What the Heck Have We Done?
Disclaimer: We are still so very blessed, grateful for this experience. I still remain excited and in wonderment. My venting or anxiety does not suggest I am taking this experience for granted, but rather learning and growing from it.
Having stated the disclaimer above: OMG. It is only the second night in Belize and our beautiful, quaint bungalow on the beach has become a source of anxiety—scratch that—a reflection of adventure! The only question is, can we do this for a year?
We have been spending the last two nights in a small studio-like stilted cabin on the beach, with screens for bugs and iron wrought burglar bars for safety. There are two full size beds and a futon in one space with curtains as walls. The first night was bliss…falling asleep to the sound of the waves with a strong Caribbean breeze after a crazy day of travel. We went to bed around 10pm local time and I awoke at 2am to a very persistent rooster. Just as I started to figure out a way to incorporate it into my dreams, a woodpecker picked our house to peck (actually pound with a Jack-hammer)!
We spent the day hanging out in the village, watching the World Cup, meeting kids, swimming, and playing basketball. We did our “school orientation” and read another chapter of The Alchemist before bedtime. Life seemed like it couldn’t get better… “I could definitely do THIS for a year,” I thought, as I got up to turn off the light.
Before I continue, I need to insert two points for context:
· #1: While all three kids rated their first day in Belize as 4 out of 5 for awesomeness, we really do all feel like this is a foreign feeling that is well-beyond “vacation”—it is starting to get real. The kids are missing their grandparents and are vocal about their excitement and their anxieties. Kapil and I have been working hard to point out how exciting all of this will be and what an adventure we are sharing together.
· #2: I am pretty resilient, but I tend to squeal when I am startled (ask anyone who refuses to watch a scary movie with me) and I am petrified of rodents—well, only ones with ugly tails (mice and rats). Yes, I am a bigot when it comes to rodents. But truly, I can handle just about anything else. For example, the night before this one (in Belize) we spotted a cockroach at the end of one of the beds and when I turned to get a napkin to crush it, it was gone….and I still slept in that bed without issue (after checking the best I could).
Ok—back to the story, when I went to turn off the light—
I look back over at my bed and see a small mouse cross the window sill (above the headboard). Though I have been trying hard to make sure kids feel safe (context point #1), I squeal and jump on the futon bed. I woke up Kenza and Kapil just as they were dozing and entrust Kapil with the responsibility of finding a broom, flashlight—and ultimately the mouse!
Kapil was clear that nothing was going to happen, that it probably already left the bungalow (How? I do not know), and that even if he found it, he wasn’t going to kill it. I tried to sound positive in front of the kids, so I asked him to please find it and usher it out the door with a broom.
As we were having this conversation, the mouse ran down the wall (effortlessly, I might add) right behind Kapil. It was a classic, “where, where?” moment and it was gone. I had Kapil literally check under the furniture and move all of the zipped suitcases, but it was gone. It probably went wherever the damn cockroach did the night before. Now what? We have to sleep. It is dark and there is mouse somewhere in this tiny bungalow.
I made myself (and the kids) feel better by moving the futon away from the walls (the bed was on blocks so we couldn’t move it) and said, “ok now we can sleep, because the mouse won’t come to us, and we are far from the walls” but only half believing this because I watched that mouse scale up and down the wall with such grace and ease minute before. Four of us (the kids and me) were trying to squeeze “Willy-Wonka-style” (head to toe) to maximize space, until Kaysee gave up and went to sleep with Kapil.
At 2am, I awoke with the darn Rooster which followed by the most intense thunderstorm I have ever been in—that went on for two hours (see YouTube video below—but it doesn’t do it justice)! The rain came into the bungalow and the sound and pace of the thunder after the lightning affirmed that we were in the middle of the storm (with a tin roof, by the way)! The thunder sounded like fireworks above us and the kids were asking about the likelihood of being struck!
Unfortunately, the kids woke up scared, wet, and saying they were homesick! As cliché as it sounds, we literally sang Sound of Music’s “Rain Drops on Roses” and researched lightning (part of Kaysee’s curriculum as luck would have it). After jokes, videos, and songs, the kids finally went back to sleep. At that point, I convinced myself that the mouse had probably sensed the storm and had come in for cover. Truth be told, I was actually happy it was safe in this bungalow somewhere.
Out of this all, our new motto emerged: Don’t run from it; Embrace it…because we are on an adventure!
One year, huh?
