Dad's visit

I am sitting in the Belize City airport; Dad just left and I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of Kimberly and Mac. I just wiped away a face full of tears as I watched Dad’s plane back up and go into the sky. It seems just like yesterday that he arrived—it’s amazing how fast 5 days can fly by, especially when you’re going at the rate we did. He arrived on Wednesday afternoon and we rented a car and went straight to our first night’s stop, Jaguar Paw. As we were leaving the airport, three fairly large Belizean women asked us if they could hop in and have a ride. They were dressed in security guard uniforms so we felt comfortable that we were not only safe to give them a ride, but heck, they would secure us! So, they hopped in and two got out after about 10 minutes and then the third told us she would go with us to Hattieville, a town about 25 minutes away and when I asked her if she lived there, she simply smiled and said “no, I just will ride with you there and then take a bus back to town.” Dad and I looked at each other in amazement; she was simply riding with us purely out of entertainment; she seemed to enjoy just riding and seeing the countryside and why not ride with two Americans. :) We dropped her off in Hattieville and Dad immediately looked at me and said “What was that all about?” and we both laughed. Welcome to Belize, where people don’t have a ton to do so riding in the car with strangers seems like something fun and different; why not?


So, we continued on to the jungle, traveling down some treacherous roads that made us even question if we were indeed on the right one. We were and after not much time, we safely arrived at Jaguar Paw, a little haven tucked away in the jungle of Belize. We immediately were welcomed to the jungle and shown to our little one bedroom cabin, hidden down pathways of tons of plants and snakes (or so we were told). After a bit of exploring of the grounds, we sat down to a wonderful tilapia and pasta dinner and then called it a night. We had made arrangements to go cave tubing the next morning at 9:00am and so we wanted to get our beauty sleep:). Cave tubing—let’s see, how do I describe it. We met our guide, Geronimo, and he walked us down to get our tubes and headlamps and he explained to us that we would walk for an hour and ½ to the start of the caves at which point, we would put our tubes in and start floating. So, we walked through the jungle, filled with tons of HUGE palm leaves and other exotic plants and he told us more about the Mayan culture, of which he was descended. We arrived at the start of the caves, plopped down in our tubes, put our headlamps on and started floatin! We were literally in old, DARK caves and several times we turned off the lights just to see how dark it was--indeed, very dark! There were bats up ahead and it was after seeing them that Dad and I both looked at each other and said “Mom would NOT like this!” but to us it was pure adventure and fun to think we were floating down a river, with headlamps on our heads, sitting in tubes in the jungle of Belize; something you definitely do not do every day! The float lasted about an hour and the pictures I have posted are of another group; I thought I’d spare you a picture of both of us in our suits:) . After the float, we had a rice/beans/chicken Belizean lunch and then got on the road to Corozal. We arrived in Corozal in time to walk to town to buy a cantaloupe; we could have easily have driven but I wanted him to see what I do on most days and to experience the heat. On the way back from the market, with sweat pouring down his back, he looked at me and said “I won’t be doing that again!” :) That night, we had some Chinese food and then called it a night as we were getting up early for our 7:00am boat ride to the islands.


We arrived on San Pedro at 9:00am and went immediately to our hotel and met our snorkeling guide, Chocolate (the same one we had used when the Sports Servants crew was here), at 9:30sharp. No rest for the weary:)! The snorkeling, like before, was amazing and Chocolate once again let us swim belly to belly with sting rays and hold sharks like they were babies. I think my favorite part was watching Dad’s eyes get HUGE as he watched his youngest daughter hug a sting ray. When we first arrived to sting ray alley (as it’s called), Chocolate threw some bait in the water and 15 or more sharks came scurrying up to our boat and then moments later, Chocolate said “ok, let’s get in!” and I looked over at Dad and he looked like he just saw a ghost, but the adventuresome bones in his body jumped right in. I was proud of my Dad who does not let grass grow under his feet. The fish were amazing, very colorful and it was an incredible few hours under the sea. We came back to our hotel and found this jewel of a restaurant, right on the water, on a boardwalk and he looked at me and said “Now, this is a little piece of paradise” and it was. I couldn’t have been any happier! That afternoon, we sat in lounge chairs and relaxed with books, went on a long walk into town and just enjoyed the little piece of paradise to its fullest. After a fish/ceviche dinner, we went back to our A/C room and turned in. We both slept in the next day(I feel funny giving a minute by minute account of our trip but that is what this has turned into…) and then enjoyed a banana pancake breakfast and then a banana smoothie with an American(whom Melanie’s parents know) who now lives on San Pedro. We boarded the 3:00pm boat back to Corozal and had dinner in town. The next morning, we picked Mrs. Lacey up for 9:00am church and as you’ll remember, Mrs. Lacey lives down a road of pot holes; finally Dad was experiencing the pot holes first hand and boy were his eyes big(almost as big as when I was hugging a stingray). He could not get over these holes and agrees with me that you surely can fit a small child in one of them but he added, if the child was in it, he is not sure they could get out! So, we picked Mrs. Lacey up, went to church in Patchikan and sang and listened to a service of Spanish, neither of us understand a word except now I have learned that Senor means Lord. We had planned on taking Mrs. Lacey to lunch after church and we decided on this place where she had not been in years and where I had never been, a place called Casa Blanca, 7 miles north of Corozal—but 7 miles on a long, dusty and pot-holey road; pot holes that made the road to Cristo Rey look like chump change. After the 7 miles in, we arrive at this little thatched-roof resort on the water, well worth the trek, and we were the only ones in the restaurant so we received the royal treatment! After lunch, we drove Mrs. Lacey back to her house and then had the afternoon to relax and then went to Tony’s(my journal spot) for dinner. It is quiet, relaxing a slice of heaven in the mornings, and at night, the music cranks up and it is quite a little social hotspot. Who knew?


You know when you are SO excited for something in the future, something you anticipate, something you daydream about, something you just could jump up and down over—well, that is how I felt about my Dad coming. When he told me a few weeks ago that he was buying his ticket and coming, I was ecstatic not only that he would take the time and money to come see me, but that I could share this place that I have grown to love, with someone in my family. It was a true treat and I began counting down the days until his arrival. He would be able to see the potholes, my place, eat the food, feel the heat, meet Mrs. Lacey, drink an Orange Fanta out of a bottle, see the buses, and get eaten by mosquitoes---all the things I now call home during this season of my life. I was excited to share it, but what I didn’t anticipate much before he arrived was just the TIME we were able to spend together, laughing, talking, and making memories. And that is something I will always cherish and shall never forget. I feel so blessed that I have a family that I love, truly love, each one of them making me a better person by their love, care, and joy they individually bring into my life. I have a family I crave to be around not only because they are fun, but because they make my heart smile and my face light up. As cheesy as it sounds, it’s true. Yes, we have our faults just like any family out there but that doesn’t stop me from loving them more every day. And to have one of them here, to see my life in Belize made me stop and realize just how lucky I am. Thanks, Dad, for coming and Fluff, Kippie, Mom, Alex, Atkins, atkins, john killebrew, anderson, xander and kruesi—although I wish each of you were tucked away in his suitcase, I feel like you are each here with me just with your emails, packages, hugs and kisses and by letting Dad come. I’ve heard it said before that your earthly father can be a small example of what our Heavenly Father will be like(on such a smaller scale), if we have the type earthly father we admire and respect. Our heavenly Father will love us more than we can even imagine, but in terms of trying to even begin to comprehend the love we will feel from Him, how He will care for us, hold us, nurture us, support us, our earthly father can be a small taste of a sampling of our Heavenly Father. I feel so blessed to have an earthly father who is such an example of love and through the way he cares for me and loves me, I am reminded of how MUCH our heavenly Father loves us.