One year in Belize

As of today (Oct. 10), I have officially been living in Belize for one year, and seeing as how I haven't blogged in a very long time, this seems like a good reason to write. It's very strange thinking about my life before Belize, it's so different and seems like so long ago. I have no concept of time while I'm here. When it comes to days and weeks and months, I just exist somewhere in the middle of all of it. This is mainly due to the fact that I don't have daily commitments, I just leave each day open to whatever comes along. I would say I prefer it that way. Anyway, here's what's going on in the life of Perry Wigglesmith these days. I think I become a little more Belizean every day. This week I learned how to make rice and beans and fried plantain. I don't know why I didn't try it sooner! As far as food is concerned, I do what I can to make my money stretch as far as possible. I'll just say I eat a lot of oatmeal. I like to cook and try new things, but that kind of thing takes time, and I'm far from proficient in that field. My roommate says I have the blood of a chef, but not the practice! This is because whenever I try to make something new, I usually butcher it the first few tries. I made some cookies last week..sort of... I'll just say my oven doesn't specify temperature, it just hast the little increasing slope as if to say, " It's somewhere between here and here, Good luck!" It's always fun though. I'm sharing a one bedroom apartment with a guy from Mexico named Jhonattan, but I just call him by his English name, Jonathan, it's much easier. I let him have the bedroom and I just camp on the couch in the main room. We have a trade off where I help him out with English and he helps me with Spanish. Although, he's doing much better at it than I am. He's a very cool guy. He helps clean the house and pays when he's supposed to, what more could you ask for! I have a lot of free time here, but I never get bored for long. I've recently been getting into knitting. Of all things right? I learned how to crochet earlier this year and decided to learn how to knit as well. I have a book called the encyclopedia of knitting... I tell everyone I'm an old lady at heart. I'm currently working on a scarf for winter seeing as how I will be in Texas for Alyssa and Matt's wedding in December. I want to make things that are useful, because in the tropics, knitted clothing isn't always the most practical thing to wear. On the agenda is a blanket to put on the couch, mainly for decoration. Some stuff I crocheted are a wash cloth and house slippers (as seen below), and lots and lots of hats. The dreads are coming along nicely. It's been a little over 5 months since Amber locked my hair. I've heard it takes one year for them to get mature and become almost maintenance free. I'm figuring out the best ways to keep them clean and pretty. They seem to be growing pretty fast too. I think the salt water helps tremendously. I'm still playing drums with Barrington and the Islanders, and still loving it. I think we are playing for a wedding this Saturday at Coco Beach, as well as the usual Sunday and Tuesday nights at Captain Morgan's Retreat. I'm still dumbfounded at how blessed I am to have that gig. And I've made connections with just about every musician on the island. There's a great community of musicians here, and plenty of live music every night of the week. I'm always biking around town, staying healthy whilst transporting! It's a win win mode of transportation. Although, we are indeed in the rainy season, which means there's no way to avoid getting wet. Perhaps my greatest idea yet is rain shorts. I cut some rain pants to where they just fit over my shorts and they keep me perfectly dry. It's amazing because my pants are always wet when I ride my bike and they never cease to get mud flung all over them, but with the rain shorts, problem solved. Plus, I never wear shoes, so it doesn't matter if my feet get wet. That's about it for the one year update, but my New (Belize)Year's resolution is to blog more. Stay tuned to see how that goes!