious reasons. Take care!

What are we missing?

Hi! How is it going for everyone? Things are still going very well for us but we still miss our family, friends and miscellaneous things that we took for granted. As everyone knows we are very close to family and that truly has been difficult. We led very active lives with our friends. We also made it a point to attend as much activity as possible (dinners, birthdays, sporting events & happy hours) which meant we were busy pretty much every day of the week. We miss those days which is why we are so excited about our time in Belize. We'll have several visitors....Mike Hoover, Gus Edwards, Ginger Hughes & Richard Beckham. We are thrilled. There's still plenty of month available for other guests. (hint..hint) I'm really missing my own kitchen. Even though all the apartments we rent are "fully equipped"; they are not up to my standards. Most places have no microwave. Didn't realize how much we relied on them. Now we have to plan ahead for dinners and thaw food the old fashion way and heat leftovers on the stove. Speaking of stoves; so far they've all had 2 settings; high & higher which we have to light with a match. I've learned to be creative using the extra pots and extra grates to get that simmer effect. We've been lucky to find places to buy other necessities such as tupperware and pitchers. Fortunately most of the items are under $1.00 so I don't feel bad leaving them behind. Not much room in the luggage to carry everything. Although, I do tote around my spices. I put everything in ziplocs so they don't take up much room in my backpack. We've adjusted to our living conditions and really it's not all that bad but I do look forward to when I have my own kitchen again. I can tell you we are really missing our couches. Since all the places are "rental" units they don't come furnished with the best furniture (which we understand). Bob is tall and he likes to lay down to watch TV but poor thing; all the couches we've had have been "love seat" size. So, never under estimate the comforts of your couch or bed. At times I get anxious about heading to Guanaja to start building our dream place and get back to comforts of our own things. Things we took for granted. But at the same time because of our travels I've gotten so many ideas for our place. The plans in my head have changed over and over on how I want design my kitchen to the lay out of the cabanas and bar. I have a notebook that I use keep all the ideas that we come across. If anybody has any ideas or recipes to throw my way....I'd like to hear them. Well, time for lunch. Hope everyone is doing well. Please come see us if you can. Love ya - B & B

Belize it is!

Woohoo! We have our apartment booked for our next destination. We will be on the Ambergris Caye (Belize) for a month starting March 20th - April 20th. Unfortunately, with a US passport you can only stay in their country for a month. Or we would have to submit a request to the Embassy for longer stay. No problem. We're meeting up with some friends in Guatemala late April. AND guess what????? I'm so excited, Ginger has already booked her ticket to come visit us. I can't wait. Thank you, Ginger. Anybody else wanting to experience an "island" style vacation, or dive...come see us. We'll be right on the beach. That's a major accomplishment! See we do work hard...(oops, did I say that out loud) Hope everyone has a fabulous day. Big hugs to all - B&B