Journal Entry 29

December 26, 1976 / Belize City, Belize:

Well, Roger's father and three brothers just left to go back home and, hopefully, now things will get back to normal. We had a nice if somewhat hectic Christmas.

Roger's family was due to arrive the 22nd. Roger had flown home and was to drive back down with his father and brothers in a motorhome. By the 24th we all decided Roger was not going to make it down for Christmas. About 5:00 p.m. that day we found out that they had broken down (rear axle) in Chetumal, Mexico, near the Belize border. We rented a Land Rover, drove to Chetumal, picked them up and brought them home. That is about a 3-hour drive over some poor roads. Roger's family got in about 2:00 a.m. Christmas morning. Everyone was too keyed up to go right to bed, and by about 3:00 a.m. the little girls woke up and came downstairs and there was no way to make them wait for a more reasonable hour to open their gifts. The girls were pleased with all their gifts from California.

We ate Christmas dinner about 1:30 p.m. We had ham, turkey, dressing, rice and beans and potato salad. For dessert we had the traditional black cake. One of Roger's brothers did not eat with us. He was suffering miserably from "Montezuma's Revenge." The heat and humidity were bothering Roger's family, so they did not have much of an appetite. In fact, the heat (he wouldn't believe me that this has been the coolest month I've seen here) had Roger Sr. flat on his back during much of the day. Not thinking of that, I took him for a walking tour of the city while dinner was being readied and he started panting so hard I cut the tour short. Something none of them could handle was the cold showers. We don't have hot water in the house, at least not in the bathroom that I use. I've gotten to enjoy a refreshing cold shower in the afternoon. Roger Sr. could not believe that.

Today, we all went out to the reef to dive. Roger Sr. really enjoyed that even though he was quite thoroughly cut up from the coral. Anyway, Roger's family will be going back to a Michigan winter with Caribbean sunburns.

Plenty has happened which I don't have time to mention this time: David, Denton and I nearly got lost at sea; Howard is getting married and may quit the Peace Corps; our Staff Party was a success (barbecued shrimp-delicious). I believe the Crock-Pot is the only package which has not yet arrived.

[Photo: Small caye behind Gallows Point Reef, Belize, 1976. Photo credit, Einar Kvaran.]

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