Last night we enjoyed another meal at a new restaurant in town, Fuego. Anyone who knows me on Facebook has heard me rant about them before. This was our third visit and I'm still ranting! We've decided to work our way through their entire menu (not all in one night!) but we've got some favourites. The waitress already remembers Adam's drink...the Michilata, a spiced beer cocktail. And we've had the Mediterranean flatbread every time that we've visited. So good!
The manager is holding a plate of the steak special for Adam on Friday. They only do a certain number of specials and Adam doesn't want to miss out. I guess this means that we are on the preferred customer list!
The manager is holding a plate of the steak special for Adam on Friday. They only do a certain number of specials and Adam doesn't want to miss out. I guess this means that we are on the preferred customer list!
After dinner we wandered around downtown for a bit. There were so many families out and about. And we noticed so many little girls all decked out in the most beautiful dresses. It's the end of June and the last week of school for most kids. Good chance that the children and families were out celebrating after the 'end of year ceremonies' at the various schools. It was really nice to see.
We stopped in at a new ice cream shop for a little snack after dinner (no, we really didn't need it!) and we settled in at the town square to people watch for a bit. We watched a dad with his two young daughters (about 6 and 8 years old). The girls were dressed up so nice in their party dresses. Their hair all done up with sparkly ribbons. They too, had just stopped at the ice cream shop. Each girl had a brightly coloured, double scoop cone. Any mom would know that was a recipe for disaster! It was really funny watching the dad realize his mistake and then try to keep ahead of the melting ice cream cones! I really wish that I had brought my camera.
Since moving to Belize I've been reading and trying to learn about the many, many plants and what the traditional and medicinal uses might be. My sister in law, Sheri, bought me a book called Rainforest Remedies. I've tried a few of the remedies but my fear is always that I will pick the wrong plant. It seems that every 'miracle healing plant' has a near twin that is highly poisonous and deadly! But over time I have become more confident in identifying some plants. So, I thought that I would share some of the more colourful traditional and spiritual uses for plants that we have in our own yard.
Bird of Paradise Flower
"The tree is planted in cemeteries and the leaves and flowers are traditionally used for bathing those close to death. The flowers are gathered on All Soul's Day and used to decorate the traditional home alter to honour the dead. It is said that small children who show bad tempers will stop misbehaving if they are "lashed" with a switch from this plant and the switch is then thrown over the house roof at noon."
*from Rainforest Remedies..One hundred healing herbs of Belize. Rosita Arvigo, Michael Balick, and Laura Evans.
"The tree is planted in cemeteries and the leaves and flowers are traditionally used for bathing those close to death. The flowers are gathered on All Soul's Day and used to decorate the traditional home alter to honour the dead. It is said that small children who show bad tempers will stop misbehaving if they are "lashed" with a switch from this plant and the switch is then thrown over the house roof at noon."
*from Rainforest Remedies..One hundred healing herbs of Belize. Rosita Arvigo, Michael Balick, and Laura Evans.