Goodbyes, Safe Delivery, Wrenches, GoogleFi, What I'll Miss...
Thursday evening, we headed to the Mejia's home after work. They were neighbors to my inlaws in their first apartment, their kids were - and still are - friends. We had an Italian feast and our kids (plus Lilly!) and Nathan's cousin, Joseph, came over as well. Perhaps we should have taken a family photo before the sun went down, and maybe I shouldn't have parked my keister under the misting system all night...but I present to you, the Lord family photo.
A wrench was thrown into our Sunday plan; we are having the boys stay at our AirBnB that night so we don't have to stress about them sleeping through their alarm for a 6 AM flight. They let us know that one of their step-brothers' birthday dinners is that night at their mom's house. UGH. They are planning to bail out by 8:30, but that woman will do everything she can to stress us out and guilt the boys to stay later.
Friday was another busy day - I finished up the manifest for our shipment of household goods, and Jhimel called me to answer some questions. Our U-Pack Trailer arrived safely mid-day, and the Belize Freight crew were going to fully unload it that day. We don't have a "set sail" date yet, but it is projected for mid-August. From there, approximately 2 weeks until it ports in Belize City, hits Customs, and then we arrange for our boxes to be barged over to the island.
I had a hair appointment to void out the rapidly-increasing number of greys working their way in; I considered letting nature take over as I am crap at self-coloring but decided to hold out hope that I may find a good colorist on the island.
With a fresh coif, we met my mom and her boyfriend, James, for Happy Hour and dinner at a local Irish Pub, and managed to book a "quick meet-up" on Sunday, when we will be doing our final packing. A smaller wrench in the plans, so we combed through some of our piles in the AirBnB to try to knock out some of the packing in advance.
It was nearly 7 when the cats' Vet called with bloodwork results - everyone is healthy! Shadow needs to drink more water, which for an 11-year-old male cat, I'll take. The dewormer had them all feeling a bit under the weather until Friday, when they were more active - the AirBnB has a queen bedroom, and one with two twin beds, for secondary bedrooms. I don't plan on warning the boys that whoever claims the queen bedroom may not actually be a winner:
I also ported our numbers to GoogleFi. We bought Google Pixel 8s on Black Friday as they are dual-sim phones. We plan to keep U.S. service but also get a Belizean sim card for local service, and these phones allow for two different phone numbers to come inbound. The GoogleFi package has many more perks and much lower pricing than we currently enjoy on Verizon. I opted for their largest plan, at $110/mo for both of us, combined:
We will get booted off of it in 90 days; it's not designed to be used for expats, but for travelers, so when all of our calls/data originate outside the U.S., they will downgrade us to their "Simply Unlimited" plan, $80 total. I went for the larger package because it gives us YouTube TV, which should grant us viewing rights to the NFL Package. GoogleFi also offers location linking (something we'll activate on island - better to be safe than sorry), you can block all incoming calls and texts from numbers not saved in your phone, and the VPN security is top-notch!
If you would like to save $60 off of your first bill with GoogleFi, here is a promo code link: GoogleFi Promo Code August 2024
Friday was Nathan's last day working before his vacation - he took the next 2 weeks off. That gives us a week with the boys, and then the following week to sort out life on the island before he has to go back to work.
The people that know us well have been asking, "What will you miss the most..?". Beyond family and friends, I have been thinking about this, and thought it would be interesting to record it here and then revisit the items six months from now, see if it's accurate.
WHAT I'LL MISS:
-My gut reaction is, "instant gratification". Need something? Amazon Prime it. Craving fresh raspberries? They're available year-round in a huge grocery conglomerate. I think it's going to be a huge adjustment to have to wait for what I want, or not be able to get it at all if it's not available in Belize and/or is out of season. I have only placed one Amazon order since moving to the AirBnB, but have 55 orders year-to-date. I had 116 in 2023. In order to get an Amazon delivery, we have it shipped to Belizean Queen in Houston, which now ships once per week. It takes 2 weeks from shipment date to arrival in Belize City, clears Customs, then goes on a barge to the island, and we have to arrange delivery. So 3-4 weeks from order to arrival. A 14" cubed box is $30. I'm going to have to be VERY selective in my ordering!
-One of my biggest anxiety-inducing items is 24/7 emergency vet services. You always hope to never need them, but when you do...it's urgent. There is now a full-time Vet on the island, which is a big, positive step. I said ONE. Not many. They are about a 20-minute cart ride south of our villa, and would be an hour in a golf cart from our land, where our permanent home will be built.
-Variety. I am one of those weirdos that likes to research and read reviews before making a moderate-to-large purchase. In Belize, it's going to be, "take what you can get, when you can get it". From produce to electronics, there will not be a wide swath of options at any given time. Locals routinely have to make 3-4 stops to complete a grocery shopping trip - you go to the produce stand, the meat shop, the bakery, and then a convenience store for what you couldn't find elsewhere.
-Mountains/elevation: I moved to Nashville in 1994, which has beautiful, green rolling hills. Phoenix has majestic mountains all around. For the past 30 years, I've experienced (and perhaps, taken for granted) beautiful vistas. Ambergris Caye is barely at sea level; there isn't even a hill. But as my friend Angela pointed out, this is more of a trade - trading mountains for tropical, gin-clear waters. Fair enough!
-Baths. By my count, over the years, we have stayed in 8 different homes, condos, or hotels. Only one of those had a bathtub, Diamante Beachfront Suites. Water is not as readily available on the island as it is in a U.S. Metropolis, and even at Diamante, a luxury community, I struggled to get the tub filled, and the water was...sketchy-looking. At our last home, we had a free-standing tub that was pure bliss after a rough day. I do plan to have a tub in our beach house, but that is at least one year out.
While I'm at it, here's what I WON'T miss:
-Politics. No need to expand on that one.
-Entitlement. Every day it seems to get worse in the U.S. You aren't owed anything, go out and get it, you awful, lazy people.
-Tipping culture. In fear of having my food spit in, I'm tipping at fast-casual restaurants and other establishments that no actual service is performed. It's entirely out of hand! I will glady tip - and tip well - if I am provided a service by an employee that is compensated primarily via tips. If you punched 2 keys on a computer to place my order (which I could do myself), go to hell, no tip was earned.
-Traffic. Yes, San Pedro proper can be congested at times, but it's nothing compared to rush hour in Phoenix. Also, people doing 85 on the freeway while texting and Facetiming.
-Toxic foods. We all have about a 24-hour period upon arrival where our bodies adjust to the food. Most items are fresh, even organic, non-GMO, not pumped full of chemicals and hormones. Chicken breasts are a reasonable size; produce is mostly grown by Mennonites on the mainland. After the adjustment, it is amazing how much better we all feel! The flip-side to this is, I'm the lady at the grocery store looking for the unblemished fruit and vegetables, and I'm going to have to lower my standards in regard to visual appearance.
We're off to start our day - I woke up this morning and realized that in 48 hours, we'll be on our way to our new home - it's surreal!