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Specials and Events

Last night's TV news on Channel 7 and Channel 5
Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, and the Dickie Bradley Specials


The San Pedro Sun

Woofer: Lady's Gloves
Jon sends his girlfriend a pair of gloves. Melody sends some underwear. Post Office mix-up...you can tell what happened. But wait, there was a letter too!

Mama Vilma's Family Home presents May's fundraising totals
A grand total of $5,771.30 BZ was raised from two major fundraisers held in May for the Mama Vilma Home project: 2 concerts by Karen Waldrup & Ashlee K Thomas and their annual fashion show.

Doctor Love: To Forgive or to forget about it?
Best Friend + Boyfriend = Trouble. Does the Girlfriend forgive? Can she forgive? What to do, oh what to do?!

Misc Belizean Sources

International Leadership Camp
The Department of Youth Services is offering youth leaders an opportunity to attend their International Leadership Camp, which will be from July 21st through the 31st. Here in Cayo, you can contact Jimmy Leslie at 803-3027. "The Department of Youth Services is now accepting applications for its upcoming International Leadership Camp 2013. This is a 10 day residential camp full of fun and activities which caters for 150 youth leaders and will take place in the month of July from the 21st -31st at George Town Technical High School in the Stann Creek District... If you are an executive member in a student council or community based groups...apply today.

Chantae Guy at Caribbean Fashion Week
Joris Hendrik captured Chantae Chanice Guy who is representing Belize in Jamaica, while walking the runway during Caribbean Fashion Week 2013. Looking good! "These photos were taken on my Instagram. Loved seeing Chantae representing Belize. She's in the likes of The international models here at CFW."

Caye Caulker Chronicles

Old Caye Caulker Photographs
"Roots in the Sea" the documentary series featuring some of the old timers on Caye Caulker narrating stories of their youth, has created a Facebook page. We are pleased to post a few of the great historic photos which they are uploading to their site. You can view more HERE: This one is a 1949 or 1950 photo of former principal Miss Ilna Auxillou in front of the OLD school house. Miss Ilna taught kids for over 40 years. To this day, she still teaches, although not formally, but she tutors her grand kids and other kids who ask for her help.

Give Front Bridge back to the people!
For decades Front Bridge as the main bridge now being occupied by the Caye Caulker Water Taxi was known, was the hub of activity for the island. Every evening after school and on weekends, the place would be packed with youngsters jumping off the pier and into the sea, and with young parents taking their kids out for some cool breeze and some sun. It was the ultimate recreation hub. MANY parents of today have fond memories of spending leisurely time on the dock. Then the Village Council gave the Caye Caulker Water Taxi a lease to use the dock, and that was the end of the use of it for the rest of the locals. While the rest of us pay taxes to upkeep it, only the Water Taxi has enjoyment of it.

Blogs

Slightly cloudy all around
I am pretty sure not the only one who is feeling slightly cloudy after the June birthdays party at Caribbean Villas Hotel and Pedro's party the night before. Yesterday I shook it off with by doing laundry, hula hooping and a long float in the pool. Today I ended up with the house to myself for bit, I opted to fall back into a nice clean bed and watch minute to win it on tv. It suited my mood perfectly and pretty soon I was almost too laid back to get up and go but the thought of Charles barbecue made me get motivated enough to get ready for a trip to town. After Paul was done visiting Cindy and doing San Pedro Sailing Club errands, he came and got me then we went and met Cindy and Tinker and convoyed to Estel's for breakfast. We got there at the perfect time, after the big morning rush but not to late that all the barbecue was gone. It was carnivore day at our table Paul did a steak sandwich, Cindy had ribs and I went for a thick cut pork chop with fresh cut fries and potato salad - YUM.

NEOTROPICAL HUMMINGBIRDS 2013; Part 3: "The Keystone '13" in Belize
This year for the first time, Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project recruited TWO groups of volunteers for what had become an annual nine-day expedition to study Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (RTHU) at Crooked Tree village in Belize. The first team arriving 27 February 2013 included birders, former teachers, and other adults from the U.S. & Switzerland (see last week's photo essay); this group was nicknamed "The Belize Brata." The other team--coming 11 days later--was our second consecutive undergrad student group from Keystone College in La Plume, Pennsylvania. On their annual spring break, they--logically nicknamed "The Keystone '13"--again were recruited and escorted by biology professor and bird bander Dr. Jerry Skinner. As always, our Keystoners would enjoy the hospitality and amenities of Bird's Eye View Lodge, including comfy beds, air conditioned rooms, hot showers, incredible Creole cooking, and an incomparable view of birds on the freshwater lagoon just outside the lodge front door. Our work in Belize is greatly enhanced by the generosity of lodge owners Norma & Denver Gillett who, among other things, anually lend us a 15-passenger van to scout Crooked Tree and transport the group and gear to study sites each morning.

"Little by Little" (Part Two) in Ambergris Caye, Belize.
Only a quick browse of TheTimes online for me yesterday-more to see if Arsenal had ventured in to the transfer market (they hadn't!) than to catch up on world news and then I knuckled down to start reviewing a draft contract that an ex-colleague in the UK has asked me to look at. Now -as most people that I worked with will confirm - I love reading contracts but there is only so much legalise that a person can take in one sitting before clause references become a blur. When that happens, and it did for me yesterday, I find it best to switch to something else. So I did. I resumed my reading of The Covenant by J A Michener. Just switched from one type of fiction to another really! Knowing that we were going to the Catamaran Beach Bar (based at Caribbean Villas) in the evening for the pig roast to 'honour' the plethora of birthdays this week of people we know Rose and I set off to visit our build in Ambergris Caye, Belize around 2 pm.

1963: Nora Parham - The only woman hanged in Belize
Nora Parham, aged 36, the East Indian mother of eight sons, was hanged today for the murder of the man with whom she had been living. So ran a minute, page-10 wire story in the London Times* from the British Central American possession soon to become self-governing as the country of Belize. The unfortunate subject of the story was the first, and remains to date the only, woman put to death in Belize. But she's very much more than a bit of trivia. A domestic violence victim hanged for murdering her batterer - who just happened to be a cop - Parham remains a lively source of controversy down to the present day. Nora's position as the victim in an abusive marriage, combined with serious doubt about whether she truly killed her husband at all, have given her enduring appeal. There's a going campaign to issue her a posthumous pardon. In fact, there was a going campaign before she died to issue her a humous pardon, opposed by a governing party paper on the grounds that "sympathy" ought not "change court rulings." And it's hard not to feel sympathy for Nora Parham and the years of beatings she's reported to have endured in her relationship with Ketchell Trapp. One doubts even the harshest magistrate would condemn a person in her situation to hang today. "By refusing to treat the pair as wife and husband, not just cop slayer and cop," argues this volume on gender politics in colonized Belize, "the government deepened its own highly political silence about domestic and community gender oppression and violence and added a threatening element to its re-call to 'domestic womanhood.'"

Coast effective: a culinary adventure in Belize
Innie's Restaurant in Hopkins, a fishing village of stilted clapboard shacks, potholed dirt roads and coconut palms in Belize, isn't much to look at: a circular, echoing room with simple wooden chairs and tables. But no one comes here for the decor; they come for the hudut. "Garifuna cuisine is a big part of the culinary culture of my country and, to me, hudut is the best Garifuna dish. It tastes like home � wherever that may be," says Chantel, a passionate young Belizean whose family has lived in this tiny Central American country for generations. "You'll see what I mean," she adds with a smile, as two steaming bowls are set down on the plastic tablecloth before us. I do see what she means. There is something comforting about this dish, the softness of the coconut broth lightened with a hint of herbs and spice. The fish, caught that morning by village fishermen, falls apart at the lightest touch. It's beautifully balanced, unchallenging, nostalgic. We eat in silence. Chantel is Creole - of mixed European and Caribbean blood - and she represents just one of the many ethnic groups who call this country home. Alongside Creoles live Mayans (pre-Columbian natives in Belize and other parts of Central America), Mestizos (a mix of Spanish and Mayan), Mennonite farmers, East Indians, Arabs, Chinese, Britons, Americans and Canadians - and, of course, the Garifuna.

Children under the age of 15 from the Belize Sailing Association Practicing for Competition
Took this photo yesterday as the children all under 15 years of age from the Belize Sailing Association practiced their sailing skills getting ready for competition. If you go to Admiral's Bay Restaurant and Bar you can sit and watch them while staying in the shade and sipping on cold beverages and eating great snacks.

Photo of Iguana in Belize
The color and texture of these great reptiles in Belize are amazing. I can't believe that the iguanas are a descendant of the prehistoric dinosaurs. Can you imagine seeing one of these a hundred times larger. LOL

Sunset in Belize taken from Admiral's Bay Restaurant and Bar
This is a photograph that I took yesterday evening's sunset as we were wrapping up a fashion photoshoot for our Weekly Top Model that's published in the Belize Times Newspaper.The scenery from Admiral's Bay Restaurant and Bar is certainly amazing so I had to share it with you all.

International Sources

How to Spot a Jaguar
The third largest feline in the world (behind the tiger and lion) and the largest in the western hemisphere, the jaguar makes its home in the jungles from Northern Mexico to Northern Argentina. Today this majestic giant, recognized by its pale yellow coat and black spots, is found almost exclusively in the forests of government-protected reserves and is considered a 'near threatened' species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Why are Jaguars 'near threatened'? Hunted heavily for its gorgeous coat in the 1960's and 1970's, thousands upon thousands of jaguars were killed annually until the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) brought the fur trade to an almost immediate halt in 1973. Extinct in El Salvador and Uruguay, yet still living in 18 countries in Latin America, the best place to catch a glimpse of these mysterious animals is Belize.

Wolf Worster Associates awarded Wild Orchid Residences; the Pinnacle of Luxury Living in Belize
Wolf Worster Associates Inc. is proud to announce they have been awarded the sales contract for Belize's most luxurious resort development, Wild Orchid Residences. Located in the exclusive Placencia region of Belize, Wild Orchid brings an unequaled level of sophistication, luxury and comfort to each of its private villas. Carefully selected from the best properties in Belize, Wild Orchid is comprised of 25 acres of marine area, five acres of adjoining Caribbean beachfront and a 12 acre private island located just 12.5 miles east of the mainland. Home buyers will receive signature touches that include custom built homes, infinity swimming pools, rooftop terraces, private gardens and sustainable building practices.

Bugger Off! Keep The Law!
There may be some value in taking a break from the voice of reason. It is easier and much less demanding than having to think! I am suggesting the following for a more peaceful Jamaica: 1. Keep the buggery law! Just ensure that heterosexuals are kept exempt. 2. Keep any law which ensures that molesting boys receives a lesser penalty than the molestation of girls. Serves these boys right in case they think of becoming buggers. The Government should take immediate steps to enlist more crusaders in the fight against buggery. Look at the state of the justice system. Look at the challenges in the economy. Look at the challenges in the education arena. Look at the crime monster. Look at the daily cries for justice. The country needs to unite around one major issue right now!