These flowers are called Bird of Paridise. They grow here on the convent grounds.
The sun was very red this morning as we drove into Punta Gorda. Sister says its going to be a hot day when the sun is red. I took this picture when we arrived at St. Claver Church for Mass around 6:20 a.m. By then it was not red anymore.
Then I walked to the front of the church and took a few pictures. We go in through a side gate when we get there. If you look on the far right of the picture you can see the black truck and one of the sisters.
The Jesuits have been in Belize since the 1800s. They have several Houses for Jesuit priests throughout the country of Belize. Since there are less Priests available, some of the houses do not have priests there all the time.
They have a nice mural of St. Claver on the side of the building next to the church.
St. Claver Church is wide and built on a slope. From the front, the floor is higher than where the alter is. You have to step down about midway to the alter.
The reflection of the sun seemed clearer this morning as we drove back to Nazareth. Or maybe we weren't going as fast at the time this picture was captured? Who knows.
Back at the convent...
Sister Ester and I had planned to do the flowers for the people coming in at the retreat center.
As we headed out, I noticed this fruit on the tree. She said it's really sweet, very juicy. I don't remember the name.
I've been eating many new foods, fruit, vegetables, etc. All very good so far. We've had great food. Very good cooks.
It's Saturday so the sisters need to tend to the chickens. I got a better look at the turkey. He's huge. They have several baby turkeys.
They have scarecrows all over the chicken area.
We heard their national bird. We saw 4 of them up in the trees. They were too far to take a good picture. But here's what they look like. (I downloaded this from the internet)
More scarecrows.
Now come the flowers. Wow, there are many kinds and all over. We cut some for flower arrangements.
Then a precious little helper came by.
Cut flowers in bucket ready to be transformed.
When I walked the Camino it seemed everywhere I turned, stairs were popping up. These reminded me of that. These are the stairs in the retreat center. I'm looking down from the 2nd floor.
This picture is of one of the hallways to the rooms upstairs. There are 2 hallways with 5 rooms each. Each room has 2 twin beds.
These are the flower arrangements Sister Ester made.
There were also small flower arrangements placed in each one of the rooms.
Below is a picture of an interesting flower, you think?
Many palm trees of many kinds.
A picture of the edge of "the bush".
The picture below is of a big flower arrangement with the Bird of Paradise flowers. We had to trim them down so they wouldn't hit the roof.
Oops, we had not cleaned our mess yet.
This is not a pretty picture but thought I'd share it anyway. There are things that come with hot humid weather, like bugs. Most of the bites seem to go away soon. But there's one bug that my body doesn't seem to like. I'm getting not so nice blotches. They itch. If I scratch, they itch more.
Plus I'm getting swollen. I think it's a combination of things. I haven't been taking the daily walks my body is used to. My body is still adjusting to the heat. And it could be something I'm eating. Or I could be allergic to something. I haven't figured it out yet.
The group of missionaries staying at the center arrived around 7:45 pm. Very nice people with lots of suitcases. Lots of donations. They will be going out to villages and helping paint and other things at the schools.
Another interesting thing about living in the bush (jungle), there are many interesting sounds, many different birds. The interesting sounds is howling. It comes from howler monkeys. They are high in the trees. We hear them in the mornings and evenings. Here's a YouTube video of what they sound like. I haven't been able to record them yet.
When I was helping with giving the dogs fresh water, it was already dark outside, something moved but I couldn't see it. I put down the bucket and took out my phone to use the flashlight. It was a huge frog. Lol I showed it to sister and she said there are frogs way bigger than that one. Oh my....
That's it for tonight. I'm ready for bed.
I prayed for all of you at Mass today.
Thank you for your prayers.
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