Another day at sea!

Our second port was Belize City where instead
of stepping off the boat onto a dock, we were ushered into tenders to be taken ashore. I'm sitting at the back of the boat taking a picture of our cruise ship.

Coley and I got off to do the calypso train ride around Belize City which is only 5 miles wide.
While we were waiting for the tour Coley and I made our way around some of the shops.



Notice the beautiful bag Coley got in Costa Maya. I saw this shop and if you were to see the sign above the doorway you'd read "hanna tattoos". I thought maybe they were giving Hanna Montanna tattoos for all the american kids as they got off the ship, but it was just a clerical error which they corrected in the sign to my right.

Here's a picture taken from the calypso train. It's the muslim school. Belize takes great pride in being multi-cultural. Our tour guide was a very comedic young woman named Tracy. She also told us that they have no welfare system in Belize, so if someone doesn't work, they don't eat. Belize was formerly British Honduras and became self-governing in 1964, but because they were a British held colony, everyone speaks english. However, they do have their own speech which they call Belizean, a combination of spanish, caribbean and slang. The only thing funny I remember her saying is in Belize they also eat iguanas. When foreigners come and try it they say "it tastes like chicken, but we say no, no, no, chicken tastes like iguanas".

A lighthouse to the left.

This is the home where Queen Elizabeth stayed before Honduras became a free country. It's now a musuem.

And, finally, what a way to end our stay in Belize. Our little amigitas (little buddies) playing "our song". "So long, farewell, yada, yada, yada...

well you get the hint!!!!!

The Cruise Begins

Here's the ship, the Norwegian "Spirit" as we begin our celebration of Beverly's 48th birthday and mine and Coley's 60th birthday. As you can see, it didn't take us long to find the pub and to dive into our first of many delicious drinks. The cup Coley is holding actually made it back to New Orleans and now has a home at Bev's pool.

So here we are still in port, waiting for the ship to disembark. As you can see Coley and I didn't waste any time in getting to our second drink. Ooolala, good thing they had high railings all around the ship and I'm happy to report not one single "man overboard" happened while we were on board.

This was taken as we disembarked in Costa Maya, Mexico. I took this picture but was informed I was not supposed to. They had photographers at each port taking pictures of people with various costumed creatures. Here we have Coley and Bev decked out for a day of fun in the sun with Mr. Dolphin, who looks like he's ready for the fiesta.

Now, here's my favorite picture. Coley with her new boyfriend who's from Brazil. OMG, what a hunk!!!! Doesn't he look just like Gilles Marini from Sex In The City and Dancing With The Stars. Look how sweet they look together. Back girls, back!!!!!!

We are at Boh Beach, absolutely beautiful white sand beach and we've paid $25.00 to be at the beach and have all our drinks for free. What a great day, talked with several of the locals and even had a guy tell me about a local pastry called Sol Buto (I think) which is a corn tortilla puff pastry filled with chicken, with a slice of jalapeno on top and a sauce which made it even spicier. For all you mexican food lovers out there, this was one of the best food items I had all week and it was sold out of a street vendor's cart.

Back on board ship, headed to our next port, Belize City, I took this picture of the sun going down. The weather was so beautiful, every day warm, very few clouds and mid to high 80's temperatures. Couldn't ask for more. The other thing we liked about this particular cruise line, is the free-style dining. We could eat any time of the day or night at any number of restaurants, all included in the price of our ticket. So as the sun goes down on this day, I, too, am signing off for the night. It's amazing how tired one can get from being on vacation, but I'm whipped this evening.

Hope all are well and surviving the horrible winter storms. Hope these pictures send some warmth your way!!!!

ESTA TAMBIEN PASO!!

The phrase above means "this too shall pass". Why this phrase has stuck with me, I'm not sure, but I've been thinking about it for several days.

This morning when we finished with water aerobics, I heard the surf pounding the shoreline and took this picture. You can see a little of the white surf coming in, but the sound was really amazingly loud, much louder than any we've heard since I got here in October. But, this too shall pass, and we will soon find ourselves in the hottest part of the year here in Costa Rica.

Tomorrow, the 13th we leave here for a flight to Atlanta (hopefully we will be able to get in and out) and on to New Orleans. We'll stay in NOLA until Sunday, then onto Norwegian Cruise Lines for a wonderful seven-day cruise to such ports as Cozumel, Costa Maya, Belize and finally Roatan Island. The only excursion we've signed up for is a day of swimming with the dolphins. I hope to have some great pictures to post when we get back. We arrive back in NOLA on the 23rd for five whole days of playing in New Orleans with our sister, Beverly, then back to Costa Rica on the 28th. We are sooooooo excited about being in a different place, different food, different people, different scenery, different climate, well, you get the picture.

But, this too shall pass!! Such is life, here today, gone tomorrow. Enjoy each moment while you can for it shall not pass this way again. . .

While we are in New Orleans, if you get a hankering to talk to either Coley, myself, or Beverly, please call us at 504.388.0393. Don't forget, Beverly's birthday is January 15th and mine and Coley's 60th is February 15th. Yep, that's right, the big 60. It's still hard to believe we are as old as our mother, how in the world did that happen, and so quickly!!!

But, alas, this too shall pass!!!!!

The Philosopher's Corner

Today, I'm going to quote from a book Coley and I are studying everyday. It's called "The Book of Awakening: Having the Life you Want by Being Present to the Life you Have" by Mark Nepo, and it's a daily guide.

The message for January 4th started with a quote from the singer/songwriter James Taylor,
"we could never have guessed
we were already blessed
where we are. . ."

Then Mark Nepo tells the story of a . . ." woman who found a folded sponge all dried and compressed, and tucked inside the hardened fold was a message she'd been seeking. She carried the hardened sponge to the sea and, up to her waist in the deep, she watched it unfold and come to life in the water. Magically, the secret of life became visible in the bubbles being released from the sponge, and to her amazement, a small fish, trapped in sleep in the hardened sponge, came alive and swam out to sea. From that day on, no matter where she went, she felt the little fish swimming in the deep, and this - the swimming of the little fish that had for so long been asleep gave her a satisfaction that was somewhere between peace and joy.

Whatever our path, whatever the color or grain of our day, whatever riddles we must solve to stay alive, the secret of life somehow always has to do with the awakening and freeing of what has been asleep. Like that sponge, our very heart begs to unfold in the waters of our experience, and like that little fish, the soul is a tiny thing that brings us peace and joy when we let it swim.

But everything remains hard and compressed and illegible until, like this woman, waist deep in the ocean, we take our sleeping heart in our hands and plunge it tenderly into the life we are living."

May these words and this story open the heart of your soul and may you find yourself swimming in a world filled with peace and joy!!!

Namaste'

Jumping In With Both Feet

Whew!!! 5 days into the new year, WOW!!!! Is it my imagination or did the first five days fly by. In eight days Coley and I will be on our way to NOLA and then our cruise. To say we are both really excited, well, let's just say we are both a bit giddy about the whole adventure.

Now, for those of you who think I only go to the pool, let me correct your impression by saying I have already been to the ocean for my semi-annual visit. Coley and I had planned on going to the pool just a couple of days ago. However, there were lots of families here with small children all playing in and about the pool area. So I said "let's go to the ocean" and Coley's response was "really, to the ocean???!!!" Guess I made her day and probably her year. We had a great time, the weather was partly cloudy, the water was perfect and we were in the ocean for almost two hours. Then when I got to my chair and sat down I felt something biting my foot and looked down to see ants all over my right foot, biting the crap out of me. I scrambled back to the ocean while Coley moved our chairs closer to the water.

Monday, Coley, Freckles, Mike and I headed out to San Jose. We needed to get some papers filled out at the embassy so Mike and Freckles offered to drive us. What a great trip. It's about a 5hour drive from Coco, closer to the Caribbean side of the country. I took this picture of the beautiful sunset but as you can see, I was in a moving car and didn't get a real good picture. The other one is of me and Coley in front of the american consulate. We were all quite impressed with the speed with which we were in and out and it was quite refreshing to hear english spoken so well. All went well and we headed for the local Wal-mart in San Jose. It's called Maxi-Bodega in Costa Rica, but the shopping is still the same, lots of stuff, lots of way to spend your money.

As we were driving back to Coco, Mike took us by way of Nicoya Peninsula and the Gulf of Nicoya. Apparently this is close to where Mel Gibson has his home, which I've heard is now on the market.

And, here's a bit of news, it appears the Joan Rivers came over to vacation and when she got to the airport in Liberia, she had a boarding ticket with the wrong name on it and they wouldn't let her board. Apparently she had to go to San Jose to the consulate, also, to get it straightened out. Then we read where Rush Limbaugh, in his opposition to the health care plan, has decided he would fly to Costa Rica for his health care rather than use the health care plan in the U.S. I have to say I have been very impressed with the system of care they have here. Coley has been to have scan done and was given the results immediately to bring back to her doctor in Coco. When you go to the pharmacy here, you don't really have to have a prescription in order to get them refilled, unless it's something like narcotic type drugs.

Enough for now. It was so great talking to all of you during the holidays. Coley and I both really enjoy having access to our phone and to be able to talk to family and friends for free. So if we cross your mind, please pick up the phone and give us a call, 505.990.8180. Until then, I send love!!!!

Jumping In With Both Feet