Battle of St. George's Caye Day Barbecue

First, I have to tell you, Hughesnet Fair Access Policy, in a word, sucks. Not only are you limited to 125 Megabytes upload as well as download, during any 24-hour period, but, during the day, when most users are online trying to do whatever, just getting a page to show up on your screen eats up the better part of 5 minutes or so.

Then you factor in all the software that wants to automatically update itself, you can see it's easy to exceed the threshold and be throttled by Hughes for the next 24-hours. Oh well. At least we have a connection, so I should be thankful - I guess. It's extremely frustrating in any case.

This Fair Access Policy (FAP) crap just started being enforced when we got new modems. Before, we could more or less do as we pleased. Not no mo! The Intertubes police are on the job, damn it!

To give you an idea. The megabyte limit is more or less equal to 25 still photos. Now, imagine watching a new video on YouTube... Bingo, half-way through a 2-minute video and you just stiffled yourself for the next 24-hours.

Enough bitching, eh? On with the show.

Last weekend we had a very nice get-together with our Godson, Isaiel and his wife Amarily, son Joshua and a little girl of their neighbor's,nicknamed O-B (never did find out her real name). Actually, it was on Monday, which is a holiday here in Belize. It was the Battle of St. George's Caye Day, which celebrates the defeat of the Spaniards in 1798 by the Baymen of Belize - considered to be the first stroke in the long fight for Belize's independence. A battle that actually took place over several days - from the 3rd to the 10th of September. The final battle that culminated an on-going series of battles between British forces, the Baymen and the Spaniards from 1716 to 1798.

Well, it was a nice little get-together. Isaiel had called a couple days before to see if we were going to be home then as they wanted to come see us.

They showed up about 10 AM. We went down to the palapa patio, enjoying the shade and slight breeze. We really had no plan of what we were going to do. We were talking about what we wanted to do and somehow the topic of tortillas came up. Amarily makes tortillas for her family every day and suggested she could teach Dianna how to do it. That sounded like fun.

This kind of suggested doing a barbecue. Well. Amarily also does a barbecue chicken stand a couple days a week in Guinea Grass, the village they live in, and she said she'd be willing to teach us her secret BBQ marinade/sauce recipe.

That sounded like a lot of fun. After a quick trip to the store, we commenced getting with the program.

First up, a mini class in the pool house kitchen with Amarily teaching totilla making and how to prepare chicken for the grill.

Amarily Conducting a BBQ Class

Then, it was hands-on to prepare the chicken, the marinade, and the tortillas.

Amarily Teaching Dianna All About Chicken BBQ

Here they're working on cooking up a stack of flour tortillas. Soft, fluffy and tasty.

Cooking Tortillas

Meanwhile, the kids weren't too interested in cookery, so the pool was beckoning. After a small snack of some lemon cookies, it was time to get wet.

Isaiel Entertaining OB and Joshua

By the way. Did I mention that it has been hot? Well, it has. When we came down to the pool house, this is what we found. We keep candles around all over for the odd power failure, just in case you need a light. This is the first one we've had totally collapse. Just thought you'd like to know.

Something's Wrong

One of the secrets to good barbecue is to keep stuff from sticking to the grill. Other than using Pam or some other non-stick spray (which we generally can't get down here anyway), what do you do? Well, the easy answer is to use half a lime and spread its juice all over the grill. You can also use a slice of onion and do the same thing. Here Isaiel is demonstrating just how to do it. Believe me, that grill is HOT.

Un-slicking Up the Grill Surface

Then, we get down to business. We did spread out the coals so that the grill wasn't quite so hot before we put the chicken on. Isaiel and I took turns keeping the chicken on a nice rotation on the grill.

Isaiel Taking a Turn At the Grill

Amazingly, we cooked the bird on the grill for a long time, yet none of it burnt and the insides were juicy and so tasty.

Just About Ready To Eat

Amarily spread more of the marinade on the chicken a couple of times. I can tell you this much. It's made from recardo and vinegar and  a bunch of other spices as well.

Amarily Basting the Chicken

I almost forgot. Dianna and Amarily also made a crackerjack potato salad that went perfectly with the chicken and tortillas. We ate till we were about ready to pop.

Then it was back to the pool. O-B didn't have as great an appreciation for the pool as did Joshua. He took to it like a fish and splashed around most of the afternoon.

Isaiel and Kids Enjoying the Pool

As the day wound down, Joshua really didn't want to quit playing in the pool.

Isaiel and Kids Enjoying the Pool

Of course, April was part of the party. She is convinced she's a dog. Wherever we go in the yard, just like how the dogs follow us around, she does too. Sometimes right in the way. Here she's blocking the sliding door - as cats do.

April Even Got In the Act

Of course, this was right at the point where we were moving stuff from the kitchen to the palapa so we could eat. A gentle guide foot gets the mission accomplished.

April Being Nudged Out of the Way

This was a great way to spend the holiday. Pretty much impromptu and a lot of fun.

St. Nick Takes Time

Good old St. Nicholas, Father Christmas, Santa, or whatever, took time from a well-deserved vacation in paradise, to have a mini-Christmas for one little boy.

Joshua (1-yr) Opening his Present

Our Godson, Isaiel, his wife, Amarilly, and their son (our great-Godson?) Joshua, came to visit this morning from Guinea Grass. We had a present for Joshua to open, which he did with gusto.

Rip It Open

Joshua is 1-year and 2 months old. I guess in the State, you would commonly say, he's 14 months old. They don't do that here. Anyway, last time we saw him - two months ago, on his birthday, he was almost walking. He could stand up and hang onto things. That's all changed. Now, he totters around without hanging on to anything. Oh sure, he still falls now and then, but the change is amazing. Next time we see him, I have no doubt he'll be talking, and probably reading too.

It's a Little Talking/Singing Piggy

See? All Mine

So, do we sound like doting grand parents? How weird. We've gone our whole lives without kids and now we have this little urchin we can spoil (within reason) and do all that sort of 'grand parent stuff'. Just seems bizarre.

Dianna Doing A Little Doting

This wasn't the only reason they came up to Corozal. They had a gift for us - a nice bottle of white Caribbean rum, and Isaiel had five hose holders I had asked him to fabricate for us. These things are so cool. They turned out much better and fancier than I dreamed we'd see.

Isaiel Finishing the Hose Hangers

Amarilly and Joshua Supervising Dad

We have five plastic hose hangers around the place now. Of course, with the sunlight we have here, the hangers lifespan is nearing the endpoint, so we had to do something. I found a picture a while back on the Intertubes, printed it and asked Isaiel if he could come up with something similar. These turned out much better.

 Four of the Five Drying

I can't wait to get them bolted up in place. I'll take a couple of pictures after they're installed so you can see them 'in action'. Well, as much action as a hose hanger will get, anyway.

We had a nice visit with them. It takes a while, culturally, I think, to become really comfortable and at ease with folks. Both directions. You don't want to say anything that will offend, etc., sometimes, you're not sure what they mean when they say something. So it does take a while to get that relaxed and comfortable feeling. I think we're there now.

There was also more work going on with the bulkhead today. The way they work is, a couple guys run the 'machine', filling up about a hundred and ten bags with dry-mix concrete.

Having Too Much Fun

That'sa Lotta Bags!

Then they wheelbarrow a couple filled bags at a time, dump them in the water, and one or two guys manhandle them into position, adding rebar and drain pipes as needed.

Lowering Bags into the Water

At the place in the canal (boat slip area) where they're working, it takes a lot of bags. The water is anywhere from 10 to 12 feet deep, so at 6" high (roughly), that's a few layers of bags just to get up to the surface of the canal.

Here's One Just About to Splash In

They are making good progress, although Emir says it's taking about double the amount of concrete that they estimated.

Later this afternoon (in about an hour), we'll be heading over to Sherry's new house to help her break it in, on New Year's Eve, yet. Then, this evening, we are all heading over to Tony's Inn & Beach Resort, for a sit-down dinner and some drinks. Then it's home. We'll be back home easily by 9:00 PM. That's late for Corozal.

Have a great, safe and peaceful New Years everyone. Cheers.

Godson's Baby Makes First Visit

This past Monday we got our first glimpse of our Godson's son - Joshua Emir Pech, when Isaiel and Amarily brought him by for a short visit. I'm not sure what that makes us in relation to Joshua - his God-grand parents?

Anyway, the little guy is a good looking baby with a full head of hair. Quiet as a church-mouse too, which was nice, even with the adults all jabbering.

Dianna Holding Joshua

Dave Taking His Turn Holding Joshua

Joshua's mother, Amarily is showing him off. To the right is all of us, Dianna, Amarily, Joshua, Amarily's big sister, and Isaiel.

Amarily Holding Joshua

Everyone in the Living Room

They could only stay a short time as they were on their way to Patchakan, a village northwest of here to have Joshua examined by a local practicioner, what we Gringos call a bush doctor. This is someone who practices traditional medicine, sort of a naturopath, using herbs, etc., to treat a variety of ailments and to ward off problems.

Locals use modern medicine as it's available. For example, Joshua was born in Orange Walk Hospital, a government-run hospital. But, locals are reluctant to turn loose of many of the traditional ways and practices. Probably with valid reasons. Bush doctors seem to possess a huge knowledge of plants, herbs, etc., that from what I've read, are surprisingly effective in treating certain maladies.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'm sure as time goes on, there'll be many more postings with Joshua in them.