Saturday, Sunday

I made it to the docks Saturday morning as Jay and Nancy pulled up in his boat.  I called a 'hello' out to Jay, Nancy jumped out and by the time we made it to the walkway, he was motoring back to his house building project.

By the way,  this picture from last Wednesday....that's them!  Remember the boat that pulled up and tied to the tree I was sitting under.  That was the day before I met them!

Anyway...
Off we went.  Shopping here pretty much consists of little shops run by locals that sell carved wooden bowls, hand woven cloth items, stone-carved animals, Mayan calendars and jewelry made from beads, seashells and coconuts.

Every shop sells carved wooden bowls, hand woven cloth items, stone-carved animals, Mayan calendars and jewelry made from beads, seashells and coconuts.

Many locals don't have a shop.  They lay a piece of plastic on the ground by the sidewalk and sell carved wooden bowls, hand woven cloth items, stone-carved animals, Mayan calendars and jewelry made from beads, seashells and coconuts.

Occasionally - or quite often - a local will come along carrying a backpack and ask you to look at a few things they make and sell.  If you agree, they open the backpack and remove carved wooden bowls, hand woven cloth items, stone-carved animals, Mayan calendars and jewelry made from beads, seashells and coconuts.

Nancy bought a few things.  She's leaving Tuesday for Wisconsin.  I'm still 'just looking' - don't want to spend all my souvenir money in the first week!

We walked and talked for a long time.  All the way up the beach to Chabil Mar, a beautiful resort, then back to town along the main road.

Nancy lived in Alaska for 20+ years, that's where she met Jay.  Many of those years she lived in a cabin with no running water!  She's a biologist and a dog sledder and we find lots to chat about.

Back in town we went to the De Tatch Cafe for lunch.

Since Jay's busy building, Nancy and I decided to take another excursion Monday, maybe Mayan ruins and cave tubing in underground rivers.  If we go together, Nancy gets away from the construction site and I get to go cave tubing with someone who will make sure I come out the other end!

I left Nancy at the docks when we saw Jay's boat and made my way home stopping at Wallen's, the grocer next to my apartment to pick up a few things.  The guy behind me at checkout said 'hi'.  Turns out it was Jay!  He'd ridden his bike to this end of town to get supplies before heading home.  This was the first I've seen him up close.  He looks just like what you'd imagine some dude from Alaska who moved to Belize to build a house and sail boats would look like - think Mike Rowe's slightly younger brother.

Sunday = Slowday.

Cleaned the apartment - in a split second with only 2 rooms!

Did some laundry.

That's the laundomat - 2 washers, 2 dryers.

Chatted with a Gibnut while my laundry ran.

It reminded me of Cricket, our dog.  A mellow, citrus eating Cricket.  OK, it's small and brown and has pretty eyes - that's about the only resemblance, really.

Walked to the docks and saw this little reminder of home:

The motors on boats wear t-shirts to keep the paint from weathering too badly (so said Ebar), and this one was sporting a Phillies shirt!

I ended up back at De Tatch for a sandwich

That older couple across the way spent nearly their whole meal with her staring out at the view and him with his arms crossed, either barely said a word to each other.  If that's the alternative, I guess I'd just as soon travel alone!  It made me a little sad.  And then I saw this:

                                                                                LOL
Tomorrow - Lubaantun!!

DAYS 8 & 9: Shopping Saturday, Quiet Sunday