garyandpearl

Monday January 26.

Did I mention that our home comes complete with Geckos? I personally don’t mind these creatures as I am a reptile/amphibian fan. Check out the large iguana we found yesterday!

Geckos are skittish but do their part to keep insects from bothering us. However, Hector (the one that lives in the bedroom) kept me awake last night. He lives in the window sill that is just a few inches from my pillow. Last night he decided to make all kinds of clicking noises and ran across the window sill catching his prey. I cleaned up his droppings this morning and hope that I will sleep better tonight.

Hopkins reminds me a lot of growing up on the farm and living in a small town.. Roosters crow at random hours (I heard one at 1:30 AM while waiting for Hector to quiet down), dogs bark at night and remind me of our beloved family pets, people burn their garbage, and there are the burning piles made up of tree roots, foliage, and coconut shells. As a child, my siblings and I used to get paid to build and burn piles like this when my parents homesteaded and cleared our farmland.

The townspeople people are very friendly. Random strangers knock on the door. Some sell us food, like RJ, the boy who sells us his uncle’s freshly made coconut bread and cinnamon buns for a dollar. We can also order from the milk truck, meat truck, and beverage truck if we so choose.

This morning we walked to Thong’s, a place noted for its great brunch and lunch menu, only to find out that they are closed Mondays and Tuesdays. No problem! We stopped in at the corner store and picked up six fresh brown eggs for a dollar and carefully carried them home in a tiny plastic bag where Gary made a delicious omelette and I made freshly squeezed orange juice to go along with our toasted coconut bread, papaya, and pineapple.

After more relaxing, we ventured out to a fishing spot that is only a few minutes from our house. Our hosts lent us their fishing gear, so we tried our luck at the lagoon which is basically where a river meets the ocean. We didn’t catch fish, but the sand flies feasted on us. Gary’s new fishing buddy, Peter, informed us that there are are jaguars and crocodiles in these woods, so when we heard branches crackling beside us, we were on the alert. The source of the noise ended up being only a very large bird.

Supper was at Miss Marva’s place. We ate outside on the patio with a single bulb hanging from the rafters to illuminate the restaurant. We each ordered whole fried fish (snapper) with various side dishes. I ordered deep fried plantain (kind of like thick yam fries) and Gary had tortillas along with salad and brown beans. It was tasty!

Our Wifi was also fixed today, so we hope to be able to make more regular updates.