40 Degrees and Counting...

As the title suggests, it's HOT. Even the Belizeans are commenting on how hot it is. Apparently this has been an unusually dry and warm year so far, so everyone is looking forward to the rains coming to cool things down, but that's a relative term here! When you're in the house it feels like someone's left the heating on all day on the hottest of our summer days. We only have fans in the house, a/c is very rare in Belize, but we are getting used to the sound all the time. Tomorrow we move upstairs to the proper apartment which is a bit larger, cooler and nicer so we are looking forward to that. In fact over the next couple of days we should be a lot better set up, since we will hopefully have a car (or more specifically a pickup truck) by the middle of the week. Then we'll have some independence and will get into a routine.

We were out in the ministry for the first time on Saturday in a village about 20 minutes away. Most of the houses are palm-thatched and yes the people are consistently friendly and receptive. Almost everyone speaks English so there is no real problem getting involved straight away, although I was a bit taken aback when the older brother I was working with started reorganising his bag immediately after we said hello to the first person we met and told me to take over!

The brothers and sisters here have been very welcoming, particularly Bill and Beth Taylor, Canadians who've been here for 9 years now. It was their thatched house we were at for the last entry. It's a large thatched canopy with open sides and just a wooden bedroom underneath. All the rest is open to the fresh air so you just swing on a hammock, listen to the noises of the bush and watch hummingbirds come by!

The local brothers are quite quiet by nature but are making a real effort to be friendly. I think they understand most of what we are saying! Ironically it was a Texan brother who seemed most confused. First of all he thought we sounded German then asked if people in Scotland spoke English as their first language! The only Scottish person he knows is Sean Connery so I don't think he's that well informed. Don't ask me too much about Texas though!