Another step in the move

Went to the "District Seat" , sort of like a county seat, called Dangriga today and extended my tourist visa for two months at cost of $12.50 USD /month, and went to the Motor Vehicle Office here called the Transport Office, and registered my truck for Belize. So now it's wearing Belize plates, another step in the move. I could have registered it for a month, or 3, or 6, but in a rush of optimism that it would last, I signed up for a year, which cost $117.50 USD. I've been surprised it has held up as well as it has, given the pounding it takes from the boney dirt road.

Have had a slow leak in my front left tire, and had to change the spare tire - replacing the tire on that rim with an extra I had because the former had a big gouge in the sidewall that happened when the wheel fell off coming through Mexico. Bradley introduced me to the local tire man who works on tires in his yard -which is the way much tire work happens in this part of the world, and he took the truck while I was at work and tried to fix the leak, changed over the spare tire, and straightened out the sheet metal and rear bumper that had been bent when the wheel mishap happened. Total charge $15 USD, although he gave me back $5 in exchange for the gouged tire, which he said he could use. Unfortunately, this morning that front left tire had lost 10 lbs again, so I'll take it off this weekend and see if I can find the leak with water.

One observation I made when passing through Mexico, and had forgotten to relate, and didn't photograph, was the generous use of white paint. All bridges are painted white, and as I recall the guardrails on the bridges are painted blue. Not only are bridges painted white, but the entire supporting structure is also white. There are crews of 2 or 3 men that paint them with ladders and long handled rollers. You can tell which have been painted most recently by the white spots on the roadway below the bridge. They also paint the concrete gutters, where present. Trees and posts and poles are painted white up to about 4 feet above the ground.

Mexico continues to get bad press in the US, I think in part because many news media organizations have closed their foreign bureaus, and so just repeat the same stuff, or mis-information from the US state dept. I've started reading a blog called "burro hall", written by an expat in Mexico who used to work for 60 minutes. He is quite irreverent. He wrote a good analysis some time in the last couple of months that pointed out that you're less safe in Houston than in Mexico, unless you decide to join a drug cartel or the Mexican army or police.

I bought a pineapple the other day, and it hit perfection today - meaning it was yellow, indicating that it was ripe and sweet. Pineapples sold in the US are not ripe yet. Opened it tonight - and mmmmmmmmm.

Mattmc13 had made a request several posts ago that I will try to answer. He asked about the closed resort where I had taken the picture of the girl with her dog out at the end of a pier. That resort is closed, but has been sold, and will be replaced with something much bigger and more modern that will extend across the peninsula from the sea to the lagoon, and will border where I am now. The distance from the sea to the lagoon at this point is probably 200 yards. In a few places (elsewhere) it is so narrow there is water on both sides of the road. There were a number of resorts built in the 70s and 80s, if not earlier, and they are worn out. They are being replaced with much more upscale accomodations. That said, there is a wide range of accomodations, from cottages in the village and backpacker lodging, to the high end. A respondent to my last post is a Mainer who has cabanas just north of where I am. His site is www.themainestay.com. Or go to www.placencia.com, and you'll find places that start at under $30 a night. Google "placencia belize" and you'll discover this is a happenin' place!

Tomorrow I get a haircut from a different barber than the one I've used for the past 10 - 20 years. Not only that, but my hairstyle, such as it is (or was), is much too long for this climate. So I''ll probably get it cut somewhat short. Of course, I may not have much control over it. Will try to photo document the hairy adventure!

Time to retire (bed).