Wave Music’s Gerry Badillo was our announcer letting us know where the fashions came from that the beautiful models were wearing. Among the participating stores   Sarai’s Boutique, Mambo Chill, Island Gear, Marlin’s Boutique, Top Notch, Love Belize, Caribe Creations and 4:20 Men’s Clothing. Models hair and make up by Carole Goudreau of CG Esthetic.

There was also a really good DJ, Dance company show, delicious appetizers – all donated, silent auction, live music with Pineapple Willy and the heat.

Mama Vilma’s Family Home  has made great progress since they started and their goal is to offer housing and support to women, families and men who are in need. They still need the land to build the house on, anyone have a piece of land they would like to donate to a great Cause? Join their facebook page to keep updated.

Mama Vilma’s is a great group of ladies to volunteer for. To get involved, you can leave comment to get an email or call:
President Shelly Huber 651-3533
Eve Dirnback Vice president  623-9962
Cheryl Bowen Secretary Treasurer 625-5366

Belize Blog update

San Pedro Scoop – 2nd Annual Charity Mama Vilma’s Fashion Show: From the Bartender’s Side

Taking Belize – Volunteering at Mama Vilma Family Home Fundraiser

Belize News update

San Pedro Sun – Mama Vilma Fashion Show Enjoyed By All

Ambergris Today – Mama Vilma’s 2nd Annual Fashion Show

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I have been in process getting ready for the fundraiser  since Monday with blogging a first announcement. Tuesday more aquafit to get beauteous gluteous for the party Picked out my dress and  sold 2 tickets to Cowboy Doug by text on Wed. In the afternoon  Gigi and Debra [also volunteering tonight along with Dennis] and I went and picked up the money from Cowboy and headed to Carole’s shop to buy the tickets. Saturday morning was fun watching the models practice on the cat walk while we exercised in the pool.

Belize rain report by Cowboy Doug – a little over 2/ 10th’s this morning.

More to come and possibly live broadcast around 7:00 pm of the fashion show and close to 9:00pm of pineapple Willy tonight if the internet gods permit.

Unfortunately internet gods were not on my side. I could connect by the snack shack but not anywhere near the runway. Pictures coming as soon as I finish paring then down to a reasonable number.

I got right up to the fashion show and decided that is enough pictures for this post. I will finish sorting and add the rest of the party pictures in a new post later on[or possibly tomorrow if other work keeps me busy].

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I knew it would be a busy day so I decided to prepare with a Belize breakfast of champions – 2 iced coffees, leftover Pedro’s pizza that Paul brought home last night and some ruffles potato chips is a clear sign I have fallen off the wagon food wise.

As I was reheating pizza, 3 thoughts came to mind.
1. I have not been eating nearly enough fruit and vegetables this past week.
2. At least there is pineapple on my pizza,   thanks to Paul’s new favorite being – thin crust Hawaiian with Bacon.
3. Think I will be ordering Garlic Shrimp or Chicken wings and hopefully be able to resist the pizza in Pedro’s poker room tonight.

We are live at the  first Ladies poker night at Pedro’s Poker room. Paula and I got here only to discover that the internet has been down all day, leaving me wondering how I was going to live blog and stream.

Thankfully our host for the evening Jason had my back and I am now able to blog by tapping into the connection on his cell phone – a happy geek moment for me ha ha. Next step is to see if it is fast enough to stream – we both do not think so but still hopeful. I am going test it right now and see, will update here and on facebook.

We have the video running but on our end, it is not streaming fast enough so people are likely seeing a frozen image or slight movement and hearing a bunch of girls gone wild, they way more vocal and excitable at the table than boys Ha Ha.

Jason is doing an excellent job teaching everyone how to play, unfortunately I am missing it all so my plan is to sit next to Aida and wing it

Still not made it to the table yet, two of us are waiting for seats to open up but everyone playing is too well.  It has been fun watching and chatting about future ladies nights and plans for an all girl tournament down the road.

Congratulations to Purdy Grl for winning my Belize Poker Trivia question.  Her mystery prize  is a gift certificate from Cowboy Doug’s poolside Bar at Grand Caribe or El Divino at Banana Beach.

The answers to this mornings 5 Poker Trivia questions are as follows. mysteryboy guessed them all right but still has to decide which of his 3 choices for the Island poker player he will go with.

1. Where was Texas Hold’em invented?
Robstown, Texas

2. Why is the hand Aces and Eights referred to as the Dead Man’s Hand?
Because Wild Bill Hickok was holding it when he was shot at the poker table

3.Why is the 10-2 called the Doyle Brunson?
Brunson is convinced that the hand A-Q can be beaten in too many ways. On the flip side Brunson won theWorld Series of Poker with A-Q twice in back to back years.

4. Name 3 Hollywood actors who have won major tournaments.
Gabe Kaplan won a Super Bowl of Poker, Jennifer Tilly won a WSOP bracelet in the 2005 NL Hold’em Ladies Event, Ben Affleck won the 2004 California State Poker Championship for $356,000, and although he’s never won a tournament, Phil Hellmuth estimates that Tobey Maguire has won more than $10,000,000 playing poker.

5. What is the name of the book Barry Greenstein gives an autographed copy to every player who knocks him out of a tournament?
Ace on the River.

Thanks to everyone who tuned in live and helped with info from afar regarding live stream via facebook, and to Jason for hosting a great night and providing me with internet to live blog .

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What a great night, the boat parade was bigger and better than ever this year. We started our night at Exotic Caye/Crazy Canucks, perfect dock to watch the parade from and not super crowded. Ran into Scotty who is back on the island for a visit.

Afterwards we walked the beach to town for the after party and awards ceremony in the park. There were lots of booths this year and tons of people came out to celebrate.

I had no trouble going live on mobile taco cam and it was a lot of fun to be able to live stream on tacogirl.com from my phone. Unfortunately I could not run a check to make sure all systems were working well and later found out the sound was off. I will work on my mobile broadcasting skills ha ha.

Even though I had live video on the brain I still managed to take a few pictures. It is not easy to photograph moving lighted boats at night. I threw a shot in of what most peoples pictures were coming out like – crazy light art.

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How did all of you spend your American Thanks Giving?

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How did you spend Garifuna Day? Here is Paula’s version and a few of her pictures.

Nov. 19, 2011

Cloudy skies filled with promises of rain, didn’t stop me from getting up early today. Dick, Gigi, Laurie, and I went downtown to see the reenactment of the Garifuna’s arrival to Belize. Declared “Garifuna Settlement Day”, local Rastafarians rowed ashore about 7AM, dressed in regalia, ready to celebrate and reenact when their ancestors first came to this island in 1832. There was a small parade that followed with drummers and dancers waving palm branches and banana bunches! I had no idea what that represented but I was curious. Quoting an article I later found, “Each year in Belize, when locals reenact the arrival in that land, they slip out to sea in boats, then ride the surf onto shore, waving palm fronds and banana leaves to symbolize the cassava that sustained their ancestors.”  The drums reach out to you if you reeeeally listen and I for one, can’t help but move my feet to the rhythm.

The parade slowly made its way to the Catholic Church in the heart of San Pedro. I was pleasantly surprised when the Priest began to lead us in Holy Mass. I’m not Catholic but that didn’t matter. The spiritual refreshment was sweet. The service delivered a message of hope and unity. The singing was lovely. The last thing I expected to do was attend a church service this morning, but as my grandma used to say, “God works in mysterious ways”.

After Mass, the Garifuna left the church the same way they entered … in parade fashion; drums beating in celebration, dancing or walking to the rhythm, and waving their palm fronds and banana leaves. Everyone ended up in San Pedro’s Central Park, where crafts, food, and Garifuna music was abundant. Families were there for the day with their beach spot staked-out. Locals were there to mingle, ready to share with anyone the traditions of their culture. Us gringos where there to take it all in!

Late morning we came back south and went our separate ways for a siesta … getting up at the crack of dawn will cause need for one! After resting up, we climbed in Gigi’s golf-cart to make our way back into town. We chose to sit in a nearby café for refreshment as we listend to the music. Afterwards, back in the park some folk obviously had not taken a siesta! They were there for the long-haul, as we say back in Alabama. We, on the other hand, were not. A long walk on the beach seemed like the perfect way to end the day, so we took off walking. Ironically, up the beach were a group of Rastas selling their wares. Gigi wanted photos of them and their things, so she snapped away.

After hearing a message of peace from each Garifuna/Rastafarian all day, it was shocking to hear one of the Rastas get irate! If I wasn’t smart, he’d have undone all I’d heard that day. There’s principals that cross all cultural boundaries; one bad apple can spoil the bunch is one of them. That is unless you find it early and toss it out. Which is just what I did. I tried to reason with him, but he was beyond that. So I tossed him a peace sign and went about my business. We all came to the conclusion he was just mad because none of us made a purchase!

All in all it was a fun day and well worth getting up early for. I’ll do it again next year. Maybe the weather will be kinder for 2012 Garifuna Settlement Day. This year, the sun peeping through the clouds made for some beautiful early morning photos. I tend to make the best of things so IT WAS ALL GOOD! Now for the next holiday … and the people of Belize have plenty of them. If there’s not a festival or holiday, that’s all good too. Being here is reason enough to celebrate every day the beauty of this island and all it gives us; gorgeous sunrises, crystal clear aqua water filled with nature’s artwork, tropical temps, cool breezes, and sunsets that make you say aaaahhhh. For those of you who have pondered moving to the tropics to escape the rat-race, I encourage you to do as I did. Take the plunge. Live the possible dream!

Paula Segrest

Captions for Paula’s pictures.

1. The boats meet under cloudy skies as the sun peeps through the clouds. I wonder what the weather was like in 1832. 2. No floats or marching bands here, but a parade for sure! 3. Reverance and Celebration can be combined.
4. I believe God was smiling upon us. 5. I also believe prayer works! 6. Laurie, Gigi, and Dick chillaxin!

After reading hers, here is what I wrote.

Not at all how I expected to spend my Garifuna Settlement day but what a great day it turned out to be. It was an unusual morning I woke up at 430am,  did a good stretch session and decided to text Dick at 5:30 am for a sunrise walk. Instead we ended up doing the 6:00am Garifuna Settlement Day Celebrations with Paula and Gigi. Being so early it was only natural that 6:00am quickly turned into 6:20am for heading to town.  I love it when being on Belize time is on time, we walked up to the pier just as the first boat was pulling in.

After the 2 boats docked everyone headed to the church for more. While Paula took in the full service, Dick Gigi and I went for a joy ride to show her the other side of the airport. We got back just as the service was ending and spent time in the park talking to people about Garifuna day and learning more about the history of Belize.

It was not long before we all agreed it was time to  head home and recharge ourselves. Half way there we found out Gigi’s golf cart needed a charge as well. We just made it to her house and made plans at touching base at 1:30 and heading back to town for 2:00pm.

After editing my pictures, I was happy to spend some time with my hot water jar and roll a few kinks out of my neck. All my much needed resting has made my muscles tighten.  Thankfully I was able to get in enough down time before they came to pick me up for town.

We sat and had a drink on the Cuban patio and listened to the Garifuna music coming from the park. We  decided the weather was right for a walk on the beach. We got as north as far as the Tides Hotel when Paula decided some lounge chair time was in order before heading back to town to pick up the cart and go home.

Link to pictures from 2007 Garifuna Day celebrations and Parade – tacogirl blog. Will post afternoon beach walk pictures sometime soon.

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I finished up my work early today so I could do out with Dick and Paula to celebrate his birthday. Since it was his day we gave him carte blanche to choose what ever he wanted to do. Paula and I were happy that going for a swim at the beach was what his top pick and we all agreed a nice walk down to Banyan Bay area was a perfect way to celebrate.  We hung out on the dock and got chatting with a nice couple who was repeat vacationing. The November weather was perfect and the water at the end of the dock was gorgeous. It was so shallow that we were able to sit in the sand and relax, I felt like I was at a tropical spa. Afterward we decided that fish and chips at El Divino restaurant was in order, so we walked to Banana Beach Resort for lunch. They make the best fish and chips there and the staff is always friendly and making us laugh. [ If you go fishing and have a big Catch you can take it to El Divino and they will cook it up any style, forget the price but it is very reasonable. Our friend Mary did that when she was here and ordered family style sides to go with the fish]

On a slightly different note, I found an interesting article that many of you will enjoy  – Expat stereotypes: Do we deserve them?

We are all aware of the different stereotypes attached to local groups when we are visiting or living in their country, but it seems to be less often discussed how we expats might also easily be stereotyped. Obviously the locals in a city where many other nationalities are congregating can generalize about each group, and and the expats themselves can also group the others together as well. To read the full article go to Expatify.com

Hare are pics from our walk and beach time, a small part of me fell in love with Ambergris Caye all over again today as I was thinking about how it took us 15 minutes to get from my front door to the end of the dock and tropical paradise.

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Here are a few pics to tide you over – loads more to come.

Before the cheap seats start making comments I realize that I have way to many hula hoop pictures. Reason being everyone had so much fun doing it that I wanted to get all of us in there.  Special thanks goes out to Emily for doing 2 fantastic hula hoop shows and congratulations to Gunter who hula hooped like a rock star and won a bottle of Caribbean Rum.

Had enough of back end tech troubles this morning – time to make a break for aquafit and shake it off. Before I forget Pedro’s Sports Bar is doing Curry night tomorrow – there will be a mix of spicy and mild, some of it cooked by Cindy and some flown in from Belize City. Call Pedro’s to get in on the head count so she knows how much to order – 226-3825.

Also happening – Saga Taste of Belize cook off.  Street party Friday September 16 6pm at El Fogon to celebrate through food the Independence of Belize. Bring your favorite dish to enter to win. Help vote on the dish that best celebrates the Independence Days of all Central America for $10.

I will be back later with breakfast and condo pictures – time for a taco style coffee break – floating in our pool.

Grand Caribe Resort is located about 2 miles north of  San Pedro town – totally worth crossing the bridge for. There are  eight individual buildings with 9 condominiums per building, each with a great view. You will also find 500 feet of beach front and three pools, including the largest pool in Belize. No brainier why I chose to have my party there. A little bird told me they are going to make Sundays pool party day, I will keep you updated on that.

We ended up in a 2 bedroom condominium with full kitchen, king size bed, big screen tvs,  jacuzzi tub and washer dryer.  What a treat!

Cowboy Doug invited us to join him for Breakfast at footprints bar and grill. Gunter showed up with a bread delivery and joined us for coffee. When Paul was getting ready to go home I decided to stay a little longer. so I loaded Paul, the shark a bunch of floaty rings and the lobster on Andy’s ATV and sent him on his way. [We had swapped Pedro's cart with Cindy the night before so she could shuttle some people home]. I headed back to the condo for a nice long afternoon nap.

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Grand Caribe Belize Beach Resort

Giant Lobster found in pool at Grand Caribe Resort

What a fantastic day perfect tropical September weather I am so glad I had my birthday at Grand Caribe Resort, I could not think of a better place. We ate, drank, hula hooped and floated in the pool for hours. Cowboy Doug was an excellent host and the staff at Footprints Beach Bar and Grill did a great job at making sure we were well taken care of. Thank you to Grand Caribe for putting up with our floaty toy invasion and my birthday present – a complimentary drink for all my party guests.

I am officially the last man standing aside from CD,  it is 8:33pm [the day after] and I have not made it home yet. Cowboy Doug is letting me use his lap top to get this post started. I have a lot of pictures to edit so you will have to wait till I get back to my own machine tomorrow for pics of the beach front condo, and our pool party fun.

Colder weather is coming fast and I know many of you are in Belize vacation planning mode. If you missed my write up on the 14 night special Grand Caribe Resort is offering check North Ambergris Caye News post for details. Don’t forget to join Grand Caribe facebook fan page to keep updated on future specials and daily news.

3:36pm Tuesday, I finally made it home. Cowboy offered me a ride, he had a few errands  to run along the way and I told him I could help him out for finding some of the things he needed. Along the way we ended up with an invite to Pedro’s for some of Waiter’s famous stew and the Arsenal game – always a good time.

I just finished unpacking and noticed I was feeling much like many of you do when you get home from a trip to Ambergris Caye and find yourself having to get back to the real world. I am already missing Grand Caribe and the peaceful vacation feeling. We do not get away enough, I am sure many of you can relate.

I was pleased after a quick check on on tacogirl.com facebook page, I saw that at least one person fell for my giant lobster trick. I definitely have my work cut out for me, 315 pictures  and 8 videos to edit not even ready to see what gmail is looking like h ha. I am still missing the proper codex for movie maker on this lap top so I will have to get that sorted out before I can get Emily’s hula show on tacogirl.com youtube.

Sunday was a perfect day for my party, and we decided to head to Grand Caribe early even though my invite was for noon.  Cindy and I took charge of the packing, of course we ended up with a floaty toy convoy.  Nothing like driving through town with a bunch of blow ups strapped to your cart.  After a quick stop in town for more hoops we were on our way north.

Once we crossed the bridge that Sunday drive in the country getting away from it all feeling hit me, the drive  is such a nice one. Grand Caribe is only 2 miles north so it was not long before we were at the resort, thankfully the roads were in decent condition. When we arrived, Beth and Char were already at the pool,  smart girls had the same idea as we did – more pool ti

[ click the following link Grand Caribe Resort pool party part 2 to see hula hooping, pool party and condo pictures. ]

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I am enjoying having the apartment to myself – air con – doing some cleaning and listening to talk Open Lines & Scotland’s Paranormal on Coast to Coast talk radio. Open lines is a really interesting topic – ‘Second Chances’ line. If you had a second chance what would you do differently? If I had a second chance at typing class I might have tried a bit harder. Who knew back then that I would be on a computer so much – that was back in the days of type writers.

Quiet time did not last too long Dick rang me on Paul’s phone to tell me I should to come to Cindy’s and hang out for a bit so I did. We made further arrangements for going out tonight.

Pedro just called Paul to tell him we could have spare cart – yay. Dick was happy when I told him we scored wheels for the night. Our original plan was to walk there and then just hitch a ride with who ever had space on their cart.

Met up at Roadkill Bar to start the poker run then headed off to El Divino at Banana Beach Resort – followed by Crazy Canucks then it was off to El Patio and finished up at Pedro’s Pizza where Eiden claimed the pot. It was a fun night – lot more people came out than last time. We got to meet Julie and Joe who I had met on the internet [hope I got names right please correct me if I didn't] The youngest poker player Tesla was power napping throughout the evening and did quite well for her first poker run.

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