Sue writing on August 16th:
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| Our home: The Sea Glass Cottage Our home is working out very nicely. It is well equipped and the location is perfect, right on the water, with a nice sea breeze most evenings. We have a porch in front with a hammock and chairs. The water pressure in the shower could be better, but there is hot, running water. We have arranged for internet access at the house but it is spotty at best and we have better luck getting access at the clinic. If you email me and I do not respond right away, I am not ignoring you, I just haven’t been able to log on. Laundry is a bit of a challenge. Right now we are paying to have it done at one of two laundry services in town. After 25 years it is difficult not having a washing machine in the house. We have been eating well; usually cooking at home (Len is doing most of the cooking). We go to the market, usually on Saturdays for fresh vegetables and fruits. The mangos, pineapple, watermelons and avocados are especially good and Len is enamored with Dragon fruit, which is kind of like a large, bright pink Kiwi. We have tried craboo, callilou, plantain and loofah. Bread fruit has just come into season so we will try that soon as well. This weekend we got fresh fish and shrimp at the market. Navigating the fish market is an experience, with its own unwritten rules. The stores in town have everything we need, including tea, which Len points out to me any opportunity that he can (I brought down a year’s worth of tea because the last time we were here it was hard to find). Our home is right next to Dan and Maria (and their daughter Nicki) which has been a real bonus. We are able to share rides to work, which is especially helpful for them right now as their car has been in the shop for the last 2 weeks waiting for a part (things move slowly down here). Our car is a 13 year old Isuzu Rodeo, stick shift. The 2 back doors and windows are hard to open and the radio does not work, but the air conditioning works well and I am managing a stick shift fairly well. Dan and Maria have had us over for dinner twice and we have reciprocated once. On the other side of the house is the Coral House Inn, a lovely Bed and Breakfast run by Rick and Darla, ex-pats from Idaho. They have been very helpful as they manage our house for the owner so know all the ins and outs of the house. We went to a fund raiser there the other night for a crocodile sanctuary. It featured local drummers and a fire dancer. The woman doing the fire dancing is a PhD student from UCLA who is down here working on her thesis. The husband of the couple who runs the sanctuary used to play guitar with Bob Denver and treated us to some very good folk music (I am not making this up). All the ex-pats down here seem to have a story! This weekend we are heading up to Burrell Boom, a town up north near a “Baboon Sanctuary” (actually black howler monkeys which the locals call baboons) where we hope to do some hiking. |
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| The view of the ocean from our front door |
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| Sue was destined to own an Izuzu someday |
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