by Sharon Hiebing | January 20th, 2012
Received some disappointing news yesterday about the cable service at the rental house in Bullet Tree we were hoping to move into. It seems their services stop just short of the house. Ironically, the house right across the road has cable, but not this house. So now the surveyor is escalating it to his supervisor to see if they would be interested in extending the service to the house, and if so, whether there will be a charge to the owner.
I always believe everything happens for a reason, so if we can’t get cable there, or it cost too much to install and the owner doesn’t want to pay, then so be it. Perhaps it wasn’t the right house for us. And before you ask, as I’ve mentioned before, having cable is non-negotiable for Nige, and frankly, I think I’d have a hard time adjusting (although I could probably learn to live without it). And since I don’t want to shell out $3000 bze for a satellite dish, we’ll just have to see what happens.
The important lesson for all you future Expats is to never rent and/or buy a house in Belize before you verify the services available there with either the owner or property manager. If we hadn’t done this prior to signing an agreement, it would have been disastorous!
Yesterday was also a change-over day at the Kumquat Cottage. The month-long guests that had been staying there checked out, and we had new ones from Oregon arriving that afternoon, so we had to supervise the cleaning, gardening, and laundry to get the home ready.
I also had my monthly Cayo Connections women group meeting to go to at noon. This month they changed it up and instead of having it at The Aguada, like they have for the last several meetings, we held it at Serendib. One of our members, Cindy, owns it. Since our group is rather large, she planned to have the event on the back patio of the restaurant. However, lately with all the rains, she was nervous those plans may be spoiled.
However, we only had a few raindrops for just a couple of minutes during the lunch. Otherwise, it was a very pleasant day. This is about the sixth month I’ve gone to the group, and I’m happy to report that I now know more people than not. I remember my first meeting I didn’t know anyone, except Cindy, because we came to the meeting together.
Now I know all these great ladies. I get to learn about their businesses and hobbies. And some of them are incredibly supportive of Red Roof and have given me referrals. It’s so nice to have a social network and outlet like this.
Do you think it’s important to find friends in a new community, or are you ok being a loner of sorts?
