Kind of hard to start from the beginning...it goes back some distance to get us to this point. So I figure since I am way behind on this blogging thing, I will use today as a starting point. As the past- LA, NYC, The Wedding, The Dog, our journey to Belize comes up- I will reflect on it. But for today, I can only see ahead!

Today...ah, but today. Today I had a cucumber in the foot of a pair of nylon's (who knew they even had nylon's here!) hanging between my legs attempting to push a potato forward and towards my husband.

Only in Belize, and only at a Rotary Meeting.

What day is it anyway?

I sit here at the desk at home. Rain pours on and off- "unseasonal" for this time of year I am told. And our new puppy, Milo, sits curled up on my lap. I sip a glass of Montepulciano and field calls from John, who is at Rumfish, about the development of some new menu ideas we've been working on and that are coming out of the kitchen.


Puppy and Ojai can be seen to the left.












This is my "back in time" dodododododododododododododododododo"

Remember this day?

Our departure day from NYC. Bittersweet of course, but very confusing for a dog. What the HELL???

And this was "What the hell??" from Mommy and Daddy!!!

Needless to say...he adjusted quickly.

It's been a whirlwind...the hardest thing I've even done. EVER! But worth every minute. Below is an email I sent to my F's & F's within the first couple of weeks of being here...soooooo funny for me to reread NOW!

So, it's Sunday morning and our little buddy just suffered through another tick removal massacre. About five ticks I think this morning, one eventually loses count. We have started him on Amoxicillin for it seems he may have contracted Tick fever. This is one of many possible diagnosis's, could be he licked a type frog that has hallucinogenic properties...or ate a yellow iguana (although we've heard if this were the case he would be dead by now), or perhaps a scorpion. But on 'googling' Tick Fever, that seems to have the most similar symptoms to Ojai's recent behavior. Some examples would be the 'fantom fly', in which he snaps and chases imaginary flies, or 'drunk paranoid dog' who bangs into walls, then catches his own shadow and runs into the corner whimpering. Other symptoms include chewing his skin, rashes on his legs, lethargy, dehydration...and so on. Two days on the antibiotics though have seemed to have knocked it! If you're wondering how we got Amoxicillin...we walked into a pharmacy and said, "My dog has Tick Fever" and he handed us 10 days of it for about $6 US. We decided to get ourselves antibiotics as well, just in case we contract something... we were like kids in a pharmaceutical candy store!!!

Last night after John went up to bed, and I was attempting to stay up for a little SNL comic relief, a little scorpion crawled towards me at warp speed. I screamed and leapt off the couch as it's tail curled and it shimmied closer and closer. John came down from the loft with what small measure of valiance he could muster, but mostly panic! We jumped around the room for a while not sure what to do. There is no 'sense-memory' defensive reaction for a scorpion attack. No specific behavior pops into your mind on instinct. No survivalist thought like, "Oh, right, I remember when I was 6 my Dad killed a scorpion by snapping it's head off" kind of thing is triggered. This is not stored in our "Subconscious Critter 'How to' Mental Archives" like spiders, moths, roaches, even bats are. So we jumped and danced and sprayed an entire can of bug spray which was NO match for our formidable friend. Under the couch he scurried. Now what?? Not to worry, he then lunged out towards John's barefoot who then proceeded to smack the hell out of it with his flip flop. That's what you do. Smack it. Smoosh it. Flush it. And go to bed.

Another day in paradise.

I would like to mention that earlier in the evening John and I were at the beach during a beautiful sunset with the dogs. I say 'dogs' plural, because it seems that Ojai is like the Pied Piper of puppies. They follow him down to the sea where they play and swim and run. As Ojai, Ringo, and Ajax (all under a year old) played in the water, I sipped a glass of sub-par Sauv. Blanc as we watched the sky transform from one shade of pink to another, then orange, red...unbelievable. The layers and layers and layers of clouds make the sky seems twice as deep or high as usual. The sun rays trickle through each layer with brilliant colors morphing in front of your eyes. I'm not really sure how that works, but I am convinced the sky is deeper here- is that possible? Closer to the equator? Anyway, the sunsets rock.

We spent two days in Belize City this week. That's a whole 'nother email in itself. But I just have to mention the 4 hour "express" busride to and fro. Now, this is the 'Amtrak' of transport to Belize City mind you. The 'NJ Transit' way is on a school bus that looks like it was handed down from some underprivileged elementary school in like West Virginia or something. These busses take about 6 hours to get to Belize City. I see them pass through town and it looks like a strange form of torture that I am not preprared to endure. So, we are told about the express bus. In order to catch it however, you have to take a boat called The Hokey Pokey- I kid you not- to the village of Independence on the mainland. So our taxi driver Roosevelt picks us up and drops us at The Hokey Pokey. We get on the boat with a dozen or so "commuters". It's a short and beautiful ride through the mangroves and across the flats. A taxi picks us up on the other side. Now, when I say taxi what I mean is- picture a minivan that has seen multiple accidents, is rusted, weather-warn, like it was dragged out of the dump, with a door that doesn't close, and about 16 scented Christmas trees hanging from the rearview still not doing the job. OH, and another important point to mention- there is not a vehicle, not one that I have seen, that does not have it's windshield smashed, notice I did not say 'cracked'. Most looked like someone threw a large boulder at the car, and they just crane their heads and adjust their seats so they can see around it.

So we get dropped off at the "bus station" in Independence. Only there is no door, no sign that reads "Bus Station", no way to buy a ticket. A 'Potlicker' (the name of the local dog breed that ironically it seems Ojai is) that looks like 'Ojai on crack' leans against the building and gives us the stink eye. When she stands her eight boobs drag on the ground. Her breasts too heavy to lug very far, she plops back down and stares at us again. Kids walk by in their school uniforms, backpacks...and barefeet. I see a dilapidated shack (everything is dilapidated mind you) and think, "Ah, maybe a Starbucks..." I proceed to walk over in search of a hot cup of coffee. I go inside where two big black ladies with no teeth look at me like I am REALLY lost as they pluck chickens or something behind a little counter. A little girl looks up, mouth agape like she has seen a ghost (or a clean well dressed white person which is really the same thing)! I ask for coffee, they point to a table with a jar of instant. I ask for a 'to go' cup. They look at me like I am crazy. Side note: Belizean's call 'take out', or food To Go, "Haul your ass take out". But you gotta say it in Creol which means you basically cut off all consonants and slur. Creol is fun and very easy to learn- just get drunk and you got it! Ok, digressing...So, I leave the ramshackled shack. There is a local bus parked (the local busses are all painted 'rasta' colors- green, red, black, and yellow). Three guys are sitting on the front fender. They ask me if I am getting the bus, I tell them that I am taking the express. They ask what I am looking for. I debate whether to mention my search for coffee, do I want to get MORE funny looks this morning? I do it. I mention the coffee. These guys point to another hut next door, but tell me it's closed. They point towards where I just came from and i explain the toothless ladies with no "(h)all-ur-ass" cups. Then they all think for a minute of where else I could possibly go for coffee. Then one of them reaches down an opens an igloo cooler and points to steamy styrofoam cups wrapped in plastic and says, "I got coffee". This is how long it takes an average Belizean on the street to tell me, a woman desperate for a cup of "Haul your ass" coffee, that he is packing it!! He sells me my coffee and a Johnny Cake with chicken and cheese when the express bus rolls up...and like in a movie, when the time period changes but there is no subtitle to inform the audience, we have seemingly stepped back in time. Remember the bus in "Walk the Line" (Johnny Cash) or any movie with bus in it that takes place in the 50's or 60's. That's the express bus. We get on and yet another adventure begins.

More to come!