preparing for a hurricane...

Tropical Storm Ernesto is on his way to Belize.  These flags above the National Emergency Management Organization building here in Belmopan mean that we are under a hurricane watch.  It is possible that Ernesto will become a hurricane sometime today.  The shelters are scheduled to open at 2pm this afternoon.

The seminar that we had scheduled yesterday in Orange Walk was postponed until further notice.  All the teachers and principals were sent back to their schools to secure the classrooms and buildings and get them ready to be used as shelters if needed.

This will be our second hurricane.  We were here for Richard in October of 2010.  It was a category one, right now the predictions about Ernesto say it will be either a very heavy tropical storm or a very weak category one hurricane.  

All of Belize is on alert.  We stocked up on supplies yesterday.  And now we watch, wait and pray.  We may lose power if the storm is a strong one.  So I may not be able to update for a while if that happens.  They won't be able to work on restoring power until the all clear sign...a green flag...gets raised.  Waiting to see the green!!

raindrops keep falling...

If you come to Belize from June to November don't forget your umbrella!

Caught this view right outside our door as water drained from the roof. 

Thought for today

Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone. ~G.B. Stern

Pastor Jose and Carla own this building...

There are four units in the building but only the far corner

unit had any damage.

Here you can see that the eave is missing.

It was located in the yard of the house right behind the their

building.

When we went out walking around the neighborhood we met up with Pastor Jose. He took the day off from his job at the bank and was checking on their properties. He managed to get a crew out to fix the roof temporarily as he waits for a new roof that has to be ordered from another city.

Pastor Jose verbally reiterated what we were feeling:

Thank God no one was hurt. Thank God the damage was so minor. Thank God that He watched over us all.

The attitude of gratitude and the spirit of helping out one's neighbor has been a blessing to witness.

 And we continue to say...

Thank you God!

Hurricane Richard

On Sunday as we were watching TV to learn about  Hurricane Richard we heard the reporter say "Richard is not in the street, he is in our front yard and will be barging through the door very soon".

He was right.  Richard came barging in, cutting off power, dumping pounding rain on us, uprooting our trees and taking off neighboring roofs before he left.  He was not a welcome guest.  He came in uninvited and left a mess behind.  

The privacy fence suffered some damage

 This tree was not uprooted

but it was knocked over by the wind

my favorite palm was badly hurt

 our neighbor's tree

 Tom and I went up to our roof to check out

the damage on our street

 a helicopter was out surveying the city

 our cable tv line is down 

Tom and his machete... a happy pair.

We are very grateful that no lives were lost in this hurricane and that damage was minimal.  According to our neighbors this was the first hurricane they have actually experienced first hand.  Belmopan normally just gets the rain because by the time a hurricane gets this far inland it is usually downgraded to a tropical storm or a depression.  Richard stayed a hurricane with pounding rain and high powered winds. 

Like most of our neighbors we spent the night listening to Love FM news all night.  They were the only station with a generator so they were able to keep broadcasting all night long.   Neighbors were out on Monday checking in on each other and cleaning up.  I will post more photos this week.  It has been a long day of mopping up rainwater and hauling tree limbs out to the curb.  But we are able to say in the words of several of our neighbors...

"Thanks God!"

Headache Weather

When there is a change in the barometric pressure everyone around us seems to be able to feel it. The most common way is through a headache. I have had a headache now for two days... it will be good when spring comes and the weather makes up it mind!!

Clearing off the snow

We have had snow on the ground for quite some time now... the other day Tom took this photo of one of our neighbors clearing off his garage. Last year there were cases of roofs collapsing from the weight of too much snow on them. This guy is making sure that doesn't happen to him!

the weather...

Snow, snow and more snow! This woman is one of the people who take care of the grounds around the apartment building... Tom was able to get a photo of her hard at work.

We are here!

Monday, January 7, 2008

We had a two hour flight to Cyprus. There are 12 of us here from Krasnodar. And our other team mates from East West will join us before the end of the week.

Our hotel is right on the beach and from the balcony in our room we have a lovely view of the Mediteranean Sea!

Last night for dinner we went out to a little place called Mama's across the street. Most of us had pizza, Tom and Brennen had the kebobs in pita bread and Stephanie had a cheeseburger. The food was good and not too expensive.

We have not decided what today's activities will be... today is Orthodox Christmas so many attractions are closed. There are many museums and archeological sites we hope to see.

Tom and I walked the beach yesterday and it was very relaxing. When we left Krasnodar it was minus 15C degrees... here it is 61F degrees! Such a contrast but a welcome one!

a mighty wind is blowin'

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Tom just walked over to the window to see what the thermometer has to say... it is -14. The wind is blowing pretty hard and it feels even colder. Cyprus is looking really good right about now. We leave for the East West Conference on Sunday.

We hear the temps are in the 60's there!

slip sliding away!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

There is a thin layer of ice covering the ground. My new boots that I thought were so lovely have no traction. I am thankful that I stayed up right as I was coming home yesterday evening.

It is -1 right now... and we are certainly feeling it deep in our bones!

baby it's cold outside!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Transport was running slow today... and it is zero degrees outside! Spencer and I walked almost a mile and half home from where the bus stopped. We could not see anything wrong with the bus, the driver just made an announcement and told us "something happened" and he was pulling into the depot.

As we were walking home a man jumped out from behind a building and I screamed... it was Tom. He saw us coming and waited to scare me. Spencer had no reaction; he saw his Dad and didn't warn me.

Aren't I lucky?!

a mighty wind!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Cold biting winds and snow flurries filled our morning. The snow didn't stick but the cold has set in... our teacher Madina says that winter has finally come!

rainy day...

Tuesday, November 27th, 2007

Yesterday as I was leaving class I noticed a rip on the side of my boot. I knew that if it rained I would be out of luck.

I came home and made dinner for Tom and then Spencer and I went out shopping. He was looking for a birthday gift for Megan and I needed boots! After going to four different stores and trying on ten different pair I finally found some that met my requirements. Black, low heel, good traction (for icy sidewalks) and comfortable!

Today they were put to the test. I was able to walk outside in the rain without getting my feel wet!

turning cold

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

The weather has definitely turned cold. We have had several cold, rainy days in a row. At some point the radiators kicked on... for this we are truly grateful.

Tom and Spencer "bled" the radiators yesterday. Fortunately, there was no air in the pipes, only water. Our apartment feels warm and cosy and although there is no fear about the coming winter, we certainly are not looking forward to the day when the temperature drops below zero!

complaining

Monday, October 15, 2007

Last week we had a lesson at school on jealousy. This new lesson we have is on complaining. I suppose today's lesson was very appropriate. The weather has changed and it is cold now. No more over 100 degree weather for us for a while.

I got an SMS from my friend Judi in Moscow, they have snow already. People around here say that we will have Moscow's weather in about a week.

Normally, our radiators are tested during the second weekend in October, but this has not happened yet. After they are tested (by running water through them to make sure no one in the building has a leak) in roughly two more weeks the radiators are turned on for the winter. They all come on at the same time and are turned off at the same time. The only way to regulate the temperature is to open a window!

If our radiators don't get turned on before the snow hits... then you will hear us complaining!

Amarillo News

We spent the night in Amarillo and now we are on the way to Tom Bean. It was a quick drive here to Texas and we are so excited about seeing our friends!

The drive was mostly uneventful... Spencer and I took a few pictures. When we got to the Texas border it looked like a storm was coming through. The winds were very high and we had thoughts that a tornado may have been nearby.

all in a day...

Early this morning around 5 AM, the wind was blowing very hard and one of our screens was about to blow off. Tom fixed it and went back to bed. Before Tom left for school this morning he noticed that two of our screens were down so Spencer went out to find them. We were lucky. Spencer found them both. We lost one in the last wind storm. We didn't notice it was down soon enough and someone must have walked away with it.

Lena was back at work today after taking time off to care for Yanna while Ira was in the hospital. I had to write an essay about "I am grateful to God because". I wrote it out last night and then Lena helped me with my spelling errors and grammar mistakes. I wrote about the dreams I had for traveling when I was younger. Growing up I never thought I would ever have the opportunity to live in a foreign country. I was excited when we moved to California from Kansas and were able to travel throughout California. There are so many beautiful cities there... I was content and thought that we were truly blessed. I feel even more grateful for the chance to live and work abroad!

After spending time with Lena I needed to go to the supermarket. Nathan and I were about to head out when I decided we should call to see if Olya needed anything. We picked up baby food and bread and dropped it off for her on our way home.

Spencer and Andrew are playing video games. Nathan is reading in his room and Tom is doing his homework. Just another day in Krasnodar!

package fun

We made a big batch of brownies on Sunday. Nathan and I ventured out into the snow to purchase ice cream... how could we eat brownies without ice cream!?

Thanks Mom and Dad for the brownie mix, books and all the other goodies. Nathan is hunkered down in his room reading.

I was also able to start on some new medicine for my fibromyalgia. We got three packages in one day... it felt like Christmas.

More snow is falling and it is getting colder outside. Thankfully we have plenty of heat inside, lots of apple cider and DVDs to watch at night.

Prayer update:
Ira went home today and is doing well!

rainy day fun

We watched a father and son play badminton in the rain!















our play area just behind the building















ready to serve















waiting to hit the ball back.


This time last year we had temperatures of -20. This winter all we have had is heavy winds and some rain.

monday

The wind was blowing VERY hard today. Spencer and I could barely stand up straight as we went to the bus. It was unbelievable! I don't know how Tom made it home with groceries in tact.

After school I went downtown to purchase the cashmere yarn that is my Christmas present from Tom. It was so much fun looking at all the different colors and finally choosing something special. I love working with cashmere it is very soft.

There were two wonderful things waiting for me when I finally got home.
One:
I had asked Nathan to put the chicken in the oven at 5 so that it would be ready at 6. It was done!
Two:
Tom had spent an hour and a half in line at the post office and came home with a package from my friend Joanie. We now have seasons 2-5 of the show "24" to watch. We saw 4 episodes of season two tonight!

Fighting the wind, walking for blocks that seemed as if they would never end and being jostled around on the bus... all faded away when I walked through the door to the smell of dinner and the treat of some American TV!