Not All The Tarantulas I See Are Dead, Part II

Once again, we have come across a tarantula that wasn't quite as squished as Zach would like. Well, specifically, Zach came across it. As in, it fell out of the pile of clothes he had just picked up. In our apartment. We're really hoping it didn't sneak in through the hole in the window by the bed cause between that and the millipede in the sheets, we may never sleep again.

Belize

So we got our passport stamps. We are legal for another 3 months which will get us through the convention- just- and we'll figure it out from there. At least now we know the new rules on visas.

We ended up leaving super early Saturday for Belize and got back Friday. Airline miles are a lifesaver. Plus, we flew Avianca, which has great in-flight service. We had to take two flights each way- San Pedro Sula to San Salvador to Belize and reverse- and each flight was less than 45 minutes, but we still got drinks and food on each leg. I don't mean peanuts either. We got sandwiches with cookies and cake, burritos, all sorts of things. I think I'll fly Avianca from now on.

Belize is nice. We stayed in Belize City and really didn't do much since I was sick (plus our hotel room had a/c and cable which was a treat in of itself) but it basically reminded us of Honduras- the weather, the houses, the shops, the flowers and ocean and all that. Which makes sense since the two countries aren't exactly far from each other. The one main difference is that all the signs were in English and Chinese instead of Spanish. Since we were basically at home, I didn't take a ton of pictures, but here's some anyway.

These guys are loading a tree trunk from inside a bus to the boat.

I don't know why, but I found this sign hysterical.

Belize City's one advantage is that they have a ton of ethnic restaurants that we don't. Indian, Lebanese, good Chinese... We went for Indian one night and I seriously thought I would cry.

This river leads to the ocean. We asked our taxi driver about swimming in it and if the water is clean, because there really isn't any beach in the city. He told us a story about when he used to be a prison guard and they were transferring prisoners by bus. One prisoner managed to get off the bus and swam across the river to escape, where they watched as he was taken by a large crocodile. They found his body down river three days later with a huge bite. So no, they don't swim in the river here. 

BZE airport from the runaway. It's super tiny. You have to walk out across the runaway for every plane. 

Funny story- People in Belize primarily speak English. So I was all excited to get a chance to rest my brain from trying to speak Spanish all the time. Well as soon as we got on the plane to head there, a switch flipped and all I could do was think and speak Spanish. That definitely limited my conversing ability.

That's all for now. This weekend is the Spanish convention in town. We are going to go to part of it, although I don't know how much we will understand. My study asked me to go because she is going. That was a surprise! And of course, we have the campaign coming up in a few days. I'm sure everyone is going to have great experiences with that. Can't wait to hear some of them!

Surprise

Surprise!!!!


 We're going to Belize. Tomorrow. Or Sunday, I don't know. Haven't actually booked the tickets yet.

I'm sure you're asking why. Us too. Well, actually we know. We just don't understand.

So our visa expired last month. We went to immigration and got a 30 day extension instead of the 90 day extension we were able to get before. They told us we could come back and get another 30 days. So we went to do that yesterday. Nope. Denied. Apparently, you can't actually get an extension more than once.

Now we have to leave the country for 72 hours. By Sunday. And because of the four country pact that is great and annoying at the same time, we can't just run to Guatemala or El Salvador. We have to go further. But of course, because of said pact, we can't go through Guatemala or Nicaragua to get to another country while on an extension. We have to fly, which is quicker, but you know, not as convenient as hopping on a bus or a boat.

We're all for a mini-vacation, but you know, with advance notice. O well.

Yay new passport stamp!