As I mentioned in my previous blog, we planned to go to Immigration on Friday since Wednesday was Christmas and Thursday was Boxing Day, which is a holiday here - a holdover from being under British rule. We parked at the Wings Plaza on Friday, walked into the building where Immigration is, and found... ...CLEARLY closed, no signage at all! Nothing on their website about holiday closures. ...

Last Thursday, I took Shadow to the only vet on the island, San Pedro Veterinarian Hospital, south of town. When I called, they were able to get us in the same day or the next day, which was a relief!  Unfortunately, it looked like rain was inbound as I loaded Shadow into his carrier and Nathan strapped him into the cart, so I grabbed a beach towel to drape over his carrier just in case. We ...

Our "Tax-Free Weekend" was not the Supermarket Sweep I had anticipated - I forgot the swatch for my blue paint, and Comex didn't have a concrete coating that Nathan wanted - yet. It should be in-country by mid-January. I'll have to go back this weekend (tax-free weekend #2 of 2) to get white and blue paint and probably more roof sealant. At $75BZ per gallon, may as well slather that stuff on. ...

Lots going on here on La Isla... My Feature was published on Tuesday, I'm super-excited to have such a big project in my portfolio! They didn't use my Ex-Pat Interview (yet) which is a bummer for the couple I interviewed - it will push out in a future issue. It will be delightful to be paid for that assignment in a few weeks! Income! Tuesday night we ventured down to The Alibi in its new lo ...

Friday I took my laptop and a patio chair cushion to SAGA Humane Society to hang out with their cats. SAGA can always use help walking the dogs they care for, or socializing the cats - they have around 30 cats currently, in two rooms. The new shelter is so nice! Concrete, air-conditioned...and they own it. The previous location was wood (hard to sterilize!), no A/C, and rented. Most of the ca ...

Tuesday morning I awoke to a WhatsApp from Oscar - he built us 4 teak pool chairs this time last year at a great price. We moved down a 22" Blackstone flat-top grill I had won at work, but we didn't have anywhere to set it. I asked Oscar if he took custom orders, and he did - so I sent my chicken-scratch rendering over. Two months later, our table arrived! It's perfect. But our grill is alrea ...

We have long wanted to visit the Belize Zoo - all of their animals are native to Belize, and are there essentially as rescues - whether orphaned, injured, or due to becoming a "problem" with ranchers or locals. Having the long weekend and FINALLY good weather, we booked an overnight stay at the Tropical Education Center (TEC) across the street from the zoo. It's rustic but exceptionally well ...

I've had a very busy week so I'm overdue to catch up! A few readers have asked about our beach house, so here's an update on it: Our architect, Alex, has dialed back the living space to a more agreeable size, and I've gone from having two living floors to 1. My original plan had two master bedrooms stacked on top of each other. In the U.S., it's cheaper per square foot to build up a story t ...