Sun and Rain
Days Three and Four in Belize

Day Three- 12/24/02 [The Heat is On]
7:15 AM Alarm. Why did we set it so early? After 1 AM bedtime (I stayed up writing this shit down) it's far too early to get up. We breakfast at a small cafe called Cindy's. Service is slow. So is everything. It's very windy and our table almost blows over. The umbrella is broken. Even this early, there are girls walking around in bikinis. We eat yoghurt and granola stuff. Pretty good. I guess we got up early because we thought we might dive but we went to the dive shop to check in and our spots for the day had been given away the night before when we didn't show up. We should have checked in, dammit. We make plans to dive Turneffe Atoll north tomorrow to see sea fans, sponges, and misc reef life. Christmas morning we leave at 8AM.
9 AM WINNNNNDY. They say a cold front is coming in. This means we're in for bad weather. Christ almighty, what next? At least it's nice for now. We go back to the hotel for bathing suits.
10 AM We snorkel at the split in the island. It was originally one long, skinny island but a hurricane wiped out the middle of it in the sixties and the other half has since remained virtually uninhabited (I think 5 families live there). The split is narrow but about 20 feet deep. Loads of sunscreen (eh, SPF 15). I still turn brown but don't burn. I'll be mahogany by the time we leave if this keeps up! We see angelfish, loads of conch shells, sea stars, a big grey fish with red eyes and one alcoholic sea urchin nursing an empty beer bottle. Water is easily 85 degrees. Whooo.
12 PM Window shopping after drying in the sun. Things I want to buy (US$): Sundress ($35), shot glass ($6), conch shell ($10), hot sauces ($1.50-$3.50), bracelet ($7), necklace ($6). Still can't purchase an australian but everyone keeps hitting on me. Justin says Boy, you'd have no trouble getting laid here. Good thing I don't want to.
2 PM Lunch at a restaurant called Habaneros. Win again. I'm impressed. Huge chicken burger with pico degaillo and salsa verde, great fajitas. It's happy hour!! I do what I came her to accomplish and order a Mai Tai (2 for 1)WAU! I am in love. Now I need to do nothing else but sit here and have buck-fifty drinks. All is accomplished.
3:30 PM La La La. We want to go home and take a nap but we're STILL waiting on the check, dammit. So tired. So warm. The wind has stopped and they say the front will come through tonight.
4 PM Back to hotel after buying sticky buns at local bakery (4 for $1!). Justin and I fall asleep curled in a large hammock under a palm thatch roof as the sun gets lower. Perfection.
5 PM Something is biting me. Is it? I look but see nothing so I go back to sleep. Stupid thing to do. damn sand fleas. They get me a million times all over my arms and legs. The wind is gone so there are TONS of bugs out tonight. We go to shower and lounge in the room. The salt water is kinder to my hair and skin than I would have expected. I'm itchy.
6 PM At sunset on the porch we exchange Christmas gifts. I give Justin a Kershaw KenOnion Whirlwind blade springloaded, serrated). He lost his Kershaw (I still say it's under the couch) a while ago. He gives me a sterling silver band with an inlaid garnet. I'd been ogling it a while at the Holiday Market. I'm somehow surprised that he isn't proposing. It really would have been quite accurate. Being here is like having the honemoon before the wedding, so to speak.
8 PM Dinner at Vespucci's Table. So-so. We're beginning to see that the food here isn't always great. I craved pasta so I had a lobster marinara. Don't like lobster. Loved the fresh-squeezed watermelon juice. It's a warm, quiet dark. Everyone is saying Merry Christmas. It doesn't feel like Christmas, it feels like heaven.
9 PM Walk around Front Street again. Tim says we should visit the 3 1/2 mile nature trail at the other end of the island. We're considering a trip to the Tikal ruins in Guatemala, the largest of the Mayan sites around here. But we don't know if we can- it will take 3 days and the border may close due to bandits. Must look into Altun Ha or smaller, more local ruins trip. Also want to look into snorkeling trips in the event we don't do much diving after all.
10:30 PM Tim says there's an Eve carol service at the local catholic church. We go expecting carribean jubilance but find only white locals and tourists singing halfheartedly to electric piano music. Oh well. Everyone is setting of firecrackers but not cool ones like we have. They're giving me a heart attack. Justin's right, they would die for a thing of mortar shells here. We stop by a bar called the I & I, an open-air treehouse-like structure reminiscent of the Swiss Family Robinson. It's got three levels and a rope bridge. The bar stools are porch swings. A fun place but not our type of atmosphere. We gawk and don't drink.
11:30 PM We talk while walking, for once about Things That Matter. Somewhere in the background someone's playing rap music but it's not annoying in that inner-city way. It sounds nice here. It feels strangely like being in the dorms. That same kind of uncertain exuberance. We stop at a colosseum structure behind the basketball courts and look out at the crooked moon in the black, black sky. We say important things and, for once, I don't lie. I don't know if it's that he doesn't care, doesn't understand, or simply accepts... but for once I'm closer to believing in balance. We are in love, even if it isn't everything. We dance with words. The soundtrack plays. The clouds wax and wane across the moon. We are better for it, afterwards.

Day Three- 12/25/02, CHRISTMAS [Vomit]
7:45 AM Too damn early to wake up. We really have to get to sleep earlier. Ugh. Isn't vacation a time to sleep in? Today we're diving Turneffe North. We eat only part of a sweet roll for breakfast, pack our gear and walk the stone's throw to the dive shop. I think I must be taking too much stuff. The "cold front" has come in. Well, it isn't COLD per se (maybe 7 degrees cooler) but it's overcast and windy. Kind of nasty. I bring a jacket. They tell us we're in for some chop and it's a 50 minute boat ride out there. Is this foreshadowing? I think so...
10:30 AM Departure. 50 minute boat ride to the atoll. It's not so bad, really. Only a few large bumps. I haven't taken a Drammamine but I'm fairly confident I won't be seasick. We make good time. Tim seems to lack some confidence abotu diving. I kind of want to yell something to the extent of Just Do It! but I don't.
11:30 AM By the time the boat stops at the dive site I'm glad I haven't had more to eat. There are "confused seas"; the wind is going one direction and the waves the other. The boat is rocking wildly from side to side without linear movement or predictability. I don't think my legs will hold me to stand to dive. Somehow I get into the water with my gear on. I'm underweighted and my mask is too loose. After he gets me more weight and waits for me to fix my mask, our divemaster, a european fellow, snaps at me, Don't you know they're all waiting for you down there? Yeah, buddy, I know. Not much I can do about it though. Shit. Worry-free diving, my ass. I get fixed and get going. The reef is brown... not nearly as colorful as I'd expect but I guess there's no sun. We go straight down to 70 feet to maximize our bottom time. I look up and I swear we're no deeper than 30 feet. Well, that's nice, I suppose! It's so warm and so different that the frigid Pacific I know. We don't see much that first dive but I'm reassured by my lack of buoyancy problems and relaxed breathing. We ascend to the anchor line to take a sefety stop. it pulls with every lurch of the boat. I can feel my stomach dropping with the thought of surfacing. I tense up. A mistake. On the surface we all lurch about as we swim to the boat. As soon as I have my gear off and cling to the ladder it gets worse. I lose it. What little breakfast I had is gone over the side as food for the fishes. I can manage a laugh as they come up to eat my regurgitation.
12:30 PM I retch into the water over and over until my stomach empties. Another girl comes back onto the boat and does the same. The weather is not good. A few people are starting to look unhappy. Dry heaves are not so fun. I eat ginger (a digestive) and take a Drammamine. Ineffective, I'm sure, as I'll just puke it up again. We park in a "calmer" spot for lunch. Calmer now is relative. Food repulses me and I push it away. I lay down and almost sleep. Fear crawls into me again as we leave for the next dive. I don't like this too much. We park outside the haven and I puke again. I want to go home. I put on my gear, making sure to lean over my shoulder to vomit into the water and suddenly I'm calm. Another back-roll entry. Another dive.
1:30 PM This dive is green and peaceful. We see a lot of fish, blue, green, and red. Clownfish, parrotfish, anglefish, squirrelfish, eels, sea urchins, little hidey-hole fish. Suddenly, we come upon a Loggerhead Sea Turtle. My day has just been made. I'm filled with wonder for this rare creature. It turns slowly and meanders around, ignoring us. My air is going slowly but I dread the surface. We ascend again along a line and I know that when I set foot on the boat again I will puke. I do, and gladly. I'm spent and shaking and unable to keep my head up any more. Justin is in pain from having to piss so badly and not being able to go in his wetsuit. At least I don't have that problem. The weather is worse still and we head back in seven foot swells, the boat shuddering as it slams into the bottom of each one. My irrational mind is overcome with fear and sickness, my rational is calm and clouded. I know that a dive boat is a safe place to be in a storm. We look like a boat full of refugees. I set my jaw, close my eyes and hang on for dear life. I go to the Nothing Place and meditate, hoping only that we'll be home eventually. When I chance to look around, I feel sick. Justin is wincing in pain, his kidneys crying for mercy. It takes us two hours to get home. I don't know if I'll be able to dive like this again.
3:30 PM When I get off the boat, I want to kiss the dock but I forget to. I feel strangely... OK. Human, alive. Wow. I know I'm stupid and I'll try again, probably tomorrow, just to prove to myself it wasn't that bad. Some drammamine next time. We collapse, hungry and tired.
6 PM God we're hungry. We walk looking for food and I buy a large shell before dinner. It smells like wet dog. We stop at a place called The Jolly Roger grill. I don't feel terribly hungry; I feel empty and pure. But I could eat anything right now. It turns out I have to, this place is god-awful. I eat a barracuda steak and J and T have shrimp but are not impressed like last night. I end up feeding most of my dinner to some stray cats who are beautiful and healthy but very feral. Tim leaves in a huff to go order more kebobs. I guess we can afford to be picky here. Justin and I pay the bill and go get souvenirs for my family.
10:30 PM We are exhausted but the cool air feels wonderful. The night is dark with no stars and moon. The shops are closed early. Oh yeah, I forgot it was Christmas. Well, that was certainly a strange holiday.

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