Roadspill

Not much has happened since last night. After the Canucks game we went off and did more nothing. It's easy to do nothing here. And despite Easter, no guilt either!

There was a huge storm last night... the rain was so heavy and the winds so strong that it came right into my room and onto me. It was actually refreshing. In short order, I was back to sleep.

I woke again around 5:30am to the sound of someone doing their washing outside my rear window. And the roosters.

Because of the rain, the water was extremely stinky -- no amount of letting the water run made it any less stinky. I plugged my nose and dove in, getting clean in very short order. I probably stink anyway.

A few hours were killed using Brent's shortwave radio to try and pick up some news. The problem with shortwave is that there isn't much selection. I am able to pull in Voice of America (gag), a million Spanish stations, and a billion God stations. One even sounded like God. But he was speaking in Spanish, so I don't know if he was telling me to feel guilty for something I've either done or not done.

Roh and Brent finally woke up and after their stinky showers, we all went to the Lucky Lobster where the service was much improved. A huge glass of watermelon juice, fry jacks, a big omlette, and many cups of coffee later, we headed back to the "ranch" to do nothing.

I finished Pete McCarthy's "McCarthy's Pub" -- reminded of what my own Irish experience was like. You've got to love this travel thing.

The day is cool and cloudy at times, then, when the sun comes out, it is hot and sunny. Which would make sense. No, I have not been drinking. Yet.

I wandered to the juice monger this morning as well -- for a litre of Mango-Banana-Papaya. I can't believe how amazing all this fresh stuff tastes. And there is fresh fruit growing everywhere. I nearly got whacked by a falling papaya this morning. Luckily, it missed and has gone on to provide a billion ants with food for a year. Maybe they'll finally leave my room. Little bastards.

The plan for today is to head out snorkeling if the winds drop. If not, then Brent and I will go tomorrow. This is probably our last night here. Roh has to work tomorrow and will be taking the first boat. Brent and I will stay for the rest of the day and do... nothing. Then it will be decision time: stay or go. I want to stay, but I want to get to Guatemala. And I know the border freaks would never excuse me missing a border visit. And I also need to get some stuff done for CBC radio. I recorded some local music last night, but there was no real story to be found. There are several in Belize City -- and this will also earn me a few bucks.

I'm still trying to convince Infomatrix to give me approval for a story on the Belizean kids show host -- but it is a hard sell. It will make all the difference financially if I could make a few more bucks while here.

Brent and I have been talking about land. While not cheap, it is a bargin and good investment by Canuck standards. I can easily see having a place here. The other benefit is this: you can renew your tourist visa (30 days) endlessly. So all you have to do is renew it by leaving the country (want into and back from Mexico) for a year and suddenly you have landed immigrant status. That means you can work here legally. Then, invest 4 more years and you get citizenship. That might not seem like a great deal compared to a Canadian passport, but, you can keep the Canadian one -- and a Belizean one allows you to work in any carribean country. SWEET! I should have thought about this when I was here in 1999.

There will probably be a job opening up at Channel 5 in the fall -- and that means that there is a good possibility of doing something as radical as moving here. I think that the chances of doing something like that are small. But if work starts to dry up in Canada... what the hell.

Just after noon now... I must get on with doing nothing. More from Belize City tomorrow -- and pictures!