Map 1: Mexico and Central America
Map 2: Yucatuan Penusinla, Belize, Guatemala and Nicaruagua
Map 3: Actual Road Trip Route (Yellow & Brown Line) and Flight Route (Pine Line)
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Maps: Tracing Our Recent Road Trip from Merida to Belize
I've meant to map out the route that we took on our recent road trip from Merida, Mexico to Belize. After looking around online, I finally found a website that has world maps available for free. So, I decided to give it a shot, and below are maps that trace the route that we took:
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Second Week of Sun-filled Vacation (Sat, 12/30/06 - Fri, 1/5/07)
Now we are back in Seattle expecting another round of high winds and snowstorm. Looking back, the 2nd week of our vacation slipped away extremely fast considering we really didn't do a whole lot. But then again, what accounts as "doing things?" We slept alot. We ate a lot. We laughed a lot. We hung out with family and friends a lot. We walked around the Plaza Principal a lot. We also kept the fan on a lot to keep the mosquitos away. I guess we did do a lot; more importanly, we enjoyed every minute of it.
M's brother, his wife and their two babies also joined us at Casa Contenta on the last day of 2006 - a big family reunion outside of the U.S.! We walked to the city center to see the New Year's fireworks and embraced 2007 like an old friend - no boisterous cheering or clinking wineglasses around. The next day (Monday) the whole family had the 1st lunch of 2007 at Hyatt.
On Tuesday morning, we went shopping for foods and ingredients for Thursday's dinner party at Casa Contenta, and I was the appointed chef. That afternoon, we went to see a bullfight, the first ever for me (more on that in a separate entry). On Wednesday, I and M's sister stayed at home chilling and preparing for the next day's big dinner, while the other half of the visting fam did a day trip to cenotes (sink holes) near Merida.
On Thursdsay, with help from Blanquita and M's sister, I cooked 9 different dishes and really put my cooking and prepping skills to test. The dishes came out well; I thought that the flavor was good and I need to work on display and color. Fortunately, there was no picky eater at the table; everybody was very generous in giving compliments.
On Friday, M's sister left early in the morning. In the afternoon, the rest of us went to Dzibilchaltun and visited a Mayan ruin (more on that later) there.
The next day we started our journey back home around noon, hopped on our connecting flight in Atlanta, and by 11pm, we were finally back home breathing the familiar, crispy, clean and fresh Seattle air again under gathering stormy clouds.
M's brother, his wife and their two babies also joined us at Casa Contenta on the last day of 2006 - a big family reunion outside of the U.S.! We walked to the city center to see the New Year's fireworks and embraced 2007 like an old friend - no boisterous cheering or clinking wineglasses around. The next day (Monday) the whole family had the 1st lunch of 2007 at Hyatt.
On Tuesday morning, we went shopping for foods and ingredients for Thursday's dinner party at Casa Contenta, and I was the appointed chef. That afternoon, we went to see a bullfight, the first ever for me (more on that in a separate entry). On Wednesday, I and M's sister stayed at home chilling and preparing for the next day's big dinner, while the other half of the visting fam did a day trip to cenotes (sink holes) near Merida.
On Thursdsay, with help from Blanquita and M's sister, I cooked 9 different dishes and really put my cooking and prepping skills to test. The dishes came out well; I thought that the flavor was good and I need to work on display and color. Fortunately, there was no picky eater at the table; everybody was very generous in giving compliments. 
On Friday, M's sister left early in the morning. In the afternoon, the rest of us went to Dzibilchaltun and visited a Mayan ruin (more on that later) there. The next day we started our journey back home around noon, hopped on our connecting flight in Atlanta, and by 11pm, we were finally back home breathing the familiar, crispy, clean and fresh Seattle air again under gathering stormy clouds.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Merida to San Pedro, Belize - A Seven-hour Journey (Day 1, 12/25, Monday)
We had two different alarm clocks set at 7am to make sure that we could get up the next day (12/25), and make it to Belize within reasonalble time frame (catching the last flight or ferry to San Pedro on Ambergris Cayes from Corozol in Belize). We got out of bed, not without any reluctance; packed two small backpacks and off we hit the road.
The streets were quiet on the morning after Xmas Eve; the air was cool and breezy. Soon, we were outside of Merida city limits following signs pointing to Chetumal, the biggest city closest to the Mexico-Belize border. It seems like a fairly streightforward route to Chetumal according to our 1998 edition Mexico road map: YUC HWY 261-> MEX HWY 184 -> 293 -> 307 (South > South East > South).
At the beginning, going through villages and towns along the route was a moving visual delight enjoyed in our car: old churches, local markets, pedi-cabs, stray dogs, people loitering in front of store fronts or peddling fruits or snacks on the roadside; except that the road signs are poorly marked and there are numerous topes (speed bumps). We knew we may have missed the 'real' expressway. After a while, our attention shifted to trying to find our way out of these villages; and our frustration grew. We passed a string of villages and towns with names sounding very otherworldly - Pustunich, Yotholin, Oxkutzcab and Tzucacab - just to name a few. Finally, with positive (and negative) help from locals and our own road-trip savvy, we managed to navigate out of the maze of confusing road signs and a nimiety of speed bumps after hitting a town called "Justicia Social (Social Justice)" - what a name for a town!
The rest of the driving was largely care-free. After passing Buenavista on MEX 307, a real expressway - wide and smooth - stretched out proudly into the horizon. In no time, we drove through the border town, Subteniente Lopez, 7? miles away from the M-B border on the Mexico side and arrived at the border at about 2:00pm. Passing the border was fairly easy, except one officer fussed about us not having a written authorization for driving M's parents' car. After making us aware what he could have done in this situation, he let us pass. Alas, We arrived in Belize!
National borders are such an arbitrary thing. The scenary didn't change much; it was a continuation of same trees and similar plants along side the road. The only differences are that signs were marked in English, Belize's official language and we started seeing more black people.
After 6.5 hours of driving, at 2:30, we finally reached Corozol in Belize, and fortunately, we were able to leave the car with Mr. Pamar, father of Pamela through whom we booked a room in Hotel Corona del Mar in San Pedro. With the good luck in the car-parking arrangement, we manged to catch a 14-seater airplane at 3:30pm to San Pedro.
The ride on the small airplane was thrilling. Being on a small airplane provided a vantage point for viewing the changing terrains and water colors down below. We could see shallow waters where barrier reef are streching along the coast line beyond our vision. Different shades of green and blue are the dominant colors on the natural pallette here. We landed in San Pedro after 15 minutes of soaring into and gliding through the sky.
Taxi cabs lined up for business; one driver peddled his service zealously. But we chose to walk to our hotel knowing it's a small town; in fact, the widest part is only about 1 mile. With sun slowly and gloriously setting, we walked along the ocean front side all the way to our hotel, passing many piers, hotels and restaurants all facing the gleaming Caribbean Sea. We also passed a stinky landfill which will soon become (or already is) a piece of precious ocean-front property.
We checked in Hotel Corona del Mar (Crown of the Sea) and unwound for a short while in our room with oceanfront view on the 2nd floor. Then, we headed out to explore the island. We had great conversations with people and I was intrigued by a phenomenon - there are so many Chinese living in Belize (!) - which I will explore in a seperate blog entry. The night ended with a delicious meal at Jambel Jerk, a Jamaican restaurant that played Bob Marley's MTV video clips non-stop.
The streets were quiet on the morning after Xmas Eve; the air was cool and breezy. Soon, we were outside of Merida city limits following signs pointing to Chetumal, the biggest city closest to the Mexico-Belize border. It seems like a fairly streightforward route to Chetumal according to our 1998 edition Mexico road map: YUC HWY 261-> MEX HWY 184 -> 293 -> 307 (South > South East > South).
At the beginning, going through villages and towns along the route was a moving visual delight enjoyed in our car: old churches, local markets, pedi-cabs, stray dogs, people loitering in front of store fronts or peddling fruits or snacks on the roadside; except that the road signs are poorly marked and there are numerous topes (speed bumps). We knew we may have missed the 'real' expressway. After a while, our attention shifted to trying to find our way out of these villages; and our frustration grew. We passed a string of villages and towns with names sounding very otherworldly - Pustunich, Yotholin, Oxkutzcab and Tzucacab - just to name a few. Finally, with positive (and negative) help from locals and our own road-trip savvy, we managed to navigate out of the maze of confusing road signs and a nimiety of speed bumps after hitting a town called "Justicia Social (Social Justice)" - what a name for a town!
The rest of the driving was largely care-free. After passing Buenavista on MEX 307, a real expressway - wide and smooth - stretched out proudly into the horizon. In no time, we drove through the border town, Subteniente Lopez, 7? miles away from the M-B border on the Mexico side and arrived at the border at about 2:00pm. Passing the border was fairly easy, except one officer fussed about us not having a written authorization for driving M's parents' car. After making us aware what he could have done in this situation, he let us pass. Alas, We arrived in Belize!
National borders are such an arbitrary thing. The scenary didn't change much; it was a continuation of same trees and similar plants along side the road. The only differences are that signs were marked in English, Belize's official language and we started seeing more black people.
After 6.5 hours of driving, at 2:30, we finally reached Corozol in Belize, and fortunately, we were able to leave the car with Mr. Pamar, father of Pamela through whom we booked a room in Hotel Corona del Mar in San Pedro. With the good luck in the car-parking arrangement, we manged to catch a 14-seater airplane at 3:30pm to San Pedro.
The ride on the small airplane was thrilling. Being on a small airplane provided a vantage point for viewing the changing terrains and water colors down below. We could see shallow waters where barrier reef are streching along the coast line beyond our vision. Different shades of green and blue are the dominant colors on the natural pallette here. We landed in San Pedro after 15 minutes of soaring into and gliding through the sky.
Taxi cabs lined up for business; one driver peddled his service zealously. But we chose to walk to our hotel knowing it's a small town; in fact, the widest part is only about 1 mile. With sun slowly and gloriously setting, we walked along the ocean front side all the way to our hotel, passing many piers, hotels and restaurants all facing the gleaming Caribbean Sea. We also passed a stinky landfill which will soon become (or already is) a piece of precious ocean-front property.
We checked in Hotel Corona del Mar (Crown of the Sea) and unwound for a short while in our room with oceanfront view on the 2nd floor. Then, we headed out to explore the island. We had great conversations with people and I was intrigued by a phenomenon - there are so many Chinese living in Belize (!) - which I will explore in a seperate blog entry. The night ended with a delicious meal at Jambel Jerk, a Jamaican restaurant that played Bob Marley's MTV video clips non-stop.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
What Day is Today?
I know Christmas Eve is in a few hours, but I don't remember exactly what day today is. Is it Saturday or Sunday? I had to rearragne my fingers to figure that out. The past couple of days have been a blur, a pleasant blur.
We have been sleeping in every morning since we got here. Early in the morning I heard birds singing in trees, dogs woofing, and early-risers chatting, yet I let my body sink into the dreamy realm again. It truly feels great not having to jump out of bed at the whims of an alarm clock; after all, we are in vacation mode: We wake up late, just in time, for comida (late lunch). After eating, we have a quick dip in the pool, then read by the pool side, then hop in a hammock for a short or long siseta dictated by the natural body mechanism. When the dusk falls and the air is breezy, we stroll down to Plaza Principal and the city center where there is music and dance - salsa, or local mayan dances - on every block in the Centro every Saturday.
Yesterday evening, we stopped by the new hotel, Hotel San Angel, which was designed and built beautifully: the murals of tropical lush plants blend in very well with the ambience in the courtyard; lighting fixtures in the U-shaped porch circling the courtyard are exquisite; the interior is even more stunning - the all-brick arched high ceiling is a loud statement of the craftsmanship on the remodellig work and it offers stunning uniqueness to the iterior of the hotel. Besides the physical beauty of the building, a sample plate of the cookies made by the owner was just out of the world! We sat down and chatted with the three Iranian sisters, two of whom (from Canada and US) are here for one of the sisters' hotel opening. Their fascinating stories broadened my views about Iranian women, which I gained through a paucity of literature (sometime with biased views) that I've read so far about Iran. They really showed a side of Iranian women - humorous, industrious, intelligent, pragmatic, opinionated - which I'm not familiar with.
Tomorrow we are leaving for Belize. More sunshine and more dipping in the water (the Carribean Sea this time) are on the way, only outside the comfort of Casa Contenta.
We have been sleeping in every morning since we got here. Early in the morning I heard birds singing in trees, dogs woofing, and early-risers chatting, yet I let my body sink into the dreamy realm again. It truly feels great not having to jump out of bed at the whims of an alarm clock; after all, we are in vacation mode: We wake up late, just in time, for comida (late lunch). After eating, we have a quick dip in the pool, then read by the pool side, then hop in a hammock for a short or long siseta dictated by the natural body mechanism. When the dusk falls and the air is breezy, we stroll down to Plaza Principal and the city center where there is music and dance - salsa, or local mayan dances - on every block in the Centro every Saturday.
Yesterday evening, we stopped by the new hotel, Hotel San Angel, which was designed and built beautifully: the murals of tropical lush plants blend in very well with the ambience in the courtyard; lighting fixtures in the U-shaped porch circling the courtyard are exquisite; the interior is even more stunning - the all-brick arched high ceiling is a loud statement of the craftsmanship on the remodellig work and it offers stunning uniqueness to the iterior of the hotel. Besides the physical beauty of the building, a sample plate of the cookies made by the owner was just out of the world! We sat down and chatted with the three Iranian sisters, two of whom (from Canada and US) are here for one of the sisters' hotel opening. Their fascinating stories broadened my views about Iranian women, which I gained through a paucity of literature (sometime with biased views) that I've read so far about Iran. They really showed a side of Iranian women - humorous, industrious, intelligent, pragmatic, opinionated - which I'm not familiar with.
Tomorrow we are leaving for Belize. More sunshine and more dipping in the water (the Carribean Sea this time) are on the way, only outside the comfort of Casa Contenta.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
From Winter to Summer
29 celsius degrees, warm breeze, savory comida, blissful siesta - what can be better than this?! We are on our annual winter getaway retreat at - Casa Contenta - Michael's parents place in Merida again!
We took a red-eye flight out of Seattle to Atlanta, leaving behind the dreary winter weather, Birdie - our sweet cat, our cozy house in need of some new shingles and a few out-of-town friends. The flight was pleasantly uneventful - no delays, no drama - exept it was overbooked by 3%. Many people are trying to get to somewhere during the holiday season; we joined the holiday travelling crowd in search of family get-together, fun and sunshine.
We killed the 4 hours at the Atalanta airport while waiting for our connecting flight by eating (grits, biscuits, eggs and sausage), napping, reading and walking all the way from Concouse A to E instead of taking the train, which we did just to insure that our feet still remember how to walk after 8 hours of flying and waiting. The flight from Atlanta to Merida was short and smooth. It was a small, yet full, plane with capacity of 66 passengers - a good mixture of people from Mexico, Canada and US; young and old.
Michael's parents picked us up. It's so fortunate of us to have them living here and we get to visit them and have an extra two weeks of summer days in the darkest days of a year. M's sister is here too; the whole fam will be here in a few days - a big famly reunion. Also there are five dogs barking and wagging tails welcoming us. Blanchita was beaming with smiles. She already made a delicious comida (late lunch at 2pm-ish, the Mexican tradition) waiting for us. We ate. We chateed, then we took a long siesta.
After a long siesta, we went to a hotel (Hotel San Angel) opening here by an Iranian couple - a beautiful hotel and beautiful people with wine glasses in hand clinking around...then we went and had some yummy Salbutes and Panuchos (like a Taco), then Tepes Nieve, an icecream parlor, for some helado (icecream).
Casa Contenta, Merida - our winter getaway heaven, we don't feel like tourists here; we feel like being at home away from home.
We took a red-eye flight out of Seattle to Atlanta, leaving behind the dreary winter weather, Birdie - our sweet cat, our cozy house in need of some new shingles and a few out-of-town friends. The flight was pleasantly uneventful - no delays, no drama - exept it was overbooked by 3%. Many people are trying to get to somewhere during the holiday season; we joined the holiday travelling crowd in search of family get-together, fun and sunshine.
We killed the 4 hours at the Atalanta airport while waiting for our connecting flight by eating (grits, biscuits, eggs and sausage), napping, reading and walking all the way from Concouse A to E instead of taking the train, which we did just to insure that our feet still remember how to walk after 8 hours of flying and waiting. The flight from Atlanta to Merida was short and smooth. It was a small, yet full, plane with capacity of 66 passengers - a good mixture of people from Mexico, Canada and US; young and old.
Michael's parents picked us up. It's so fortunate of us to have them living here and we get to visit them and have an extra two weeks of summer days in the darkest days of a year. M's sister is here too; the whole fam will be here in a few days - a big famly reunion. Also there are five dogs barking and wagging tails welcoming us. Blanchita was beaming with smiles. She already made a delicious comida (late lunch at 2pm-ish, the Mexican tradition) waiting for us. We ate. We chateed, then we took a long siesta.
After a long siesta, we went to a hotel (Hotel San Angel) opening here by an Iranian couple - a beautiful hotel and beautiful people with wine glasses in hand clinking around...then we went and had some yummy Salbutes and Panuchos (like a Taco), then Tepes Nieve, an icecream parlor, for some helado (icecream).
Casa Contenta, Merida - our winter getaway heaven, we don't feel like tourists here; we feel like being at home away from home.
==============================
2006, Year in Review 岁末回首
Since the magazine Time has chosen YOU as the Person of the Year for 2006. I figure that "you" also includes me. I guess it's not too tongue in cheek to have my own version of Year in Review. Below is the email that I sent out to friends. I want to include it here to remember 2006.
My Dearest Friends,
2006, the Red Fire Dog Year, is coming to an end - Xmas is in a couple of days; the New Year is in a week. I thought it would be a good time to give you all a quick update on our life in 2006.
So, what did we do in those 300 plus days? There is no earth-shattering or life-changing news to share with anyone. We've learnt to seek for changes in baby-steps instead of giant strides: I'm still working at the Port and have learnt to appreciate many benefits that my job offers including enjoying the company of my best friends there, K and T.
Michael is still at his job managing a small non-profit that offers great flexibility and trips (sometimes I get to tag along) nationwide. We've been living in our first house, still somewhat new to us, since October 2005; and we love the location - 10 minutes away from the city, yet we get to enjoy the serenity of the suburbs, and I can bike to work when the weather allows. Yes, we're very much settled in.
Besides a steady job and a place we call sweet home, we are fortunate enough to mix our sedentary life with trips here and there. In January, we had a great time, as always, in Mexico . This time it was even more fun, because we got to hang out with Greg, Hyun-Joo and baby Ella. In February, we went to China and spent the Chinese New Year with my folks in Hunan; and on the way back from Shanghai, we got to meet a whole gang of friends in Shanghai: Mency, Andy, James, Gracia, Brad, and Kris, to name a few. In March, Michael surprised me with a Birthday trip to a cabin with Jacuzzi at the foot of Mt. Rainier . We had fun snowshoeing with Eric and Irene when they came and joined us the next day.
In April/May, I went to China on a business trip and was able to spend some quality time with my mom. In June, Michael and I went to San Francisco for a long weekend; we walked all over the city and saw the gay pride parade, where I was wowed by their creative outfits and makeup. In July, we had one of our best friends, Zuo You from Beijing , visiting us and staying with us for a few days. While he was staying with us, in the same month, we had the biggest party - 20 some people watching the World Cup final - at our house. Seattle 's summer is as gorgeous as always, except it feels a bit warmer this year. The summer air was filled with smoky BBQ in our sunlit backyard - Eric and Irene are our loyal frequent BBQ guests. Then, in August, we went down to Portland 's Blues Festival and did a little Oregon Coast road trip with Greg, Hyun-joo and Ella-Bella before they headed off to their adventures in China (and later Lesotho ).
In September, I went on a business trip again to Shanghai and Hong Kong for the first time. Then, I tagged along Michael for a long weekend trip to Boston in October; then we came back to the wettest month in Seattle – November! Then, there was a snow storm, followed by a wind storm. It added more unexpected drama to the normally dull dreary Seattle winter.
Now we are chilling and lounging around in Merida , Mexico again. We are driving to Belize in a few days. I will try to blog about it on my site: www.gobilily.blogspot.com if I have internet access while on the road. I finally got my blog going with inspirations from a few friends, whose blogs' links are also on my site.
Looking back, I can say it's quite a wonderful year. Life is good. If I had to wish for something different, that would be my mom's health. During the year, we also heard great news from our friends: getting engaged, getting married, getting pregnant, getting new jobs, babies growing beautifully, advancing in the academic world, moving to a new city etc. We are happy for all of you. This is life, beautiful life that we all love and cherish.
With that, we're sending you our best wishes! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! Hope to see you (or some of you, for sure) in 2007!
Peace, love and hugs to everyone,
L and M
=========================
2006, the Red Fire Dog Year, is coming to an end - Xmas is in a couple of days; the New Year is in a week. I thought it would be a good time to give you all a quick update on our life in 2006.
So, what did we do in those 300 plus days? There is no earth-shattering or life-changing news to share with anyone. We've learnt to seek for changes in baby-steps instead of giant strides: I'm still working at the Port and have learnt to appreciate many benefits that my job offers including enjoying the company of my best friends there, K and T.
Michael is still at his job managing a small non-profit that offers great flexibility and trips (sometimes I get to tag along) nationwide. We've been living in our first house, still somewhat new to us, since October 2005; and we love the location - 10 minutes away from the city, yet we get to enjoy the serenity of the suburbs, and I can bike to work when the weather allows. Yes, we're very much settled in.
Besides a steady job and a place we call sweet home, we are fortunate enough to mix our sedentary life with trips here and there. In January, we had a great time, as always, in Mexico . This time it was even more fun, because we got to hang out with Greg, Hyun-Joo and baby Ella. In February, we went to China and spent the Chinese New Year with my folks in Hunan; and on the way back from Shanghai, we got to meet a whole gang of friends in Shanghai: Mency, Andy, James, Gracia, Brad, and Kris, to name a few. In March, Michael surprised me with a Birthday trip to a cabin with Jacuzzi at the foot of Mt. Rainier . We had fun snowshoeing with Eric and Irene when they came and joined us the next day.
In April/May, I went to China on a business trip and was able to spend some quality time with my mom. In June, Michael and I went to San Francisco for a long weekend; we walked all over the city and saw the gay pride parade, where I was wowed by their creative outfits and makeup. In July, we had one of our best friends, Zuo You from Beijing , visiting us and staying with us for a few days. While he was staying with us, in the same month, we had the biggest party - 20 some people watching the World Cup final - at our house. Seattle 's summer is as gorgeous as always, except it feels a bit warmer this year. The summer air was filled with smoky BBQ in our sunlit backyard - Eric and Irene are our loyal frequent BBQ guests. Then, in August, we went down to Portland 's Blues Festival and did a little Oregon Coast road trip with Greg, Hyun-joo and Ella-Bella before they headed off to their adventures in China (and later Lesotho ).
In September, I went on a business trip again to Shanghai and Hong Kong for the first time. Then, I tagged along Michael for a long weekend trip to Boston in October; then we came back to the wettest month in Seattle – November! Then, there was a snow storm, followed by a wind storm. It added more unexpected drama to the normally dull dreary Seattle winter.
Now we are chilling and lounging around in Merida , Mexico again. We are driving to Belize in a few days. I will try to blog about it on my site: www.gobilily.blogspot.com if I have internet access while on the road. I finally got my blog going with inspirations from a few friends, whose blogs' links are also on my site.
Looking back, I can say it's quite a wonderful year. Life is good. If I had to wish for something different, that would be my mom's health. During the year, we also heard great news from our friends: getting engaged, getting married, getting pregnant, getting new jobs, babies growing beautifully, advancing in the academic world, moving to a new city etc. We are happy for all of you. This is life, beautiful life that we all love and cherish.
With that, we're sending you our best wishes! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! Hope to see you (or some of you, for sure) in 2007!
Peace, love and hugs to everyone,
L and M
=========================
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Merry Merida, Felize Belize – embracing sunshine and sandy beach
The local weather channel must be awfully busy this winter: first, incessant rain, then snow storm, then ice, now windstorms and thunder showers. I hope our roof can hold up - some shingles have been blown off. This winter is all about drama and extremities, and far from its normal pattern of being mild, drizzly and cloudy. Somehow, this seems to coincide with what’s been going on at my workplace – a series of unexpected personnel changes and departures. Maybe the crazy weather had a hand in this?!
The night falls early here in December, and on December 21st, we’ll have the longest night of the year. With trees dressed up in twinkling lights and other glowing ornaments hanging every where, every twinkle sets off the drabness hanging over the city under imminent rain clouds, and gives me comfort, knowing that we are gearing up for the biggest and longest holidays of the year. Yesterday, on my way to work, I saw a huge full rainbow erecting across the skyline over the harbor and downtown. It was an exhilarating sight! Yet, an evanescent display of a spectacular rainbow can’t hold me back from a two-week long vacation in a zone of sunshine and sandal-friendly space!
Our annual southern getaway trip is in a week. I’m counting days and hours. We’ll be staying in Merida for a couple of days, and then head off to Belize for a few days. Belize has long been known as one of the best diving destinations in the world. My original plan of becoming a diver has failed. Snorkeling would do for me, at least, for now. I’ll record my first imaginary tour of Belize in my next blog entry.
The night falls early here in December, and on December 21st, we’ll have the longest night of the year. With trees dressed up in twinkling lights and other glowing ornaments hanging every where, every twinkle sets off the drabness hanging over the city under imminent rain clouds, and gives me comfort, knowing that we are gearing up for the biggest and longest holidays of the year. Yesterday, on my way to work, I saw a huge full rainbow erecting across the skyline over the harbor and downtown. It was an exhilarating sight! Yet, an evanescent display of a spectacular rainbow can’t hold me back from a two-week long vacation in a zone of sunshine and sandal-friendly space!
Our annual southern getaway trip is in a week. I’m counting days and hours. We’ll be staying in Merida for a couple of days, and then head off to Belize for a few days. Belize has long been known as one of the best diving destinations in the world. My original plan of becoming a diver has failed. Snorkeling would do for me, at least, for now. I’ll record my first imaginary tour of Belize in my next blog entry.
The wind is howling and shaking trees vehemently outside our cozy house; Some neighborhoods have experienced power outages. Tomorrow, school closures are expected; treacherous commuting to work is forewarned. The whole city will slow down - a pace that we'll truly get to enjoy once we are on vacation!
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