5-16-2015 Visiting Mayan friends

David and Julie also became friends with our Mayan friend, and they wanted to visit his village, so we went down for a day 
visit with him and his family.

Maria fixed us some Cohune Cabbage (with freshly made tortillas) for lunch, and it was DELICIOUS!  (Cara was thrilled it
was vegetarian, so her bowl is already empty here.)  Apparently the "cabbage" comes from the heart of the Cohune Palm tree,
and it kills the tree to harvest it.  However, the Cohune Palm leaves are what the Mayans use to make their thatch roofs, so
when it's time to re-thatch, then it's Cohune Cabbage time as well, and the whole tree gets used.

The kids showed us some things they had found in their yard that they liked to play with.  David and Cara were completely
blown away to be able to see and touch such incredible Mayan artifacts.

Really?  I get to hold this incredible beauty in my hand?  Is it a deity or something?

The detail after all this time is still incredible!

Both of the figurines without the heads had a few holes in the back of them.  Victor's son turned
the figurines upside down, covered two hold, blew into the third hole and was able to make these
guys whistle!

This picture doesn't really capture the true colors of this piece of stone, and we agreed it must
be jade.  One end was sharpened - maybe for cutting or skinning things?

The kitchen where our delicious meal was prepared - complete with an adorable kitty.

We enjoyed petting a second adorable, and super friendly feline.

I think the cat enjoyed it also.

Cacao beans drying in the sun.  (This is where chocolate comes from.)

The children showed us how to play a game, which is basically Jacks, except using pebbles instead of jacks.  They also had
fun teaching us different words in their language, Kekchi.  (There are three types of Maya in Belize: Kekchi, Mopan, and
Yucatec.)

Just like children everywhere we've been, these were also mesmerized as soon as they got hold of a smart phone. 

David asked to take someone's picture, and that started the ball rolling.  Everyone wanted
a photo op.

David tried his hand at making tortillas, and the women all got a big kick out of that.

When we returned home we saw the first crab of the season.  We have been told that before long there will be so many crabs
that they completely cover the roads.

5-13-2015 Soft Opening of Geckos Restaurant

Our friends, James and Tina, finally got to open their restaurant, and we got to go to the soft opening!  Congratulations Tina
and James on the launch of Geckos Restaurant!  

Every week they will have "There's An App For That" Wednesday Happy Hour with a menu featuring various appetizers.

It's a cute little place with a great location, just north of the main junction in Hopkins.

Tina was hard at work being bartender.

We packed the place and had a blast!

Ingrid got the very first food to come out of the kitchen - a Lamb Burger Slider.

Fish Tacos

Lamb Burger Slider

Chicken wings in spicy barbeque sauce

Coconut Rice Gecko Balls with dipping sauce

Veggie Patties with dipping sauce

Tina, our friend, bartender and restaurant manager

James, our friend and main cook

Christina - Cook

Venetia - Server

Lucille - Server

5-10-2015 Mother's Day Dinner at Rhum Shack

Happy Mother's Day to our mothers and all the mothers out there!!!  We could not be with our mothers today, but we did at least call them.  :)  At night we went with Mark, Julie and David to have dinner at Rhum Shack, and they had a special Mother's Day dinner.

This was the lovely table decoration that night.

Eric, Mark and David had the appetizer of "Coconut crusted shrimp in a tropical twist".

Cara and Julie had the appetizer of "Cassava chips with lime chille Mayo".

There was live drumming that night and at one point they called for volunteers for a brief lesson.  David had been wanting to
try drumming, so he went up and loved it.  He said you have to hit the drums really hard for them to make a noise.

They made a nice veggie pasta with pesto sauce for Cara.

Everyone but Cara had the "Blackened Snapper bedded on a coconut rice and a rhumshack style Ratatouille" (last item not
pictured here).

Our dessert of strudel and rum raisin ice cream

5-7-2015 Dog watching & happy hour

We watched Tango in the morning when Mark was doing stuff, but then she didn't want to leave.  So, she hung out with us all
day while we worked, and we loved it.  I got to take her on two walks, and we all loved on her and played with her.

In the evening Eric and I met up with friends at Jungle Jeanie's for happy hour.

The view from our table at Jungle Jeanie's.

Everybody gets wings during happy hour, so I threw them for a loop when she asked for something vegetarian.  However, the
cook (I caught her name but have no idea how to spell it) made me a very nice dish of stir fry veggies and coconut white rice.
 She even came out personally to make sure it was okay!

5-2-2015 To PG and back

We drove south and picked up two of our friend Victor's girls to help them learn more about working with computers.  We
drove into PG (Punta Gorda) to find a restaurant with WiFi for the session.  We decided on Gomier's a nice place we had
been before and liked.

Eric had curried fish with veggie rice and salad.

Cara had veggie fritters with salad and hummus, plus fresh mixed juices.

There always seems to be a wildlife friend at Gomier's, and this time it was a little blue crab.

After returning home that night we grilled out and made kabobs, plus salad and potatoes. 

David had been hoping to find a scorpion friend for his tattoo, and he actually did!

We also saw moving, glowing lights outside, although the glowing didn't flicker.  Victor said they were lightning bugs
(seasonal, which explains why we never noticed them before), and he caught one for us to get a better look at it.  They're big,
and it's the eyes that glow steadily green!