A Day Off

Hey everyone

Well we have been here for three weeks now. I am actually used to the heat and the smells and loving my daily walks in NO SNOW! Not to sure of the food though besides the chicken bits I get occasionally, I am running low on my Little Caesar's and mom and dad have been supplementing a locally made dog food. I don't think I like it very much. It has funny things in it like fruit and stuff ewww. But I guess I will get used to it if I have too.  Who said I was a spoiled dog???

It rained a bit yesterday, made it really humid outside. Like it is not humid all the time LOL.

Most things are closed on a Sunday in Belize, kind of like it used to be back home years ago I am told. People actually have a life here and whole day to spend it with there families even the ones with less money. Not like home where it is usually the poorer people that have to work weekends and holidays. Although more and more businesses are opening 7 days a week back home, a person is hard pressed to find a business that is closed on a Sunday or holiday. The society we live in back home is so commercially oriented that family is an after thought. Oh My God what would people do if they could not go shopping every day and all night to spend all there money and fill the big gaping empty holes in there emotional lives! How would they be happy? How would they survive? I think that if all the things that are bought and thrown away still good every year in Canada could supply the people here with houses so full of things they would never have to worry about shopping for anything again.

People live such a simpler life here. You buy your dishes, from a choice of three different patterns and types if your lucky and you keep them forever, you do not go out and buy a new pattern and style every time you turn around. Where at home we have towels and blankets to supply an army here you are lucky to have one blanket for each bed and one towel each. No cupboards full of things you never use. No garage sales to get rid of all the stuff you thought was great deal and could not pass up and never used, only used once, put away and forgot about it . . . . . . No second had stores to sell new-used stuff that people don't want once they bought it. People are not drowning in stuff here and that gives them time for family. Family is very important here. People are less stressed, healthier, more relaxed and more friendly.   They are not madly running around looking for more stuff to buy. There is none! You can walk into the clinic and see the doctor as soon as you walk in because people are not as sick from the stress of working there butts off to buy stuff.

It is so nice to relax and enjoy life for a change.

Well off to get ready for my walk
Bark at you later

Got pillows

Well I am happy to report we found pillows. After searching high and low through it seemed every store in town, we went into two stores yesterday that we had not been in and low and behold they had bed pillows! Lots and lots of bed pillows! This is very good as I was beginning to despair as I love pillows. Ya I am a bit of a lazy spoiled dog and I like to lay on pillows and under pillows, what can I say? I like big fluffy blankets and quilts too, that we have found but in short supply and very expensive. So we continue to search for a quilt.

There are lots and lots of dogs here. Most of them are pretty well looked after from what I see, a few without homes though. There is one that lives two houses down from us someone said it is only 5 months old. It is a pit bull and it is locked in a 3ft. x 3ft box 24 hours a day 7 days a week. We saw the man who owns it take it out twice tie it on a short chain to a piece of cement and poke it with a stick :-O poor puppy. Where does it go to the bathroom? I would not like to be locked up like that all the time. Mom and dad think it is being trained to be a fighting dog, poor dog :-(
Sadly there seems to be no stopping the cruelty of the world and peoples hunger for it that feeds it.

Mom keeps laughing at me for trying to eat the pigeon feathers on the deck. I say if you can't have the pigeon. . . . .

The weather sure does change fast here. When we got here in mid October the weather was plus 30 felt like plus 40 and not much cooler at night so hot! Now it is a lot cooler around plus 30 and feels like plus 32 and it even goes down to 20 or less at night. That is so much easier to sleep it is a lot like summer back home now. Thank goodness we are not back home mom says she read it is snowing like crazy and cold. I am so appreciating coming her now it we were back in Canada my daily walks would have stopped by now!

I am off to get ready for the day, the maid comes today to clean its nice. Everything gets very dusty here! Only problem is she comes in the morning so I have to wait until after lunch to go for my walk. Oh well the sacrifices I make so we can have dust free house and a clean toilet, not that I use the toilet, but the gardener does pick up my poopies so it is the same thing I guess haha!

Check ya later!

Bacon anyone??

Well even though I am not allowed to eat much bacon I do love the smell of bacon. Okay I love the smell of all meat :-)

Funny thing here in Belize there is very little smoked meat. Ham, bacon anything like that is more expensive and hard to come by. There is bologna and hotdogs, both which taste really good, mom always shares with me! The liver if you are a liver fan is to die for!

Something else I miss is the doggy treats. Coming from a country that has whole stores dedicated to spoiling me (and others like me) it is a bit of a culture shock to come to a country that has no dog treats. Not a milk bone, dental bone, beggin strip or snausage to be had. :-( So I miss the treats! Thats okay though mom and dad are missing there favorite treats too. There are Pringles here but mom has not bought any yet says it is healthier not too, but I think she really is feeling sorry for me that I have no treats so she is abstaining from treats for herself to make me feel better.

There is a little thing you can buy here that when you deep fry it, it puffs up and makes a crispy rice type treat. They sell them in bags in the stores back home but we do not remember the name. Luckily for us mom actually knew what it was when we saw them in bulk bags in the store and knew if she fried them they would turn into a treat. Who knew? Glad she knew this too, she said a friend showed her them when she was in college and so lucky us it is one of those strange things that do not confuse us here! Dad did not believe her she had to prove it.

Everyone is so friendly, and I think we are starting to slow down like the local Belizeans. Learning to relax and enjoy the sun and breeze. I love my daily walk! So do mom and dad I think. It is funny we walk at least a mile sometimes two miles a day and we are enjoying it! Imagine that mom and dad enjoying walking. I think it is easier to do when everyone does it and you fit in, your not the only person walking down the road for miles around. Something funny that we noticed was a lot of people riding there peddle bikes listening to there music, like playing the radio in the car. Makes us chuckle. 

Something we saw when we were on our walk was a home that had 'plywood for rent' it was funny. Not really unreasonable though as nothing we have seen was built with plywood. Slats and boards and bricks and cement. But no plywood.

A lot of people use corrugated steal for fencing. It think it is old roofing material and must be easy to come by. 

Although most people have cement and ironwork fences. They are very beautiful.

There is so much too see, (and smell) on our walks everyday.

Well off to see what the neighbour dogs are up too.
Bark at you later.

Sugar Ants

Wow it has been two weeks. I am settling in pretty good. Enjoying our daily walks and being able to sleep in the bed with mom and dad. It is a bit of a learning experience. Everyone is so less strict here! I can even go into the restaurants so I guess no health code to speak of :-)


We are combating sugar ants in the kitchen. They are persistent little buggers. Mom read that if you mix Borax and sugar and peanut butter it will kill the nest. But we have not found any Borax yet. Also corn meal kills them if you leave it out for them to eat and powdered sugar and baking soda. We are going to go get baking soda today.  Wiping the counters with vinegar or bleach constantly is supposes to help and seems to keep them down but we learned you have to have a special rag only for that if you use the dish rag it does not work because the dish rag becomes contaminated with sugars from the dirty dishes so all your doing is spreading around sugar when you wipe with a dirty dish rag. It sure inspires one to keep the kitchen clean anyway!

Other than that there really seems to be less bugs than there are back home that come into the house. A rare fly and I saw a little dead beetle once. I think that the lizards that live in the house maybe eat them all. They certainly are fun to watch, the lizards that is!


So as for people being less strict, there are so many things here that are different. I do not know if there is any electrical, building or plumbing code here at all. I don't think so. We were told that people leave there homes unfinished so they do not have to pay taxes because you do not have to pay taxes until your home is finished, so there are a lot of what look like unfinished homes here.

The neighbors house has the sink and shower water draining right on to the ground outside the house. Everything is just kind of hap hazard here. There are some really nice homes but there are also a lot of what we would consider shacks. Broken down and patched up with whatever is available. We can only imagine the plumbing and electrical in these homes.

The weather is still great we are getting used to the heat and it is actually quite cool at night and in the morning. It is still getting hot in the afternoon but not unbearable and we notice we are drinking way less water now than we were when we first came. I can actually see where once we have been here a few months we will need a jacket when it is chilly LOL 'chilly' hehe

We are off to the market again today. Have to get some fruit and some veggies for the chicken stew tonight. Plus we are out of rice so need to pick up some more rice.

Anyhoo off to get ready for the market!

Sniff ya later!

Shopping in Corozal

So I was up early with mom today and we played hide the frog squeaky, I love that game! It is good to play in the morning and later at night it gets hot during the day.

Shopping is an interesting experience here. We can find a lot of things but there are things you can't find. Everything is so readily available and plentiful in Canada. I can only imagine how exciting it is to come from here to a country like Canada and see so much stuff! Here when they say people live a simple life they sure do!

We are checking out prices and looking for things for our apartment that we move into in December. It's like a treasure hunt! There is no such thing as a department store here. The closest thing they have to one is called the A&R which carries, craft and school supplies, and household items like dishes and sheets. It is clean and modern and maybe the size of a dollar store back home. There is a pretty good variety of stuff but nothing like home. You have a choice of maybe two or three sets of pots (3 with lids) price ranging from $12 - $50 a set of dishes is running around $20 and a set of three frying pans can be from  $15 -$70 (that is our money) A queen size sheet set is going for $35-$60 a set, top and bottom sheet no pillow cases. No pillow cases, that's funny cause we have not found any bed pillows for sale anywhere in town yet either! We found some fancy Chinese pillows about the size of a bed pillow at one of the Chinese stores in town for $7. 50 each though. They are pretty too would not need a pillow case if you did not want one.  Lets see a set of cutlery ranges from $5-$15. Coffee cups and glasses are about $2 each.  Mixing bowls range from $3-$7 each and a juice jug can be had for $3-$5.

Small appliances like a coffee maker or a blender are running at about $40-$70 or more depending on where you look. We made a deal with our landlord who owns a furniture and appliance store to purchase these small appliances from him for half price when we move into our apartment. Our apartments is furnished but does not come with dishes and sheets and towels so we have to get some. When we leave we will ask our friend Carlos if we can store them at his house until we come back next year.

Mom found hangers at one store 10 for $1. 50 and clothes pins are around $1. 50 a package or 20-30 depending on the style. Face clothes and small hand towels are easy to find but larger bath towels seem to be non existent LOL. Good thing we brought two large towels with us when we came.

A lot of the local grocery stores are owned by the Chinese,  so there is a lot of Chinese themed items for sale. Personal items (everything from nail polish to hair ties) and clothing are very plentiful and not to expensive.

A broom and a mop are about $2.75 each one thing we have not found yet is a dust pan! I guess mom and dad just sweep the dirt out the door!

We can not find a digital clock anywhere there are some battery operated clocks but they do not last long in this weather I think cause there are 5 'dead' wall clocks hanging the the laundry room of our temporary apartment.

Sun screen and bug spray are very expensive here more than back in Canada for sure.  And brand names cost more money. Locally made products are cheaper.

We had to search for ground coffee, everyone drinks instant coffee here. There is no fresh cream to be had, but we heard the Mennonites sell it sometimes at the market. Refrigerated milk is rare mostly it comes in one of those square containers on the shelf. Mom wanted to make baked beans but no one has ever heard of molasses here.

As for frivolous things to decorate your house with you can pretty much forget it there are a few things but nothing like a good spoiled Canadian would expect to find. No huge store dedicated to kitchen, bedroom or living room decorating. We did notice a lot of Christmas decorations coming out at the A&R store though. Some of them are nice could be used year round!

We have not found any candles yet, for when the power goes out here which is quite often we hear. But we still have a few stores to look in. We have not even scratched the surface of a store in town called Cinty's! Imagine a hoarders house only no garbage! So much stuff to check out!  And we have not checked out the local hardwear stores yet. Who knows maybe they are the ones with pillows :=D

So there you have it shopping in Corozal! The one great thing for me is I get to go into every store mom and dad go into! Only one store has made me stay outside with dad, it was the local cell phone company when mom got the sim card for our phone!


Our friend Carlos and his wife are going to take us to the duty free zone so we can see what we can find there. Will let you know when we go!

Bark at you later gotta run!!

Apartment Hunting

So I am getting used to the heat here. It's not so bad once your body gets used to it. Our sleeping habits have changed, now we are so tired by 9:30 at night it is hard to stay up til 10 pm. Then we sleep until only 6. That's okay though because the sun comes up at 5:30 here and sun goes down at 6 pm.

We usually start our day by walking to the market. The market is about 7 blocks from our temporary house. We are here until December so we had to find an apartment for December until April.

Mom being her usual worry wort needed for us to find a place right away. So we looked at a few places. One was a lower level of a house. It was a two bedroom and had a huge new king size bed in the master bedroom, but the bathroom was a bit icky and the shower was plugged and the man was trying to unplug it. It was not the cleanest and it had no security bars on the windows. Which is weird cause the upstairs apartment had security bars but the one easier to break into on the bottom had none. There was a fence around it but only half of it was 7 ft tall the back half of it was only 5 ft tall so easy to jump over. Everyone has advice as you know and one lady told us to be sure to get an apartment or house with a fence and security bars on all the doors and windows. I guess considering that there is some poverty here mom and dad thought that would be some good advice. So although that house was only $350 a month we went looking some more. We looked at a REALLY NICE apartment on the second floor but sadly that one was not furnished so we are out of luck there because buying furniture to leave behind in 6 months is silly my mom says.



We then looked at another apartment two bedroom with security bars but the yard was pretty small for me and overgrown so who knows what would be hiding in the grass? This one was furnished to for only $450 a month.  But the yard scared me a bit, and we were quiet a ways away from the market and any stores so thank goodness we never took that one. We had a tip on a 'suite' in a hotel so thinking suite you think kitchen living area, bedroom bathroom right? Wrong it was just a really big bedroom no place to cook no balcony so that was a definite No. One think mom insists on is way to go sit outside, she spends a lot of time outside, being stuck inside is not her idea of a good time!

So then we went to check out a tip that a indie man that ran a furniture store had rentals, this man did have some rentals. The one he showed us was a HUGE 4 bedroom apartment it has to be at least 2500 sq ft is not bigger. It has two full bathrooms (one of the bathrooms is as huge about 20'x30' the walk in shower is 10'x15')  and two terraces and 3 balconies. There are lots of security bars on all the windows and doors and it is on the second floor. It is actually the whole second floor of the building, under the apartment is a restaurant. Would not want to have to heat the monster in Canada but here you only need power and water.  It is way to big for us in reality, but the price was right only $650 a month furnished, it is a bit more expensive than the first two ground floor apartments but it is worth paying the extra for peace of mind, and there is tons of room for guests if we get company. Plus it is right on the bay of Corozal. When I say right on the bay I mean you sit on your balcony and only see water you can  not see the ground under the balcony it is very cool. Also it is just 3 blocks from the market and downtown shopping is only a block away. So we rented that one. It needs a real good cleaning cause no one has lived in it for awhile but he said someone will go in and clean it and if it is not clean enough we can hire someone for $15 a day to clean it for us.

It was a lot easier to find a place to rent than mom expected. Dad is always pretty laid back and does not worry to much about it though so he never stresses like mom does.

So we have to get some dishes and sheets and things for the apartment. We have been checking around a bit to see prices. Some places the price of things is just the same as living in Canada if you buy stuff at the dollar store back home. There is no Dollar store here though so that is sad, there should be. So we are checking out the price of things. Today we are going to the A&R store someone says they have a lot of stuff. We have also been told that it is cheaper to shop in Chetumal in Mexico across the boarder and then someone else will tell us it is not because we have to pay import tax on everything we buy there, so we have mixed reviews on that one.  So if we can find everything cheap enough here in Corozal we will purchase it here. We made a deal with the man we rented the apartment from to buy our coffee maker and toaster half price so that is great. Not sure if there is a second hand store here to purchase dishes or not we have to ask around about that one. Most people are very very nice so it is easy to find things out.

One thing you don't really realize when your in a place that has a lot of fresh tap water is the amount of water you drink and use for cooking. One of those blue water jugs at home on a water cooler will last sometimes a week even two at home but here they last two days at the most. Plus mom and dad drink way more water cause it is hot. The lady we are renting from currently says that the town water is chlorinated so should be safe to drink the town people drink it. Mom says she is going to boil it for drinking water when we move into the apartment just to be safe, cause she does not want to lug a big water jug every two days to the apartment, as we will probably only have one or two jugs at a time because there is a $35 deposit on the jugs but a refill it is only $2.50. Dad saw a water delivery service so maybe we can check out the cost on that.

Shopping at the market is sometimes hard for mom cause she wants to be fair to everyone. She has three vendors she likes so she tries to buy something from all three of them when we go. Yesterday we went to buy our meat from the butcher at the market but he was not there so we have to go back to the market today for our meat.

Mom wanted to make baked beans but we can not find molasses anywhere so far. Most things we have found though and we still have not checked out all the stores by far! The thing I like best is that all the stores let me come in with mom and dad and everybody loves me :-D, I am starting to get used to people wanting to touch me. Kind of resigned myself to it, cause everyone wants to touch me. But do not try and come up to me in my yard or my house I Will Still Tear You Apart! Don't think I have gone soft or anything like that! Okay no laughing allowed!!

We went to the Chinese restaurant across the street on Friday and mom and dad ordered Fried Chicken it was $2.50 each and was better than Kentucky Fried Chicken mmm mmm mmm. Hamburgers there are only $1.50 each so next time we will try them. We are still looking for somewhere to buy fry jacks though.

Pop seems a bit more expensive but I guess it is not it is just the same price as back home. Mom buy Cherry Juice for .50 cents a bottle she says it is really good. The bologna is really tasty here and so are the hot dogs and cheap too, $1 per package. Plus the Happy Cow cheese mom loves is .75 a package.

So we are looking forward to going to the A&R store today. Will keep you posted on how that goes.

Sniff ya later.

Holy Hot

Hey I made it!

Two plane rides later I am in this country called Belize. The plane ride was okay not sure I liked the up and down part but all in all it was tolerable.  At least I was used to being crowded, my mom and dad were squished in like sardines LOL. The second flight had seats closer together, good thing it was a short flight. When we got to the airport in Belize and they looked at our bags Moms bag had sunscreen all over the inside. She forgot to close the top and it leaked out so it was kind of yucky. Then I had to go see the man in the room. I almost thought I was not going to get in because he did not recognize the health certification form that we brought along but he was okay in the end. It only cost $30 for me to stay for the winter. But I have to get a new doctor exam before we go home. I was so proud of my self though I was so quiet that no one even knew I was there on the plane not a bark or a whine. Mom could of snuck me into the country! No one would of known, good thing she is honest though I guess, she would probably have a heart attack if she tried to do something illegal LOL.

So did I mention it is hot here! Wowzers! On the bright side no frozen feet! Our first apartment is awesome, nice and big for me to run around and three big balconies! I can see out on all sides. There are a lot of dogs here and I even seen a cat! We went grocery shopping and to the market and I was allowed in all the stores with dad carrying me it was crazy! We bought a lot of stuff and last night mom even gave me the gizzard from the chicken...... mmmm mmmm mmmm! Next time she said I can have the liver too!!!

Yesterday mom was sitting on the deck and dad and I heard a HUGE BANG and we ran outside to see what was the matter and the plastic chair she was sitting on was in pieces under her and she was sitting on the ground! It had shattered under her! The weather here made it brittle and it just broke into pieces. Mom was so embarrassed but we were just worried she was okay it sounded like a gun shot! That must happen a lot here and they recognized the sound of the chair breaking 'cause about 15 minutes later the gardener came up with a new chair and took the old chair away, dad said he broke the chair so mom would not be any more embarrassed. That's my dad always looking out for my mom!

We can't leave any food out here, dad left my food on the floor for me like we do back home and all these teeny tiny little ants swarmed it! I could not even eat it so now we have to keep my food in a covered container til it is time to eat.

We are looking around at places to stay in December til April. We looked at two one is a little house, it was okay but it did not have a very nice yard and the cupboards were not very clean. The man was cleaning it and said if we took it it would be a lot cleaner when we moved in but we are not sure we want it. We also looked at a really nice apartment we all loved on the second floor but it did not have any furniture in it no fridge or stove either so unless they will furnish it we probably wont get that one. Mom and dad would like to be on the second floor though if they have to have an apartment better breeze up there and a bit more secure not so many windows to worry about. So we are still looking we have until January to find another place. The lady who we are renting from here is very helpful and is calling some people too. She is quite interesting she was very worried about the tops of her bedside tables, stressing that we should not scratch them at all, so there goes my idea of dad getting something sharp and drawing pictures in the top. Spoil all my fun!

Well now I want to have a nap it is getting hot again.
Yap at ya later!