winter in the tropics

i know most of you are probably sitting at desks donning sweaters and slippers while sipping hot cocoa as the snowflakes drift down outside your windows, but we ARE experiencing a bit of winter down here as well. i'm telling you, i almost broke out my fleece jacket yesterday. our friends and colleagues are keeping regular tabs on our perspective of this belizean cold front.
"ms. melissa, how do you like the weather?"
"it's nice."
forced chuckle. "heh. it's very cold. we are VERY cold."
"yes," i reply, "but it's kind of nice to feel cool."
"well, for us, this is VERY cold."
indeed, it's much like a northeastern fall. perfect weather for jeans, sandals, and long sleeves. let's just say this pennsylvanian is in heaven. i won't get too used to it, though, as i hear rumors that march, april, and may have plenty of heat in store for us. oh dear.
life in the village is still dreamy. we finally found a house! (after our false alarm a few weeks ago, i was rather hesitant, but i think this is the real deal.) we hope to move in by mid december and we'll have the rest of the month to get settled during the long school vacation. for the next few weeks, though, we will continue enjoying our delicious home cooked meals and toddler time!
for the past few weeks, coy and i have been spending time in classrooms observing and learning about the belizean school system. we've also been kept busy meeting with representatives from each school and the village council, who are applying for funding for a community resource center and internet cafe. excitement, i know! other projects in the works include a community gardening initiative sponsored by an international NGO called Humana. there are also regular soccer matches and much general activity at the soccer field right across the street from where we stay now. we've actually taken to hanging out on the bleachers just to relax...it also happens to be the only spot in the village where i can get crystal clear cell phone reception!
last week we took a bike trip to the much adored mennonite community, shipyard. belizeans here claim shipyard has the best stores with the best prices in the area. well, they certainly have some dusty roads this time of year, and after the first 30 minutes of biking, the novelty began to wear off. the mennonites sure got a kick out of us, though. here comes this crazy gringa riding her bike (?!!!) and what is that on her head? (biking any distance here is regarding as odd, unless you don the full spandex getup and are seriously in it to win it. likewise, wearing a helmet while casually pedaling a beach cruiser warrants a sideways glance.) anyway, we didn't end up buying anything, or even seeing anything all that impressive, as all the stores are set up so that you simply walk up to the counter and request whatever item you want (and somehow everyone magically knows everything in stock). the highlight of the trip occurred during our bike ride home, when we spotted a green iguana in the middle of the road! (pictures to come, i promise).
speaking of pictures, i apologize for the faulty flickr slideshow...i really thought i'd gotten crafty, but every time i open our blog page that thing never loads! anyway, at least you've got the link to photos just below it. i have all these grand plans of organizing and uploading more photos and blogging much more often...seems that every time i have internet access it's more rushed than i'd planned. keep your fingers crossed for that community resource center, folks.
i hope everyone is well. stay warm!