Thanks Dana for your post. You did a great job of discribing our trip. Unlike you guys we have not posted any details of our experience in Belize. I do plan to write more later. I am planning another trip in October with a business partner to look into land.

Does another one know what products are available at the nature food store in Spanish Lookout?

Thanks,

Grady

I just wanted to let anyone that is interested know that I have finally finished blogging my guy's trip.  I'm sorry that it took so long - had I know that it would be so drawn out, I wouldn't have posted the link until I was done!  Sorry!  Anyway, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at blessdx10@yahoo.com.  Please keep in mind that it can be very difficult to answer 'preference' questions as opposed to factual inquiries as families, even Christian families, differ so greatly.  Also, please be patient in waiting for an answer; we do a fireworks stand with our kids every year and this is a very busy time for us, amplified by the fact that we have a buy/sell on our house and are trying to pack!

To summarize our personal stance on moving to Belize, I would have to say that caution is definately in order.  My husband and son enjoyed the trip immensely, but it is very different than the states.  We do plan on going to Belize as a family, but would not 'move' there until we have visited there for at least a couple of months.  We are considering Belize as a possible location to move to, but we do have some concerns with it such as crime rate, close proximity to Mexico and Guat., and whether our family can adapt to the heat (my kids fav recreation is downhill skiing), not being allowed to defend oneself (firearms), etc...

Thank you for sharing, Dana!

That did my heart good to read your blog on the recent Belize trip.  It seems nothing much has changed, saved perhaps the price of pineapple going up a little. :)  

Belize is liveable if folks are willing to "adapt".  For example: I recall that we missed olive oil (it was very expensive there so   we had what we carried and then that was that). We bought a can of "Danish" imported butter, very expensive.  If we had    been willing to adapt to pork lard then we wouldn't have had that "missing" something feeling during half of our month+ long visit.  Also, our children actually missed green vegetables (since we were out in a village and you either had them growing  or you didn't have them), and ate their salads and sprouts well upon returning to the states.

The Belizean children ARE content without toys; we saw this, too.  One of their favorite things to do is to just run after, or    with one another. A ball is pure delight. We knew one man (from Washington state) who owned a boat with a BZ family in    Placencia, and he would always make a point of bringing an ice chest packed full of pkgs of balloons and balls and such,    when he and his wife made their journeys.  These simple toys brought the BZ children such joy.  Our children didn't have   many toys at home either, so they fit right in and were very gregarious with the native children (if a little embarrassed by so much attention).  But these children can actually grow from baby to adult without a single commercial toy, and therefore       really appreciate "tools" like their machetes. This knowledge struck us in a very singular way, as we in the United States      always have "some" toys as children. :)

In light of simple things being well appreciated -- the ROW.org ministry is always looking for folks to send just school             supplies to them for distribution to some of the way out villages of Belize.  So this is something to think about (for the            missionary minded) whenever school supply sales roll around in the summer here in the states.  You can go to the ROW     (Rivers of the World) website for particulars and contact information if you are interested. These supplies will be given in the name of Jesus Christ and become a ministry tool.

Thank you very much for posting.

Blessings,

Shannon  

My husband and son went to Belize for 2 weeks in March.  I thought that others might enjoy some of the events of the trip, so I am posting the details on a blog.  The address is:

www.ticknortribe.blogspot.com