10/11/11 day 10 San Ignacio Belize

Full Moon in San Ignacio tonight!

If you're just joining us you may want to skip back a post and read about our "guest house" quarters... I chose to sleep with Aaron because he doesn't move much when he sleeps and J moves all the time (Kris is a heavy sleeper so I figured he'd sleep through it). I learned something about Aaron that night though- when he has moving air hitting him all the time, he moves ALL THE TIME! I don't think I got much sleep at all. Kris looked pretty haggard in the morning too. Apparently Jonathan doesn't just move around in bed, he latches on like an octupus... not so comfortable when you're already hot and only have a small fan to help you stay cool. So we were all up early, used the last of our milk for the boys to have cereal and we were ready to be on our way by 8am. At least we thought it was 8am. I guess when we came into Belize the time changed- again, and we didn't notice. So instead of it being 8am, it was only 7am and nothing would be open until 8:30am when the cell phone shop opened. So back we went to Hode's place where the kids could play on the structures and Kris could use their wifi to make contact with the property manager that we knew about via Facebook. Turns out she just went back to the States for a 2 week visit! Kris emailed her anyways. He also found some other listings, but not many Belizeans use the internet for things like that.

Once the Smart cell phone store opened we set off for downtown again. There were people everywhere! Kids in uniforms walking to school, cars, bicycles.. busy busy busy! The streets are super narrow in the downtown area and our big car is not so narrow, making things a tight fit. We asked a few people for directions to the Smart office and got some help (most of it saying that we were going the wrong way) and it took a while to zig zag on the one way streets to get turned around. Finally a lady told us we need to park and walk down just one block. Parking is also hard to find but there was a car backing out of one spot and we snagged it. The kids and I waited in the car while Kris went to "quickly and easily" get a new cell phone. After about 10 min of sitting in the sun in the car the kids and I got out and sat nearby in the shade where at least we could feel the breeze if it decided to blow. Aaron and Jonathan amused themselves by driving cars on the cement. One hour went by and then 15 min more and I started to freak out a little. What if Kris had been beaten up and was lying in an alley somewhere? So the kids and I walked down toward where I remembered the lady saying the Smart office was. We found it pretty easily and I saw a line going around the block! Kris wasn't in the line and as I watched from across the I saw a security guard inside the store unlock the door, let one person inside and then lock the door again. We crossed the street and I was able to look in and see Kris sitting (alive and well) in the office.

With much more peace the boys and I went back to our shady spot. They went back to their game of cars and I waited. I met a man who noticed our license plates and asked which part of CA were we from? He was from LA and had come down to Belize 3 years ago to visit and never left. We chatted for a little while and then I heard Kris whistle. He was back! He filled me in on why there was such a delay. Apparently the government is making everyone register their cell phones with both companies (Digicell and Smart) so the long line was for people who needed to register their phones. He was in that line for a long time until the security guy came out and asked if anyone was there to buy a new phone. He raised his hand and was moved to the front of the line (or we might still be waiting there now). Phone in hand he informed me of the new plan. We were going to get a room at the Midas Resort (remember it from yesterday, it was super expensive). Kris said that since we saved so much on our room at the "guest house" we could allow a bit of a splurge.  Plus he needed somewhere safe for us to be while he looked at rentals and we wanted some place with internet and a/c. So off to Midas it was.

The boys spent the afternoon playing and Kris spent the afternoon researching and calling around about houses. It hasn't been as easy or promising as we thought it would be. One realtor has a property that might work but he won't be in town until Wednesday. Kris did find one in Santa Elena (just across a small bridge from San Ignacio) that has at least 2 bedrooms (probably 3-4 bedrooms, is fully furnished, has internet, has a/c (one unit in one of the bedrooms only), and is $650BZ (so 325US) per month. The downside is that it is upstairs with a store downstairs and we'd have to park the car on the street. So we're not sure if we'll go with that one or not. Turns out most rentals here are unfurnished. Kris even drove way out to Spanish Lookout (a big Mennonite community), but he didn't find anything and got the vibe that they wouldn't rent to him because he isn't a Mennonite. We did get a call from one property company and Kris will be meeting him tomorrow to look at 3 prospective houses. If one of those don't work out we'll have to make new plans. We can't keep living here at $89/night and we certainly didn't budget to live in hotels each night for a long period of time either. We'd really love to get in to a place with a washer (clean clothes are running low) and a kitchen (to reduce eating out costs). We have been a bit disillusioned about Belize today... it's not as perfect as it seemed... but nothing really ever is.

Balcony view of part of San Ignacio

Aaron got a 2 hr nap today which greatly improved his sleep-deprived mood. Jonathan watched a DVD and I spent time catching up on work stuff. We found a great Mexican place for dinner. We ate on the second floor balcony and overlooked the city. The sun was setting and the city lights came on. What ambiance! The boys loved their chicken strips and french fries, Kris had steak and shrimp fajitas and I had a combo plate of an enchilada, taco and quesadilla. Cost on that meal was $30US. After dinner we stopped by a Chinese grocery store for ice, milk and bread, which came to $11.50BZ, so $5.75US. The half gallon of milk alone was $7.75BZ ($3.88US). Kris said it was expensive because it requires refrigeration and some homes here don't even have refrigerators! We came back to the hotel and tried to skype with my parents, but the internet here is not as good as we were told (another thing we've become aware of) so the call kept dropping.

Midas Resort Pool

Waterfall at Midas Resort Pool

We decided to take the boys swimming and then call my parents on our Belizean cell phone as calls are cheaper for us after 8pm. What fun the pool was! It had a water fall that you could swim under and lights mounted under the water that kept changing colors! The weather had cooled some but it was still warm with no breeze so the water felt great! After swimming we did talk with my parents a little bit and then the boys went to bed. They fell sleep really quickly, I'm sure the swimming tired them out. Kris turned in a while ago, not surprising since I know he didn't sleep much last night. I've been determined to get caught up on this blog before I go to bed (and I got a little nap earlier today). Anywhoooo, with the blog all up to date (YIPPEE!) I'll turn in for now. Prayers for God's direction and provision of housing or a new plan are greatly appreciated. Our ways are not His Ways and we want to walk in His Ways! Blessings to you from San Ignacio!!