Christmas:
It was as you might expect it to be: super warm and sunny here in the tropics. I napped for a bit out by the pool and got too hot so I moved into the shade. We had some of Dad's precious market fruit for breakfast, and then chatted with everyone we could. I got in a nice videochat with Alex and Nina (for a bit) and then we were able to see Payton, Cassie, Nanny and Pa, Mom and the boys for a minute until our internet pegged out. Apparently there is a snow on in Southern Illinois, but we aren't feeling any of that here. For once, I miss Illinois winters. This feels too cold to be December!
We had a Christmas dinner with Banana Bank occupants, and they served up a big turkey, ham, yule log, potatoes, green beans and carrots, salad, rolls and their famous tea. Dad and I were plenty stuffed! Then, a little boy about 10 played his guitar and we sang "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". To top it all off, a Belizian Santa visited us with goody baskets! The people joining us for dinner were a bunch of travelers who had visited more Maya sites than I have, but no surprise. The woman graduated with a biology degree from UIUC in 1966, so we talked about the campus and the odd biology profs, the buildings, and everything else.
Boxing Day:
Back to the field. I saw Marcus again (Cleofo's son) and he now has a motorcycle and looks rather more like a teenager than the boy I remember. Cleofo, Ernesto, Dad and I surveyed a two mound sites and one non-mound site, and all before lunch! We uncovered another treefall near the first mound that produced a few good chunks of pottery. Nothing of real note, but better than I expected. Ernesto had to fix a part on his car, so he dropped us off early at Banana Bank and we took a taxi into town. Unfortunately, the holiday that is never recognized in the US is very prevalent here and almost nothing was open. So, we went back to Dad's favorite supermarket for more instant coffee and walked back the 5+ miles to Banana Bank. We were rather pleased with ourselves ;) Then, we pressed the plants for the day, and all before dusk. As I type, I am listening to a couple of teenagers telling racist jokes by the pool, and the birds in small cages near our room yelling and tweeting. I got one of them to talk to me earlier. I said "hi" and he said "bye bye". I felt like that was my Dr. Doolittle moment of the day. I better get this laptop back to Dad so that he can blast some more Christmas music in our room before the holiday is officially over in Belize!
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