Verbal Snapshots

It’s really late.   I’m honoring my ‘write something every day’ rule, which I relaxed somewhat while we were on our Belize trip, and will now begin treating as a serious (but fun) responsibility again.

Some of the unexpected highlights of our trip:

* Being invited by the resort bartender and one of the waiters to come into Hopkins – the village near the resort – to hop karaoke bars with them.  Elle and I both sang – I did “Tainted Love,” and she did “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in the more crowded bar, and “Bring Me To Life” by Evanescence at the bar with a sand floor, a dart board, and about seven drinkers.  It was classic, and I got an awesome picture of her wailing the song.

* Getting a specialty diving certification as an ‘underwater naturalist,’ which means I’m better than I was last week at identifying seagoing life, and observing how it all works together in an ecosystem.  On the same dive, I was close enough to a hawksbill turtle to jump on him and use him for a skateboard.

* Eating termites.  They taste like minty carrots.

* The view from the top of Xunantunich, the Mayan temple.  You can see Guatemala.

* Walking a mile on the beach with a  few co-honeymooners, then playing an evening of beach volleyball with the Hamanasi dive team and a collection of Hopkins locals.  The locals were definitely much better at volleyball than most of us Americans were.

* The night one of the resort cats, a chubby calico named Ginger, invited herself into our treehouse and spent the night curled up between Elle and me, purring and kneading the mattress.

* The great friends we made there – at least three other couples – with whom we’ll be building lasting friendships.

* Meeting and drinking with Lucky at the karaoke bar, politely refusing a friendly game of darts, then finding that Lucky was our divemaster at eight the next morning.  What hangover?

* The fact that we are SO going back.

~ by joshkauffman on July 9, 2009.