11-19-2016 Garifuna Settlement Day

Garifuna Settlement Day (commemorating when the Garinagu people arrived in Belize) is often celebrated all week long. Hopkins did manage one big all-night concert on the night of the 17th, but we heard about it last minute and weren't prepared to stay up all night (i.e. no nap), plus we thought there would be an opportunity the next night. As it turned out, the late night permit was not approved, so there was no big concert on the night of the 18th like we expected. Most people took shuttles up to Dangriga for their big concerts. So, we didn't really see any Settlement Day action until the actual day, starting with the re-enactment of the landing (known in Garifuna as Yurumei), and only Cara got up early enough to see that...

Last year the Yurumei was on the beach by the church. We recently moved closer to the beach, so I (Cara) decided to walk
the beach down to the church. However, when I got to the beach I saw that it looked like everything was happening by the
public pier.

I walked down to the public pier to watch the boats come in. The people were drumming and singing, and they had palm
leaves, sugarcane, cassava and plantain.

Three times the lead boat lands and ceremonially asks the "Governor" for permission to go ashore.

Twice, the people are sent away without permission.

The third time the people are given permission, so they go out to collect the other boats.

Nowadays, the people travel in motorized skiffs, but back in the day they would have been in dory boats (like dugout canoes).

Everyone disembarks from the boats, drumming, singing, and dancing, and they make their way to the church for a service. I
started following the procession, but I ran into friends along the way and decided to have breakfast with them instead.

We had a relaxing day, then decided to take a walk in the late afternoon. As we were leaving our house we happened upon a
parade through the village.

We followed the parade north for a bit.

We stopped off at the public pier because the sky and sea were very pretty. The decorations were still up from the morning
Yuruwei festivities, and the colors in the distance were pale and beautiful.

We walked north a little bit and caught the parade again as they were headed south, after having already walked to and from
the north end of the village.

We followed the parade south before deciding on a place for dinner.

There was a beautiful sunset over the savannah and mountains, but all of our pictures of it turned out blurry, unfortunately.

You kind of get the idea how pretty it was, right?

11-13 to 11-14-2016 Super Moon

The 13th and/or 14th was supposed to be the biggest supermoon in sixty-some years. We missed the moon rise over the sea on
the 13th, but here was a look at it from our yard later in the evening. I think the super moon was supposed to have the best
viewing in the very early morning hours of the 14th, but we couldn't stay up or get up for that, so this is what we got. It didn't
seem particularly large, though it did seem very bright.

On the 14th we watched the moon rise over the water from the public dock. It was super orange, but, of course, pictures never
do it justice, and our cameras don't take good night pictures anyway, so it just looks like a colored blob. Oh well, we tried, and
it went behind the clouds after that so we moved.

Later that evening we had dinner at Siomara's Restaurant and caught another nice view of the moon...

Zoomed in...bright moon, through the clouds, framed by palm trees and a rooftop.

We each had yummy quesadillas at Siomara's (shrimp for Eric, veggie for Cara) - this is Cara's veggie quesadilla.

11-2-2016 Mini-golf Happy Hour

Our friends (and the owners of Windschief Bar) recently started having Mini-Golf Happy Hour on Wednesdays to promote
their growing putt putt course (currently 9 holes, but eventually to be 18 holes). We met up with some friends and had a fun
time playing.

Oh, that's right, the last game of the World Series was going on as well, so several people were glued to the TV.

Those of us who didn't care about the baseball game contented ourselves to play mini-golf and foosball - what fun!

10-31-2016 Halloween Parties

This Halloween we attended a few different parties at bars/restaurants that were all within walking distance of each other. Many of our friends were doing the same, and we had a great time.

Our friend, Janet, as Abby from NCIS

Oli offering free mammograms, and Emma the bike mechanic (appropriate since she rents
motorcycles here)

It's also appropriate that Kelli here is a dog since she runs the local Humane Society

Probably not quite the mammogram Oli was hoping for!

Dorla and Sheik Lea

Cara (in her anti-costume), Marcia (who was trying to be a happy clown, but still looked a little scary to most), and Zombie
Janette (she won for scariest costume)

10-30-2016 Culture Sunday

We started at Luba Laruga for our Sunday beach walk.

We split lunch at Luba Laruga - Eric had the grilled chicken, and Cara ate the steamed veggies
and garlic potatoes. It was delicious as always!

It was a beautiful day, and lots of people were out enjoying the water at the nearby public pier. We ran into friends here, and
we ended up staying put and never moving on in our beach walk - that's how things go sometimes.  :)

That evening was the first Culture Sunday for October and November. It was started last year by our friends' band, and we
were happy to see it again this year.

Culture Sunday means live music and dancing by local performers, which we love.

It takes place at the main junction in Hopkins, which is called Maude Park, and is right by the bus stop.

Loads of people came out for the event, including lots of our friends, and everyone had a great time!

10-29-2016 Hopkins Park Fest

This beautiful Saturday was the first ever Hopkins Park Fest, which was a fundraiser for the local school. It lasted all day and
well into the evening, and it was a lovely event. There was a nice variety of food and drink vendors, as well as clothing
vendors and games for the kids.

Face painting was a very popular booth!

In addition to face painting, there was a photo booth, which was also popular.

People arrived on foot, by car or motorbike, and even on horses.

The event was held at the park in front of the school, so there was a nice playground for the children.

And, of course, who doesn't love a trampoline?!

The trampoline was another super popular fundraiser.

There were performers and DJs throughout the day, and in the evening
Paranda Blues played.

Paranda Blues also had some special guest performances. We enjoyed listening for a while, but we had been at the event all
day long (in the hot sun), so we were tired and didn't stay too late.

10-27-2016 Hopkins Inn Cabanas Open House

Not long ago our friends Will and Leslie took over Hopkins Inn Cabanas, and they have done some recent
improvements. So, they decided to host an open house to introduce the community to what they have to offer.

It was a great idea and a very nice event.

This is an example of one of their cute and comfortable cabanas. A couple of smaller ones are $69/night US,
and the two larger ones (one with two beds) are $99/night US.

There was a good turnout and everyone enjoyed touring the cabanas and mingling over cocktails.