Settling In

As Karen and I come to the end of our first week away things are slowly settling into some semblance of routine. All too often routine is looked upon as a negative thing, and sometimes it truly is. However it is also vital to our well being I believe. As much as we may love or hate our jobs, they do give us a framework around which to plan ones activities. When you take away that external framework of work to provide your schedule it falls to you to come up with a schedule.

The simple things like your morning coffee. We have found it best to delay it on some days so we can go for a run up the beach before it gets too hot. Karen loves the heat but it doesn’t like her too much when it comes to exercise. So we are finding the best time for our runs is first thing in the morning. It is a great way to witness the Ambergris Caye rush hour as locals comute to work on their bicycles up the beach path. The road is so potholed and wet from the rains that the quickest and smoothest transportation route is the beach.

From where we are staying now it is about an eight kilometre round trip walk to all of our supply stops. So every other day we pack our backpack and walk up the beach into San Pedro and do our grocery shopping. It is kind of nice as some of the local merchants start to remember you, the sense of fitting in is very comforting. As well on a couple of nights we have walked a couple of kilometres to local restaurants for dinner out. The food has been excellent and the service friendly. The sun sets at around 6 so these walks are done in the dark. I have been asked, “aren’t you worried something will happen?” Well something could happen, but not once have either Karen or I had any apprehension about people we have encountered on our walks. Even the one fellow who rides by on his bike offering “I got great weed” does not bother us. In fact it is amazing how nearly everyone we pass says hello or have a nice day.

As the rains let up and we are seeing more of the sun we look forward to expanding our routine to include more swimming and exploring our new temporary home.