Just sleeping causes one to sweat. Lol
A shower in the morning, a shower after lunch, and a shower before bed. A cold shower feels really good.
That probably doesn't sound good to those of you back home where you are getting blessed with snow right now. Enjoy it while you can.
The convent I'm staying at is in Nazareth. It's near the village of Forrest Home.
Check out these temperatures. This was today, Sunday, 17th.
Notice the "feels like" temperature of 104 degrees and the high humidity. My body is still trying to adjust to 100+ temperatures as you can imagine.
It actually feels hotter but I think that's because I caught a cold or flu. Not sure. They say flu but it doesn't feel as bad as when I've had a flu at home. I just feel a little bit of sore throat and head ache with an occasional cough. But last night I was super hot. My t-shirt was literally soaking wet. I got up at midnight to take a cold shower because I couldn't stand it anymore. Even the sisters are feeling the heat.
Fr Aric had invited me to go with him to the villages to celebrate masses today, Sunday, 17th. They are celebrating the Solemnity of St Joseph in the village of San Antonio. I was looking forward to going there for that, but I didn't want to take a chance in spreading this flu, or whatever it is.
Meanwhile.. I tried to catch the sounds of the howler monkeys in the background of this video. I hope you can hear them. I sounds like a growl in the distance. They were pretty far. They sound louder sometimes. I will keep trying. They are hard to catch on audio.
The sisters invited me to go with them to a wedding yesterday, Saturday. It was in a village near the Guatemala and Mexico boarders. Otoxha is the name of the village.
The following pictures are in random order.
The one below is a store on the way home from the wedding yesterday, where we stopped for something cold to drink.
The picture below is of a couple who came to the wedding. There were several couples that came in motorcycles, some had their babies or small children with them. For some, this is the only mode of transportation that they have.
Some farmers carry their produce to market on a bicycle. They pack their vegetables in bags that they can hang from the handlebars.
I could see the priest sweating like crazy as he distributed Communion at the wedding. It was super hot up there. I can't imagine the heat with the vestments on. The shiny parts of his face is sweating. I was far and lighting was not too good.
People who came from villages came however they could, including in the back of trucks.
This little girl was keeping an eye on her younger sister.
Considering how hot and uncomfortable it was for little children, they were well behaved. I love the skirts the women and girls wore.
This little guy was adorable. As you can imagine, among the Mayan people of the village, I stuck out like a sore thumb. lol. During the Wedding Mass, this little boy saw me in the pew and came and gave me a little gift. Then he left. He came back a couple more times. Each time he brought me something.
These are what he was bringing me. They were part of the decorations for the wedding. He was adorable.
Everyone is friendly and welcoming.
This little girl is Sr's niece. She is another adorable little girl. She was hot and fussy so she kept going across the isle and "visiting" with other people. Then she would come back to her grandma who was sitting next to me. She finally found a cool spot by laying on the cool tile floor. Then she covered her face and was playing with grandma.
The picture below is our group walking up the hill to the church that you see to the right. We parked a little distance away at the bottom of the hill. It was nice to stretch our legs after sitting through a bumpy ride on a dirt road for almost 2 hours.
The little girls with the purple top was supper friendly and soon wanted to be where I was. She followed me where I went and she wanted to sit in the back seat with us on the return trip.
Below is another recording trying to capture the sounds of the howler monkeys in the evening. I hope you can make them out among all the other sounds.
I don't know if I've mentioned this before.
The sisters eat tortillas as we do but they make them by hand. We use a rolling pin or if you buy them they are rolled out in a machine.
Magdalena let me do a video as she prepared them for dinner.
As I was walking out of the kitchen, Magdalena showed me a millipede. Thank goodness they don't move as quickly as a centipede right?
Back at the chicken coop. These are the youngest of the bunch so far. There are 7 turkey chicks and a few chicken chicks. There's one hen and the mama turkey in with them.
This didn't come through very clear but its a palm branch that was braided into an arch around the doorway to the church for the wedding. It looked really cool.
On Friday, Fr Aric came for me to take me to the parish office in Punta Gorda to help out there. I took this picture on my way back. The ocean was not as calm as usual.
This is a little earlier. The colors were beautiful. The breeze was a nice welcome.
Olive,who does amazing work for the parish, took me on a tour of their guest house. It's really nice. It's across from the parish church and the ocean is visible from the 2nd floor. It has a balcony all around the 2nd floor and on one side it's quite big. It also has a place to hang hammocks. It's a nice place to spend the evenings and possibly set up a table and eat dinner if it's not too windy.
I believe it has beds for 20 people. Missionaries stay here when they come to help out the parish and the villages. Many of the churches are built by missionaries that come from the US. The people nor the parish have the funds to build them. They are very grateful for the help they receive from the US via missionaries.
One of the things Olive had me do was put labels on candles. She was preparing for celebrating Women's Day or Month. They will be handed out to woman after masses along with a small food box and drink. In appreciation of women.
One of the wonderful things that Ms Olive does as well is she oversees a scholarship program that is funded by people from the United States. The scholarships help children so that they can go to high school. They cover the costs of books, supplies, uniforms, etc. I was allowed to read some of essays they have to write to apply for the scholarships. These student would not be able to go to high school without the donations and sponsorships.
I think she said that it takes about $400.00 to help a student with expenses for 1 year of high school. That's Belize dollars which is $200.00 US dollars. With the money she is getting now I believe she said she is able to help 15 students. They try to help the students in the most remote villages.
If you've been watching the videos in the blog you have seen this guy before. He is usually showing off when I go to the chicken coop. Here he is getting ready to go in for the night. He almost looks like a different turkey don't you think?
He isn't all poofed up. The skin over his beak is not as long, it shrinks as needed. For a moment I thought he was the female turkey. He sure looks different when we isn't showing off.
The picture below is of the convent just outside the kitchen and dining room downstairs.
I am actually trying to show the area where the flower bushes are. Earlier I saw one of the men who tend to the grounds, trimming back the weeds with a machete. I wish I would have been able to take the picture while he was doing it. Truly an art! I didn't have my phone at the time. Now I'm trying to keep my phone on me at all times. You just never know when opportunities might present themselves.
As I was helping put things away after mass this cross caught my eye.
Beautiful isn't it? I had not seen one like this before. The image of Jesus is carved out of the wood.
I've found that I actually enjoy going to close the chicken coop in the evenings. lol
The chickens and turkeys are entertaining. Plus it's shaded by really tall trees. The chickens have eaten the vegetation so it's pretty clean in that sense.
I think it's also because it is sometimes cooler there. It's shaded very well and if there's at least a little breeze sometimes in the evenings, it feels cool under the shade sometimes.
Sundays are more relaxed here at the convent. Today has been really hot with little to no breeze.
So, there isn't much motivation to move with 104 degree humid weather. The body feels sticky and hot.
In New Mexico when it's really hot and you drink cool water is helps bring your temperature down. Here... that doesn't work as well. It's hard to explain the difference in heat that is so humid. Only being in a cool stream feels good and only while you are covered with water. As soon as you come out of the water, you feel the heat again. It's not like New Mexico when you get out of the water you feel cold. Here you feel hot.
It's a whole brain twist. Your brain is saying one thing and your body is experiencing another. lol causes confusion to say the least.
A few blogs ago I mentioned the group of missionaries that were staying at the Retreat Center the sisters have here. I did get their website and they are doing wonderful things to help the people of Belize, especially here in the most remote areas in Toledo District.
Read more at their website: https://barefootchildrenministries.org/
You can't help but fall in love with the people of Belize. They are truly friendly, kind and humble people with a heart of gold. Those of us who God has brought here are truly blessed.
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