Calderitas, Mexico

Last year, Papi & I spent a couple weeks exploring southeast Mexico. An easy adventure as it's just over the Belize border with so many places to choose from within an hour radius of Chetumal. We prefer the coast so we explored Calderitas, Chetumal proper & Baccalar Lagoon. Of the three Calderitas was our favorite. A bayside town just northeast of Chetumal, it is known for its boardwalk stretch of Seafood Restaurants, friendly people and good traditional Mexican music. The sunrises & sunsets are spectacular!!

What is unique, to us anyway, is that during the week, by 7pm most of the restaurants close and by 8pm the only sounds you hear are children playing in the parks.  For the party people on vacation, this may not be appealing but for us old quiet folk it is quite refreshing. On weekends they stay open a bit longer, and is home to many who come to enjoy beautiful beaches, great food & a little revelry.

This year we wanted to stay an extended period of time and as fate would have it a couple we know from Hopkins were looking for a place to rent for the month of January. They were expecting their first baby and planned a home birth attended by our good friend Gail Johnson (http://www.midwifewithoutborders.com). This was a God send as it would give us a "house sitter" in exchange for rent free accommodations while they wait for their bundle of joy. BUENO!!

Part of the desire for an extended stay had to do with improving my Spanish speaking skills. I know a hand full of words but that's it. The hotel we stayed last year has apartments for rent by the month, so before we left I took a tour with the manager. The apartment in the main hotel building on the top floor with a kitchen seemed perfect. Papi came back a few months ago and paid a visit to secure the apartment only knowing the "top floor" part. The hotel also has a separate building of apartments so when he came that's where they took him. After climbing four stories of stairs (NO, there is no elevator), he viewed a two bedroom apartment with living room, a dining area and nice size kitchen. The view was great and breeze even better, so he locked in the reservation with a deposit.

I returned from my trip to the states with a meager three days with Papi before he would head to Calderitas, set up the apartment and wait for my arrival on the 5th or 6th. I delayed my departure so I could spend a day or so with Cheryl who would arrive on the 4th, get her settled in and acclimated. With her mom & sister arriving on the 7th everything was going as planned. She & her husband run a tour operation in Hopkins and with this being the "busy" season, his arrival would be closer to the due date as to not miss out on high season.

Papi mentioned he was having a few issues with the apartment getting the gas hooked up, but when I arrived 5 days later and it still had not been hooked up, plus being the "woman of the house" I saw some other issues that most definately need to be addressed. Not that he had not been diligently reminding them daily about the gas, but by the time I arrived, enough was enough, so off to the office I go with my limited Spanish skills. Lina had a favorite word, "Horrible" (pronounced har-eb-lee) when describing something terrible or completely unsatisfactory.

By the time I left the office, the girl at the desk knew I found the apartment horrible with no gas to cook, but since the details were "lost in translation" I indicated I would come back with "mi amiga" to help translate. As it turned out a friend named Elizabeth from Peru with perfect Spanish and an understanding of the culture and customer service skills went back with me to talk to the office staff a couple days later. After a tour of the apartment and notepad in hand, the office receptionist understood clearly that there were many maintenance issues and indicated she would talk to the general manager about moving us. She also came to the knowledge that I had expected to be in the main building, but said those apartments were a great deal more and she wasn't even sure there was a "monthly rental price".

The next day we stopped at the office and the General Manager generously offered us an apartment in the main building at no extra cost. The fridge was a small one and the open floor plan meant if we had visitors that wanted to stay overnite it would be more like a pajama party (a second bed but not in a separate room), but the furnishings much nicer, a TV, better internet, a private balcony, ... well let's just say we smiled, said "mucho gracias" more than once and planned a raving review on Trip Adviser.

Mean while, back in Corozal, Cheryl went into labor within hours of her mom & sister arriving and a "hurry up & get here papa" call made to her husband. The birth went very well and these two diver parents delivered their 6lb 14oz baby girl underwater in a pool birth, .... in our living room. How awesome is that?!!!! Now they have a leisurely 3 weeks to bond as a family before returning to Hopkins were it will be non stop visitors as they have many friends & associates that will be anxious to meet Khaya.


Stay tuned for my next post which will describe more of our adventures in Calderitas!

Ahh the holidays!

Goodness gracious, has it really been three months since I posted a blog? Well, there is much to catch up on. I left Belize mid November to spend the holidays with family. I arrived in Atlanta and was met by Sonia and beautiful little Mady Lu! What a site for sore eyes!  The next day we embarked on Mady's first long car ride. I didn't even have to unpack my suitcase just throw it in the car. Sonia on the other hand had to take half the house with her. I had forgotten how much you need to carry when you have a small child, but goodness me, we had a toy box full of toys, a high chair, playpen, gads of diapers, bottles formula, etc etc etc: you get the picture.

We knew the trip usually takes 8.5 hours and figured more time would be needed for extra & more lengthy stops. Mady did really well, .......... until the sun went down and there was nothing to look at outside the window. We were 8 hours into the trip and the "fussies" began, so as the intelligent people that we are we pulled into the nearest department store and purchased a portable DVD player & a Bubble Guppies CD. The last 4 hours whizzed by hardly needing a stop. We arrived in Portsmouth at the Great Grandma Powell's. Sonia unloaded the car while the grandma's played with Mady Lu.

Thanksgiving brought me another blessing, the "younger" Charles brought our other two grand daughters from Maryland to Portsmouth to see grandma!! My how they had grown! This was the first time they met their new cousin Mady Lu. We made a trip to City Park to feed the "Ducks" (actually they are geese but we have always called it feeding the ducks, go figure). This is a time honored activity Great Grandpa Powell enjoyed with Sonia from the time she was old enough to to tear bread into pieces, so it was time to introduce the next generation. It was so much fun. Lexi now 9 and Laci 4, they had both recently had birthdays. With Mady's first birthday coming up we decided to have a "Cousins Birthday Party" We all made birthday cards and had a wonderful time celebrating all three birthdays. Grandma enjoying it the most I think! Having all three together was "Grandma Heaven" I know Pop Powell looked down on it all and was smiling from ear to ear.  The visit with Charles, Lexi & Laci was short but oh so wonderful. Papi and I are so thankful for the wonderful children and grand children that we have.

After returning to Atlanta, it was time to go visit our youngest son Sean. Sean picked me up at the airport and took me back to school with him. What an outstanding opportunity to see him in action as a teacher. Yep, he definitely has the gift, made me quite proud. I was thrilled to meet his students and they all seemed to be interested in meeting Mr. Thomas' mom. Wow, how weird did that sound,...... Mr. Thomas. Of course he is, but I had not heard that before and as much as I recognize intellectually he's a grown man, it kinda made me feel old. Well of course I am old, not decrepit, but not the young chick I used to be. Sean was very good to his momma, and we had a great time, we walked hundreds of miles (or so it felt) and we did some interesting things. 

We went to Night at the Zoo, all lit up for Christmas, we went to a college basketball game, I don't think Sean expected me to "cheer so much" for the home team and we went to" Christmas in the Heights"

Christmas in the Heights started as a neighborhood event to encourage meeting each other and going house to house to see decorations and share treats. Over the years it grew to include people providing entertainment on their porches. The phrase, "if you build it they will come" held true here as the years passed, it got bigger and bigger, people from all over would come to enjoy it. It got "too big", so this year they scaled it back a bit, but to me it was like Mardi Gras in New Orleans!! People walking around all dressed crazy, pulling their wagons of children, beer or both, but it was GREAT!! Two different houses had hand-bell choirs performing, now you know how much I like hand-bell choirs, I was thrilled! I saw one decorated yard I had to get a picture of, they must be affiliated with the local Sail Club!
I helped Sean finish decorating his tree, made drop cookies with him, did his laundry, cooked for him and he took his momma shopping. It was a perfect visit!!

Back to Atlanta for Mady Lu's first birthday! Sonia & Scooter did it up right for their little girl!! She had a good time (probably had no clue what it was all about, but when shes older she will see the pictures). A good time was had by the adults too!! Mady doesn't like gushy things on her hands so the whole cake smashing thing was a struggle for her, momma had to show her how to do it LOL!! But she was a good sport about it all!! Wow, hard to believe its been a whole year but alas, time holds still for no one, not even grandmas!

And finally CHRISTMAS!! We decorated, Sonia baked cookies, we shopped, we wrapped, we hid the presents (like Mady was going to go looking for them LOL). Mady went to see Santa for the first time,...... she wasn't impressed, LOL! Christmas morning Mady came downstairs with her momma to find that Santa had come! Oh Boy!!! She learned how to rip paper and pull bows and for the most part mom, papa & grandma had the most fun seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child again. Scooter & Sonia put on a Christmas dinner spread that was scrumptious!! What a wonderful holiday; filled with love and joy!!  Mady went from crawling to full fledge walking and has discovered the tupperware cabinet in the kitchen!! Get your running shoes on Momma & Papa, Mady's on the move!!!

Made it back to Belize in time to celebrate New Year with Papi, but you'll have to wait for the next post to hear all about that!!!!!!  

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to All