LIVING IN BELIZE – “Car Repair, Unexpected Invitation & Darts“ 9/18/12

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Yesterday morning we had to take my Chevy Tracker into the mechanic for some routine maintenance.  Besides being time for an oil change, my brakes felt funny on the way home from my trip to Hopkins, so I wanted to get them checked out. Brake pads in Belize on some of these rocky and bumpy roads go real quick! Also, sometimes when I start the car, I hear a high pitch squeal, so I thought perhaps a belt was getting ready to go.

After we dropped off the car, we headed to the Chiney market to get new 5 gallon water refills.  Lucky for us, we got the very last one the store had.  We needed two, but were happy to get one. It is not uncommon in the hottest summer months here in Belize to have water run out, especially on a Monday after the weekend.

While most all of Belize’s water is potable and perfectly drinkable, I don’t think it tastes very good, so that’s why we buy bottled instead.  You can get a 5 gallon refill for $4.50 bze ($2.25 usd).  When you first buy the bottle, you have to leave a $25 bze deposit, which you get back should you ever turn the bottle back in.

While sitting in front of the store, one of our house sitting clients pulled up on his motorcycle. Normally we would never have seen him at that time of day (9:30 a.m.), but since we had dropped our car off, we were out early for us.  And that was a lucky thing, because he invited us over for a swim and hamburgers that afternoon.

Since I told you yesterday we have been somewhat slow this week due to the holiday, we were glad to be able to take him up on his offer. So about 1:00 p.m. we headed over and jumped in the pool immediately.  It was a really hot day, and the water felt divine!

Later, the guys served us the burgers (yes, the ladies didn’t have to do any cooking-my kind of afternoon), and we chowed down on them, as well as and a nice vegetable salad with a mango vinaigrette.  We swam until the sun started to go down, and then we went in their garage and played a foursome game of darts.

Now I used to be quite the dart player in my late 20’s, early 30’s. It was the :thing to do” on a Friday night. Go hang out at the local bar and play darts or pool.  But as I got older, I stopped going to bars and consequently, stopped playing darts. Nige had never played a game in his life.

So I was pretty impressed with myself that I picked it back up so quickly (and so were our friends).  I came in a close second – I think I’ve found myself a new hobby when we stay at their house.  Too bad more Belize bars don’t have dart games – Nige might be able to get me out for a drink more often, lol!

Do you enjoy being impulsive and taking a last minute invite to a friend’s house?

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  • Alan Slater

    Hi Sharon,
    I never saw any darts being played whilst I was on my travels in CA. If I ever get to meet you, we will have to have a bash!! Did you play the English game….501, where you have to start with any double and finish on a double, scoring a total of 501?
    During my days in the RAF, I was based in Wiltshire for about 4 months and entered the South Western Championship……..and won. I think it was all the hard cider that was drunk that won it for me!!! So…….better practice and be ready.

  • http://www.wealthships.com Sharon Hiebing

    Yes, I used to play 501 in States. Been a long time, though. We just played the game where each person has to get a triple in the numbers 15 to 20 & the bullseye. Since it was Nige’s first time, we wanted to keep it simple. If you ever do make it here, we’ll have to have a game :)