The Dry Season

It is May the 17th and we have not had rain in weeks.  It tried to rain the other night.  Lightening lit up the sky and thunder sent the dogs under the bed, but the rain just about squeezed out a few large drops on the zinc roof and then gave up.  Every morning a bright red sun pushes up over the horizon and tries to see through the hot haze.  The air seems to have a pulse and the trees are aching to bend in a breeze.  At night the moon has a haunted glow and there are rings around it like a coloring page left in the rain.  At night it is hard to breathe the smoke filled air from all the brush fires.  Only a few more weeks until the rain comes.

Sunday, Mangoes and the River

Today is Sunday.  The sun is very hot, even with a good cloud cover.  We all came home from fried chicken with fried rice and felt the need to relax.  Ron is on the veranda watching the car race with his bag of trail mix.  I am in my office with the a/c and a bag of jelly beans.  I love the black ones, but I keep getting tricked with the purple ones.  My book is good but I keep drifting off.  Got to love a lazy day!  The boys picked mangoes from the tree down by our school.  They are big and turning reddish.  They slice them up and put them in ziploc bags.  In some foil they put some consomme, salt and pepper.  They filled up a couple of empty plastic soft drink bottles with water and then threw tire tubes over their shoulders and headed for a float down the river.  Irma and Elbia filled up two big tubs with water and took their bags of mangoes out in the sun.  They are laying submerged to their necks with a mango slice in each hand.  Quiet giggling turns into bubbles every now and then as they go under to cool their heads.  Glendy and Stephanie took their bags of mango slices across the field and down to the river to sit in the cool water and relax.  They are full of funny stories and they love to talk about cooking and baking.  Maybe they will come up with a good idea for a snack tonight!  I love it when they get together and talk food!

Yes, it is a lovely day in Belize.  Now I know what God did on the seventh day.  He ate mangoes and floated down the river, or maybe he crossed a field and sat in the water, or maybe he listened to Adam and Eve giggling in the sunshine! Back to my jellybeans!

WASH DAY!

I walked down the winding path keeping an eye on the ground under my feet while I pushed aside the branches that intruded on the narrow space.  In one hand I held my closed umbrella and in the other was a five gallon bucket filled with dirty laundry.  I followed the girls down the hill, but most of the time they were skipping ahead and calling out to each other.  Even little Melvin who is going to be three this week was running as fast as his little legs could carry him.  Nidia, the children’s mom, came behind me with the baby perched on her hip.  We talked all the way down to the road.  I put the bucket down for a moment.  I looked across and just caught sight of Elbia and Dani disappearing into the bush.  The clouds had cleared and the sun was hot as we picked our way into the tangled bushes.  I was surprised to see in front of me a quickly moving stream of water.  It flowed over a cement block wall and made a clear pool that looked so refreshing.  Delmi sat on the side wall of this dam and then slid into the water.  She lifted her head up suddenly and sent a sparkling spray of water drops all around us.  The girls set up smooth stones in the gap of the wall where the water was spilling over in a steady stream.  Melvin found the laundry soap and 4 year old Dani put her jeans on the stone as she prepared to beat them on it.   Irma was going to mind the baby while Nidia washed the three buckets of clothes. Her gentleman had brought down the next two buckets on the handles of his bicycle.  I can’t believe he rode down that path that I could barely navigate on foot.  We set the buckets near the water that had started to turn a little milky.  Someone was washing upstream just a few hundred feet.  I found my umbrella which had somehow wandered over near the children, and so gave my last minute instructions to Irma and Elbia.  ”Make sure that you are helpful.”  Before submerging themselves, they each gave a firm, “Yes, mum.”  Nidia gave a little laugh and then took in a small breath.  ”This will take all day.”  I smiled and wondered if she was referring to the laundry or to the dirty faces looking at us.  Wash day at the creek includes bathing the children and cleaning the hair.  The splashing and giggling continued as I walked back out to the street.  What a great way to spend the day with your children!  But I think that I will go home and turn on the washing machine.

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR

It was New Year’s Eve and approaching 2pm in the afternoon.  The sun was bright and getting hotter.  I went out to close the gate that had blown open and that is when I saw the wave approaching.  It was a crowd of kids on their way to our house.  Red, blue, yellow, pink and every other color moving in the sunlight.  From the distance they appeared to be balloons bouncing up and down along the road.  I sent the white pick up to carry them the rest of the way.  As the truck came through the gate, I could hear the cheering of so many high-pitched happy voices.  In seconds they all came off the truck bed.  Shadayah helped Emily and Gregory and Justin jumped over the side.  Even little Shelton had come!  They came in all different sizes and ages and filled the yard within no time.  The girls screamed with delight as I showed them to the girls’ dorm and the boys were all muttering with not so well concealed pleasure as they claimed their beds in the boys dorm.  This was the New Year’s sleep over that the Blackman Eddy kids would talk about for months to come!

After settling into the rooms, the kids all spread out for basketball, bicycle riding, football, play kitchen and matchbox cars.  Twenty-one kids all over the place.  There was shouting, laughing, squealing and crying!  At three o’clock we broke out the ideals (Belizean ice pops) and then things got happy again.  The girls spent the afternoon and evening taking showers with the hot water and shampoo.  The boys hung out on the bunk beds and impressed me by reading books from the library!  What a bunch of kiss-ups!  At 5:oo pm we had supper.  Everyone was so excited to sit at the long table together.  They gasped with delight when I brought out the toasted bread – with cheese!  Grilled cheese for you Americans!  Some of the kids had five of them and three cups of juice!  They were thrilled.  Everyone ate till they were full and then went back to the dorms to sit on the beds and take more showers.  The younger ones sat at the picnic tables and colored.

At 6:30 we piled in the bus and went to church for the New Year’s Eve Service.  When we got home we had snacks and watched a movie.  Most of the kids decided to skip the movie and ran to the dorms to lay on the beds or take another shower!  At 11pm we all went into the dorm rooms.  I slept with 15 girls and Andrew went in with the six boys.  Something didn’t seem right with the math, but it was a lot of fun.  I shared a big bed with Shemona and Reniesha.  As we all got comfy in our beds, they asked me to tell them a story. I told them the story of the Princess and the Pea.  Half of them fell asleep but most of them were enjoying the time together.  Emily, who is six, kept getting out of bed because she just wanted to play.  Jena made sure that I knew what was going on.  They started comparing notes on who had come to my preschool.  Almost all of them had, but Emily is still at our school in Infant 2. As she was the youngest girl there it made her feel a little special!

The boys dorm was quiet until 12pm.  Then the fun started.  Raheem and Shemar were jumping from bed to bed, on the top bunks.  You can tell that it was a man chaperoning!  They took out all the toy cars and lined them up under the beds and had pillow fights.  But then it quieted down and all was asleep at Oasis Nation. Six o’clock in the morning everyone started to wake up.  Happy New Year!  And it was, we all ate pancakes with syrup in the dining room. We piled them all in the truck after one more shower for the girls and another drive around the yard on the bikes for the boys.  They waved goodbye with the most beautiful smiles.

Today I found out that they all want to know if they can come at 4 o’clock this Friday!  I think I’ll have them wait until the next team comes!

The Nest is Never Empty

Last week, Elbia and I decided to go and visit her mom.  Her sister, Delmi had asked me on Sunday if I would come and talk with her.  It was raining off and on all morning and it is a bit of a walk to the house.  Finally in the early evening the rain had let up enough.  The clouds were still gray but there was only a light drizzle.  Elbia and I jumped in the truck and started up the road.  We turned off the highway at the Caribbean Citrus sign and took the dirt road up the hill.  It has actually stayed fairly clean since the grader passed through a few months ago.  Further up the road the bush was looking so overgrown that I almost missed the turn off.  Elbia has good eyes and she reminded me that this was the road.  (It actually looked more like a small path where it met the road.)  The grass was at least five feet high and very thick.  We turned up and drove to Elbia’s grandmother’s house.  Gladis loves flowers.  Her yard is almost magical with all the bushes and plants with pretty flowers.  My yard is all green, but she has pink, purple, cream and red flowers all over.  We got out of the truck and I called to Enilda, Elbia’s 12 year old auntie, to make sure that the dogs were all accounted for and under control.  She laughed and called back to me that all was well and I could come around the vehicle.  I hailed Enilda and then said my not so great Spanish greetings to Gladis.  The woman is always smiling and happy to see me.  I passed under their house and started up the path that leads to Nidia’s house.  The path is a fairly steep upward climb but the worst is that it is very rocky and uneven.  It takes a lot of concentration to make the walk successfully.  It is especially difficult with sandals!  They flip flop and slide out from under my feet constantly.  I really need to think about shoes or sneakers for days like this!  We passed the out house and out door shower and then turned to the left and continued to make the climb.  Nidia does this all the time with three little ones!  As we were about to make the last left turn I started to call out “Good evening” so that they would know I was approaching.  When I came in sight of the house, I saw Nidia running around and Delmi jumping up and down.  The baby was in the hammock and the other two small ones were sitting on the dirt floor.  The house is made of boards that are randomly put together.  There is no door and only two beds in the house.  The floor is packed and swept dirt.  Nidia was cooking over a fire.  She has a gas tank but it is too far to carry it to the main road to get the gas filled.  The air is sweet with the smell of the orange blossoms on the hill around them and the smoke from the wood fire.  There is a slight chill in the air from the drizzle and low hanging clouds, but no one is dressed for it.

So we get down to business.  Delmi tells me that she wants to come back and stay with us.  I know that she is in need of a safe place.  I asked Nidia how she feels about it and she only replies, “Whatever you want, Ms. Linda.”  I am not sure how to answer this except that I can see in Delmi’s face that I had better say yes.  So I do, I say yes.  Then Nidia informs me that little Dani is also packed and ready to come along with Delmi because she does not want to sleep in her bed alone.  Dani has come and stayed with us before for various reasons and she has never been very happy about it.  So I figure she will maybe stay one night.  That is fine because she has preschool the next day and then she could go home on the bus.  No problem if it makes it easier for Delmi.  So we trudge down the hill with two cardboard boxes and three backpacks filled with clothes that do not fit anyone and books for school.  I do love walking and it is a good evening for the walk.  The rain has still held off, probably because I have remembered to carry my umbrella.  As we pass the grandmother’s house she starts to laugh and tell me that her two little ones want to come as well.  Fortunately she is laughing!  Enilda smiles at me and says, “Ms. Linda, you must really love them.”  I smile and think to myself it is true.  Jesus has given me a real love for these children who really need us to just be here when they need us.

Well, that was a while ago and Dani is still not homesick!  Oh, well, what is two more in the nest anyway.

Meditating in the Mud

It is an amazing thing that happens when earth and water mix.  I can remember as a young girl we would play on the beach on Long Island and the mixture of sand and water was wonderful.  The sand castles were glorious.  But now I live in Belize, up in the Maya Mountains on the edge of the rain forest.  Earth and water are a whole new story. There is this substance that is called “mud” in simple terms.  But there is nothing simple about the mud around here.  This mud has a mind of it’s own.  When you step into the dark, shiny stuff, you begin to feel a kind of slippery sensation.  Soon you realize that you cannot bring your foot up without releasing you shoe.  We are generally wearing slippers (flip flops).  As you begin to lift your foot, you feel the top pieces of your slipper stretching.  If you have been quick enough, the bottom of the slipper will suddenly let out a gasp and the footwear will slap up in the air with bits of this mud spraying all about.  Most of it will end up on your unsuspecting legs.  However, most likely there will be no release.  At least not without some sort of casualty.  A slipper left behind, part of a slipper left behind or maybe just a royal plop of your own behind.  Anyway, it is usually not pretty.  Perhaps the one advantage is that the mud that has accumulated on the bottom of your shoe or slipper can add inches to your height!

So, as I am standing at the lower gate, waiting for Ron and Melvin to chase the horse in (he escaped through the hurricane damaged fence this morning), I am reflecting on the mud beneath my feet.  My sandal is stuck and I am a little wary of slipping at just the most inappropriate moment.  I can see all the bugs that are freely hovering about the mud.  They have left their own imprints on my legs to be enjoyed at a later time (I will be itching all night).  I can also see where the bus slid along the edge of the driveway and just missed the gate.  On the other side of the fence is something, I am really not sure what, that has been sitting in the mud for days.  It might be a bottle, or a plastic cup, or who knows what.  Anyway, it is being preserved because there is no way that it can be extricated from the mire at this point.  Well, here comes the horse, I believe it is Beans.  He seems happy enough to be coming in the  gate.  As he makes the turn I am ready to close the gate behind him.  He decides now would be the time to move a little quicker, but I didn’t warn him about the mud.  Oops, he is slipping, oops, I am stuck!  He recovers.  I sigh a big relieved sigh, but I am still stuck!

Look both ways before you stop!

I was coming out of my craft shed when Allison passed by and muttered something about selling his car.  We stopped to talk for a few minutes.  I was standing on the small wooden walk.  Suddenly, my feet were being chewed upon by a million red fire ants.  Whoever wrote the song about the ants marching one by one was not talking about red fire ants.  It took a minute to register, and then I looked down at my feet.  I started to yell and dance up and down.  ”Oh, my goodness (breathless), oh my goodness (less breathless, more emphasis) OH MY GOODNESS, THIS HURTS!” I ran as fast as I could(which isn’t so very fast, however it was enough) to the water pipe on the veranda.  I didn’t even bother to take off my sandals.  The water couldn’t come cold enough or strong enough.  ”Oh, my, oh, my.”  They had reached my capris and I was getting a little panicky.  ”Oh, this hurts so much!”  Yes, I was such a baby, no excuses, just the facts.  When being attacked by fire ants there is no room for decorum or courage.  It is all about relief.  After finally brushing them off of my sandals, they are tenacious, I ran inside and filled a basin with hot water and baking soda.  I could only think of getting my feet in that water and I was dreaming of relief.  I pushed my feet into the water and felt the panic subside with the soothing of the baking soda.  I do love baking soda!  When I finally opened my eyes and looked I saw many little ants floating aimlessly in the milky water.  Ron came in to check on my and let me know that last Sunday he informed the church that he believes that mosquitos and fire ants were definitely part of the fall, they could not have been the design of a perfect creation!  Well, maybe now I will remember the rule – look both ways before you stop to chat – up for sun or rain clouds, down for fire ants!

 

Daily treasures

Despite the threat of a hurricane, Tiffany and I hauled the chairs and tables on the back of the truck up to the Spanish church to the back of Blackman Eddy.  It is less than a mile from the highway and yet it is in the bush.  On Sunday mornings Tiffany and I have a Sunday school for the children back there.  They all come from Spanish speaking families so they are learning English at the same time! They range in age from 2 to 12 years old.  Most of them are in the middle range.  This morning we learned about David and Goliath.  Esnider got to stand on a chair and pretend he was the giant.  There was the problem that Esnider always has a smile.  So Darwin gave him lessons on making a mean face.  He lowered his eyebrows, squinted his eyes and tightened his lips into a straight line and growled.  Esnider tried to do the same and we all agreed it was good enough.  Nigel was David and everyone cheered when Goliath fell to the floor(somewhat carefully) and David cut off his head.  Later while we were cutting out stick puppets, Jaleel cut off David’s head.  Everyone was laughing and telling Jaleel that he cut off the wrong head!

After we repacked the truck, we took off down the dirt road.  The ruts and holes are definitely a challenge with the back bed full of tables and chairs.  The children help to load it up and so sometimes things can be situated rather precariously on top of each other.  A few yards down the road we stopped and asked Ingrid, Shelby and Rigo if they wanted a ride down to their houses.  As they jumped and climbed into the back of the truck, I was noticing the trees across the way.  All of a sudden a black bird flew in front of us and coasted in for a landing on a tree limb just a few feet away.  The tree limb seemed to be really weighted down but the bird wasn’t all that big.  I kept watching out of curiosity and saw that the branch continued to bounce around.  Then the bird turned his head.  It was bright yellow.  As he reached up for a small plum, I saw the long, curved beak.  He hopped around again and I saw the red and green under him.  I have to admit, I went a little crazy.  ”Tiff, look, it’s a toucan.  Right in front of us!”  Sure enough, it was.  What a brilliant but odd looking bird he was.  He had a plum in his beak, which was almost the same size as his body and he  was bouncing away on the tree branch.  It is so amazing how perfectly God colors in the lines with his birds.  Red, green, yellow and black, all of them inside the lines to make a perfectly colored toucan.

The hurricane has begun its trip up the Hummingbird Highway and I am snug in my house thinking about a morning full of the little treasures that make life so full of joy.  Esnider and his smiley face in spite of living circumstances that would dampen any spirit and a toucan in the tree to remind me of God’s perfect attention to detail.  Thank you, God, for the reminders!

Feeding the 5,000 – well, maybe the 25!

Last Saturday seemed to be a homework marathon.  We had so many high school students here doing their projects and math homework. On one veranda, the girls were working on the water cycle.  They even learned Ms. Heather’s song from the Infant School to teach to their class.  On the next veranda, someone was working on a barometer or something while the others were wading through pages of math.  Well, in the middle of all of this, twelve o’clock arrives and we start to put out a lunch.  Heather and I just kept pulling out whatever we could find.  Hot dogs, cheese, some left over macaroni, fried eggs and fried spam and then lots of bread.  When the lunch bell rang we seemed to have a flood into the dining room.  Girls, boys, children and the Oasis staff.  We all seated ourselves.  I looked around the table and felt how blessed we were.  Some of the kids I had just met, most of them I have known for a long time.  It was especially wonderful to see the kids I have known and had to the house many times welcoming and sharing with the other kids.  Kindness is contagious.  We all bowed to pray for our food, I especially prayed that the Lord would multiply what we had set out!  As we began to eat I was blessed to hear the conversation around the table.  All good, kind words and lots of fun. Our mission in Belize is to care, connect and cultivate.  It was so encouraging to sit around the table and see that our mission was being accomplished and it is also being carried on by the kids that we have been ministering to. Water may travel in a cycle, but I think that kindness does as well!

INSECT INVASION

On the corner of the veranda on the second floor, there are some very busy bees.  The hum is getting louder everyday.  They obviously have quite a bit of honey in the overhang of our roof.  But what to do?

Next we had our annual visit from the “cleaning ants”.  They march through the house cleaning it out.  It is like a black wave that just overwhelms the house. They get rid of unwanted guests, such as scorpions, spiders and I am told even snakes!  They also are quite aggressive if you get in their way.  I forgot that they were on the front steps of the office.  I stood there knocking on the door and all of a sudden I felt the full effect of their bite.  They must have incredible teeth and powerful jaws.  It took quite a few hours for the pain to subside.

The next morning we wake up to find all the bees huddled and buzzing in a huge pile on the cement beneath their honey pot, my veranda.  Melvin immediately gets on the phone to our neighbor.  He has bee suits and men who are willing to play with these creatures.  They come over and don their suits, take two steps towards the horde of bees and suddenly…yes, just like in the old cartoons.  The bees all fly up in a swarm and go off across the yard.

The bee guys tell us that what has happened is that the cleaning ants have chased away the bees.  It is war!  There were casualties from both sides on the cement.  If the ants do really win, we are good because they will continue on their sanitation journey through the jungle.  However, if the bees have only left to wait out the siege of the ants, we are once again in trouble.  Bees like to stay and protect their stuff!